Razvan-<br /><br />No, the release cycle will not slow down. If anything, this will give Rick more time to develop the program. We (at Infopop) have always incorporated customer feedback into the overall design of our products, and that will continue as well.<br />Two examples from our own history- smilies and topic icons. Infopop was the first to add these features, but they were suggested by our users.<br />

All I can say is... I'm surprised, to say the least... shocked is more like it... and disappointed. I'll have to see how things will be going. Otherwise, I'll definitely stick with what I have now and continue to build on it with my hacks and hacklets. Sorry, but I absolutely HATE UBB and the likes, which is why I came to W3T. If this turns out to be a merger of the two, I seriously doubt I will go with that. And the support here with Scream has been so excellent... I seriously doubt that it will be the same. Sorry.

what are you telling us????<br />Here are some questions... why don´t you answer??? Whats with the price? Your Ubb is so bad for me and the price is so high... NEVER... I´ll NEVER would by this kind of software (is it software or is it a real great sourcecode adventure?)<br /><br />what is with the lot of addons / hacks of the users???<br /><br />thats the things I´m interested in....<br /><br />a very sad<br />Dino

Thing about the smilies... my users say they are gay looking and asked me to get rid of them... so I don't really use that part :-P

<br />Hi Ted, my question is what is your position regarding the PHP version ? Will you still support it as Rick does now ?<br /><br />Will it still keep the parallel release policy ?<br /><br />Thanks.<br /><br />

I'm also interested in the free version, and if it will still be offered.

I realize that everyone has alot of questions. That is pretty natural with the change. It's the same as when I decided to start charging for the product a few years back. Everyone's questions will get answered. I'll be able to answer alot of these myself this evening when I get home.<br /><br />I will say this now. I never would have done this deal if I didn't think it was best for everyone involved. Those of you that have been with me for some time know that current users have always been very important to me. Honestly, the main reason I did this is because I wanted more time to devote to the actual coding of the program.

I guess our biggest concern is because we feel Rick is "one of us".<br />When one goes to infopop.com, it does not have a personality feel at all, its a feeling of Business to customer. That is fine, it´s business afterall... but I guess we would hate to lose that personal touch w3t has.<br /><br />W3T has that personal touch of a community of users (even though it has only one developer) that attracts people who like to modify/change/add/hack the forum and help in the development... We know Scream is the one behind it, so we help in. But would we help into a product that a company such as Microsoft develops? No! We wouldnt like to help in, we would just complain about what works different from how we thought it should. Now... InfoPop is not microsoft... but it does send us a much greater "business" feeling that could make us less happy to contribute.<br /><br />Scream seems to say it will not change in that sense, that he will continue to request user feedback and so on... and I believe him, so I am happy and confident about that.<br />But what will others see? Even though Scream continues to listen to us, maybe even more... will new users really get that feeling, as to even be willing to contribute? I will continue to support it as I know Rick is behind it. But I just wonder... though in theory it might continue the same... will the users still feel as we do now? I guess it might just be psicological... but we´ve got psicological brains... I guess. []/testimages/icons/crazy.gif[/]<br /><br />Anyway... I support Scream in whatever decission he makes in regards to what is best. He seems to think this is best, so its best.

I find this unexpected from the infopop people. Interesting decisions ted, i think this will make the already excellent software grow!

MTO-<br /><br />Yes, I understand your concerns. Perhaps some background on me might help ease your concerns.<br /><br />I wrote the UBB back in 1996. At the time the dominant message board was Matt Wright's WWWBoard (not to be confused with WWWThreads ). Like WWWThreads, the UBB was freeware for quite a long time- until the spring of 1998.<br /><br />I was the sole developer of UBB until mid-way through 1999, a back-seat driver for about six months, then sole developer again until this past spring. Like Rick, for many years I was the only one programming, handling support, and all of the other duties that go with maintaining a vibrant community and business. In other words, you are talking to the choir.<br /><br />It is true that Infopop is a much bigger operation now than it was a couple of years ago. It is also true that we have some higher-end services that are targeted to a more "expensive" client. We have never lost touch with our core customers, however, and if you look at our own support forums you will see a large, vibrant community.<br /><br />I look forward to the challenge of winning the support and trust of each of you. I hope you will discover that I am as approachable as Rick and that Rick and I share similar sensibilities. We want one thing- to create the very best products. We also share some other values- such as treating each customer with respect, focusing on innovation and not imitation, and relentlessly improving.<br /><br /><br />

I want to drop in a post a combination welcome/assurance. My place at Infopop is with OpenTopic, the hosted message board solution. I remember when OpenTopic was announced everyone worried that UBB would fall by the wayside and be ignored by Infopop. In fact, UBB flourished. These days, I'm the one under pressure to keep up with the UBB.<br /><br />Over the last weeks as we talked about this move, I spent a lot of time lurking here and installing my own W3T. There is a tremendous plus for Infopop because the product *is* different and the development community is passionate about making the best product out there. Yes, there will be changes with this move. But the fundamental character of this product will stay strong. It mattered as much to as as it does to you that Scream is directly involved.<br /><br />I do appreciate the anxiety about what will happen. It's natural. But I ask that you give us at Infopop a fair chance too. We're very excited about what the future holds.

I was really surprised to read this news. Sure, there had to be a change to give Rick more time for development. I hope this is the right way. I'm not sure...<br /><br />I'm worried the price will change (increase of course). In the other thread I just read the licensing will change, too. For the future I only know I'm not going to pay these prices listed on the infopop site for my non-commercial use. I can't afford this.

I just read the email and I am shocked. I switched from UBB 3 years ago. I ran the free version of w3t for almost a year and then bought a license. What turned me off the most about UBB was the attitude of the moderators of their forums. There was so many flamefests nobody could get any kind of help and the moderators never helped things because they allowed it to go on. I didn't want to be involved with a community and give my hard earned dollars over to a comapany that would allow the things that happened on their support forum to happen. Granted I haven't visited the UBB forum in a long time and things might have changed, but, I still have a bad taste from some of the things that I seen over there.<br />Another reason I switched was that as my forum grew UBB put a strain on the server.<br />I'm afraid I will have to say goodbye. I just renewed my license and I will continue to use w3t until it is time to pay the yearly upgrade fee. After that I will probably switch to another forum software or finish the coding of my own forum package.<br />Rick, I wish you the best and I'm sure this move was in your best interest and I know you would never do anything to tear down what you have built. I am however afraid that Infopop might not hold up to the standards you set.<br />Thanks for the memories.

"One of the major reasons I wanted to do this deal was because Rick (Scream) and I have a lot in common- including a long history developing message boards and a focus on innovation."<br /><br />Forgot to add something to this, have we, Mr O'Neill?

"I look forward to the challenge of winning the support and trust of each of you."<br /><br />Carry on looking forward ... cause you aint getting my support or trust.<br />

The loyal users have been my main reason for the continued development of the product over the past few years. Hopefully, the loyal users will stick around because I truly believe the best is yet to come[]/testimages/icons/wink.gif[/].

Thanks, it has been fun building this up to where it is now. I'm hoping this will take us to the next step. There really is so much more that can be done with the scripts as you can see from the thousands of posts on the feature request board[]/testimages/icons/wink.gif[/]

I think they should call it Scream Forums.

Blahh I just left UBB over a year ago because they wanted to charge me some ungodly amount of money to renew my liscense so I could upgrade to a product I bought and paid for.. NOT LEASED. I found much more functionality here with W3T and the price was proper for non-compiled source ware. There has to be another way.. I own a liscense and I don't want to see a its time to renew notice wheres your $275 bucks..

Bottom line - whats it gonna cost? I run 2 non profit liscenses one for a union and one for kids K-6 wrestling - I need to know the bottom line. I notice there seems to be no talk of it so I assume it will increase if I choose to stick with this software?<br /><br />How Much?