Topic: Forum upgrade suggestions thread,

Posted under General

I am finishing up on the current set of updates, next step is to do forum upgrades. Please suggest things to be done, even include riversydes thread suggestions for forums..

stuff slated to be done (Estimated work time when started 12 hours)
-Hide system
-Sub categories.
-Make locking show up in mod actions
-Make forums show search results correctly
-Implications and locked threads should be reflected in the mod actions.

Updated by IvoryWolf

the only thing I would like to see is already planned, and that's the sub categories.

Updated by anonymous

Finny_Nettle said:
the only thing I would like to see is already planned, and that's the sub categories.

This, pretty much. Signatures might be cool too.

Updated by anonymous

Finny_Nettle said:
yeah, forum signatures and possibly icons would be pretty cool.

Oh yeah icons would be nifty, but I don't know how much disk space that would eat up.

Updated by anonymous

Mechaniatrix said:
Oh yeah icons would be nifty, but I don't know how much disk space that would eat up.

I wouldn't imagine it would be much different than uploading a new image to the site and then using it in a comment as I've seen done on here before. but then, I could be wrong too, and it might be something that would use up too much space.

Updated by anonymous

icons are in the next update (using thumbs), after tough battles with the rest of the staff, it will be implimented with an off button for tony and riversyde.

Updated by anonymous

Aurali said:
icons are in the next update (using thumbs), after tough battles with the rest of the staff, it will be implimented with an off button for tony and riversyde.

yay icons!
*giddy*

Updated by anonymous

Aurali said:
icons are in the next update (using thumbs), after tough battles with the rest of the staff, it will be implimented with an off button for tony and riversyde.

And null. If signatures are ever implemented I want to see those with a toggle, too.

That only real "want" I have with forums (and comments as well) is some sort of visual cue that a user is a moderator/admin. A little star or a little subheading of text under the name or something like that.

Updated by anonymous

Does "icons" mean "profile portraits"? Or goofy litty random indicators that get attached to forum thread names?

Updated by anonymous

Aurali said:
it will be implimented with an off button

<3

Updated by anonymous

Wow, you guys bitch over something as simple as avatars. Clearly, e621 is hipsters who have never been on any other forum ever in their lives. ._.

Even the FA forums have avatars.

Even FA.

Updated by anonymous

I was going to suggest categorizing the forums a while back, but it seems like you guys are already on top of things (good job!).

What seems to be foreshadowed here is more personalization of the user account, which I'm not sure if that is the staff's intention or not. I, myself, wouldn't mind signatures or icons as they would add a little more visual substance to the forum.

As for possible suggestions for the forum update:

- Thread Activity: something to show how active the specific forum post is, as in how quickly responses are being posted in a span of time
- User Activity: a display to show whether the user is online or offline
- User Level: a display of the rank of the user: moderator, administrator, contributor, member, noob, etc.

Hope that isn't too much. Excited for the new update!

Updated by anonymous

I'm pretty happy with the forums. There's not much UI clutter. It shows you who posted it, when, and the message, in such a fashion to maximize the utility of valuable screen real estate. You can send a single message in as little as 60 vertical pixels. Not bad. Avatars might be helpful if they were static and didn't change any more than a username, but that's an unreasonable restriction to make. Subtitles assigned to identify users (as mods or whatnot) would be the only additional information that I would add to forum posts. But then again, parading your distinguished status of authority isn't something I'm a fan of. (Being able to advertise positive contributors or financial donors, on the other hand, is definitely good.)

Additionally I would add basic tags (categories) to forum threads, so we can separate out feature request threads/bug report threads/tag alias requests/etc. I'd imagine that you still see all the forum threads by default, unless you restrict to or filter out specific tags.

While forum posts and post comments are very similar, at least in functionality, it doesn't appear they use the same code base.

Updated by anonymous

null0010 said:
That only real "want" I have with forums (and comments as well) is some sort of visual cue that a user is a moderator/admin. A little star or a little subheading of text under the name or something like that.

I agree with this, and I think users with privileged or contributor accounts should get them as well.

Updated by anonymous

null0010 said:
And null. If signatures are ever implemented I want to see those with a toggle, too.

That only real "want" I have with forums (and comments as well) is some sort of visual cue that a user is a moderator/admin. A little star or a little subheading of text under the name or something like that.

There's a Greasemonkey script for Danbooru called "Danbooru - Miscellaneous Tweaks" that does this and more, but the user level colors don't seem to work here. I'd like this feature to be standard here.

Updated by anonymous

My wants:
Subforums, so yay for that being planned!

I have no other current wants, but if sigs and avatars get implemented, I would:
Want the ability to a) not have one, b) not see anyone else's. Yes, nearly all forums have signatures and avatars, but personally I love how simple and clean this forum looks. Especially with signatures. Those can make things look super cluttered, real fast. Avatars/icons, less so, but still to some degree. Some people will have just text, some people would have a picture, and then others will have little gifs that flash and move about and just look obnoxious. I beg you, let all users be able to turn off viewing signatures and icons.

As for indicators of "rank," I think we need only mod and admin indicators. Everything else is easily accessible through the member's page, and I feel like putting them in here would move us a little step towards the mentality of the rest of the internet, where apparently the only thing that actually matters is how long you've been around. I've never heard anyone called a "noob" on here, and I fucking love that. I've seen a general lack of being hard on and unaccepting of new users, and I fear any change that could begin eroding that.

Updated by anonymous

Mechaniatrix said:
Wow, you guys bitch over something as simple as avatars. Clearly, e621 is hipsters who have never been on any other forum ever in their lives. ._.

I can't speak for everyone. I'm just concerned that forum sigs and avatars are going to attract either stupidity, or brrbrrdrrs, or both.

Updated by anonymous

I don't like the idea of avatars and signatures here (I never really saw the point of signatures), and if they do get implemented there should definitely be a way of disabling them. But then it still makes the entire forum more cluttered for logged-out/unregistered users, and we take pride in the simple readability of the site, so I just don't like the idea of them in the first place, unless they're disabled by default.

I would like a mod/admin indicator, but it should display both mod AND admin, since most sites running this software will most likely have a lot of mods and one or two admins. We're kind of a special case with everyone being admins instead of mods.

We've already done a lot of brainstorming on how to display mods/admins, such as gold-colored names, a star by their name, or showing the user rank between the username and the time text, but we haven't decided on one we all like yet.

Oh and the only splitting I think needs being done is into two subforums: tag discussion (including implications and aliases), and everything else.

Updated by anonymous

There could be a limit as to how much could be added to the forum, in the case of signatures and icons. Signatures could be restricted to only a couple lines of text with a possible character limit. No flashy banners or animated signatures would be allowed. Icons could be restricted to a small size so that they would not distract the user from the actual thread. This way, a degree of personalization could be added, but the simplicity of the visual aspect of the forum could be maintained.

The categorizing for the subforums could far extend beyond just tags. There's always something to be said about topics such as user feedback, site suggestions, possible features, bugs and site malfunction, artists ( as in a subforum specifically assigned for them), user issues and questions, and website news.

Updated by anonymous

tony311 said:
Oh and the only splitting I think needs being done is into two subforums: tag discussion (including implications and aliases), and everything else.

Furry_Fanatic said:
The categorizing for the subforums could far extend beyond just tags. There's always something to be said about topics such as user feedback, site suggestions, possible features, bugs and site malfunction, artists ( as in a subforum specifically assigned for them), user issues and questions, and website news.

I do think that we don't need a billion different subforums, but I also think it's fine to split it into perhaps three subs, but Tag Discussion 100% needs its own place. So maybe something like:

  • Site Stuff
    • news

information on updates
bug reports
user feedback
Maybe a thread that includes links to rules, help and wiki pages? It never hurts to have those things as accessible as possible.
This is where posts involving what's allowed and not, why'd my post get deleted, I hate the mods and think they're arrogant etc. would go

  • Tags
    • aliases/implications

discussion of usage
requesting retag project help
proposing new tags
etc.

  • General
    • everything else

Updated by anonymous

Honestly I never saw a point for signatures. But I'm glad people are speaking up for what they want.

Avatars won't be disabled by default. but they also won't show anything unless you have one enabled. Also you can't have an avatar and have it disabled too.

And Tony, honestly, to avoid Confusion, we are probably just gonna put the title below the username.

also. honestly I honestly use the honest word honestly a lot.. honestly.

Updated by anonymous

Aurali said:
also. honestly I honestly use the honest word honestly a lot.. honestly.

It's better than me, essentially. I tend to essentially use the word essentially a lot, y'know? And essentially using 'y'know' to fill in essentially long gaps in conversations...y'know?

Updated by anonymous

Aurali said:

also. honestly I honestly use the honest word honestly a lot.. honestly.

your honesty is honestly honest.

Updated by anonymous

KiwiPotato said:
shows the # of forum post under ur name

You can already see this number on your account page.

Updated by anonymous

KiwiPotato said:
shows the # of forum post under ur name

How about no? This leads to shitposting to inflate postcounts, and divides the userbase. If you really care, the information is available on your profile.

DAMN YOU, RIVERSYDE! and damn my habit of not checking for new posts before posting something

Updated by anonymous

Snowy said:
How about no? This leads to shitposting to inflate postcounts, and divides the userbase. If you really care, the information is available on your profile.

DAMN YOU, RIVERSYDE! and damn my habit of not checking for new posts before posting something

Nice.

Updated by anonymous

AbsebaroKoon said:
When does this update be ready, if I ask...?

NEVER!

FUFUFUFUFUFU~

Updated by anonymous

Aurali said:

also. honestly I honestly use the honest word honestly a lot.. honestly.

cookiekangaroo said:
your honesty is honestly honest.

Honesty...is such a lonely word. Everyone is so untrue.
Honesty is hardly ever heard, but mostly what I need from you.

Updated by anonymous

The only visual design upgrade I can think of is to not change a thing.

Updated by anonymous

Riversyde said:
The only visual design upgrade I can think of is to not change a thing.

Make errything black.

Black text on black backgrounds.

Updated by anonymous

I really hope these "sub categories" still allow you to view all the topics on a single page, and by default.

And I'd really like to be able to have posts that are, at their smallest, <100px high. Having to scroll 400px tall posts on a 600x800 screen (yes, they do exist, especially on laptops) just to read a one-liner response isn't very fun or productive.

Actini said:
Make errything black.

Black text on black backgrounds.

Ford Prefect said:
The reason I'm having so much trouble flying this ship is because it's black. The walls are black, the floor is black, the console is black, the switches are black, the labels are little black letters printed on a black background, and when you press anything, a black light lights up in black to tell you you've done it.

Updated by anonymous

Oh yeah, are there any plans to change how the forum decides whether you've read a post or not? It frustrates me sometimes if I can't come by for a few days, then I log in and there are more unread posts than just on the first page, but if I read even one on the first page, all the ones following it are marked as read so that when I go to the second page, I have no idea which threads I've actually read.

Updated by anonymous

RedOctober said:
all the ones following it are marked as read

As a temporary fix (which you're probably using), opening each topic in a new tab then returning to the main list to open another seems to work well

Updated by anonymous

titaniachkt said:
As a temporary fix (which you're probably using), opening each topic in a new tab then returning to the main list to open another seems to work well

That's what I do, but once I do that and then go to the next page, they're still all marked as read on the second page. As I said, it's usually not a problem, but if I'm away for a few days and there's some heavy activity on the forums so that some new posts happen on the second page, it's problematic.

Updated by anonymous

RedOctober said:
That's what I do, but once I do that and then go to the next page, they're still all marked as read on the second page. As I said, it's usually not a problem, but if I'm away for a few days and there's some heavy activity on the forums so that some new posts happen on the second page, it's problematic.

Go to the last forum page with a new post and work backwards from there?

Updated by anonymous

Hadn't thought of that. I suppose that's a viable workaround.

Updated by anonymous

Aurali said:
put a few new suggestions up

Are you asking for work or something?

Updated by anonymous

Easy suggestion: Sticky to tell people to read the wiki for image posting rules.

Updated by anonymous

Lyokira said:
Easy suggestion: Sticky to tell people to read the wiki for image posting rules.

That sounds like it'll prevent a lot of frustration on both sides

Updated by anonymous

Why are the subscriptions only for privileged account whats the point of not giving it to every one and whats point of making it limited to only 10? Why can't i just have a tag sub for boobs and get boobs!

Updated by anonymous

KiwiPotato said:
wat

Furry_Fanatic said:
Are you asking for work or something?

that wasn't a command, just updating the list.

nottelling3979 said:
Why are the subscriptions only for privileged account whats the point of not giving it to every one and whats point of making it limited to only 10? Why can't i just have a tag sub for boobs and get boobs!

that's got nothing to do with the forum. 1. and 2. the process for pulling these is VERY intensive.. so that's why there is a limit.

Updated by anonymous

Aurali said:
that wasn't a command, just updating the list.

that's got nothing to do with the forum. 1. and 2. the process for pulling these is VERY intensive.. so that's why there is a limit.

My bad i thought it was general suggestions

Updated by anonymous

I guess the only thing I could think of to suggest for our forums is perhaps a little more topic diversity? I mean I love the system, love the members and discussions... Just seems lately that conversations have been dwindling and lifeless. Can I suggest a broader topic range of discussion?

Updated by anonymous

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