-- SITE UPDATE LOG

[RobotMonkeyHead]

lol glad to hear everything's working for you guys!  Excellent.

Garchomp, sorry, that button opens up too many security issues.  It supports people adding html into their actual posts. 
I'm not about to give up tho, not until every possibility is exhausted.

I have one or two more ideas for potential work arounds for you, but I'm going to have to wait until the odd hours of the morning to test them out, so I disturb as few people as possible :)

[Ryon]

myself and alexei previous opt-ed out of users being able to post with HTML.

we left it reserve for Admins only.

 

normal members don't need to do that.

Mods or Gmods sure maybe but normal people don't need HTML.

 

 

[PlasmoidThunder]

I wanted it more for the ability to modify posts through plain text, seeing as the WYSIWYG editor lags like crazy when I edit the BGM Loops Master List. When it was first enabled, I was kinda expecting it to look more like vBulletin's text editor, where the tags reverted back to their original BBCode form.

[Ryon]

I haven't seen BBcode in so long.. after seeing them again recently (on a test forum i made)... i cried.

Those tears were full of hate and joy and anguish.

Having found IPB I can't go back.

[PlasmoidThunder]

I use it all the time. I'd pick a plain text editor over WYSIWYG any day of the week.

[Алексей]

Being a web developer, BBCode is the closest to an extraction of user-friendly html you can get. I miss it so. :P It's true though, I don't want users to be able to post custom html and/or css. Remember those pages that were messed up randomly? It was because there was custom css within the post.

[Glisp]

um yeah, I can't use discord because it lags my fucking browser and also causes my voice to skip. Is there a way you could plug what's going on in the discord chat via bot in the regular chat? (which btw is still around.)

[PlasmoidThunder]

IPB is discontinuing the integrated chat at some point, so it wouldn't be worth the trouble.

[Алексей]

Try the desktop application instead. It's quite stable and I haven't gotten a bit of lag from it at all.

[DuckMannnn]

Is it possible for us to have squared-avatars back? :D

[Алексей]

58 minutes ago, DuckMannnn said:

Is it possible for us to have squared-avatars back? :D

It's been discussed, but overall rejected.

[RobotMonkeyHead]

New stuff as of Jun 14, 2017

~ Added Site Overview sub-forum to Introductions.
~ New Icons
~ Live Gaming Lounge finally in 1.0 form.
~ International sub-forum added to Random Chatter section.
~ Global Holidays sub-forum (broken down by continent) added to International forum.  Holidays auto-post there by the Chronologician bot.
~ Added Outpost Center sub-forum to the Travel Station.  MFFA's posts on google+, twitter and steam are auto-posted there (with links to their originals) by the social media helper bot.
~ All forums / sub-forums now follow the same layout, with the main forum not having content, but only being a container for all the 1st level sub-forums.  This mean creating a new sub-forum in a couple forums to move the content to.  Forums that this change applied to (Introductions, News, Mugen Theater, Gaming, Random Chatter, Staff HQ,)
~ As of now, MFFA exists on:  Steam, Twitch, YouTube, Google+, Twitter, Facebook

[RobotMonkeyHead]

I added 5 New tags:  

~ Originals
~ SNK

~ Capcom
~ Anime
~ Cartoon

This is to align the available tags with the existing collections warehouse rooms, so the automation can do as much auto-organizing as possible. 
To minimize human effort required / make things as easy as possible on everyone in the end.

The automoation isn't active yet.  It'll kick on probably in the beginning of August, maybe a little earlier.  But what it does is basically just take all the topics in the News and Releases forum that are older than 1 year, and move them into the Collections Warehouses.  Whatever tags are on the topic determine which room in which warehouse they go into.  Adding these 5 tags made all the rooms in all the warehouses 'taggable'.

The exact logic of the automation is spoilered here, for anyone who's interested.

Spoiler

 

[RobotMonkeyHead]

4th of July!
There is now an International Holidays board, in the International section of Random Chatter.  
Topics there are auto-posted by a bot, and can be commented on by anyone, tho only the bot is allowed to start new topics.  It combines the holiday calendar feeds of 17 different countries, a calendar of over 236 countries independence or national days, as well as a calendar feed of astronomical events. 

So, we're celebrating America's independence day by opening the floor to celebrate practically everyone else's independence day as well.  And everyone's everything else for that matter.



And for today only the forum icons are going back to their original look!

[RobotMonkeyHead]

Minor change of plans.
I shortened the list of calendars being imported.
There are now 4 total. 

Live Streaming Events
Astronomical Events
UN Observances
National Independence Days

The other difference is that they'll be visible in the calendar.  The only one that will show up on the front page is still Live Streaming Events.

[RobotMonkeyHead]

MFFA now exists on Giphy, Instagram, and Tumblr.
The accounts are still brand new, but my hope is to slowly set up a resource collection system for random gifs and sprites that can be used in Mugen content creation.
 

[RobotMonkeyHead]

Fixed up the X on tags in post tops.
Enabled reactions to status updates.

Much more to come soon.  The forum software just put out a major upgrade.
Most of the new features remained disabled, however, as our host's tech support is

currently examining the site to see if they can help with the bug.  Once that trouble

ticket is resolved, the new lights will flicker on.  As for now, the site remains in "maintenance mode".

[RobotMonkeyHead]

Fixed color of circles that mark new posts in a forum on the front page.
Fixed color of text in status updates.

[White Ranger]

Take your time friend :)

[RobotMonkeyHead]

Ability to react to posts in topics has been re-enabled and upgraded from upvote / downvote system to 5 potential reactions.  
Please emote responsibly.
 

[RobotMonkeyHead]

Forum page numbers, forward and back buttons changed from solid white to translucent with text shadow.
Transparency returned to avatars, instead of white bg.  ...Well technically the bg color was just changed from white to the same color as the forum, but looks transparent :)

[RobotMonkeyHead]

____/ HOSTING UPGRADES
Finally, after a long string of bugs problems and downtime, we've dropped Bluehost and moved on to zFast.  The last details of the migration have been wrapped up, and we're able to restore the site to it's full form.  
 

We've also added Cloudflare as a Content Delivery Network, which caches the site's data in 152 data centers around the world for quicker delivery.  Aside from making the site faster, it makes us more secure by adding an additional layer firewalls and proxies.

This also seals and burns the logout bugs coffin.  That issue was being caused by Bluehost's caching system, which could not be permanently disabled, (disabling it would usually last about a week).  ...I'm trying to refrain from ranting about it and all the problems and downtime with them.
 

___/ VISUAL UPGRADES
• Why did stuff look stripped down? ~ Well, in dealing with the most recent bugs and downtime, we disabled all 3rd party plugins to narrow down the process.  Now that everything is solved, we can return to normal functioning.  So the look now, is basically like us getting back to zero after coping with Bluehost.

• Widget Layout ~ If you haven't noticed the new widget layout... well then I don't know what to tell you but it's probably chronic.  New widget layout, brought back the member widget on the forums page, put The Muthafuckin Fawn widget next to the news board, and added in a Recent Posts widget.

• Board Icons ~ We now have a new set of mostly anime themed board icons.  Those buildings were... yea sorry about that.

• Profile Pages ~ The member profile page has gotten a mild overhaul.  You can now click on a members cover photo to view the full image.  

• Star Ratings ~ The topics list in the forums now show the star ratings, if a topic has been rated. (They glow if you hover on them )

• Site's Main Banner ~ Now plays nice when shrunk down.

• Custom CSS ~ ... I created a little over 2200 lines of custom css (styling) at various places all around the forum, most of which was revealed at x-mas time, but I've since updated a lot of it.  I'm continually plugging away in the background tweaking little visual problems, trying to make everything look good.

 

• Square Avatars ~ There is a new theme available (bottom of page, "theme").  It's a clone of the default Deviant theme, except with square avatars.  Visually, things will continue to be designed around the round avatars, so it may look a little strange in places, but it's at least an option now. 
 

___/ NEW STAFF TICKETS SYSTEM
• Report to staff button at bottom ~ We've got a new contact staff system.  Rather than that button emailing everyone on staff, it now links to the [ STAFF TICKETS ] sub forum in the Staff HQ.  Guests are allowed to post there, however new topics require staff approval before the topic becomes visible and any responses are allowed.  And all completed topics will be locked.  Which means guests will only be able to comment on their own tickets, after it's been approved as a security measure.


___/ WHAT'S NEXT?
• The Ikemen Dojo ~ Is currently in the middle of a refurbishing.  Keep an eye out.  @RodKnee and @TheFclass97 have been doing a freakin incredible job with it, hosting live tourneys Which EVERYONE should keep an eye out for and participate in, cause they're sweeet!  Here check out the last one, the June Thumb-Fu tourney There's basically no way to resist wanting to get in on that.

[RobotMonkeyHead]

_____/  NEW FORUMS ADDED
We've added some new forums, and done some general curating of existing forums names and locations.  Here's a list of the changes:

[ MUGEN DISTRICT ] >> [ COLLECTIONS ] >> [ HOUSE CHOICE CREATORS ] >> CoolAnimeHustler's Creations ~ The only gentleman capable of wielding the Clubs feature, earned his own place here. 
 

[ MUGEN DISTRICT ] >> [ RELEASES ] >> [ RESOURCES ] ~ Redirects to [ SPRITES & SOUNDS ]
 

[ MUGEN DISTRICT ] >> [ MUGEN DISCUSSION ] ~ Container forum.

[ MUGEN DISTRICT ] >> [ MUGEN DISCUSSION ] >> [ MUGEN LOUNGE ] ~ Moved from other location.
 

[ MUGEN DISTRICT ] >> [ MUGEN DISCUSSION ] >> [ COMMISSIONS HUB ] ~ Place for forming commissions connections.

 

[ MEMBER CIRCLES ] >> [ GALLERIES ] >> [ FAN FICTION ] ~ Show off some of your fan fiction writing skills. 
 

[ MEMBER CIRCLES ] >> [ TRAVEL STATION ] >> [ EMBASSIES ] ~ Place to discuss various mugen sites roles in the overall community.  
 

[ MEMBER CIRCLES ] >> [ RANDOM CHATTER ] >> [ MEMEZONE ] ~ Meme forum struggling for survival.  Share em talk about em.

[ STAFF HQ ] >> [ SPECIAL EVENTS ] ~ Container forum.

[ STAFF HQ ] >> [ SPECIAL EVENTS ] >> [ AWARDS DIRECTORY ] ~ A list of all Awards currently available, who has them, and the creations they earned them with.

[ STAFF HQ ] >> [ SPECIAL EVENTS ] >> [ REQUEST AN AWARD ] ~ This is where you get one.

[ STAFF HQ ] >> [ SPECIAL EVENTS ] >> [ PAST EVENTS ] ~ Archive for past events that got front page coverage.
 

[ STAFF HQ ] >> [ SPECIAL EVENTS ] >> [ PAST EVENTS ] >> [ 2019 BANNER CONTEST ] ~ That was fun.  Grats TotalDramaXtremist and StrikeFreedomGirl555!
 

[ STAFF HQ ] >> [ SPECIAL EVENTS ] >> [ MFFA THE MONTHLY JUDGEMENT ] ~  A new series we're trying out where reviewers inspect a few select Mugen creations thoroughly and give their takes.

[ STAFF HQ ] >> [ SPECIAL EVENTS ] >> [ CHARACTER OF THE MONTH ] ~ Yeessss, it's back.

[ STAFF HQ ] >> [ TALK WITH STAFF ] >> [ OUTPOST BROADCAST ] ~ Only staff posts here.  Posts are auto sent to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+ (which is closing soon I think) and Discord.

[ STAFF HQ ] >> [ TALK WITH STAFF ] >> [ TROUBLE TICKETS ] ~ Replaces the old "Contact Staff" button in page footer, which now links here.  Guests can post, but new posts must be approved.

 

 

 

_____/  EXISTING FORUMS RENAMED

[ COLLECTIONS ] >> [ CREATOR GALLERIES ]   -->   [ HOUSE CHOICE CREATORS ] ~ Still not sure about this one.  Spent a long time thinking about it but still def open to suggestions.

[ RELEASES ] >> [ CHARACTERS & STAGES ]   -->   [ CHARS & STAGES ] ~ Short sweet and to the point. 

[ CREATION LAB ] >> [ TUTORIALS ]   -->   [ P2P HOW TO ] ~ Peer to Peer is what P2P stands for in case anyone doesn't already know.

[ HANGOUTS ] >> [ WORLD NEWS ]   -->   [ WORLD EVENTS ] ~ Still need a better name for this, tho I have to admit I'm not disappointed it's empty lol

[ RANDOM CHATTER ] >> [ CHILLIN CHATTIN ]   -->   [ OFF TOPIC WHATEVER ] ~ Chillin chatting kinda rolled off the tung weird, idk.

[ STAFF HQ ] >> [ DISCUSSIONS ]   -->   [ TALK WITH STAFF ] ~ A little more casual, little less hard ass sounding. 

 

 

_____/  NEW FEATURES ADDED

Events Calendar ~ Something tells me this is going to end with me like "somebody slap me next time I try to bring the calendar back", but I'm giving it one last shot.  It's pretty well organized and it broadcasts to the front page and the timeline so members can use it to get exposure for projects or topics they really want to get out there.
Check out the Event Stream.

Awards ~ An Awards system has been opened, and is now active.  Members can earn trophies, badges etc for accomplishing different criteria per Award.  They'll show up under your avatar on your forum posts, on your member hover card, and on your profile.  You'll also show up in the recipients list on the Awards page, and have the option of showing off the work you earned the Award with in its respective Showroom Topics forum.  You can also request an Award if you created something you think fits the criteria.  Have a look in the Awards Requirements sub-forum of Request an Award, if you're interested.
Check out the Awards Directory.

 

_____/  GENERAL ARRANGEMENT

Top Nav Menu ~ Has changed around slightly to incorporate the Events Calendar, and possibly the Awards.  The Timelines categories and filters got their names adjusted to be easier to understand, and hopefully translate better.

Top Nav Menu Outposts Sub Options ~ Have also been rearranged to be a little easier to navigate.

Discord Changes ~ We've made some changes to the Discord Server.  We now block account who's names consist of random strings of alphanumeric characters, to prevent bot attacks.  We've also added a Pokemon Safari game channel, and a Monica channel.


Well, that brings us up to date for the most part.  Any questions, don't hesitate to ask them here.

[RobotMonkeyHead]

Recent theme being out of date issue made for a surprise release of a bunch of stylistic upgrades I was working on are part of the actual template updates.  So I guess some of the brand spankin new highlights are, ehhem:
•  CKeditor is now color matched to the rest of the site.
•  Timeline page headers and timeline got some styling work done.
•  Reactions are now individually displayed by type.
•  Post restyling in progress, so comment feeds look still look strange.

[RobotMonkeyHead]

I added some really basic icons to all the sub-forums.  Kept it simple with 5 basic types, same size and design as the front page icons.  Aside from just making the site look a little better, they should give the user a basic idea of what each forum in a section is about.  Makes the sections layouts a little more intelligible.