Announcement regarding recent forum changes

[Blockio]

Yeah, we have thrown around an idea like that internally before as well, but the logistics of it are fairly difficult. The kneejerk reaction would be to have a list of recommended reads to bring people up to speed on the baseline of discourse, but at that point you're frontloading a few hundred lines of text to everyone looking to join, so that's not the way to do it, either. Suggestions are appreciated!

[BusterMachine4]

Yeah, we really need a concise thread explaining everything new users need to know about this community. The closest thing we have to that right now is the Geektionary, but as that page states it's horribly outdated. I was able to adapt to the community relatively quickly, but other new users might not be able to.

[UrsusArctos]

In case you guys are wondering why "General and Chit-Chat" has been shifted up where it is, it's because we've been having conversations based on the feedback we've gotten, and hope it provides a better place for new users to start than the scarier and denser Discussion subforum.

Yeah, we really need a concise thread explaining everything new users need to know about this community. The closest thing we have to that right now is the Geektionary, but as that page states it's horribly outdated.

I hear you loud and clear. By the way, the Geektionary was never meant as a proper introduction to the community, it was rather meant as a compilation of in-jokes and site cultural artifacts by a small, dedicated, zany community of Eva enthusiasts that existed during 2004-07 on the old Eva Monkey forums, Reichu's old Evacommentary.org website (now taken over by web pirates after going defunct) and the AnimeNation forums. It's basically a time machine of sorts now.

That being said, we're batting about ideas about what sort of thread or wiki page we could set up to introduce new users to the site. Do give us your suggestions and ideas - any help is deeply appreciated!

[FelipeFritschF]

I have my doubts about that. Just pointing out to older EGF threads is something I already see, ironically enough, happening outside EGF. I don't mind newbies coming in and asking stupid questions, because at the end of the day they are the lifeblood of any fandom, and if we just shut down those threads, we end up stifle discussion stemming from these threads we end up reducing the debate everywhere as well as keeping newcomers from possibly engaging further with the community. Doesn't mean we can't have a "guide" or FAQ of sorts, though. The wiki already does that in part. There is for instance, one for 3.0: https://wiki.evageeks.org/Guides:Evangelion_3.33_FAQ

[UrsusArctos]

if we just shut down those threads, we end up stifle discussion stemming from these threads we end up reducing the debate everywhere as well as keeping newcomers from possibly engaging further with the community

NOTHING of the sort. I don't know how you thought this was ever suggested or implied.

[FelipeFritschF]

I'm not saying the threads have to be locked, I'm wondering if just linking to old stuff instead of talking with people and getting them involved is the best idea. I'm sure there's a balance in there, though.

[BusterMachine4]

I like the new placement of the Chit-Chat subforum. Hopefully it will help new users get more used to the community.

There's one error, though: For some reason, the main page of that subforum contains the description in white letters at the very top. It isn't like that in any other subforums, so I assume it was an error. Could you please fix it?

[UrsusArctos]

There's some kind of error or bug in the BBCode parsing of underlined text that causes those white letters to appear, it doesn't happen if the text is simply bolded. After finding no satisfactory substitute to the underline, I've chosen to leave the text bold as it is. What a weird bug.

I'm wondering if just linking to old stuff instead of talking with people and getting them involved is the best idea.

Again, not sure how you thought this was implicit? Isn't it better to have an FAQ at hand instead of having someone come up confused and ask for the hundredth time "Who's the soul in Eva-00?" and have the same conversation and explanation happen all over again? An FAQ is an asset for things like these, because it helps steer new fan conversations towards topics of genuine interest instead of keeping them at the level of "Hey, I'm confused".

[Mr. Tines]

There's some kind of error or bug in the BBCode parsing of underlined text

That one's weird. There's not even any odd CSS rules that could possibly apply -- and live-editing the front page locally to insert the expected mark-up

Code: Select all

<span style="text-decoration: underline">underlined text</span>

just works

[UrsusArctos]

Unfortunately our current PhPBB iteration doesn't parse HTML in the description field for a subforum, so entering any HTML code leaves it as it is. It does parse BB code, and not all instances of BB code cause the bug. Bold, italics and Strikethrough are free of the bug. Underlining, font size, font color, and links all cause the small white text to appear on top of the screen.

[Berserker]

Someone's having fun emoji-ing all the sub forums. If this is approved by others and becomes permanent, then i share 2 opinion-
1. Rebuild sub forum should've this - . This one holds close reference of rebuild rather than this- .
2. Everything else can have this- . This one is rather personal opinion. It won't matter if this is not fulfilled.

Also, underlining, font size, colours, links are working fine for me.

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

Sachi's dog as "Utterly Off Topic" brings personality into the forum. I love it!

1. Rebuild sub forum should've this - . This one holds close reference of rebuild rather than this-

I concur with this point here.

[Justacrazyguy]

I find the lack of Rei disturbing.

[Joseki]

I love the new icons as the forum somehow now manages to look even more like a product of the mid 00s era. It's like a time machine.

[Mr. Tines]

Unfortunately our current PhPBB iteration doesn't parse HTML

I was tackling the diagnosis from the other end, by tinkering with the front page as rendered, using browser development tools (so all at the HTML level, and my machine only), rather than playing with the actual forum BBCode, trying to see if there was some odd style sheet combination causing the problem. Which there wasn't.

Browser tools with underline injected


What it rendered

[BusterMachine4]

I love the new icons as the forum somehow now manages to look even more like a product of the mid 00s era. It's like a time machine.

That's exactly why I don't like it. The main page looks way too tacky now, like one of those pink flamingo lawn ornaments. I preferred it the way it was before.

[JoelcrNeto]

For me the main page with these icons was polluted, I like clean pages.

[UrsusArctos]

@Tines - Gotcha. I tried that in my browser and got exactly the same results as you did.

@Everyone else - The smileys aren't all the same size, which made my selection a lot more troublesome than I intended. I've been using 32 x 32 smileys in most places to prevent the text from going out of alignment. Whether this brings warmth and 1990s/early 2000s nostalgia or is simply an eyesore is something you'll have to debate among yourselves. It's a cosmetic change, and if a majority dislike it we can quite easily reverse it.

[Mr. Tines]

I applaud the choice for the FanFiction sub-forum.

[UrsusArctos]

Thank you, Tines! *bows*