\(ibbits)/

The Newsroom

Personal Messaging is up, send all the datagrams you want!
I finally completed the personal messaging system and the friends system! I decided to go with the name datagrams ('grams for short). I know that blips won the poll but for some reason as I was coding it I just kept using datagrams and it seemed to fit. If we use the name for a while and it doesn't really seem to fit we can always change it to something else later. Anyway, I'll briefly go over some of the datagramming features. Datagrams are organized into conversations so that all the replies get threaded under the first post, similarly to the forums. You can include up to 5 users in a conversation, which is pretty neat as well. I haven't yet finished the auto-update features, so you'll still have to refresh the page to see new messages, but it is coming soon. If you have any questions about datagrams, I've made a little help section here. I've also finished up the Friends system so that you can easily 'gram a user without having to look them up. To friend a user just click the heart icon next to their username on their profile. They'll have to confirm your request just like on SBP. I'm sure there will probably be a lot of glitches, so please let me know on the forums if you find any. Chat away!
posted by heidi on Jan 20, 2013, 3:09 pm

Personal Messaging is up, send all the datagrams you want!

I finally completed the personal messaging system and the friends system! I decided to go with the name datagrams ('grams for short). I know that blips won the poll but for some reason as I was coding it I just kept using datagrams and it seemed to fit. If we use the name for a while and it doesn't really seem to fit we can always change it to something else later.

Anyway, I'll briefly go over some of the datagramming features. Datagrams are organized into conversations so that all the replies get threaded under the first post, similarly to the forums. You can include up to 5 users in a conversation, which is pretty neat as well. I haven't yet finished the auto-update features, so you'll still have to refresh the page to see new messages, but it is coming soon. If you have any questions about datagrams, I've made a little help section here. I've also finished up the Friends system so that you can easily 'gram a user without having to look them up. To friend a user just click the heart icon next to their username on their profile. They'll have to confirm your request just like on SBP.

I'm sure there will probably be a lot of glitches, so please let me know on the forums if you find any. Chat away!

posted by heidi on Jan 20, 2013, 3:09 pm

Re-naming Starmail Poll
View Poll Here! Progress on the new Personal Messaging system is going great, but we still have the problem of a name. What shall re-name Starmail? I've created a little poll for you guys to give your opinion. If you have other ideas, you can submit those as well. I'm leaning towards bitMail or Pops myself. (because then I can say 'pop me a line' ;P) Anyway, please let me know what you think. Thanks!
posted by heidi on Jan 8, 2013, 5:54 pm

Re-naming Starmail Poll

View Poll Here!

Progress on the new Personal Messaging system is going great, but we still have the problem of a name. What shall re-name Starmail? I've created a little poll for you guys to give your opinion. If you have other ideas, you can submit those as well. I'm leaning towards bitMail or Pops myself. (because then I can say 'pop me a line' ;P) Anyway, please let me know what you think. Thanks!

posted by heidi on Jan 8, 2013, 5:54 pm

Lost Password Script Complete
Hello all! Firstly I want to thank you guys for such a great opening turn out! We already have 60+ members which is pretty amazing. :D Secondly, if you ever happen to lose your password or want to reset it the script is up. Just go to the ibbits home page (when you're not logged in) and click the "lost password" link at the bottom. This will create a brand new randomized password and will e-mail it to you. You do have to confirm your username and e-mail address for this to work. In the future I'll probably make an even more secure way to do this using temporary passwords and security questions, but for now this will do just fine. Let me know if you have any problems with it.
posted by heidi on Jan 8, 2013, 5:31 pm

Lost Password Script Complete

Hello all! Firstly I want to thank you guys for such a great opening turn out! We already have 60+ members which is pretty amazing. :D

Secondly, if you ever happen to lose your password or want to reset it the script is up. Just go to the ibbits home page (when you're not logged in) and click the "lost password" link at the bottom. This will create a brand new randomized password and will e-mail it to you. You do have to confirm your username and e-mail address for this to work. In the future I'll probably make an even more secure way to do this using temporary passwords and security questions, but for now this will do just fine. Let me know if you have any problems with it.

posted by heidi on Jan 8, 2013, 5:31 pm

Welcome to ibbits!
Hello everyone. It's been a while! Welcome to ibbits, formerly Starbits Pets. I bet you all have a lot of questions, probably more than I can answer in a simple news post, but I'll address some things that I'm pretty sure you want to know right away. Q: What is ibbits? What happened to Starbits Pets? A: ibbits is the new name for Starbits Pets. It will be similar in tone and game mechanics to SBP and will even feature many of the same creatures and items. Everything is being re-coded from the ground up since a lot has changed in web development in the couple of years that SBP has been on hiatus. In ibbits there is going to be more focus on pet personality and development. I'm also working on making ibbits more touchscreen friendly (try adjusting the size of your browser window and see what happens!). Overall, I hope that ibbits will succeed where SBP could not in making a fun community where people can explore the world of Bita in new and interesting ways. Q: Where are all of my pets and items from SBP? A: Don't worry, all of your pets, bits, and items are stored safely in a backup of the old Starbits database. You will be able to retrieve these in the future using a Time Machine feature. This will allow me to re-draw and re-create all of the various creatures and items over time so that you guys won't have to wait forever for the site to open. It will also level out the playing field for new users. Q: Which parts of ibbits are currently functional? A: So far, only the Forums and User Preferences are complete. Personal messaging (formerly known as Starmail, we need to think of a new term for it now) will be the next feature to be implemented. After PMing is complete I'll move on to the real meat of the site, the pets and the items. If you guys have any more things you want to know ask away on the forums! Thanks for returning to the community after such a long hiatus. This is going to be fun!
posted by heidi on Jan 3, 2013, 12:15 pm

Welcome to ibbits!

Hello everyone. It's been a while! Welcome to ibbits, formerly Starbits Pets. I bet you all have a lot of questions, probably more than I can answer in a simple news post, but I'll address some things that I'm pretty sure you want to know right away.

Q: What is ibbits? What happened to Starbits Pets?
A: ibbits is the new name for Starbits Pets. It will be similar in tone and game mechanics to SBP and will even feature many of the same creatures and items. Everything is being re-coded from the ground up since a lot has changed in web development in the couple of years that SBP has been on hiatus. In ibbits there is going to be more focus on pet personality and development. I'm also working on making ibbits more touchscreen friendly (try adjusting the size of your browser window and see what happens!). Overall, I hope that ibbits will succeed where SBP could not in making a fun community where people can explore the world of Bita in new and interesting ways.

Q: Where are all of my pets and items from SBP?
A: Don't worry, all of your pets, bits, and items are stored safely in a backup of the old Starbits database. You will be able to retrieve these in the future using a Time Machine feature. This will allow me to re-draw and re-create all of the various creatures and items over time so that you guys won't have to wait forever for the site to open. It will also level out the playing field for new users.

Q: Which parts of ibbits are currently functional?
A: So far, only the Forums and User Preferences are complete. Personal messaging (formerly known as Starmail, we need to think of a new term for it now) will be the next feature to be implemented. After PMing is complete I'll move on to the real meat of the site, the pets and the items.

If you guys have any more things you want to know ask away on the forums! Thanks for returning to the community after such a long hiatus. This is going to be fun!

posted by heidi on Jan 3, 2013, 12:15 pm