• Welcome to SC4 Devotion Forum Archives.

SC4D State of the Site 2014

Started by threestooges, November 27, 2014, 11:03:27 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

threestooges

On behalf of the admin and moderating staff here I'm pleased to announce the following:

Another year under our belts, and we feel like we're doing better for it. One of the delights of behind-the-scenes planning is that people never really know it's going on until it's released. So with that in mind, we wanted to share with you the first parts of what we've done this past year and, perhaps, give you a few hints as to where things are expecting to go in the year to come.

Ease of Access
There was a point in the recent past of our site where Spambots roamed free and, despite the best efforts of the staff, many were still leaking through to the forums. It led to the unfortunate point of adding captchas and other restrictions to new member accounts. We're pleased to say this is now a thing of the past. We never liked the idea of having to prove you're human repeatedly just to make a simple post. Now, we believe we're in a position where we can again skip that step. So to all of you who are lurking, or were turned off by the previous system, give it another look. We think you'll be pleased with the changes.

Membership Abilities
Also in that relatively recent past was a time where SC4Devotion was experiencing bandwidth and server space issues, and at times the concern of keeping it all funded. While the funding is always going to be an issue, we definitely want to thank our wonderful Subscriber base who have generously donated to keep this place functioning as well as it has, and on a reasonably ad-free basis. We wouldn't want to think about trying to do this all without you.

In that time of diminished space and money measures were taken to save every little bit we could. We're pleased to announce the end of that period of austerity. As you may have already noticed (and if not, that's why we're pleased to announce it here), all members again have the ability to upload custom avatars, view other members' profiles, and the greater ability to work with their signature spaces. We're pleased to say we intend for it to stay that way too. We're a forum, and more than that, we strive to be that place you can call home for your SC4 escapades. We don't plan on providing any less than the standard functionality you would expect of a forum.

Custom Content and The LEX
Recently, one of or long-standing members, CasperVg, was appointed as the new manager of the LEX. Those of you who have been using it these days have probably started to see the fruits of his labor:

-A new interface

-The Dependency Tracker (yes, no one likes dependencies, but he's made it that much easier to get them and avoid those brown boxes)

-Improved search functionality and improved security

-Open upload rights for all registered LEX members

We'd like to focus on that last one for a moment. The LEX was founded on the concept of providing the best content out there, and that's no different today. But when you're sitting there for a month trying to get through the upload approval process, it can be, to say the least, discouraging. So we changed that process. You'll notice "LEX Certified" files, which are ones uploaded by members who have a track record of providing that consistent quality, or those that have been independently checked by LEX staff to verify they are unlikely to break or unbalance the game.

But there are only so many staff members around, and we don't pay them much... meaning at all, so there is only so much time they can devote to that task. If you want LEX Certification, it's still available for all applicants who meet the criteria. That doesn't mean the world needs to wait to see what is probably already a good product. Get it out there. Upload it. Let people see the fruits of *your* labor.

Looking to the Future
As I said earlier, the trouble with behind-the-scenes planning is that you never really see what's going on until it's revealed. Well, perhaps a bit of a look behind the scenes is in order.

People have complained about the need to independently register at both the forums and the LEX. We've heard it, and we understand it. We're also looking to find a way we can get rid of it. When it would happen, well that remains to be seen. But rest assured, the comments aren't falling on deaf ears.

We're also investigating better ways to organize and display the content here, both in terms of visual appeal and flow. In time, we would like to give the forum a visual update to compliment the facelift that has been bestowed on our LEX.

Third, in the hope of making it easier for people to get involved in content creation and playing the game in general, we hope to unveil an improved tutorial section.

Finally, there are a number of new admins, global moderators, and staff generally. You'll see them around. This new influx of talent, energy, and enthusiasm, combined with the energy the rest of you all bring, will help propel us forward into a successful and better 2015.

Those are just some of the changes we've done and that you can expect to see in the coming year. November is the anniversary month of this site, but running it is a year-long affair. Get out there and celebrate your love for the game. We'll take care of the rest.

compdude787

It's nice to see these new changes taking place! I'm sure many new users will appreciate not having to do the captcha for their first few posts; I know that was always annoying for me when I first joined. Hopefully removing this captcha requirement will breathe new life into this site without us being attacked by spambots again. I can't believe there was a point where you had to ban 60 users per day! (Tarkus mentioned that once)

Quote from: threestooges on November 27, 2014, 11:03:27 AM
Third, in the hope of making it easier for people to get involved in content creation and playing the game in general, we hope to unveil an improved tutorial section.

I'd be interested in making some video tutorials to add to this section. I'm particularly thinking of ones to help new users starting out with this game, as well as some that explain how to use the NAM and RHW. (many RHW tutorials on YouTube are out of date) I won't be able to do this till after December 10th, as that is when I finish up my finals for school.
Check out my MD, United States of Simerica!
Last updated: March 5, 2017

My YouTube Channel

APSMS

To be honest, I actually kinda like the way the forums look now, since it has nice contrast, is in simple format (html, no fancy stuff besides some simple Javascript), and loads quickly.

I would really not like it to turn into a Simtropolis format, because as nice as ST looks, it is more difficult to use (for me) and I find myself frequenting here more often because I can get in and out quicker if I need to. ST is a much bigger time sink for not a lot of extra benefit.
The inclusion of a [spoiler] tag would be nice, as well as the currently ongoing reworking of the Quick Access menu, but I'm hoping visual improvements don't come at the added cost of extra bandwidth consumption and basic site performance.
Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

My Mayor Diary San Diego: A Reinterpretation

compdude787

Quote from: APSMS on November 27, 2014, 12:26:26 PM
To be honest, I actually kinda like the way the forums look now, since it has nice contrast, is in simple format (html, no fancy stuff besides some simple Javascript), and loads quickly.

Yeah, I agree with you. Who cares that the 'look' of this site is a bit outdated? Regardless, the pictures on the banner could probably be swapped out for some new ones. Another thing that would be a welcome change is to get rid of that side-scrolling "latest news" text. I've never really been a fan of that. Just keep the text in one place!
Check out my MD, United States of Simerica!
Last updated: March 5, 2017

My YouTube Channel

Kergelen

Nice to see the renewal you've been implementing and congrats to the new Global Mods and Admins &apls
Also a tribute to Catty for her work over last years &apls

Good to know you find the way to block Spambots and I'm glad to see that now new members can post easily. New members are important to renew the active users and keep alive the site, because some of the old active users stop to play or be active and new users are the future.

I think the tutorial section is an important one to be renewed because, as we know, this game have a long learning curve and new users need to easily find the tutorials . There are a lot of tutorials grouped in one section and I think it could be more structurate, with diferents sections in order to find easily the tutorials. I remember some years ago there was diferent sections (Lotting, Modding,..) that helped to find the tutorials, and I think it should be more sections. Also, what about a direct link to the tutorials? For example somewhere in the main page with a picture, like the LEX, NAM,Wiki.


                                    Links to SC4 websites

Durfsurn

Quote from: compdude787 on November 27, 2014, 11:42:52 AM
It's nice to see these new changes taking place! I'm sure many new users will appreciate not having to do the captcha for their first few posts; I know that was always annoying for me when I first joined. Hopefully removing this captcha requirement will breathe new life into this site without us being attacked by spambots again. I can't believe there was a point where you had to ban 60 users per day! (Tarkus mentioned that once)

Quote from: threestooges on November 27, 2014, 11:03:27 AM
Third, in the hope of making it easier for people to get involved in content creation and playing the game in general, we hope to unveil an improved tutorial section.

I'd be interested in making some video tutorials to add to this section. I'm particularly thinking of ones to help new users starting out with this game, as well as some that explain how to use the NAM and RHW. (many RHW tutorials on YouTube are out of date) I won't be able to do this till after December 10th, as that is when I finish up my finals for school.

I will just note here that the state of NAM Video tutorials is currently a project that I sort of am organising but will have to wait until the next NAM. Any help with them however would be greatly appreciated. I am currently on semi-hiatus until Christmas but it might be time to open it to the public a little....

-Billy

noahclem

Quote from: compdude787 on November 27, 2014, 01:12:00 PMYeah, I agree with you. Who cares that the 'look' of this site is a bit outdated? Regardless, the pictures on the banner could probably be swapped out for some new ones. Another thing that would be a welcome change is to get rid of that side-scrolling "latest news" text. I've never really been a fan of that. Just keep the text in one place!

Heh, I was trying to post a stationary "SC4D now features stationary news text but also loves comdude787" or any similar text that would address your thought while not being potentially misread :)  I've taken primary responsibility for the news ticker now, replacing Robin after years of him doing it and some time with a less active hand in that area and am still working on how best to do it. I did a stationary "noro" news item for a while a few days ago but thought it looked worse and so discontinued it. If you have ideas or feedback on this matter I can promise it won't make the situation worse ;)

With regard to other changes to the site I think we can make pretty significant improvements while still keeping the character of our website. Unless you miss the LEX before Casper made his updates to it I wouldn't think you'd regret any potential changes that are in the pipeline now.

compdude787

Quote from: Durfsurn on November 27, 2014, 02:00:25 PM
Quote from: compdude787 on November 27, 2014, 11:42:52 AM
It's nice to see these new changes taking place! I'm sure many new users will appreciate not having to do the captcha for their first few posts; I know that was always annoying for me when I first joined. Hopefully removing this captcha requirement will breathe new life into this site without us being attacked by spambots again. I can't believe there was a point where you had to ban 60 users per day! (Tarkus mentioned that once)

Quote from: threestooges on November 27, 2014, 11:03:27 AM
Third, in the hope of making it easier for people to get involved in content creation and playing the game in general, we hope to unveil an improved tutorial section.

I'd be interested in making some video tutorials to add to this section. I'm particularly thinking of ones to help new users starting out with this game, as well as some that explain how to use the NAM and RHW. (many RHW tutorials on YouTube are out of date) I won't be able to do this till after December 10th, as that is when I finish up my finals for school.

I will just note here that the state of NAM Video tutorials is currently a project that I sort of am organising but will have to wait until the next NAM. Any help with them however would be greatly appreciated. I am currently on semi-hiatus until Christmas but it might be time to open it to the public a little....

-Billy

Yeah, and part of it is that I too am waiting for the next NAM to at least have a pre-release available before I do any RHW tutorials. With the new DRIs, we'll need some tutorials to show people what all the patterns are.
Check out my MD, United States of Simerica!
Last updated: March 5, 2017

My YouTube Channel

c.p.

Thanks to catty (and all of the other mods and admins) for keeping this place going over the years. &apls

If you are looking for ideas for improvements, the "left panel" has always bugged me slightly.  I have to close it every time I come here, in order to see the picture content in the threads.  (I don't have a very high resolution monitor).  It's not a big deal, but it seems like that information could be put in a less obtrusive location on the page.  Otherwise I'm happy with how the site is, and look forward to the changes/improvements. :)

carlfatal

#9
Quote from: c.p. on November 27, 2014, 02:26:22 PM
Thanks to catty (and all of the other mods and admins) for keeping this place going over the years. &apls

Here the same, and a warm welcome to the new staff member also...  &apls

EDIT: killed the silly stuff I wrote. Solution was found by using my head. Not pretty easy... 

jmsepe

Nice work on the updates. I am sure there are some new things I am seeing in this site. Also the list of staff has been cleared out. Great work and looking for more. :)
Just wandering around like a teddy bear running around the garden. :P

"The greatest things in life are those that we have deemed unexpected yet are worth it."  - Anonymous