VERY Happy About "Gaming Action" Forum UNConsolidation

[Grazzt]

My question would simply be:

If it's such a problem and such a big deal about the forum, why have only 29 people replied to this thread?

Now, if ENWorld had say 30-40, maybe 50 members only, and 29 replied to this thread (and most were against the forum move), ya might have something.

 

[Michael Morris]

Reaper doesn't speak for the silent non-existant majority??? Say it ain't so!

 

[Piratecat]

My question would simply be:

If it's such a problem and such a big deal about the forum, why have only 29 people replied to this thread?

Actually, 13 people have replied - of whom six have been against the change. That's not exactly a clear mandate that the forum members have somehow been "screwed," despite the fact that the people who have posted in this thread clearly feel strongly about it. I strongly suspect that to most people it's merely one extra click. I'm certainly sure that it isn't the death knell of the forums, but I'm sensitive to the moderator's concern that it may discourage new players (although I don't see this myself.)

We hear your objections nevertheless, and I'm not sure we've reached any final conclusions yet.

 

[Seonaid]

My two cents, if this is still in debate:

I'm confused by two things. First has been said already, and that is--why are the restricted forums on the front page? I never understood that. It seems kind of elitist and "nyah nyah nyah" to me.

Second, though, is this: why the concern with space at all? I'm on a dinky dial-up and the page doesn't take that long to load, and I don't have any problems with finding what I need.

If the concern is drawing new people and making sure they understand what's going on, I think one of the big changes that needs to be made is getting rid of the restricted forums (putting them as sub-forums, as has been noted previously). Also, it seems to me that there's a lot of "wasted" space at the top of the front page and the bottom of the front page. The bottom in particular could be crunched a little, keeping the same information but with less "white" space (even though it's not white ). And what's the deal with the five lines of text at the top? Is that necessary? I have to say that, the first time I logged in as a Community Supporter, it surprised me to see the "Community Supporter" link at the top of the page. Maybe it's a script thing (I'm not familiar with anything beyond basic HTML), but it made me feel kind of unwelcome. Is there some way to have certain things shown only to Community Supporters (or to non-Supporters)? I haven't been on the front page without logging in for a while, so maybe it's completely different, and maybe it has to do with the board format I'm using, but I would think that the same basic thing should be available to everyone.

One last thing--why is the "Who's Online" link not available on the front page? Am I missing it? I always access it through the drop-down menus at the bottom of pages, but that means I have to actually open a thread first. Yeah, big deal, right? I guess not, but it's a little thing I miss from before the restructuring.

I dunno, this is kind of spastic, but those are my thoughts. I'm feeling a bit incoherent, so excuse anything that doesn't make sense, and if it's all explained away easily, great. Like someone (Mirth?) said, I'm sure the right decisions will be made, and perhaps the current ones were made using information I'm not privy to, or scripting woes I wouldn't know about, but I figured I'd drop a line anyway.

 

[el-remmen]

Obviously for Reaper the admins not doing immediately doing what he requested is the same as being screwed.

I wish I got laid as often.

 

[Seonaid]

Okay, so I just logged out and went to the new front page, and it's pretty much exactly like my front page . . . except for the two strips of links at the top of the page . . . what are *those* for? Eh, no offense to whoever designed them, and this really has no bearing on my previous post, but man that's ugly, in an unwieldy sense. And the gray box of linkage (the five lines of text I was complaining about previously, in a different format), IMO, draw the eyes to something that's perhaps not quite as important as "Register" or "Become a CS." Again, my two cents, and again, sorry for spastic knee-jerk reactions. They aren't meant to be.

 

[Michael Morris]

And what's the deal with the five lines of text at the top? Is that necessary? I have to say that, the first time I logged in as a Community Supporter, it surprised me to see the "Community Supporter" link at the top of the page. Maybe it's a script thing (I'm not familiar with anything beyond basic HTML), but it made me feel kind of unwelcome. Is there some way to have certain things shown only to Community Supporters (or to non-Supporters)?

Yes and no.

Yes, it can be done (I think)

No, I don't know how to do it. What I do know how to do is to hide User CP if someone isn't registered and hide registration if the mods turn it off. I can look into it, but it's a pretty big hassle.

I haven't been on the front page without logging in for a while, so maybe it's completely different, and maybe it has to do with the board format I'm using, but I would think that the same basic thing should be available to everyone.

One last thing--why is the "Who's Online" link not available on the front page?

Cause I forgot it and no one has pointed it out until now. I can put it in with Russ' ok.

 

[Seonaid]

Cause I forgot it and no one has pointed it out until now. I can put it in with Russ' ok.

Great! Thanks a lot!

 

[Piratecat]

The who's online link is currently available through the jump-to menu at the bottom right; scroll up to the top. Michael, if you want to add a link in (between faq and search?) that'd be great, and I'll take responsibility for giving you the okay. Thank you.

Seonaid, you bring up some great points. In particular, it's worth mentioning that keeping the front page more compressed has a lot less to do with bandwidth than it does with trying not to overwhelm new visitors. In the same way that GaryH doesn't want us to inadvertently discourage new pbp players, we don't want to discourage new members either. Seeing a bajillion forums can be pretty intimidating.

As for the 13 kingdoms forums, Morrus has specific agreements with people who have private forums. Such an agreement may specify the forum's placement.

 

[Seonaid]

The who's online link is currently available through the jump-to menu at the bottom right; scroll up to the top.

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. I don't have the jump-to menu on my front page. I have to go into a thread in order to find it. Maybe that's the setting of the format I picked? It's a tiny thing (especially now that I say it "out loud," as it were), but it was so nice when it was on the front page.