Enjin Forums

New Global Character System - New GW2, BF3, TERA Features

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:49:21 -0500

New Global Character System

A new system for managing and displaying game characters is now live!
Let’s check out what’s new:

Global Characters

You will find a new section in your dashboard called "Characters”. Here you can:

Add characters for any game you play to your global profile.
See all your characters organized by game, with core statistics displayed.
Quick add your characters to any community you join in the future.
Manage your global characters or per site character list.
Force update characters anytime which are linked to an armory or game database.

New Add Character System

New streamlined user interface
Quick add function, let you add characters quickly from your global list to new sites.
Auto-add characters to your global list when adding to a community.
Select from a library of game specific avatars or upload you own.
Auto imports your character avatar for supported games.
Displays site games as covers for easy character adding.
New add character function added in Admin > Teams section for admins.

Character Avatar System

Users can now select from a library of avatars for popular games.
If supported, avatars automatically matches to the character type selection.
You can upload a custom avatar per character.
Reset your avatar to use the default image or the imported character image.
More avatar libraries will be added for major games or as requested.

Profile Characters & Widget

Your profile will display your global and community characters.
A new widget appears in the bottom right column of your profile and displays up to 5 global characters from your various games.

BF3 Soldier Support

Preliminary Battlefield 3 solider support has been released.
You can now add your soldiers to your global & site character lists.
Type in your soldier Id and your soldier data will be fetched.
Module support is not yet available for BF3 soldiers but will be released very soon.

Guild Wars 2 Character support

Users can now add GW2 characters
Choose race, profession, disciplines and level.
Wide variety of GW2 avatars to select from

Guild Wars 2 Recruitment Status

A new recruitment status module is now available for Guild Wars 2 guilds.
Set race and list of professions.
Set status from High to Closed
Set a specific note for each item
Display note under each item or on hover

Guild Wars 2 Theme
A new theme created specifically for guild wars 2 guilds is now available to use for free if you are on a premium plan.

Tera Character support

Users can now add TERA characters
Choose race, class and level
Wide variety of avatars to select from

Tera Recruitment Status

A new recruitment status module is now available for Tera guilds.

Set race and list of classes.
Set status from High to Closed
Set a specific note for each item
Display note under each item or on hover

Tera Theme
A new theme created specifically for Tera guilds is now available to use for free if you are on a premium plan.

Mist of Pandaria Theme
A new theme created specifically for Mists of Pandaria is now available for free if you are on a premium plan.

Connect your Facebook page or any page to your Like button
You can now connect your Facebook page to the Like button at the top of your website. Just place your Facebook Page URL into Admin > Settings > Main.

Connect your Google+ page or any page to your Like button
You can now connect your G+ page or any custom URL to your +1 button. Please note unlike Facebook, the google page +1’s do not automatically sync with your +1 button and are treated separately for each URL.

Stay tuned for more, we have some crazy things brewing!

Featured Friday: PC Potatoes

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 03:03:17 -0500

Website: http://www.pcpotatoes.com

Games: League of Legends, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Modern Warfare 2,

PC Potatoes is a large multi-gaming group consisting of many individual teams. Think of it as a coalition of teams. In addition to their custom theme, they've got their custom graphics that they've come up with for their "Donate", "Enter" and "Join now" buttons.They've also been hosting their own events and tournaments. If you're looking for an active community, consider this one!

Check out this list for communities previously on Featured Friday!

Featured Friday: Condemned

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:00:00 -0500

Website: http://condemnedguild.enjin.com
Games: SWTOR

Condemned is one of the leading progression guilds in SWTOR today. Having recently cleared out all of the Operations content that the game has to offer on Nightmare mode (16 man), they now await the arrival of the next patch which will introduce new challenges for this group to tackle. A close look at the main page of their site shows that they're using the major SWTOR modules (Server Status, Recruiting and Progression). A running trend among designs of most major SWTOR guilds is that the backgrounds tend to involve space and Condemned is no different. Anyway, go ahead and check out the site!

Check out this list for communities previously on Featured Friday.

Make it easy for recruits to join

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:00:00 -0500

Enjin has over a million and a half registered users browsing different guilds and clans on a daily basis. There are easily many more unregistered players who are looking to join your community.

The question you want to ask yourself is this: How streamlined is the join process? We’ll go through the entire theoretical process step by step.

Main page

The home page should be the first page that most recruits will see when they come across your community. This is the prime location to place your call to action. In this case, your call to action is going to be "Join us”. Place the link to your application somewhere on the front page above the fold. In other words, that join link should be immediately visible to the user without them having to scroll down. Even a simple HTML module with a centered text link that says "Join Us” linking to your application will work. Try to be more creative. Modules such as our SWTOR Recruiting module already have built in links next to classes that guilds are looking for. Check out some of the Enjin sites below for examples.

I personally advise against using drop down menus, but it depends on how the structure flow is laid out. If your community has multiple teams, then one method could be the creation of a drop down box labeled "Join” with links to separate application forms.

Rules and regulations

Organized communities typically have their own set of guidelines that players must adhere to. Some are age restrictions. Others might include loot rules or policies for behaviors. Try to summarize the important ones as best as you can and place links on the application to the rules instead. It’s not necessary to force the user to read a 20000 page thesis essay. Cover the basic outline and direct them to other policies as needed. Applicants don’t really need to know that Friday is no pants raiding or that its karaoke night on Mumble on a Saturday. Use the HTML module to write out your rules and policies before including it on a separate page.

Instead, highlight your scheduled events if they occur regularly. List any behaviour policies or age requirements up front any information that applicants absolutely need to know.

Another possible aspect you can consider including is what players can gain from joining your community. Access to specific features or knowing that there is a regular scheduled gaming event can be a big boon.

Application questions

It's a good thing Enjin has an awesome recruiting and application system you can use to customize the experience for potential recruits! You can find it under the Modules tab under Recruitment.

The questions on the form should be pertinent to the main focus of your community. You might want to know what a player’s PvP rating or scores are if your community is PvP centric. Clans revolving around shooters might want to know what the user’s preferred roles and kill to death ratio are. MOBA (Multiplayer online battle arena) teams want to what strong characters you can use. Don’t drag out the application process too long with convoluted questions.

That being said, the occasional insight to an applicant’s personality isn’t always a bad thing either. Depending on the focus of your community, sometimes you need to screen applicants thoroughly before they even get the opportunity to be given the chance. But be sure to walk that line carefully.

Look for ways to cut down on any excess actions that prospective players have to go through. Don’t make users jump through hoops or participate in a scavenger hunt for the elusive join link.

The longer the joining the process, the greater the chance the user simply gives up and decides to go elsewhere. It’s up to you to find the right balance between screening the application and reducing any time wasting questions.

Featured Friday: Up In Smoke

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:00:00 -0500

Website: http://www.uiscommunity.co.uk/

Games: Battlefield 3, League of Legends, Guild Wars 2, Call of Duty 4

So if you're looking for a community that's … on fire, look into Up in Smoke. The clan itself has been around since 2004, and centered around Medal of Honor and Call of Duty 4. As the years went by, the community gradually increased in size and expanded in games. That's when the Up in Smoke community really began to start. Liking the smoke effects used dominantly throughout the background and in the header.

Check out this list for communities previously on Featured Friday.

Your Site Info at a Glance

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:00:00 -0500

You might have noticed that there's a new link at the top of your Enjin sites called Site Info. We're working on a few additional features that will tie into this section eventually, but for now consider it as a foundation for something even cooler to come later.

What's the Site Info for?

The site info section is a place where visitors can get a quick glance at your community. Right at the very top, it includes the name of your guild or your clan and a brief description which is configured under your admin section. Not sure what to add?

Think about it this way: If one phrase could summarize your community, what would it be?

Our recently released site wall can also be viewed on this page. Any upcoming events, created forum threads, new members and so forth can be seen here publicly.

The About tab is where you can list in further detail what your community has to offer. You can include information like when certain events are scheduled to occur or list in further detail what your guild has to offer. You could also offer a brief history about your clan and how it formed or maybe some quick information that potential members should know before they consider joining. The About page can be edited on the About tab.

Games that the community plays can be seen under the Games tab. This is controlled on the admin pages by site administrators under the games section.

Community rosters can be viewed under the members tab. If there's a specific person you want to get in touch with, that's where you can do it. For now, this page will display links to different user profiles within the community, current online status, country, and join date.

Featured Friday: Rezistance is NOT futile

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:46:15 -0500

Website: http://rezistance.enjin.com

Games: Star Wars: The Old Republic, All Points Bulletin, Guild Wars 2, Battlefield 3, Minecraft

Who says you need to stick to just one game for your Enjin community? Rezistance doesn't think so! These group of gamers have a wide range of interests and are all united by the fact that they do so under the same banner. Check out their members page and the customized tags that they've used for their ranks. Take a close look at their logo and banner. Is it a fist? Is it a dagger? Either works for these players, wouldn't you agree?

Check out this list for communities previously on Featured Friday.

Featured Friday: Citi-Build

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:51:06 -0500

Website: http://www.citi-build.com/
Games: Minecraft, Terraria

This Minecraft and Terraria community sports over 3000 members. Citi-Build uses it's own custom designed theme and logo. The color scheme is predominantly grey. A site being black and white serves only to reinforce focus on the main content. Notice how the Citi-Build logo emulates a city skyline while the blocks that represent the letters are little more than windows for the different buildings.

5 page layouts that really work

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 03:00:00 -0500

There’s different ways to layout the front page of your guild’s site. There’s always a content area which contains different information like your news or the new site wall. Today I’ll show you different combinations which you can use to layout the front page. If you’re using a fixed width, the total width the page uses adds up to about 1000 pixels. How you divide that is entirely up to you.

CONTENT

There is no side navigation here. This places your content front and center. Navigation of the site is handled exclusively through horizontal bars. Most sites place that navigation above the content and below the header on their page.

CONTENT SIDEBAR or SIDEBAR CONTENT

This is a layout that’s most commonly seen on different blogs. You have the main content area followed by a sidebar on either the left or the right side. Additional navigation is placed under the sidebar, maybe a hit counter and latest forum threads. Some sites choose to add a shoutbox even. Great if you plan to have content on the site which needs the extra size such as large, high resolution images.

SIDEBAR CONTENT SIDEBAR

This is the tried and true layout that Enjin sites use. The content area is flanked on the left and right with menus or smaller modules that display other information. I recommend using 200 pixels for the sides each.

SIDEBAR SIDEBAR CONTENT or CONTENT SIDEBAR SIDEBAR

The final layout isn’t as common as the two right before. But if executed well, it can certainly transform how the site looks. Your content area is on one side and you have two sidebar areas on either the right or the left. Handy if you have information you want to pass on to your community but isn’t dominant enough to warrant on the content section. For example, you want to include multiple link modules, counters, recent threads, server status module and the twitter module. This keeps the viewers eye focused on either the content or the sidebar instead of traversing from one side of the page to the other to look up information or make a selection.

BONUS: CONTENT LARGE SIDEBAR

I’ve got one more for you. It’s practically the same as the content sidebar sidebar layout. But it actually uses one larger sidebar. What I did was I added an extra column to each row to simulate another vertical menu. It’s another option that’s more for aesthetic purposes than anything really. It stands out if your modules happen to have similar heights. You can match them up and it’ll look great.

You don't have to use the exact sizes. Feel free to experiment however you like. Use your mouse and click on the green arrows to manually drag and adjust the size until you're satisfied with what you have.

Don’t have a site on Enjin yet? What’re you waiting for? Go make one now!

Attention: Important update to Mumble 1.2.3a

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 14:22:00 -0500

Enjineers,

Mumble developers have issued a notice that no Mumble 1.2.2 or newer released before January 15, 2012 will work on the Windows platform after January 15 (11:36:47 GMT). Therefore, you will need to update your Mumble clients to maintain compatibility.

Featured Friday - Dirt Dogs

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 07:35:13 -0500

Website: http://www.dirtdoggaming.com
Games: World of Warcraft, Star Wars: The Old Republic, StarCraft II, Rift

"Gather round young pups and hear the tale of the Dirt Dogs - a great and mighty guild of fierce Hounds and tenacious Terriers to be sure, but once upon a time things were a bit different..."

Dirt Dogs is a casual multi-gaming community. When you visit the website you quickly notice the striking animated headers that are unique to each page. They’ve done a great job keeping the site organized by structuring the layout with usability in mind. The CSS for various site elements have been customized and together create a very unique viewing experience.

Best of all, the CSS techniques have been kindly shared by Infamy here. So be sure to check them out!

Notable Details:

Contrasting red & black theme
Strikingly animated headers (changes on refresh)
Custom fonts
Unique forum icons for each forum
Glowing fonts and input boxes
Custom news tags
Custom admin and online icons
Custom placement of the dashboard tray

Ultimate upgraded to 50 Mumble slots! SWTOR Nightmare Mode

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:07:05 -0500

Ultimate plan upgraded to 50 Mumble Slots

We have some great news today! Ultimate plan users will now have 50 free Mumble slots included in the package on our premium voice hosting network, that’s double the previous amount of voice slots.

Our goal with Enjin is to always provide value for money and we feel the Ultimate plan is now the perfect plan for serious guilds, clans and gaming communities. Here is what you get when you upgrade to Ultimate:

50 Mumble slots
Unlimited modules
Access all current and future premium themes
Shopping module
Multi-themes per page
Branding control
Smiley manager
Priority support
Unlimited custom themes

SWTOR Nightmare Progression Mode

The Star Wars The Old Republic visual progression and achievement modules now support nightmare mode! You will now find additional check-boxes that enables nightmare selection progress.

Event reminder for Site Activity Wall

Automatic event reminders will now be posted on your site activity wall. These are access dynamic and will only be shown to users who can view the event. Reminders are displayed 24 hours and 1 hour before an event’s start time.

Phase 2: Site activity & wall system updated

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 21:06:27 -0500

Since the initial release of the Site Activity & Wall module, thousands of communities have started to use this module with great success, and today we bring you phase 2!

Recent new threads

Displays new threads with a 2 line summary and thread reply count
Dynamically groups recent threads within specific time intervals
View more link appears after 3 grouped threads
Grouped threads show replies and forums

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Recent gallery images

Automatically displays images added to the gallery.
Groups multiple images together from the same album
Users can like these.

Paypal donation

Displays Paypal donation amounts from individual users.
Dynamically groups recent donations within specific time intervals.
Users can like and comment on these donations.

Days added

Displays days added to website from individual users.
Dynamically groups recent days added within specific time intervals.
Users can like and comment on these items.

User registrations

Display who and when a user registers.
Dynamically groups recent user registrations within specific time intervals.
Users can like and comment on these items.

Unique Hit records

Tracks your website's unique hits since site creation date.
Displays a hit records achievement when your website reaches a new record.
Users can like and comment on this achievement.

Site user count records

Displays user record achievements
Dynamically adjusts display of records based on site growth momentum.
Users can like and comment on this achievement.

Filter items from your wall

You can now toggle between the display of various wall items per module.

Adding this module
To add this module to your website go to your site admin > page editor and add the "Site Acivity & Wall’ module to a container.

We recommend you place this module on your homepage or somewhere highly visible. Consider adding the Site Wall Module above or below your news module and setting the display count to 5 items per page. Another possibility is to use the showcase module instead of the news module and have the site wall placed under that.

Here are are some communities who are using this module on their homepage:

theascended.enjin.com
73rdregiment.com/wall
www.dowg.net
www.ehj-guild.com
www.safehavenguild.com
assured-destruction.enjin.com
uoa.enjin.com
www.redshoerebels.com

Discuss this update here

Major Release: Site activity & wall system for sites - Phase 1

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 01:58:09 -0500

The first phase of the site activity & wall system has been released!

* Image preview showcases future phases.

We recommend you place this module on your homepage or somewhere highly visible and start using it! If you have a news module on your homepage, you could replace it with this module and place your news module on another dedicated page.

Why? Because it will increase site and user activity and will naturally become a central area of your website. It will keep track of everything that happens (forum posts, news, donations, ranks, guild updates, armory syncs, achievements, galleries, etc..) and allows you and your users to share posts, links, videos, photos & much more. We won’t say too much yet, but this wall will be linked to many powerful Enjin features in the near future.

Phase 1 features

Users can share posts, news, photos, links, videos, images, rich media, RSS entries and so much more.
Integrates with 200+ different content providers to generate correct content previews.
Implements a safe browse system to prevent malicious URL sharing.
Automatically displays snippets from your published news/blog posts from all news site modules.
Shows comment count from news posts and links to the article.
Dynamic access system, the site wall will only shows items the users have view access on.
Each user will experience their own unique site wall and activity system based on their access levels on your website.
Users can like and comment on almost any type of activity.
When creating posts on the site wall, you can set view access to: Public, registered users or admin.
Note: View access per user tags/teams/streams coming in future phases!
Set who can share posts on your site wall.
Set who can moderate posts and comments on your site wall.
Set how many posts are displayed per page.

Note: You may only have 1 instance of this module. The data and permissions are set per website not per module. However you can set the number of posts displayed per module.

This is only the beginning, stay tuned for more phase releases very soon.

We here @ would like to wish everyone a happy new year! We are looking forward to a new year full of insane new features in 2012!

Featured Friday - Plus Heal

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 03:00:00 -0500

Website: http://www.plusheal.com
Games: World of Warcraft

Here at Enjin, we aim to be your community host when it comes to clans or guild. However, that’s not always the case. Sometimes we play host to a community that’s just a community. Plus Heal isn’t exactly a guild. It’s a community discussion forum for World of Warcraft players. To be more specific, it’s a healing community for WoW players. If you’re looking for a place to go to for advice or tips, definitely drop by. Whether you’re a veteran player or someone looking to get their feet wet into healing, the community is open for discussion!

Plus Heal uses a custom designed theme with a heavy emphasis on white and light blue. As it isn’t really a guild, the majority of the sight consists of two forum modules: A main one for discussion and one for recruiting. It’s a simple site and community after all.

New SWTOR updates. Event operations, crew skills and more!

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:56:00 -0500

Operations for Event calendar

Operations have been added to the event calendar and can now be selected in the event type dropdown. SWTOR is now supported out of the box with the following:

Pre-defined Operations with 8/16 man.
Select normal, hard and nightmare modes.
Operation images are auto populated.
Character support is included and users can select roles and characters.

Crew Skills for Characters

Crew skills can now be selected when creating SWTOR characters. Crew skill icons will appear in the member list, profile and teams area.

Recruitment status update

The recruitment status module has been updated with a new note item for each advanced class. This is great to define any specific criteria your guild is looking for, for example DPS etc...

Server status

The servers status module for SWTOR has been updated to show the current population and server type.

Torhead Search Module

Easily search Torhead with this module. Inherits your guild site’s theme.

Enjin's SWTOR contest and giveaway winners announced

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 18:00:00 -0500

Enjineers,

Today marks the end of our recent SWTOR contest. No doubt many of you are wandering around the galaxy representing your respective factions in the fight for good (or evil). We'd like to take a moment to announce the winners! Congratulations to the following:

@davin1023 - 1 Ultimate prize plan

@theblackwatch1 - 1 Advanced prize plan

@galacticwolf - 1 Advanced prize plan

@stinkdeken - 1 x 25 slot mumble server

@po_papendork - 1 x 25 slot mumble server

@scbomb - 1 copy of Star Wars: The Old Republic

Winners, you have been contacted on Twitter. Please send us a DM or an email back for additional instructions.

Did you miss out? Don't worry because our partners are still spreading Enjin gifts. Check out these sites where contests are still going:

Massively

Sith Inquisitors
World of Minecraft

Lastly, take a moment and check out the Enjin Mega Holiday Sale with up to 40% off plans and themes!

Enjin Mega Holiday Sale. 40% OFF Plans & Themes!

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 23:02:00 -0500

Enjin Mega Holiday Sale. 40% OFF Plans & Themes!

We'd like to wish everyone safe and happy holidays, filled with friends, family and lots of gaming! We’d also like to thank all of our users who’ve been sharing their ideas, suggestions and supporting us.

To celebrate the holidays we are running a MEGA sale! You will receive DOUBLE the savings for prepaying for an Ultimate or Advanced plan.

SAVE 40% when you prepay for 1 year on any plan!
SAVE 20% when you prepay for 6 months on any plan!
SAVE 10% when you prepay for 3 months on any plan!
SAVE 40% on all themes and headers!

Just click the prepay button on your plan page and your savings will be automatically applied for the selected prepaid time-frame. Please note, this MEGA SALE ends DECEMBER 25th, 2011.

Don’t miss out, this kind of sale won’t repeat for another year!

Win Enjin Prizes!

World of Minecraft is giving away huge Enjin prizes! If you play Minecraft make sure to check out the contest on www.worldofminecraft.com

SWTOR character support is live! Server status & more

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:18:05 -0500

SWTOR server status

Check the status server of any SWTOR US or EU server with this direct dynamic module. The module automatically queries the status of any Star Wars: The Old Republic server every 30 seconds and will dynamically display the status without a refresh! You can add multiple modules to check various servers or create your own SWTOR server status page.

Custom server status icons
Set your own status icons for this module in your theme editor > icons > online/offline status section. We have also included a number of styles you can set. Just download the images from this blog post and upload them in the correct area or make your own!

SWTOR character support

Character support has been enabled for SWTOR! Until Bioware releases a SWTOR armory or a direct feed to character data, a manual system is in place. The moment Bioware releases character data the system is ready to switch over to automatic feeding and we have some exciting features planned for this.

Users and admins can now add characters and define:

Character Name
Avatar
Level
Race
Gender
Class
Discipline
Server

IMPORTANT: To enable this new system, you must remove and re-add the SWTOR game in your site admin > games section. This will allow you to select your guild server and enable character support.

Managing characters
You can manage all your SWTOR guild characters in your site admin > teams section. Admins can add characters, create teams/groups and link or delete characters.

Create character teams and groups
You can create multiple teams of characters and further define character groups per team.
Characters can be assigned and linked to specific users.

Set access based on character teams and groups
Enjin’s access system found in each module allows you to use teams and groups for access levels. Directly link character teams or groups to various access permissions.

Character Profiles
Users can also add characters directly via their profile in the profile > character tab, they have the ability to set a ‘Main’ and also login as that character on the website.

SWTOR Characters Modules
Various modules can utilize the new SWTOR character system:

Member & character list
This a very versatile module that allows the display of all game characters or character teams in a list format. You can define exactly what columns of data and in what order items are displayed. We recommend selecting the characters option then select SWTOR in the dropdown.

Event Calendar system
Our advanced event planning and role system includes everything you need to organize operations and flashpoints. Your SWTOR guild characters are able to sign-up to specific events and you can specify custom roles and icons.

Visual roster module
Feature teams or groups and display them in a grid of character avatars. This is great to showcase leaders of a guild or your entire guild roster!

Huge network upgrades

We’ve experienced incredible demand and huge spikes of traffic recently. You may have experienced intermittent issues with your Enjin site. We deeply apologize for this and we thank you for the patience you have shown during this time. To minimize the chances of this from happening again, we have taken steps to optimize the Enjin infrastructure to interstellar levels.

Additional server clusters have been added to increase the capacity of Enjin. New network hardware has been added to increase the speed and efficiency of Enjin. We have also optimized a major part of the code base. In other words, we leveled up. Your website should be blazing fast and remain that way.

We are dedicated to bringing everyone the highest quality of service and we will continue to do what is needed to remain that way.

Twitter module is live!

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:26:00 -0500

A new integrated Twitter module has been released. Featuring your Twitter avatar, number of followers, follow us link, tweets and page navigation.

The Twitter module will inherit your site’s theme and in the module admin you can set the number of tweets per page and ability to disable page navigation.

Video demonstration

Don’t forget to follow Enjin on Twitter for important news and updates @enjinCS