Site relaunch complete!

[Danny Stewart]

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the new and improved DannyStewart.com Forums. You all have probably noticed that a lot has changed, but a lot is still the same. We're still the great community that we always have been, but now we look a lot better and we run faster too. I think you all will be very impressed at some of the changes I've made -- even if you don't notice all of them, they all help the board to be a much smoother, easier, and more friendly place for everyone.

Here goes:

• Speed increase. Just being on a brand new server is already going to give us a significant speed boost. I could feel it while I've been working on it, and I hope you all will notice as well and be pleased with the difference.
• Brand new layout. I've done a lot with the forum layout, in an attempt to make it look nicer at first glance, but also in an attempt to make it easier and more functional to navigate. I want it to be simple to get where you're going.
• New style. That's probably the first thing you noticed -- I was struck by the sleek, clean, intelligent, and professional design of this style for the board, and the way it's so functional and so easy on the eyes. Yes, it's different, but change isn't always bad, and I hope you all like it and can see its benefits.
• Revamped permission system. I went through and redesigned permissions for all forums. Not that there was necessarily anything wrong with the previous setup, but now I understand how all the permissions work from top to bottom.
• User infraction and reputation system. vBulletin has introduced user infraction and reputation systems in recent versions, and these are now being actively used. The infraction system lets us quickly jot down "points" against a user if he or she is doing something that they shouldn't be. A certain amount of points or a certain number of repeated infractions can result in temporary removal from the board. Conversely, the reputation system works both ways. If someone is helpful to you, you can boost their reputation. If someone is mean, you can give them negative reputation points. Hopefully this will help to keep everyone in check. (The main difference between these is that the infraction system will be used by me and the moderators, but the reputation system can be used by everyone. Note: to use the reputation system, click the blue box at the top left of any forum post.) Here are the point values and punishments for the infractions:

User Infraction System

Infraction - Number of Points - Time to Expiry of Points
Spammed Advertisements - 1 Point - 10 Days
Signature Rule Violation - 1 Point - 10 Days
Inappropriate Language - 1 Point - 10 Days
Insulted Other Member(s) - 2 Point - 14 Days

Number of Points - Punishment
4 Points - Moved to "Minor Infractions" Group (some rights removed)
6 Points - Moved to "Serious Infractions" Group (more rights removed)
10 Points - Automatic Ban for 2 Weeks

User Reputation System

User Comment - Number of Reputation Points Needed
User is infamous around these parts - -999999
User can only hope to improve - -50
User has a little shameless behaviour in the past - -10
User is an unknown quantity at this point - 0
User is on a distinguished road - 10
User will become famous soon enough - 50
User has a spectacular aura about - 150
User is a jewel in the rough - 250
User is just really nice - 350
User is a glorious beacon of light - 450
User is a name known to all - 550
User is a splendid one to behold - 650
User has much to be proud of - 1000
User has a brilliant future - 1500
User has a reputation beyond repute - 2000

• User rank system. I had this for a while, but I took it away. I've now added it back in. Users now receive a rank based on how many posts they have. The ranks are now as follows:

Minimum Number of Posts - User Rank
0 - Just Registered
1 - New Member
50 - Junior Member
100 - Member
250 - Senior Member
500 - Advanced Member
1000 - Postmaster General

• Cosmetic improvements to front page. I've made some minor cosmetic enhancements to the front page of the forums, regarding forum and sub-forum display as well as overall statistics. I installed a mod that enables horizontal tabbing of sub-forums so they appear in a nice, neat, organized fashion, instead of just "Name, Name 2, Name 3," etc. I've also added a nice overall stat box to the front page near the bottom. Nice for at-a-glance statistics.
• Users who have read this thread. Now at the bottom of any thread, you can take a look and see who has actually checked out the thread so you know who's getting what from the forum. Cool stuff.
• Chat. Now for the wicked cool stuff. We now have an integrated Java-based chat system directly tied into the forum so you can talk to other members who are online at the same time as you. Just click the Chat button in the navbar.
• Arcade. I did say wicked cool, didn't I? Yes, that's right, DannyStewart.com now has a freaking arcade. Armed with five classic games, you can play for hours right here on the forums and compete for the highest score and therefore the winning trophy against all your friends here. Just click the Arcade button in the navbar. (Ian, my brother, has taken the liberty of "testing out" all the games on there. He got a bit carried away and now has quite the high score list going! Let's see if any of you can beat him. )
• PM limits doubled. In honor of the new server, I have doubled all the limits for the PMs. The old limit was a maximum of 50 messages, and you could only send one message to 5 people at a time. Now, you can store a maximum of 100 messages, and send a message to up to 10 people at a time.
• PM attachment system. You can now upload and attach files to PMs and send them to other users that way.
• EasyFeedback. You probably noticed this with the little [+] feedback system at the bottom right corner. This is just a quick and painless poll to see what members think of the new forums. It goes away after you vote the first time.
• Forum home announcements. I can now add announcements directly to the home page of the forums, instead of binding them to specific individual forums.
• Welcome headers. This is a little box that pops up at the top of the page that encourages guests to register, unconfirmed people to confirm, zero posters to start posting, and people who haven't posted in a while to keep posting. Just a little motivational thing that hopefully will result in some activity.
• Thank you hack. You all have probably noticed the little "Thanks!" buttons that appear at the bottom of other people's posts by now. Sometimes people just like to say "thanks" for a bit of help that someone has given them or for uploading something that they enjoyed or anything like that. A lot of people probably don't want to actually take the time to post when all they have to say is "thanks." And a lot of other people don't like all the meaningless posts that are attributed to bunches of people thanking one person for something so small. Now, to solve both of those problems, all you have to do is click the little "thanks" button. Then, that's a nice way of keeping all the thank you messages nice, neat, and together, and, as an added bonus, the reputation of the person you are thanking will go up five points. When a user clicks on the button, it places his username in a box right under the post saying that so-and-so says "thanks" for the post. Everyone who clicks is placed in one box. Thanks to this nice little extra feature, the forum will look nice and organized, but people can still be polite and say thanks if they feel like it. With this, everyone should be happy.
• Welcome panel. Look at the top of the forum home page and you'll see the new welcome panel I added. I had to recode some of it to make it fit with the new style and layout. Hope you like!

I'm very tired now after working on the new forums for two evenings straight, and now it's almost 3:00 am and I'm thinking about getting ready for bed. There's probably a few other things lying around here and there, but I'm pretty sure I've covered all the major stuff. All I can say is that I really do put in a lot of work for everyone here, and I really hope you guys enjoy it. Have fun playing with the new features!

EDIT: And now, with tremendous thanks to Recurring Villain for putting it together for us, we now have an extremely good-looking logo to complete the look of the new forums setup! Thanks so much, RV!

EDIT #2: All new features combined into the first post for easy reading.

[Recurring Villain]

Glad I could help.


The bill is in the mail.

[Ben Dawson]

WOW!!!!!!!! What a revamp, and now with an arcade, that's fantastic. I like the reputation feature, it really lets you know who to keep up with and who to avoid, hopefully there wont be anyone in the deep end.
It was a shock to the system to see the different design, but by god, I could get used to this.
You've got a lot to be proud of here Danny, well done.

[Recurring Villain]

How can we see our reputation? It's a pity there isn't some kind of bar or something.

EDIT: Or is that green thing under "New Member" (on my name, I guess I haven't spammed enough yet) my reputation?

[Jez]

Arcades can be good for boosting member numbers without a dramatic increase in activity. Some people just sign up to play the games.

I must say this skin is much nicer than the old one. I still prefer having bright text on a dark background but at least this skin is easier to use.

[Recurring Villain]

I'm pretty sure nobody's going to join to exclusively play the arcade here.

[Bajoran Rogue]

I like the new features, though if you're introducing a reputation system then why not just get rid of post counts? I mean, its not your post count that matters, its that your posts count.

[Ben Dawson]

I like the post count, it keeps a track record of every post you've submited and it tells you how many posts you've made.

[Recurring Villain]

And you can use it with your join date to calculate how much more time you should be spending outside

[Ben Dawson]

hahahahaha

[Danny Stewart]

Originally Posted by Recurring Villain

How can we see our reputation? It's a pity there isn't some kind of bar or something.

EDIT: Or is that green thing under "New Member" (on my name, I guess I haven't spammed enough yet) my reputation?

Yup, the green thing would be your reputation.

Originally Posted by JTMoore

Arcades can be good for boosting member numbers without a dramatic increase in activity. Some people just sign up to play the games.

I must say this skin is much nicer than the old one. I still prefer having bright text on a dark background but at least this skin is easier to use.

Hopefully the arcade will be a good way of keeping people interested and active on the site, as well as introducing a sense of competition (just for fun though) between the members. Challenges can be issued and all sorts of fun stuff like that.

Originally Posted by Recurring Villain

I'm pretty sure nobody's going to join to exclusively play the arcade here.

Probably not, but it's here as a gift to the existing members, and not something to draw in new people.

Originally Posted by Bajoran Rogue

I like the new features, though if you're introducing a reputation system then why not just get rid of post counts? I mean, its not your post count that matters, its that your posts count.

I do agree with that notion but I don't like having post counts being hidden completely. I may consider that if it goes back to the way it was once before, with people arguing about their worth based on their post count. Depending on how well the reputation system is used by you guys, this may become an option. I've never been particularly overjoyed at the amount of faith people put in post counts to show how good a forum member they are.

Originally Posted by Ben (Doctor 5) Dawson

I like the post count, it keeps a track record of every post you've submited and it tells you how many posts you've made.

It's useful, but I'm curious to see if reputation could take over in that regard.

Originally Posted by Recurring Villain

And you can use it with your join date to calculate how much more time you should be spending outside

LOL! Very funny.

[Danny Stewart]

Couple of new updates! These relate to the private message (PM) system. First of all, in honor of the new server, I have doubled all the limits for the PMs. The old limit was a maximum of 50 messages, and you could only send one message to 5 people at a time. Now, you can store a maximum of 100 messages, and send a message to up to 10 people at a time.

In addition to that, I have just installed a PM attachment system, so you can upload and attach files to PMs and send them to other users that way. Hope you enjoy!

[Danny Stewart]

Yet more new features. I've now installed EasyFeedback, which you probably noticed with the little [+] feedback system at the bottom right corner. This is just a quick and painless poll to see what members think of the new forums. It goes away after you vote the first time.

Forum home announcement. I can now add announcements directly to the home page of the forums, instead of binding them to specific individual forums.

Welcome headers. This is a little box that pops up at the top of the page that encourages guests to register, unconfirmed people to confirm, zero posters to start posting, and people who haven't posted in a while to keep posting. Just a little motivational thing that hopefully will result in some activity.

Thank you hack. You all have probably noticed the little "Thanks!" buttons that appear at the bottom of other people's posts by now. Sometimes people just like to say "thanks" for a bit of help that someone has given them or for uploading something that they enjoyed or anything like that. A lot of people probably don't want to actually take the time to post when all they have to say is "thanks." And a lot of other people don't like all the meaningless posts that are attributed to bunches of people thanking one person for something so small. Now, to solve both of those problems, all you have to do is click the little "thanks" button. Then, that's a nice way of keeping all the thank you messages nice, neat, and together, and, as an added bonus, the reputation of the person you are thanking will go up five points. When a user clicks on the button, it places his username in a box right under the post saying that so-and-so says "thanks" for the post. Everyone who clicks is placed in one box. Thanks to this nice little extra feature, the forum will look nice and organized, but people can still be polite and say thanks if they feel like it. With this, everyone should be happy.

[Danny Stewart]

You'd think I'd be getting tired of new features by now. Well, nope, not yet...

Welcome panel added. Look at the top of the forum home page and you'll see the new welcome panel I added. I had to recode some of it to make it fit with the new style and layout. Hope you like!

[Bajoran Rogue]

Originally Posted by Danny Stewart

Thank you hack.

I hate posts which are basicly "post count +1", things like "thank you" or "happy birthday"; posts which don't have anything meaningful other than a two word phrase, so I really like this.

[Ben Dawson]

Wow, is there anymore. There sure is a lot already, mind, all hese new features are well and truely fantastic. A lot of them also very welcoming.

[Danny Stewart]

Originally Posted by Bajoran Rogue

I hate posts which are basicly "post count +1", things like "thank you" or "happy birthday"; posts which don't have anything meaningful other than a two word phrase, so I really like this.

Excellent. I'm working on getting it integrated a little nicer... right now, there's a bit of an unpleasant line break at the bottom of posts where it shows up. Still, though, that won't interfere with its functionality, and I'm glad you like the concept! It appealed to me for the same reasons.

Originally Posted by Ben (Doctor 5) Dawson

Wow, is there anymore. There sure is a lot already, mind, all hese new features are well and truely fantastic. A lot of them also very welcoming.

Great, Ben, very glad to hear you find the new features both useful and welcoming.

[Ross Hendrie]

...Wow. There's been some rather extreme changes. I like it.

[Danny Stewart]

Originally Posted by Ross Hendrie

...Wow. There's been some rather extreme changes. I like it.

Really? I must say I'm surprised! I somehow expected a negative reaction from you. I'm very pleased to hear you approve of the changes.

Have a great time!

[Ross Hendrie]

Originally Posted by Danny Stewart

I somehow expected a negative reaction from you.

After reading some more, my opinion has plummeted to well beyond negative.