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Campaign Information
We are currently running a campaign to purchase the forum software from Invision Power Servies. The reason for the purchase is because the current license is owned by Stoppingby4Now. He has been allowing us to use it ever since we made the switch to Invision Power Board. As we are making moves towards our goals we're now in the position of needing to purchase a license owned by STEP. This means purchasing the software using the generous donations of the community.
As most of you know, STEP does not make any profit whatsoever. The entire site is community based and operates on the donations of the community. Thus, from time to time and as the need arises we may run campaigns such as this to boost donations for operating experiences or specific needs such as this. To be completely transparent, we currently have enough in the safety net to purchase the software, however, we must also keep in mind our monthly operating expenses with currently set around $60/mo for server costs. Soon we will start development on STEP 3.0 which will likely add to the monthly cost due to the requirement of running the live site alongside the development site. For this reason, we are running a campaign for the purchase of the software, rather than deducting from the net we have now for operating expenses.
Goal
The goal for this campaign is set at $200. That is the cost of installing the forum software on our own servers. We will update the tracker at the top of the page every one to two days.
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Questions
- What will purchasing the software mean for STEP?
- Purchasing the software will put us one step closer to rolling out STEP 3.0. I want to be very clear. As of the time of this writing, work as not yet begun. There have been a few things holding us back these past several months, but that will be resolved very soon. This will also allow us to release STEP 3.0 will fully updated software. As it stands, we're running a rather outdated version.
- What is STEP 3.0?
- STEP 3.0 is the next major revision to the STEP paradigm which we have been working towards for some time now and involves many changes. A short summary of some of these changes are:
- Shifts the back-end of the Guide structure from the wiki to using the Mod Picker API.
- Fully realized STEP Packs using the Mod Picker platform.
- Fully updated software on all fronts.
- A new front-end website utilizing Drupal with a modern, responsive design.
- A new visual design across all platforms.
- Most likely a new server.
- What is new with that latest forum software?
- That's a hard one to answer because there are a ton of improvements. The main highlight for users are the forums will be modern and responsive. This means they will look and work great on just about all mobile devices. For the back-end, a massive redesign took place for ease of use, development, and styling. This will make our job of maintaining the forums easier.
