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+--- Thread: Role-Play Coalition Reborn! (/showthread.php?tid=1599)
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Role-Play Coalition Reborn! - Kylin - 01-31-2013
Happy 3rd Anniversary Role-Play Coalition! We've been through a number of evolutions up to this point, and this is probably the most robust of them all. With the coming of a new game comes a new RPC! The primary goal of the site redesign was to create something simplistic, elegant, progressive, and powerful. Hope it's up to everyone's standards!
The following is a comprehensive list of the changes made to the RPC site. Not everything is necessarily listed due to the sheer volume of changes. If you encounter any graphical problems, please refresh your browser first. The site has been tested in the latest versions of Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Opera, and various other browsers. Everything appears to be working and looking as intended, excluding known bugs listed below. Should you find a bug not listed below, please report it (along with instructions on how to replicate the bug). Further minor modifications and fixes will of course be made in the future, along with future additional features. A huuuge thanks to Ellie for helping with so much of this in regards to graphics and feedback.
It is highly recommended (though not always required) that you clear cookies for this site should you have any problems with logging in/out/staying logged in (especially with the gallery section). This is done in your browser options. Find the ffxiv-roleplayers.com cookie folder and delete it, allowing it to rebuild itself. Then close your browser and restart it.
Our forum software has changed from phpbb to MyBB. Almost all of the site graphics have changed. This includes the banner, background image, colors, smilies, a new favicon (may not show up right away unless you delete cookies), and numerous other icons/graphics. Multiple languages are now supported by the RPC. You can change your default language at registration and/or in your user profile. While changing the language will not change how images/post content are displayed, it will change the majority of system-side text to the preferred language. Note that some text here and there can't be translated to any language at this time due to how it was coded in. This may/may not be revised at a later time if someone of said language is able to provide the proper translations. Languages supported now include: French, German (informal), Spanish (international), Polish, Japanese, and Russian. A fancy new slider/featured articles block has been added to the home page. This will be used to publish various featured articles, display artwork from our various artists, and so on. Along with this, various new articles/pages have been added. Be sure to check them all out! The login menu and user panel have been altered to utilize javascript. Users should still be able to navigate to the login page if the dropdown menu ever fails (ie: if Javascript is disabled). The post viewing page has been altered for a sleek and attractive appearance. If for some reason one does not like the new post page layout, you can opt to revert to the "classic" style via your user control panel ("edit options"). Yay for enhanced individual freedom! The member profile page has been completely overhauled. Information is better displayed in a more organized manner and it is now possible to view more detailed information and even post comments on a user's "wall." You can also add/remove/view friends here. Further tweaks will be made in the near future. A "main character" box has been added to the user control panel below the linkshell box. Here, you can add your main character's full name to easier be identified. This will also display on all posts, as will your linkshell. Reputation from the old site has been wiped due to a complete recoding of the feature. You can still rate up individual posts (and remove your rating if desired) via the "Reputation" button (looks like an R with a tiny plus sign in the corner). You may also navigate to the user's profile and give a single rating (along with a comment) about the user in general. Only positive reputation can be given, as per before. The forums will now automatically detect videos and audio links that you post without any need to use any codes/tags. Simply post the link and the server will do the rest for you. Since links will automatically convert to the embed video/music file, be sure that's what you want prior to posting it. If you just want the link itself posted for whatever reason and not the actual video, you'll need to surround the link with the "preformatted code" block. IE:Code:
linkThis button is available in the editor and should be used to preserve formatting in those rare circumstances you need to. You can still use the normal codes for videos as well if you so wish.
A new text editor has been added that's far more advanced in that it allows a 'what you see is what you get' format where you can view your post format as it's written instead of constantly using the "preview" function. You can toggle between two different modes via the last button on the 2nd row ("view source"). You may also switch the default mode it's in via your user panel ("edit options"). You have the choice between the powerful SCeditor (defaults to what you see is what you get mode), SCeditor source (defaults to source mode where you can see the BBcodes), or "MyCode editor" (original default editor with more limited options). You can also select "no editor" if you're the type who never uses codes like bold, italics, etc in your posts. Note that if you go into "edit options" to change anything else, the text editor defaults back to the MyCode editor style so be sure to change that back before hitting "update options." Also note that certain things don't appear in the 'what you see is what you get' mode as they will in the actual posts (such as spoiler tags and quotes). The post editor has been modified. When editing a previously made post, you can choose between quick edit and full edit modes. Quick edit does not display the post editor and should only be used for fixing typos and whatnot. The text editor itself looks different from our previous one, though the majority of the basic features are still present. Please note that most BBcodes from our old site (alignment codes, etc) are still compatible with this site. The biggest exception is the video/audio system, as the forums now auto-detect them without need for code (simply post the link and the video/mp3 player will automatically load). Some font size codes are no longer compatible either, but the old ones have been converted to the new coding so the flow of older posts should not have changed. Posts made by the same user in the same thread within a set period of time of the last one will be auto-merged and separated by a horizontal line (ie: spam posts). An "alerts" system has been added that displays in your user panel box. It will notify you of numerous things, including: Private messages, responses to your threads, being quoted in a post, reputation added, and buddy list adds. You can modify what you want/don't want alerts to via your user control panel under "Alert Settings." At this time, there is no alert for posts made on a user's wall. This will likely be added in the future though. An "announcement" system has been added. Separate from the alerts system, this applies strictly to PMs and comments posted on your profile. Once the alert system is fully expanded, this feature will be removed. Please note that the comment notification is bugged and won't link to your actual unread comments. You'll have to manually go to your profile to see it, and once you do, the notification will go away. This will hopefully be fixed soonish. The announcement feature mostly exists until everything is properly integrated into the alert system (which will take time). The sidebar on the forum index can now be collapsed and saved in your cookie settings. This can only be done on the forum index and not the home page. The sidebar has also moved to the left side of the site. At this time, it is not yet implemented on other site pages, but it may be added in other locations in the near future. The events block on the home page and forum index are 100% in sync now and are both also in sync with the calendar feature. In the future, I may add an "add event" button directly to the sidebar for even easier event management. The calendar has changed only slightly and is now easier to add events. You can either click on the day (such as the "30" on January 30th) OR navigate below the calendar and click the newly added "add public event" button. Please note that, like before, the default selection for new events is on "all day event." Seeing as the majority of RP events have a ranged time, be sure to select "ranged/recurring" and set the actual start/finish times. Numerous different "sets" of calendars can be added in the future if needed. The interface for adding an event is also more simplistic now. A new and more powerful spoiler tag is now in use. It allows for spoilers within spoilers. The old spoiler tag has also transferred in order to not break old posts, though using it in the future will not be possible unless you manually type in the code for it--[*spoil]text here[*/spoil] instead of the default [*spoiler]text here[*/spoiler] (excluding the * in each case). You can now also add titles to your spoilers if you wish, though it is optional. The FAQ section has been overhauled and simplified. The memberlist section has only been slightly modified. User titles will now display with your username instead of in a separate column. Avatars are displayed in a larger size to avoid the formerly required hover effect. At this point in time, sorting the list by clicking the header titles is not possible. Please use the new search/sort feature at the bottom of the page if you need to sort/search at this time. There is also an "advanced search" for the memberlist. All previous custom titles and linkshells have been wiped from everyone's profile. Feel free to update this information via your user control panel. The "Edit Profile" option in the sidebar is where you need to go. The control panel has been overhauled. Options now appear via the UCP sidebar (and can be collapsed). You can set all relevant information here, including a "bio" that will display on your front profile page for others to see. Feel free to use this as you see fit, such as listing characters, wiki links, journal links, etc. A "personal notepad" has been added into your user control panel. You may add notes to yourself here if desired. No other users (not even moderators) can view this information except for you. It's mostly just for personal to-do lists if desired. All avatars have been wiped. Please update these via your user control panel. All uploaded avatars will be auto-resized to 100x100 if larger than that. Signatures have transferred, though the coding to generate them has slightly changed. Signatures larger than the predetermined dimensions will have scroll bars added instead of auto-resizing (may be changed at a later time). The buddy list is far more robust and more prominent now. It especially makes PMing someone extensively easier. Give it a try! You may now mark a forum as read by simply clicking on the forum icon (or by the old methods). A latest posts box has (finally) been added to the sidebar. The gallery block has been modified. Due to the last minute decision to change the gallery, this block is not done yet. Originally, it was a slideshow of recent images but the slideshow code was not compatible with the new gallery. This will (hopefully) be fixed relatively soon. In the meantime, the side box will show a thumbnail list of the most recent images. A "lite mode" has been added that can be accessed in the footer of the site. This will change the site to pure text and remove all other elements. This is an excellent feature for mobile devices that may not be able to load images/javascript properly. More support is likely to be given to mobile devices in future software updates, as promised by the MyBB team. The gallery section has been vastly modified (and purged). Due to being unhappy with the inferior gallery we WERE getting, I made a last minute decision to recode it from the ground up. I managed to completely integrate an external gallery software into the site (Coppermine Gallery). As such, it is essentially as powerful as the previous one. Transition between the forums and gallery should be seamless. At this time, a bug prevents the creation of personal albums. So please upload pictures to the pre-designated albums for now and we can move them at a later time if needed. Since the gallery was very last minute, it's not 100% perfect/done yet. Bugs may be more commonplace here, though I think the major ones should be "hidden" from normal users. The search section of the site has been modified in appearance. The bazaar section has been eliminated due to lack of use. The chat room has been removed due to lack of use. One or two of the following may be added in the near future: A new robust chat room, a shoutbox, or a status updates feature integrated with the sidebar. The number of queries the site uses per page load has been reduced in comparison to the old site (this is a very good thing ^^). Quotes in posts will now display avatars, as well as a link (in the form of an arrow) to the original post from which the quote came. Authors of threads (as well as mods) can freely change the name of their thread title without going into full edit mode now if they so wish. Simply click and hold over the thread title and it will allow you a quick title edit. You can still edit titles the old way as well via full editor mode. An advanced statistics page for the forum has been added. The wiki has remained as is. However, it is not compatible with the new forum software/database at this time. As such, logins for NEW USERS will no longer pull from your forum username/password. Please contact myself to be registered for the wiki manually for the time being. If you were registered on the RPC prior to today, this will not impact you. This issue will hopefully be rectified in time. Additionally, there are numerous wiki plugins for the forum software that could completely integrate the wiki with the forum. This would require another transfer of information. I am still looking into this matter to see if it would be worthwhile. The primary problem that rests with this is the large possibility of limited wiki features. The user registration page has changed. The moderation team has changed. Please welcome Alothia, Xenedra, and Ellie to the team! The names of various forum sections have changed. Users may now change their username on their own via the user control panel. Please do not abuse this feature. Users may now log in via either their username OR email address. Please note that you will be unable to login via email if you have more than one forum account with the same email address. Numerous other minor features have been added/enhanced/modified. Further minor adjustments will continue to be made as needed.Known bugs/issues:
--Recurring events do not display more than the first time in the sidebar.
--Clicking a spoiler while previewing a PM causes the PM to instantly send instead of opening the spoiler tag.
--Avatars do not display in quote boxes within private messages.
--Internet Explorer does not allow the menu buttons (forum, wiki, linkshells, etc) to glow.
--A couple of buttons are not yet in the primary editor (glow text and indent). These codes are still usable but must be manually typed in at this time (and won't display correctly in the editor in the 'what you see is what you get' mode). These buttons do exist in the MyCode editor however.
--You cannot edit sent PMs. You can, however, delete the PM before the user sees it and resend a new version.
--Image resizer affects even small images that don't need resized. While the image itself is not resized, it does allow one to use the 'zoom in' feature instead of skipping the image like it should.
--Editing a pre-existing event causes the incorrect text editor to display.
--The notification for comments on a user's wall does not link to the user's profile (nor anywhere else). You must manually go to your profile and check the comment for the notification to vanish.
--The default editor in "edit options" is always set to "MyCode editor" despite what your default editor is. Please keep in mind that you must change this every time you make changes to your edit options before hitting "update options."
--Alerts and comment notifications do not display in the Gallery.
--Various links in posts that lead to other sections of the site may be broken now. The mods and I will try to fix these as we come across them.
--Personal albums cannot be created yet due to a jquery conflict.
--Some text formatting in posts may need redone.
Possibly Coming Soon:
-Blog feature
-Status updates feature
-Chat room or shout box
-Linkshell section
-Tonberry Lantern section revamp--possible integration with WordPress for easy article creation.
-Wiki integration
-Tweaked user profile page (merging of posts and threads categories, addition of user's images, etc)
-Expansion of alerts system
Sidenotes:
--All private messages up through today have been marked as read, regardless if you've read them yet or not.
--Timezones are reset. Be sure to reset yours in your user control panel under edit options.
--Linkshell section is presently under lockdown due to a revamp.
--Certain smilies and codes (such as tabs and video codes) have either been removed or modified. As such, this may be reflected in some past posts. For example: The "Mr Green" smilie will not show up anymore. Instead, it'll simply show as :mrgreen:.
--MyBB is currently in a major transitional stage, creating their own "version 2.0," ironically enough. As such, this site will likely see a couple more major updates in the future to reflect that. This shouldn't impact anything too major for us aside from maybe updated features and optimization. We're currently in "patch 1.6.9." Version 1.8 is currently in alpha testing. 2.0 itself is still likely a year or so away. But we have the comfort of knowing that the forum software IS being supported into the future.
--To make known how much more robust this site is, there's a site that scans and evaluates other sites and gives scores regarding various factors (optimization, performance, etc). The old RPC scored a terrible 56% (E rating). This RPC scored a whopping 29 points higher at 85% (B rating). That's actually on par with (and sometimes higher than) the average Enjin site and about 8 points above the average for all sites out there. Over time, my goal is to get it to an A
RE: Role-Play Coalition Reborn! - Rhostel - 01-31-2013
Oh Twelve. It's beautiful. ;_;
RE: Role-Play Coalition Reborn! - Aysun - 01-31-2013
It's up and it's amazing.
GREAT JOB Kylin and a huge thank you to everyone who contributed to the new look of the RPC!
RE: Role-Play Coalition Reborn! - Sigyn Shieldbreaker - 01-31-2013
Great job, guys! It looks gorgeous!
RE: Role-Play Coalition Reborn! - Tadir - 01-31-2013
Looks fantastic. Great job!
RE: Role-Play Coalition Reborn! - Vee - 01-31-2013
Awesome job!! I love the new site. :3
RE: Role-Play Coalition Reborn! - Magnus - 01-31-2013
I have to agree with everyone else. Excellent work we can never thank you enough for the time you put into this community!
RE: Role-Play Coalition Reborn! - Blade - 01-31-2013
Pretty epic overhaul. It's obvious a lot of time and care went into this. Thanks for all your hard work (to all those involved)!
RE: Role-Play Coalition Reborn! - Deirdre - 01-31-2013
LOVE ETTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT! <3
Now for the Wiki! *puts on rubber gloves*
RE: Role-Play Coalition Reborn! - Merri - 01-31-2013
Absolutely amazing work. I am incredibly impressed.
Great job, guys!
RE: Role-Play Coalition Reborn! - Niteshade_Rune - 01-31-2013
The new page looks amazing!
Job well done on the new look. Just awesome
RE: Role-Play Coalition Reborn! - Mihana - 01-31-2013
Not bad, it's been awhile since I visited the site but this looks pretty good! Here's to seeing the rebirth of a new game, and a new site.
RE: Role-Play Coalition Reborn! - Ariel - 01-31-2013
AMAZING JOB!!!
By god Kylin, you get ALL of the kudos. Seriously, this is another level of awesome.
RE: Role-Play Coalition Reborn! - Aveline - 01-31-2013
Lookin' great!
RE: Role-Play Coalition Reborn! - Kylin - 01-31-2013
Thank you everyone! I've definitely learned a lot about site design since our first RPC
. The fact that our old RPC was scored a lousy 56% compared to the 85% this site scored at a major site scan is quite telling. Ellie was great with all the imagery as well. So be sure to thank her too! She also gave a name to that little messenger moogle who flies the banner on our featured articles titles: Mogwin Aurelius Kupoppo III
I'm still working on some little bugs here and there so bear with me and please report anything you find that's not listed in the "known bugs" in the OP. Aysun was nice enough to volunteer to clean up the Directory area since all the post formatting was broken during the database merge, so you all should be in good shape there. Be sure to check your signatures (I saw a -ton- of broken formats there) and whatnot. If you had odd characters in your username, it could have been broken (Noelle, for example, turned into Noëlle). I'll fix anything as I find it but if I miss you somehow, just send me an email at [email protected].
I'll be focusing on the wiki and linkshell sections next, though they shouldn't be too bad (especially with Deir and Gospel so enthusiastic to handle the wiki
).