Moderators & suggestions for the new forum

[Samantha]

We're moving, y'all!

This is the pre-announcement, just to let you all know that I've created the new forum. It's at: theunofficialbbs.proboards.com, though you won't be able to view it right now because it's a mess and I have it in maintenance mode. There will be an official announcement when it's all set up and beautiful.

So first things first, we need new moderators!

Ideally two new moderators, and at least one who plays The Sims 3. If you're an active member and are interested in being on the staff, please send me a PM. If you have any questions about what it means to be on the staff, you can either PM me or reply here.

Additionally, if anybody has any ideas for anything that they'd like to see implemented at the new forum, feel free to share them. I know I said in my last thread that I was unsure about whether or not we'd keep our profile stats, but all logistics considered, I don't think it would work, and it'd probably be best if we all started over fresh.

[Laura]

I'm down with everything that's been mentioned so far! What I would suggest though is to keep the number of boards down to a minimum. I feel like we have a lot on this site, but not all that many that are (a) used regularly or (b) used at all. There's a lot of scrolling to do when logging in! I think we should work on using a few regularly, then build the amount up with necessity (if that makes sense). We could compress a lot of the current sections we have on here (and possibly lose a few). Empty boards always look so forlorn. Less sections also make a forum way easier to navigate.

Can't think of much else off the top of my head. I like the idea of having sidebars polls on different topics (be they sims-, forum- related or on general topics) but that's maybe something that could be tried when we have a more active member base? I don't know.

[Samantha]

Sept 23, 2013 11:16:02 GMT Laura said:

What I would suggest though is to keep the number of boards down to a minimum.

I like the idea of having sidebars polls on different topics (be they sims-, forum- related or on general topics)

I completely agree with you. There are some boards that can certainly be combined with others (the various downloads boards, I was thinking?). I know the great majority of the TS3 boards fall into the "not used at all" category, but I really do want to keep those.

"Forum features" can perhaps be moved entirely into the "General" category, and "The Shop" removed entirely as a board. It can probably be simply a thread or two under either the rules board or the suggestion box.

I was thinking of adding a board (maybe a sub-board) dedicated to other Sims games, since we do sometimes get some threads for TS1 and TS4 that get lost in the TS2/3 chat.

As for your second point, I'm not sure that I understand...? Do you mean polls that are just for fun, like the ones on TS2.com used to be? I'm not sure how/if it's possible to get a poll into a sidebar (if you know that such a thing's possible, please do let me know), but I think that sounds like a really awesome idea! I agree that it would need more people, but it's definitely something to consider.

Thanks, Laura!

[Laura]

Sept 23, 2013 22:34:51 GMT Samantha said:

As for your second point, I'm not sure that I understand...? Do you mean polls that are just for fun, like the ones on TS2.com used to be?

Basically, yeah. You see them on blogs like Wordpress or LJ too. To be honest, I haven't a clue whether it's possible or not (not familiar with Proboard layouts or how they work) but it was just a thought. If it's not at all possible, maybe we could do them in a public thread or something? Honestly, I'm just throwing ideas around, not thinking the practicalities through.

[Samantha]

So I don't think it's a Proboards feature (or at least I can't find anything), but I really love the idea, so I found a third-party poll site that's customizable so it fits seamlessly with our theme and is super easy to use.


(Yes, this will probably be the first poll question when the new forum goes live. Try to act surprised.)

Also, update on the progress of the new forum: The structure and layout is basically finished, and it looks pretty darn close to V4. I'm facing one issue where I can't figure out how to remove the forum's rounded edges so that it doesn't conflict with the border image:

i.imgur.com/Cq3O8Og.png [/img]

It's a really simple fix, though; I just have to remember where that stupid line of code is (edit: found it, and it only took two days of trial and error).

About half of the boards are created so far, and then all of the official threads need to be recreated. ETA...a week? Depending on how busy I am?

Also, nudge, nudge, we still kind of need staff members.

[Samantha]

Update: We (Caitlin and I, the former of whom is a new moderator) are very close to having the forum up and running. There's just a few more things that need finalizing, and then all of the official announcements will be made.