Alan Crisp answers your questions

Discussion in 'MyBB Discussions' started by Ryan Loos, Apr 7, 2011.

  1. Ryan Loos

    Ryan Loos Guest

    Alan Crisp, a long standing and proud staff member of MyBB, answers your questions.
    Please tell us a bit about yourself.

    I’m 23 and currently live in [not very] sunny Doncaster in the UK. I started out writing small modifications for MyBB more years ago than I would care to count up and also created the MyBB Mods website as a side project. In 2004 I joined Chris as a developer following the departure of many of the original team. For a little while there was only really Chris and I actively developing MyBB but more people were quickly recruited to help out. I’ve been here ever since and am involved in both maintaining and developing the MyBB Mods website and also developing MyBB itself. My career is also in web development and I’m currently working at one of the largest online retailers of computer and electrical products in the UK. Primarily I’m a PHP developer although my job occasionally takes me into other programming languages such as Perl and basic bash scripting.
    Other than MyBB, what are some of your hobbies?

    I’m a saxophone player and also an aspiring composer in my free time. I’m very much into jazz, funk and blues music and enjoy listening to all sorts from Cannonball Adderley, Dave Brubeck and Herbie Hancock to Chuck Mangione, Dave Weckl and Spyro Gyra. I do like some other more mainstream bands too such as Muse, Snow Patrol and Captain. Whilst I was still in full-time education, music was very much my main focus and programming was the hobby on the side. I even went on to do a music degree and then put it to great use by going into a career as a web developer. Essentially music and programming are now the reverse of before – I’m spending most of my time each day doing web development at work and keeping my musical interests going in my spare time. On the plus side I can listen to music at work so that is perhaps the best of both worlds. I can’t imagine how I would cope without Last.fm when I’m at work.
    What is your favourite food?

    This is a tough call, although I’ve recently become addicted to BBQ chicken pizzas. In fact, I’m probably going to end up eating one shortly after I’ve written this. Failing that a good fry-up with lots of grease is always a meal suitable for any coming day.
    How long per day, on average, would you spend at a computer and doing what?

    I spend at least eight hours a day in front of a computer at work doing web development, then often another four or five in the evening when I get home during which I could be doing almost anything from gaming to composing, general web surfing or even more programming – it did start as a hobby after all.
    What is a feature you would love to see in MyBB by default one day?

    Several years ago when I was primarily a modification developer for MyBB I created a modification for allowing entire user groups to become forum moderators. This was mentioned for possible inclusion in future releases of MyBB several times but unfortunately it never happened. That is of course until MyBB 1.6, but then you already know that because you’ve all read the features list and/or tried the beta by now, haven’t you?
    What is your dream career?

    I’m certainly enjoying my career so far in web development. I’ve picked up so much knowledge and worked with some great people so this is certainly where I’m staying for the moment. That said however, if I suddenly had an opportunity to join a touring band as a saxophonist or become the next big film composer I could probably be tempted to make an unplanned career move.
    Do you plan on sticking with MyBB or will you move off to something else?

    My connection with MyBB is something I’m incredibly proud of and it means a lot to me. It’s largely because I joined MyBB that I became interested in web development and lead to me deciding to make a career of it when it became apparent that I was not going to be the next Hans Zimmer. So with that in mind I certainly want to stick around with MyBB for as long as I’m able, although inevitably the real world will ultimately dictate how long that will be. I certainly hope to be around for a while yet.
    Anything else you would like to add?

    It’s been truly great to be a part of this community for so long. I’ve seen MyBB grow from a little-known script that powered the Messenger Plus! community forums to the fully featured product it is today which can really contend with some of the biggest bulletin board scripts available. I’d like to thank everyone who has supported MyBB over the years and hope you continue to show that support in the future. Seeing your positive feedback has always been great encouragement to continue at times when motivation is low and it’s a really great feeling to be a part of something that so many people now know and hopefully enjoy to use.


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