Welcome back, sorta...!

[Dirktator 2,320]

 Hey Dirk, just wanted to let you know that I appreciate all the work done on the site, and all the effort gone into making the experience better for us.

That being said, of course, there are a few issues of mine with the current design philosophy, none of which will probably hold much meaning given the changes have already occurred, but feedback is feedback, and I still think there's a lot of great stuff in the update, but a lot I'd rather not have as well. I'll update my thoughts as the changes roll out completely.

All feedback is read and considered!

Quick Question:

What happened to all the members I added as friends? Is there deny way to view the old list, sO I can follow them now. Also, what happened to awards?

All your friends are gone! Sorta. Previously, we had the Friends system. That has now been replaced by Followers. Your old Friends list is now gone, so you’ll have to re-friend your buddies. You do that by visiting their profile and Following them. You’ll get a notification whenever they post stuff.

I really dislike the idea of a social media site. I get that Simtropolis is a social gaming website (kinda sorta), but the whole notion of social media bothers me. I don't have twitter or Facebook, and use G+ for the sole purpose of backing up all my photos for free at 3 megapixel resolution.
I never really understood the use of the friends system anyways, given that I had like 6 friends and never actually saw others use it, but the whole notion of getting an update every time someone I know posts something is a bit much. I don't really need to have a little notice every time they comment or post something, or upload new files. I figured the friends deal was like a relationship kinda thing, where people you liked to "hang out" with would be easily accessible and would let others know the people that you valued on the site.

With followers it seems a lot less personal, and a little redundant. Couldn't I follow users before now (old ST)? What makes the new system different, and what constitutes "post stuff". I had jmsepe as a friend (despite philosophical differences), but seeing as he's an admin I'd rather not be alerted every time he makes a post as an admin. What is the level of depth here?

Yeah, this was a big philosophical change with the new system, one that the forum developers have made.  Personally, the previous Friends system didn't have much utility, and I don't really see a big fundamental difference between the old Friends and the current Followers.  I think the Followers concept is well established across any social platform; people understand what it does.  The notifications can get out of hand but that is symptomatic of any social site. 

 I'll have to use it more before I come to any conclusion  myself. 

You can modify your Notification Settings to tune it out, but the presumption is; if you've chosen to Follow someone, you have some interest in when they post something.  But it certainly doesn't need to go to your email.  By default these are in your Notification list (the little Bell icon).  Notifications are ephemeral, there is a limit and they disappear if you ignore them, it takes a second to click the bell and see that someone you followed uploaded a file, made a comment, etc. I find it unobtrusive. Of course should it get to be annoying, the option exists to simply disable all notifications, or unfollow.

Would be great to have a preview post option instead of just submit reply.

I second this. I know you're looking into it, but previewing is an awesome feature that it seems the new backend would be suited for.

There's a temporary "Preview" option in the menu bar (top left most icon).

Also, Square avatars please? I'm not much a fan of Metro/Material design/Mac OS X Yosemite Flat style (that seems to be all the rage nowadays), but the site generally seems to do a good treatment of it (since it's probably here to stay). I do miss the floating menu bar. Having my notifications always at the top seemed like a plus. Is there a way to include this as an option, or are we stuck with having to always scroll back to the top to get to profile and account settings/updates/etc.?

I have promised to hold a referendum on the Circle vs Square avatars in a few weeks

I would appreciate less clutter on the home page, however. I like the new featured box, and the way the STEX items are laid out, but the news items below seem like such a large jumble that I would find on...I don't know really. Usually when sites look like the way the new News section is laid out, I don't use it for very long. The old style was linear, and caused much scrolling, but I appreciated the lack of clutter. Maybe an option to change the layout from using the whole screen with small blocks, to using larger blocks and only showing the news items one or two articles wide?

There will be an option to toggle the layout between List and Grid views.

I noticed on the STEX the effort to remove troll raters, by making reviews accompany ratings. I noticed, however, that a ratings was required to leave a review. Maybe it could be made optional (not sure how feasible this is), since sometimes the easiest way to provide support for a mod is through the STEX comments, and forcing users either rate the work or navigate to a page may not be user friendly, especially since some uploaders (like myself) are not prodigious enough to really warrant their own thread just for tech support. It also seems like it would prevent responses to comments by the uploader since the required rating would be self-inflating, and detrimental to the rating's effectiveness.

STEX feedback has two types: Reviews that come with a star rating, and Comments. You can post a comment without reviewing it, just click the Comment tab. You are not forced to rate the work just to leave a comment.

Finally, I know some people appreciate the new layout on tablet, but I really enjoyed viewing the full glory of ST on my phone (never used the mobile version; always ducked out of it as fast as possible). Now the site scales everything up and I can't get a good overview of threads, or the forum topic section, or anything. Is there a way you know of that would let me trick the site into thinking I was using a larger screen? My phone's resolution is high enough (1080x1920), but I haven't had any success in any browser I've tried, and I always use desktop mode/wide viewport as well.

The old site served up a different template when viewed on a mobile device. The new site is fully responsive, so it's just 1 template but adjusts based on the device width. You can simulate this by dragging your browser to make it smaller on your desktop.  Even though your device might have 1080x1920, depending on pixel density and viewport zoom, your screen may effectively be rendering at less (e.g. 480, 320, etc).  Device pixel depth and pixel resolution is a gnarly issue, and there's lots written about it to help understand it better, but that's what's happening when you are seeing the "compressed" version of the site on your phone even though you might have "1080x1920" -- the pixel density and viewport zoom is also a factor.

It's worth mentioning that the state of the previous ST came about gradually over a period of refinements and changes -- the same will be true moving forward; things will get refined and modified, but it doesn't always happen immediately.  Thanks for the feedback.

  Edited June 20, 2015 by Dirktator  

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Noted the new features appearing in the post editor.  Spell check flags words but doesn't seem to access the dictionary but simply opens a window with the word "paste" in it.

[Dirktator 2,320]

Noted the new features appearing in the post editor.  Spell check flags words but doesn't seem to access the dictionary but simply opens a window with the word "paste" in it.

that's actually the "paste as text" tool. We could add a spell check though. 

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Noted the new features appearing in the post editor.  Spell check flags words but doesn't seem to access the dictionary but simply opens a window with the word "paste" in it.

that's actually the "paste as text" tool. We could add a spell check though. 

Please do.  Asking one to check for typos and spelling errors without assistance can be a drag.

[Benedict 3,119]

Is there a way to see the bb code on forum posts?

I usually quote myself then remove the quote part of the code to make updating easier without having to reinsert images over and over, and I don't see a way to do that. Using the 'remove formatting option' doesn't take away the initial quote part.

[Cool_Z 1,547]

I tried to edit a comment I made in the stex twice and it wasn't taken into account. Well I think it was saved but when I come back to it it is like it was before.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

@Benedict:  I have rather a large suite of developer tools as an addon to Firefox.  One of them is called the 'Inspector' and it puts an HTML image of what you are doing at the bottom of the screen.  Basically, it takes the current page of the site apart.  If necessary, I suppose an external tool like this can be used.

[Dirktator 2,320]

Is there a way to see the bb code on forum posts?

I usually quote myself then remove the quote part of the code to make updating easier without having to reinsert images over and over, and I don't see a way to do that. Using the 'remove formatting option' doesn't take away the initial quote part.

I'm not sure I understand... Like this?

 

  Edited June 20, 2015 by Dirktator  

[Benedict 3,119]

Is there a way to see the bb code on forum posts?

I usually quote myself then remove the quote part of the code to make updating easier without having to reinsert images over and over, and I don't see a way to do that. Using the 'remove formatting option' doesn't take away the initial quote part.

I'm not sure I understand... Like this?

Sort of, except it left the 'x hours ago, benedict wrote' part. The black side line was removed, though. Let me go back and try again.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Pretty sure he wants to see the source code for his messages.  Do we still use BB Code or are we now pure HTML or other language?  My browser has a plugin that can do this, but it displays the entire web page in about five line segments.

The old editor had an icon in the upper left that toggled this.

[Benedict 3,119]

It is more about trying to remove the odd formatting left behind after quoting and then removing the quote formatting..

 

Look at the top of this post for example: https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/66509-ben39s-top-ten-cities-skylines/?do=findComment&comment=1578070

 

I wonder if it is because the first thing I quoted is an image?

  Edited June 20, 2015 by Benedict  

[Dirktator 2,320]

I see.. I'm not sure, quite frankly, it'll require some figuring out for sure...

[JP Schriefer 5,590]

Oh the 'go to top' button is back, thank you <3

[Kim Sunwoo 817]

I can imagine that there's a lot of work to do yet in the site to have everything smooth and ready, so I just want to call to your attention the fact that in the City Journal section pictures get automatically separated, which means that mosaics are no longer possible.

Will take some time to get used to it, but CJ area looks promising!

[Dirktator 2,320]

I can imagine that there's a lot of work to do yet in the site to have everything smooth and ready, so I just want to call to your attention the fact that in the City Journal section pictures get automatically separated, which means that mosaics are no longer possible.

Will take some time to get used to it, but CJ area looks promising!

Thanks for the feedback. That's a good point, I'll look into a way to support mosaics, it may require a new tool in the editor. 

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

^ I see the editor now has tables.  Cannot marginless tables be used to make a mosaic?

[_Michael 2,681]

In my City Journal, I had two blocks, one with a flag counter and one with Country information. With the update, they have disappeared. Is there a way to get them back or add a equivalent? Thanks

[Abrams 1,744]

In my City Journal, I had two blocks, one with a flag counter and one with Country information. With the update, they have disappeared. Is there a way to get them back or add a equivalent? Thanks

I have that problem too.Do we need to redo it?

[Dirktator 2,320]

In my City Journal, I had two blocks, one with a flag counter and one with Country information. With the update, they have disappeared. Is there a way to get them back or add a equivalent? Thanks

I have that problem too.Do we need to redo it?

It does appear those blocks are no longer available... sorry about that. Didn't realize they were removed.

[Dirktator 2,320]

In my City Journal, I had two blocks, one with a flag counter and one with Country information. With the update, they have disappeared. Is there a way to get them back or add a equivalent? Thanks

I have that problem too.Do we need to redo it?

It does appear those blocks are no longer available... sorry about that. Didn't realize they were removed.

[_Michael 2,681]

In my City Journal, I had two blocks, one with a flag counter and one with Country information. With the update, they have disappeared. Is there a way to get them back or add a equivalent? Thanks

I have that problem too.Do we need to redo it?

It does appear those blocks are no longer available... sorry about that. Didn't realize they were removed.

Are they making a return soon? (They were a main part of my CJ)

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

With reference to code scripts (blocks) in CJs, will be ever have the ability to add HTML scripts to the texts?

Oh, and BTW, thanks for the preview button.

[Dirktator 2,320]

In my City Journal, I had two blocks, one with a flag counter and one with Country information. With the update, they have disappeared. Is there a way to get them back or add a equivalent? Thanks

I have that problem too.Do we need to redo it?

It does appear those blocks are no longer available... sorry about that. Didn't realize they were removed.

Are they making a return soon? (They were a main part of my CJ)

Unfortunately, that feature has not yet been developed for the update. It's unlikely they'll be back soon.  I'll keep it on the radar though and provide an update when I know more if there's an alternative work-around.

@michae95l  Update: It does seem that these customizable features are still in the works and expected to be provided in an update -- for now, we'll have to wait it out until they are ready.

  Edited June 21, 2015 by Dirktator  
Updated info

[_Michael 2,681]

In my City Journal, I had two blocks, one with a flag counter and one with Country information. With the update, they have disappeared. Is there a way to get them back or add a equivalent? Thanks

I have that problem too.Do we need to redo it?

It does appear those blocks are no longer available... sorry about that. Didn't realize they were removed.

Are they making a return soon? (They were a main part of my CJ)

Unfortunately, that feature has not yet been developed for the update. It's unlikely they'll be back soon.  I'll keep it on the radar though and provide an update when I know more if there's an alternative work-around.

@michae95l  Update: It does seem that these customizable features are still in the works and expected to be provided in an update -- for now, we'll have to wait it out until they are ready.

Ok. Thanks. Looking forward to it. In the mean time I added the content of the blocks to the about section, however, it seems to cut of half way through. Any ideas?

You can see what I mean here:

https://community.simtropolis.com/journals/journal/5153-mikenstein/

[Dirktator 2,320]

In my City Journal, I had two blocks, one with a flag counter and one with Country information. With the update, they have disappeared. Is there a way to get them back or add a equivalent? Thanks

I have that problem too.Do we need to redo it?

It does appear those blocks are no longer available... sorry about that. Didn't realize they were removed.

Are they making a return soon? (They were a main part of my CJ)

Unfortunately, that feature has not yet been developed for the update. It's unlikely they'll be back soon.  I'll keep it on the radar though and provide an update when I know more if there's an alternative work-around.

@michae95l  Update: It does seem that these customizable features are still in the works and expected to be provided in an update -- for now, we'll have to wait it out until they are ready.

Ok. Thanks. Looking forward to it. In the mean time I added the content of the blocks to the about section, however, it seems to cut of half way through. Any ideas?

You can see what I mean here:

https://community.simtropolis.com/journals/journal/5153-mikenstein/

When I click "Show More" it expands and I see everything... the last line is "Hope you enjoy the CJ!"   ?

[_Michael 2,681]

When I click "Show More" it expands and I see everything... the last line is "Hope you enjoy the CJ!"   ?

That's strange. Cuts off in Chrome and Safari for me. 

[Dirktator 2,320]

When I click "Show More" it expands and I see everything... the last line is "Hope you enjoy the CJ!"   ?

That's strange. Cuts off in Chrome and Safari for me. 

Yep, it is cut off in Safari...  Try using the table tool in the editor and putting it into 2 columns?

[_Michael 2,681]

When I click "Show More" it expands and I see everything... the last line is "Hope you enjoy the CJ!"   ?

That's strange. Cuts off in Chrome and Safari for me. 

Yep, it is cut off in Safari...  Try using the table tool in the editor and putting it into 2 columns?

When I click the table to get up the properties box, I can't change the number of column.

[_Michael 2,681]

When I click "Show More" it expands and I see everything... the last line is "Hope you enjoy the CJ!"   ?

That's strange. Cuts off in Chrome and Safari for me. 

Yep, it is cut off in Safari...  Try using the table tool in the editor and putting it into 2 columns?

When I click the table to get up the properties box, I can't change the number of column.

Don't worry. I've found how to do it.

[jmsepe 2,038]

Dirk, when can we edit our signatures? I think mine is taking up so much space. Hahaha.