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Jcink beginner friendly?


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I'm trying to start my own RP forum. I've seen that Jcink is a popular forum so I grabbed it. Now that I'm fiddling with it, with no guidance, would you consider it beginner friendly? If not, what are some suggestions for a beginner who really really really wants her site to be born. 🙂

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Jcink isn’t beginner friendly in the way some of the other forums are; IPS and Vesta are a lot more simplistic, but with IPS you’re going to have to throw down money and with Vesta, you’ll have to do a lot of coding yourself. The perks of jcink are more along the lines of cheap-to-no-cost and you can pretty much of your choice of several different pre-made skins for free. (However, it’s worth noting that many jcink skins are used frequently for roleplay sites, so if you’re in search of something unique, it’s back to coding or paying someone to code a skin for you.)

 

The two softwares I already mentioned in addition to jcink have easier to navigate admin panels—IPS actually has a search command built into theirs. Fortunately though, many of the places where you’ll find jcink skins tend to have guides or tips for installing them. 
 

If you’ve chosen jcink simply because of its popularity, you’re absolutely cool to do that. If you’re wanting to look at other options, such as Simple Machines Forum or MyBB, we also provide free hosting so it’s not necessary to go out and pay for a webhost. Jcink is definitely a good value though. Especially considering you can put five or six forums on one premium account for $10. 

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Being completely honest there isn't one singular right answer to this. As someone that has been using web softwares for well over 17 years it really depends on what you're looking for and how your mind works.

 

A lot of people use Jcink because they find it simple and easy to use (it is also a software made over 17 years ago when the internet was far simpler than it is now). Others, like @Grimscythe prefer a more modern approach to their web interface which requires a more modern software. Things like Vesta, IPS, MyBB and more are things that have been updated (or created) in the past few years to have up to date web standards. The biggest difference is not all of them are free and if they are free you still have to find a web host which is not always free either. This and other factors makes Jcink an easy choice for some people.

 

I personally find Jcink archaic and frustrating to deal with along with some other softwares.

 

I think its best to ask yourself what you're looking for in a software and start from there. Things like Vesta are made for roleplay by a roleplayer. IPS has my Character manager which is also a mod made by a roleplayer. MyBB and phpBB have account linking options.

 

If I were to recommend a free option I'd say Vesta. It's an RPG Initiative exclusive provided by our one and only @Arceus.

 

Another person to ask about simple items would be @StormWolfe as she tends to find ways to blow things up so she needs a simple option.

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Well, I will weigh in with my opinions here....I am the Initiative's grandma. I have been online roleplaying since all that was available were listservers like Yahoo Groups. *Gasp*

 

There are numerous options out there in the wonderful world of software. And, honestly, I've found that almost all of them have a certain level of cost attached. As @Morriganmentioned - there's either the cost of the software and/or the cost of a web host and domain name. Even Jcink, if you want to have a 333 rating for your site, requires you pay a tiny fee for ad removal. 

 

Depending on your skill level and what kind of site and site aesthetics you want will probably be additional things to consider when choosing an application for your site.

Someone somewhere went to sleep and dreamed us all alive.
Dreams get pushed around a lot, and I doubt if we'll survive.
We won't get to wake up, dreams were born to disappear.
And I'm pretty sure that none of us are here.
~ None of Us Here by Jim Stafford ~

 

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Sorry, quick correction here, Vesta is neither free, nor an RPG-I exclusive. Unfortunately, I just can't do the kind of work for it by myself and then offer it for free, and you can't even get it here. It's donation-ware, which means if you want it, you need to donate at least a dollar. There will be a free Jcink-sign-up like version released after Salerno, supported by ads. c:

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  • 1 month later...
On 2/18/2020 at 2:55 PM, Arceus said:

Sorry, quick correction here, Vesta is neither free, nor an RPG-I exclusive. Unfortunately, I just can't do the kind of work for it by myself and then offer it for free, and you can't even get it here. It's donation-ware, which means if you want it, you need to donate at least a dollar. There will be a free Jcink-sign-up like version released after Salerno, supported by ads. 😄

 

Where can I find out more about Vesta???

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@Riseoftheg Vesta has a coterie here:

You can find all the download and development information there.

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I am the darkness, always watching, always listening, ALWAYS THERE.
(If you're interested in Plain of Ice, message me, it's private. Bleach site, non-canon.)

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  • 1 year later...

I can also testify that it is not beginner friendly. I had to have a lot of help in creating and changing some things to make it more bearable for others.

I dont have one.

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