Scream And Fly's Future Site Roadmap

Hi All,

I thought it would be a good time to just mention some things about the future of the Scream And Fly site.

Over the years, this site has undergone many changes. We were one of the very first sites to use the VBulletin forum software system - way back when it was in its beta form in 2001. We've been on VBulletin ever since, in different forms.

Currently the Scream And Fly site runs on a very highly-modified version of VBulletin. As you've seen, there has been a steady stream of updates to the S&F site as well as a refresh and modernization of the overall look of the site back in April. I did not want to make any drastic changes when we updated the site's overall theme; I wanted to keep the site's personality intact while correcting layout bugs and smoothing out older graphics. More updates are on the way for this site, however I am also planning on a wider scope for Scream And Fly's website design. No matter how much you modify some things, fundamentally, there is only so much you can do. However, no matter what we do, the overall layout and basic functionality of the forums and how they function will never change.

In May, we built an entirely new server for Scream And Fly at tremendous cost, however the benefits of which are obvious. This was our first (and most important) step for the future version of the Scream And Fly websites. The current Scream And Fly server, quite literally screams. It's a cutting-edge server with a full solid-state RAID array and naturally running the very latest versions of PHP and MySQL.

With this being said, the future roadmap for the Scream And Fly site is as follows:

1. Much improved home page that is easier to navigate, especially on mobile devices of all sizes.
2. Responsive design for all graphics and the layout.
3. Very important: high integration with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other social media platforms - all configurable by each member.
4. Much easier system of attaching images to posts from any device - computer or mobile. Also batch-uploading of many photos at once.
5. Features to make it easier for members to publish feature articles and reviews, if they choose to.
6. Far greater enhanced classifieds section, while retaining the forums-based system.
7. Optional and completely free cloud file hosting system for all members and accompanying mobile app.
8. Replace the current photo gallery with a much more modern and faster system.
9. Faster performance on any device.
10. Ability of users to customize the site in many ways, according to their preferences, if desired.

It's important to emphasize that I will never change the basic layout of the forums. People have become used to this layout and I would not make any drastic changes to the site that would leave people feeling they're in an unfamiliar place.

I have already begun to lay down the groundwork for creating a Scream And Fly development site on our server, which will basically be the new S&F site in beta form. That will essentially be a working development and testing model of the new site, however it will not be live. As progress is made, I may ask some of you (completely at your discretion) if you would like to help to test the new site and provide feedback to help in its development.

Right now, the new site is at least a year off. I will continue development of the current S&F site in parallel, and there will not be any unfamiliar or sudden changes to anything.

I also want to stress my gratitude to all of the support you have given me and Scream And Fly, which of course makes this entirely possible. 100% of Team Member and Supporting Vendor revenue goes directly to the development and maintenance of Scream And Fly. I am very thankful for all of your support as we approach our 20th anniversary.

Thank you all,
Greg