WinCustomize.com has continued to grow in popularity which in turn has resulted in increasing problems with scaling.  The problem is one that long-time users are very familiar with -- income from the site via ads and subscriptions does not grow linearly with traffic.  We don't want to kick people off, we want to instead reward people for supporting us more.

So what are we doing? What do we have in store?

First, let me say that the next 18 months will, in my opinion, be the most significant months in skinning EVER.  A lot of cool stuff is thanks to projects going on with Microsoft that I can't talk about.  But Windows Vista is going to offer a lot of opportunities for skinners.  Stardock itself is working on a bunch of new programs to that end.  We're in the calm before the storm.

And right now is the time for WinCustomize to get its act together.  The pathetic performance, the random error messages, etc. These are all things that are the result of having millions of people visiting but not having the people or infrastructure to handle it.  This summer, we're going all out to solve this.

Phase #1: New Master Database

The first phase will begin next Wednesday. T-man will do a warning announcement about it.  On Wednesday we move to a new master database server. It is the MCP of our system you could say. All mirrors originate from this server.  The one we have is pretty decent but it's become overwhelmed.  The new server is the fastest, most powerful computer I've ever dealt with.  It has 8 cores. 64-bit. 12 gigs of RAM.  And a lot of new code to make the most of it is being put on-line.

So on Wednesday, we expect to switch over.  Such a switch is going to almost certainly have issues so Wednesday and Thursady are likely to be bumpy on all of Stardock's sites and services.

Phase #2: Site Optimizations

The second phase will involve a set of site optimizations. The home page will be redone on the backend. I don't know about you but often I click on my WC link and it takes 10 seconds for the site to show up.  This will go away with a new backend change to how the home page is handled.   It has already been done on GalCiv2.com so you can see how fast that site comes up even though it is actually more complex in some ways.

Phase #3: Site Layout changes

The forums are going to be re-designed to be easier to navigate and use.  This is going to put us on the path of what is called the WC2K7 project which is the next generation version of the site. 

More information will be available via someone's profile such as what they've recently done so you can interact with each other more.

Once this is done, we will take a break and do the GUI Olympics (GUI Championships 2006).  That will take up about a month and a half then we'll get back to the site.

Phase #4: WinCustomize 2K7

The goal (not promise) is to have 2K7 done by the end of this year -- BEFORE Windows Vista.  A lot of new features and skinining types will be added to the new system.

For skinners, a major change will occur.  Skinners who achieve MASTER access will have the right to sell their skins directly on WinCustomize.com.   If you are familiar with DesktopGadgets.com that was essentially an experiment for us to see if we could put together a system to do it on a small scale. This would be done on a large scale.

Of course, to get MASTER access skinners would have to work their way up (Citizen->Apprentice->Master Apprentice->Journeyman->Master).  And to do that will require lots of skins and themes and such.  So don't worry, WC won't suddenly become full of premium skins.  And in fact, as history has shown with Pixtudio and others, commercial skinning has generated a good chunk of the free skins and commercial skinners help build their reputations with free content. 

The skinner will name their price and then split the net income 50/50.  If the user is a WinCustomize subscriber, they will get a 20% discount on the price of that skin.  In this way, skinners can earn some income from their skins and WinCustomize can hopefully generate enough revenue to hire more people to improve the overall quality of service. A true win-win situation (right now WC is a significant drain on Stardock even if you count half its costs as "marketing"). 

At present, WinCustomize only survives because of volunteer admins (like Jafo) and the volunteer moderators.  I think most regulars would agree that it would be good if some people (starting with the volunteers) could have the option to actually work on WinCustomize full-time to help make it a better place.

Phase #5: Windows Vista Era begins

The new programs from Stardock and new features Microsoft is working on that we're either extending or in themselves provide customization opportunities will create whole new sections on WinCustomize and help greatly expand the scope of the site beyond what we have today.