You probably noticed a side bar. Do you like it? Hate it?
Just leaving it activated as a trial, for now, but it may become permanent.
Sidebar Trial Run
You probably noticed a side bar. Do you like it? Hate it?
Just leaving it activated as a trial, for now, but it may become permanent.
oh what a tangled web I weave
I like it(I've seen plenty of other vB boards use it so was already familiar with the option), and if someone dislikes the look they can easily collapse it by clicking the << button and it goes away.
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"A Jedi must remain focused. Mastery of the Force requires that all unnecessary activities be purged from daily life."
I really really like it. And I'm not just saying that because I keep clicking the little >> and making swoosh noises as it smushes the forums out of the way.
Not sure I like the tag cloud (do we use tags enough for this to be useful? do we need to start using tags more to make sure this is useful?), but it's easy enough to collapse that bit of the side bar, so it doesn't bother me any.
Really like it showing new roleplays and group discussions though: anything we can do that makes groups more visible is a good move in my book!
It's like that, and that's the way it is.
I like it a lot. My only criticism would be the tag cloud: it's a bit ugly to me, and I wonder if people would really find it of any use, other than as a mere curiosity. Perhaps a Star Wars RSS feed instead?
The contents are not set in stone, and the tag cloud is likely to disappear. I don't want anything too cluttered (too long and you'll have to scroll down past the forums, for instance), but for lack of anything immediately useful to add to the sidebar I put the tag cloud. Mostly out of curiosity.
i like using the tags to filter threads, tbh, since we can't filter by post icon.
edit: posted at the same time as Droo.An RSS feed is a possibility, also perhaps a Quick Links section with helpful links. Maybe.
That is pretty darn useful true. Need to start remembering to put tags on things!Originally Posted by Lilaena De'Ville
Anyone can add tags to a thread though which is handy - means we can swoop in and Good Samaritan in any missing tags if people have forgotten.
Quick Links I like the idea of, definitely.
For the Roleplaying Threads I have it pulling from Star Wars Galaxy and Homeworlds as well as RPing Discussion for New Threads. But I should probably nix the RPing discussion and add in General RP instead. Maybe. That way it's all of the actual roleplaying threads, no ooc.
I think anything that shows more immediately what is going on is a good thing.
You can't help all of the people all of the time.
So you try to help all of them some of the time and hope that is enough.
Would it make sense / be possible to merge the stuff from RP Discussion in with the Group Discussions box instead? It looks wonky now that I've cluttered it up with OOC threads.
No. But it could be a separate box for OOC. Group discussions are totally separate from the forum threads.
Ah, that's a shame.
I may just leave the tag cloud there as it's pretty easy to just collapse that block and voila it's hidden.
Working on links...
Sorry if this comes off as an obnoxiously blunt Jace question... I'm not sure of a different way to phrase it.
What is the chat box for? As in, what is the intended purpose / the logic behind adding one (again)?
We've had one in the past, and I think one of the problems then is that some of us didn't really know what we were supposed to be using it for. Because it's a teeny tiny box, it's not going to be as convenient for chatting / planning / holding conversations as our existing AIM chat is... but it is more accessible to new players (you don't need someone from the AIM chat to invite you), which is a good thing.
Is the chat box "supposed to be" something that is faced pace and silly, to show new people that we are a fun / active / friendly community?
Is it supposed to be something slow-paced (so you don't have to constantly baby-sit the home page to see if anything new has been said)? Should we equate the chat box in our minds to Twitter, to the comments section on a Facebook post, etc?
Is it something we are going to direct new players to if they have questions? Sort of a "Help! Who do I ask about this?!" desk? If so, do us faction mod type people need to make sure we're keeping an eye on things so that we can swoop in and answer such questions?
Is it just something that seemed cool at the time / something that "other places" have, and no one is really sure how we're going to end up using it?
My poor brain can only cope with so much at once... so if the chat box is something that I need to be conscious of / need to be checking up on, it'd be useful to know why I'm checking it / what I'm looking for / how often I should keep an eye on it, etc.
It's a chat box, for chatting in. No one has to use it, but it's for people who might be new or don't have AIM to be able to chat with other people without having to leave the site.
There is no "official" purpose for it...
Don't get me wrong: anything that is easily accessible to new people is a great idea in my book. It just seems very... "inefficient" to have both a chat box and an AIM chat that are basically trying to do the same thing. For the most part, humans are lazy and will do whatever is easiest... if there's no particular reason/advantage to be in both, people will most likely end up favouring one or the other... and having everyone chatting in one place seems like it would be more advantageous than having everyone chatting in two places. *shrug*
The chat box is definitely cool... I'd just rather we made the most of it, I guess.
The AIM chat isn't officially part of the board and isn't moderated. If the one in the sidebar gets no use, it gets no use, and it isn't hurting anyone.
No one's saying it's hurting anyone, and no one's suggesting we get rid of it.
Just wondering if we can do anything to make sure it doesn't not get used, is all.
Well, you could use it.
I would love to, but given my medical circumstances that's easier said than done.If it is something I should/need to pay attention to for faction mod/etc reasons I will make the effort to do so, but making the effort to juggle two separate chats "just because" is probably not the best use of my mental energy, all things considered.
Then don't use it... I feel like we're just talking in circles now.
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