Name - Xtemulation

URL - http://www.xtemu.com/forum/portal.html or http://www.xtemu.com/forum/index.html

Description - A gaming and emulation support forum/website.

I currently run a small in comparison gaming and emulation website that is slowly but surely growing, it has been a rough uphill battle so far to gain new registrations and increase traffic.

I am currently planning an entire site redesign, however I lack the skills to do this myself so I've been trying to seek someone who can help. If I can get the work done as cheaply as possible or find someone who is willing to help out of decency or generosity I'd be even more grateful.

A complete redesign is a necessary first step to help my community grow and for overall uniqueness to help improve my website and provide the best possible experience for my visitors.

I've been using Mkportal for the portal system and Mybb for the forum, however I'd like to eventually customize both or replace Mkportal with a complete customized home page to provide a better experience both visually and usability.

I have done numerous improvements and fixes for the website in the past, however since upgrading to Mybb 1.4 most things I've had problems before haven't made a reappearance or are relatively low maintenance than before.

I apologize for my absence yet once again, but I just wanted to provide an update...

I just got a decent amount of money which I used to go shopping. I bought myself parts for a new PC, PSP games and a license for Invision Power Board.

So besides shopping, I am in the process of converting my board over to IPB. I need to go through and reset settings, check permissions among a ton of other things, lastly I have to install some mods...

But I'll try to pop in when I get a chance...

My board which is now IPB instead of Mybb:

http://www.xtemu.com/forum

Things are starting to shape up for my forum, I still have to get around to customizing it and getting a decent banner created.

I have installed quite a bit of modifications and fixed a ton of issues since converting to IPB, obviously more work to be done still.

Nice active community!
What I suggest would probably a new, default theme.
The default ipB is kind've bland.

I do agree on that, I'm just looking for a suitable theme. I have some nicer themes installed, however there is an issue that they don't display correctly in MkPortal when MkPortal is using the "forum" theme.

Although that will be a non-issue in the future if I can find someone to help code a customized front page system, and decide on a default theme for the forum that matches the front page.

Too bad you're using ipB.
If you were still on MyBB, I could help you make a theme that goes with your MKPortal.

Switching to IPB was not really something I wanted to do, but something I had to do. Sure there are some gripes about certain things and it lacks some important features, but overall it has been worth it. However I do believe that Vbulletin would of been a better choice than IPB for certain reasons.

The obvious gripes are file edits for nearly every modification, not as seamless as the plugin system for Mybb, themes can be a pain in the butt sometimes, forum support is not as good or busy as with Mybb.

In fact support on most IPB forums such as modding sites is quite slow and it's hard to get help on particular issues. Forum and ticket support for Community Seo is horrible, the admin is only ever on a day or two out of the week, and won't bother with adding to the support staff.

Also most modding sites require you to verify that you actually have an active license with IPB/IPS before you are able to access certain sections, post for support or download files which is a royal pain in the butt.

One modding site actively bans members when they find out they are running nulled/illegal board or have removed any copyrights.

Well in the end I was able to get the modifications I wanted, modifications that otherwise aren't available for Mybb such as a battle system (IbProBattle), decent arcade system, quick pm reply, an awesome shoutbox modification, a decent downloads system, and a challenge system..

I sacrificed some of the features Mybb offered, for other features that Mybb doesn't offer so in the end it was a win/win deal..

Anyways I might find someone who is willing to help with a custom theme. If not, I'll have to make one myself.

Even though I don't run Mybb on my main forum anymore, I still need help with other things. My IPB forum lacks a decent logo/banner for all of my themes. A banner would help give some indication what the site is about and make the forum look more professional than it currently is.

I also have other Mybb forums residing on my domain/host that I need help with.

Ok, I can design a logo for you.
That might help.
And you might want to look for a new favicon too ;)

I would greatly appreciate the generosity of that. I've tried looking for someone to help with me with this as I lack any artistic talent, I did get some who offered to help create a banner but they backed out of it.

I would be willing to help compensate the efforts with a donation through Paypal after all is said and done if you are willing to accept, but I only have about $15 - $20 to work with, the rest is going towards renewal of my support license for IPB. :)

Good work, I think the default theme is a little dry at the moment but the forum as you say is shaping up and active, good work and good luck.

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http://mybbdesign.co.uk/images/uploads/mybbdesign3.gif

Again, as stated in the other thread, I design free of charge.
No backlinks required of any sort either.
I've already started on a logo, I'll send a few to sample for you.

I'll check it tomorrow, I have to get to bed in order to be up early tomorrow morning. Just a quick question, is Paypal accepted for the ad space on the forum?

Yes, in fact, it is the only payment type available.

Just bumping this for any additional opinions, the forum has a new default theme and some other things have been added. Feedback is greatly appreciated and essential to help me improve the community for all visitors and members. :)

the skin looks nice but why are you using IPB?