UBB.Developers Forums Announcements Announcements U-Zine Member Spotlight June 2001 First Place Winner - ZeldaGitches

Interview by: Jamin "Skorpion" Colley
Spotlighted site: ZeldaGlitches.com

 

 
UBBDev
What is your background, and how did you get started on the Web?

Travis
Well, my first computer was a 1990 Packard Bell, with Windows 3.1. I only bought it for writing papers and playing solitaire; you know, nothing much. I never even got online until 2 years ago, when my uncle built me my own computer. Well, this computer only had a 6 GB hard drive and 64 MB of RAM, so when I got into making the site, I didn't have enough space or resources to actually build a website comfortably. So my uncle built me another computer (nice uncle, eh?) with a 23 GB hard drive, and 128 MB of RAM, and that's what I'm on now.

UBBDev
Nice! I think I actually had a '90 (or close to it) Packard Bell too! How did you brainstorm the idea behind ZeldaGlitches.com?

Travis
I was in some weird chat room a while back, and someone mentioned the address of this Zelda site, and was saying how awesome it was and so on. So I decided to check it out, (wasn't really expecting much) but to my surprise, it was quite a good source of information and codes for Zelda 64. I AIM'ed the guy, and he said he would allow me to use his information as long as I gave credit to him, yet I didn't have a site. I wanted to learn how to build a site, so I chose Homestead (bad choice, I know...) and I created "Zelda 64 Glitches and Codes," which was a sucky name, but oh well. To make a long story short, I learned enough about web page making to buy a domain and shortly after a UBB™.

UBBDev
Everybody's gotta start somewhere. I suppose Homestead might as well be it. What was your reason for choosing UBB™ for your site?

Travis
When I was hosted as a sub-domain, the people that hosted me had a UBB™ 5.44 or something close, and I liked what I saw. Since I was friends with the guy that hosted me, he told me how cool it was to modify it, and the different options it had and all these other things. Well, I finally saved up enough money to buy one for me, an earlier Christmas present, as I called it.

UBBDev
Early Christmas presents are good!

Travis
Yup!

UBBDev
What do you like and dislike most about UBB™?

Travis
I like how it's easy to customize, how quick it is, and how nice the layout is compared to most other forum software. What I dislike about it, if anything, is that I wish they would implement more requested features into it, such as Who's Online, Memberlist, etc. Maybe in future releases, though.

UBBDev
Hopefully, some of the new stuff will be on the plate for 6.2...

Travis
Hopefully.

UBBDev
When you work with a hammer, do you wear safety goggles?

Travis
Umm.... nice question.... but, no.

UBBDev
You know you're supposed to, right?

Travis
Yeah, but I don't use a hammer very often .

UBBDev
Oh, OK, that settles it, then. How do you keep your site "fresh" and keep the visitors coming back?

Travis
Well, I try to provide as much information as I can and as quickly as I can get it up. Also, I try to make sure they can find it. I mean, if they can't find it, what's the point of putting it up?

UBBDev
Excellent point! What's the one UBB™ mod that you like the best? And the one your users like the best?

Travis
My favorite would have to be Who's Online, since it allows you to see who else is on your board at the same time as you, and what they are doing at what time. As for my users, the majority of them say they like everything, though I believe they are just saying that because they are too lazy to actually think about it, or trying to suck up to me so they can become moderators.

UBBDev
LOL! I think as long as there are forums, there will always be users who suck up to try to be mods. Have you ever removed a mattress tag?

Travis
LOL! These questions! No, personally I haven't.

UBBDev
But you know someone who has?

Travis
LOL! No, or they haven't told me

UBBDev
That's good, then. The gov't frowns on removal of mattress tags.... What's the one hack you feel is an absolute necessity to any UBB™?

Travis
Well, if it was UBB™5, I would have said Who's Online. But with UBB™6's new feature of member numbers, I would have to say the Memberlist hack, since it gets to be a pain when you want to search for a specific person's post and you don't know their member number. The Memberlist would provide quick and painless access to that information.

UBBDev
Are there any "tricks of the trade" you'd like to share with UBBers so they can benefit from your experience?

Travis
No! You can't have my secrets!! :-D But seriously, I would have to say get as many opinions on your UBB™ as you can, so you can make it look better.

In other words, keep coming back to UBBDev. I, and I'm sure a whole lot of other people, have learned some great things by just being around here. Also, don't install a mod just because it's there. Make sure it benefits in some way other than just looking "neato".

UBBDev
I couldn't have said it better myself! And thanks for the UBBDev plug! Favorite cheese?

Travis
American

UBBDev
Nice. All right, last question: What are your future plans for ZeldaGlitches?


Travis
Well, It really depends on what happens in the next year or so, like if I can stay interested in the series, and actually keep the site "fresh". If I can't, I won't drop out of the "webpage business" necessarily. I may just do another subject, not really sure what, but something I would be interested at that time. But I plan on using the UBB™ for any site I have. I didn't pay $199 to only use it for one year.

:::