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.

Store, Web Development

My head is on fire!

Slanted Fish

Lighten up, lad!
”Arghh! Yeowwwww! Help me! Save me head… oh!” The little boy’s cries of agony echoed through the underground temple of Shark Tooth Island. He knew his parents had warned him not to play with fire, but he just couldn’t resist! Unfortunately, a ”small accident” had caused his whole body to go up in flames, and he was burning fast now. His head was the first part to catch on fire, and in a few seconds had melted his hair away, leaving him bald. He now wore a nice crown of fire on top of his head, and the rest of his body was glowing orange from head to toe. Oh, will he ever be saved, or will this poor kid be left to —

Oof! A purple dungeon bat knocked him down into the water below the ledge he was standing on. It was terribly salty and dirty water, and the little boy also remembered being warned by his parents not to go swimming down there (whoops, too late!). But amazingly, the horror of the flames were gone! He was saved! The boy vowed never to mess with fire again. As should all of you Poptropicans! 😀

Blog Post Title: Lighten up.
Description: Is it just me, or is it hot in here?
Image URL: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AkTCxo8C1Ys/SmclnLkbppI/AAAAAAAAAGg/PpwfMT1AnJc/s1600-h/lightenup.jpg
Image Name: lightenup.jpg
Posted by: Dr. Hare

Thanks for this update, Incredible Fish. We don’t know much about this fire-body power, but it’s most likely going to be a new Poptropica Store item coming soon in the Cool Stuff section. Don’t forget, there will also be an astronaut suit coming to the store next week! (See the post below for more information.)

—

Apparently, a day or so ago, prices in the Poptropica Store had gone down just after they had gone up. Thanks for the update, Green Seal. When the store first opened, costumes were 75 credits each and Cool Stuff items were 250 credits each. However, on July 15 they had gone up: costumes had become 150 each and Cool Stuff things were 325 credits. A day later they were back at original price. But apparently, they were lowered by a lot recently: Cool Stuff was 175 and Special Costumes were 25 each!

Golden Eagle suggests that they were probably testing out prices to see if they got a surge in sale, but maybe normal was getting the most profit for them. They have now returned to the original price, Cool Stuff being 250 each and Special Costumes are 75 each.

—

We have moved the ”Commenting Rules” from the About page to a seperate page, which you can find here. Recently, we have also added a ”Contact” page, where you are able to learn new methods of keeping in touch with updates at the PHB. You can find the Contact page here.

By the way, due to going through too much work, our Poptropica Links site will not be used anymore. Repeat: The PHB’s Poptropica Links WordPress blog will not be updated any longer. However, we will continue to update the Poptropica Directory on the PHB – but we won’t be adding new directory listings into our blogroll sidebar, sorry. As a matter of fact, we have now reached over 40 listings in our directory, so click here to check out all the cool webpages!

—

Blog Notice
Scary Tomato will not be active on the PHB from July 24 to July 28, 2009. I’ll be on vacation and won’t have Internet access for those five days. Hopefully, the rest of our staff will still be posting news updates and stuff! :mrgreen:

Unfortunately, I will not be available for the one-year anniversary of Poptropica Help Blog, sorry! But while I’m gone, please don’t wreak havoc and spam the whole site! Smockers and Codien will still be around to catch y’all and send you to prison with Crusher, Ratman, Betty Jetty and the rest of their evil gang. Just kidding… but be safe, readers! 😛

Wallpapers, Web Development

Moon magic

Slanted Fish

That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind. –Neil Armstrong

It’s been 40 years since the first man has landed on the moon! To show Neil’s great achievement for all humans, the Poptropica Creators have put together an awesome ”Moon Scene” wallpaper. To set it as your desktop wallpaper, right-click on the image below and select the ‘Set as background’ option. To see the wallpaper in full size, click here. Thanks for the update, Cool Wing.

moonScene

Like what you see above? The Creators are also going to be adding an astronaut costume (probably like the one you see in the picture) to the Poptropica Store next week, so have your credits ready! It’s not likely, but I hope the ”special action” for this costume will be flying! And maybe when you fly, you’ll have that white streak following behind you, as seen in the wallpaper.

Speaking of the awesome powers of the moon, did anyone hear about or see the sun eclipse?

Sun Eclipse

—

Also, Poptropica Help Blog is almost going to celebrate our one-year anniversary, which will be on July 26! Last year on July 26, 2008, Scary Tomato created this blog to help others with the game Poptropica. PHB is now nearly one year old, so get ready for an awesome celebration of cookies!

In other news, the good old WordPress smilies are back! Thanks to Shaggy Tornado for spotting this. Head on over to our Typing Tricks page if you need help with using smilies in your comments!

—

However, yesterday we suffered the loss of one extremely helpful and kind staff member, Grumpy Wolf. He has retired from writing on the PHB and from playing Poptropica. His Poptropica account will be given out in a contest hosted by the Poptropica Help Blog, which we are going to do soon. Thanks for all your great contributions, Wolf!

In GW’s last post, which spoke of his resignation, there has been some confusion for why he is leaving. In truth, Grumpy Wolf told the PHB on Gmail that he would be leaving the PHB and Poptropica. He says he’s not sure why exactly, but some part of his mind just wants to. As Angry Berry said, ”He doesn’t have to tell. Let’s give him privacy.” Click here for more information.

According to a PHB commenter, x aka moody skull, people had been making fun of some PHB staff for being inactive in the Poptropica Help Forum chatroom. The PHF chatroom was not made for this reason, and if anyone is seen being rude to other people, or making mean comments there, they will be blocked from using the chatroom.

What Moody Skull saw has been confirmed by a post on another Poptropica blog, which says:

We’ve recently received shocking news that says that Grumpy Wolf  hasn’t been very active on the PHB lately! Some people are saying, and I qoute, “R.I.P Grumpy Wolf “. I am here at the PHF chatbox to investigate. Here I am with 2 anonymous members and I asked both of them “Do anyone of you think that Grumpy Wolf  is leaving the PHB?” They both said yes! So there you have it folks. If you want to see for yourself then ask around or ask Grumpy Wolf yourself.

Apparently, Drummer3290 was the one who had ”thought of this first”, according to Drummer’s comment on that blog’s post, which you can read by clicking here. The people who made fun of our staff may have been anonymous users, but making impolite and unkind comments will not be tolerated anywhere.

Another rumor spotted by x aka moody skull was about a user in the chatroom named ”GrumpyWolf”, who claimed that he would come back next year. As much as we’d like for this to happen, the so-called ”GrumpyWolf” was most likely an impersonater, or someone who is faking (a fraud). Impersonation of another person can lead you into serious trouble, so please don’t try it.

We hope that this clears up some of the confusion about our great friend Grumpy Wolf. Grumpy Wolf, we’ll miss you, but we wish you a happy life! 🙂

Hellos & Goodbyes, Web Development

Resignation Note of Grumpy Wolf

Grumpy Wolf

Yes, it’s true. Grumpy Wolf is resigning. It’s been a good run here on the PHB. I posted only few things here as a blogger, but as a commenter, I’m sure many. I’m very sorry I have to leave the Blog. I wish you can have fun without me here. I’m also leaving Poptropica itself for good to. But there, is good news, as there will be a contest to see who gets my Poptropica username and password! Well, I bid many a good day to all of you guys, including Scary Tomato, Smockers, and Codien.  Farewell commenters!

~Grumpy Wolf~

Reality TV Island, Sneak Peeks, Web Development

Don’t trash your wallpaper!

Slanted Fish

Poptropica Help Blog currently has 1,453,000+ hits (about 1.4 million)! Bring on the cookies!

Yikes, it seems that they’re at the dumpster with someone’s missing keys! Must be another mishap in the unfortunate life of Ned Noodlehead. Thanks for the news about the sneak peek (shown below), Obiwan2324!

The story below is a sequel chapter to the “Soaring High” chapter from a previous post on the PHB. Please note that the story below is a work of fiction; written by the PHB Team to entertain its readers. Enjoy!

The Old but New Adventures of Comic Kid
Ned Noodlehead by day, Comic Kid hero by night.

Chapter 5
Trashy Day

Ned Noodlehead decided to take a break from hiking, so he went back down the hill and walked downtown, where he was hoping to get some lunch after being unsuccessful in grabbing some seagulls’ eggs. He walked around the island central, considering all the restaurant possibilities. ”Yo, Comic boy, over here!” called a voice to the side. Ned Noodlehead spun around, staring at the little crowd that had gathered before him. ”How did –?” he began, but was cut off by his adoring fans. ”Noodlehead, I’m a big fan of yours!” ”I heard that you saved an island from dangerous criminals!” ”Your comics rock, man!”

”Gee, thanks.” Ned grinned about his sudden fame among the citizens of the strange island. A kid wearing a ”Brief Encounters” T-shirt with Comic Kid’s face on it shouted, ”Can I have your autograph?” Less than a second later, he was surrounded with dozens of pens and papers. Ned tried to sign as many as he could, but his hand soon got tired. ”Guys, thanks a lot, but I really gotta run. I haven’t had lunch yet!”

Another fan, who was wearing a puppy dog costume, tapped his shoulder. ”Oh, you’ll love the Cartoon Dog. They’ve got lots of tasty stuff there. C’mon, I’ll show you.” She led the way to a building with a hand-drawn sign reading ”The Cartoon Dog: Taste the comics!” The screaming mob of fans followed them inside, but the puppy-costumed girl didn’t seem to mind. ”Table for two, please,” she told the waitress standing at the front. The waitress, who was wearing a white uniform, smiled and showed them their seats. Meanwhile, the rest of the fans had finally realized that it wasn’t necessary to hog up all the restaurant’s space, helped by the manager who had to take them all outside. The restaurant manager winked at Ned.

”My name’s Comical Dog.” She reached her hand out, so Ned shook it. ”I’m Ned–” ”Oh, you don’t need to tell me who you are. Everyone here knows you; you’re the superhero who saved Super Power Island. Ned Noodlehead, am I right?” ”Yeah,” laughed Ned, very pleased to know that others knew about his heroic efforts. ”But I couldn’t have done it without a very special Poptropican!” This day is going so well!, thought NN, thinking that good fortune was finally entering his life.

After a pleasant meal with lots and lots of cookies, Ned Noodlehead sat back, declaring that his stomach was now very well-fed. He managed to resist a satisfied burp, just when Comical Dog volunteered to pay for the meal. ”That’s kind of you,” offered Ned. ”Thanks,” replied Dog, looking down at their table. ”Hmm, we seem to have made quite a mess with our leftover cookie crumbs.” She chuckled and picked them up with a tissue. ”There’s a dumpster out at the back; let’s go.” So Noodlehead followed Comical Dog out of the restaurant.

A ghastly smell filled the atmosphere as they stepped closer towards the dumpster. ”Ick,” gagged NN. ”Don’t worry, kid,” smiled Dog, who was now standing right in front of what Ned called ”the box with bad smells”. She tossed the wrapped tissue with crumbs inside the dumpster, then said, ”Sorry, Comic guy. I have to get home now. See you around!” ”Bye,” croaked Ned, feeling unable to smell the stench for much longer. Comical Dog jogged away, and Ned decided to leave to.

It was only when he’d arrived back at the front of his comic shop in Super Power Island did he realize that he’d forgotten his keys. Without them, he couldn’t unlock the door to his store. Oh no, oh no, oh no! He remembered placing them on the Cartoon Dog restaurant table, as he was explaining to Comical Dog about his comic shop. ”Nooooooo….!!” wailed Ned Noodlehead. Comical Dog had thrown his keys away!

And so this was how he came to be down in the dumps for the rest of the day. (Thanks for the joke, Cool Wing!)

Blog Post Title: Trashy Day
Description: My day was going so well until I realized that my keys were missing. The last time I remember having them was at lunch, when I threw my leftovers away. I’m afraid they’re probably in the big dumpster out back.
Image URL: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_q9BePaDQLzI/SlOi3_ZZVNI/AAAAAAAAAE8/ARaifeq4X14/s1600-h/trashy.jpg
Image Name: trashy.jpg
Posted By: Comic Kid

—

Show your support to the Poptropica Help Blog today! Motionman95 has created an awesome desktop wallpaper for all PHB fans to use, and it broadcasts the message ”I ♥ the PHB!” Click on the link below for the image, then right-click on it and select ”Set as Background”.

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/8134/ilovethephb.jpg

Update: The wallpaper image doesn’t seem to work anymore. 😦

—

On another note: WordPress has changed the smilies by default, which is why they now look different. Although it seems that some of us don’t like them too much, there isn’t an option to change them back. Sorry for any inconvenience caused. 😦

A new page has been added – ”Typing Tricks”, in the Cool Stuff section. Learn what text you need to type to add in smilies to your comments, or discover how to make your words bolded, italicized, or underlined. Go check it out now!