Cult Press Update #2

With these updates, we’d like to introduce you to the fantastic features of Cult Press. So starting with this edition, we are going to focus on the main aspects of Cult Press and what they can do for you. This edition: Cult Press Profiles.

By now, everyone is aware of the Web 2.0 philosophy (e.g. MySpace, Blogger, YouTube, etc.) where it’s all about YOU and what YOU can bring to the table. Well, Cult Press is no exception to this trend. Cult Press is all about what types of news articles YOU like to read and introducing new ways for YOU to find them and share them with others.

Your Cult Press Profile is the starting hub of the site for registered members. Not only that, it is also your connection to every other registered member on the site, where you can broadcast your latest news articles and… yeah, you guessed it… blog to your heart’s desire.

So your Cult Press Profile is just a blog, right? Your Cult Press Profile is just like MySpace, right? Wrong. Oh no, it’s much, much more than that.

Of course, I can’t reveal everything right now, but here are just a few things that make your Cult Press Profile great:

• Display your face to the world (or choose an image that suits you)!
• Blog on the site, or load in your blog from another site with an RSS feed.
• Age, country, contact details, homepage, etc. – say as much or as little about yourself as you want.
• Send and receive private messages between members – or post public messages directly onto their Profiles.
• Your user level – show everyone how good you are!
• News articles from the site – recommended just for you.
• Choose your favourite subject so we know what news articles to show you.
• Fine tune your personal preferences by choosing specific keywords (favourite tags). We will only show you news articles on your Profile that have matching tags.
• Add other members as Friends, view the articles they have submitted or view the articles that have been recommended to them via their own favourite tags.
• Browse through your Friends’ Friends to build up a social network.
• View the Cult Press Awards that you have unlocked – show them off to your Friends to make them jealous!
• View your statistics – how many articles have you submitted? What is your rank? How many positive votes on articles have you received from other members?
• Subscribe to RSS feeds featuring your recommended news, your own articles, your Friend’s articles, etc.

OK, that’s it for now. Don’t forget to look out for Update #3, where I’ll let you in on a few more secrets about articles and their tags… until then, see ya!

Click here to view a preview image and post your comments!

Cult Press Update #1

We're hard at work on the brand new version of cultpress.com right now, but that hasn't stopped us from keeping you up-to-date about the work in progress!

We’ve had a lot of questions recently asking about Cult Press, so I’m going take this first edition of Cult Press Updates as an opportunity to answer some Frequently Asked Questions…

1. What’s this all about?

This is all about Cult Press, a brand new Web 2.0 website created by zer0mike and me. Zer0mike is the designer and I am the developer.

2. So what is Cult Press?

Cult Press is a combination of social networking and popular culture news, joining forces to create a unique experience where YOU can share the news that you are interested in with your friends – and make some new friends in the process.

The core subjects of Cult Press are: Film, music, games, gadgets, TV, toys and comics. If you are interested in any of those things, Cult Press is the website for you.

3. How does it work and what does it do?

Register with Cult Press to become a member and join the online community that enables you to read, post, share, discuss, vote and track your favourite popular culture news.

Seen a news article about film/music/games/etc. that you think will interest the Cult Press community? News articles can be submitted by any registered member of Cult Press. The articles will be checked by moderators and then published on the home page for the whole world to see.

Every news article submitted to Cult Press will feature accompanying tags – anyone who uses GameSpot will be aware of the way this system works – and the tags will help other members find the articles that they are interested in, with the help of tag clouds and a search facility.

Other members can leave comments on the article and vote on it. The more positive votes and comments the article receives, the longer it stays in view and the more Cult Factor points the article writer earns.

Any action performed on Cult Press, such as submitting an article, voting, etc., scores you Cult Factor points for your profile. The points system provides an extra level of competition between members and encourages members to do more on the site. Want to know who has submitted the most articles, voted the most times, read the most articles, has had articles read the most, etc., there will be leaderboards for all!

Periodical special events and promotions, as well as special achievements (such as submitting 100 articles) and discovering hidden secrets will result in the awarding of Reveal Badges to members. The badges will appear in a grid on your profile – try to collect them all! Click on the Reveal Badges to reveal more hidden secrets!

Your profile, My Cult Press, is the starting hub for registered members. Keep it up-to-date with your contact details and blog. Send and receive private messages between members. Submit your favourite tags and My Cult Press will automatically compile news from the site that specifically interests you. Subscribe to your own personal RSS feed or to RSS feeds of any other member. Add other members as friends to create a RSS feed featuring your friends’ articles.

And that’s not all… but I’ve got to keep some stuff secret for now, but all will be revealed in due course.

4. When can we see it?

You’ll see it right here first. I will be posting sneak preview images and stuff from the site as it goes through development.

We hope to launch a public beta at www.cultpress.com on 07/07/07.


That's it for now, but we'll be posting more information in the future. Check out the full version of Cult Press Update #1 hosted on GameSpot and don't forget to look there for future news, sneak previews and exclusive revelations!