Admin Chatter

1. Re: Admin Chatter

   #881

   I have been maxed out at work for the past bit. Sorry for the low response/webpage updates lately! Should slow down end of this week and will be home a bit more normal.

2. Re: Admin Chatter

   #882

   Will be home alone from 26 June - 2 July. Will pick up the pace for fixing and updating a lot of the stuff that has been slowly building the last couple weeks. Been a crazy few weeks. Work has been 11+ hours (16 hours on Friday :( ) and we are going to move so have been painting/fixing up the house during every spare hour.
   
   Trying to fix the critical things that come up but don't have much time beyond that. Will try and get the niceties tied up on my free week!

3. Re: Admin Chatter

   #883

   Anyway to delete-delete subs? I've some total junk in work I want to remove completely.
   
   

4. Re: Admin Chatter

   #884

   Not available. But I suppose it should be. It is to keep people from somebody destroying everything they submitted.
   
   Perhaps once they are deleted, users shouldn't be able to see it anymore? How should I handle it. Really have deleted deleted?

5. Re: Admin Chatter

   #885

   Invisible for users, but require an admin to come through on occasion and clean out the junk bin.
   
   The stuff worth keeping could be cleaned up and resubmitted, perhaps with the author being listed as Recycled By: Admin who did it

6. Re: Admin Chatter

   #886

   I do have to ask why.
   
   I think the incidences of people 'taking their ball and going home' are rare enough to allow people the ability to get rid of their stuff if they choose.
   
   As far as I understood, we post our stuff here but it is still owned by the author.  If this is true, then a user would have the right to clean up their stuff permanently.
   
   I know I would be livid if stuff I deleted saw the light of day again.  It may be that something I wrote was sensitive, politically incorrect or the like and I wanted to undo that.
   
   I think deleted items should be just that, perhaps with a day or two retention to avoid obvious 'oops', but I think allowing users to deliberately delete their own content is a must.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

7. Re: Admin Chatter

   #887

   Induced this thought...
   
   Abandoned Subs
   
   Authors have ideas that they just won't flesh out. Either lost interest in or just had an idea and didn't know where to go. Allow a place where they can be thrown up for grabs for anybody to "grab" and get collaboration on it for turning it into a real sub.
   
   brainstorming type thing, no thought beyond that at the moment.
   

8. Re: Admin Chatter

   #888

   I like that a lot better then the alternative. :)
   

9. Re: Admin Chatter

   #889

   Searched in all wrong places, until I learned, that a certain poll was setup to be shown only when it expired. I have set it up to be displayed, since it was asked for. Just as a reminder.
   
   ---
   
   Oh, and: Abandoned Submissions sound actually quite cool!

10. Re: Admin Chatter

    #890

    That would be my bad.
    
    I've been setting up the polls so that you cant see what the voting looks like, or whose ahead or behind. I want honest opinions, not voting for whoever is winning, or whoever is coming in second.

11. Re: Admin Chatter

    #891

    So, how are all you people doing? I haven't been around much and noticed it's a little quiet here - so what is everybody up to? I'm digging more into economics these days (besides that ever-present plague of work). What's new on your side? Do tell!
    
    ---
    
    Strolen, can you please mark the last Quest winners?

12. Re: Admin Chatter

    #892

    Not too bad - a bit busy at home and work, thus the low postage.
    
    

13. Re: Admin Chatter

    #893

    I think it is the summer doldrums. Worked has continued to kick my ass unfortunately. I had one afternoon I cheated on you guys and redesigned the homepage of llamanews.com for a revival, then had a drunk driver I had to attend to in the middle of my weekend that destroyed my sleep and ruined my weekend....and the last 2 days. Destroyed is harsh, but it has taken a lot of my time. Now I go on vacation back home until July 13 so won't be around much then either.
    
    Summer, it kicks your ass but it is fun as hell!

14. Re: Admin Chatter

    #894

    Does the Citadel have a pulse?

15. Re: Admin Chatter

    #895

    It's still twitching, so other than a late release of gas or an early zombification it must be alive. :)
    
    I think we are regularly having quiet moments in summer, so no panic, but keep posting. Or at least commenting. Or something.
    
    ---
    
    Note: poke the StrolenCon thread, maybe that will provoke some response.

16. Re: Admin Chatter

    #896

    So, uh, do we delete this: http://strolen.com/viewing/edits_for_Wizard63 ?

17. Re: Admin Chatter

    #897

    Might have to experiment with this:
    
    https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?service=websiteoptimizer
    
    http://www.smileycat.com/miaow/archives/001704.php - article of sorts about it with some follow on links.
    
    It takes variations of pages and compares how good they are. Frontpage is a prime candidate for this experiment.

18. Re: Admin Chatter

    #898

    Methinks we need to increase the perception of activity.
    
    Show online users even to those offline. Fix the bugs of the Recent page. Consider making the last lines from the chat visible offline, too. And hey: why does the stuff vanish after a time?
    
    Then again, we could try to increase the actual activity as well. :)

19. Re: Admin Chatter

    #899

    Completely out of topic:
    
    "The Skeptic's Handbook" (to global warming)

20. Re: Admin Chatter

    #900

    Maybe remove the timestamp on the recent subs. Its a neat idea, but right now it's a flag on how low productivity is.

21. Re: Admin Chatter

    #901

    The new version of the citadel reminds of that famous Michael Corleone line in the unfortunate Godfather III but in reverse.
    
    He said every time he wanted to "get out" the mafia kept dragging him back in. I feel that every time I want to log-on and dive-in, the site REPELS me away.
    
    Thats just how I feel. I have no idea how half of these new options work (thats my problem, I know :)), some things dont work right at all, the look and feel of the site is annoying, and the main chat being gone is a CRIME against nature.
    
    More cold and aloof than ever. and the 'I AM----hunting, searching, etc' is ridiculous and causes eye-pain. Is it possible to at least re-arrange the front page a bit?
    
    My 2 cents.
    
    Also, what manfred said,

    Methinks we need to increase the perception of activity.
    
    Show online users even to those offline. Fix the bugs of the Recent page. Consider making the last lines from the chat visible offline, too. And hey: why does the stuff vanish after a time?
    
    Then again, we could try to increase the actual activity as well.

    
    
    In regards to sub deletion, I agree with val.
    
    

    I do have to ask why.
    
    I think the incidences of people 'taking their ball and going home' are rare enough to allow people the ability to get rid of their stuff if they choose.
    
    As far as I understood, we post our stuff here but it is still owned by the author.  If this is true, then a user would have the right to clean up their stuff permanently.
    
    I know I would be livid if stuff I deleted saw the light of day again.  It may be that something I wrote was sensitive, politically incorrect or the like and I wanted to undo that.
    
    I think deleted items should be just that, perhaps with a day or two retention to avoid obvious 'oops', but I think allowing users to deliberately delete their own content is a must.

    
    
    especially the "livid" part.
    
    
    

22. Re: Admin Chatter

    #902

    In absence of a frequently updated 'editorial' field on the main page, perhaps we should put the chat up top and easily visible.
    
    I too hate the the read post play panel and have been clear on that since I started.  The 'Quick' page to me is a far better starting point.
    
    Honestly, I think we need a section where us Admins can leave generic texts up front, an editorial so to speak. Maybe even an Admin 'Blog' so that we could say things like.
    "Welcome to Strolens, this week we would like to feature some of our wonderful Dungeons.."
    
    This area would be like a sub - with the full editing capabilities, but allow for the site to show signs of life any time one of us Admins has time to add something of interest.
    
    
    
    
    
    

23. Re: Admin Chatter

    #903

    I haven't been totally idle. I may have said it in other places and I think I hinted it in another thread but...
    
    I hate the look of the site.
    
    Ok, hate is a very strong word but I certainly am not happy with it and I have been reading/looking/saving/incorporating/attempting.
    
    I am NOT a designer by any stretch so I slowly find things I like, articles that hit a chord, and I slowly try to blend them together into something close to something I could be satisfied with.
    
    Frontpage:
    The "I am" box is gone. I love the idea but I still think it is too much. I am trimming it down to Newish, Creating, and Helping.
    The Read Post Play in that large rendition is gone. I made it smaller, much less text, and more subtle in the footer but it will have useful links that everybody can use near it.
    
    I found a fancy little tidbit to hide/show the stats in the header so I don't have to figure out how to format around it.
    
    The top menu is being trimmed. Right now the link to the categories is called "Browse Content" and that opens to the main categories. Currently have the subcategories in a secondary pop out menu but you all will decide if that is going to work. There was way too much flowing across that header and it wasn't helping much. I am thinking 5 links up top at the most.
    
    My intention for each of the main category home pages is to show off the new/hoh/gold etc posts in that category and start the recent. The straight listing that is there now will only be when you are sorting and browsing through them all.
    
    Warning: I intend to use colors on the new site so brace yourself. It is going to be a total break from the old stuff and many may not like that. But I think we need a clean break from the old to realize what we can do with the new.
    
    Stuff was supposed to be easier and more self explanatory but I stalled in that part of creation because I could not satisfy myself with the design. I ached to do something to it so it stalled me doing other stuff I need to do. I need a clean break from the old instead of trying to maintain the attachment.
    
    As always, I read with great interest your thoughts and feelings and everything is weighed in. I have heard loud and clear, just takes me a bit to get rolling.
    
    Chat: Old chat was a hacker wet dream, it had to go. I am open to most anything so if you find something that may work better, I am willing. If something doesn't fit automatically into smf though it is a VERY difficult process to make it work which is why I try and lean on chat plugins for the forum tha are user tested and just work without too much modification.
    I am not too concerned about the forum side of it right now. That just follows the main pages lead anyway. But enough of that. I have until the end of August when my classes start but my job is kicking my ass so I am doing as much as I can, slowly whittling away. Once I get the main design portions done the transition of themes goes pretty quick...it is getting it even close to something I like that will be an issue.
    Enough of that for now. Just wanted to let you know I am around and reading, just putting forth my effort into the project.

24. Re: Admin Chatter

    #904

    Thank you for a level-headed and logical responce to my emotional outburst, I feel much better now  :)
    
    Well ok then, in that case, all is well.  :up:
    

25. Re: Admin Chatter

    #905

    Wait, the main chat is still there. Isn't the "Chat" link under "Quick"  what you are looking for?
    
    (Rebuilding the frontpage as I type this, yes, I am in 2 places at once...it is that easy)

26. Re: Admin Chatter

    #906

    Frontpage attempt number one more or less complete.
    
    It is back to being messy but it isn't too bad. Good starting point for suggestions on continued improvement.

27. Re: Admin Chatter

    #907

    On the side, could any of you guys create a Favorite list or two and post it here?
    
    I think we need to popularize the feature and that's easiest with a few cool lists to begin with. Later on, we can create 'guided tours' out of them (like they had in Elfwood, if that darn thing worked there now).

28. Re: Admin Chatter

    #908

    We have to take advantage of this!
    
    Page hits: Sub 4276 is the Five Room Dungeon Post. Look at the amount of hits that drags in.
    
      /viewing/4276
    13,169 27.32%
    /
    4,265 8.85%
    /guild/
    1,223 2.54%
    /guild/index.php
    612 1.27%
    /hunting/search
    379 0.79%

29. Re: Admin Chatter

    #909

    Wow, all of it to that one sub? Should have known the Quest with Johnn would pay off!  :up:

30. Re: Admin Chatter

    #910

    I reformatted it a bit to make it read easier but if somebody has more ideas to make it prettier, go for it. would be worth the effort.

31. Re: Admin Chatter

    #911

    So what's new with everyone? Me, I'll go to a holiday in a week, Ireland it'll be. How are all of you others doing?

32. Re: Admin Chatter

    #912

    I haven't had a free weekend for ages it seems. Family visiting, camping trips, planned outtings. Waiting for a day to come back here and pick up some of the errors that have been found!! Not to mention catching up with my homework that is now a solid 2 weeks behind. Weekdays are useless to me for anything really constructive.

33. Re: Admin Chatter

    #913

    All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
    
    Jack is feeling very very dull.

34. Re: Admin Chatter

    #914

    See if you can get some inspiration from pictures.
    
    (Strolen considered them inspiring, thus I shall pass them on. Contain pictures from my last holiday in Ireland, and more. Enjoy!)

35. Re: Admin Chatter

    #915

    Good show, manfred! Great pics.

36. Re: Admin Chatter

    #916

    Simple Machines is proud to announce the release of SMF 2.0 RC2 Public. This is the long awaited second Release Candidate for 2.0 and is one of the last steps towards 2.0 going gold. Literally hundreds of bugs that were reported after the release of RC1 have been fixed and improvements have been made to security, stability, and performance. We recommend that all users of earlier development versions upgrade as soon as possible.
    
    As promised, 2.0 RC2 boasts our new Curve theme, which has been made the new default theme. The previous default theme has been renamed Core. Please note that the Classic and Babylon themes have been removed from the package and are now only available on the theme site.
    
    Major changes since the last public release:
    Inclusion of the Curve theme.
    Three brand-new smiley sets.
    960 new entries in the changelog, which consist of:Fixes for a significant number of bugs reported by Beta Testers, Charter members, and community members.
    Hundreds of queries optimized for faster performance (new indexes, re-written queries, changes to column type, etc)
    Canonical link support for better search engine indexing
    New feature: ability to have different readmes in packages for different languages
    New feature: ability to delete languages (oops! we forgot that earlier)
    Linktrees have been added to the lower-areas of the forum and to the admin, moderation and profile sections.
    Lighttpd support for Queryless urls
    Improved support for right to left languages
    OpenID is fixed
    Extra fields for Advanced Profile fields (surround/enclose within other text, and choose placement as icon or signature).
    Several theme improvements for better semantics and standards support.
    Moved more JS out of templates
    Wireless links to switch back to normal mode.
    
    Those interested in the detailed changelog may like to download it on our download page.
    
    Finally - please do not use this topic for any support requests. You will get a much more prompt response by visiting the relevant support board!
    
    Regards,
    
    Simple Machines

    
    
    Oh boy, a new toy!

37. Re: Admin Chatter

    #917

    clicking around the admin stuff, i noticed 5-7 people awaiting memberhood activaton. Is that something i can approve, by just clicking the boxes for "ok", or is there a protocol involved. Just curious (and bored)

38. Re: Admin Chatter

    #918

    My guess is they have an email they have not bothered to click yet...
    

39. Re: Admin Chatter

    #919

    Those awaiting activation. I usually do those that are over 30 a reminder email. Then those over 60 an email and delete their accounts.
    
    I don't ever approve anybody through that system, just warn and delete.

40. Re: Admin Chatter

    #920

    So, how was that last outage resolved? Any follow-up from the company?

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