Merge Both Art BoardsAs 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!
BannersYeah, 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 ContestsSpeaking 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 It was outdated back then, and as the years go on, that only worsens.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.
AwardsI 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/RemovalSimple 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” ThreadTo 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 contestsThere 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!
TaggingNot much I can say on this. But these other threads can!
Forum Username Tagging (https://feral-heart.com/smf/index.php?topic=60694.0)
"@" feature (https://feral-heart.com/smf/index.php?topic=63275.0)
Tagging? (https://feral-heart.com/smf/index.php?topic=53730.0)
Time Online CounterI 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. (https://feral-heart.com/smf/index.php?topic=55746.0). 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” PostsI 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 DraftsA 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 ChangesNot 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 SystemNot 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 SectionJust 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 BoxWhen 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 BoxOr, 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 BoxAnother 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.