DSiPlaza (http://dsiplaza.t15.org ) is an interactive social networking website released in 2009 for the Web browsers built into the Nintendo DSi and Nintendo 3DS family of systems.
Creation[]
DSiPlaza was created on December 24th, 2009 by FireMatt12 with the original domain http://dsiplaza.webs.com and released to the public two days after on the 26th. The original version was a combination of static images and text and barely had any content.
History[]
Since its creation, DSiPlaza has been designed and developed solely by its creator, FireMatt12. As time went on, more areas of the website were added, and eventually the website was far ahead of other static DSi-formatted websites. DSiPlaza switched hosts from Freewebs to x10hosting in April 2010, changing the domain to http://dsiplaza.x10hosting.com .
In summer 2010, PlazaStatus was released, a section of the website which was its first dynamic one. PlazaStatus brought a majority of users to DSiPlaza and it eventually branched off into PlazaCommunity, a large portion of the website which continued to bring fans in.
PlazaCommunity[]
PlazaCommunity 1.0 was a DSi-compatible social networking system that required no login to access. Although it was intended to be a single section of the website, PlazaCommunity became the main focus of DSiPlaza and eventually all development for the rest of the website ceased. It began small but expanded and became relatively large for its simplistic nature. As no login credentials were required for access, PlazaCommunity 1.0 recorded users' information through their IP addresses. This method was very insecure and many users experienced issues. The amount of IP addresses recorded during the lifetime of the original PlazaCommunity was approximately 1000.
DSiPlaza changed hosting in April 2011 and obtained a top-level domain name, http://dsiplaza.com.
PlazaCommunity continued to grow and later version 2.0 was released, which was a very small upgrade from the current PlazaCommunity 1.0 but still far advanced from its release.
Shortly after, DSiPlaza branched off into PC Plaza, which was essentially a computer-compatible social networking website separate from PlazaCommunity. Although it was separate, it had many of the same features as PlazaCommunity 2.0. However, it required users to register and log in with their login credentials.
After PC Plaza's release, PlazaCommunity was majorly upgraded to version 3.0, which connected it to PC Plaza and required registration. Users could use their account on both PC Plaza and PlazaCommunity 3.0, but development on PC Plaza eventually ceased. PlazaCommunity 3.0 introduced a new scrolling icon menu somewhat similar to the style found on the iOS family of devices. Many new features were introduced or improved such as a messaging system. Many graphics were added. This was the turning point of PlazaCommunity. It was the first version to add small updates in decimal increments, adding some minor improvements with verision 3.5.
Later, PlazaCommunity 4.0 was released. This included an enormous amount of new features or improvements, a large amount of security updates, some minor graphic improvements, and the implementation of AJAX into the website. New features were constantly being added during this version, so the version number continuously increased.
A larger update was released in late 2011, increasing the version number to 5.0. This included graphic improvements, a notable menu improvement, security updates, and various scattered small improvements.
Shortly after, it moved hosts and the domain became http://dsiplaza.t15.org , where it stands now.
Current[]
PlazaCommunity currently stands at version 5.4.
It has a user base of almost 4000 members, although only around 1000-2000 actually log onto the website on a regular basis, as some of these users are prohibited from viewing the website as a result of bad behavior (banned), have created multiple accounts, or have abandoned their old accounts.
FireMatt12 (the creator) still visits the website occasionally but has not developed much for it recently. The latest update was the improved user profile system released in early 2012.
DSiPlaza is a relatively old website in comparison to other DSi-compatible websites and much of the fan base has changed or abandoned the website.
Future[]
Development on the website has slowed immensely over the course of its lifetime and it is not known whether or not the developer intends to update the website further. It is presumed that the final version of PlazaCommunity will be verion 6.0, released sometime in 2012. There are many unfinished projects that were announced such as 3DS Network that may presumably be finished or released to the public unfinished.