Changes and Additions to the Service

• Sidebar has new subwindow: "Tool control"
  "Tool control" window contains tool specific information and controls. E.g. for guestbooks you'll see the guestbook message counts.
• Guestbook+ ( i )
  

  The old guestbook paid option "Remove ads" has been changed to "Guestbook+". The price has not changed.

  Guestbook+ features include:

  • 500 additional guestbook messages (total max. 1000 messages)
  • No advertisements in the guestbook
  • Freely definable layout with Template Layout ( i )

  If you had purchased ad banner removal from guestbook, your guestbook will now have the "Guestbook+" option set (and couple of additional features available).

  VIP member's ( i ) all guestbooks are automatically plus guestbooks with no additional charge.

• Miscellaneous changes in the management pages.

• Changed the version of software framework used by Freebok (from the discontinued version 3 of Turbine to the latest active version). Users should not be see any difference, but internally the change was fundamental. In spite of rigorous testing some problems might arise in the following days. All errors will be fixed as soon as they are discovered.
• There is now only one VIP membership ( i ) type. The VIP user / VIP webmaster type names proved to be confusing, so the VIP user name has been removed. All VIP:s are now just VIP members. The features that were planned for VIP users will be introduced with a new name in the future.

• Two new skins; dream and oldie. The skins were created by simison. Thank you simison!
  The default skin can be enabled here.
• Miscellaneous bug fixes, thanks for all who have sent bug reports. Most notably the error that occured when removing account has been corrected. All accounts that were only partially removed have now been cleared.

• Two new skins; toffees and baby. The base colors to both skins are by Firen, .css implementation and finishing are by simison. Thanks Firen and simison!
  The default skin can be enabled here.

• Published Freebok notification ( i ) program that is usable by VIP users.

• Changed the guestbook "HTML Layout" name to "Template Layout". The new name should be more informative than the old one. Only the name chaged; the function is still the same.

• Because of an error in Freebok system it was possible for non VIP members to use the guestbook HTML Layout under some conditions. The error has now been corrected and the HTML Layout is usable by VIP users ( i ) only, as announced 2003-03-01.

• Added advertising feature ( i ).
  It is now very easy to purchase advertising space from the guestbooks and Freebok management pages.
• Enabled a new skin called "kiwi" created by simison. Thanks simison!
  The default skin can be enabled here.
• Help page updates and new help items.
• Miscellaneous bug fixes, thanks for all who have sent bug reports.

[These changes were announced in advance]

• Guestbook HTML layout will be changed for VIP users ( i ) only. Non-VIP member's guestbooks will be changed to Form layout automatically. Please prepare for the change! If your guestbook is about to change from HTML to Form layout you should make sure that the Form layout looks the way you want.
• The maximum number of private messages (m) will be limited to 250. The oldest messages will be removed automatically when the limit exceeds.
• The size of the Buddy list (m) will be limited to 50 users.
• The guestbook message limit of 500 messages that was announced earlier will take effect (old limit was 1000 messages in the guestbooks). You can increase the limit by using the paid options (m).
• HTML tags can no longer be written to guestbook messages. Images, links and other formatting can be included in the messages by using the UBB codes ( i ). The setting "Enable other HTML" on the guestbook Protection (m) page will be changed to "Enable UBB codes".
• Ad banner removal from one guestbook will cost 1000 credits (1 euro) / month. The pricing changes from usage based, to time based charging.
• The extra messages to guestbook will cost 300 credits / multiplier / month. The change is from daily charges to monthly charges. The price for the extra messages is not changed. e.g. doubling the message limit to 1000 messages will cost 0,30 euros / month.

If your guestbook uses paid options and you want to continue using them please make sure that your account has enough credits to cover the new montly payments that will take effect 2003-03-01.

[These changes were announced in advance]

• VIP membership ( i ) introduced
  The first membership period for VIP members that have joined between 2003-02-15 and 2003-03-01 is 6 weeks. After that the membership fee is charged monthly from user account's credits ( i ) for as long as there are enough credits or the user cancels the membership.
• You can define external CSS stylesheet file or embedded CSS code for guestbooks using the Form layout in the Colors and Images (m) page.
• UBB codes ( i ) are under test use in guestbooks, private messages and forums
  UBB codes will replace HTML in guestbook messages 2003-03-01.

Please read why Freebok needs the VIP membership ( f ) on the Freebok discussion forum. If you have comments or questions feel free to write a message.

• Added automatic notification about the Freebok site updates.
• Removed the small banner ad and banner frame that were added to the guestbooks two weeks ago. The banner did not perform as expected. In the future a new, full sized banner may be added to the bottom of the guestbook.
• Message limits on the guestbooks. The introduction of the lower message limits that were announced earlier has been delayed until a new payment option has been implemented for Finnish users. The date is currently unknown. The new message limit will be 500 messages instead of 250 that was announced earlier.

• Fixed Help search ( i ) to work with other language settings than Finnish and English too (these searches are performed from the English help pages).
• Own and avatar image hotlinking has been disabled from servers ( i ) that do not support it.
• Numerous bug fixes based on the Error Report information submitted by users. Thank you for submitting those!

• You can enable email notification of new Freebok features from Management Settings (m) page.
• If you have forgotten your account name you can now get it using the account private email address (m).
• Guestbook owner can be queried (m).
• You can transfer (m) your guestbook to another user account (help) ( i ). This feature has been in use for couple of days before this announcement.

• New help items ( i ).

• Guestbook management sharing (m) (help) ( i ). The guestbook owner may use this feature to share management access to his/her guestbook.

• Major software upgrade to attack the slight performance problems we have experienced lately. Freebok should be now a _lot_ more responsive.
• Minor bugfixes

• Added Spanish guestbook language
• Modified the default CSS layout for better Opera browser support
• Minor bugfixes

• Added HTML Cut and Paste ( i )page. Page contains full HTML page sample code with comments.
• Added HTML tips ( i ) page. Page has suggestions on how to improve your guestbook.
• Added extensive Velocity ( i ) user documentation
• Created the Help Index ( i )

• Started the changelog. After almost four years of operation :)
• Recycle Bin (m): New page in the administration screen.
  Recycle Bin ( i ) protects your guestbook messages from accidental removal.
• Management Settings (m): New page in the administration screen.
  There you can:
  • Define the number of messages / page in the administration screen (1-50). Previously this value was fixed to 10.
  • Define signatures that you can use when answering to messages.
• User definable date format (m) in the guestbook formatting instructions ( i ).
• Direct links to the first and last page in the messages list (m). These variables ( i ) are now also available for guestbooks that are using HTML layout.
• Added Portuguese to guestbook languages (m).
• Help pages ( i ) have been updated to reflect these changes and additions.