So, phpBB has been updated to a new version, and they're already working on the next. It's at times like this that it really sucks to have such a heavily modified version running on one's site. Pretty much everything has been fiddled with - from the database schema to styles, visuals, permissions, and tons of other components. Some stuff (portal, help desk) I coded from scratch. One would hope this software had plugins that could be put in a folder and swapped in as needed. Ha ha ha. Naive. To "mod" phpBB means copying new files and manually editing code in others. Compared to products such as vBulletin, this approach is ugly and requires more familiarity with php (it IS called phpBB for a reason!) Of course, the upside is that phpBB is generally faster and slimmer than vBulletin (not to mention FREE! As in FREE BEER!), so I guess it's one of those "no free lunch" scenarios.

Still, that means I can't just run their one-click update. Even though they have a smart update feature that's supposed to keep your custom code intact, you can never know what will break when you update, and where, until you stumble upon it. I think, for the time being, I will just manually install security updates and study the new features on a case by case basis. 3.0.5 didn't really add much, 3.0.6 will have Atom RSS feeds (though we could install a mod for that today) and more effective CAPTCHA (but our anti-spambot mod is doing a great job of keeping them away... we haven't had a single spambot since its installation).

I guess this is just a part of the bigger problem of running a RPG site. It's got needs that are quite different from those of your average forum community. A help desk, easily accessible lore, quick account switch to let people play different characters, a plethora of bbcodes so players can express themselves artistically in their writing, and so on. If you come from another play-by-post, a lot of the features you may take for granted are not included in the standard install of your forum software. Annoying? Maybe. But you can also take it as an opportunity to install some really nifty components. For example, I'm in love with the Highslide software we use in the Galleries - it looks so cool! So, to make a long story short, making a PbP is a labor of love on all creative and technical levels (no worries, this entry isn't going to end with a plea for your money. )

I just wished they'd fix the nested bbcode bug, though. If they don't I'll have to look into it at some point...