Discussion of changes to Armageddon Website

[AmandaGreathouse]

I'm going to devise my own system anyway. I've looked through the cards' imagings, they got potential.

I have a concept for this with my own made up kruth version. Nooooooooooow... Ender's char once read my char's cards, he was AMAZINGLY accurate sooooooooooooo... rock on Kruth readers, rock on.

I nearly always work partly off what I know of the pc and the description of the cards themselves, but it's nice when you draw one and come up with a blank to have a codified outline of the card itself so you have an idea of at least what it could be representing. I remember I had a gypsy once who had so much fun doing kruth readings for people and would just totally make shit up.

To the topic of the new site:

I really like the change to the request tool from the limited amount of it I've seen since then. It is nice to have all the categories and everything on one page so you don't have to do a whole bunch of click-through and timeout stuff.

[Erythil]

The Geography->Maps page looks very funky.  The maps are fine when you click 'more' but it shows a condensed mash of ASCII before you do so.

[Bushranger]

As I've posted before in this thread I love the updates and changes to the website.

Really fantastic! I've written up my first character report with the new request tool and noticed that a number of features are missing. There is no longer a way to check your formatting and while you can still include images all of the image formatting options have been removed. This means you have to just write up your request and hope the formatting comes out the way you want it which is alright for short requests but for things like character reports which can include several topics that might each be a few paragraphs it is less than ideal.

Format Check: In the previous request tool there was a step between writing your request and submission that displayed how it looked. I used this a lot and would check it, go back and fix a few things and check again. Any chance we could get something like this back? Perhaps a preview button to show how our request looks outside of the small data entry box like we have on the SMF forums?

Images: In the previous version the popup for adding an image URL also had sections for the alternative attribute, alignment and size. I used the alignment and size options a lot with images I'd found around the internet to illustrate what I was requesting or to break up the 'wall of text' effect longer requests can produce. I understand we can click on the edit HTML button and do this manually now but not everyone knows HTML and (especially without being able to check formatting) it is easy to miss an image or a tag. Can we get alignment, size and alt options back in the box along with the url when we hit the insert image button?

[Morgenes]

The Geography->Maps page looks very funky.  The maps are fine when you click 'more' but it shows a condensed mash of ASCII before you do so.

I've fixed this, it's been on my list to get to for awhile, thanks for bringing it back to the top.

Format Check: In the previous request tool there was a step between writing your request and submission that displayed how it looked. I used this a lot and would check it, go back and fix a few things and check again. Any chance we could get something like this back? Perhaps a preview button to show how our request looks outside of the small data entry box like we have on the SMF forums?

This is something I can add to my todo-list, it likely will end up as a pop-up that you can look over and then dismiss to get back to editing.  Not top of my list, but do-able.

Images: In the previous version the popup for adding an image URL also had sections for the alternative attribute, alignment and size. I used the alignment and size options a lot with images I'd found around the internet to illustrate what I was requesting or to break up the 'wall of text' effect longer requests can produce. I understand we can click on the edit HTML button and do this manually now but not everyone knows HTML and (especially without being able to check formatting) it is easy to miss an image or a tag. Can we get alignment, size and alt options back in the box along with the url when we hit the insert image button?

This is more challenging as it'll require hacking the javascript client I went with to allow this.  For now you'll need to munge it by hand.  I believe you are in the minority when it comes to including images in requests.

[Narf]

If this has already been mentioned, ignore this, but could we change the vote links to open a new tab? When I vote I'm usually not interested in actually going to the vote page for longer than it takes to click 'confirm my vote', I'd rather stay on this site.

[Bushranger]

The Geography->Maps page looks very funky.  The maps are fine when you click 'more' but it shows a condensed mash of ASCII before you do so.

I've fixed this, it's been on my list to get to for awhile, thanks for bringing it back to the top.

Format Check: In the previous request tool there was a step between writing your request and submission that displayed how it looked. I used this a lot and would check it, go back and fix a few things and check again. Any chance we could get something like this back? Perhaps a preview button to show how our request looks outside of the small data entry box like we have on the SMF forums?

This is something I can add to my todo-list, it likely will end up as a pop-up that you can look over and then dismiss to get back to editing.  Not top of my list, but do-able.

Images: In the previous version the popup for adding an image URL also had sections for the alternative attribute, alignment and size. I used the alignment and size options a lot with images I'd found around the internet to illustrate what I was requesting or to break up the 'wall of text' effect longer requests can produce. I understand we can click on the edit HTML button and do this manually now but not everyone knows HTML and (especially without being able to check formatting) it is easy to miss an image or a tag. Can we get alignment, size and alt options back in the box along with the url when we hit the insert image button?

This is more challenging as it'll require hacking the javascript client I went with to allow this.  For now you'll need to munge it by hand.  I believe you are in the minority when it comes to including images in requests.

Alright, cheers Morgenes. Having a popup to look over and check formatting would be great. I'll continue along with the HTML to pretty up my requests with pictures. Not priorities or important that needs to be rushed in - just things I noticed that were gone from the previous version. All the other upgrades and changes more than make up for a couple of us tinkering with it by hand to get the look we want.

[Morgenes]

If this has already been mentioned, ignore this, but could we change the vote links to open a new tab? When I vote I'm usually not interested in actually going to the vote page for longer than it takes to click 'confirm my vote', I'd rather stay on this site.

Just get used to closing the tab when you're done.  We've tried to make every external link (even to the GDB) open in a new tab.  We'd rather keep people on our site in it's tab.

[Erythil]

Kudos on the quick fix.

[X-D]

Alright, where do you see how long the game has been up?

[Narf]

If this has already been mentioned, ignore this, but could we change the vote links to open a new tab? When I vote I'm usually not interested in actually going to the vote page for longer than it takes to click 'confirm my vote', I'd rather stay on this site.

Just get used to closing the tab when you're done.  We've tried to make every external link (even to the GDB) open in a new tab.  We'd rather keep people on our site in it's tab.

Edit: Whoops, this is probably the wrong place for this suggestion. I was talking about the buttons on the GDB. The GDB buttons do not open a new tab, I was suggesting they should.

[Fredd]

If this has already been mentioned, ignore this, but could we change the vote links to open a new tab? When I vote I'm usually not interested in actually going to the vote page for longer than it takes to click 'confirm my vote', I'd rather stay on this site.

Just get used to closing the tab when you're done.  We've tried to make every external link (even to the GDB) open in a new tab.  We'd rather keep people on our site in it's tab.

The vote buttons don't open new tabs. My suggestion was that they should.

I've always gotten new tabs

[James de Monet]

Whelp.  I guess I can trash all the files for the Arm home page rebuild that I've had sitting around for two years because I never quite finished it.  Heh heh.

About the only cool thing that came out of it anyway was this:



Yes, I know it's not smooth.  It's not supposed to be smooth.  it's supposed to have 9 phases, so it could be made to change when the hour changes, like a grandfather clock.  Meh, I'd have to remake it if I wanted it to have enough of a visible change for the late morning - high sun - early afternoon changes anyway.

[Feco]

The request tool is so beautiful now.  I can totally fix shit I screwed up and not feel like a total over-complicating tool.

[Barsook]

Whelp.  I guess I can trash all the files for the Arm home page rebuild that I've had sitting around for two years because I never quite finished it.  Heh heh.

About the only cool thing that came out of it anyway was this:



Yes, I know it's not smooth.  It's not supposed to be smooth.  it's supposed to have 9 phases, so it could be made to change when the hour changes, like a grandfather clock.  Meh, I'd have to remake it if I wanted it to have enough of a visible change for the late morning - high sun - early afternoon changes anyway.

+1

[Cutthroat]

I love the new request tool, but the only thing I miss about the old request tool is the ability to expand the main text box by dragging on the bottom-right corner. It's a small feature, but it helped with reading over things. Any chance of getting that back?

[Morgenes]

I love the new request tool, but the only thing I miss about the old request tool is the ability to expand the main text box by dragging on the bottom-right corner. It's a small feature, but it helped with reading over things. Any chance of getting that back?

That is a 'feature' of the new editor.  On the plus side the new editor doesn't loose it's shit when you use it in Ajax, so I'm going to count that higher still over the old way.  I've done some googling and don't see a quick answer.  Hopefully the 'Preview' option mentioned a while back will help you.

[Old Kank]

Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems like there should still be a page dedicated to searching the helpfiles.

I know you can use the search icon to find them from the main page, but that wasn't immediately obvious.

[Nyr]

The whole website is (for the most part) helpfiles.  Search searches the website.  Search gets you helpfiles. 

[Lizzie]

One thing I haven't found yet is the "Last reset" time. Also, the current game time is at the top of the website, and the server time is at the bottom of the website. I'd like to see both grouped together.

In addition, the latest news is -usually- immediately visible to the left or right of most game sites I've visited, right under the banner. On our site, it's sequestered all the way down on the bottom right. From a "marketing" standpoint, it's not a good idea to hide the latest news, unless the latest news is rarely updated and the site owner wants people to not notice how old it is, so they hide the whole thing away.


edited - I did find the request tool, and discovered the function of logging in. That was pretty unexpected actually - when I log in on all other sites that have logins, the functionality menu changes without my having to look for a drop-down. In other words - where you can see the Play, and Game World, and Characters, and Community - you would get a new tab called Account, or Lizzie's Info, or whatever else. The entire menu would change to include the recently-logged-in-player's personal information. It wouldn't be a drop-down without a label.

[LauraMars]

One thing I haven't found yet is the "Last reset" time. Also, the current game time is at the top of the website, and the server time is at the bottom of the website. I'd like to see both grouped together.

In addition, the latest news is -usually- immediately visible to the left or right of most game sites I've visited, right under the banner. On our site, it's sequestered all the way down on the bottom right. From a "marketing" standpoint, it's not a good idea to hide the latest news, unless the latest news is rarely updated and the site owner wants people to not notice how old it is, so they hide the whole thing away.

I think we want to attract new players, so having "new to muds?" and the helper chat button right at the top seems like a good thing for visitors to see.  When I was new, I didn't even understand the significance of things like "latest updates" - I was busy trying to understand telnet.

Hierarchy of information can be tricky on websites (especially with all the mobile users and their tiny screens these days) but I think the staff have done a good job with the front page in that regard.

I do agree with you regarding the other points, though.

[Nyr]

In addition, the latest news is -usually- immediately visible to the left or right of most game sites I've visited, right under the banner. On our site, it's sequestered all the way down on the bottom right. From a "marketing" standpoint, it's not a good idea to hide the latest news, unless the latest news is rarely updated and the site owner wants people to not notice how old it is, so they hide the whole thing away.

That's definitely one way to do it, but we put all new player stuff up front because we think that is probably more important for people that have no idea what this game is about.

edited - I did find the request tool, and discovered the function of logging in. That was pretty unexpected actually - when I log in on all other sites that have logins, the functionality menu changes without my having to look for a drop-down. In other words - where you can see the Play, and Game World, and Characters, and Community - you would get a new tab called Account, or Lizzie's Info, or whatever else. The entire menu would change to include the recently-logged-in-player's personal information. It wouldn't be a drop-down without a label.

Horizontal screen real estate:  There's only so much of it!  Where would you put it?

[Morgenes]

We fought long and hard over just the right amount of things to put on that menu.  Due to mobile concerns the # of items can't be that big.  We do change the bar, it has a person, indicating your account, right there where the Login button was.  The hope would be, even if not immediately obvious, you would get it.  

Edited to address other points:

We are holding back the last update time for now, it was being abused, we'd rather not publish it for now.  We will work on making it not as much of an issue and publish it again when we feel safe.

As for the location of the 'current server time'.  Honestly I don't like it being on the front page at all.  I don't want it right next to the in game time, as that is there as an aesthetic thing, drawing you into the world, and as a header only on the front page.  I stuck the current server time somewhere where I could find some space, it was a last minute add and not nearly as thought out as I would have liked.  

So, other than putting it up with the current in game time (which I'm not going to do), or move the current in game time (which I'm not going to do) where would you suggest the current server time go?  Only other place I could possibly see is in the footer, or below the footer, but I feel that would hide it even more.

When I get past all the remaining 'tweaks' that are ongoing every day (mostly to staff-side things), I will come back around to the front page.  My plan is to make it more like a desktop once you've logged in that shows you your account information, which I think will resolve a lot of your concerns.

[Old Kank]

The whole website is (for the most part) helpfiles.  Search searches the website.  Search gets you helpfiles. 

I think that's pretty awesome, especially the easier-to-update functionality of it all.

But my point is - and maybe I'm alone in this - I had to come read this thread to figure that out.  I went to look up a helpfile and checked all the subject headings and things while looking for it, and eventually had to pull up the old website.  I see the little magnifying glass/search buttons so often on apps and websites that I just gloss over them without ever thinking about what they might be used for.  I think if I were a new player six months from now, when this thread is old and buried, I'd just assume the helpfiles weren't on the website.

I think it's a great feature that's being buried beneath a pretty generic and ubiquitous button, and that seems like a shame.

[Morgenes]

The whole website is (for the most part) helpfiles.  Search searches the website.  Search gets you helpfiles. 

I think that's pretty awesome, especially the easier-to-update functionality of it all.

But my point is - and maybe I'm alone in this - I had to come read this thread to figure that out.  I went to look up a helpfile and checked all the subject headings and things while looking for it, and eventually had to pull up the old website.  I see the little magnifying glass/search buttons so often on apps and websites that I just gloss over them without ever thinking about what they might be used for.  I think if I were a new player six months from now, when this thread is old and buried, I'd just assume the helpfiles weren't on the website.

I think it's a great feature that's being buried beneath a pretty generic and ubiquitous button, and that seems like a shame.

I'd argue that you're used to the way the old site used to work, where helpfiles were auxiliary to the rest of the documentation.  A new player doesn't have that history, so they're going to go through our menu, or use our search button if they're looking for things. 

[Maso]

Yeah, I really think that all the information is just there for new players anyway. It's not hidden or obscured by multiple, confusing sections etc etc. It's actually a really great sitemap and hierarchy, it should be a doddle for them to navigate. Very nicely done guys.