Now I know this forum is only a few days old, but it's not too early to start thinking about what direction we want the forum to go in and discuss features we would like to see.
I, for one, would like to see some more boards that separate topics by theme, ie: Redwall Discussion, General Discussion, Board Issues, etc.. Also, I think it would be good to have a button next to the "last post made by [insert username here]" that would take you to the last post in that topic. Finally, it would be nice to have an option at the top of the screen, next to your username, that allows you to see a list of all topics posted in since your last visit.
Just some ideas I got from being on other forums. I hope y'all on the Redwall Abbey staff will consider these ideas, and the potential they bring. :)
Yeah I really want more topics and threads
Cool idea
Of all things this board needs, spoiler warnings are defiantly up there.
Two points of such notice:
1). Spoiler Tags.
This board has some serious good tags. However, a spoiler tag is lacking. Its purpose would be to hide a portion of a post in a seperate box, thus warning users that a spoiler is contained within. There's a lot of possibilty to ruin Redwall themed-things for people that haven't read all the books or whatever yet.
I don't know, anyone think this would be remotely useful or worth bothering about?
I completely agree. More forums will definitely help this place grow. SMF has a lot of useful options and mods (RWL uses SMF too), a lot of it is just taking time to peruse the admin controls and switching stuff on and off.
Yes I like the second idea
I've only read up to the Taggerung so please don't talk about anything after that for me
I'm on another forum that uses SMF, and alot of the features there really improve the experience of being a member and posting. So I agree with you wholeheartedly, Shael.
I've not had much experince with SMF myself. It's definately not bad, though I'd say.
Just had a thought:
We don't even have an admin/mod team yet. We should have at one or two people to watch over the board at this point, in case anything should happen, ie: flame war.
What do you guys think?
A moderation team will definitely be necessary at the rate this forum will grow. That's all up to Redwall Abbey though, I'm not sure what their plan is.
Redwall Abbey seems for now to be around just fine to monitor the forum. That will, of course, change over time
Agreed. However, it's good to make preparations for the future. ;)
Hopefully we'll get lots of members :P
What do all of you think about getting a Forum Games section in here soon?
Yeah I know great forum games I'm on 6 others
Honestly the thing that I most hope for the future of this forum is a break from papyrus to make things infinitely more readable. Outside of that, I'm assuming that there's already some kind of plan for something other than just a general discussion board; I'm sure there'll be subforums in the (near?) future.
I think there's more themese already on the board, Kilkenne.
I personally like the current theme I'm using, the original. Normal fotn size might be a bit too small for some though. It can always be enlarged though
Papyrus is readable, but only when the font size is enormous, which makes scrolling annoying.
I'm not using papyrus I'm just using yellow
Quote from: Log a Log Grenn on June 13, 2011, 04:05:43 PM
I'm not using papyrus I'm just using yellow
What does "yellow" mean? Your post doesn't look any different.
No the background for the website is yellow for me
I don't see any extra themes on the board afterall.
Also, I can personally read the font at a very small level. That is on my personal basis, if someone can't other themes could be aviaiable. Regardless, I like papyrus
Papyrus does have a Redwall-esque feel to it.
Quote from: Matthias720 on June 11, 2011, 05:45:19 PM
Now I know this forum is only a few days old, but it's not too early to start thinking about what direction we want the forum to go in and discuss features we would like to see.
I, for one, would like to see some more boards that separate topics by theme, ie: Redwall Discussion, General Discussion, Board Issues, etc.. Also, I think it would be good to have a button next to the "last post made by [insert username here]" that would take you to the last post in that topic. Finally, it would be nice to have an option at the top of the screen, next to your username, that allows you to see a list of all topics posted in since your last visit.
Just some ideas I got from being on other forums. I hope y'all on the Redwall Abbey staff will consider these ideas, and the potential they bring. :)
I suggest a Role Playing section, where we can create our own characters in the wonderous world of Redwall and write down our own adventures. Such things are always fun!
Yeah, that would be awesome! Maybe we could fix up the role-playing thing separately from the Forum, so that you wouldn't have to be part of both if you didn't want to.
Quote from: Mariel on June 14, 2011, 02:56:28 PM
Yeah, that would be awesome! Maybe we could fix up the role-playing thing separately from the Forum, so that you wouldn't have to be part of both if you didn't want to.
Well, we could either make a seperate board for it, or make another forum or something. Don't know what the moderators think is best?
Of course we don't know how much effort the Redwall Abbey staff is planning to put into this forum or if they will read this topic (you guys have been posting a lot, it might be too much for them to keep up with).
Instead of relying on redwall.org, we can always create our own websites or forums, or use the ones already out there. There are a couple sites I listed in the Redwall websites topic where Redwall role-playing forums are already set up.
There is something special though, about posting on the official Redwall forums.
Quote from: Matthias720 on June 14, 2011, 05:37:28 PM
There is something special though, about posting on the official Redwall forums.
Yes, I feel like someone will assuredly read what I'm writing; it seems very permanent.
If anyone can get a hold of them, it would certainly be ideal. =)
However they haven't posted or updated since putting the forum up, so we don't even know if they intend to expand on this forum. I sent them a message several days ago and haven't gotten a reply. I'm just telling it like it is, we don't know if they have time or are willing to expand this forum into what you guys want. It takes a lot of time and effort to maintain a forum like that, and redwall.org has always been a low-maintenance website.
Just saying we shouldn't expect things from them or pile on responsibilities they may not want.
Yeah. I noticed they were on for a bit yesterday, and a brief time the day before that. My hope is that they will put some people in place to run the forum proactively, so that the forum will truly flourish. :)
Has anyone else's connection with the forum been a little slow? I can't seem to update as quickly as usual.
That would definitely be the best move. But again, we don't know if that's what they intend to do. Finding an official moderating team won't be easy, especially if these moderators are supposed to represent redwall.org.
Again, if you guys don't want to wait around, it doesn't take long to set up a role-playing forum, and if you advertise here, you will at least get all these active people to join and role-play with you as sort of a temporary thing until a role-playing section can be set up here.
Of course, you guys are welcome to use the redwallwarlords.com Role-play forum (you don't have to sign up on the game to be on the forums). =) But our role-playing community is not as developed as say, Legends of Redwall Abbey (http://cometolora.proboards.com/index.cgi) or Dibbuns Against Bedtime (http://www.dibbuns.proboards.com/index.cgi). Both of these sites had dozens, even hundreds of active members active at a time in their heyday...all it takes is a few dedicated fans to bring it back to those numbers again.
Quote from: Matthias720 on June 14, 2011, 05:37:28 PM
There is something special though, about posting on the official Redwall forums.
I'm with you. This forum needs us!
This is a great idea Matthias 720! I saw the 'happy birthday forum', maybe saying, "celebrating forum" would be better? Just a suggestion, don't listen to me if you think I'm just being bossy ;)
I think that having a birthday board is good, in that we don't clog up other boards with birthday wishes. Also, by keeping it birthday-only, we don't end up celebrating "National Cottage Cheese Day" or something like that. :D
you forgot National Rat Racing Day with Cockroach Riders
Quote from: Taggerung_of_Redwall on June 22, 2011, 09:28:09 PM
you forgot National Rat Racing Day with Cockroach Riders
Yes. Yes I did. :D
Hey, the expanded forum looks great! Nice job, you guys! ;D
Nice work on the forum, mods! It looks great. *high fives all 'round*
*Puts on engineer hat*
I have one issue, but I'm not sure it's something you guys can fix. If you pop the forums out of the iframe they look kind of strange. The background image is only 862px × 574px and it doesn't repeat, so it just shows up as a rectangle in the corner.
Again, I don't think it's something you guys can fix, as it seems to be an issue with the styles of the site itself, but I thought I'd bring it up just in case.
*Takes off engineer hat and replaces it with English teacher hat*
Yeah, I noticed that too. I think it might be an inherent issue with the default theme.
Quote from: Kilkenne on June 13, 2011, 03:03:55 AM
Honestly the thing that I most hope for the future of this forum is a break from papyrus to make things infinitely more readable. Outside of that, I'm assuming that there's already some kind of plan for something other than just a general discussion board; I'm sure there'll be subforums in the (near?) future.
Oh, thank goodness there's someone sane on here. Seriously, I've been massively put off taking part in this board because of the theme. It's so 00's.
The frames is also friggin' annoying and does not allow for tabbed browsing. I don't click one topic at a time anymore, open several at once and go through them. :/ Also, I'm on my wee laptop - having to use two scrollbars at a time is just ridiculous. I don't wish to sound petulant, admin team, but these are legitimate design issues. :(
We're working on new themes, but papyrus runs throughout the whole site, not just the forum. That fact could cause difficulties in adding new themes.
Please bare with the process
In the meantime, you could view the forum by itself by going to http://redwallabbey.com/forum (http://redwallabbey.com/forum).
Quote from: Taggerung_of_Redwall on June 23, 2011, 04:24:58 PMThat fact could cause difficulties in adding new themes.
Nah, it doesn't. It's been a while since I ran one of these boards, but they seem to have kept the basic features. Jolly good at replying, though.Quote from: Taggerung_of_Redwall on June 23, 2011, 04:24:58 PMPlease bare with the process
"Bear". ;)QuoteIn the meantime, you could view the forum by itself by going to http://redwallabbey.com/forum.
Ah, but the broken background is just as annoying there. It's cool, I'll wait, until these issues are sorted.
Thanks for the feedback Jeni. Unfortunately we as moderators don't have access to board themes or code, so this is up to the Redwall Abbey team. The site is still in its early stages, so no doubt they will be taking everyone's comments into consideration. They aren't as active as we are, so we couldn't really tell you when they might be able to get around to it.
Loving the new format guys!
I think a spell check would be handy. Also a quiz forum, maybe.
I don't know where else to say this.
The new font is much easier to read and I see the background issue has been dealt with. Thanks to whoever is responsible! I also like the "So-and-so is viewing this board."
Glad you like the changes. :) Redwall Abbey gave me admin privileges to help out with spam and I figured it wouldn't hurt to make some of the updates the members were asking for. Let us know if there's anything else we can do.
These forums are quite slow for me compared to other sites. There's lag when I try to scroll down, and when I type, I have to sit and wait for the words to appear on the screen after I finish typing before it will let me do anything else (same with using arrow keys to move the typing cursor, or hitting backspace/delete to delete letters.)
Also, (I don't know if it happens all the time, because I've only had one post so far that long), it would appear that whenever a post is longer than the visible part of the box and makes it scroll, it won't stay scrolled down to where you're typing - it keeps jumping back to the top of the post when you type.
Quote from: Dawnwing on July 08, 2011, 05:08:08 AM
These forums are quite slow for me compared to other sites. There's lag when I try to scroll down, and when I type, I have to sit and wait for the words to appear on the screen after I finish typing before it will let me do anything else (same with using arrow keys to move the typing cursor, or hitting backspace/delete to delete letters.)
Also, (I don't know if it happens all the time, because I've only had one post so far that long), it would appear that whenever a post is longer than the visible part of the box and makes it scroll, it won't stay scrolled down to where you're typing - it keeps jumping back to the top of the post when you type.
That will happen to me ever so often on sites.
Quote from: HeadInAnotherGalaxy on July 08, 2011, 05:32:54 AM
Quote from: Dawnwing on July 08, 2011, 05:08:08 AM
These forums are quite slow for me compared to other sites. There's lag when I try to scroll down, and when I type, I have to sit and wait for the words to appear on the screen after I finish typing before it will let me do anything else (same with using arrow keys to move the typing cursor, or hitting backspace/delete to delete letters.)
Also, (I don't know if it happens all the time, because I've only had one post so far that long), it would appear that whenever a post is longer than the visible part of the box and makes it scroll, it won't stay scrolled down to where you're typing - it keeps jumping back to the top of the post when you type.
That will happen to me ever so often on sites.
That happened to me too. But then, I was using my 6-year-old laptop, and now I'm using a newer one, and not having much trouble. :D
Quote from: Dawnwing on July 08, 2011, 05:08:08 AM
These forums are quite slow for me compared to other sites. There's lag when I try to scroll down, and when I type, I have to sit and wait for the words to appear on the screen after I finish typing before it will let me do anything else (same with using arrow keys to move the typing cursor, or hitting backspace/delete to delete letters.)
Also, (I don't know if it happens all the time, because I've only had one post so far that long), it would appear that whenever a post is longer than the visible part of the box and makes it scroll, it won't stay scrolled down to where you're typing - it keeps jumping back to the top of the post when you type.
This sounds like a problem with either the computer or the browser you are using. The site works fine for most people, but it may be possible it is not optimized for all computer types or all browser types.
Spend a little more time around the site and see if the performance improves.
Wouldnae it be a good idea to create a board for non-Redwall stories that members have written and want to post to the forum?
Well, if you want to do that, there's some good sites out there for it. Including a few that tend to be linked with Redwall in certain ways.
But here, I don't think that'll happen.
fanfiction.net or wordpress.com. This is a Redwall site so fanfiction should be Redwall-related. You can post links to your stories in Off-Topic Discussion if you still want us to read it. :)
Love the new namws, Cavern Hole and the cellars!
Yeah, good idea
We zhouldae one called the Kitchens. Dinnae ken wot it wid be for, though.
I think we should have a bar at the top of the screen that shows who's online and who's not. It would be useful to know whether or not you the only one on this thing at the moment. And as for the kitchen idea, Galaxy, it would be for posting about your favorite Redwall foods and drinks.
We already have a bar fer tha', tiz down a' the bottom.
That was a good call to split the games from the general discussion. :) I think it was bound to happen with more activity on the board.
I know this isn't really a Future of the Forum question or answer, but I didn't know where else to post it.
ATTENTION!!! AS OF TODAY, I AM NO LONGER GOING BY THE NAME OF
LADY AMBER!!! i AM NOW GOING TO BE CALLED NIGHTFIRE FULL TIME! DO NOT CALL ME AMBER AGAIN UNLESS IT IS IN THE APPROPRIATE RP-ING TOPIC!
Okay, I hope I'm not in trouble now or anything. I really didn't want to start a new topic just to announce a name change. Soooo....I'm outta here!
I did that too. I changed my name from Nature Lover to Gonff.
And I changed my name from Tiria Wildlough to CreggaRoseEyes, then back to Tiria Wildlough again. ;)
Your signature is cool. I think I will start a new thread for this. ;D