I spent part of the weekend setting up a new forum site at PopOccultureForums.com. It utilizes Lussumo’s Vanilla open-source forum application, which is the nicest looking and acting BB application I’ve seen so far.

However, Vanilla is not quite ready for prime-time yet. They are only up to an official release of version 0.9.2 - if that means anything to you. I have installed a pre-release version 1, but it’s kind of shaky. So, that means I’m not officially opening the forum for business yet, but if some people want to sign up for it and help me beta test it, I would appreciate it.

Right now, there are a bunch of weird things that I want to ultimately change, but for the purposes of beta testing will retain. First off, you have to apply for membership and be approved by me. Eventually I’m going to remove that step, so as soon as you sign up, you’re ready to get posting. Also, I’m not sure how the user icon system works yet, as I’ve not had time to really thoroughly test it out yet. Plus there is just some other general bugginess, which you’ll notice if you play around with it enough. I will also be changing around the Terms of Service (TOS) because I don’t like or agree with some of their wording.

In any event, if you’re a forum nerd, or just want to get in on some good conversations, and help shape the direction this site will take, please apply for membership. I will be accepting the first dozen or so applicants to help me beta test this new application and get everything all squared away. If you notice problems or have suggestions, please post about it in the forum once you’ve been approved. Thanks!

PS. Also check out these sweet category listings that I’ve implemented. This should give you a bit of a flavor of what the new Pop Occulture site is going to be like (as opposed to my journal, which will remain the same as it is now). Please keep your posts as topically oriented as possible, and post about any bugs or problems in the “General” category. Vanilla is cool cause you can browse by both categories (like a regular forum) and then they have a much nicer recent discussion listing, which is a lot more like a blog-based interface, which I prefer.

Oh, and try not to break anything! Thanks!

[Also wanted to thank Danieru from Huge Entity for turning me onto this software and fielding some basic questions in setting it up! Check out his blog if you haven’t already!]