Interview By: Greg "Mastermind" Hard, CEO, H-Realms Network
Discuss: Here

Coming in a strong second this month is long-time UBBDev member Jigga-Master's site, 411Hype. A good blend of color, use of template modification, and quality modifications, Steve (The 5"9' Blaze ), has produced a site his members love...

UBBDev: What is your background and when did you start out on the web?

Jigga-Master: back in 1997 is when I first got the internet. it was the biggest thing to happen in my house! LOL! In the summer 1999 I started a website called hiphopaudio. This over time grew to be the biggest real audio site on the web. I had over 300 albums and was gettin some MAD hits (125,000 unique per day, no joke). Anyways then came along the people who were trying to sue Napster. The American Recording Industry or something of that name, and threatened to do the same to me if I didn't shut down my operations immediately. Anyways I'm gettin off track here I've been making websites for around 2 to 3 years now and been doing cgi for maybe a little over a year.

UBBDev: I believe its the RIAA. ;-)

JM: That's it.

UBBDev: How did you come up with the idea for 411Hype?

JM: To tell you the truth it came from a totally unrelated thing. If you don't know I used to and still am into skateboarding, and every month a company named 411VM (411 Video Magazine) puts out a skateboarding documentary sort of video. I looked at a ad for the video on my wall and just thought of hiphop related words and 411Hype came to mind. We originally were going to have the site as a Album Review site but then I came across ubb and decided to make it a battle board and talent showcase for unsigned/signed artists.

UBBDev: What do you like and dislike about the UBB and why did you choose it over other software?

JM: Well ubb seemed to be a fairly easy customizable program at the time and this kinda pushed my away from things like vb as I knew nothing about php. One thing I dislike about ubb, aside from the prices, is the fact that I can never be satisfied with my work! Whether it be color scheme or looks I'm never satisfied.

UBBDev: I must admit I love the look you have now. Many custom mods and it always looks nice.

JM: I appreciate this kind of support I've always got from ubbdev.com, That's what makes this place so enjoyable!

UBBDev: Thanks for the mention. What are your (and your users) favorite and least favorite modification?

JM: I'd hafta say that both my users and I thoroughly enjoy the Who's Online Modification (Remade for ubb6 by Borg). Even though I'm only using the first beta version its really useful.

UBBDev: What do you do to keep your site "fresh" and what do you recommend to keep people coming back for more?

JM: Well I don't know about fresh but I try to keep my fellow internetee's coming back by offering them a place not to just talk about what's on their mind but by offering a community atmosphere. By having such dedicated Moderators and It also helps having close friends as Administrators who in turn want the site to prevail just as much as I do.

UBBDev: That seems to be the best way to keep customers/guests in any company these days.

JM: In all seriousness though ubbdev.com has been the greatest thing to happen to ubb since...Ubb was created!

UBBDev: lol I really enjoy what you're doing...

JM: Thanks for your time and kind comments!