RPC Upgrades

[Kylin]

As some may be aware, our forums/site are quite outdated. There are numerous reasons for this, none of which I'll bother boring anyone with. The point is, we need to start looking toward upgrading everything and making all of our site sections better mesh with one another.

 

To do this, I wanted to ask how many of you actually use the main site? Do you just skip right to the forums or do you sometimes use the other site sections (Links, Linkshells, Lore, etc)? If the main site has become obsolete, I'd much rather not waste any more time expanding it further. If it is still widely used though, I can continue supporting it.

 

Otherwise, I will look into restructuring the site/forums into one entity, much like Zam/Eorzeapedia/Core all do. By this I mean having a front page with news stories and other little widgets (such as links and polls). This would mean saying goodbye to the book theme however (though it can still be used in other capacities, such as the Epic/Tonberry's Lantern/Eorzean Olympics section). Thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated so I know which direction to take the site.

 

Future additions for the forums that I'm presently looking into include a Facebook style profile/wall system, a gallery to upload RPC event photos, and further forum section restructuring. A section of the server will also be set up specifically for the Epic in the near future (similar to and as flashy as the old linkshell teaser site, only permanent).

 

Other updates are also in the planning stages, including a new extension to the wiki for enhanced navigation. If you have any other suggestions or feedback about any of this, please feel free to speak up. Feedback is very important so I know which direction to go. I'd rather not go one way and have to backtrack because everyone hates what they see.

[Vareal]

I personally don't use the book page of the site, I have the forums book marked in my browser at the board index page, the only time I see the book page is if I log in from a different location and I head straight to the forums.

[Merri]

I just skip right to the forums. I never really use the front page.

 

Consolidating it into a single entity sort of like how the other big fansites have it would be a great idea, in my opinion. With a front page for major news, that are directly linked to the forums.

 

A gallery would be great, as would the little "wall" idea. I always liked those two functions over on the MH's guildlaunch, and it'd be nice to see them here as well. I might find myself more inclined to browse the forums more often. I personally believe it allows for those who choose to be more involved with their community, that much more involved. Be that much more personal with members, outside of talking to them via PMs and the forums themselves.

 

Consolidating what forums we have right now would also be a big plus. Simply put, there's a lot that don't really seemed all that used/needed right now, and some that could be combined with others.

[Knave]

I go straight to the forums as well and like these new feature ideas.

[Seraphine Felstar]

I only have the forums bookmarked and I never go to the main site anymore. However, it does have a lot of useful information for beginning roleplayers. As long as that information is kept somewhere visible to new people, I think the main site has outlived it's usefulness.

[Ariel]

I've used the main site when first searching for an RP LS

most recently actually I go throught it just of mere curiosity if the data is updated.

=x sorry.

 

I believe a Roster with the currently "active RP LS / recruiting or not/ url of contact/hard/casual/medium " would suffice on that matter of substituting the main site.

 

This has some importance I say because it's the rpc the most reccomended out there to the starting RPers looking for an LS and probably like me they go for that info to begin with, before scanning the forums down.

[Ghunzyr]

I love the book for when looking for a LS to join, but I agree that the heart of the site is really the forums. That said, I would hate to see the book dissapear because it's really nice and could be useful in a limited secondary capacity.

 

Instead of making the book the main page, what if you kept it as a subsection and kept it to IC listings/knowledge? It would be like an Eorzean encyclopaedia of linkshells. Perhaps the site could have a "coalition library" or somesuch with multiple "books", one for the RP Ettiquette, another for LS's, etc.

[Kylin]

Okay, I think we'll be saying goodbye to the book theme then (though we can certainly continue using it for IC stuff like the Epic, Olympics, etc).

 

I've been working hard on a new integrated main site and forum. The appearance won't change much (colors, borders, etc will all remain as is). The navigation will be the most drastic change. A new tab system will be added either on top of the navigation bar (which will also change) or on top of the banner. Whichever you guys prefer. The tabs will be a drop down menu much like Eorzeapedia. It will not be like Zam's with double drop downs seeing as I find that system a bit too annoying. Oria was kind enough to create some fancy graphics for the tabs which should mesh very well with the forums.

 

The upgrade should be ready within a week's time. This will only be the first of several updates to lay the general foundation. New features will be near limitless and I'll be able to add just about any widget desired (though we don't want to go overboard). Further tweaks can be made fairly easily based on feedback. New features (like the Facebook status updates and gallery) will likely come in the second update. I'm also hoping to set up a Linkshell directory that looks semi-similar to the memberlist page, only for linkshells. It would certainly be easier to keep updated that way. A new search bar will also be added to go with the tabs. So basically, we'll look like and function similar to the other major fan sites (though we'll look less bland than their setups with fancy tabs and whatnot ).

 

Our banner is a little big now though for the new setup. It can still work but it'll just look way too big (in terms of height) with the new setup. So hopefully we can figure out how to fix that. If the creators of the banners are reading this and are able to make their banner thinner while maintaining the length, I'd love you long time :love:

 

The forums will have to go down for about 2 hours (time subject to change) and I will notify you all at least 24 hours in advance of when they'll be down. Other segments of the site such as the wiki and LS directory will still be accessible during the downtime (though the main page, ffxiv-roleplayers.com, will not be).

 

Further consolidation of forum sections will also come in this update. This is presently being discussed amongst admins/mods.

[Knave]

I demand a Hello Kitty theme. >

[Dakki]

I demand a Hello Kitty theme. >

 

Seconded. Either that or.. CatDog!? >;D

[Ghunzyr]

I demand a Hello Kitty theme. >

 

Seconded. Either that or.. CatDog!? >;D

 

Lalafell theme, just as cute but still sticks to the game.

[Kylin]

We're not getting a Hello Kitty/Lalafell theme -.-. Maybe for April Fool's or something .

 

In preparation for the upcoming update, I've fixed a couple glitches that have been present for 1-2 months now.

 

1) Forum legend icons (New posts, etc) at the bottom of the board index page and forum category pages now display properly.

 

2) Email notifications should now be working properly for both private message notifications and subscribed topics notifications.

[Dakki]

We're not getting a Hello Kitty/Lalafell theme -.-. Maybe for April Fool's or something .

 

But we WILL be getting a CatDog theme!quote]

 

Yay! :moogle:

 

:lol: Sorry.. Had to. Can't wait for the updates.

[Kylin]

At the following time, the forums (ffxiv-roleplayers.com/forum), main site (ffxiv-roleplayers.com), and the linkshell directory (ffxiv-roleplayers.com/linkshells.html) will be unavailable:

 

Thursday, December 23rd at Noon (Eastern Standard Time)/5pm (GMT)/9am (Pacific Time)

Estimated downtime: 3-4 hours (subject to change)

 

This is part 1 of the update and will mostly lay the foundation. It will not be the complete and final version. Part 2 will be announced at a later time. Detailed notes will be revealed in a Headlines post/front page story.

 

Sections of the RPC site not mentioned above (such as the wiki, Lantern, etc) will all be accessible during this downtime.

 

Date of maintenance is subject to change if problems arise with the graphical/coding aspects by then. I expect to have most of the present issues hammered out by then though.

[Almil]

How is this new site suppose to look like? because for me its just rows of links before the banner picture. So it looks silly that there is so much empty space and I need to scroll down to see the actual forum and such.

I can take screencapture if needed~

 

 

EDIT: Nevermind, I re-opened all and refreshed and now it looks really good with all those buttons :oops:

Good job. ^^

[Eltharian]

It looks really nice so far. :approve:

[Kylin]

On Friday, there will be a preparation update. No major changes will be made available for the public during this and it is mostly just meant for preparations for the upcoming update. The amount of coding for the next update is going to be a nightmare and I'd rather the forums not be down for 6 hours or more as a result. So instead, I'll get some of the stuff out of the way on Friday.

 

Forums (and only the forums) will be unavailable at the following time:

December 31st (Friday) at Noon (Eastern), 9am (Pacific), 5pm (GMT).

Downtime estimated to be approximately 60-90 minutes.

 

The actual update is still pending. I was hoping to have it ready by the 1st, but it really depends on how long it takes to get the background and colors ready. An announcement will be made when a definite date is known.

 

The actual update, when ready, will last approximately 3-4 hours. It will add various features, change certain appearances regarding the forum, make various tweaks to widgets and whatnot, and (hopefully) completely integrate all sections of the site into one central database (excluding wiki and Lantern). I will issue this reminder at the time of the update announcement and again after the update: Be sure to refresh your browser immediately following the update. Also, ALL sections of the site (excluding wiki and Lantern) will be unavailable during that downtime.

[Kylin]

Okay! Two of the super big updates have been successfully installed. That's 3 hours of downtime eliminated from update day >.>. You may notice little new things here and there but pay them no heed for now. Nobody has permissions to use anything yet anyway. I still have to do some tweaking and then I'll activate the stuff on update day.

 

If you stumble across any error messages and/or glitches, please report them here ASAP with your browser and the error message and/or specifics. Thanks!

[Kylin]

Update will be coming either Thursday or Friday. It depends on my work schedule. I won't state a specific time frame since I don't know. You'll know when you see the message though . Forums and site will be down probably at least 3 hours.

 

This update will bring in new features, improvements to the overall look of the forum, site integration, and other tweaks. I won't reveal much yet, but it is far bigger than the last one.

 

All sections of the site will be unavailable during the downtime (save for the wiki and Lantern). Remember to refresh your browser right after the update once you visit the site!