Thread Category & Prefix System

[Greylock]

Now that the better part of a day has passed, I can see how a busy page looks, all dolled up and ready to read anew.

Eeeep. Too much info per post. Really, way to much to process at my mental processing speed...

First to note, little blue worlds vs. little brown worlds. K. Then, little purple worlds vs. little red worlds. Got it. Kewl. Blue worlds with big white arrows. That marks them personal priority, vs, the little white DM arrows, got it. Big white Star of the East marked worlds, something new to read, as opposed to blue worlds or brown worlds, or worlds starmarked with posts beyond one page marked in colors including both blue and yellow, much less the little blue-star marked worlds with 10pages.... posts, then whatever you get when you click is a mystery, unless the post has a locky icon, in which case, it's gonna be good, unless it's brown and not blue.

If I'm lucky, somewhere after that, my brain somehow parces info regarding thread title and author. I can personally state, unequivocably in regards to my own taste, the posticon is not helpful, and is in fact an additional distraction and obstruction, when determining which threads need my personal attention. Individual ones, special ones, tend to help call-out important posts. When every post has one, jeepers, I don't know where to start to read...

 

[DanMcS]

Not to crack down and be "All or nothing" here, but for this to be effective, it must be mandated. Let it run for a month or so then go back and do searches based on the categories, or sort threads in a forum based on them. Then the advantage should become clear.

You can require them for posting, and still make them turn-offable for viewing. Some people don't want the clutter on their screens since skim the threads by title. That's valuable screen real-estate being wasted on a feature that we don't want.

 

[Michael Morris]

That's also at least 2 hours of work. Unless a huge outcry for this erupts I'm not going to do it - I have other things to do on the site like getting the reviews section done.

 

[DethStryke]

The extra stuff will become background info after a short while. Let your brain become accustomed to them and they will fade just like Advertisements. Being from the "would like back plots and places" group, I am estatic that I can find plot/story type posts in the bulging mass that is the General Discussion without being lost. The idea of being able to do a search for JUST those threads throughout years of descussion makes me nearly shake with joy and anticipation. I'm so giddy about the prospect that I may break out in song and dance not unlike a strange, overweight and poorly trained musical.

Umm... yea.

I love them as they are. I'm a big fan of labelling things like this for easy reference and search capabilities. I also like the text tags instead of the graphics due to bandwidth considerations. Every little bit helps, imo. Even with caching it still hits the speed after so long. The only change I would consider is to make the font a bit smaller. Different colors would make them an eye sore though. I have 20/15 vision myself, and run in 1280x1024 which I can see clearly from more than 6 feet away. 6pt font is a valid choice for my eyes to read, so I probably don't have good information on what is too big or too small on the screen.


Another fine feature implemented nicely. Bravo MM.

 

[Jdvn1]

For the LEW forums, these might be useful:
Proposal
Tavern
Adventure
Discussion

 

[Berandor]

You can require them for posting, and still make them turn-offable for viewing. Some people don't want the clutter on their screens since skim the threads by title. That's valuable screen real-estate being wasted on a feature that we don't want.

I think before enabling turn-off, you should wait a month or so. Obviously, it's new and strange at the beginning, and a lot of people might turn them off without giving them a chance.

 

[Psychic Warrior]

I think before enabling turn-off, you should wait a month or so. Obviously, it's new and strange at the beginning, and a lot of people might turn them off without giving them a chance.

Like post icons? I can't see the difference. I never found post icons useful. I don't see why this would be any different.

 

[Knight Otu]

If you're taking suggestions on categories, I'd like to submit these for consideration:

Creature Catalog - General Monster Talk

• List
• Request
• Project
• General

Creature Catalog - Homebrews

• <Creature Types>
• Swarm
• Request
• Compiled
• New Type

Living Enworld:

• Adventure
• Announcement
• Archive
• Discussion
• Judge
• Proposal
• Record
• Tavern

 

[Berandor]

Like post icons? I can't see the difference. I never found post icons useful. I don't see why this would be any different.

Because people will be forced to use them? As opposed to posticons, which were sparingly emnployed at best.

 

[Gez]

I suppose for the PBP and Story Hour forums, categories corresponding to style of play and campaign settings could be useful.

Like, "Grim & Gritty", "High Fantasy", "Pulp Fantasy", "Modern Occult", "Epic Saga", "Epic Level", etc. And the settings, FR, Eberron, GH, DL, PS, Diamond Throne, Scarred Lands, and so on.