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[arctic]

May I suggest a FAQ? This thread has gotten really long and a lot of the questions must be getting repetitive for you guys. People could go look at that before asking anything else.

 

[Autumn McJavabean]

Will we still get a dark/night theme? I've kind of grown accustomed to this sites format, but I guess I can handle going back.

 

[jinkx]

Will we still get a dark/night theme? I've kind of grown accustomed to this sites format, but I guess I can handle going back.

My memory of the old site is hazy but I think we did have night/colour themes. No idea if they were add-ons that we'll no longer have but if we do get them back, it probably won't look identical to how it looks now. 

 

[IctoraPost]

Unofficial FAQ


By an unqualified user


It's also more asked-at-least-once questions than frequent ones.


Or even asked-at-least-none.


Will anything happen to our Hosted Projects?


Mostly no. If you aren’t using the HP as a forum system, for example only having one thread in there, you will be politely asked to put them into the regular RP threads. Long inactive ones will be archived. Also, the header image will probably not exist.


Will there be any major data loss?


No.


Will anything in the Private Workshop be affected?


No.


Will tabs/hype cookies/dice rollers/other old features be back again?


It’s likely an old addon that won’t work in the newer versions. See:

With xF2 so close around the corner [to be released in late 2017 or early 2018], I'm going to make sure what's left of our stay on xF1 is not cluttered too much by such addons and tiny features unless I can confirm that the creator of that functionality plans to update it to 2.0. After 2.0, we can see about adding that back in...

When will the update happen?


Undecided, probably later this month.


How much downtime will there be?


1-3 days.


Will RpN look the same?


No. The Light/Color Me/Night Lyfe themes will probably stay, but the style will be different.


Will links to the site still work?


Most likely.


Will we be able to delete posts?


No, but you can hide them.


Will there be a replacement for blogs?


Not top priority as they are not used that much.


Will reputation/status updates/the bold/underline/italicise buttons/signatures be kept?


Yes.


Will post count be kept?


Yes, mostly. It may decrease a bit.


Will followers be kept?


Iffy. Note down who you’re following just in case.


Will line breaks be kept?


Unsure.


Will notifications be fixed?


Probably.


Will there be an announcement later with more info?


There will be an announcement before and after the update.


Will cover photos be kept?


No. Maybe.


Will there be UI changes?


Mostly not.


Will the site be faster?


Yes.


Will you still be able to imbed stuff?


Using BBCode, probably. If not, then it can be added.


Will gif avatars still be a thing?


No.


When will Hosted Projects be able to be created again?


Sometime shortly after the update.


Will post macros come back?


Maybe.


Is there an official FAQ?


Yes!

 

[Autumn McJavabean]

No cover photos? That sucks.

 

[Captain Hesperus]

Regarding profile images: There is an addon for xF 1.5 that allows users to add a custom image to their profile background but, as with a lot of things at the moment, whether this will be compatible with xF 2 is not known. If it does work, or if xF 2 has a set of native profile customisation tools, then we'll look into it.


Captain Hesperus

 

[Fable]

I'm happy with the possibility of BBCode coming back and all -- I love BBCode, and was quite proficient at it a while back... But the fact that Source Editing is no longer available is exceedingly worrying, not to mention upsetting. I had thought that we'd be able to use HTML coding up until the last minute for the transfer... Not the day of the announcement notifying us of the future change. It's kind of surprising that the only notes regarding the loss of Source were in the last page.


Without the ability to manipulate the Source, I can no longer invent colorful CSs and/or Posts; I can only copy my pre-existing codes via the manual click-and-drag. Using such a process makes certain templates (most notably ones with fully functional HTML/CSS Tab and Accordions) become dysfunctional. I'm sure a lot of people might scoff at the thought of being upset over something so purely cosmetic, but I take great pride in my posts, and having them no longer work and  -- most notably in my case -- not be able to fix them despite knowing how is quite infuriating, you know?


As it stands, this is like the original transition happening all over again... But nothing but editing capabilities have been changed -- or, more accurately, stripped away. I can't even learn a new method to beautify things as it stands, and (from the sounds of things combined with my own pessimism) I'm thinking it'll remain that way until we go back to BBCode... And that thought kind of sucks.


What is the date that BBCode will come back, exactly?


If no solid date exists, is it possible to bring Source Editing back for a while longer?

BBCode cannot return until the transfer back to xF is complete as IPS doesn't even apparently support BBCode outside of a few RTE buttons (which is another issue with IPS).  With the RTE, you can still copy/paste from Google Docs to get some pretty back into your posts, but for now source editing has been decidedly turned off by @The Dark Wizard.

There's nothing wrong in what you feel in regards to the "source editing" being turned off/removed. I am unfamiliar with how things have changed in terms of formatting since the switch over, but I do understand having something that is equally as important as roleplaying itself. I wonder if compromise is possible in that regard unless the "cons outweigh the pros" in keeping it on until the total site shutdown in order to change programs. I at least wanted to say that you are not alone in this department in terms of aesthetics in posts/roleplays.

The cons of keeping the CSS/HTML is that about - I want to estimate -  75% of current codes on RPNation are considered "site breaking" for various reasons.  Allowing members with very minimal understanding of CSS/HTML, with how specific codes needed to be written in order to prevent site breaking, and with the impending transfer, removing access to edit raw posts at this point is damage control in preventing more coded post issues.  The RTE still does allow formatting via copy/paste from Google Docs, so some styling isn't out of the question, it currently requires more steps which was all we had at the beginning when the site first went to IPS.

 

[jinkx]

@IctoraPost I was about halfway through making one of those!


I would have gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for you pesky kids  :smile9:

 

[Fable]

@IctoraPost Lol, took away my one job. D:

 

[Cosmos]

YUS!!!!!~ My BBcodes~ QwQ I've missed them so much!!- but now I have to learn how to use them again. XD Oh well~ Hope it all goes well! As much as I like this new site I honestly felt the other one felt a lot more like RPN than this one ever has! :3  

 

[Cryo]

TFW you just got used to HTML and have already forgotten how to use BBCode, but it's a relief to see it returning since it's more user friendly than HTML was for me.

 

[jinkx]

@IctoraPost Lol, took away my one job. D:

i guess you could say ictora beat us all to the post  :smile3:

 

[welian]

I'd suggest making this a sticky announcement at the top of the site, like @Musician made for newsletter nominations. That way, users have NO excuse not to see this.

 

[Greenstalker]

Finally getting back proper search? Rejoice!!!

 

[The Mechanist]

We will have our Main Light Style, our Color Me Theme and a Night Lyfe, how they will look is not finalized.

Well that answers one of my questions before I asked it, thank you mister Wizard ^-^

 

[farewell]

Will we regain the ability to save post formats? Also, how long is this migration expected to take?

 

[jinkx]

Will we regain the ability to save post formats? Also, how long is this migration expected to take?

Not sure about the first question. It should only take a few days, I think they said. 

 

[welian]

Curiosity: Are there plans/intent to also bring back the tabbed threads add-on? And if so, will the staff team require assistance re-tabbing threads?

 

[Pine]

Curiosity: Are there plans/intent to also bring back the tabbed threads add-on?

Wiz hasn't been able to find a developer willing to update the add-on.

 

[welian]

Wiz hasn't been able to find a developer willing to update the add-on.

Well... I guess that does technically indicate intent, just also a lack of resources.

 

[Pine]

Well... I guess that does technically indicate intent, just also a lack of resources.

Ah, I mean like, I'm assuming that it's something that the staff would like to have back if at all possible. It was definitely something that made us stand out among other roleplay forums and I'm assuming that HPs otherwise take up a lot of server/data/something space like it did with xF, so it would be a nice alternative. I just remember something something about the add-on being very complex and/or fragile and not being able to find a developer willing to take on the task?? I can't really speak for intent, I suppose. Things may change in the future (if xF ever does something about their developer situation).

 

[welian]

@Pine Clearly we must kidnap a programmer and hold them hostage until the add-on is updated. I'll bring the duct tape.

 

[Pine]

I'll bring the big guns. 

 

[The Dark Wizard]

As long as I can role play, this site can look like a 90's school website for all I care.

I'll try to make sure the site still looks gorgeous and is RP capable !

Oh, one more question I forgot about;


Will the moderator and title system remain in place for the HPs? It's a lot easier on me if the members of the RP are able to see who are moderators, as opposed to being asked who was able to accept characters. as well as them being able to hide/delete posts that break the RP's and site's rules while I'm offline.

As usual RP Creator tools for managing your RPs will exist and be fine !

Best news in a while. I'm happy to hear this.

So glad !

 I can't wait to make nice BBcode posts again, a bit rusty so I'll have to practice lol.

Yeah! BBCode is back!
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Shit now I have to remember how to BBCode xD
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More importantly: When will the update occur do you think? Just an approximate date.
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No date, some time before the month ends, I'll announce the final date before.

Does the shift back to xF mean that we'll be getting the site dice roller back? Or was that one of the third party add-ons that initially caused issues with the platform in the first place?

The dice roller was our oldestt and most problematic addon. I was actually in the process of funding a new one for IPS before it started crapping out on us. When xF2 lands(i'd do it for xF1 but xF2 is a complete rework and we'd have to fund it a second time), I'll gladly fund a new one, since myself and every other dice player has been going crazy.,

May I suggest a FAQ? This thread has gotten really long and a lot of the questions must be getting repetitive for you guys. People could go look at that before asking anything else.

Working on it. Will try to answer as many questions as I can in the mean time !

Will we still get a dark/night theme? I've kind of grown accustomed to this sites format, but I guess I can handle going back.

Yes !


We will have our Default, Color Me, Night Life, they just won't look exactly the same, different platforms and all, so visuals will be updated as needed. But we will hajve our 3 big theme concepts.

My memory of the old site is hazy but I think we did have night/colour themes. No idea if they were add-ons that we'll no longer have but if we do get them back, it probably won't look identical to how it looks now. 

Same answer as above C:.

Will cover photos be kept?


No.

No cover photos? That sucks.

This can be switched to a maybe!


Basically what Captain said here: 

Regarding profile images: There is an addon for xF 1.5 that allows users to add a custom image to their profile background but, as with a lot of things at the moment, whether this will be compatible with xF 2 is not known. If it does work, or if xF 2 has a set of native profile customisation tools, then we'll look into it.


Captain Hesperus

TFW you just got used to HTML and have already forgotten how to use BBCode, but it's a relief to see it returning since it's more user friendly than HTML was for me.

I'd suggest making this a sticky announcement at the top of the site, like @Musician made for newsletter nominations. That way, users have NO excuse not to see this.

Trying not to overwhelm users, but every single person should have been PMed (possibly twice because its buggy as all get out)

Finally getting back proper search? Rejoice!!!

I see you

Well that answers one of my questions before I asked it, thank you mister Wizard ^-^

No problem C:

Will we regain the ability to save post formats? Also, how long is this migration expected to take?

Post Macros is sometthing I'm looking into! 


No date on the migration, it might take 1-3 days.

Curiosity: Are there plans/intent to also bring back the tabbed threads add-on? And if so, will the staff team require assistance re-tabbing threads?

Wiz hasn't been able to find a developer willing to update the add-on.

Ah, I mean like, I'm assuming that it's something that the staff would like to have back if at all possible. It was definitely something that made us stand out among other roleplay forums and I'm assuming that HPs otherwise take up a lot of server/data/something space like it did with xF, so it would be a nice alternative. I just remember something something about the add-on being very complex and/or fragile and not being able to find a developer willing to take on the task?? I can't really speak for intent, I suppose. Things may change in the future (if xF ever does something about their developer situation).

@Pine Clearly we must kidnap a programmer and hold them hostage until the add-on is updated. I'll bring the duct tape.

I'll bring the big guns. 

There are no plans to bring back tabbed threads at this time, at least not in the way they existed. Between the Tabs addon and the Dice Addon and a couple of other maintained things since we couldn't find developers for it at the time, and after several years of practically putting tape on it an a attempt to keep it together, is what caused all the issues in the first place. The concept of that system will be taken to create something new for xF2. There are many many things in the works including finally creating a search system that can accurately catalog every RP based on what it is, activity, players, etc, so you just type in a few words and you get exactly what you want to see. New RP Tools/Systems and Filters is a big goal of mine for xF2.


Besides the site seems to have grown even more with out the tabs addon, it was insanely slow for staff to have to manually grant new tabs to users, it was stressful for us and off putting for the end user.

 

[welian]

@The Dark Wizard Well, like you've said - the important thing is that the users have a stable experience. It doesn't matter how many functions and features we have, if the baseline forum is buggy and unstable. I'll be optimistic, and hope that over the next year or so that some of the more stable add-ons will slowly come back. It's always a major decision to switch software, so we all really appreciate your work.