65 replies to this topic

[AMAC]

I think we should get a separate forum for Introductions sometime in the near future. We've had a few new members recently (although a lot of them seem to be spammers) and we'll probably get a lot more at E3. It would be nice to have more threads in the section about various topics, with the introductions elsewhere. Another suggestion about the lobby, is that it could be renamed as "The Cafe". It would certainly be appropriate.

[Elric]

I agree with AMAC. We should make a introduction section. Then just get a general discussion section as well.

[Feld0]

I think we should get a separate forum for Introductions sometime in the near future. We've had a few new members recently (although a lot of them seem to be spammers) and we'll probably get a lot more at E3. It would be nice to have more threads in the section about various topics, with the introductions elsewhere. Another suggestion about the lobby, is that it could be renamed as "The Cafe". It would certainly be appropriate.

I agree with AMAC. We should make a introduction section. Then just get a general discussion section as well.

Sounds good. I kept the introductions and general discussion together because I didn't want the intros section to appear dead, but it makes a lot more sense to split them apart now, seeing that we're getting several new members every day.

Naming the lobby the "Café" really does sound appropriate. I'll do that.

[Feld0]

Sounds good. I kept the introductions and general discussion together because I didn't want the intros section to appear dead, but it makes a lot more sense to split them apart now, seeing that we're getting several new members every day.

Naming the lobby the "Café" really does sound appropriate. I'll do that.

It's done now. What do you think?

[Elric]

Looks good to me! Just another good way of keeping the forum organized.

[Ostro]

Suggestions:
- get the same design on blog and forums
- try to develop more and more user interaction (you really got a chance to get big)
- use more of the names (Cafe, Stream, Feel, ...) for areas and forums

Stuff that you already plan (I think ):
- be ready for the E3 to collect all the news and push the site further (console's official name -> domain, etc.)

Me:
- could help if you want (ideas, developing, coding, ...)


I apologize if I just echoed other user's ideas and wasted this space of a few lines.

[Feld0]

Suggestions:
- get the same design on blog and forums
- try to develop more and more user interaction (you really got a chance to get big)
- use more of the names (Cafe, Stream, Feel, ...) for areas and forums

Stuff that you already plan (I think ):
- be ready for the E3 to collect all the news and push the site further (console's official name -> domain, etc.)

Me:
- could help if you want (ideas, developing, coding, ...)


I apologize if I just echoed other user's ideas and wasted this space of a few lines.

All great ideas, Ostro; thanks.

I'm planning to completely redesign the forums as well as the blog once we actually know what the Wii's successor looks like. I don't want to start anything too ambitious now, because my design will be completely outdated in just over a month. I might not give them exactly the same design, but I'll be sure to keep the overall look consistent.

As for user interaction, I'm constantly striving for new ways to improve that. Part of the reason I purchased IP.Board was because I feel it's much friendlier to users (as well as admins!) that phpBB, SMF, or vBulletin, and will therefore promote more activity. I'm also trying to get people involved with the blog by showcasing community content like mockups - there's going to be a lot more of that in the future.

Names...again, I'd like to wait for some more concrete details before I start changing the names of things all over the place. That's also the reason I skipped out on getting domains with Project Café, Feel, or Stream in them, because it's all unconfirmed. That said, I might try and pick up a few just in case one of them does turn out to be the real deal. I'm only 16, and my budget isn't exactly unlimited, so I have to be careful when registering tons of domains. I can guarantee you, however, that the sites will not be at wii2blog.com and wii2boards.com forever.

I'm happy to do the developing and coding myself - I find it to be a fun experience - but it's good to know I could get help from you if I need it. Ideas are always very welcome, so feel free to share them. That's what the site feedback section is for.

[Ostro]

For user interaction, it would be great to get the forums profiles to work on the whole site and put up a user area/info box (e.g. what has happened since the user's last visit, friend feeds, etc.).
That's very detailed already but I felt sharing it now would be more efficient.

As far as the names are concerned, I just wanted to point out that we should try to use the names for different areas on the site/in the forums. It's just little SEO but it works nonetheless and once E3 is around news will be big about Nintendo's next console; this site shouldn't suffer from that (it's quite new and that hurts on Google) but take advantage of this early stage.

[Feld0]

For user interaction, it would be great to get the forums profiles to work on the whole site and put up a user area/info box (e.g. what has happened since the user's last visit, friend feeds, etc.).
That's very detailed already but I felt sharing it now would be more efficient.

As far as the names are concerned, I just wanted to point out that we should try to use the names for different areas on the site/in the forums. It's just little SEO but it works nonetheless and once E3 is around news will be big about Nintendo's next console; this site shouldn't suffer from that (it's quite new and that hurts on Google) but take advantage of this early stage.

IP.Board has a pretty extensive API, so I'm sure I could integrate data from the forums into the blog. However, I'm not quite sure how you want user profiles to work on the blog. Could you elaborate a little?

By the way, you can see everything new that has happened by clicking the little "View New Content" link in the upper-right corner of every page.

I see what you're getting at with the names, but I feel things might get more than a little confusing if I start naming sections "Stream," "Feel," and so on.

[Ostro]

IP.Board has a pretty extensive API, so I'm sure I could integrate data from the forums into the blog. However, I'm not quite sure how you want user profiles to work on the blog. Could you elaborate a little?

You register through the forums software for the whole site. It should be quite easy to call the information on custom sites (e. g. the blog, other pages you might add) so your forum profile serves as site profile, this enables:
- using all the board's features
- posting news/blog comments with that profile
- future interaction (whatever you may add .. some forum games that evolve and become popular and you'd like to add stats to everyone's profile like coins, xp, etc. earned)
- in general: one profile for everything because everything works hand in hand thanks to the boards profiles

By the way, you can see everything new that has happened by clicking the little "View New Content" link in the upper-right corner of every page.

On the forums, is this link anywhere else? But what about:
- news since your last visit
- new notifications (not just "you got a new PM")
- friend activity
Might help the user to browse faster and easier with all new information right on spot.


I know it's quite a lot and big thinking just suggestions

Edited by Ostro, 07 May 2011 - 06:30 AM.

[Feld0]

You register through the forums software for the whole site. It should be quite easy to call the information on custom sites (e. g. the blog, other pages you might add) so your forum profile serves as site profile, this enables:
- using all the board's features
- posting news/blog comments with that profile
- future interaction (whatever you may add .. some forum games that evolve and become popular and you'd like to add stats to everyone's profile like coins, xp, etc. earned)
- in general: one profile for everything because everything works hand in hand thanks to the boards profiles

The blog is a self-hosted WordPress installation, not a custom solution. So any integration between that and the forums would have to involve some tricky user table synchronization. There's a plugin for IP.Board that's supposed to make the magic happen, but I've heard mixed things about it. Given enough time, I'm sure I could code a bridge between the two together myself. However, it is unlikely the integration will ever go beyond simply being able to log in and post comments from your IP.Board account. And I'm not sure if it's worth going through the trouble of hooking the two systems into each other just for that. WordPress should automatically remember your name and email address in a cookie every time you go on the site, anyway.

I've thought about possibly turning the forums into the blog's comment system, which they do on some sites like GoNintendo, but again, I'm concerned about either a WordPress or IP.Board update completely breaking the functionality.

The idea of a Coins/XP system is neat, and is something else I had originally been considering, but my problem with such a system is that it could be a source of jealousy between users. On the other hand, it may encourage people to comment and post more. I'll have to think about it some more...

On the forums, is this link anywhere else? But what about:
- news since your last visit
- new notifications (not just "you got a new PM")
- friend activity
Might help the user to browse faster and easier with all new information right on spot.


I know it's quite a lot and big thinking just suggestions

The first one could probably be handled through a cookie and a WordPress plugin. Integrating board accounts into it may be overkill. However, I'm pretty sure I could set up a system that auto-posts links to new articles on the blog here on the forums, and IP.Board's own read/unread marking, together with the "View New Content" link, could take care of the rest.

As for notifications, I think you mean notifications of new threads and posts being made? If you subscribe to a forum, it'll give you those notifications in the sidebar on the index page.

Friend activity is indeed something that IP.Board doesn't seem to tell you about. The coming IP.Board 3.2 update may address it, though, so I'd wait for that before I start work on scripting a plugin together for it.

I really appreciate the feedback, by the way, even if I sound like I'm countering it - I'm just trying to provide some constructive criticism. I feel that a lot of the suggestions you're making would be better-suited for implementation once the site has grown larger. I don't want to reveal my exact plans, but Wii 2 Blog will be undergoing some major expansion around E3. I'm not going to start work on any extensive modding or scripting for the forums until that's finished.

[Ostro]

Well, throwing away the lines of code in WP that handle user login and comments and replacing those with custom code that is working with the board's db tables wouldn't be too hard or too much to modify if the board gets a major update that screws all their existing databases. When I did that for the first time (with WP) I just had to dig through some documentation and was done after 3 hours. Once done, changing the source - because the tables changed or whatever - is a job of a few minutes (if you have to do that at all).
I just don't feel like registering for the blog as well and I know lots of users don't like sites that want you to register more than once.
Generally, keep WP as blogging software but simply add your own comment system (based on IP.Board) and more and more custom widgets/profile extensions over time (the next 12+ months) so it feels like one system for the users.

Some years ago everything was fine as long as it worked but nowadays the possibilities of full user control, interaction and personal content generation is what people love. Sadly. Partially.

Yeah, .. it's your site so I don't mind if you want to do it the way you like best this is just a suggestions thread after all.

btw I'd pay for premium content on this site if you can think of any cool stuff for the future even if it's just no ads and a vip area with a priority wishlist or something.

[AMAC]

Quick suggestion here. Perhaps the "About/Contact" section of the blog could be updated as the site now has Ruthie as a second writer.

[Ephesus]

It feels kinda funny to see "[username] has started a new personal conversation with you" when, in fact, it's just that [username] added me to their friend list.

[Epic Kirby]

Is it possible to have a "recent forum topics" at the side of your blog. That way when readers come to read they might look at the discussions going on and join the forum. I see you guys recently put one on 3DS Buzz, I think it would be a great thing for the Wii 2 Blog as well.

[Bartman2]

I just had an idea. Can, if possible, we have some kind of thing we can say by our profile that says under the reputation that that person is the official youngest member/oldest member/[something] fan?

[Feld0]

Well, throwing away the lines of code in WP that handle user login and comments and replacing those with custom code that is working with the board's db tables wouldn't be too hard or too much to modify if the board gets a major update that screws all their existing databases. When I did that for the first time (with WP) I just had to dig through some documentation and was done after 3 hours. Once done, changing the source - because the tables changed or whatever - is a job of a few minutes (if you have to do that at all).
I just don't feel like registering for the blog as well and I know lots of users don't like sites that want you to register more than once.
Generally, keep WP as blogging software but simply add your own comment system (based on IP.Board) and more and more custom widgets/profile extensions over time (the next 12+ months) so it feels like one system for the users.

Some years ago everything was fine as long as it worked but nowadays the possibilities of full user control, interaction and personal content generation is what people love. Sadly. Partially.

Yeah, .. it's your site so I don't mind if you want to do it the way you like best this is just a suggestions thread after all.

btw I'd pay for premium content on this site if you can think of any cool stuff for the future even if it's just no ads and a vip area with a priority wishlist or something.

I don't want to just throw out WP's login system. If I integrate the forums with the blog at all, it'll almost certainly be done through a user-synchronization method of some kind. There's an add-on for IP.Board called IP.Converge that may be the key to making it happen.

Really, though, I don't see the issue in simply leaving comments with your name and email address on WP. WP even remembers it from visit to visit, which makes it feel a lot like being logged in. The less IPB and WP have to interface with each other, the less chance there is of something breaking. That said, don't count the possibility out just yet. Integrating the two simply isn't a priority for me right now.

Quick suggestion here. Perhaps the "About/Contact" section of the blog could be updated as the site now has Ruthie as a second writer.

Done. Thanks for reminding me.

It feels kinda funny to see "[username] has started a new personal conversation with you" when, in fact, it's just that [username] added me to their friend list.

That's just the way IP.Board works. I'm not sure how I could change that, if it's even possible. I'll look into it when IP.Board 3.2 comes out.

Is it possible to have a "recent forum topics" at the side of your blog. That way when readers come to read they might look at the discussions going on and join the forum. I see you guys recently put one on 3DS Buzz, I think it would be a great thing for the Wii 2 Blog as well.

A great idea, and one that's super-simple to implement with IPB's and WP's extensive support for RSS feeds. Took me all of 2 minutes to do it. Thanks.

I just had an idea. Can, if possible, we have some kind of thing we can say by our profile that says under the reputation that that person is the official youngest member/oldest member/[something] fan?

On a technical level, yes, it's possible to read that data out of the database and display it like that. However, I don't see the practical purpose of that, and it will unnecessarily waste CPU cycles as the community grows larger over time.

[Bartman2]

On a technical level, yes, it's possible to read that data out of the database and display it like that. However, I don't see the practical purpose of that, and it will unnecessarily waste CPU cycles as the community grows larger over time.
[/quote]

Oh, well. Just a stupid little suggestion.

[Elric]

We now have 453 members on this forum. So I'm just wondering, do we really need moderators for this forum? I don't know how easy it is to watch the whole forum by yourself feld, but if you at least had a few forum moderators it might make it easier for you when your gone or on vacation. So my question really is, are we going to have moderators for this forum, or do you think you can handle it?

[Feld0]

We now have 453 members on this forum. So I'm just wondering, do we really need moderators for this forum? I don't know how easy it is to watch the whole forum by yourself feld, but if you at least had a few forum moderators it might make it easier for you when your gone or on vacation. So my question really is, are we going to have moderators for this forum, or do you think you can handle it?

Yes, there will be moderators in the future. But really, it's not so much about the number of members as it is about the number of posts per day (let's not also forget that several hundred of those members are spambots). We're currently averaging something in the range of 100-200 posts a day, which I'm still able to comfortably read through all on my own.

As I've hinted before, someone else is going to join me as a co-admin of this place real soon, and they're gonna be able to moderate, too. As for moderators - all I can say is that I choose and contact them personally. Unsolicited mod applications are generally messy and haven't worked well in my experience, so I won't be accepting any on this site.