Last year Pokécharms celebrated its 10th birthday and the last year has seen a number of great changes happen to our community as we relaunched it into one of the best versions of the site yet. We're now at our 11th birthday and a few members of our staff, including myself, have decided to share our thoughts and opinions on the last year of Pokécharms! If you wish to know more and read the thoughts of our staff, then read on.
[prebreak][/prebreak]
Demelza:
I wasn't officially part of the staff team when we celebrated our 10th anniversary and thus this marks the first time I've gotten to write my thoughts down for a piece like this. For our tenth year we went through some massive changes in terms of the relaunch and what it brought with it. @Teapot and the rest of us worked really hard putting our ideas together and it's brilliant getting to watch it all pay off in such an exciting way.
For me personally I've kept working hard covering all the latest Pokémon news. 2013 saw the reveal and worldwide release of Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, and although the games have only been out a short while at this point they've become firm favourites among Pokémon fans all across the world. I can't wait to see what happens next and right now I'm looking forward to learning more about the next movie and whatever surprises we have coming our way. Whatever happens I'll always be incredibly grateful that @Linkachu and the others gave a news reporter, and then moderator, role to a silly rambler like me.
To me Pokécharms is my home. It's where my friends are and where I feel happiest. This place has given me some lifelong friendships and many, many happy times and memories. I hope get to see in many more Charms days with the rest of the staff and this wonderful community. I can't wait to see where we go from here.
Linkachu:
I can't remember the last time that I was actually home during Pokecharms Day. Sadly this year is no exception either. I'm currently on a boat! But every time I see something green and covered in four leaf clovers I think of Pokecharms, my home away from home for over 11 years. While the 10th anniversary was the real milestone, this 11th anniversary is just as notable. It marks 11 years that I've been crazy and proud of it, which is pretty damn awesome to consider! 11 years that I've been lurking (read: spamming) the forums; and 11 years of making new friends and holding dear those who've been with me from the start. Every anniversary is special because it's just one more reminder of how special Pokecharms is to me as a whole, and I hope to be around for many more anniversaries to come. I couldn't have asked for a better community or staff to be apart of.
This past year in particular has definitely been a nice one, too. Not only were Pokemon X & Y released, making it a great year to be a Pokemon fan, but Pokecharms' latest relaunch brought with it loads of new features that I've come to adore. The new profile pages and status updates, the new style of private messages, "Like"ing posts, the Creative Corner, the ability to save Trainer Cards to our profiles, the ease of uploading attachments... I love it all. Never have I enjoyed actually using the website as much as I do now and, for my part, I personally can't wait to see where we advance from here. In the meantime I'll still be here, lurking about and still being crazy and/or proud of it. Happy Pokecharms Day, all! Let's make this another great year.
StellarWind Elsydeon:
Another year's gone by - and what a year it's been. Most of all, it was a year marked by a great transition - the year that Pokécharms was dramatically reborn, rising like a phoenix from the ashes of its phpBB/Joomla/Mibbit-powered previous incarnation (Well, "like a phoenix" is not exactly accurate. It was a shocking, sharp, almost-impossible change that involved much tinkering with code... So more like a Shiny Volt-Tackling Fearow, really) and brought a great surge of interest and activity in its wake.
It was also the year in which we returned to our roots as a community based around the creative endeavors of our members, thanks to the Creative Corner - one of the new elements of Pokécharms that is particularly close to my heart (or biomechanical equivalent thereof, anyway). In the half-year or so since its release, over a thousand works have been submitted to the Corner - a rather solid beginning - and as new features that will further improve the user experience are added in the future, I hope to see that number grow - and to see the Creative Corner blossom, flourish and hopefully pull in some new talented artists and writers (alongside more works from the ones we already have).
Chronology has never been my strong suite (we all have our flaws, alas, and timekeeping is mine) and if I were to be honest - which I try to always be - I still find it kind of hard to believe that it's been a full year since this transition was announced and about half a year since it actually happened. But if there is one thing I can clearly say about this particular instance of 'Charms as someone who has been here from the very beginning - we've never looked better, felt better, or handled better, and I, for one, am certainly looking forward to see what the future may hold for this particular crazy (and proud!) pocket of cyberspacetime.
Baratron:
'Charms Day again? This'll be my ninth, and the longer I spend on Pokecharms, the more inclined I am to declare that I'm Old and Have a Long Beard, and that You Kids Should Keep Off My Lawn
. Heh.
Some of the other mods have already talked about the relaunch, and I don't want to repeat what anyone else has said. The main difference I've noticed this year is that we've evolved from being a web forum and chatroom into more of a social networking site. We have a lot of members now who are here primarily for the profiles and status updates, even a few who come only to chat. I'm all for it! I might be old and increasingly grumpy, but innovation brings new life to the site. I think it's absolutely great that we have not only the web forum for long posts and the chatroom for real-time conversation, but also status updates for short posts, and the Creative Corner for stories and pictures, and Trophies and tagging... So many different ways to make friends and communicate.
Of course, I'd like to thank the other mods and admins for everything they do, but I think it's especially important to realise why we do it. We volunteer here because we care about Pokecharms, and we wouldn't have a site without the members. Thank you to all of you who come here, who bring your friends here, who behave well so we don't need to read the rules at you. Let's look forward to another successful year.
Magpie:
Another year gone by at 'Charms! Oh my goodness, I really can't believe it's been that long since the last time I wrote a little something for 'Charms Day. But what a difference this year has made! We're all bright and sparkly now and have made some amazing changes, this time last year it was all just part of an idea. I had such a good time taking part in the Beta for the new look and I'm so proud to have been able to be part of the process. Having been here since March 2008 I really can't believe I'm still here in 2014... it seems like it should feel like I've been here a lifetime but in reality it honestly feels like a blur.
As I said last time, I originally joined 'Charms to make the handful of trades I needed to complete my Gen IV 'Dex, and then leave. But in that very short amount of time it took me to trade I realised that I liked the people here, and I liked the little community that I'd stumbled across. I'm surprisingly anti-social by nature, so it was a big step for me interacting with people I'd never met, and actually enjoying it. What I loved most was the fact I could talk about Pokemon with like-minded people, something I couldn't do with any of my friends. Sure they'd listen but they wouldn't know what the hell I was on about xD And having grown up with only my younger brother to play the games with, it was really nice to be able to enjoy the real aspect of trading and battling with other players. And of course over the years I've met so many amazing people, and made several truly amazing friends, such as @Linkachu, @Demelza, @KoL, @Stark and many others It's also lovely to keep meeting new members who seem like the sort of people I'd really get along with in RL, such as @Mr.Munchlax, @Flygonn and @Crystal. I'll mention @ShinyZekrom009 too, although he's not quite as new xD
So yeah, before I start to ramble and such, 'Charms has come so far in this last year and it'll only keep getting better and stronger. In the end though, it can look as sparkly as it wants or do fancy things, but it's the members that make this place what it is and keep it going, and encourage the Moderators and Admins to seek improvements and make the site better. @Doctor Oak, @Linkachu, @Teapot and @StellarWind Elsydeon do such a great job running, designing and making 'Charms what it is to look at today... and I was so happy to be able to help out, no matter how small it is in the grand scheme of things with the trophy designs. Creative Corner is a big leap forward but also backwards to the roots of 'Charms, so all I'll say is what this space! We'll see what exciting new things and features there are to talk about next year!
I couldn't be prouder or more privileged to call 'Charms my internet home and family ♥
Teapot:
Hi! If you don't know me already, I'm Teapot - I'm one of the administrators and developers here at Pokécharms.
Today is the official 11th anniversary of 'Charms being formed, and a year since I last sat down to write a post about the state of the union, as it were. For me, the last year was the start of a new journey - both for me and for Pokécharms. As well as moving to a new home and finding a job, I started working on a re-imagining of the site - one you're looking at right now. It ended up being a massive undertaking - seven months, from starting to build in February until we relaunched in September 2013, with everyone on staff contributing in some way - some small, some large, but all vital. This upgrade added lots of new features: from a brand new TCM4, that let you save cards to your profile and had an entirely new interface; to improved forums and social user profiles and, vitally, a Shiny Volt-Tackling Fearow loading indicator. But most of all, we introduced the Creative Corner, a new place for Pokémon fanworks of all kinds. Right now it is still in its infancy, but we hope to grow it to become the best place on the internet for Pokémon fanart, fiction, articles, and lots more...
The reaction we received when we took all this live has been nothing short of amazing - six months on, and we're more active than we've been in years, with hundreds of people visiting the site every day. We've seen the return of old regulars, welcomed many new friends, and generally have so much more going on around the site. We've seen features work as planned, but far more used for interesting and creative ways that we could never have predicted - ways that have shaped how we run and build Pokécharms. But most of all, we've returned to being the community of creative and friendly people we'd originally set out to build. And remained crazy and proud through it all, as befitting our motto.
So, navelgazing aside, what's next for Pokécharms? Well, this year we plan to refine the features we have, rather than perform any major rebuilds or relaunches. The next planned upgrade is to the Creative Corner - a major upgrade which we will talk about more soon, but we've got plans for the rest of the site too - watch this space for more!
After that, though, I'm personally going to see if I can put things into the site that you, our visitors want - whether that be small changes, improvements to what we've already got, or entirely new features. This is the year of the Charmsian, and we hope to make the site even better for everyone who visits it.
If you have any ideas, visit our Suggestions forum and start a thread to let us know - we're listening! And if you see any suggestions you like, open them up and click Like on the first post to show your support. You'll need a Pokécharms account to do either of these things, but they're easy to register - click the big red Sign Up button near the top of the screen.
That's all from me for now - but be sure to thank @StellarWind Elsydeon for the fabulous background he made for the occasion!
[prebreak][/prebreak]
Demelza:
I wasn't officially part of the staff team when we celebrated our 10th anniversary and thus this marks the first time I've gotten to write my thoughts down for a piece like this. For our tenth year we went through some massive changes in terms of the relaunch and what it brought with it. @Teapot and the rest of us worked really hard putting our ideas together and it's brilliant getting to watch it all pay off in such an exciting way.
For me personally I've kept working hard covering all the latest Pokémon news. 2013 saw the reveal and worldwide release of Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, and although the games have only been out a short while at this point they've become firm favourites among Pokémon fans all across the world. I can't wait to see what happens next and right now I'm looking forward to learning more about the next movie and whatever surprises we have coming our way. Whatever happens I'll always be incredibly grateful that @Linkachu and the others gave a news reporter, and then moderator, role to a silly rambler like me.
To me Pokécharms is my home. It's where my friends are and where I feel happiest. This place has given me some lifelong friendships and many, many happy times and memories. I hope get to see in many more Charms days with the rest of the staff and this wonderful community. I can't wait to see where we go from here.
Linkachu:
I can't remember the last time that I was actually home during Pokecharms Day. Sadly this year is no exception either. I'm currently on a boat! But every time I see something green and covered in four leaf clovers I think of Pokecharms, my home away from home for over 11 years. While the 10th anniversary was the real milestone, this 11th anniversary is just as notable. It marks 11 years that I've been crazy and proud of it, which is pretty damn awesome to consider! 11 years that I've been lurking (read: spamming) the forums; and 11 years of making new friends and holding dear those who've been with me from the start. Every anniversary is special because it's just one more reminder of how special Pokecharms is to me as a whole, and I hope to be around for many more anniversaries to come. I couldn't have asked for a better community or staff to be apart of.
This past year in particular has definitely been a nice one, too. Not only were Pokemon X & Y released, making it a great year to be a Pokemon fan, but Pokecharms' latest relaunch brought with it loads of new features that I've come to adore. The new profile pages and status updates, the new style of private messages, "Like"ing posts, the Creative Corner, the ability to save Trainer Cards to our profiles, the ease of uploading attachments... I love it all. Never have I enjoyed actually using the website as much as I do now and, for my part, I personally can't wait to see where we advance from here. In the meantime I'll still be here, lurking about and still being crazy and/or proud of it. Happy Pokecharms Day, all! Let's make this another great year.
StellarWind Elsydeon:
Another year's gone by - and what a year it's been. Most of all, it was a year marked by a great transition - the year that Pokécharms was dramatically reborn, rising like a phoenix from the ashes of its phpBB/Joomla/Mibbit-powered previous incarnation (Well, "like a phoenix" is not exactly accurate. It was a shocking, sharp, almost-impossible change that involved much tinkering with code... So more like a Shiny Volt-Tackling Fearow, really) and brought a great surge of interest and activity in its wake.
It was also the year in which we returned to our roots as a community based around the creative endeavors of our members, thanks to the Creative Corner - one of the new elements of Pokécharms that is particularly close to my heart (or biomechanical equivalent thereof, anyway). In the half-year or so since its release, over a thousand works have been submitted to the Corner - a rather solid beginning - and as new features that will further improve the user experience are added in the future, I hope to see that number grow - and to see the Creative Corner blossom, flourish and hopefully pull in some new talented artists and writers (alongside more works from the ones we already have).
Chronology has never been my strong suite (we all have our flaws, alas, and timekeeping is mine) and if I were to be honest - which I try to always be - I still find it kind of hard to believe that it's been a full year since this transition was announced and about half a year since it actually happened. But if there is one thing I can clearly say about this particular instance of 'Charms as someone who has been here from the very beginning - we've never looked better, felt better, or handled better, and I, for one, am certainly looking forward to see what the future may hold for this particular crazy (and proud!) pocket of cyberspacetime.
Baratron:
'Charms Day again? This'll be my ninth, and the longer I spend on Pokecharms, the more inclined I am to declare that I'm Old and Have a Long Beard, and that You Kids Should Keep Off My Lawn
. Heh.Some of the other mods have already talked about the relaunch, and I don't want to repeat what anyone else has said. The main difference I've noticed this year is that we've evolved from being a web forum and chatroom into more of a social networking site. We have a lot of members now who are here primarily for the profiles and status updates, even a few who come only to chat. I'm all for it! I might be old and increasingly grumpy, but innovation brings new life to the site. I think it's absolutely great that we have not only the web forum for long posts and the chatroom for real-time conversation, but also status updates for short posts, and the Creative Corner for stories and pictures, and Trophies and tagging... So many different ways to make friends and communicate.
Of course, I'd like to thank the other mods and admins for everything they do, but I think it's especially important to realise why we do it. We volunteer here because we care about Pokecharms, and we wouldn't have a site without the members. Thank you to all of you who come here, who bring your friends here, who behave well so we don't need to read the rules at you
. Let's look forward to another successful year.Magpie:
Another year gone by at 'Charms! Oh my goodness, I really can't believe it's been that long since the last time I wrote a little something for 'Charms Day. But what a difference this year has made! We're all bright and sparkly now and have made some amazing changes, this time last year it was all just part of an idea. I had such a good time taking part in the Beta for the new look and I'm so proud to have been able to be part of the process. Having been here since March 2008 I really can't believe I'm still here in 2014... it seems like it should feel like I've been here a lifetime but in reality it honestly feels like a blur.
As I said last time, I originally joined 'Charms to make the handful of trades I needed to complete my Gen IV 'Dex, and then leave. But in that very short amount of time it took me to trade I realised that I liked the people here, and I liked the little community that I'd stumbled across. I'm surprisingly anti-social by nature, so it was a big step for me interacting with people I'd never met, and actually enjoying it. What I loved most was the fact I could talk about Pokemon with like-minded people, something I couldn't do with any of my friends. Sure they'd listen but they wouldn't know what the hell I was on about xD And having grown up with only my younger brother to play the games with, it was really nice to be able to enjoy the real aspect of trading and battling with other players. And of course over the years I've met so many amazing people, and made several truly amazing friends, such as @Linkachu, @Demelza, @KoL, @Stark and many others
It's also lovely to keep meeting new members who seem like the sort of people I'd really get along with in RL, such as @Mr.Munchlax, @Flygonn and @Crystal. I'll mention @ShinyZekrom009 too, although he's not quite as new xDSo yeah, before I start to ramble and such, 'Charms has come so far in this last year and it'll only keep getting better and stronger. In the end though, it can look as sparkly as it wants or do fancy things, but it's the members that make this place what it is and keep it going, and encourage the Moderators and Admins to seek improvements and make the site better. @Doctor Oak, @Linkachu, @Teapot and @StellarWind Elsydeon do such a great job running, designing and making 'Charms what it is to look at today... and I was so happy to be able to help out, no matter how small it is in the grand scheme of things with the trophy designs. Creative Corner is a big leap forward but also backwards to the roots of 'Charms, so all I'll say is what this space! We'll see what exciting new things and features there are to talk about next year!
I couldn't be prouder or more privileged to call 'Charms my internet home and family ♥
Teapot:
Hi! If you don't know me already, I'm Teapot - I'm one of the administrators and developers here at Pokécharms.
Today is the official 11th anniversary of 'Charms being formed, and a year since I last sat down to write a post about the state of the union, as it were. For me, the last year was the start of a new journey - both for me and for Pokécharms. As well as moving to a new home and finding a job, I started working on a re-imagining of the site - one you're looking at right now. It ended up being a massive undertaking - seven months, from starting to build in February until we relaunched in September 2013, with everyone on staff contributing in some way - some small, some large, but all vital. This upgrade added lots of new features: from a brand new TCM4, that let you save cards to your profile and had an entirely new interface; to improved forums and social user profiles and, vitally, a Shiny Volt-Tackling Fearow loading indicator. But most of all, we introduced the Creative Corner, a new place for Pokémon fanworks of all kinds. Right now it is still in its infancy, but we hope to grow it to become the best place on the internet for Pokémon fanart, fiction, articles, and lots more...
The reaction we received when we took all this live has been nothing short of amazing - six months on, and we're more active than we've been in years, with hundreds of people visiting the site every day. We've seen the return of old regulars, welcomed many new friends, and generally have so much more going on around the site. We've seen features work as planned, but far more used for interesting and creative ways that we could never have predicted - ways that have shaped how we run and build Pokécharms. But most of all, we've returned to being the community of creative and friendly people we'd originally set out to build. And remained crazy and proud through it all, as befitting our motto.
So, navelgazing aside, what's next for Pokécharms? Well, this year we plan to refine the features we have, rather than perform any major rebuilds or relaunches. The next planned upgrade is to the Creative Corner - a major upgrade which we will talk about more soon, but we've got plans for the rest of the site too - watch this space for more!
After that, though, I'm personally going to see if I can put things into the site that you, our visitors want - whether that be small changes, improvements to what we've already got, or entirely new features. This is the year of the Charmsian, and we hope to make the site even better for everyone who visits it.
If you have any ideas, visit our Suggestions forum and start a thread to let us know - we're listening! And if you see any suggestions you like, open them up and click Like on the first post to show your support. You'll need a Pokécharms account to do either of these things, but they're easy to register - click the big red Sign Up button near the top of the screen.
That's all from me for now - but be sure to thank @StellarWind Elsydeon for the fabulous background he made for the occasion!
~
Now that you've heard from a number of our staff, all that's really left to say is happy Charms day everyone! We hope you've enjoyed the past year as much as we have and look forward to 'Charms bright future 
But still, I would like to thank the staffs for this wonderful website :')
