12-30-2019, 07:32 PM
Welcome to what the Officers have been quietly calling “Project Dreamscape”! Why did we call it that? Because we had two layouts going on at once (new skin, new layout) and calling one “new layout” and one “new new layout” was confusing. So there ya go.
Anyway...why the change? What are the changes? OMG shit has moved.
Things to know:
Because the old layout was super duper out of date, including the code, and Kyra knows more now than she did however many years ago when she first wrote that layout. This is a little more up to date (I am still and will never be a professional coder, but I tried). This is also why a lot of bugs haven’t been getting fixed, because we’ve been over here working on a whole better thing anyway.
Also, a huge thank you to Dianna who, as you know, paid for coders to come in and work on the things I was unable to do. You’ll see we now have Threadlogs on profiles (so you can see other character’s profiles), and the site is secure, for instance.
Forum Changes & New Features
There’s lots of changes, the most obvious of which is the sidebar is gone! Why? Because it was officially superfluous. There are more fun changes/new features for you guys, keep reading.
Reporting Bugs
Brand new code (literally, I started from scratch) means that any bug you have previously reported to me may or may not still exist. That means even if you have told me before, you need to tell me again because otherwise I am assuming the new layout has fixed all problems (ha, if only).
When reporting bugs, please use the bug channel in Discord and provide me with:
Please note, if you have the postbits set to classic mode (postbit to the right of the post), you may see some posts that get smushed off to the right. This is not a bug, but rather an issue with the HTML in the post before it. 99.9% of the time the issue is simply that you did not close a div tag. Please edit your HTML if you see this. If you aren’t sure, ask me, and I’ll be happy to help. I have a workaround in there that I believe has generally fixed the problem, but just in case you come across this, you know the issue.
Authorization mismatch when logging in is still a thing. That said, it logs me in anyway (just check the main menu at the top), and I’m able to navigate like usual. You may have to refresh, but it’s generally been a non-issue. If this is not the case for anyone though, please let me know!
Skins
All previous layouts are gone, and as such, the only skin available to you is the Excel skin (which has also been updated and doesn’t totally suck anymore). That said, I’m willing to make another skin or two, so you’ll see there’s a poll attached to this update for you to vote for your favorite skin. I’ll pick the most popular in the semi-near future and make them!
If you don’t remember what they looked like, head to the Guide → History → Previous Layouts to view all the old layouts. (I will not go back past Version 16 because I don’t even know where the headers are anymore)
You’ll see we now have one Guide and the Rules/FAQs/History etc. got a massive overhaul. Take the time to read through it please, it’s worth it, but here are the highlights.
Things must happen IC - this isn’t new, but in order to help enforce it we have some related changes:
Updates: you will be required to post a link to the thread when making updates for land changes, leader changes, etc. If there’s a reason there truly cannot be a thread come talk to us, but odds are even if one player is gone your character can still post saying what happened.
Steals are sneaky, and you cannot magically know who stole a character. However, rumors spread, so after 6 BQ months (one RL month), you may then know who stole a character in order to try and get them back.
Challenges should all be done IC, which includes the challenge post itself and the acceptance post. Read through the rules, but that acceptance post can also include an attack so you aren’t writing a ton extra. There are very few terms left to negotiate, but this can be done IC or, as truly necessary, in OOC notes at the bottom of your posts or simply off the boards.
We added “common knowledge” items, which is to say stuff your character is allowed to magically just know (like the border of lands, because that’s really helpful). Your character cannot know anything outside of this list unless it’s told to them, in a post. OOC plotting and agreements don’t count (unless there’s a very valid reason, like someone needs to hand over a leader position because they really cannot post anymore).
For the purposes of the rules, there is no longer a difference between herds and territories. You can, of course, still set up a territory in any way you like (as a herd, as a subkingdom, etc.).
There’s a section on Magic Entities and the rules regarding them now.
We’d love to have it ALL done, but let's face it, the old layout needed to go ASAP so we have some stuff still in the works:
Anyway...why the change? What are the changes? OMG shit has moved.
Things to know:
Why?
Because the old layout was super duper out of date, including the code, and Kyra knows more now than she did however many years ago when she first wrote that layout. This is a little more up to date (I am still and will never be a professional coder, but I tried). This is also why a lot of bugs haven’t been getting fixed, because we’ve been over here working on a whole better thing anyway.
Also, a huge thank you to Dianna who, as you know, paid for coders to come in and work on the things I was unable to do. You’ll see we now have Threadlogs on profiles (so you can see other character’s profiles), and the site is secure, for instance.
What?
Forum Changes & New Features
There’s lots of changes, the most obvious of which is the sidebar is gone! Why? Because it was officially superfluous. There are more fun changes/new features for you guys, keep reading.
- View all open threads listing - you’ll find the link in the Recent Threads header. If you click here you’ll see a list of all threads with the prefix [Open] that don’t have a reply yet. Easy way to find someone to post with, so use those thread prefixes for this!
- Profiles & Postbits (those things on the side of the post)
- There are now different OOC and IC profiles, woo! When you fill out your OOC profile there are a couple of required fields because they are required for horse accounts that won’t display, just type some gibberish into them. Otherwise you will only see applicable fields.
- You can display the postbit in classic or standard now (horizontal or vertical). Go to the User CP, Edit Options, and there’s a checkbox for “display posts in classic mode” that you can turn on and off.
- A few extra things you can add to your postbits: a background image (in either format, you’ll see the details for sizing and such on your profiles) and a quote! (See Rae’s posts for a sample of the background images).
- You can have custom CSS in your profiles! There will be a template for you to edit in the HTML lab. Please ONLY USE THIS TEMPLATE and do not try to redo the entire page. (See Rae’s profile page for an example) -- Template should be posted tomorrow - I have the code, but I want to add comments for you guys and I thought I did but if I did I lost it...lol
- Updated Member List (profiles) with some of our custom fields rather than just random default stuff
- There’s an option to filter by User Group, so you can filter the list by the different lands and types of accounts now.
- You can also view the member list by player now. The link is in the header of the Member List, and says “View by Player” - please note this view with only show accounts that are attached to a master account (this master account should be your OOC account), but it’s a nifty way to view.
- Lastly, you can search the Member Database by player. Go to the bottom, click on “Advanced Search” in the right header bar for “Search Member List” and there you will see an option to search by player by typing in the player name.
- Threadlogs on profiles, so you can see the threadlog for other characters.
- Updated HTML tutorials, resources, and freebies in the HTML Lab (I will eventually make more (most likely), probably after I take a break from coding for a while...)
Reporting Bugs
Brand new code (literally, I started from scratch) means that any bug you have previously reported to me may or may not still exist. That means even if you have told me before, you need to tell me again because otherwise I am assuming the new layout has fixed all problems (ha, if only).
When reporting bugs, please use the bug channel in Discord and provide me with:
- Description of the issue
- Steps to replicate the issue
- A screenshot if possible
- Your browser
- Mobile or computer
Please note, if you have the postbits set to classic mode (postbit to the right of the post), you may see some posts that get smushed off to the right. This is not a bug, but rather an issue with the HTML in the post before it. 99.9% of the time the issue is simply that you did not close a div tag. Please edit your HTML if you see this. If you aren’t sure, ask me, and I’ll be happy to help. I have a workaround in there that I believe has generally fixed the problem, but just in case you come across this, you know the issue.
Authorization mismatch when logging in is still a thing. That said, it logs me in anyway (just check the main menu at the top), and I’m able to navigate like usual. You may have to refresh, but it’s generally been a non-issue. If this is not the case for anyone though, please let me know!
Skins
All previous layouts are gone, and as such, the only skin available to you is the Excel skin (which has also been updated and doesn’t totally suck anymore). That said, I’m willing to make another skin or two, so you’ll see there’s a poll attached to this update for you to vote for your favorite skin. I’ll pick the most popular in the semi-near future and make them!
If you don’t remember what they looked like, head to the Guide → History → Previous Layouts to view all the old layouts. (I will not go back past Version 16 because I don’t even know where the headers are anymore)
Rule Changes
You’ll see we now have one Guide and the Rules/FAQs/History etc. got a massive overhaul. Take the time to read through it please, it’s worth it, but here are the highlights.
Things must happen IC - this isn’t new, but in order to help enforce it we have some related changes:
Updates: you will be required to post a link to the thread when making updates for land changes, leader changes, etc. If there’s a reason there truly cannot be a thread come talk to us, but odds are even if one player is gone your character can still post saying what happened.
Steals are sneaky, and you cannot magically know who stole a character. However, rumors spread, so after 6 BQ months (one RL month), you may then know who stole a character in order to try and get them back.
Challenges should all be done IC, which includes the challenge post itself and the acceptance post. Read through the rules, but that acceptance post can also include an attack so you aren’t writing a ton extra. There are very few terms left to negotiate, but this can be done IC or, as truly necessary, in OOC notes at the bottom of your posts or simply off the boards.
We added “common knowledge” items, which is to say stuff your character is allowed to magically just know (like the border of lands, because that’s really helpful). Your character cannot know anything outside of this list unless it’s told to them, in a post. OOC plotting and agreements don’t count (unless there’s a very valid reason, like someone needs to hand over a leader position because they really cannot post anymore).
For the purposes of the rules, there is no longer a difference between herds and territories. You can, of course, still set up a territory in any way you like (as a herd, as a subkingdom, etc.).
There’s a section on Magic Entities and the rules regarding them now.
Some Stuff Still in the Works
We’d love to have it ALL done, but let's face it, the old layout needed to go ASAP so we have some stuff still in the works:
- IC steals/potential removal of the captivity time limit (and some updated rules around that based on our current discussion)
- Possibly updated challenge rules, largely to include experience (we’ll host a poll at some point and a discussion on this. Experience would go backward assuming you could prove it)
- A FLORA/FAUNA GUIDE! But we need your help on this. We have a brainstorming google doc here - please take some time to go and stick your ideas in to the doc!