The site went live to the public 1 year ago today.
Thank you to everyone for your support. We've grown up much faster than we expected. All the help we have received in getting here has been invaluable.
IB has gone from a site of just a few hundred regular users, to one with over 5,000 members regularly accessing it every day. Total unique visitors (which includes Guests) is now up to almost 20,000 per day. Total registered members is now over 45,000. We've had to upgrade the server earlier than expected as a result!
For those that missed hearing about it; a few weeks back we upgraded to a new server called Fluttershy which has 8 x Xeon cores, 16GB RAM and 1TB of 15kRPM SAS HDDs. It should keep things pretty fast and give us lots of room to grow for the immediate future. Thanks again to our Sponsors who jumped in with the much-needed cash for that upgrade!
What does the future hold for IB?
TL;DR version...
A new interface is in the works. A new version of the site code (all the stuff under the hood) is also in development. The code will be released as Open Source once we launch so Inkbunny can have babies and be upgraded faster. It's all going to be very shiny but could take us a year (or way longer) to complete!
Technical mumbo jumbo version...
In the next few weeks we are starting work on Version 2. Version 1 is unlikely ever to have an official release and will remain in Beta until it is replaced (with fixes and features added in the meantime as required).
Version 1 was created from scratch using a custom framework so it is difficult for newcomers to join the coding project and it is not easy to extend. We also do not currently get all the benefits of being part of an externally maintained Open Source framework.
Version 2 will begin as a major refactoring of the codebase (lots of tidying up and better use of OO to be done!). Once that is done we will begin migrating the code into a mainstream framework.
At the same time, a new user interface is being developed. We intend to keep the essence of the current interface but improve a lot of the strange/annoying (we like to say “eccentric”) parts.
We hope to release the new interface and new code base at the same time.
Once all that arduous work is complete and the new version of the site is launched, the code base will be released under an Open Source license. This will be the best way to speed up site development by allowing anyone to contribute features and fixes. It will also give something back to the community, allowing anyone to use the IB code to start their own art site. We believe having a number of successful art sites is the best thing for the growing furry community.
All this will be a heap of work, so we don't expect to be launching Version 2 for at least a year. Version 1 took about 9 months from when the first bit of code was laid down, to the day it launched publicly. At that stage it was much simpler than what Inkbunny is today. The project has grown massively in scope. Some fool keeps adding features to it.
New Sales System (coming soon, we promise)
The old Sales feature has been offline for a long time now. But work on the replacement system is progressing. It's a complete re-write from the ground up so it's a lot to do. We'll see if we can get the new version of Sales released before the old one has been offline for a year. We have until November! But really, it doesn't look like you'll have to wait quite that long. Thanks everyone for being so patient and understanding about it!
Fluttershy will take good care of all the critters on this site. I guess if a router needs a name, "Spike" would be good if it's fast or "Derpy Hooves" if it's slow.
Fluttershy will take good care of all the critters on this site. I guess if a router needs a name, "
A few backend suggestions for your refactoring project: Python, PostgreSQL, and nginx. A far more robust combination than the usual combo of PHP/MySQL/Apache, more secure, and a lot more comfortable to program with. Since you're committed to rewriting everything anyway, might as well rewrite it in something sane this time :)
Happy birthday InkBunny~ *gives birthday snugglegropes* A few backend suggestions for your refactor
If you want to make things even FASTER, may I recommend you upgrade even more? There's a new hard drive out, called Solid State Drive, much like flash drives, that are faster and easier to use. Well, I don't know just how new it really is, but it is faster. Oh, and happy birthday! Glad to be here!
If you want to make things even FASTER, may I recommend you upgrade even more? There's a new hard dr
Sounds great! I guess I'll stop suggesting so many things since you're going to have more important things to take care of. X3 Hope the development is smooth and the end product is beneficial. =3
Sounds great! I guess I'll stop suggesting so many things since you're going to have more important
This site really has taken off, hasn't it. I think there's more desire for a better furry art site than any of us realize, and the dedication and ambition Inkbunny's developers have put into that goal over the last year really is phenomenal. It's great to see the server being upgraded and the code being redesigned to accommodate new developers, because we are going to need a lot of room to grow in the next few years.
This site really has taken off, hasn't it. I think there's more desire for a better furry art site
As much as I'd like to say "happy birthday" to the site, I think it's more appropriate to say thank you to the site developers and administration for providing so many people with a better alternative to furry art galleries. It's been fun being here but as a normal member, I get to enjoy the fruits of their labor. So, congratulations to them for creating such an awesome place.
As much as I'd like to say "happy birthday" to the site, I think it's more appropriate to say thank
I personally hope there won't be more and more and more small new sites which I have to ponder if using them is necessary or not, checking comments, answering, uploading and on and on and on, just to "be able to watch the people I like", so, I'd personally prefer to have some very few good sites...or a universal login and nickname and message center for all of 'em. *laughs*
But well, that's just a small personal thing, what is much more important: Thanks very much! Thanks for the great time around here so far. Thanks for showing us you really do great work and listen to your users. And, despite what I said just now in the beginning, thanks very much for going such an "open" way. Why a full open source of the website would never have been something I'd ask for, it's great to see more people follow the philosophy of sharing knowledge, using open standards and all of those things.
I already was impressed before by your attitude, and I'm even more now. Thanks very much, for everything.
As I said, I personally am a little afraid of even more furry sites coming up which are basically "all the same", but we'll see what the future brings us. No matter what, I'd still love to see IB grow and become the number one furry gallery and I certainly hope the best for the site's success. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
I'm looking forward to IBs future, go on as great as you did so far, and once again, thanks for everything.
Greetings, RealZero
I personally hope there won't be more and more and more small new sites which I have to ponder if us