Update is live. Some things to note:
* NOTE: The new changes are NOT compatible with older versions of Internet Explorer (IE7). They can cause issues with IE8 or IE9 if you're running in compatibility mode. To disable compatibility mode, click the torn piece of paper in IE's address bar. This should resolve it.
* We're monitoring feedback and will be making minor tweaks throughout the day as we get additional feedback.
* Some people have noted that FA may not render/work right on some mobile devices/gaming consoles (e.g. Nintendo Wii). Officially, we do not support mobile devices or game consoles. That said, we will try to improve compatibility on those handheld devices (iOS, Android, Windows Phone).

New banner by  falvie

FA Update changelog/notes.

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* Users online feature implementation. Display current users online at the bottom of the page. Refresh every 60 sec. Page that lists the users and online status on userpages reserved for admins for now until an opt-out of it is coded for users.
* No notes feature implementation. Defines whether or not to disable the notes system entireally for a user. No effect on notes to and from admins.
* No guests feature implementation. Controls whether guest users have access to: userpage, gallery, favorites, submission view, journal list and journal page that belong to the user.
* Hide favorites feature. Allows one to hide their adult, mature+adult or all favorites from public view. Applies to favorites gallery and the favorites minigallery on userpages. No effect on admins
* Rewrite to the user settings storage backend, now works much faster which allows for more settings/options to be added, and more easily.
* Added the footer ads back
* Removed the horizontal ads on submission pages above the comments
* Fixed a bug in replying to comments that allowed to see the content of and reply to hidden comments. Code wasn't checking for is_deleted flag on the comment.
* Changing submission type icon overlays at the bottom right corner of thumbnails. Icon area is now 28x28 in size instead of the previous 16x16. Should make it easier to click on them, esp. on mobile devices.
* Changing filetype sprites, giving individual icons there more padding to allow them to be shown on a larger area.
* Changing behavior of description popups on image thumbnails; Are now shown via click rather then mouseover, and stay on the screen until a click is made anywhere else on the page.
* Changed the logic behind positioning and sizing of the description popups. Will now attempt to reduce popup width to end up being shown without scrolling off the page

Good news, everyone. We have news!

As you may have noticed, the site has been chugging a bit in prime time. The problem: we've been hitting our bandwidth cap of 250Mbit. Yep, that's right. We have soaked up a full 250Mbit connection! This has been causing quite a few problems during primetime, and making the site just a bit less than pleasant.

To combat this problem we have ordered an upgrade to our connection. We're adding on an additional 100Mbit bandwidth, bringing our total up to 350Mbit. In layman's terms: epic huge speed! This should add a bit pep back into the site during peak times. That said, we'll be monitoring performance and making tweaks where necessary.

We're hoping to have the line upgrade done ASAP. All we're waiting on is for our host to get the upgrade completed on their side. No downtime needed.

As a reminder, the changes going live with the update:
* Streamlined Header - Revised, more compact header which takes up less space and makes navigating to all areas of the site faster, more organized.
* Disable Notes - Users will be able to opt out of the note system. Available via "Site Settings" in the Control Panel.
* Hide From Guests - Users will be able to hide their accounts from guests. Available via "Site Settings" in the Control Panel.
* Hide My Favorites - Users will be able to hide their favorites from being visible. Available via "Site Settings" in the Control Panel.
* Users Online - The site will now display how many users are online. The counter is located on the site's footer.

You'll know when the update is live due to the header change.

Also, thanks to  sciggles for her pushing for privacy settings/updates.

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The privacy update (and some other fixes) which we've had on beta will be going live this week!

Good news, everyone! We have good news!

We are currently opening recruitment for new admin positions! More specifically, we're looking for talented, creative individuals with backgrounds in photography to help assist the site and admin team. Ever wanted a chance to join the site and lend a hand to our great community? Now's your opportunity!

Interested? Let us know by filling out the form here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet.....ZiX3c6MQ#gid=0

Photography admins will be focused on managing the photography queue, tickets and enforcing site rules to maintain consistency. If there are no photography tickets, admins will be expected to assist with general tickets.

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As a reminder, we're still running our Prydwen fanart contest!

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3440955

To celebrate the launch of Prydwen: Gods and Monsters, Fur Affinity, Sofawolf Press and  LadyFoxglove are teaming up to deliver a launch party contest!

We're looking for artists of all shapes, sizes and skillsets to join in the giant fanart jam fest.

Prydwen wrote:"Orphaned at a young age and raised in a Sui monastery, Prydwen settles into a peaceful life tending the gardens, never knowing who she is or where she came from. When disturbing dreams give way to waking up in patches of ash where flowers used to be, she flees the safety of the church grounds with her friend Auric, looking for answers. Her path takes her deep into the sacred gardens of the Wanderkind God, where she is destined to release his imprisoned Elynd and learn more about her past. But, things rarely go as planned when Gods are involved, and Prydwen finds that she is a crucial part of the plans of both Gods and Monsters."
-Prydwen: Gods and Monsters
The comic is also available online at https://www.prydwen.paperfangs.com

Interested in finding out more? Check out this preview! The newly released hardcore edition of Prydwen is available on Sofawolf's site, and will be for sale at Anthrocon. For more information, give this link a click!

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== Prizes ==
* 1st Place - Wacom Intuos 5 (Medium) + 1 Year of FA Advertising
* 2nd Place - Wacom Intuos 5 (Small) + 6 Months of FA Advertising
* 3rd Place - $50 Gift Cert. to Sofawolf Press' store + 3 Months of FA Advertising
* Honorable Mentions - $20 Gift Certificates to Sofawolf Press' store

== The Rules ==
* All entries must feature characters from the Prydwen comic. No original characters!
* All entries will be judged on concept, execution and faithfulness to source material. We encourage artists to use their own style in keeping with the comic.
* Entries must be upload to FA with the keyword "prydwencontest" and be rated no higher than Mature. Pin-ups are fine, but NO adult art.
* By submitting to the contest, you give the right for your entry to be posted on deadbeatgods.com and Sofawolf's site.

Judges: Blotch, Skulldog, Lady Foxglove and Dingbat

Due Date: Jun 4th, 2012

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== Character Reference ==
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7922685/ - Prydwen
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7922692/ - Auric
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7922699/ - Raine
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7922713/ - Asmodeus
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7922710/ - Einheriar
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7922705/ - Solon
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7922714/ - Tristan
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7922717/ - Kismet
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7922722/ - The Wanderer

This just in: the banner has been updated!  neko-maya leads us into May with an adorable banner that we're proud to have on the site, and beautifully renders Spring's bloom in magnificent color and detail.

Congrats, Neko! And we're sorry about the pending flood of commenters and watchers. Just remember: you drew the banner. You brought this on yourself. Enjoy!

We're opening up our Beta site for users to publicly test changes to the system, leave feedback or comments. We're trying to push more effort towards revising the site, making necessary improvements and providing better clarity, policies and administration. We're taking small, but gradual steps to attain that goal. This is one of them.

So as of today, users can now access beta.furaffinity.net to test changes for the site. Several fixes/updates are still being tested, and should be released on the Beta site over the next few days. Some will be visible, some not so visible. We're working on drafting up a public changelog so users can see changes/updates made to the site. The revised header/navigation/Control Panel is available on the current build.

http://beta.furaffinity.net

Need to report a problem with the beta? Just open up a new ticket, and be sure to add [BETA] to the ticket title.

FA Beta Banner by  jym. The original can be found at http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3760448/

NOTE: Changes on the Beta site are temporary, and will likely to be changed as we work on them.

In the past, Matthew Ebel has gone out of his way to help promote the site, even going so far as helping raise quite a bit of money for the NJSPCA at FA United 4. As such, we'd like turn return the favor to Matt for helping raise $3,544 for our charity. As they say, no good deed goes unrewarded! Or is that unpunished? Either way!

Matt's released his new album, and is rallying support! Do you have iTunes, and if so, do you have a dollar to spare? You can help! That's right. You can help raise fellow furry Matthew Ebel (aka hali on FA) for a mere 99 cents. He's trying to get on the iTunes charts, and Matt's got the skills to do it.

A furry, on iTunes charts? Yes, and we can help get him there.

For more information, please see here:
http://matthewebel.com/2012/04/25/t.....mb-the-charts/

And once again, thanks for your help and support in raising the incredible amount of money. You've done a lot for the community. Perhaps we can help you in return.

We're a little (okay, a lot!) late this month, but we're coming in with relaxing spring banner by the amazingly talented songdog. It truly captures the spring spirit! Congrats, Songdog!

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A friend of the site and fellow furry, daiquiri, is riding in the Canadian Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer. He and thousands of other riders are raising money to help promote awareness of cancer, fund treatment and aid in the research towards finding a cure. A noble cause indeed! FA supported Daiquiri's ride last year, and we're back again once again pledging our support in 2012.

Help out a fellow furry and help fight cancer! Together we, the site and the community, can make a difference!

Want to help Daiquiri's ride? You can donate here: http://www.conquercancer.ca/site/TR/Events/Vancouver2012?px=2644490&pg=personal&fr_id=1413

And as a bonus, donations to help his ride are tax deductable! It's an honorable cause, and we're hoping the community comes together to help raise money for Daiquiri's goal. Cancer affects everyone - friends, family, love one. But we can all band together and help a fellow furry and those we care about in the process.

Don't have money, but want to help Daiquiri all the same? Share the message by Twitter, Facebook and FA! Help promote his ride, and let others know of his honorable ride!

Greetings and salutations, friends!

Your friendly neighborhood ferrox checking in an official update of our recent (and pending!) changes.

We decided, rather than do an April Fools (which you'd all be expecting anyway), that we'd make changes to the site instead. Viva le progress! We're rolling out the update over the course of this week with various features, many of which were requested by the community itself.

Phase 1 - COMPLETE

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* Enhanced Thumbnails - Bigger, more consistent thumbnails and gallery views (with color-coding image rating and rounded corners). We've re-written the thumbnail system entirely (which will help support future development such as larger submission uploads!). We're tracking feedback regarding the thumbnail system on the forum! We will be making an update to permit multiple sizes for thumbnails soon! So worry not!
* Revised News System - My journals will now be the official "news feed" of FA! +watch me for updates delievered to your inbox, or just check in when notices are posted with a News Alert on the main page!

Phase 2 - Coming Later

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* Streamlined Header - Revised, more compact header which takes up less space and makes navigating to all areas of the site faster and more organized for quicker aspects to all major portions of the site.
* Disable Notes - Don't like FA's note system? Feeling insociable? Not a "note" person? Users will be able to disable the ability to receive notes, offering privacy and peace of mind if they choose.
* Hide From Guests - Users can now hide their accounts from guests or random Googlers.
* Hide My Favorites - Sometimes you just want to keep certain things private.

This update will come accompanied with other minor update and tweaks to help streamline performance (via memchached pages) and additional goodies.

Also of note: we're also looking at each and every page of the site, and will be making some tweaks and adjustments to quite a few pagesover the course of the month. More compact, better layout.

We're listening to feedback as it comes in, fret not!

- Fender

http://www.faunited.org/

Just a reminder to all you guys and gals out there: pre-reg for FA United 5 is open! And if you haven't seen it, be sure to check out our new hotel! It's beautiful!

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trav.....over-marriott/

We've finally posted our results for the (unfortunately delayed) FAU 4 art contest! Be sure to check out the results over on the official faunited journal!

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2159510/

https://www.faunited.org
The official convention of Fur Affinity!
May 20-22, 2011
Mt. Laurel, NJ

I'm hereby declaring August 21st Commenter Appreciation Day!

We can all appreciate the art, stories, music and more that get posted to the site, but what about the people who give us feedback, praise or just their time? It's time to say thank you! And I don't mean generic "thanks for the watch" shout (hint: nobody really likes those), but an honest "Hey, thanks for taking the time!" kind of comment.

Commenters never get the thanks they deserve. So this Saturday, take some time. Thank one or two people who've commented on your work who make you feel good or just give you motivation. Just take a few minutes to say thanks. It's a simple notion, but commenters (the good ones, anyway!) can make the world go 'round.

Like this idea? Repost the journal, and link back here!

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Idea inspired by toonces

As part of our recent update, you can now link to Furocity, SoFurry, DeviantArt, VCL, Inkbunny, Artspots and more via the Profile Info page on FA. The furry fandom is a small community, and us art sites gotta stick together. =3

Need to update your profile links? Just head over to the Control Panel, and click on Profile Info!

Or for those really lay in the house, just click here:
http://www.furaffinity.net/controls/profile/

And as always, we're reviewing other link-ins which are relevent to the community (and will probably include things like Livestream) in our next update.

FA getting a lil' slow at night? Do the "click and wait" blues have you down during prime time? Well, I feel for you, so... that's why we're adding **66% MORE BANDWIDTH!** to FA! That's 16% more awesome than **50% MORE BANDWIDTH!**. I LOVE **ASTERISKS!**

We're jumping our bandwidth cape from a peasantly 150mbit up to 250mbit! Fur Affinity! FATTER AND FASTER THAN EVER! We're like the world's fattest ninja: steathy, yet ungainly and awkward. Like Godzilla and King Ghidora battling it out over Tokyo! FENDAMA-SAN NEO SONIC BLAST CHERRY!

We are Chris Farley.

The bandwidth cap will be unlocked later this week. It'll be like Christmas in July! Only it's hot. So ****ing hot. And all this fur, I... oh man. Sometimes you just want to shave it all off.

And somewhere out there... there are still bees.

Fur Affinity. Bandwidthier than the leading brand.

Fur Affinity will soon be introducing a special "Deceased" status in our next update to honor those in the community who have passed on since the site's inception.

After five and a half years, we've all lost loved ones and those we've care about. To honor their memories, we'd like to setup a small memorial on our Wiki to celebrate the life of those FA users who have moved on to better places.

Please share your thoughts and stories of those FA users who have passed to admin@furaffinity.net, and we will share your memories with the rest of the community.

Be sure to sign your FA username to your e-mail so your memories can be clearly attributed.

In regards,
Fender

http://sigma.furaffinity.net/

We've got some minor UI revisions up on FA Sigma for open testing if you want to take a look. It's a unified header with a few minor revisions here and there, some of which we've pushed to the main site (like the new footer page).

What Sigma Is
A revised version of the FA Interface that has a better feel, and is are little more browser friendly. Keep in mind Sigma is our test site, so some things may not be as efficient as we'd like, or we may outright break them as we fiddle about, but we're sprucing that up as we go.

Sigma won't work with older browsers. But that's okay, because this is 2010, and we have Chrome, Firefox, Opera and a host of other modern day, sleek browsers that will do everything you want, and more!

What Sigma IS NOT
The new site design.

That is still slated for release later this year.

We are updating our advertising system on August 15th, and unified everything down to a simple, all new banner size: 300x90.

http://wiki.furaffinity.net/index.p.....le=Advertising

All our information on our advertising portal has been updated. It's friendlier to advertisers, better for all FA viewers as well (even less obtrusive, and more subtle into the site's design!) and it's technically cheaper. More ad space, without an increase in costs.

We've got a special running between FA and FurPlanet this month! FA members can save 15% on any order from FurPlanet. Anything at all!

https://www.furplanet.com

Use coupon code "FA2010" on checkout!

Happy Julying!

Going to that little event this weekend known as "Anthrocon"? So are we!

If you see the FA staffers there be sure and say hey. I'll be there in the Fender suit, struttin' my stuff and takin' over the city of Pittsburgh! JERSEY REPRESENT! We'll bring class to Pennsylvania (and booze, but that's another story!). Spot me there, and come on over and get your picture taken*. We Ferrox are camera loving individuals.

Have fun, and have a safe trip!

- Fender

* Camera not included. May require batteries. Consult your doctor.

To coincide with our upcoming UI update (and one of the largest site updates in FA history!) later this Summer, we're looking for artists! What for you ask? For emoticons!

Yep, that's right. We're looking to refresh our little embeddable buddies with fresh new faces, new themes, and best of all, it's open to everybody. Absolutely everybody!



Icon requirements:
* Clean and worksafe
* 32x32 pixels large
* Images must be PNG with a transparent background *OR* GIF (animated or none) with a transparent background. No JPGs. Seriously. We'll slap you.
* Must have 15 unique icons (or more!) per set.

We'll pick the best five sets or so and put the rest on display for the community. Oh, and those selected for FA's official emoticons will all get $50.00 each in monies to spend on whatever they want.

Please send icon sets to admin [at] furaffinity [dot] net

Deadline: End of July

Oh, and one more thing...

Whatever icon sets you make should be public domain! Yeppers. So, if our friends at Furocity or our buddies at SoFurry (or wherever!) want to use them they can. This is as much for the entire community as it is FA. Bonus! Our only requirement is we get to preview them first (and give you all the credit and attention and spoonsful of minor furry fame you can nibble!).

Spiffy!

CAN HAS QUESTIONS? We gives answers.



The boobies will stay.

You can now add additional contact info on FA - Xbox Live names, PSN IDs, Wii codes, Second Life handles, Jabber, Xfire and much, much more!

Props to this update go to yak

 yak

It's been quite a year for Fur Affinity, and sometimes the best way to describe the sheer immensity of it would be impossible to describe words alone. Sometimes that level of "whoa!" can only be interpreted through numbers.

Gentleman, ladies and everything in between, I give you... STATISTICS!

- Fend

# New users: 122,638
# Active users: 215,137
# Active userbase percentage: 65%

# Journals made: 401,862
# Journal comments: 3,518,412
# Average comments per journal: 8.75
# Average journal comments made per user: 16.35

# New submissions: 1,172,824
# Submission comments: 9,388,222
# Average comments per submission: 8
# Average submission comments made per user: 43.63
# Submission favorites: 21,385,923
# Average favorites per user: 99.4

# Total number of comments on Trouble Tickets: 9439

# Total number shouts: 3,071,760
# Average shouts per user: 14.27

# Watches: 4,460,204
# Average watches per user: 20.73

# Donations/funding made to FA: $13,943.79
# Total operating costs: $14,231.76

Some people said that I was apparently being lazy, and should get off my ass and make a new journal. So here it is!

I don't really know what to write, so I'll be a shill:

Go to FA: United 3! Free bacon with registration.

We're hosting the convention May 28-30 in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey. It's the good part of Jersey (the one with trees!). It's green, lush and pretty clean. Oh, and there's something like 50+ restaurants within a five minute drive. Or maybe ten minute drive. I don't know. I'm just a mascot. I make the admins chauffer me around like a queen king.

Something like that.

Well, we had a much higher turnout than we anticipated for this lil' contest, and some great results! First off, I'd like to thank everybody who took the time to send in a submission -- every banner, used or not, really does help FA remain open and free for the long term! In the end, it's all about helping out our lil' community, and you've all done a fine job!

We've come along way, and thanks to all your help, are ensuring we have a longer, brighter future ahead of us. One with a search engine. And cake.

You've all earned this Ferrox's love. <3

Top three:
 ediskrad 229
 frogsbreath 126
 endenden 125 (for enden_ad1.png)

As per the original journal, another two will be voted and added up by the staff!

Full voting count:
Abscartoon18_ad: 46
AcidaPluvia_ad1: 10
AcidaPluvia_ad2: 1
AnonIhmus_ad: 32
Blackfolf1216_ad: 2
buckywhitetale13_ad: 6
defuret_ad2: 9
ediskrad_ad: 229
enden_ad: 125
enden_ad2: 102
frogsbreath_ad: 126
JasonMiller_ad: 75
kaku_ad: 1
KaleShadowWalker_ad: 7
kaput_ad: 24
kouta-kun_ad: 44
mot_ad: 56
NeoWyverdramon_2: 36
OOsarovakOO_ad: 15
Pandacracy_ad: 3
portzebie_ad: 50
pyurio_ad: 7
rhari_ad: 10
sakurablossom_fa: 3
scottmale24_ad: 65
sonderjen_ad: 92
SoreThumb_ad: 7
stormdragonblue_ad: 25
thegreymirror_ad: 15
topdog_ad: 12
winewulf_ad: 12

Total votes counted: 1247

The results of our mini-contest are in! Voting for the buttons begins... NOW!

--> Donation Button Entries! <--

Voting Rules
Voting is simple and easy: just respond to this journal entry by putting in the filename of your favorite banner! You can have up to three votes, so use them wisely! Please note that you can only cast one vote per submission. Multiple votes will be tallied together as one.

All filenames are shown on the page as artistname_ad.jpg.

Voting Example:
1) example_ad1.jpg
2) example_ad2.jpg
3) example_ad3.jpg

Voting will end December 10. And then we will have cake.

So get yer vote in!