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Post by Samantha on Oct 17, 2012 22:04:06 GMT
So I've begun making changes to the forum, as I'm sure you can all see. The first two categories of boards have been moved around and condensed. I renamed the second category "The Sims 2," because are we adding a TS3 category? I'm for it. If not, I'll just give it a generic name again.
Blogs are gone. All of the threads were moved to another board, and the four members who had bought blogs (dragonaair, Caitlin, legrande, and Sonny) were refunded 800 simoleons. That also means that the Rules & Announcements board is up, under which you can read through the updates rules.
The Introduce Yourself and Going Somewhere? boards were combined into one. The old Forum section, which used to be under Off Topic (I believe), was moved to its own board and renamed Suggestion Box.
General Game Chat was moved down under The Sims 2, because if we do end up with a TS3 board, they're going to need their own separate chat sections.
I'm not sure what to do with "Site News and Discussion" and "EA Chats and Email." Originally I was going to dump them under General Game Chat, but there's, like, four pages of threads between those two boards, and it'd blow up General Game Chat like whoa (suggestions?). Things in general were moved around and tweaked in the The Sims 2 category, so it'd probably be worth it so check it out.
Forum ranks are set at a cap of 3,000 posts. After some thought, even 5,000 seemed like a lot. I don't think any of us, after a year and a half, are even a third of the way there.
I disabled posting in the boards that had subcategories, because we should be using the subcategories and not the primary board, anyway.
Okay. So that's what I've done so far. Any better/worse?
On to what I still need to do:
What do you guys think of a general "Forum Features" category, under which would be the boards for contests, the shop, and role-play? It would heavily reduce the clutter, plus cut down on the number of categories and boards we have in total. (And once I get this sorted out, I can get the shop back up and running so we can buy things again!)
Also, for those of you who saw the suggestions for RP in my last housekeeping thread, what do you think of moving in that direction? That is, individual threads for individual RPs, and just a master list of locations for people to choose from? (Also, I was thinking about making is so that people could designate whether or not they wanted their RP "open" or "closed," so that other members could jump in, if so inclined.)
Oh, and one last thing. When I was creating and moving around all of these boards, I don't think that I made them member-only visible (that is, I don't know if people can see them when they're not logged in). Did you guys like having the forum closed off (with the exception of the downloads threads)? I can either open it up entirely, or fix them all so that the selective closedness is still in place.
I'm probably forgetting something, but that's all I can think of right now. I'm sorry for for all of my threads lately, spamming up the boards.
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Post by Caitlin on Oct 17, 2012 22:43:01 GMT
I second having a TS3 thread.
You could put the "Site News" posts under the updates area and "EA Chats and Email" under general game chat.
That's all I really have time to say right now, will be edited to elaborate more when I have more time!
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Post by Laura on Oct 17, 2012 23:15:05 GMT
The changes so far are great Samantha.  I like the new lay-out, though it will take me a while to learn my way round - again! I disabled posting in the boards that had subcategories, because we should be using the subcategories and not the primary board, anyway. This is fine! Yay for less clutter. I guess if you had board-specific announcements, you could post them there as locked threads? What do you guys think of a general "Forum Features" category, under which would be the boards for contests, the shop, and role-play? It would heavily reduce the clutter, plus cut down on the number of categories and boards we have in total. I do think perhaps the Roleplay could have its own category. But other than that, I agree completely with this. Also, for those of you who saw the suggestions for RP in my last housekeeping thread, what do you think of moving in that direction? That is, individual threads for individual RPs, and just a master list of locations for people to choose from? (Also, I was thinking about making is so that people could designate whether or not they wanted their RP "open" or "closed," so that other members could jump in, if so inclined.) I'm all for at least giving this a try. I really do think it will clear the clutter a little. I have to be honest, it annoyed me posting in a location where an existing roleplay had taken place. Also, from a reader's point of view, it makes it exceedingly difficult to follow, when roleplays jump from location to location (that is, thread to thread). As mentioned in the other thread, a sticky post with locations would do the job. It could also be kept updated - maybe under each location description, links could be given to RPs that had taken place there? Just a thought, but much more sorting out needed before it gets to that stage. To answer your question from the other thread: I have taken part in a few other roleplays on different sites, and while I don't think any of the ones I took part in were ran ideally, the thread-per-roleplay thing does seem to run better, rather than RPs happening over a variety of different location threads. Open/Closed threads are a good idea... I think with so few members at the moment, it'll be a meaningless feature but if we increase in numbers this would be vital to stop war breaking out over on the RP board.  Did you guys like having the forum closed off (with the exception of the downloads threads)? I can either open it up entirely, or fix them all so that the selective closedness is still in place. I'm not opposed to having the forum totally open and free for anyone to view, though in the case of some of the more personal boards (like Introductions, Off-Topic) having some privacy is nice. I know this was very much Amy's baby (the forum) but as she said herself many times, she really just wanted to set the place up; the running of the forum, she wanted to leave to other members in the community. I think she'd agree herself that this place needs reform; it's a pity we're going about it without her approval, but to be honest I'd think she'd give it anyway! The fact she gave you admin-power is kind of an indicator. Reassurance? |
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Post by Samantha on Oct 18, 2012 0:32:31 GMT
You could put the "Site News" posts under the updates area and "EA Chats and Email" under general game chat. "Site News" actually refers to news about TheSims2.com, so it can't really go under our forum updates. That's my issue. It's a lot of threads on a topic that is barely mentioned around here anymore. I guess if you had board-specific announcements, you could post them there as locked threads? I do think perhaps the Roleplay could have its own category. I'm all for at least giving this a try. having some privacy is nice. it's a pity we're going about it without her approval, but to be honest I'd think she'd give it anyway! The fact she gave you admin-power is kind of an indicator. Reassurance? [/spoiler][/quote] It disables staff posting as well, but I can still move threads there (I think). Worst case scenario is that we'd have to post an announcement under another board and then move it there (or just enable posting, if not). My feelings on locking the primary boards is that most people just go straight to the sub-boards anyway, and they don't even click into the primary board most of the time (or at least I don't). If we ever do add other neighborhoods to RP (I think perhaps having at least one pre-made neighborhood somewhere down the road would be cool), then, yeah, it's most likely better off in its own category. It's might actually be a better to give it its own category for now. Me too. It couldn't hurt anything. If the new way doesn't work, I could just restore the old one (I plan to move the entire current RP board to an archive board, so we won't lose anything). All right. I'll just leave the CC boards open then (maybe, too, the staff updates, so that guests could read our rules and get a feel for us before joining), just as it was before. It is a pity. I really hope she is well. But I think that any changes are probably okay, so long as you guys have input and are for them (seriously, if I'm doing something that you guys dislike, you can hit me with a stick--or at least say so). |
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Post by LadyofShalott on Oct 18, 2012 16:02:57 GMT
because are we adding a TS3 category? I'm for it. If not, I'll just give it a generic name again. I'm not sure what to do with "Site News and Discussion" and "EA Chats and Email." Originally I was going to dump them under General Game Chat, but there's, like, four pages of threads between those two boards, and it'd blow up General Game Chat like whoa (suggestions?). What do you guys think of a general "Forum Features" category, under which would be the boards for contests, the shop, and role-play? It would heavily reduce the clutter, plus cut down on the number of categories and boards we have in total. Also, for those of you who saw the suggestions for RP in my last housekeeping thread, what do you think of moving in that direction? Did you guys like having the forum closed off (with the exception of the downloads threads)? I'm sorry for for all of my threads lately, spamming up the boards. I'm for adding TS3. Some of the pictures and happenings can be quite amusing. ;D Plus it would be nice to share some of my TS3 stories without having to join a whole different forum. Hmm... maybe create a whole different board for them? They're not really being used anymore, so we could create an "Archive" board or a "Sims2.com" board or something to put them under... ich I don't know. Being an administrator must be hard! They still could be put under the "General Game Chat" Board, even though it's pretty full already. If we don't come up with any better ideas that is. I'm for the "Forum Features" board! Organization is good. I think I gave all I could about rping in the last thread. It sounds like a good idea to me. But I agree with simey on the "open" and "closed" rp thing, it'll probably be better if we had more members. Ooh yes, I liked having the forum closed off. I agree with whoever said they liked having the privacy. Eh, anything to get the job done, right?  |
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Post by Samantha on Oct 19, 2012 2:48:06 GMT
I'm for adding TS3. Hmm... maybe create a whole different board for them? They're not really being used anymore, so we could create an "Archive" board or a "Sims2.com" board or something to put them under But I agree with simey on the "open" and "closed" rp thing, it'll probably be better if we had more members. Ooh yes, I liked having the forum closed off. I agree with whoever said they liked having the privacy. Done! I'm kind of thinking about just removing them. The Site News and Discussion board has a thread that's making it move really slowly, so I don't want to add it to General Game Chat and make that move slowly, and I don't think they really need their own achive. Okay. I only mentioned that because you had said that you liked when you could start a RP and see who would jump in. But I suppose people can still do that even if the threads aren't specifically marked. I've kept the boards closed off, just as they were before. Also, with official news:The Shop is officially open again! I've bumped all of the old and unanswered requests, and people can now begin submitting new applications. RP is close to being open. I've added the archive and updated the rules and FAQ. I only need to add the locations thread, which I'll probably do sometime later in the day tomorrow, and then people can begin submitting characters. BTW, I keep meaning to say this, but I love your avatar, Caitlin. |
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Post by Caitlin on Oct 19, 2012 21:20:51 GMT
BTW, I keep meaning to say this, but I love your avatar, Caitlin. Haha, thanks! It's by Audrey Kawasaki. I simply love all of the pictures he/she has done. |
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Post by Samantha on Oct 19, 2012 23:30:44 GMT
More official news!
I think everything's finished up for RP. I've set up the new format, and you guys can begin submitting characters again. If you had a character under the old format, you can re-submit him or her by coping and pasting the old information (found in the archive) into a new thread. There are some new questions added to this character application, though. Or you can submit a whole new character, if you'd like.
Also, read the rules and FAQ again if you haven't. I added some things.
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Post by Laura on Oct 20, 2012 0:35:20 GMT
^ Yay! I'm excited about this. Gives me an excuse to get some writing done! |
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Post by Caitlin on Oct 20, 2012 2:21:09 GMT
Thanks so much for all of the work you've put into this so far, Samantha! I am also very excited to start up the roleplay thread again (:
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I like the new lay-out, though it will take me a while to learn my way round - again!
