The forum structure thread!

[Boo]

[size=1]I figured I'd make a thread about the new forum structure for everyone to go "Ooo", "Ahhh" and "Ewww" in.

To start off, I'm very happy that you replaced the old category resizing button with this new one. Go you!

What I would like to suggest though, is moving the Community category to above the Entertainment category. Before, it was just the anime category, so I could just downsize it. Now it also contains Hardwired and Music, Movies & TV, which I occasionally browse through just for the heck of it. Both categories are not big, but for some reason I like the idea of putting the whole OtakuBoards community before the rest.

Digging the buttons, though. :whoops:[/size]

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]Nonsense! Us anime and gamer nerds are obviously superior to the rest of you people. :p

Interestingly enough, Otaku Lounge (and General Discussion as it was known before that) had always been at the top of the forum listing until v7. After that the anime and gaming forums were moved to the top because those are the main focus of the site.[/color]

[Baron Samedi]

[size=1]What, you think this is some kind of anime-related site Des?[/size]

[Boo]

[size=1]Well, as much as OtakuBoards' originally anime related, there's only one forum left of it. So I thought that you might as well put the rather small Community category before it.[/size]

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]The site's description meta tag says it all:[/color]

[code][/code][color=#4B0082]The text in the content attribute is what people see when OB comes up in a Google search, by the way.[/color]

[Boo]

[quote name='Desbreko][color=#4B0082']The text in the content attribute is what people see when OB comes up in a Google search, by the way.[/color][/quote][size=1]I no's, I is very educated ex-Digital Communication student.

Well, whatever. I still think it's more logical for a forum to have the Community part above the rest of the content, anyway. :P But don't think I don't appreciate the effort you put into explaining the decision made. *pat pat*

[b]Edit:[/b] Whoopee, the Arena Underground is now a Subforum! =D[/size]

[Allamorph]

[FONT=Arial]Diggin' the layout, guys. Much more condensed, and yet somehow uncluttered.

[quote name='Boo][SIZE=1][B]Edit:[/B'] Whoopee, the Arena Underground is now a Subforum! =D[/SIZE][/quote]Amen, brutha'.[/FONT]

[Sandy]

[QUOTE=Boo][size=1]
[b]Edit:[/b] Whoopee, the Arena Underground is now a Subforum! =D[/size][/QUOTE]

I fail to see what difference it makes, aside from an aesthetic point-of-view. :/

Also, I find it funny that Jokopoko is the moderator of that specific subforum, but not the other two related forums like the rest of the Mob.

That reminds me, sorry Will for not including you to my portrait of the Arena Mob - especially now that you're practically one of us.

As for the switch-around in general, I adore the orderly nature of it! ;D

[Retribution]

[quote name='Sandy']I fail to see what difference it makes, aside from an aesthetic point-of-view. :/[/quote]
[size=1]That's the point. It's cleaner and more organized.
[QUOTE]Also, I find it funny that Jokopoko is the moderator of that specific subforum, but not the other two related forums like the rest of the Mob.[/QUOTE]
Dude, he's British. What do you expect, equal privileges or something?

Anyway, I think the changes are good, but why does the Art Studio have to be at the very bottom? Grr... And is it just me or are the forums much more silvery? With that, please change the collapse/expand arrows on the "What's Going On?" box to match with the new ones.[/size]

[Rachmaninoff]

Personally I think it looks great. But I did notice one thing that seems off. The Manga Workshop seems to have lost the manga directory and the rules sticky. Or is that just temporary? Anyway, looks great. Definitely more balanced than the previous layout.

[Shy]

[size=1]Silly rabbit. Underground and the Inn should be one forum. Beyond that, I approve. Good work everyone.

-Shy[/size]

[Desbreko]

[quote name='Rachmaninoff']Personally I think it looks great. But I did notice one thing that seems off. The Manga Workshop seems to have lost the manga directory and the rules sticky. Or is that just temporary? Anyway, looks great. Definitely more balanced than the previous layout.[/quote][color=#4B0082]All the sticky threads that were in the Manga Workshop and Hardwired were somehow deleted during the move. We're working on replacing them but it will be a bit before the thread directories are back.[/color]

[James]

[font=arial]Yep, apologies to those who use the threads. The OB staff have very kindly offered to begin working on new threads. We are not really sure what happened, as all of the database stuff was very routine.

In response to the general gist of the thread...I have to say, there is still more coming. Right now theOtaku.com is taking up most of my online time but that's temporary - I am going to be updating a few things here including a successful (hopefully) and major revamp of the Geisha skin (it's very neglected, as you all know).

We may make further adjustments to the forum layout depending on how things go, but at the moment I'm satisfied that the big changes were really needed.[/font]

[Gavin]

[QUOTE=Shy][size=1]Silly rabbit. Underground and the Inn should be one forum. Beyond that, I approve. Good work everyone.

-Shy[/size][/QUOTE]

[SIZE=1]I'm glad I'm not the only only one who thinks so, as I recall the Underground was only conceived because people were unhappy about the level of OOC chat in threads.

Anyway I'm quite pleased with the new board structure, it seems a lot neater and more organised than before.
[/SIZE]

[James]

[font=arial]The Underground was intended as more than just an RPG "OOC", it was designed to allow for the creation and planning of RPGs. The Inn allows you to create an RPG sign-up thread and recruit...but it doesn't really allow you to throw an idea out there and plan/build an RPG in a group setting.

A potential problem we have is the differentiation between completed sign-up threads and RPG "ideas" that are not complete and that need input from members. You could theoretically see a really cool RPG title and want to sign-up, only to find that someone is just floating an idea...or that they are actually entering into a discussion [i]about[/i] an RPG without that thread being a sign-up in and of itself.

Bear in mind also that I [i]don't[/i] want extra tags being used. So this could potentially make the mixture of forums confusing if they are combined.

I am sure there might be a solution to this but right now I'm more interested in keeping them apart and seeing how we go.

I have other plans as well, which should improve things significantly. So hopefully I can talk about that shortly as well.[/font]

[Rachmaninoff]

[quote name='Desbreko][color=#4B0082']All the sticky threads that were in the Manga Workshop and Hardwired were somehow deleted during the move. We're working on replacing them but it will be a bit before the thread directories are back.[/color][/quote]Well that was a quick bit. I'm glad to see that the directories are back, since I'm lazy and like using them instead of searching for a thread that isn't up on the main page anymore.

And I'm still liking the new layout as well. ;)

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]Because I'm a super genius I was able to get the thread directories back up faster than we had thought by using Google's cached versions of those threads. :genius:[/color]

[Gavin]

[QUOTE=James][font=arial]The Underground was intended as more than just an RPG "OOC", it was designed to allow for the creation and planning of RPGs. The Inn allows you to create an RPG sign-up thread and recruit...but it doesn't really allow you to throw an idea out there and plan/build an RPG in a group setting.

A potential problem we have is the differentiation between completed sign-up threads and RPG "ideas" that are not complete and that need input from members. You could theoretically see a really cool RPG title and want to sign-up, only to find that someone is just floating an idea...or that they are actually entering into a discussion [i]about[/i] an RPG without that thread being a sign-up in and of itself.[/font][/QUOTE]

[SIZE=1]I know it was [i]intended[/i] to be more James, but intentions don't reflect the reality of the situation of the Underground. When it started out sure everyone had their threads respective Underground topic and people discussed future projects, hell Bill's Coming Soon thread was a great way to build up hype for an RPG.

But that said all it does now is hold OOC discussion and most threads never the five replies mark. I just think as a forum, it's unnecessary and should be merged with the Inn, so that once recruiting has finished in a thread is can become the "Underground" version of itself. [/SIZE]

[James]

[font=arial]I agree that the reality is that it's an OOC forum - that's what it was intended for and that's essentially what it is.

The only real problem at the moment is just lack of activity. We could roll Underground into the Inn to boost activity but we run the risk of things getting too confusing (especially for newer members).

And as I said before, we'd need to differentiate between sign-up threads and general RPG discussion threads. When we eventually eliminate thread ratings, this will become even more confusing. So we need a solution to that problem before we can go ahead with any forum merging.[/font]

[Shy]

[size=1]On a related note, when are you going to post the updated Arena rules? I hope I didn't write them up for nothing, Jamesdog.

-Shy[/size]