Ozzu's 10th Anniversary and the Next Decade

Today at 2:38 pm PST Ozzu became 10 years old. It has been an amazing ride so far, and am looking forward to another 10 years. We have been lucky over the years to have all sorts of amazing people contribute and participate at Ozzu. Without them Ozzu would not be where it is today.



What do we have to look forward to in the coming 10 years?

Ozzu is currently in the process of being completely re-designed from the ground up and will no longer be using phpBB. A few of the major drawbacks with phpBB is that spammers often target websites that run that board, because once they crack the registration they can target thousands of websites in an automated manner. Another major drawback, at least for me with phpBB, is that their release cycle occurs frequently enough that it is hard to maintain all of the additional modifications that we make. With the current Ozzu there are over 80 additional features/modifications added to the software, and it makes it quite a chore to upgrade and stay up to date with phpBB. With our new system since it will be all proprietary, we will no longer be dependent on phpBB or the problems they cause as far as maintaining Ozzu and releasing new features. This will open Ozzu up to being able to have lots of new core features including:

Badges

Badges for hitting certain milestones, or passing certain tests which can include a variety of things. Badges could be awarded for trying new things on Ozzu that you have not done before. Badges could also be awarded for passing tests such as a complete understanding of how Ozzu works, skill tests for a variety of different fields including an understanding of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, C/C++, Python, Ruby, etc.

Points

Points will be rewarded to members when other members like their topics or replies, or if you receive a reward from answering a topic with a bounty. These points that you receive can be used for placing new bounties on threads to encourage members to answer it. An increase in points will also grant members more privileges and eventually being a full moderator.

Tagging System

Tagging system to completely re-organize Ozzu. Ozzu Members will be able to "follow" certain tags that they are interested to see the posts important to them. This will make it easier for members to post as they won't have to figure out where their topic would best be located. One problem in the past is that certain topics actually do belong in more than one forum category, so it didn't make sense from an organizational standpoint. This should resolve that and simplify the posting process.

New Authentication System

Authentication system which allows you to easily register or login via Facebook, Twitter, Google, or any website that uses OpenID. We will most likely be dropping all captchas as this only discourages members to join our community. The burden should be on Ozzu to find a way to stop spammers, not new members. This should make registering and logging in extremely easy. Here is a sneak peak at what the new dialog currently looks like:

Social Media

Much better integration with social media to help keep our members engaged and participating in our community. Will optionally allow members to also have any topics they post be sent via their social media channels to encourage more replies. Popular topics on Ozzu will also be posted on Ozzu's social media feeds.

Different Types of Topics

Different topic types including: Question/Answer, Discussion, and Article/Tutorial/Blog.

The Question/Answer topic type will allow a member to post a question and the answers will be organized by the ones with the most up votes or an answer marked for solving the question. Remarks can be made on the question or answers via members, and members with enough privileges will be able to edit topics or answers to make them more clear, or to fix typos, grammar, etc.

A Discussion Type topic will be very similar to how Ozzu currently is, with any replies done in a sequential fashion based on when they were posted. The main difference here is that responses can now be threaded so that you won't have to "quote" who you are responding to. Simply reply directly on a post and it will appear threaded right below that. Should make it much easier to follow discussions.

The Article/Tutorial/Blog type will allow a member to create an extensive piece of work that will work very simliar to how blogs are currently done. Below these types of topics comments can be made in a threaded manner like the discussion topic type. To be able to post this type of topic a test will need to be passed, however members who contribute here will be rewarded much more points and some new badges.

Make Money on Ozzu with our Marketplace

Ozzu will have an integrated marketplace where members can offer their own web designs, stock photography, icons/vectors/graphics, code/plugins, stock music/audio. Ozzu would be responsible for accepting the payments, and paying the owner of the product minus our commission. This could encourage members to participate more at Ozzu and get paid for it. The owner will be responsible for providing the product via their means which could include e-mail, or their website. Members that want to offer products on Ozzu will also need to pass a test. Badges will be rewarded to members who make a certain amount of sales milestones and other members who purchase from these members will be able to leave feedback and ratings. A comment system will also be setup so that the owner can interact with the community on their product pages to help answer questions or solve problems. Before any product gets posted, Ozzu or members with enough permissions will have to review the product to make sure its up to our standards and that the content is original and not copied from elsewhere.

E-mail Communications

A new system to make it completely clear what you want us to communicate with you via e-mail. Here is a preview of what this currently looks like:

New Look for Ozzu

Finally our website design on Ozzu will be completely new with many integrated AJAX features to give Ozzu a fresh look. Our new look will be simplified in a manner that makes more sense from a usability standpoint. Things should be easier to find, and clutter will be removed. The login and registration button will be extremely easy to find unlike our current website.

With the new system and the way Ozzu is being developed it should be much easier to continue to add new features or tweak existing ones. I am really looking forward to seeing the new Ozzu, there is still much work to be done however. I mainly wanted to provide a glimpse into my plans for Ozzu in the coming years.

Happy Birthday Ozzu!

No, you won't have to re-register. I will make sure all of the data from the current Ozzu is imported into the new system correctly so that user's don't lose anything and will still be able to have their same account.

Glad you like it, that is only a glimpse

Can't steal that, but you are more than welcome to borrow ideas from it and use it in your own format that doesn't look identical