Sidebar Trial Run

[Lilaena De'Ville]

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.

[Atreyu]

I like it :thumbup (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. :)

[Captain Untouchable]

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. :lol

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!

[Droo]

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?

[Lilaena De'Ville]

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. :p An RSS feed is a possibility, also perhaps a Quick Links section with helpful links. Maybe.

[Captain Untouchable]

i like using the tags to filter threads, tbh, since we can't filter by post icon.

That is pretty darn useful true. Need to start remembering to put tags on things!

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.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

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.

[Alexi Hesith]

I think anything that shows more immediately what is going on is a good thing.

[Captain Untouchable]

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.

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. :uhoh

[Lilaena De'Ville]

No. But it could be a separate box for OOC. Group discussions are totally separate from the forum threads.

[Captain Untouchable]

Ah, that's a shame. :\

[Lilaena De'Ville]

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...

[Captain Untouchable]

Sorry if this comes off as an obnoxiously blunt Jace question... I'm not sure of a different way to phrase it. :lol

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. :uhoh

[Lilaena De'Ville]

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... :)

[Captain Untouchable]

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.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

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.

[Captain Untouchable]

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. :)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Well, you could use it. :p

[Orenth]

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.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Then don't use it... I feel like we're just talking in circles now. ;) No one is required to look at any chat rooms as part of faction leader duties. Being available via PM is all we ask.

[Atreyu]

Not everyone has access to the AIM chat, so the new chatbox is a handy feature. I don't plan on using it myself much, however it's been requested several times over the last few years so it's good to finally have the feature added. Even if it's only used for silly comments there's no harm in having it. :)

[Lúka Jibral]

Please stop acting like I'm accusing it of being "harmful", or like I'm calling for it to be removed. I have said nothing even remotely resembling that.

All I did was ask if anyone had thought about what it would be used for, which is a perfectly reasonable question.


As far as access to the AIM chat goes though, literally all you need to do is ask someone - there's not a secret handshake or anything.

(Guys, we should totally have a secret handshake)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

People are responding like that because usually the next suggestion (not from you, personally) after "what would we even use it for?" is "then we shouldn't have it at all." :)

The chat box is for silliness. It might be used for RP talk, it might be just occasional one liners.

[Captain Untouchable]

Yes well, I've already said a bunch of times that I'm not trying to get rid of it, so it's frustratingly unnecessary. :p

[Tear]

I like the chat box. I didn't even know there was an AIM chat group.

[Razielle Alastor]

Chat boxes are used to say "Sup?" to people when you see them online.

Or.... to say, May the Forth be with you!

Or.... to say, Hey LD, I really liked whacking you off that cliff with the big metal beam, can we do that again sometime?

Or... Hey Random New Person, glad to see you around!

Or.... to say goofy things regarding I dunno, golden wrenches seem to be the popular utensil in use today.

Or..... to say 'Hey is there a Mod/Admin around I have a question? (in case someone happens to be on another account or lurking).

Or... just to voice a random 'By the old Gods and the New, I wish a certain Jones was here.


And that's what chat boxes are all about Charlie Brown.

*Bows*

[Hobgoblin]

OMG RAZZY *tacklehug*

It's like the old song says "Rock the Chatbox. Rock the Chatbox."

(Please note: I don't care strongly about the matter. If it's there, I'll use it to a small degree. If not, I lose nothing.)

[Shen]

Just adding in my two cents...

No matter the content, I do like the move from the leftside to the right. It seems less obtrusive there for some reason.

[Tiberius Anar]

Agree on the location.

I continue to think that anything that shows that things is happening is a good thing.

I think the chat box is a potentially jolly addition.

[Droo]

Much better on the right side. Good call.

[Captain Untouchable]

Bit of a weird discovery. In the Group Discussions section of the sidebar, it shows the name of the person who made the most recent post (eg. the Jedi discussion currently shows Cleo Némain) as a link. However, if you click on that link, it takes you to the profile page of the person who created the thread (eg. the Jedi discussion currently links to Serena Laran's profile).

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Bit of a weird discovery. In the Group Discussions section of the sidebar, it shows the name of the person who made the most recent post (eg. the Jedi discussion currently shows Cleo Némain) as a link. However, if you click on that link, it takes you to the profile page of the person who created the thread (eg. the Jedi discussion currently links to Serena Laran's profile).

I don't know why it does that, and I can't change it. But if you click the title of the group discussion it takes you there just fine. D:

[Captain Untouchable]

^ Aye, I know I can just click on the discussion, was just pointing out a weird bug. :)

With the activity feed at the top of the sidebar, sometimes it shows a full five posts, and sometimes it shows fewer than that. From switching accounts, I know that stuff from the mod forum won't show up on accounts that don't have permission for that forum... but I'm on an account that can see the mod forum, and I'm only getting three posts showing up. Is there a time limit on the activity feed (ie. new posts in the last x hours)? Is there just another forum that I can't see that's had post activity in it today?

Not an issue or anything, I am just intrigued by this strange mystery. :ohno

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I think it has to do with new posts being made in the staff only forums.