DISCUSSION: Forum Consolidation

[Merlin]

Fark's images look gaudy. I was just using them to give an idea of what I was invisioning dimension-wise. For me, from a UI standpoint, even if it is just different color backgrounds, it helps to distinguish the games easier. If you are just skimming the prefixes, FFVII and FFVIII look similar, for example. If one was say green and the other orange, you would instantly be able to tell them apart. Everyone is free to come up with better ideas, as I'm just throwing things out there. ^_^

Time-wise, this can be done completely separate from what I am working on, which means that LocoColt and/or Andromeda can lead this if they want. Creating the prefixes is super easy. The only tricky part is running an update script and I can spare a few minutes to figure those out if necessary. It could be done relatively quickly, I would think, depending on people's schedules.

On the other hand, if I absorb this task it will be thrown on the back burner for at least a month. I simply don't have time to focus on it right now as I have a full load already.

As for banners, the only thing I ask is that you come up with a dimension and make it mandatory. It makes things a lot easier and cleaner. That way the banners can be swapped out without screwing with any markup. I'd love to see some sort of monthly or semi-annual banner swap-out action going on to keep things fresh. Maybe even holiday themed ones? OK maybe it's wishful thinking but I think it would be cool, IMHO. Regardless, the banner creator should be credited in the credit section at the bottom of the forums.

[SOLDIER #819]

Soooooo, given the upgrade... Stuff?

[LocoColt04]

Yes sir, I've already made note of that over in ol' blog post numero uno.

Now that the upgrades are live, we should come to a final decision on this. Seems like what I had in the first post is still the consensus, so it will likely end up very similar to that. As soon as we get our little thread prefix icons in place (even if they're just temporary ones for now), I'd like to move forward with the consolidation.


edit:
And to answer Rowan's question - there shouldn't be any need for downtime when I reorganize the forums, though I may shut them off for 5-15 minutes whenever I do the consolidation just for a clean transition and to not run into any potential posting issues from someone running around while I'm breaking the structure.

[LocoColt04]

As there was no opposition to our discussed consolidation plan, I'll be enacting this change later this evening. First, I will be setting up our thread prefixes manually - these will be basic text for now, though we can look into icons or something of the sort later. After I complete the prefix list and test it, I'll begin merging the forums. I WILL close down the forums for 5-10 minutes while I handle the merger. Also, journals will be moved into the archives as a subforum, since the blog system has effectively replaced them anyway.

I will wait for an opportunity to shut off the forums when the traffic is very light (or, ideally, nonexistent). I'll also throw a new thread here in the forum announcements section right before I shut us down listing the new layout, and I'll be very descriptive with my closure notice so nobody freaks out.