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'InvisionFree' (also known as IF^[1]) is a free Internet forum hosting company. It was founded in September, 2002^[2], and uses a modified version of the Invision Power Board (IPB) 1.3^[3] forum software. It was established and currently led by Brandon Kopetzky who lives in Bowie, Maryland^[4].
According to its terms of service, InvisionFree does not restrict forums on the basis of post, topic, or member number, nor bandwidth, nor will forums be deleted for inactivity^[5]. Google AdSense is the site’s main source of revenue, however users may purchase ad removal^[6], as well as increased file space for uploads^[7].
Limitations of InvisionFree include the lack of FTP access and editing restrictions and inability to access the MySQL database directly, as the software is remotely hosted.
InvisionFree bases its design on skinning, using only CSS and Javascript to design the board. While many would consider this a very limited form of design, thousands of skins have been created just for this software. The design of the upcoming ZetaBoards is similar, however has unique classes and a completely different coding system.

Contents

ZetaBoards

Beta

Additional features from IPB 1.3

The board's interface

Moderation and the Admin Control Panel

Documentation

Themes

Gallery

Criticism

References

External links

ZetaBoards

'ZetaBoards' (formerly known as InvisionFree 2.0 or IF2.0) is an upcoming forum software and website created by Zathyus Networks. In an official announcement which has since been lost in a data crash, Brandon Kopetzky, owner of InvisionFree, announced that a new name would be given to the software - ZetaBoards. ZetaBoards is designed from scratch, without any ties to Invision Power Board - the software that InvisionFree was based on. ZetaBoards, like InvisionFree, will be remotely hosted^[8] as opposed to being downloaded like other forum software such as the aforementioned IPB and vBulletin. The software has been described by Brandon as this:

"ZetaBoards is an all-encompassing upgrade that will take the place of InvisionFree's service. ZetaBoards features enhanced moderation, automatic protections against spam bots, a post search, a new PM system, and an enhanced skinning system, as well as many more new features and enhancements."

However, like InvisionFree, ZeteBoards still does allow neither direct access to SQL databases nor FTP access.

Beta

ZetaBoards underwent a closed beta test in October 2006, using selected members and staff from the InvisionFree Support Forums. Then on January 21st 2007, a test board for ZetaBoards was opened to the public for testing.^[9]. Approximately two months after on March 3rd 2007, the members were able to register their own test boards.^[10]. Once the beta has been completed, members will be given the optional ability to upgrade their forums to a ZetaBoards board while keeping their posts and members etc.

Additional features from IPB 1.3

The board's interface

★ Categories can be collapsed and expanded, and the text boxes used to post can be resized

★ The list of emoticons can be expanded and will appear inline, as opposed to the original pop up window (although the Full Posting Method allowed some emoticons to be shown inline)

★ Posted images are dynamically resized to fit into the post area as to not to stretch the board

★ A legend specifying member groups for clarity

★ The ability to have more than one poll in a topic

★ A built in themes selector allowing you to add up to 32 themes

★ Notification upon receiving private messages

★ An online/offline legend, as well as members being able to disable PM's

★ A revamped Admin Control Panel (ACP)

★ A "Report Post" control panel

★ "Limited Admin CP Access"^[11]

★ Custom Profile fields

Moderation and the Admin Control Panel

★ An easy-to-use new user interface

★ The ability to create joinable groups

★ The ability to create a custom website that is integrated into the software and uses its CSS

★ Automatic Moderation Tools (AutoTools) -

★ Inline Topic Moderation

★ Inline Moderation Queue

★ Report CP^[12]

Documentation

ZetaBoards will have documentation that provides information on how to use ZetaBoards and different ways of customising it. The information is stored in the wiki software, DokuWiki.

Themes

The forum has three themes by default. They can be modified, deleted and up to 32 new ones can be added. They were designed and created by members of staff from InvisionFree Support Forums and the InvisionFree Skin Zone (soon to be ZetaBoards Theme Zone), specifically Nicola Ball and Valleri.

Gallery

Criticism

Many people have complained about the compatibility issues with different browsers and their rendering of the board. Seth Kinast, one of the website's administrators, has created a table showing browser's advantages and disadvantages^[13]. Internet Explorer 6, for example, has problems viewing the board correctly because of Cascading Style Sheets issues. Despite these problems found, Seth Kinast has stated that the bugs will be sorted out before the final release.^[13]

References

1. InvisionFree is based on Invision Power Board software, and as such, IPB's abbreviation inspired Invisionfree to adopt a similar one, namely IF.
2. Invisionfree About page.
3. Stated in footer of any InvisionFree forum, "Powered by Invision Power Board v1.3 Final © 2003 IPS, Inc."
4. Brandon's InvisionFree profile shows he is the first member, ie. creator of the site, and born in Maryland.
5. InvisionFree's Terms of Service.
6. Optional Ad Removal Purchase.
7. Optional additional file space purchase.
8. The ZetaBoards upgrade FAQ.
9. Announcement by Brandon
10. Announcement by Brandon
11. The ZetaBoards upgrade FAQ.
12. ZetaBoards Documentation
13. Seth Kinast's signature
14. Seth Kinast's signature

External links

★ InvisionFree

★ ZetaBoards Beta