Unleashed2k

Hey all,

It's been a tough week for me as I lost my mother a few days ago. Only 6 months ago I lost my father as well.

I've been reflecting on my life and what to do for the future of it. I want to continue supporting CustomsForge as best as I can and the best way to do that is to shut down donations permanently as I've been having issues with PayPal & taxes. 

For the sake of my sanity I am moving the website to a Patron-only support model as it is easier to track and deal with. That way I can resolve my debt issues caused by the site (that is 100% my fault, I didn't know what I was doing at the time and it caught up to me). 

Thank you for your continued support. 

Edit:
Join our Patreon via: https://customsforge.com/index.php?app=patreonintegration&module=system&controller=patreonconnect

9 hours ago, Jokkah said:

I do have some experience with adobe premiere pro, I work along my wife in our YT channel NUTRIRIANA, is a medium size channel with 150k subs... feel free to take a look at it. I can't commit to take the full load, but during startup I can provide a helping hand. My english is fludent enough, I lived 3 years in UK

I would love for you to apply, once we have a team going any input that you learned could definitely help us!

https://forms.gle/8qypbrbPVdgUpuba7

We have a few things coming up in the future and a few things to announce.

First, I'd like to announce that we have relaunched our merch store. It is available in 7 regions on Amazon and also on Redbubble. Additionally, Redbubble offers magnets and stickers. We set our revenue to the lowest as we want to bring these to you for the cheapest prices possible. If you're interested in buying some merch visit our new merch store - https://customsforge.com/merch/. We have a new 2021 design being worked on by the creator of our CustomsForge Metal shirt (mattatttaq). We hope to see some users & streamers rocking our merch! I would like to thank Mimi for working on our awesome graphics everywhere from our Merch store to our Discord & Social Media pages.

Next, we are announcing the return of our newsletter. We are moving away from the PDF format and will be moving towards posts / articles with a monthlyupdate on what's happening. We're still ironing out the final details but we should be releasing more details later this month. My hope is that we can post interviews, tutorials, and more. 

Speaking of tutorials we are launching our YouTube channel soon. Please subscribe for upcoming videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk_M0npHFlfpZ-Bd7Sz4EOA. We need to reach 100 subscribers ASAP! Thank you.

Sponsored Message & How To Support Us:

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If you would like to sync your customs better when creating them, Go PlayAlong is an interactive tab player and a powerful practicing tool. Enjoy playing along with your own mp3 music, perfectly synced to your tabs. Stay motivated and focus on the songs that you love. It is available via https://goplayalong.sjv.io/c/1434133/411808/7375 with 10% off Coupon: CustomsForge10OFF

You can support CustomsForge by donating via: https://customsforge.com/index.php?/donate/make-donation/
Additionally, you can subscribe & sync your account to our patreon via https://customsforge.com/index.php?app=patreonintegration&module=system&controller=patreonconnect | All Patreons get exclusive beta tests to Ignition5

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If you're not on our discord or haven't linked your account you can do so via: https://customsforge.com/index.php?/discord/invite/cf/

We don't anything to announce for our search engine ignition but we are actively working on Ignition4 & Ignition5.

If you're not using our tools for repairing your CDLC you are missing out! Check out and download CustomsForge Song Manager via: http://cfmanager.com/

Volunteers:
We are looking for ALL TYPES of volunteers. If you applied before, apply again!

Video Editor & Content Creators (Creating & Editing content for YouTube) [fluent clear english required]
Writer/Newsletter (Writing and improving articles for CF, Newsletter Content) [fluent clear english required]
Laravel Developer (Ignition4 Development: Laravel, Livewire, PHP, MySQL, Bootstrap, jQuery)
React Developer (Ignition5 Development)
Moderator (Moderate CF Discord, Ignition4, and forums) [fluent clear english required]
.NET Developer (Work on upgrading CustomsForgeSongManager) & possible create new tools
Designer (Artist would work on emotes, YouTube thumbnails, and other images as needed.)
System Admin [You must join another position to apply for this] (Configure cPanel CentOS 7 Linux w/ MySQL 8 & PHP-FPM 7.4)

If you're interested please apply via: https://forms.gle/8qypbrbPVdgUpuba7

Last, we have launched our 2021 Survey! Please fill it out here: https://forms.gle/96nk8CXykUvUTyFk6

Thanks all and keep rocking!!

4 hours ago, olze said:

can you give some information about the tech stack which is in use? as mentioned in the other topic (which unfortunately has been closed) i am also admin of some sites with a couple of thousands users, even if people like @fenrirwulfcan not imagine that. maybe i can give some useful tips in regards to performance or in how to find the bottleneck. 

thanks for your effort!

 

regarding your tasks: 1) i really dont think that there is a hardware upgrade required because it runs now, so if you did not change the hardware, it must be a software problem. 2) if its already running with php-fpm, i see no reason to switch except maybe consider using some caching (thats also one of the reasons i asked for the stack). if you run centos 7 i guess its php5. moving to php7 will absolutely improve performance, if the problem was a php problem. 4) i am very sure it was no problem with external resources because small snippets where loading very fast (png's etc.), but what was loading slow was everything related to .php 

and again, thanks. i also work fulltime as java dev, i know how hard it is to have projects running parallel  

@olzeMySQL 8, PHP 7.4 + OpCache, redis

Hey all,

As you can see there are large performance issues with the website. I'm fully aware as I get messaged about it from every source possible. With a full time job and as the only sysadmin this falls under as something only I can fix at the moment. I'm having a hard time narrowing the issue down as when the time outs start, there is no backend errors or severe load issues. 

The other issue is when prime-time (most users on the site) happens I'm usually asleep due to that I work night shift which makes it harder for me to see the issue. 

I understand everyone's frustrations, ignition4 was supposed to be the website that resolved all of the old websites problems. After the last website had a problem I was unable to revert, I was forced to upgrade the website to an unstable build Ignition4. Right now the search engine itself is stable however the server is not. So my plan for this week is to see the following:

1. See if we require to upgrade our servers again (I am trying to avoid this 100% as our current dedicated server specs are solid)
2. Look into PHP issues, consider switching engines again if that is the issue
3. Check the MySQL configuration, improve and optimize it.
4. Analyze error logs, slow queries
5. Verify outside sources are not the problem (illegal scrapers, DDoS Attacks, etc)
6. Resolve the issues above, or consider hiring expert help by paying them via a donation goal

Please note due to COVID and other life issues that we are short-staffed. Right now if you don't count me we have 2 main developers for Ignition4/5, 1 developer for CFSM.

I want this to be the best website possible. If you have advanced skills and the time available, please apply. 

https://forms.gle/NWzpZTpBTok5T5ER6

Info about the volunteer jobs:

System Admin - This position you would be managing our cPanel server and configuring CentOS 7, MySQL, and Apache/PHP-FPM configurations. To apply for this job you must have previous professional system admin experience at a web hosting company. cPanel University and Certifications help.
React Developer - You would be working on the next version of the website, Ignition5. This uses Typescript and GraphQL
Laravel Developer - You would be working on the current version of the website. This uses Laravel 7, Livewire, Bootstrap4
.NET Developer - You would be working on our CFSM Project. This uses an old version of .NET, we would like to make it more modern. 
CF Moderator - You would moderate the website, forums, and clear out reports for Ignition.
Discord Moderator - You would solely be a CF Discord moderator, which provides assistance to users and moderates the chat.

If you're unable to assist via volunteering consider supporting the website via donations to keep us running. 

I hope to fix this within a few weeks. Please note I am trying my hardest to get this resolved.

2 hours ago, joucarrera8 said:

I listened this song meanwhile playing cyberpunk and i realize i need to learn this song. Can someone create it? Pleaseeee

 

100% THIS, please

Part 2 has been completed. We'll continue to monitor for problems.

Additionally the downloads above have been fixed.

Happy Holidays!

I've migrated our website back to our old server as the new one was only temporary. There may be issues that come up but for right now our two websites editoronfire.com and cfmanager.com are down right now. 

I've attached the latest Editor On Fire files (Main file + HOTFIX) and CFSM Setup.

These websites will be back up soon but I'll keep these files here if you require them.

There is further maintenance to happen tomorrow but for now everything should be okay.

Regards,

Unleashed2k

CFSMSetup.rar eof hotfix (9-26-2020_3).zip eof1.8RC12.zip

Split topic to this one, so if anything seems off that's why...

We now have an FAQ system setup. You can submit your own questions/answers as well, but it needs to be approved by staff for it to show up.

https://customsforge.com/index.php?/faq/

Unfortunately, I will start this post off with some bad news and that is our lead developer has parted ways with the Ignition4 project.
We wish him the best in the future and I want to thank him for helping us get Ignition4 launched.

I just wanted to clarify a few things with everyone:
We never intended to launch Ignition4 until the main features were completed. This included a long beta testing period where we would fix any problems that we found. We ran into an unrecoverable bug with our old website where the login cookie from the forums would not be sent to Ignition3, causing a login loop. I had all of our devs look into it, and none of them could resolve the issue. Our backups did not resolve the issue and I was forced to upgrade. That is where we are now. 

Ignition4 is still being developed but all future features that we had planned for Ignition 4.5 have been canceled. This is due to the lack of Laravel/Livewire developers we can find. At the moment we only have three including me. None of us know Livewire as much as our ex-developer knew so we're stuck on fixing certain things and adding new features. We will continue to fix any issues and try to improve Ignition4 to make it as smooth as possible. 

What does this mean for the future of CustomsForge? 

Ignition5 - React

We plan on rewriting Ignition4 to use React instead of Laravel. Every developer I've interviewed recently knows react. It is way easier to find react developers over laravel developers.  We already have a dedicated team of 7+ devs (compared to our old team of 4) that knows react over laravel. It took 2+ years to complete ignition3 to ignition4 due to major rewriting issues, but the move to ignition5 should take a quarter of that time in theory. 

To kickstart the Ignition5 project, I brought back our original layout designer @AshesOfOwls. She helped us design the original UI for Ignition3. We adapted that design for Ignition4, and will be updating (or even revamping) the look for Ignition5. We are very excited to get most of our staff on board to help with the Ignition5 react project

===

Q&A

Q: Will planned features for 4.5 be included in 5?

A: Our main goal will be porting all currently used features for Ignition4 with features we wanted for 4.5 in mind. This way we can get the website over to react ASAP while also improving missing or broken features.

Q: When will collections come back from the old site (Ignition3)? 

A: At this time, collections from the old site will not be brought over. It has 20 million entries and it's just impossible to work with that amount of data at the moment. We will need to figure out the best way to store that data without making ignition slower.

Q: Are there any planned features that might make it for Ignition4?

A: Not at the moment. We would love to bring Artist search back, as that is highly requested but that would need to be done with extra free time not devoted to fixing ignition4 bugs or coding Ignition5. 

Q: Are you not looking for Laravel developers anymore?

A: We would absolutely love to find another Laravel developer so we can finish some features on Ignition4 that are not completed. If you know Laravel + React that is a huge bonus. Contact Unleashed2k on our Discord if you have any of these qualifications. 

Q: There are tons of broken features! I don't like the new site, etc etc

A: We are fully aware there are some people who do not like the current website. Like I mentioned before we never wanted to release the site in this current state, but it is an improvement overall with the new site speed and forums being upgraded. We are working on bringing all the features from Ignition3 & Ignition4 and the planned 4.5 to Ignition5

Q: Will Ignition5 still use the forums?

A: Yes! We will be using a more advanced integration using the IP Board API which will allow us to use groups & more features from IP Board. 
 

===

We're very excited about the future and the possibilities of Ignition5. 

I hope this answers some questions and we're looking forward to improving CustomsForge.

Edit: I've launched the Ignition4 FAQ. We hope to create the ultimate knowledgebase of all Ignition4 questions there.

https://ipb4test.customsforge.com/index.php?/faq/

Closing Thread - Please use Ignition4 Forums

https://ipb4test.customsforge.com/index.php?/forum/187-ignition4-customsforge-search-feedback-support/

On 11/9/2020 at 9:55 PM, Genesee62 said:

Hey guys i did notice something that i found on the new site that i was a little concerned with. When downloading new cdlc on the new site, it only updates the collection for the new site. Will there be an option or capability to transfer the members current collection to the new site? I try not to download the same cdlc more than once. Knowing what you already have in your collection is very insightful. Thanks for the updates, hope all is well.

 

This is still a work in progress. We do have all the old collection data saved but when using it on the new site it is currently bringing everything to a halt, due to it being 20 million entries. We're working on finding the best way to store this data.

12 minutes ago, beastman69 said:

Things look great. Thank you for all your hard work on the site.

I have a question: is there a way for me to custom-default the CDLC search to "last updated" instead of "DLs"? I mean, hey, it's great to know that Comfortably Numb and Stairway are the top two downloads of all time here, but it takes two quick clicks every time I launch the search to get where I am headed. There's probably a setting somewhere to save my current selection as default, but I'm not seeing it so any help is appreciated. Thanks. 

And the re-sort by heading is really fast now. The old version was painful to hit those, so it isn't a huge deal.

Hm, I reset all accounts like 2 hours ago to default for last updated. Can you check search settings? 

2 hours ago, bendu said:

How do I get the older  version back? This one is too touchy. click once anywhere that you didn't mean to and I have to start over.

The old version is retired permanently due to an error. Please provide more information other than too touchy.

Example: What resolution are you running?
Additionally you can click the menu to launch the modal or go straight to the record page.

I am working on bug fixes for smaller resolutions as well.

Placeholder for images.

Hi all,

I wanted to provide an update to let everyone know the status since our last August update.

We are proud to announce that ignition4 has completed it's first alpha test.

We found plenty of things to fix but this will not delay our next testing phases. We still plan on running another internal staff test to make sure everything is fixed and polished before we let anyone else check it out. While we are working on that, we are working with Invision Power (creator of our forums) on creating a patch to help us upgrade successfully from 3.4 -> 4.5. I have not received the full report on what they need us to do, but to prep for the upgrade we may need to remove some features / clear some data to help the upgrade process proceed without any hiccups. If this occurs it will be announced on our Partnered Discord first: https://discord.gg/cf

The next steps are crucial if we plan on upgrading the website soon. The following conditions must be met:

1) Purchase IP Board modifications for 4.5 version of the website (donation mod, championship, skin, etc mods that are needed)

2) Internal testing of ignition4 to make sure everything is secure, fast, with no big major bugs or issues

3) Test Migrations of IP Board 3.4->4.5 without hiccups

4) Deploy new servers with the latest OS that cPanel supports

5) A private test with friends of CF
6) Patreons will be able to test the website.

7) Full beta access that will be live for about a week or so, to make sure there are no outstanding issues. If we find problems that may delay the full launch until the issue is resolved.

Once everything is good to go, CustomsForge will be locked down for access for several hours while we start the migration of the old site to the new site. This includes our other sites we host: cfmanager.com & editoronfire.com.

Additionally we are working with our partner RSPlaylist.com to add new features that work between CF and RSPlaylist including linking your CF account, tracking your downloads, etc. More details on this later when we have more information to provide.

I've released some preview images to my patreon that will be exclusive to them until the 19th when I will update this post with the images. You can sub to my patreon for $1 for upcoming beta access + images by visiting here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/42814685

I'm looking forward to hearing everyone's feedback while we work on upgrading the whole CustomsForge experience. 

- Unleashed2k

If I can find more time I will tackle this. It's hard because they haven't been releasing tab books lately.

genre tags, and artist pages sound like they will be the most missed from that list.  Anyway, awesome can't wait.

There's some killer planned features for 4.1, the good news is that we've progressed a lot since last month and we're itching closer to the testing phrase. 

What is going to be removed from the final release?

Hey all,

I just wanted to touch base with everyone and give a proper update on what's been going on behind the scenes. At the moment COVID-19 has affected all of us. Due to work constraints and other issues, our main developers has not had the time to continue to develop Ignition4. 

Because of these delays I am announcing that we are currently cutting planned features for Ignition4 to fast-track the release of it. I understand delay after delay can get frustrating.
We wanted to bring you a state of the art search engine with all of these amazing features but we keep running into issues so my current plan is to make sure the cut features are added to the Ignition 4.1-4.5 Roadmap
 
Our primary goal is now is bringing on a few more developers, get them comfortable with laravel/js to finish up the current build and we can get this released. 
 
We have successfully tested a migration from IP Board 3 & Ignition 3 to IP Board 4.5 & Ignition4. 
So right now it's just about polishing and removing all features that won't make it to the build. 

We are still incredibly excited to bring you a rebuilt Ignition and to deliver an overall improved performance. 

I can't wait to have the new upgraded forums live with the improved search engine. The whole development process for Ignition4 has been a very frustrating but rewarding experience. All of our developers efforts will soon pay off once we can get this into your hands. If you're interested in testing what the new forums experience would be like, here's a really good example: https://linustechtips.com/main/

Beta access through my Patreon is still planned. 

If you would like to volunteer to become a developer, we're always looking for new talent: https://forms.gle/YWDzVSgsmGFSUaq39

Thanks all, stay safe!

A Special Message: This will be the last edition of this version of the newsletter. I am currently reassessing a better method to give news and interviews. This may come in a form of a blog, a quarterly newsletter, or something else but at the moment there is nothing else planned for August. Thank you for all that read. Unfortunately this month's newsletter I am unable to edit due to limitations on my side, I apologize for any grammar/spelling errors. Thanks - U2K

To view this months newsletter please use a PDF Reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader
You can also download this PDF here: https://customsforge.com/newsletter/newsletter_jul_2020.pdf

To view this months newsletter please use a PDF Reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader
You can also download this PDF here: https://customsforge.com/newsletter/newsletter_june_2020.pdf

To view this months newsletter please use a PDF Reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader
You can also download this PDF here: https://customsforge.com/newsletter/newsletter_may_2020.pdf