List of things that need work on the forums (The Honey-Do List)

[Rolina]

Atrius is back! (No really, I saw him on just before making this post)  As such, as promised, here is the infamous Honey Do list.  These are a list of things that need to be done on the forum, or otherwise are requested for the forums.

• Make Forum Games hidden from the [More Stats] section
• Organized Positions
• Addition of Skype to the possible contact issues
• Accurate portrayal for "who changed my Karma"
• Add a tab for the wiki
• Add "Major edit" option to allow edited final posts to bump a topic
• Improve the memberlist layout and functionality
• Alter member info layout in individual posts DONE!
• Allow clans to choose their display colors
• Reorganization of the Badge system

Make Forum Games hidden from the [More Stats] section - Forum games, while popular, skews the living daylights out of the statistics section of the forum.  As it doesn't appear in the most recent posts, it would make sense to not show up in the statistics section as well.  This would allow for a better representation of the forum, as it would be removing the outlier that is forum games.  By extension, this would affect any section which does not contribute to post count as well.

Organized Positions - Changing the current, disorganized position system to a more organized approach.  This allows for a variety of things, such as better organization as well as the ability to sort members more intelligently.  One suggestion is:

Position: Admin, Global Moderator, Moderator, Member, Validating, or Banned
Element: Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Mercury, or Neutral (Default is Neutral)
Fundament: Sol, Luna, or Neutral.  (Default is Neutral)
Rank: Clan Leader, Clan Second, Clan Member, or Clanless.  Coded to correspond with the clan (and maybe gender), so if the Element Field is Jupiter, the Rank Field is Clan Leader, and the gender is Female, it'd display "Grand Overlady" (Grand Overlord if male).

Addition of Skype to the possible contact issues - Skype is popular, but who uses ICQ?  Either replace it or add a new skype option.

Accurate portrayal for "who changed my Karma" - The Who Changed My Karma? option currently displays coins, not karma.  This would be a fix to more accurately show karma changes.

Add a tab for the wiki - We have a tab for the shop, for downloads, etc... As we have a wiki, why not a tab for that as well?

Add "Major edit" option to allow edited final posts to bump a topic - if a post is the latest in the topic, checking "Major Edit" will bump the topic.  If it is not the most recent post, it will not bump it.  When bumping, it will show not only at the top of the place it was posted in, but would reappear at the top of the "most recent posts" list.

Improve the memberlist layout and functionality - Currently, several things make the memberlist a bit cumbersome to search.  While position is one of the things that can be done to fix this, there are others.  For example, by clicking to sort something, it disproportionally expands the column - to instead fix it so that it didn't expand it nearly as much would be one step.  Adding the ability to sort by any of the various positions would also be a good idea.  An example is included below.

Alter member info layout in individual posts - Currently the icons that displayed at the bottom of the left column of a members posts are just placed there.  This idea is to change the way they are displayed so as to appear in a more orderly fashion.  An example is included below.

Allow clans to choose their display colors - Right now, it's hard for some clans to be seen on certain skins.  By allowing them to choose the color they show up as, they can come to an agreement that not only do they like, but that can show up better on various skins.

Reorganization of the Badge system - Currently, there's no real order to the badge system.  Some user created are placed in limited edition, for example.  An easier sorting system would be to have General and Event badges.  General badges include all the standard, limited edition, and user generated badges.  Event badges include things like the April Fools Day event badges and the Elemental Cirno contest badge.  Also, we should allow a form for badge sorting/order for those who want it.  A form to fill out and send to Charon, so to speak.

[Atrius (He/Him)]

I found out not long after I got back that they're kicking me out the door again next Monday so it may be a while before I can get to this list, or have to time to really do anything useful around here again.

Anyway, about the badge system, Charon's probably the one to talk to for that.  Personally I prefer it broken down more the way it is now, and if things end up in the wrong category someone needs to inform her so they can get moved.  Also, I've now fixed the error in the shop system's code that prevented more than 1 page of results being displayed in higher level categories.

[Rolina]

I already talked to her about that.  That's why it's on the list.

[Daddy Poi's Oily Gorillas]

Two things...

Make Forum Games hidden from the [More Stats] section

Is there a reason why this is listed first? I'm sure it couldn't be the most important one. This is actually the one I thought should go at the bottom of the list, since the Stats section is usually ignored by most people, right? Either way, we could probably get rid of the Statistics section altogether, but I probably shouldn't be saying that, because I like them.

Alter member info layout in individual posts - Currently the icons that displayed at the bottom of the left column of a members posts are just placed there.  This idea is to change the way they are displayed so as to appear in a more orderly fashion.  An example is included below.

I think gaps kinda look a bit.. I don't know. Should we put in grayed out icons in those places?

[Rolina]

They're listed in order they were mentioned, not in order of importance.  That was the first one mentioned, and something Atrius said he'd do.  As it's yet to be done, it's been listed.  If you want to see the reasoning, go to the Forum Suggestions thread.  If you want the gist, though, it's this:  Any forum, regardless of it's nature, that does not contribute to post count, should not be included in the statistics section.  This means no forum games, and IIRC, no clan sections either.  Only the posts that contribute to post count will be looked at.

@Gaps:  oh, that's a good idea... Though lacking a bit.  How about this - greyed out and semi-transparent?  That way, any greyscale icons will still stand out.

[zman9000]

Today in my web class we had to review a site of our choice. I picked GSHC. it was a user and usability test based on how i felt about the site. I thought about it and hey, wouldn't a topic for comments or ideas about or for the site be the place to post this? so here are the questions and my answers. If some one feels different'y or doesn't like what i said tell me why and explain.

Questions
[spoiler]#1. What is the purpose of the website? Is there one primary purpose or are there many? Think carefully about this because websites rarely serve only a single purpose. List the purposes of the site.

#2. What types of users will use the site? How many distinct types can you think of? What traits do each of these user types possess (a particular age? Education? Needs for the site?, Language?, etc.) ?

#3. Who are the stakeholders for this site? In other words, who has an interest in seeing this site succeed or fail? Please list as many as you can think of.

#4. How well does the design of the site match the types of users who will be accessing it? Describe what works well and what does not.

#5. How well does the content and site structure match the types of users who will be accessing it? Describe what works well and what does not.

#6. Create an account. How easy was the process? Were you able to find the link to create an account easily? Was the sign up process difficult? What aspects of the process stood out for you? What content did you get access to that you didn't have before you signed up for the account? Was it worth it?

#7. Is there a search function on the site? If so, how easy is it to use? Did it bring up meaningful results? What terms did you search for and how would you describe the results?[/spoiler]

Answers
[spoiler]#1. This is a gaming site for people who have played Golden Sun. the site is a forum type site and is based around a program made to edit the game golden sun, and change values to make your own game.

#2. this site is for all ages and for anyone who enjoyed golden sun, or just likes games.

#3. this is a small site but every one enjoys it and supports it and wants it to stay. I've come to enjoy it very much.

#4. its set um like most forums and is easy to move around, as for how it looks, it doesn't exactly match golden sun colors, but I couldn't think of a better color that would match, "my opinion", and as for function, it does what it needs to do, nothing less nothing more.

#5. its a forum, for people who want to use a forum. enough said.

#6. to create an account, its the same as most sites, and is quite easy. just basic information is needed like email, name and password. below that it has basic terms and information about creating an account.

#7. for search i'll just say a few things. it is very confusing, and i'm sure it is for new people, sure there are lots of options for searching, but i've been a member of that site for almost 11 month, and I have yet to find one thing I was looking for with that search.[/spoiler]

Edit: my teacher said its not bad, could use some work, but not bad.
I'd just like to see it go from under construction to finished... lol

and heck, i'm taking a xhtml refresher course right now so I could help when my winter break starts.

[Rolina]

What does that have anything to do with the topic, zeddy?

[Atrius (He/Him)]

This site is primarily coded in PHP anway.

[zman9000]

really... PHP... hmm... well there goes my plan to help out...

[Charon]

I was about to say...

Also, the search function works like 99% of SMF search functions.