chat now supports selected bb code!
go and check it out here:
chat v2

in the new chat window, just click on 'about' for details.

other odds and ends: you can directly insert images , and they will post a small version plus link to the large version

[img=http://some.img.jpg] will post a thumbnail image and a link to that image.

before I continue with a lengthy post:
you can check out the v2 chat console on mobile now. just visit the site with your phone and if your are logged in, you can see the link in the menu and above the chat. Check it out and let me know what you think!

---ROADMAP---
now that the chat is starting to resemble something useful, I'm putting out a roadmap of where we are going next.

1. chat
2. frontend framework
3. messages
4. socialize tab
5. the game proper

---in Detail---
[1] finishing the chat, is not so difficult so much as it will be time consuming. I want to bring up the chat to 'modern' standards, so it supports BBcode (links / formatting etc). ideally just by pasting a link, etc.

This will require some bit of work, but nothing conceptually difficult I expect.

I will accomplish this in stages, and the first stage just to replicate the current chat functionality.

later, I'll add portraits , and other more advanced features, such as pasting images like you would do in any regular messenger client.


2. finalize frontend framework The tool that runs chat , and all the existing widgets needs to be finished.
Presently , all the stuff currently developed uses the alpha version of the software, chat runs a beta.

I need to finish up the feature set, and configuration of it, so I can make upgrades to the tool in the future.

its far along, but still suffers from some configuration shortcomings, and the beta still has a few limitations inherited from its predecessor.

When completing the switch, all the libraries will need to be modified to support the version 1.0

This will involve some effort.

[3] mail.
this will go down like a sack of beans. First stage will be to replicate functionality. later on, as will chat, a pill will appear in icons indicating the number of new messages.

Like chat, mail will be 'live', meaning that mail will appear as it comes in.


4. the entire socialize tab.
Since I am here, I will do the whole tab and get it out of the way.

I was planning to tackle the socialize tab last, b/c it involves some rather tedious work (forums will also require some work, but not especially complex).

[5] the game proper
getting socialize out of the way basically means all the 'general features' of the game site will be finished, and then from then on, all work will be devoted to developing new, and repairing existing features!

--TIMELINE--
So how long will this realistically take? thats a good question

. Chat:3 days.
chat is close to being finished, so probably a few days. all the hard work on it is mostly done. now its more refinement work.

framework tools. 2-4 weeks
This could potentially take a couple weeks. finishing the features is not so bad. rewriting libraries also not so bad. the major problem is that I have to go back through all the pages I currently wrote, and fix them.

Alpha / beta versions are close to compatible, and can usually be finessed into working. the 1.0 version will break all prior work. and that means everything needs to be tested again.

Realistically, 2-4 weeks.

mail: 3 days.
with chat being doing, mail is a cinch. it will use a similar setup, and the toolset makes it easy. it will go down FAST

socialize tab:2-3 weeks.
forums are probably the biggest problem here. it will need to be written using a similar style to the revised ticket system. probably 1-2 weeks. but maybe a less depending on how much code from the trouble ticket system I can recycle. everything else is simple, less than a week.