THE PACK Message Boards

Berserker wrote:When a website redesign is ready, I don't think all of those features should also be ready all at once. That would slow down deployment. Start off with the easiest and most critical sections (Site News, About Us, Links) and then add features one at a time.

A lot of that would barely take any time at all. It's just displaying basic data, really. Once I complete my foundation for website, adding such features should hopefully barely be a problem. Otherwise, yes, any form of long term projects are going to be done later (i.e. I'm not going to finish the AJAX IRC client along with the whole website right away as I'll do the general website first). But again, we do need a new layout which is something I was considering on running a little competition for. And as of the non-forum part of the website, is the idea confirmed of just making a redirector to the forum for the time being (hint: it doesn't HAVE to be, but can easily be done so)?

As for those wondering why I'm responding at 6:30am, well, I felt like pulling an all-nighter. xP

I don't think a contest is necessary. Just put up your top design template picks and top color schemes and have people vote. (Blue-black would win anyway.)

Two custom profile feilds were added quickly:
Additional Notes - Just additional details for your profile.

Mood - Self explanatory. I just figured it was worth adding. The options I came up with are:

• Excited
• Happy
• Relieved
• Bored
• Meh...
• Disappointed
• Sad
• Shameful
• Depressed
• Angered
• Ruthless

There's also the "---" option which simply means "nothing selected". These fields can be changed by going to "User Control Panel" on the top, and clicking on "Profile" on the left. Feel free to suggest new options/critique the options I have in the list. Sorry that I haven't got a lot of visible progress on everything else yet. This just took like a minute to add.

Otherwise I just had a thought. Should I just remove "custom title" since it's almost the same, or just leave it?

Not to be pushy or anything:

But when is the site-redirection happening? Hasn't the consensus been that the front page should be redirected to the forums?



Also: You shouldn't pull all-nighters so close to school! D :

Heh, you seem to be having fun with editing our forum. Nice stuff.

outwarddoodles wrote:Not to be pushy or anything:

But when is the site-redirection happening? Hasn't the consensus been that the front page should be redirected to the forums?



Also: You shouldn't pull all-nighters so close to school! D :

Yea, stupid me, I just haven't done it yet since nobody really said "DO IT TODAY!" or since a minimal amount of folks have agreed.

Also, I've only pulled like one all-nighter this summer. I'm usually up until 3am anyway.

Kaebora wrote:Heh, you seem to be having fun with editing our forum. Nice stuff.

Always trying to add more features since there's so many possibilities. I still really want to get the IRC client complete and all however, since that'll become an essential hit since some people don't like using the one that's provided, or that some people have problems with the Java client, and so that people will be able to use their own client (the top convenience of IRC). We might even add XMPP/Jabber support later on so that all members will even have instant messaging capabilities with each other.

ALSO, as a side note: When anyone feels like I've forgotten something or would like me to take more focus towards something, or of there being a problem in general, feel free to private message me. Don't worry, I NEVER get private messages. I only get one per month practically.

Tak: If it encourages you or makes you feel any better, you can start a topic/poll ASAP with a "yea" or "nay" option regarding the redirect.

outwarddoodles wrote:Tak: If it encourages you or makes you feel any better, you can start a topic/poll ASAP with a "yea" or "nay" option regarding the redirect.

There hasn't been any objections considering how long ago the concept was brought up. I'll do it tomorrow (when I'm not using my brother's laptop).

[I apologize if this question has already been asked and answered. It takes me 15-45+ minutes just to open a single page on my Net-Connection here, so looking it up is troublesome]


I notice that the "Custom Titles" have been moved out of the actual TITLE space above the Avatars, and shoved down below as a minor "Sub-Note" below, along with the trivial statistics.


Is there any way to put them back on top, as actual Titles again, where they belong?



Additionally, there are two old issues I have with the Title/Rank system in general which I would like to bring up again. (I know this has come up in the past, but was never resolved)

1. The Maximum title of "Legendary" is achieved after a mere several hundred posts (surprisingly easy after only a few weeks membership for anyone who spends alot of time online). As a result, the Rank/Title feels really quite insignificant, as 90% of our active members, (even some who only joined a month or so ago) all share the same rank. And yet ... this insignificant (inappropriately so for a title as grand as "LEGENDARY") tilte takes up space in bold letters above everyones Avatar for seemingly no reason.

... for some reason, it just really bugs me.

[[ Suggestion: Increase the requirement for the maximum rank to at least 1,000 posts, or Remove the ranking system entirely, as it really doesn't seem to matter much ]]


2. FIVE MOONS I really like the concept of rank being indicated by phases of the moon, (a nice aesthetic touch), but a line of 5 moons in a bar just looks strange and ugly, IMHO. ... the fact that there are 5 moons instead of just one has bothered me since the bar was first introduced years ago, and I would love to see this ugly bar finally updated.

[[ Suggestion: Replace the 5-Moon bar with a single, Larger Moon which changes phases with rank, Peaking at a Full Moon for High Ranked Members, and a single BLUE-MOON for special ranks. ]]


Are any of these changes reasonably easy to fix? ... what does everyone else think? ... does anyone else agree that a change is needed, or does no one else care?

Vuldari wrote:I apologize if this question has already been asked and answered. It takes me 15-45+ minutes just to open a single page on my Net-Connection here, so looking it up is troublesome

I've been considering on writing an alternative minimalistic style for those with bad connections and/or portable devices (i.e. iPhone). As for it taking 15-45 minutes to load a page (hoping that it's just a hyperbole) then that would mean you have a connection speed that works at like... 0.2kbps (assuming you're talking of abuot a 24.7KB-size page) and I would be rather worried if that was your actual speed (but hey, at least you'd beat Midnight's record of like.. 32kbps for a speed xP).

Vuldari wrote:I notice that the "Custom Titles" have been moved out of the actual TITLE space above the Avatars, and shoved down below as a minor "Sub-Note" below, along with the trivial statistics.

Is there any way to put them back on top, as actual Titles again, where they belong?

This was changed after the forum upgrade which caused it to be the other way around. The way it was done before was a manual code change to make it have custom titles, and in the upgrade, it was added as a custom profile field instead of having to modify the code. Of course we could go ahead and manually change the code but that also means that we'll have to manually upgrade the forum by hand whenever there's an update. But it's not too far fetched to happen (if there's a decent amount of demand for it).

Vuldari wrote:1. The Maximum title of "Legendary" is achieved after a mere several hundred posts (surprisingly easy after only a few weeks membership for anyone who spends alot of time online). As a result, the Rank/Title feels really quite insignificant, as 90% of our active members, (even some who only joined a month or so ago) all share the same rank. And yet ... this insignificant (inappropriately so for a title as grand as "LEGENDARY") tilte takes up space in bold letters above everyones Avatar for seemingly no reason.

Suggestion: Increase the requirement for the maximum rank to at least 1,000 posts, or Remove the ranking system entirely, as it really doesn't seem to matter much

Or at the same time we could also add newer ranks. But yes, I could also just change the highest to 1,000 posts. We'll see if anyone else has input regarding it.

Vuldari wrote:2. FIVE MOONS I really like the concept of rank being indicated by phases of the moon, (a nice aesthetic touch), but a line of 5 moons in a bar just looks strange and ugly, IMHO. ... the fact that there are 5 moons instead of just one has bothered me since the bar was first introduced years ago, and I would love to see this ugly bar finally updated.

Suggestion: Replace the 5-Moon bar with a single, Larger Moon which changes phases with rank, Peaking at a Full Moon for High Ranked Members, and a single BLUE-MOON for special ranks.

That's something I actually agree with you on. I haven't been a complete fan of the 5 moon ranking image concept. That can also be changed easily.

Last of all, if there's any further issues that you've spoken up about previously and haven't been resolved, then feel free to address them again. I probably wasn't around the time that you brought up any other issues (if it was more than a year ago).

takyoji wrote:

Vuldari wrote:I apologize if this question has already been asked and answered. It takes me 15-45+ minutes just to open a single page on my Net-Connection here, so looking it up is troublesome

I've been considering on writing an alternative minimalistic style for those with bad connections and/or portable devices (i.e. iPhone). As for it taking 15-45 minutes to load a page (hoping that it's just a hyperbole) then that would mean you have a connection speed that works at like... 0.2kbps (assuming you're talking of abuot a 24.7KB-size page) and I would be rather worried if that was your actual speed (but hey, at least you'd beat Midnight's record of like.. 32kbps for a speed xP).

(This is the second time I've typed this message, as I got a "The Server Connection Reset while trying to load this page" message while I was typing, which erased everything and made me start over ... something which happens alot)

I am connecting to the internet through the least expensive Satellite Internet connection Xanterra could get, which is filtered by the Government (since we work for the National Park Service) and then piped through a bargain bin wireless router which 7-20 PC's fight to access at the same time, nearly 24-hours a day, as it is the only Net Access in a 50 mile Radius.

... some days, I am lucky if I can get my Yahoo-Mail page to load at all, after 2 hours of trying, and re-loading the page that refuses to load. YouTube videos and downloading anything (even Microsoft, or Anti-Virus updates) is often simply impossible.

It is an absolute miracle that I've been able to upload any images to either of my DeviantArt accounts from here. (Often, I need to drive 55 miles to the City of West Yellowstone just to get a decent Wireless connection, leeched off of one of the local Motels or Restaurants, in order to download software updates, upload pictures, and sometimes just access my E-Mail)

Needless to say, it is an act of sheer devotion on my part to fight with it to chat here right now ... (it was cloudy and windy today and not much fun to be outside, which is the only reason I'm spending HOURS online instead of hiking Yellowstone in the GREATEST 'Great Outdoors' right now, which I would have preferred to do ... if I was not also still in pain from my last mountain climbing adventure on Sunday).




No other issues come to mind at the moment.

It would be really nice though, if the ranking system was given a much needed upgrade the next time someone takes the trouble to update/fix the Forum Code. (Pending approval from the rest of The Pack first, naturally)

Updating the Five-Moon bar with a better alternative (with no More than one Moon, if the moon system is used again), and maybe adding additional ranks before "Legendary" or simply increasing the requirements to reach each one would be my personal Preferences and priorities.

[[Though I still think the "Custom Titles" belong On Top again where they were before]]

Vuldari wrote:(This is the second time I've typed this message, as I got a "The Server Connection Reset while trying to load this page" message while I was typing, which erased everything and made me start over ... something which happens alot)

That could be something regarding the networking to your computer if it occurs rather often. Otherwise at times the server does become inaccessible for a couple seconds. One of the things under consideration at this time is of getting a dedicated server (we're on a shared server, which means that if another website of the same server is exceptionally busy, other websites become inaccessible which includes ours).

As for your deadly slow connection, IRC may become a possibility for you (once we start working on our web-based IRC client) which allows you to talk with other members in real-time with far less data to load. That'll be down the road when the IRC channel is further used by other members (we usually have up to 6 individuals on at once).

Vuldari wrote:It would be really nice though, if the ranking system was given a much needed upgrade the next time someone takes the trouble to update/fix the Forum Code. (Pending approval from the rest of The Pack first, naturally)

Updating the Five-Moon bar with a better alternative (with no More than one Moon, if the moon system is used again), and maybe adding additional ranks before "Legendary" or simply increasing the requirements to reach each one would be my personal Preferences and priorities.

[[Though I still think the "Custom Titles" belong On Top again where they were before]]

I'll be sure to look into those issues when the time comes (I'm trying to finish the rest of the website first).

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Midnight wrote:

Vuldari wrote:1. The Maximum title of "Legendary" is achieved after a mere several hundred posts (surprisingly easy after only a few weeks membership for anyone who spends alot of time online). As a result, the Rank/Title feels really quite insignificant, as 90% of our active members, (even some who only joined a month or so ago) all share the same rank. And yet ... this insignificant (inappropriately so for a title as grand as "LEGENDARY") tilte takes up space in bold letters above everyones Avatar for seemingly no reason.

Although the several hundred posts actually have to be in the business parts of the forum, not just the "forum games" ones (there's the occasional poster wondering why their post count doesn't increment each time they put a post on the "word association" topic, for instance). 1000 posts isn't as easy as it sounds... I've been here a couple of years almost and I'm not there yet. (At least I don't think so).

... and you think it should be EASY to earn a title like "Legendary"??

Personally, I think "Legendary" should require even more than 1,000 meaningful posts (I agree with how it works, where 1 word "Games" posts don't count), and maybe someone should come up with more lower ranks to make new members feel good.

It just doesn't seem right for some new guy/gal with 157 posts to have the same rank as someone like Figarou, with 12,761 posts. Really, Figarou is really one of the few people here who I think have really earned the title "Legendary" (besides Anthony, who can't post nearly that often because he's too busy making movies).

There should be a rank at 200 - 500 - 1,000 - 2,000 - 5,000 ... and if someone is insanely, ridiculously active enough to have accumulated 10,000 posts or more (*cough, cough*), I think that is definitely deserving of special commendation.

I don't think that either You or I deserve to have the rank of "Legendary" either ... so having EVERYONE have that rank just feel absolutely ridiculous.

Do you think of yourself as a LEGEND? I don't.

Midnight wrote:Personally I don't mind the moons in a row (reminds me of how they used to show them on calendars when I was young) but agree that it would be nice to see the custom titles back up above the avatars.

I still think 5-moons just looks WRONG ... Is it really necessary to display an entire lunar chart in every single post?

... especially when there are 5 FULL moons, and not various phases (like a visual chart). Then it just looks bizarre. ... what planets sky is that depicting, with 5 Full Moons in the sky at the same time??


A single moon makes so much more sense.

I believe messing with the post-count ranks was already voted against because:

1) Nobody really cares.

2) Post Count equating to rank is not literal, and ranks here should never be taken literally, because we're merely a forum where everyone is equal in 'rank.' There's no challenge here to gain post-count so we can gain ranks, and we don't want to challenge new members to post more just so they can say they have a higher rank. Also, nobody really cares.

Also, about the 5 moon thing: I like it a lot, honestly. I think one moon would look really bland. It's not a matter of whether or not it 'makes sense.' If you feel it should be changed, I absolutely think this is a matter The Pack should vote on.

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Status report on Pack's Den revamp?

Can we pray for major changes by Halloween?

Berserker wrote:Status report on Pack's Den revamp?

Can we pray for major changes by Halloween?

Currently school has shackles on me and is throwing me around and torturing me for it's entertainment (in other words, I've been getting behind and so on in some classes). Thus, I haven't been able to start any coding on The Packs Den. As for it being near done by Halloween; I could see that being very probable.

Currently my main project is helping recode another website for payment which I originally agreed to do a while ago but still haven't been able to finish. The reason is that it depends on a framework that I'm developing of which will also be used for The Packs Den. Once I get the framework done; coding the other website and coding The Packs Den will barely take any time. And yes, I am pretty much almost done on the framework.

As for the actual appearance of the website, I still have to plan that out yet since I haven't had an amazing idea hit me yet.

And in regards of the server: the hosting expires on November 16th and Anthony hasn't shown up recently to continue the hosting of it (anthonybrownrigg.com has expired a month ago or so since he hasn't paid for it) thus we're a bit worried and are trying to determine who will pay for the hosting, which company will host it instead (were considering a Virtual Private Server but the current one doesn't provide a reasonable one), and so on. So we're trying to make sure this issue is resolved before there isn't any time remaining.

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Well I think one improvement is....since the comic maker for Werewolf girl has somehow vanished, we need someone to take his place until he returns.

Werewolf Warrior wrote:Well I think one improvement is....since the comic maker for Werewolf girl has somehow vanished, we need someone to take his place until he returns.

I don't think it works that way.

We are not by any means officially affiliated with the comic "Werewolf Girl" -- or any other comic, movie, or book about werewolves. We have no control over what happens to Alpha Luna. We're just a forum.

Indeed. We're mostly discussing improvements for the web design side of things.

Personally, all I would change is the "online status" text colors for verified users, moderators, and admins on the index page.

Admins - Blue
Moderators - Yellow
Verified Users - Gold
Unverified Users - Dark Violet

The current green isn't really following the theme.

I was thinking it would be nice to have a page of different links for other good werewolf-related stuff.
Ex:
www.werewolfcafe.com, werewolf-news.com, werewolf-movies.com, links to authors pages(Scott Gardner, Red Eye, ect) and so on.

Ooops I meant the Alpha Luna Comic sry lol XD
it just seems the same in alot of cases.

I only said that, because the comic had not been updated since May 5th and I was really hoping to see more of the comic.

Werewolf Warrior wrote:Ooops I meant the Alpha Luna Comic sry lol XD
it just seems the same in alot of cases.

I only said that, because the comic had not been updated since May 5th and I was really hoping to see more of the comic.

outwarddoodles wrote:We are not by any means officially affiliated with the comic "Werewolf Girl" -- or any other comic, movie, or book about werewolves. We have no control over what happens to Alpha Luna. We're just a forum.