Hall of Fame Inductee 4: Mike Wayne

PRangerX · 02/21/11, 03:36 PM

Mike Wayne is our fourth Inductee into the Power Rangers Online Hall of Fame. He is in the Fandom Contributor Wing. He was the creator of the orginal Power Rangers Online. And the inspiration for the new version that this Hall of Fame is part of.

Mike Wayne started a website in 1999 called the Power Rangers Online Universe. Wayne was a fan of PRC and desired to create a site that could live up to it. Wayne ended up becoming a friend to Ray Calderon for a time.

By 2000, Wayne bought a domain (powerrangersonline.com). He changed his website name to Power Rangers Online. At which point the site's popularity surged. PRO was a graphic rich Power Rangers website that provided news and information on the show. It had subsites for every seasons.

The website had a successful message board that was ran off of coolboard. Wayne was the first major webmaster to switch to Ezboard. The PRO Ezboard Message Board was one of the larger boards in the fandom at this time.

PRO had a web alliance with PRC. With each site linking to each other on their main pages. PRO and PRC Message Board often had some of the same members. PRO Message Board could be zany at times but not as quite chaotic as PRC Message Board. The board had mods when PRC Board didn't. PRC Message Board followed PRO's lead into Ezboad.

Many websites tried to steal Wayne's graphics. Which hurt Mike since he spent a lot of time working on these graphics. Wayne ran the PRO Newsletter. Which ran off a yahoo group that destributed PR news to many fans. PRO had several yahoo groups. As well as several cast sites as affiliates.

One huge critism of PRO was the fact that Mike used some content from PROA in his website. Wayne later regretted doing this. PRO was also critized for using too many graphics and not enough content. And for sometimes for making promises regarding updates that weren't kept.

Mike promised a huge update to PRO 4.0. But the updates we're never completed. Wayne disapeared from his message board only to come back a few times. The board was left to its own as the PRO website shut down. The domain expired and wound up with a reseller. The board remained active for a time. But eventually became a ghost town.

Chris Zunis later gained control of the Message Board and created the Power Rangers Online Database to try and carry on the legacy of the board. Later creating a new version of PRO. Zunis later got Mike's blessing to do this. Wayne made a few brief apearances at PRO Message Board but never fully came back. Chris was able to aquire the original domain much later. And PRO Survives to this day.

While some see Mike Wayne as a polarizing figure. One cannot deny the impact he had on the fandom in the time that he ran his site. He was a well known name in the fandom. PRO was a also a very well known site during its time. The fact that he is the creator of Power Rangers Online justifys his inclusion in its first Hall of Fame Class alone.

02/21/11, 03:36 PM	#1
PRangerX Administrator Join Date: 12/04/00 Posts: 4,004	Hall of Fame Inductee 4: Mike Wayne Mike Wayne is our fourth Inductee into the Power Rangers Online Hall of Fame. He is in the Fandom Contributor Wing. He was the creator of the orginal Power Rangers Online. And the inspiration for the new version that this Hall of Fame is part of. Mike Wayne started a website in 1999 called the Power Rangers Online Universe. Wayne was a fan of PRC and desired to create a site that could live up to it. Wayne ended up becoming a friend to Ray Calderon for a time. By 2000, Wayne bought a domain (powerrangersonline.com). He changed his website name to Power Rangers Online. At which point the site's popularity surged. PRO was a graphic rich Power Rangers website that provided news and information on the show. It had subsites for every seasons. The website had a successful message board that was ran off of coolboard. Wayne was the first major webmaster to switch to Ezboard. The PRO Ezboard Message Board was one of the larger boards in the fandom at this time. PRO had a web alliance with PRC. With each site linking to each other on their main pages. PRO and PRC Message Board often had some of the same members. PRO Message Board could be zany at times but not as quite chaotic as PRC Message Board. The board had mods when PRC Board didn't. PRC Message Board followed PRO's lead into Ezboad. Many websites tried to steal Wayne's graphics. Which hurt Mike since he spent a lot of time working on these graphics. Wayne ran the PRO Newsletter. Which ran off a yahoo group that destributed PR news to many fans. PRO had several yahoo groups. As well as several cast sites as affiliates. One huge critism of PRO was the fact that Mike used some content from PROA in his website. Wayne later regretted doing this. PRO was also critized for using too many graphics and not enough content. And for sometimes for making promises regarding updates that weren't kept. Mike promised a huge update to PRO 4.0. But the updates we're never completed. Wayne disapeared from his message board only to come back a few times. The board was left to its own as the PRO website shut down. The domain expired and wound up with a reseller. The board remained active for a time. But eventually became a ghost town. Chris Zunis later gained control of the Message Board and created the Power Rangers Online Database to try and carry on the legacy of the board. Later creating a new version of PRO. Zunis later got Mike's blessing to do this. Wayne made a few brief apearances at PRO Message Board but never fully came back. Chris was able to aquire the original domain much later. And PRO Survives to this day. While some see Mike Wayne as a polarizing figure. One cannot deny the impact he had on the fandom in the time that he ran his site. He was a well known name in the fandom. PRO was a also a very well known site during its time. The fact that he is the creator of Power Rangers Online justifys his inclusion in its first Hall of Fame Class alone.