General Suggestions

[Lutra]

Might've been an idea a little too late--we're four years in to the forum.  To make individual topics about each book now is kind of silly since we already have topics that exist discussing the books.  To try and put each topic in its place would be.....a LOT of work.  Search function is far easier to find a thread worth reviving about a topic.

[Cornflower MM]

Hey, I've been thinking for a while. . .. What if we had a week/or something a year where we have a different, Brian Jacques- related theme? I mean, I really liked the April Fools thing you staff pulled this year and, wouldn't it help promote his other books and misc. works?

[Hickory]

Heck, it made me write a castaways fanfic! And I also made an RP for it! I wouldn't've done that without the April Fools, would I?

[Luftwaffles]

That would be a nice breath of fresh air. Maybe one week every six months? I don't see myself getting tired of that anytime soon.

[Skyblade]

That's a good idea. It would be nice to see something different, and it would give his other works some spotlight.

[The Skarzs]

So, I know this requires some coding, but have any of the staff considered the possibility of having polls able to be removed? Because many times have occurred when people have wanted a poll for a one-time thing but they can't take the annoying things out when they don't need them anymore.

[Faiyloe]

On the note of individual post for each book, I have been considering doing a group read where we get to gather a group of people and we all read one book (Redwall of course) at the same time, and discussing it as we go.  Like a book club sort of thing. I have been working out some of the details in my mind but I have also been a bit busy. If anyone is interested in Co leading a thing like this please contact me.  Perhaps I can finally get this done. XP

[Lady Ashenwyte]

I've seen that many newbies don't introduce themselves in the Introduction thread. Maybe you could make it so that the text in the News section of the forum would change to say that there's an introduction thread in the Front Lawns.

[Skyblade]

I've seen that many newbies don't introduce themselves in the Introduction thread. Maybe you could make it so that the text in the News section of the forum would change to say that there's an introduction thread in the Front Lawns.

I really like this idea.

[Cornflower MM]

Hey, I've been thinking for a while. . .. What if we had a week/or something a year where we have a different, Brian Jacques- related theme? I mean, I really liked the April Fools thing you staff pulled this year and wouldn't it help promote his other books and misc. works?

[Skyblade]

I like that idea as well. I'm not sure how hard and time-consuming it is to code in a different theme for the forum, but the premise of devoting a week to celebrating his other works sounds appealing.

[James Gryphon]

I added a reference to the introduction thread on the News (next to the "Forum Rules"). Given that some people don't see the text rotate, though, I decided to try it out on the first announcement, with the "Welcome to the Abbey" text. I'm thinking we'll let it stay there for a while and see what happens. It looks a little lengthy, but maybe it will work out. Let me know what y'all think.

I personally thought it might be nice to see different actual themes. I actually proposed the idea of making the "parchment" background blue, like a stormy sea, for the Castaways event. However, Matthias is wary of trying to change the physical appearance of the board; he doesn't want to risk messing anything up. I've never run a SMF forum before and have no idea what it entails, so I think it's best to defer to his judgment. At any rate, as he pointed out, most of Mr. Jacques' tales take place in the past, where the "aged parchment" theme is more than appropriate.

That said, though, anything to increase recognition of the other works sounds like a good idea. We could make this a part of the next Brian Jacques Day (which is already an official event), or make it a separate occasion altogether, as Corn suggested. I'd appreciate more feedback from the community about this.

[Hickory]

Wait, the backround is parchement?

I never knew that.

Anyway, I thinl the added text looks fine.

[MeadowR]

^ I always assumed it was to do with the red walls of the abbey, even though it isn't technically the right colouring. Ahh, learnt something new. :p

[Jukka the Sling]

I noticed that a whole bunch of spammers have been joining during the last few days, and I suspect it has something to do with the fact that the security question when you register ("what was Martin's weapon?") is no longer there.  Could this be re-added?