Board updates

[Zach]

Hello all,

I just wanted to let everyone know that the forum software will be updated next week. I have yet to set a date for the full upgrade, because there is much preliminary work to be done. This is a large upgrade, and will break some of our modifications. I therefore want to recreate those modifications to be compatible with the new forum.

I would also like opinions regarding the theme. This current theme will not be supported after the upgrade. At first, I was worried about it, but then I realised that a new theme would be not only helpful, but also fun! I would just like to hear some opinions about the theme. Would you like to stick with a dark theme, or go to a lighter one? Any colour preferences? Please, if you have an opinion, try to justify your point of view with a simple because statement. For instance, "I think the board would like nicer with ***, because it will improve legibility," is a nicer comment than "I think the background colour should be lime green."

Thank you all preemptively, and I will keep you posted with more information as I develop the timeline for the swap.

--Zach

[Becky]

I'd say stick with dark, simply because people tend to freak out over big changes. And perhaps something with more of a Tri-Polar feel?

And at least 13 poll options.


Welcome back, btw!

[Jessamy]

the forum has a more 'sick puppies' feel dark i think..you don't see too many brightly colored sick puppies stuff (not complaning one bit! )

[TOOLsynesthesia]

I definitely agree with keeping it dark. It doesn't hurt your eyes as badly then, if you stay on the board for long periods of time! And it helps with legibility.

[Missy]

Hey Zach! Long time, no see!

I also think the darker colors are better because it's just the feel of Sick Puppies. Perhaps the black, gray, and tan/goldish colors similar to the Tri-Polar cover would be good? They seem to be using that with everything else, even the color blends with the newer photos.

P.S. Please keep as many smilies as possible! They are my friends hehe

[ToniB]

I also like the dark theme, but sure don't mind if it changes slightly. I just makes it a little easier to read.

Can't wait to see what's new!

[Susanna]

I'd like the Tri-Polar background and image that we've got over here waiting. But you know this already. Dark and teal for the win, because it matches our scheme and etc.

Thank you Zach - and thanks for the heads up you're doing this.

[Serge]

Dark pleaseee

(it's easier on the eyes of us insomniacs aka Shamrock & I)

[blangomedia]

Stick with the dark Tri Polar has waay more darkness to the album than the others.

[Zach]

Alright, I'm going to stick with a dark theme. It will not be exactly the same as this one, because this one is too limiting, and trying to overcome its limits is very time-consuming. However, I think the new theme will actually be nicer all around. If there are any requests for the new board, please let me know as early as possible.

[Becky]

All I can think of is, as I mentioned before, more polling options (so I can make people vote for their favorite song on Tri-Polar without leaving anything out. mwhaha!) and perhaps a form jump at the bottom of the page? Like after I post this, it'll bring me back to the post, and where the mod tools are at the bottom, maybe a forum jump? Just an idea...

[Missy]

My only request is lots of smilies! I'm easy to please!

Err... Umm that kinda sounded wrong lol Sorry!

Will there be any way to keep from having to go through every single thread again to make that part of the forum appear read? I think the last time we switched I had to go through each one to get the yellow music note to go away and it was a pain in the butt!

[Regan]

^You can click "Mark forums read" on the index or "Mark topics read" in each individual forum. They're on the top right.

[blangomedia]

I agree with the polling options. We could have like a weekly poll or like options for covering certain shows so that way notihng gets missed or confused

[Missy]

Haha yeah... I figured that one out (after the fact of course). I just wanna make sure there's something similar for the switch

[wrxracer24]

I agree with pretty much everything everyone else has said...yes to smilies! yes to dark colors! Is it possible to create a map or something with pins where we can scroll over the pins to see which users are from where. I think it'd be neat to see a map of where the most pins are. Either that or links for each state and lists which users are from where instead of just next to their username when posting. I hope that makes sense. I know that Sick Puppies have or had a map thing on their website to post messages, but on this world crew page would be useful to me.

[Becky]

Speaking of smilies...perhaps we could have the basics displayed in post mode, and the rest in a drop down menu? Or a "More Smilies" thing that opens in another window? With all these new smilies it's kind of a pain to scroll way down to submit your posts.

[angelbear425]

I also like the forum being dark.

[Missy]

[Zach]

I didn't know that the poll options limitation was even there. It looks like it was not hardcoded as an option, but I took care of that. I would imagine 50 should be enough? Let me know if that's not the case.