Welcome To Your New-Look SSMB!

[Dreadknux]

Hello!

You might have noticed that this place has changed a little bit since you last saw it. Welcome to the Sonic Stadium Message Board - 2015 Edition! The moderators, Bmn and myself have been working really hard these last few weeks to make sure the upgrade from IPB 3 to IPB4 was as seamless as possible, whilst also taking the opportunity to update the look and feel of The Sonic Stadium in a modern way.

So there are a whole bunch of technical things that have changed, as well as cosmetic changes that relate to how the forum works. You'll see your username above the main content area: click that and a dropdown menu will appear containing most of the options you need to work your profile. Next to your username are a bunch of quick icons that take you to Notifications and Direct Messages. In the blue bar underneath the header, you'll see an 'SSMB' link on the far right (next to the search button), hover your mouse over that and you'll see different sections of the forum, like Calendar and Forum Staff pages etc. Posting replies is simpler than ever, and a lot of the bugs that have been prevalent in the forum this past year have been squashed.

(Needless to say though, that if you're seeing anything that's a bit wonky, do post in the Member Feedback/Bug Reports forum, as it will help us troubleshoot stuff!)

The cosmetic changes are part and parcel of a wider initiative by myself to reinvent The Sonic Stadium in 2015. Did you know that this plucky little website will be 15 years old in October? It's been through an awful lot, and with the changing habits of forum goers and website readers alike I've been spending a lot of time trying to figure out the best way to present the site (and forum) in a way that makes sense for everyone in today's era. That's why you see a chop-and-change of some of the forum listings on the homepage - SSMB has been re-organised so that discussion is at the top of the list, and the more popular forums are front and center so you can access them much more easily.

Needless to say, SSMB's butterfly change into this current form is a prelude to what will soon happen on The Sonic Stadium itself, later this year - a lot more housecleaning is needed on the main site yet, before I can fully unleash the revamped design. Either way, I hope you like this new look and functionality, and are looking forward to what's coming soon!

 

As this is brand new forum software, there will naturally be some elements that haven't crossed over to this new SSMB immediately - namely Badges. We are working hard to get these back, don't worry. They're not lost forever! We're working on a way of getting them back to you.  Stay tuned on that front!

Edited July 12, 2015 by Dreadknux

[Tara]

Glad we can finally talk about this!  I've been really excited to see this transition made, because I'm really interested to see how the transition affects everyone!

I'm really diggin' the new look, too!   Much easier on the eyes and is quite fresh!

But yeah, be sure to let us know if you have any issues or questions!

[Chris]

Just a few notes to make:

• Some work still needs to be done on the skin. Buttons, in particular, are off colour. Themed skins will return at some point in the future.
• The friends system is gone - this wasn't our doing. IBS changed it to a followers system more akin to social media.
• Badges aren't lost (we backed it up) - we just need to upgrade the plugin for it. This requires a rewrite since it hasn't been updated in years. They will return.

Enjoy!

Edited July 12, 2015 by Chris

[Diz]

Everything feels and looks super smooth to me. Amazing job to everybody who worked on the transition and design. New era, here we come!

[Chris]

Members should now be able to post in this forum. Sorry for the oversight.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Since I posted it into another topic before normal members could comment.

Well, what's my opinion on it? It's a really mixed bag. I like how Status updates are a lot more fleshed out here, with the option to like comments and statuses, and being able to report them, considering we've had issues before with statuses getting out of hand. Of course, I'm also happy that the majority of bugs are almost definitely fixed now.

But with that said, there's a whole lot of negatives as well. The theme isn't as nice as the selectable themes that fitted more into the Sonic theme, and allowing users to choose a theme that represents their favourite character. I don't know why a lot of notification options have been downright disabled which makes everything annoying. I wish we could have gotten some prior warning that our friends lists would be wiped and we'd have to start from scratch, and the board overall feels like it's lost a lot of what made it unique, 

I'm going to give it a chance though as I know the admins and mods are probably still getting used to it themselves and still getting features up and running but right now, there's a lot more negatives for me than positives.

 

 

[CrownSlayer’s Shadow]

Question: Don't you think it's a bit problematic to have the Member Feedback and Announcements at the bottom of the main page?

Something like this seems perfect to remain at the top so that people can see what's up when you make your announcments. As well as see the rules.

I know popular discussion is the one front and center, but at the same time, when people need to be aware of something it would help that they see it front and center before they continue on to the other parts of the forums.

Edited July 12, 2015 by ChaosSupremeSonic

[Tara]

Question: Don't you think it's a bit problematic to have the Member Feedback and Announcements at the bottom of the main page?

Something like this seems perfect to remain at the top so that people can see what's up when you make your announcments.

Announcements already appear at the top of the page, so if there's something major, everyone should see it.

Otherwise it shouldn't affect anything.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Few other undocumented changes/additions.

* star rating system gone.

* Status now do/have the following. 

1. Be liked.

2. Be reported.

3. Can have video replies.

4. Can have images posted in them.

* Can now follow members (follow me pls).

* Forum reorganised some forums gone,  some moved around- number of factors resulted in this.

* art/showcase forums merged into one general forum.

* Redirect bug is finally fixed.

 

Plus some other stuff.

 

[CrownSlayer’s Shadow]

Announcements already appear at the top of the page, so if there's something major, everyone should see it.

Otherwise it shouldn't affect anything.

I meant the overall subforums, but it's whatever...

What about the rules tho? Now THAT needs to be at the top.

[Tornado]

I meant the overall subforums, but it's whatever...

The decision was made to move them down because, outside of major forum announcements (that the new forum software allows us to preempt the subforums with anyway), there generally isn't much of a reason for a seasoned member to have to scroll past them every time they log in to get to the actual discussion forums.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Is there any specific why notification options are disabled?

[Tara]

I meant the overall subforums, but it's whatever...
What about the rules tho? Now THAT needs to be at the top.

That's what I meant.  Their placement on the forum shouldn't have any bearing on anything.

As for the rules, yeah, that's a good point because I have no idea where the rules link is even at.

 

Is there any specific why notification options are disabled?

Because that's how it is by default  Again, we're working on it.

[Komodin]

You're probably aware of this by now, but apparently guests/non-members can post here now.

I'm probably being Captain Obvious here, but this should be disabled as there is a lot of room for potential abuse with this if left as is.

[Tara]

You're probably aware of this by now, but apparently guests/non-members can post here now.

I'm probably being Captain Obvious here, but this should be disabled as there is a lot of room for potential abuse with this if left as is.

This was disabled a few minutes ago.

[Tornado]

You're probably aware of this by now, but apparently guests/non-members can post here now.

I'm probably being Captain Obvious here, but this should be disabled as there is a lot of room for potential abuse with this if left as is.

Believe it has already been corrected.

[CrownSlayer’s Shadow]

The decision was made to move them down because, outside of major forum announcements (that the new forum software allows us to preempt the subforums with anyway), there generally isn't much of a reason for a seasoned member to have to scroll past them every time they log in to get to the actual discussion forums.

That's what I meant.  Their placement on the forum shouldn't have any bearing on anything.

As for the rules, yeah, that's a good point because I have no idea where the rules link is even at.

Okay, that makes sense.

So what exactly is on the time-table as far as the housecleaning of the upgraded look goes, at least as far as what to expect soon? Or is that kept under wraps and for us to know when you make it? I know badges on on the table, but what else?

[Kaze no Klonoa]

*bringing this from SSMB 2015 thread*

 

Regarding themes, Dreadknux mentioned that they will be re-added later. They are working on that. I'm also confused on a few notification settings being disabled as it seems completely unnecessary, although I think this could be changed fairly easily.

I'm not completely upset regarding friends list disappearing although it is a bit of a downer. The Followers system is sort-of similar to it I guess, but it's honestly not the same. I like the status updates and pretty much everything else though. Everything feels more fleshed-out and smoother.

 

This is just first-impressions, but I think we as members of the SSMB should understand that this is still a WIP and that they are still working on many things as of now. I wouldn't immediately jump to conclusions yet.

[TCB]

Eh, the Follower system pretty much work the same way. Count me in about the Notifications, but those will hopefully be re-implemented. I hope there'll be a link/icon to the IRC chatroom as well put into the banner bar as well.

Oh and I noticed the SEGASonic Radio subsection is gone from the 'Other Stuff' subforum too. Guess that's dead huh.

Well the 'White Space' look is of course temporary and I understand that. I know Dreadknux and Chris said they are trying to get at least one of the skins up and running soon. 

Personally, the design is slick and more 'cleaner' with the only real complaint I have about it the excessive white areas. But again it's okay with it since it's not going to be a permanent look for long.

Edited July 12, 2015 by TCB

[Clades Jin]

So basically my current thoughts

I'm having a very laggy time on some parts of the site, particulary ones that open a lot of "windows" such as editing my About Me.
Spoiler tags in there worked VERY oddly too, don't know how they work outside of that. I also assume mobile users especially don't have it easy either.

Outside of that, not to beat a dead horse, but just a Status Update page in general feels neccesary. Text coding, images or videos can't be seen unless you click every update individually and you can't see older ones without going to the users profile (correct me if I'm wrong there) (nvm http://board.sonicstadium.org/statuses/ ). And well, having all of the notification options selectable would be nice.

The site design is nice but... In my honest opinion, it looks rather bland and uninspired.
Maybe this is just me but I get a headache easily from bright backgrounds so a darker shaded theme would be nice.
I assume that's already being worked on.

Lastly, maybe this is just me, but the actual space? The reply space where you type text and stuffs? The white-spacing seems really random, and I suppose that's pretty minor, but still. It got on my nerves reaaaaaal fast.

Edited July 12, 2015 by Ice Prince Jin

[Tara]

Okay, that makes sense.

So what exactly is on the time-table as far as the housecleaning of the upgraded look goes, at least as far as what to expect soon? Or is that kept under wraps and for us to know when you make it?

I think we're basically cleaning things up as we go.  If we see a problem, we'll try to fix it.  There were so many things changed, it would be impossible to do it all in one go.

*bringing this from SSMB 2015 thread*

 

Regarding themes, Dreadknux mentioned that they will be re-added later. They are working on that. I'm also confused on a few notification settings being disabled as it seems completely unnecessary, although I think this could be changed fairly easily.

I'm not completely upset regarding friends list disappearing although it is a bit of a downer. The Followers system is sort-of similar to it I guess, but it's honestly not the same. I like the status updates and pretty much everything else though. Everything feels more fleshed-out and smoother.

 

This is just first-impressions, but I think we as members of the SSMB should understand that this is still a WIP and that they are still working on many things as of now. I wouldn't immediately jump to conclusions yet.

As I said to him previously, the notifications are a default setting that we are looking into.  This is still pretty new to us, as well, so please be patient while we figure out how magnets even fucking work.

[Cyrus]

I'm liking what I see so far. Slick design, more profile customizations, no more user ratings. I hope we get more color options later on, because the dominating white and grey is cool, but after a few minutes it's honestly nauseating. Not that it looks ugly, I mean "nauseating" in the same way Sonical was hard on most of our eyes after using the Seasonal Sonic theme for a while.

[Tornado]

Everyone please keep in mind that a lot of the old forum functionality that people are taking issue with being gone was stuff that either wasn't officially supported by the old forum software (and thus causes coding nightmares to try and recreate as well as potential forum exploits). The goal was to try and get SSMB on the new forum software as efficiently as possible, to improve reliability and finally kill some of those nasty problems people have been having since the server crash, and to keep things as close to the standardized forum software as possible to prevent reappearance of any nastiness and keep maintenance more simple in the future. It's still a work in progress.

[Tara]

I'm liking what I see so far. Slick design, more profile customizations, no more user ratings. I hope we get more color options later on, because the dominating white and grey is cool, but after a few minutes it's honestly nauseating. Not that it looks ugly, I mean "nauseating" in the same way Sonical was hard on most of our eyes after using the Seasonal Sonic theme for a while.

More themes will hopefully be available in the future.  The old ones weren't compatible with IPB4, sadly.

[Chaos Warp]

 Gonna be honest, not a fan. Everything is a lot slower and more cumbersome, the board itself loads slower and I feel like I have to take more steps to do things, especially concerning statuses. The new features are cool, but IMO they aren't worth it.