Author Topic: A Really Long List of Forum Suggestions/Ideas  (Read 7714 times)

Offline turtlies

  • Finest Floof
  • ***
  • Posts: 512
  • Country: us
  • Floof-O-Meter: 61
  • loves to lurk
    • View Profile
A Really Long List of Forum Suggestions/Ideas
« on: October 06, 2018, 07:04:15 pm »
Hello!

I’ve been keeping a list of ideas that I think could improve the Feralheart website and forum. I’ve had this written up for a while and its just been sitting in my Google Docs for months now, but with the moderator changes that have happened, I figured it might be a good time to bring these up! Some have been recommended many times before by different people, others I’ve never seen suggested before, but I wanted to list everything I thought could have a positive impact.

Feel free to share your thoughts on anything here! I’d love to discuss, as long as it's done respectfully :)


General Improvements:

Merge Both Art Boards
As of right now, there are two art boards on the forum. One is located in FeralHeart Creations > FeralHeart Media > Art, and the other is located in Off Topic > Media > Art Galleries. I think it might clean things up a bit to merge both categories into just one single ‘Art’ board. I’ve noticed most people seem to use both boards for the same purpose---there isn’t that big of a distinction between FH related art and non-FH related art at this point, people mostly put all of their work into one thread. The ‘Commissions’, ‘Trades’, and ‘Requests’ childboards are all good additions as well, so I think those should stay as well, regardless of which board gets merged into the other.

EDIT: Being considered in the MOTS Newsletter!


Banners
Yeah, this one’s been mentioned aplenty. New banners across the forum. I… honestly have no idea what’s happening with the site right now, but I’d love to see the return of the banners from before the site revamp, with new and updated screenshots featuring the new maps. Maybe a banner contest would be in order? ;)

More Contests
Speaking of a banner contest, more contests in general!! I’m happy to see that there’s been some new contests aside from the typical MOTS and Preset Contests, and I think that’s headed in the right direction. Some other contests that have been featured in the past or otherwise would make fun contests:
  • Character Contest Implemented!
  • Map Contest
  • Art Contest
  • Feralheart Fanart Contest (like an art contest, but specifically OF actual FH-related things)
  • Screenshot Contest
I realize the frequency of contests can’t really be changed due to the staff being busy and whatnot, but I’m just throwing some contest ideas out there for the future!

Update the Manual
PLEASE. I’ve been whining about this since I started FH tbh---I went to it after starting an account and got… very confused. It was outdated back then, and as the years go on, that only worsens. Plus it looks like some of the formatting’s got a little messed up at this point, and a few of the pages are written… very unprofessionally for an official manual (I mean, one of the pages is written entirely in txt talk, and another literally says nothing but “extra stuffs”). It’s generally pretty rough in all regards. Basically an entire revamp of the manual is necessary, with at least some of the basics and FAQs (controls, navigation, info on the login page, etc.). If not a revamp, I’d still be better to just remove the tab from the home page (and any other of the pages that have it displayed on the banner at the top). Removing it completely might be the easiest route to take.


OH MY GOD REJOICE!!! I don't know if every tab was updated yet (there's a lot of sections lol) but the first few ones I've seen are finally updated. I can die peacefully now much thank.

Awards
I am aware that there are issues regarding the older awards system. However, I still feel like there must be some creative way we could still include a member’s past awards and positions on their profile. We got those new snazzy text boxes to include your group, social medias, etc. on our profile a year or two ago, so it’s possible to add more boxes on a forum profile. There could possibly be some way that moderators could manually add more awards to a profile? I don’t know much on the inner workings of the site, but seeing a list of all previous awards a member has received would be a nice addition! (Of course it might just be any awards received after the date these would be implemented, since many contest winners have been basically lost to time… which I’ll go into later ;)

MOTS Custom Title Change/Removal
Simple enough. People who have received MOTS at any time in the past should be able to either change their custom title, or have it removed. Only being able to remove it could potentially be a better option, so that current MOTS can have more fun perks. I just know there’s been a few people who received MOTS a couple of years ago and are now left with some rather… cringey titles, I suppose.

MOTS “Info” Thread
To explain this, I’ll use preset contests as an example. There is an introductory thread where people can ask questions and the contest is explained, there’s a submissions thread, and there’s finally a winners thread. However, MOTS doesn’t have an information thread where people can ask questions, unlike most other contests. There’s the Hall of Fame, but no one can post on that. With such strict rules on ‘No Chatting In The Nomination Thread’, I feel there should be somewhere else people can ask questions regarding MOTS without having to create an entire help thread for simple questions.

Hall of Fame for other contests
There should be a Hall of Fame thread detailing the winners of all current and past contests. Often times, the threads for winners of past contests were deleted or the contents were wiped by that one site-wide glitch. Preset Contest and MOTS both have hall of fames, so why not other contests? It’d be nice to have proof of contests after they’ve been finished.

EDIT: Being considered in MOTS Newsletter!


Tagging
Not much I can say on this. But these other threads can!
Forum Username Tagging
"@" feature
Tagging?

Time Online Counter
I miss the time online counter. Not much I can say except bring it back pls

Fix Login Page Keyboard Smash
I’m quite aware of why this is like this. Infact, I’m partially responsible for it after making a thread complaining about a typo: Sorry guys.. Though that thread was literally made years ago, and it was a funny joke for a bit. I think it can be normal now. It’s scared a few people off. Please fix the monster I created.


Login page has been completely redone, no more keyboard smashing or lowercase k's! :D

“Like” Posts
I don’t think I need to explain the concept of liking posts, do I? It’d just be a neat forum option if possible. I sometimes nuzzle people if I like their post, but nuzzling is anonymous and doesn’t show support for a specific post.

Saved Drafts
A thread auto-save feature would be nice, but I completely understand why that’d be difficult to maintain. But if there was a manual feature to save a draft of a thread that you could then finish up later, that’d be awesome.

EDIT: Being considered in MOTS Newsletter!


Forum Layout Changes
Not to be too blunt, but, uh, a finished forum would be cool. As of now, the forum has been unfinished for a long time, with weird layouts, kinda ugly colors, and those cursed orange dots. Also some random G’s and F’s around the forum, just for funsies. Basically this suggestion is to finish what’s been started.

Better Search System
Not sure how much this can be changed, either, but the forum search system is…. Weird at best. Just throwing that out there, though I don't have many real solutions to fix this.

Forum Tutorials Section
Just to add a section in the tutorials board specifically for forum related tutorials. It seems like an important enough category to warrant its own board.

EDIT: Being considered in MOTS Newsletter!


Home Page Revamp (Banners and such)
The home page of the site is kind of… lackluster. Maybe some screenshots to show what the game looks like? Some more information other than a singular paragraph? Anything, really?

Species Dropdown Box
When editing your profile, there's a dropdown box that allows you to choose which species you play as regularly. Simply enough, this should be changed to a text box like the other options, since 'species' is a bit vague and it's difficult to accompany the different species people play as. I've seen arguments in the past this could be abused and I do not believe that's a valid point. Considering how many other editable text boxes are on the same page... if someone was really that bent on abusing their text box privileges (which... isn't exactly a popular thing), they'd probably rather use something more public like a signature than a tiny textbox not visible on miniprofiles.

Most Played Character Box
Or, in contrast to the last suggestion... the option to choose 'species' is kind of a weird one. An option to write down your most played character/what you're most commonly seen on might be a bit more interesting and helpful. I'm not sure if there's a way to sync it up with the list of characters on the user panel or anything, but an editable text box would be just fine.

Discord Box
Another profile suggestion. An option to add in your Discord username alongside all the other social media profiles. There's already a box for Skype, and Discord seems to be used more in the community, so there's not really any arguments that can be made against Discord that wouldn't apply to Skype as well. The only issue I see is that I don't believe Discord has a way to directly link to a profile? Correct me if I'm wrong. Could still be used as a box that only shows up when viewing someone's full profile.



New Stuff:

Weekly Showcase
Each week (or maybe more infrequently, since the game’s fairly small), include a showcase of some members’ presets, maps, or any other creations they’ve made for FH. With permission granted obviously.

Update “Log”
A simple update log somewhere that would include any information regarding updates, server downtime, etc. Communication between staff and members has been a big issue for years now, this could be another way to help give more information on what’s going on behind the scenes.


This seems to have been at least partially implemented in the login-page with the news category.



Thank you for reading through! Although I might have been a bit curt in a few of the explanations, I’m really not trying to insult any of the staff. I don't know how the site works, so I don't know if a few of these suggestions are impossible or not, but I'm just throwing the ideas out there! And, of course, these aren't urgent ideas. I realize the staff are busy and can't spend all their time on stuff like this, but that's no reason these can't be implemented sometime off in the future ;)

I'd love to hear if anyone agrees with these or has anything else to add!
« Last Edit: July 15, 2019, 10:36:32 pm by Torskite »


he/him
bro what if i put my feralheart cave next to yours.. bro what if they only had one flattened bush mesh to lay on and we had to share... haha just kidding... unless...?

Offline BirdyBlu

  • Experienced Traveler
  • **
  • Posts: 218
  • Country: us
  • Floof-O-Meter: 17
  • `Snuggle Puddle`
    • Ally Nice
    • View Profile
Re: A Really Long List of Forum Suggestions/Ideas
« Reply #1 on: October 06, 2018, 07:09:52 pm »
I like many of these ideas, as for the art thread's i believe one is for Feralheart related things, and the other for any random art (non related) to the game, I think its best to keep them seperate. I'd much prefer being able to see all the feralheart related pieces and not have to scroll through a bunch of other random art. It just makes it easier for those who don't wish to see things that don't involve this specific game.
Thank you for your input! Some Great idea's in this thread.
.: Birdy Blu is just for You! :.

Signature image by @Pocketmutt

Offline Likuu

  • -- strawberry banana
  • Finest Floof
  • ***
  • Posts: 929
  • Country: us
  • Floof-O-Meter: 65
  • 𝑜𝓇𝒸𝒽𝒾𝒹
    • View Profile
Re: A Really Long List of Forum Suggestions/Ideas
« Reply #2 on: October 06, 2018, 07:23:35 pm »
This is all very interesting, I agree with a lot of this honestly. I think a liking system, showcases and MORE contests would be amazing! Tagging would be nice as well so we could get notifications when someone responds to your post or something. Notifications in general.

Honestly, if we could use Proboards for the forum, it would give us a lot more to use, and theres PLENTY of different templates and such we could use. A nice simple layout, and coding there is fairly easy! Banners could be done and theres a bunch of neat crazy 'plugins' we can use!

I also do miss having a Banner, feel like it'd spice the site up a bit more, personally I don't have too much of an issue with our site right now, but maybe a MASS cleanup on the site could be done? Merge some boards so we aren't searching for a long period of time, possibly rid old threads from 2016 and lower? But as I said before, the forum isn't too bad in my opinion, way better than the last one we had honestly! But a like system, tagging or a better way for "notifications" would be neat!!!

My main request = more contests please!! I'd love a chance to do more stuff with the community, events in general, movie nights again and all that! I'd totally be all for a Map contest and character contest!

 
« Last Edit: October 06, 2018, 07:25:48 pm by Likuu »
artwork by dehvina

Calvary

  • Guest
Re: A Really Long List of Forum Suggestions/Ideas
« Reply #3 on: October 06, 2018, 07:26:08 pm »
I actually thank you for this, Torksite. I'm sure this will be really helpful to the staff when we need a list of things to improve or fix. We've been scouring the boards and looking at some ideas, so thank you for compiling this! <3

Offline PrettyReckless

  • Elder Grey Pelt
  • ****
  • Posts: 3,285
  • Country: england
  • Floof-O-Meter: 218
    • RecklessAce
    • View Profile
Re: A Really Long List of Forum Suggestions/Ideas
« Reply #4 on: October 06, 2018, 07:26:55 pm »
We will keep this in mind and discuss it with Raz when he is back after the weekend.
RETIRED.

Offline Astraea

  • ❤ Positivity ❤
  • Elder Grey Pelt
  • ****
  • Posts: 3,104
  • Country: us
  • Floof-O-Meter: 186
  • previously esarosa
    • Esar0sa
    • View Profile
Re: A Really Long List of Forum Suggestions/Ideas
« Reply #5 on: October 06, 2018, 07:39:03 pm »
This is indeed something interesting. I've never seen such a large thread of suggestions, but I love it! This will also help out the staff team. I will put in my two cents on things! <3

As for the suggestions and ideas, I do agree with almost all of them. I really do miss the banners as well, it gave the forum more style and it really would catch the eye and give a small bit of insight into the game if you were stalking. I also really do agree with adding some sort of tagging feature, if that could ever be implemented into the code. As for the contests -- I agree that there have been little to none. Back in the day there were more, that I felt like were around and contests would bring the community together even further and allow for some different changes. Hall of fame for contests would be cool as well and give those who won a chance to be remembered for their hard efforts.

Saved drafts need to happen. There has been PLENTY of times where I accidentally click off of the page or something of the sorts and my entire post will be gone. I'm sure I am not the only one. Also forum wise, I believe personally it would do well with an update. Some nice touches to it whether it be bringing back banners, that awesome sidebar that existed before or just newer and fun colors.

And lastly, any sort of teasers and update logs WOULD be nice. It would fix the barrier that has been lodged between staff and members for so long. Not only that, but it would attract newer members as well due to being able to see this information.
not active here anymore ♡
avatar by kianxiety

Offline Hiemer123

  • Forum Newcomer
  • *
  • Posts: 1
  • Country: us
  • Floof-O-Meter: 0
  • Trust and Loyalty - A beautiful shade of blue!
    • https://www.deviantart.com/hieme
    • View Profile
Re: A Really Long List of Forum Suggestions/Ideas
« Reply #6 on: October 06, 2018, 07:46:13 pm »
I'm impressed. These are actually really nice ideas- and not impossible to do. But I do see drafts being a problem (like you stated earlier), and having the banners and main picture changed would be the least of our problems. But man-o-man -- It would be so nice to see this page organized and be able to navigate the forum with ease! I'm still new to the forums, so even I have troubles searching through it. The funny thing I came across as a newbie was; for all the new things posted on the forum recently, I had to click a link at the bottom to find. You would think that would be at the top somewhere in bold screaming "RECENT POSTS" or something. Maybe that can happen if the layout of the forum gets changed up (more cleaned up than how I've put it, but ya get the idea).

Offline G4RG0YLE

  • Elder Grey Pelt
  • ****
  • Posts: 3,431
  • Country: gb
  • Floof-O-Meter: 170
  • Avatar © Felicia on Discord ♡
    • View Profile
Re: A Really Long List of Forum Suggestions/Ideas
« Reply #7 on: October 06, 2018, 07:48:10 pm »
Only situation with the "More Contests" idea is that we would then have to come up with "more prizes" as members will then begin to expect/demand more than just the regular, typical prize list: dA points, art, presents and etc.
Imo, if you'd like to see more contests being thrown around the community, here's what I think should happen:


- Not just the Staff, but YOU, as FH members, can up with your own.
- If official plans have been made, you could approach Staff about it and get their opinions/alterations and additions on how the event should be conducted to make sure that it is safe and friendly as well as fun.
- Come up with your own prizes to keep things spicy!
- If it's all accepted and a thread is posted, the Staff could potentially make it an official event but not run by them, in fact run by you.


Of course, these are only add-ons to what you've been saying, as it's better to encourage users to come up with their own ideas and events based on their levels of creativity. As you said, Staff can be too busy sometimes to come up with an event inbetween, so rather than being given the weight on their shoulders to run one, you could simply do these yourselves and perhaps ask for a Staff member to be present throughout just to keep the rules enforced. Maybe the Staff will also attend and participate!

Other than this quick opinion, I agree with what you've suggested entirely and will be sure to pounce on the rest of the Staff over this.

© short ' cakes on Discord ♡

Offline Kuri

  • Immortal Legend
  • *****
  • Posts: 8,168
  • Country: nz
  • Floof-O-Meter: 136
  • Foreboding evil harmless kitten.
    • dumbstuff4friends
    • channel/UCo42jgbLvEzkofpOin0_a4A
    • View Profile
Re: A Really Long List of Forum Suggestions/Ideas
« Reply #8 on: October 06, 2018, 09:09:31 pm »
but maybe a MASS cleanup on the site could be done? Merge some boards so we aren't searching for a long period of time, possibly rid old threads from 2016 and lower?

 

Noo!!!!  Those older ones are classic & many are still useful to this very day.
Also interesting from an internet archeology point of view.
The Japanese concept of wabisabi:
The closest concept in english would be 'rustic'
They might have an old thing, one example is a favourite bowl or dish, it's broken, pieces are missing, why fix it?  With gold and pieces from other dishes?
"Because it was my favourite & I like it"

Offline Likuu

  • -- strawberry banana
  • Finest Floof
  • ***
  • Posts: 929
  • Country: us
  • Floof-O-Meter: 65
  • 𝑜𝓇𝒸𝒽𝒾𝒹
    • View Profile
Re: A Really Long List of Forum Suggestions/Ideas
« Reply #9 on: October 06, 2018, 09:14:35 pm »
but maybe a MASS cleanup on the site could be done? Merge some boards so we aren't searching for a long period of time, possibly rid old threads from 2016 and lower?

 

Noo!!!!  Those older ones are classic & many are still useful to this very day.
Also interesting from an internet archeology point of view.
Ahhh, lemme be a bit more specific yeerrr. When I say clean-up, I mean old "non helpful" threads. Say, dead threads that nobody can use to find some sort of "help" or "use" out of the thread. Yanno? Not like, important things that can be useful still! (:
But, I do think the site is becoming "cluttered" with a lot of olddddddd things that are seriously outdated and could be worded better. Again though, old threads that are outdated could be cleaned up if there is no good use out of it and such! (( non important threads )) and like leave the "help" threads as they are useful and such, as well as tutorials or "preset codes" etc as those would still be considered, useful! 
« Last Edit: October 06, 2018, 09:18:48 pm by Likuu »
artwork by dehvina