As most of you know, we are currently working on this forum version 2.0. It will feature some great things most forums don't have. The most vivid example is by looking at our current public chat. This chat is written in javascript, and as a result, it's very responsive, and there is no need to hit refresh. When a user types something in, it automatically shows on everyone's browser. We intend our entire forum to be javascript, and with this, we will be developing a webpage that requires no need to refresh. I envision a web page that is alive in front of you, that changes, but at the same time doesn't get in your way.
Additionally, I intend for this forum to emphasize on being anonymous. This isn't to say our software won't track the IP of it's users, but rather.. I'll just quote an article I read on what an anonymous forum is.
An anonymous forum is a type of Internet message board where users are able to participate in some capacity without providing personal information. The purpose of an anonymous forum is to remove biases that can form in other types of discussions, since each statement must be examined on its own merits without any knowledge about the person who made it. There are several different types of anonymous forums, ranging from truly anonymous to pseudo-anonymous. A truly anonymous forum does not require registration to use and provides users with no way to differentiate between each other. Many standard forums that have user registration also allow anonymous posting, though internet protocol (IP) addresses and other information is sometimes accessible by moderators or administration staff.
Online forums are places where people can come together and discuss a wide variety of topics. Some forums are highly focused on a single topic of interest, while others are broader in nature. Most online forums require potential users to register before they are able to participate in the discussion, and it is sometimes necessary to include a working email address or other personal information. Communities are often built around these forums, and long-standing members often become friendly with each other and may obtain a great deal of influence over discussions.
Other forums either have optional registration or no registration at all. One of the main arguments for not requiring registration is that it makes it easier for people to post on the forum. A visitor to a forum may have a valuable opinion to share but lack the time or desire to register an account. Forums with optional registration often let visitors post as anonymous guests to remove this barrier. This low barrier to posting also has potential drawbacks because it may facilitate or encourage inflammatory or disruptive posting.
Another potential benefit of the anonymous forum is in the quality of the discussions that take place. The argument is that since each post is anonymous, it will need to be considered individually on its merits. Instead of judging arguments and statements based on the person making them, the facts must be considered logically. This can also allow a new user to participate in a discussion at the same level as an established one. The drawback here is that there is no real accountability on an anonymous forum because each user is free to make virtually any statement without fear of future repercussions.
So, yeah, were developing this forum software which will have an emphasis on being anon. It will be similar to this one in culture, but obviously much more advanced in capabilities, and it will be much less neglected than this one considering it will be our newest flagship project.
After we have the prototype going, and introduced to you guys, I'm sure we will spend a couple months listening to your feedback, and improving on it, and then we would like to find 3-5 existing web-communities who would be willing to give our software a run for free.
Once our software is doing well, we intend to set up a public website where anyone will be able to set up their own web community on our server, and customize it. This will all be free. Additionally, we will be making our software open source and publicly available on GIT, and we intend to set up a small community for those who wish to contribute to the development of the project.
In terms of trying to earn some revenue from this software, we are currently considering two ideas. The first is to host our forums for free up to a certain number of users, at which point, the owner might need to pay a yearly or monthly fee. The second option is to simply allow the owner to accept donations, and we will take 20% for providing the software, and hosting. We don't intend to do any sort of advertising.
The software is intended to work well on all major platforms such as cell phones, iAnything, PC, etc.
In the future, we will likely add functionality so that forum owners can add pages to their website, thereby allowing them to create entire websites which would be centered around the forum.
