Mahz's Dev Journal

[Ellri]

Thats true, @LegendBegins. But features that have been implemented and are mentioned as such here are naturally free to share among any number of friends you might have who could find such useful.

[LegendBegins]

Thats true, @LegendBegins. But features that have been implemented and are mentioned as such here are naturally free to share among any number of friends you might have who could find such useful.

@Ellri

I never claimed they were not. I simply said to be careful how you word the information, as to not raise any false hopes.

[Ellri]

Aye. we had a small addition to your statement, to cover the bit you didn't. No more, no less.

[NuttsnBolts]

Just looking at the friends list on the front page and I can see that eventually that side bar will be filled with various features and notifications. It's already pretty long and I know that some forms may not be used all the time.

Thinking ahead, would collapsible section work? And could the friends list maybe move up to a button next to the PMs and Subs, working like a dropbox to show your online friends?

[Ellri]

Collapsing, or even hiding, sections could be useful, @NuttsnBolts.

The problem we've noted with collapsing forum sections is that it doesn't last.

Some people might desire to hide certain sections/elements of the guild on a more permanent basis.

[NuttsnBolts]

That's understandable. Everyone has different expectations and some will want to know all the details, while others want a minimal feel. The only forum I have collapsed is the Test Forum as it's the only one I don't use.

(At least if I voice an idea, it can be told if it'll work or not. So by all means tell me at any point if i have a bad idea. I don't mind. Lol. )

[Ellri]

Aye. On one hand it'd be nice not to see the sub-sections we don't use, but at the same we don't want to miss out on things either...

[SilverRain]

Of course they are for everyone.

@Ellri

Okays, thanks Ellri. :)

<Snipped quote by SilverRain>

The features and corrections discussed here are simply for development purposes. While you could tell others about what we have discussed (it's no secret; they could check here themselves), it may create false hopes, as some of the features are staged for the future, short or distant. The best case scenario is that they understand that fact and regard it with interest, but the worst case scenario is that they hound Mahz to implement a feature that wasn't planned to be included for a long duration of time.

TL;DR Be careful about what you promise to others, and how you tell people about things, because they may interpret it incorrectly.

@LegendBegins

I'll keep your words in mind as well, LegendBegins. Indeed communication, interpretation and expectations can vary a lot or even be completely different as it's passed from one to another.

[Mahz]

- The browser will expel drafts from its LocalStorage once they are 6 hours old to avoid accumulation.

What about users who occasionally leave a page open for three days and expect it to still be there through browser restarts and what not? Never mind me unless I raise alarm, though - as long as your system for remembering posts doesn't interfere with my system for remembering posts (which literally brings back snippets from over a year ago in case I left any hanging without posting them) we're all good.

@Shienvien

That's a good issue to bring up.

Right now, how I have it working is that once you start editing a textbox, the textbox enters an autosave loop (every 20 sec) until the post is submitted or the tab is closed. If you leave that tab open for a week, then the post should be autosaved that entire time so that by the time you finally submit it, it'll be in LocalStorage for 6 more hours after your attempt to submit it.

[Mahz]

Found a small bug.

using middle-click on the Private convos part of "Home / Private Convos" at the top when in the New conversation window gives an output of a classic white tab with the text "Method Not Allowed".

@Ellri

That's funny. It links to /convos instead of /me/convos. Apparently that link never worked. #willfix

So I'm currently Invisible right now... What would appear next to my name if someone has added me as their Friend?

@SilverRain

Just checked for testing purposes, @SilverRain.
Next to your name, nothing new. on the friends list, you are listed as online.

@Ellri

Thanks. That's a bug. The friends list should obey the same invisibility rules seen in posts.

Can't say we do. But that's just us.

@Mahz. Quick question, is there a way to access the full friends list, or can people at this stage only see the last ten on the list who are/were online?

@Ellri

Just hasn't been build yet.

@Mahz
Your URL Parser is too effective. It overrides code tags.
see here:
cdn.collider.com/wp-content/..

EDIT:
One other minor thing that would be useful on subscriptions page is the ability to go to first page/post of OoC/CS tabs.

@Ellri

Yeah, the URL parser runs after my BBCode parser and is unaware of that system. It will entail another clever hack to address that behavior.

Not sure what to do about the subscriptions page. Limited on space. Might replace the "Go to latest post" button with "Go to unread post" at least since that's what people want 90% of the time. When I do that, might think of a minimal way to support your request.

[Mahz]

With 225+ users online at the moment, I think I may have caused a sudden influx of friend adds. :p

Would it be right to say that features posted here can be spread amongst the community? Or are they still not meant for the masses yet?

@SilverRain

I only announce new features in this dev thread because I know only a few people will see the announcement. By checking up on this thread you are part of an implicit "Beta".

The rest of the community figures it out over time just from clicking around and experimenting.

[Mahz]

Just looking at the friends list on the front page and I can see that eventually that side bar will be filled with various features and notifications. It's already pretty long and I know that some forms may not be used all the time.

Thinking ahead, would collapsible section work? And could the friends list maybe move up to a button next to the PMs and Subs, working like a dropbox to show your online friends?

@NuttsnBolts

Agreed. It's getting crowded pretty quickly and I'll have to address it soon. There's plenty of things I can do from shrinking the components vertically to combining the "Latest Roleplays" and "Latest Checks" components into a single component with two tabs.

The problem we've noted with collapsing forum sections is that it doesn't last.

Some people might desire to hide certain sections/elements of the guild on a more permanent basis.

@Ellri

Good points, that's really just an oversight. Right now collapse info is saved a temporary cookie that lasts as long as a login when you don't check "Remember Me?". I should refactor it to be remembered as long as your login info is going to be remembered in your browser.

[LegendBegins]

@Mahz
Simple solution to the subscription page issue: Direct the arrow to the last unread post, direct the timestamp to the latest post, and link the thread title to the first post.

[Mahz]

Gotta wonder how this all is going to work once I let GMs create custom tabs.

Fortunately that feature is so invasive that it's a long way off.

I'd like to publish the results of my feedback form (from last week) soon.

[SilverRain]

<Snipped quote by SilverRain>
I only announce new features in this dev thread because I know only a few people will see the announcement. By checking up on this thread you are part of an implicit "Beta".

The rest of the community figures it out over time just from clicking around and experimenting.

@Mahz

Yays for being part of a beta ~! :) Also, cool. I'm half invisible now. Makes for good RP material. :D

It's fun in that these beta features can be like Easter Eggs for people to find. And the first time someone visits this thread, we can say "Destiny has brought you to us", fortune cookie style. :)

(SilverRain is feeling creatively adventurous today)

[Ellri]

The collapsible sections are only half-useful when you, say want two out of ten forums in one section visible.

@Mahz
Simple solution to the subscription page issue: Direct the arrow to the last unread post, direct the timestamp to the latest post, and link the thread title to the first post.

@LegendBegins

That doesn't really grant access to the first posts of the other tabs, as the thread title can only link to one first post, not all three.

As it is now:
Thread title: first IC (if IC exists, if not: first OoC).
First arrow: latest IC.
Second arrow: latest OoC.
Third arrow: latest CS.
Timestamps: no link, but hover gives precise time post was posted.

What we suggested as missing is a function to go to the first OoC and CS when IC exists.
Simplest would probably be a small arrow, say pointing left rather than right for the first post, while the older arrow leads to latest unread.

[Ellri]

Got another crazy idea, @Mahz... Two levels of invisibility: Everyone and non-friends. Might work best once the friend system is more complete, as it would need some way to not simply be for someone to add X as friend to see if they're online or not.

Perhaps "Visible to all", "Visible to my friends" & "Visible to none"?

[Mahz]

Feedback Form Results

(Showing everything with more than 1 vote)

85	delete convos/PMs
38	friends/ignore list
26	better search system
25	email/realtime notifications
23	delete topics/posts
17	more bbcode options
16	more GM/coGM powers
12	autosave drafts of posts
12	live chat system
9	user-made groups (like the original guild)
8	font options for posts
7	way to navigate to specific pages
6	better mobile support
6	custom RP tabs
6	18+/mature forums
6	ability to organize convos into folderes
6	integrated dice system
5	more user profile customization
5	better website design
5	ways to prevent roleplay death / encourage activity
4	more people
3	more social features
3	more tags
3	separate Anime into its own section
3	ability to comment on statuses
2	dedicated world building section
2	sort subforums by genre
2	mod enforcement of rp skill level
2	custom backgrounds on RPs
2	report post/user system
2	track view-count for topics
2	ability to set some “roleplay availability” status and find other RPers this way
2	change “go to last post” to “go to first unread post”
2	visitor messages (messages on uesr profiles)
2	buttons to link to specific pages in a thread
2	WYSIWYG post editor
2	theme for visually impaired

Lots of really good feedback, ideas, and solutions I'd never considered before.

I wish the guild was my full-time job so I could just build everything.

Perhaps make the IC, OOC, and Char here linkable?

[LegendBegins]

Got another crazy idea, @Mahz... Two levels of invisibility: Everyone and non-friends. Might work best once the friend system is more complete, as it would need some way to not simply be for someone to add X as friend to see if they're online or not.

Perhaps "Visible to all", "Visible to my friends" & "Visible to none"?

@Ellri

You could just as easily link it on the left side bar.

Perhaps make the IC, OOC, and Char here linkable?

@TheMaster99

Ah, beat me to it. Ninja'd.