ExtremeCoderz Multi-Poster 7: First Details
Intro:
As you may or may not know, little over a month ago me and Jay decided to join forces, making ExtremeCoderz a two man company. I had worked on Multi-Poster before on several occasions, most noticeably the cloud-like system that was introduced with MP5 which is the primary reason why you wont find any post MP5 versions on warez sites. Anyhow, since we've known each-other for a few years now and we both have different areas of expertise (Jay knows more about business related stuff while I have more experience with programming) we believe we make a great team.
After brainstorming a bit we decided that for the next version of Multi-Poster (currently named Multi-Poster 7, although that is still subject to change) we would do a total re-write. In other words, dump all old code and start from scratch. The biggest reason behind this decision is that it gives us the ability to implement ideas which wouldn't have been possible using the old code base (which after all MP releases was starting to get rather bloated, buggy and the design of it made any update a pain in the ass). I'll go into depth about some of these new features in a bit.
Today's Limitations:
Let's put this whole Multi-Poster thing into perspective. There are multiple MP "clones" out there and they all boil down to distributing content to as many places as possible, as fast as possible while requiring a minimum amount of effort to do so. So which Multi-Poster software a person buys often depends on details such as: what are the kind of sites it supports? is it easy to use? can I customize it (templates, forums, etc)? and other smaller details. But regardless of what MP software you buy, you're always dependent on the developer for adding new features such as the supported website types (IPB, vB, WP, ...) or other functionality.
Everybody Can be a Multi-Poster 7 Developer:
This is where Multi-Poster 7 will set itself apart - yet again - from any alternative out there and is going to give you as a customer way more value for your money. The backend of MP7 has now been designed to be modular. Third party developers will be able to add support for new forum/site types, protection handlers (to solve things like captchas) and link checkers by simply dropping your .dll in the applications plugin folder, which will then get loaded automatically at runtime. Worth noting is the fact that we're putting a lot of effort into making plugin development as easy as possible so you won't need Ken Silverman skills to write your own plugins (though you obviously will need some experience with .NET).
Infinity:
For end-users this means that MP7 will support any forum/site type, captcha or other protection system, and filehost out there as long as a plugin exists for it. For .NET developers this means that you can now create plugins for MP7 which you can either make available for free or sell it to 1.000's of potential customers (which of course would be be the people who bought Multi-Poster).
This is a win-win-win situation. MP users will benefit because they have access to a large set of 3rd party content (much like browsers have add-ons and PC games have mods which all add an enormous amount of value). 3rd party developers win because they can profit from the huge MP customer base. And we (me and Jay) benefit because we can add new features a lot faster and concentrate on other cool new stuff in the future.
The Community's Needs:
Obviously we're not gonna stop there. The plugin system is the big new thing but there will be plenty of other improvements/features. Basically MP7 is just laying the foundation for this new direction. Later updates will introduce more plugin types so other parts of the application also become extensible. And thanks to the new backend we'll be able to implement ideas and features suggested by the community much faster. This is a very important benefit because at the end of the day it is the community, not us, that wants to use the application so listening to the communities needs is an absolute must. And there's nothing more annoying than having to wait ages for the developer to implement new features. There will be tutorial videos made, both for users and developers (who will also have access to sample projects for creating MP7 plugins in Visual Studio). Additional forum sections will be added for posting/buying/selling/trading plugins, developer support, etc.
Being the Best is Not Enough:
That's about it for now. We still have a lot of work to do, and like I said, this is just the beginning. The possibilities are endless and there's currently no MP alternative that can compete with this new, open direction we've taken since every alternative out there is as closed as a bank on Sunday and miles behind from a technical PoV. By the time they realized what just happened, we'll be another few light years ahead.
Intro:
As you may or may not know, little over a month ago me and Jay decided to join forces, making ExtremeCoderz a two man company. I had worked on Multi-Poster before on several occasions, most noticeably the cloud-like system that was introduced with MP5 which is the primary reason why you wont find any post MP5 versions on warez sites. Anyhow, since we've known each-other for a few years now and we both have different areas of expertise (Jay knows more about business related stuff while I have more experience with programming) we believe we make a great team.
After brainstorming a bit we decided that for the next version of Multi-Poster (currently named Multi-Poster 7, although that is still subject to change) we would do a total re-write. In other words, dump all old code and start from scratch. The biggest reason behind this decision is that it gives us the ability to implement ideas which wouldn't have been possible using the old code base (which after all MP releases was starting to get rather bloated, buggy and the design of it made any update a pain in the ass). I'll go into depth about some of these new features in a bit.
Today's Limitations:
Let's put this whole Multi-Poster thing into perspective. There are multiple MP "clones" out there and they all boil down to distributing content to as many places as possible, as fast as possible while requiring a minimum amount of effort to do so. So which Multi-Poster software a person buys often depends on details such as: what are the kind of sites it supports? is it easy to use? can I customize it (templates, forums, etc)? and other smaller details. But regardless of what MP software you buy, you're always dependent on the developer for adding new features such as the supported website types (IPB, vB, WP, ...) or other functionality.
Everybody Can be a Multi-Poster 7 Developer:
This is where Multi-Poster 7 will set itself apart - yet again - from any alternative out there and is going to give you as a customer way more value for your money. The backend of MP7 has now been designed to be modular. Third party developers will be able to add support for new forum/site types, protection handlers (to solve things like captchas) and link checkers by simply dropping your .dll in the applications plugin folder, which will then get loaded automatically at runtime. Worth noting is the fact that we're putting a lot of effort into making plugin development as easy as possible so you won't need Ken Silverman skills to write your own plugins (though you obviously will need some experience with .NET).
Infinity:
For end-users this means that MP7 will support any forum/site type, captcha or other protection system, and filehost out there as long as a plugin exists for it. For .NET developers this means that you can now create plugins for MP7 which you can either make available for free or sell it to 1.000's of potential customers (which of course would be be the people who bought Multi-Poster).
This is a win-win-win situation. MP users will benefit because they have access to a large set of 3rd party content (much like browsers have add-ons and PC games have mods which all add an enormous amount of value). 3rd party developers win because they can profit from the huge MP customer base. And we (me and Jay) benefit because we can add new features a lot faster and concentrate on other cool new stuff in the future.
The Community's Needs:
Obviously we're not gonna stop there. The plugin system is the big new thing but there will be plenty of other improvements/features. Basically MP7 is just laying the foundation for this new direction. Later updates will introduce more plugin types so other parts of the application also become extensible. And thanks to the new backend we'll be able to implement ideas and features suggested by the community much faster. This is a very important benefit because at the end of the day it is the community, not us, that wants to use the application so listening to the communities needs is an absolute must. And there's nothing more annoying than having to wait ages for the developer to implement new features. There will be tutorial videos made, both for users and developers (who will also have access to sample projects for creating MP7 plugins in Visual Studio). Additional forum sections will be added for posting/buying/selling/trading plugins, developer support, etc.
Being the Best is Not Enough:
That's about it for now. We still have a lot of work to do, and like I said, this is just the beginning. The possibilities are endless and there's currently no MP alternative that can compete with this new, open direction we've taken since every alternative out there is as closed as a bank on Sunday and miles behind from a technical PoV. By the time they realized what just happened, we'll be another few light years ahead.
.