Category: Web Development

Whether it’s the PHB or Poptropica.com, these websites get updated from time to time, and these posts are here to document those developments.

PHB Specials, Web Development

A Lifetime of Headers, Part II

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! Slanted Fish here.

As we celebrate the PHB’s upcoming 9-year anniversary with the Poppies this month, I thought it’d be interesting to look back on how far we’ve come in a visual way: our lifetime of site headers.

About 8 years ago, then-PHB “graphics guy” Codien released a post reminiscing all the headers that had gone up on the PHB over the life of the blog, many of them designed by himself. He has since moved on to other things, but the PHB has continued his practice of adorning the top of the site with a graphic that tells who we are.

This post is here to commemorate the many designs we’ve had since his post, and as it’s been 8 years, there are many! Most were designed by me, with some graphic assets from Poptropica mixed into most. Other contributors have also been credited on their respective headers. Hover over each image for captions, click to see in full-size, and enjoy!

July 2017
May 2017 (release of Poptropica Worlds)
March 2017
February 14, 2017 (Valentine’s Day)
December 2016 (winter)
December 2016 (holiday season)
October 2016 (Halloween)
August 2016 (PHB Tribal Tournament)
July 2016
July 2016 (PHB Poppies 2016)
April 1, 2016 (Pop Help Vlogs prank)
March 31, 2016 (Pop Help Vlogs prank)
December 2015 (winter)
November 2015
July 2015 (first Poppies)
April 2015
February 14, 2015 (Valentine’s Day)
December 2014
November 2014 (Arabian Nights Island recently released)
November 2014 (winter)
October 2014 (Realms contests hosted by Poptropica Creators)
October 2014 (Halloween)
August 2014 (PoptropiCon Island released)
May 2014
February 2014 (Monster Carnival Island released)
December 2014 (holiday season)
November 2013 (Poptropolis Games Island rises again)
October 2013 (Halloween)
August 2013
June 2013
May 2013 (Virus Hunter Island released)
April 2013 (Back Lot Island released)
April 2013 (Back Lot Island released)
February 14, 2013 (Valentine’s Day)
January 2013 (Poptropolis Games Island sinking)
January 2013 (Zomberry Island released)
December 2012
December 2012 (winter holiday season)
October 2012 (Halloween) – created by MT
September 2012 (Super Villain Island released)
July 2012 (PHB’s 4th anniversary)
July 2012
July 2012
December 2011 (winter) – created by Bluorang
April 2011 – created by Frostdragon
December 2010 (holiday season) – created by Metsfan21
November 2010 (American Thanksgiving)
November 2010 – created by MT
October 2010 (Halloween)
October 2010 (Spirit Day) – created by Frostdragon
September 2010 – created by MT
August 2010 – created by Blooberry
August 2010 – created by MaroonFire23
July 2010
July 2010 – created by Frostdragon
July 4, 2010 (American Independence Day) – created by Frostdragon
June 2010 (World Cup)
May 2010 – created by Coderkid
November 2009 – created by Coderkid

Well, there you have it! PHB’s headers from 2009 onwards. Don’t forget to catch Part I here, which in addition to Codien’s brilliant designs, includes my awkward attempts at a header from when I first created the blog in 2008.

How many of them were you around to see? Which ones did you like most? Do you feel like the designs have improved over the years? (I personally do.) Share your thoughts and feedback in the comments!

Thanks for sticking with the PHB. Here’s to many more years.

Keep on popping,

~/🐠

Creators, Web Development

Who dis? Not Skinny Moon, who we sure miss…

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, it’s Slanted Fish here.

Attentive readers of the official Poptropica Creators’ Blog may have noticed something amiss lately: the newest posts are no longer being signed by Skinny Moon, the resident Poptropica social media manager of the past year and a half. In fact, they don’t have sign-offs at all. Take a look:

new blogger
Who’s the new guy, and why doesn’t he put his URLs into hyperlinked key words?

Based on the game screenshots in this month’s Creators’ Blog posts, what we can tell is that whoever is posting identifies as a light-skinned, yellow-haired male character. However, he has yet to formally introduce himself. So, the question remains: who dis?

Skinny Moon’s last Creators’ Blog post was on June 28, in which she posted a picture titled #WhereIsTheHare? Stay tuned to find out! Well, it’s not clear when we will ever find out… and since then, Mr. New Blogger has made three posts, starting from July 10. Still, we have no idea who’s taken over (yet).

Dr. Hare buried in sand

So, #WhereIsSkinnyMoon? Well, Skinny Moon is evidently no longer managing Poptropica’s social media. She did contact the PHB on her last week, in June, to inform us of her departure and changes with “new social media people” (implying more than one, though perhaps one is on the blog while others are on other channels). But she asked us to keep the information on the down-low until she’d made an official announcement.

However, as it has been three weeks and three blog posts without her since then, as well as a number of social media posts on their other channels made by the new people/person, we may as well call the conspicuous situation to light – with apologies to Skinny Moon for being the ones to break the news first. She says she’s “off to new adventures,” but hopes to “work with Poptropica again in the fall in some capacity.”

If you want to keep up with Skinny Moon, you can follow her on Twitter @PopGirlJess.

As for the new social media people – we hope you’ll introduce yourselves soon and get involved in the fan community, continuing Skinny Moon’s efforts with commenting on fan blogs, popping into Discord chat servers, and more!

What advice do you have for the new Poptropica social media people? Last words for Skinny Moon? Share your thoughts in the comments!

~/🐠

Web Development

These Are a Few of Our Favorite Things, On and Off the PHB!

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, Slanted Fish here.

So, big news: the PHB is turning 9 years old this month, and that’s a long time to be blogging – nearly a decade! Over the years, we’ve written over 2000 posts, and we thought it might be time to curate a collection of our “greatest hits.”

Under the About tab, you’ll find a new page called Greatest PHB Posts, which is exactly what it sounds like: a list of our best blogging work! Check it out!

greatest posts phb

That’s not all! We like our non-Poptropica entertainment, too, which is why we have places like the PHC on Discord and our Off-Topica chat page for Poptropicans to talk about other things that catch their fancy, Poptropica or otherwise.

Off-Topica has been around for a long time, but it’s recently been updated to include more of my personal recommendations for games Poptropica players might like and more, along with some cool pics to go along with each. Check out the new Off-Topica!

offtopica

In addition to these things, we’re celebrating our anniversary month with The Poppies, our annual Poptropica community awards event. Be sure to vote for your favorites, and stay tuned for party details, when we’ll announce the winners on the blog’s birthday!

Enjoy the new site updates, and thanks for sticking with the PHB! 😀 Now enjoy a little parodical rhyme for fun…

Not having noses
And a Creator who listens
When updates hasten, and being crawfish gluttons
Jumping to places with powerful swings
These are Poptropicans’ favorite things!

~/🐠

Web Development

Write for the PHB or Become a VIP!

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans!

Have you ever thought about writing for the PHB, the biggest Poptropica fansite? Well guess what: you can! Many have done it, and we’re always looking for more voices from this community to showcase the diversity of thoughtful Pop players out there – like YOU!

Under our About tab, you’ll find a new page titled Write for the PHB. From guest posting to aspiring to join our staff team, right on this new guide, we’ll go over how you can get involved in producing content for the biggest Poptropica fansite there is. You have things to say, and we have readers who will hear you out. So learn how you can write for us!

write for phb

In other blogging developments, we recently contacted Skinny Moon to ask about the recent VIP program, which the PHB team was invited to join, making the PHB one of Poptropica’s official fansites. There hasn’t been a lot of detail to the whole program yet, so we reached out for some comments and here’s what she had to say:

vip

So, while being VIP is currently just a title with nice graphics to display, it will expand in the future to include some interesting possibilities, such as VIP sites being linked from the official Poptropica website and maybe even an in-game costume.

Also, if you are a fan who actively blogs or posts about Pop on social media, you should contact Skinny Moon on social media about becoming a VIP! For a list of current VIPs, check out our Poptropica Fandom Community Directory.

Don’t forget to check out our other posts for what’s been going on lately! In particular, we recently wrote some in-depth reviews on various topics, which we hope you’ll check out – plus, we’d love to hear what you think down in the comments:

Keep on popping on, Poptropicans!

– slantedfish 🐠

Uncategorized, Web Development

Discover the fandom with the Poptropica Bloggers Network and PHB Directory!

Purple Claw

Heyo, readers! It’s me, Purple Claw!

The Poptropica fandom is full of talented artists, fun YouTubers, bloggers, and more! Although we’re proud of what we have here on the PHB, we think you’d be missing out if you didn’t also check out all the other awesome creative work that goes on in the Poptropica community. So, in this post, we’re going to show you how you can discover many of these Poptropica fan creators!

In the past few months, so many blogs were created in this community that we simply had to do something about it.  Thus, the Poptropica Bloggers Network was created by Hyper Gamer and me, and it’s been going strong for several months now. Check it out here!

Our goal with the PBN is to help smaller Poptropica blogs, even those that are just starting out, to grow and become more popular. If you’re interested in seeing what else goes on in the Poptropica community outside of the PHB, check out the list below of all our current PBN partners:

As you can see, there are a lot of blogs that have joined the PBN, and I’m really glad about that. Smaller Poptropica blogs deserve a chance to shine and become more well-known in the community, and the PBN is here to help you on that journey.

Blogging is a fun hobby, and if you have a Poptropica blog yourself, you might consider joining our network. Or if you’re not a blogger yet, but you want to give it a chance, guess what? Starting is easy! You can build a free blog by using WordPress.com, Blogger, or another website creation tool.

If you’re interested in joining the PBN, head over to this page to review our guidelines, then leave a comment with the required info. We’ll get back to you!

There are many benefits to joining our network, including:

  • Get listed in the Our Popping Sites page along with your blog’s slogan.
  • Have your blog’s RSS feed added to the PBN Blog page so people can see your posts.
  • Get your events, contests, or parties advertised in the Community Events page.
  • Have a personal emoji of your blog on the PBC.
  • Join our awesome events, polls and contests!

The PHB isn’t the only Poptropica blog around – you might want to read more than one! Each blogger has a unique style and fun ideas and I hope you’ll be willing to give their awesome content a chance!

At the beginning of this post, I mentioned artists and YouTubers along with bloggers. While the PBN is just for blogs, there is a lot more Poptropica content waiting to be discovered in those other realms as well – which you can discover in our newly-revamped Poptropica Fandom Community Directory right here on the PHB!

The PHB’s Directory is organized by multiple categories for you to explore: PHB-owned sites, the Creators on social media, VIP fans handpicked by the Creators, active fan sites – and you can add yours too! Check it out under the PHB’s Community tab!

directory

Thanks for your time! I hope this proves to you that neither I nor the blogging community are dead. Go check out a new blog today!

  Purple Claw
:mrgreen:

#PopBlogsMatter