• Most new users don't bother reading our rules. Here's the one that is ignored almost immediately upon signup: DO NOT ASK FOR FANEDIT LINKS PUBLICLY. First, read the FAQ. Seriously. What you want is there. You can also send a message to the editor. If that doesn't work THEN post in the Trade & Request forum. Anywhere else and it will be deleted and an infraction will be issued.
  • If this is your first time here please read our FAQ and Rules pages. They have some useful information that will get us all off on the right foot, especially our Own the Source rule. If you do not understand any of these rules send a private message to one of our staff for further details.
  • Please read our Rules & Guidelines

Discussion: The new Digital-Fanedit

Status
Not open for further replies.

bionicbob

Well-known member
Donor
Faneditor
Messages
8,265
Reaction score
2,390
Trophy Points
168
Honestly, I do not know what to make of all this...?

If it was all an April's Fools Day joke, I thought it was only mildly amusing crossing over into "stirring the pot/kicking a dead horse" territory.  I always thought we were better than that, that we took the high road....?

If it is real, then there is probably no place for me here.

The new Forum design seems to be a chaotic mess, ancient threads now at the top of the pile, recent threads buried under pages and pages....

Now that April 1st has passed, I think a clear statement from the Admin would be appreciated.
 

Masirimso17

Well-known member
Cover Artist
Messages
2,138
Reaction score
238
Trophy Points
93
TV said:

wellhellothere.jpg
 

ThrowgnCpr

awol
Staff member
Messages
15,090
Reaction score
36
Trophy Points
133
bionicbob said:
Honestly, I do not know what to make of all this...?

If it was all an April's Fools Day joke, I thought it was only mildly amusing crossing over into "stirring the pot/kicking a dead horse" territory.  I always thought we were better than that, that we took the high road....?

If it is real, then there is probably no place for me here.

The new Forum design seems to be a chaotic mess, ancient threads now at the top of the pile, recent threads buried under pages and pages....

Now that April 1st has passed, I think a clear statement from the Admin would be appreciated.

Since some people still can't seem to figure this out, or wait, I'll try to set the record straight before we have our full statement ready. Give us a break, it's the weekend, and we are all doing this in our spare time for free. A few of the team members stayed up through the night to execute the migration...

It was a bit of an April fool's gag that was mostly just executed because of the timing. Because of the continued growth of FE along with the implementation of our outdated infrastructure, we've been experiencing issues for a while. It was clear we needed to address a redesign. This is something we have been working on for months. We needed to switch to a different service, and use a different framework for the website and the forums. We had to construct the new build on a different server, to switch back and forth, and that is where the digital-fanedit.com gag came in to play. That has obviously run its course, and we're trying to get everything set for the final fanedit.org design.

With any overhaul and move, there are going to be some transitional bugs. We've done our best to try to minimize those, and we're continuing to work as fast as possible to clean up for forum interface. We didn't have the privilege of working with the entire forum database during the design phase, so there were many things unaccounted for. We're working on that now. There is still much to do, as you've noticed, but we're trying to blaze through that as quickly as possible. Since we're optimizing this forum and website for a seamless experience across a variety of platforms, including mobile, there is much to do.

As for the ordering of the threads, that seems to be a cache issue, which resulted from the move. That would have happened even if we kept the same software and design. This should be sorted out in due time. Perhaps then it will seem like less of a 'chaotic mess."

At this point, we'd ask people to please just be patient as we try to get everything sorted out. If you are experiencing major issues, please get in touch with us. A full statement on the process and history of all this will likely be released later today.
 

TV's Frink

You Catch On Pretty Quick
Staff member
Donor
Faneditor
Messages
23,676
Reaction score
406
Trophy Points
193
With that said, TVs Frink really is banned.  This is reave running the Frink account, and you guys are NOT gonna like it.
 

ThrowgnCpr

awol
Staff member
Messages
15,090
Reaction score
36
Trophy Points
133
TV said:
With that said, TVs Frink really is banned.  This is reave running the Frink account, and you guys are NOT gonna like it.

lol, reave can barely be arsed to post from his own account, let alone a second account. You're not fooling anyone, Frink ;)
 

bionicbob

Well-known member
Donor
Faneditor
Messages
8,265
Reaction score
2,390
Trophy Points
168
This is not about patience.

This is about clarity for the membership.  Especially since we have a large active group of newer members that know nothing of history some of our people may have experienced with the old Digital Fanedits site.

If a similar statement or site warning  had been issued before April 1st, then there would not be this confusion or frustration.   We all know there are hiccups and long transition times to changing site designs and servers, and members would have been completely understanding if they had known ahead a time.   But you are right, this is all volunteer work and a privately owned site, so you don't owe us any explanations or warnings if you don't want to issue them.

But then at the same time, if you are going to do something like this and time it with a very ill conceived joke imo, then you really can not be or should not be, surprised by the reaction of some of the membership.

But I will shut up now and return to my corner.
 

reave

Well-known member
Staff member
Messages
4,404
Reaction score
207
Trophy Points
68
[font=Raleway, sans-serif]This is not about patience.[/font]

[font=Raleway, sans-serif]This is about clarity for the membership.  Especially since we have a large active group of newer members that know nothing of history some of our people may have experienced with the old Digital Fanedits site.[/font]

[font=Raleway, sans-serif]If a similar statement or site warning  had been issued before April 1st, then there would not be this confusion or frustration.   We all know there are hiccups and long transition times to changing site designs and servers, and members would have been completely understanding if they had known ahead a time.   But you are right, this is all volunteer work and a privately owned site, so you don't owe us any explanations or warnings if you don't want to issue them.[/font]

[font=Raleway, sans-serif]But then at the same time, if you are going to do something like this and time it with a very ill conceived joke imo, then you really can not be or should not be, surprised by the reaction of some of the membership.[/font]

[font=Raleway, sans-serif]But I will shut up now and return to my corner.[/font]

Sorry Bob.
 

reave

Well-known member
Staff member
Messages
4,404
Reaction score
207
Trophy Points
68
ThrowgnCpr said:
TV said:
With that said, TVs Frink really is banned.  This is reave running the Frink account, and you guys are NOT gonna like it.

lol, reave can barely be arsed to post from his own account, let alone a second account. You're not fooling anyone, Frink ;)

You're next. 

bionicbob said:
This is not about patience.

This is about clarity for the membership.  Especially since we have a large active group of newer members that know nothing of history some of our people may have experienced with the old Digital Fanedits site.

If a similar statement or site warning  had been issued before April 1st, then there would not be this confusion or frustration.   We all know there are hiccups and long transition times to changing site designs and servers, and members would have been completely understanding if they had known ahead a time.   But you are right, this is all volunteer work and a privately owned site, so you don't owe us any explanations or warnings if you don't want to issue them.

But then at the same time, if you are going to do something like this and time it with a very ill conceived joke imo, then you really can not be or should not be, surprised by the reaction of some of the membership.

But I will shut up now and return to my corner.

You're right, because you're Bob. But I'm not sorry.
 

reave

Well-known member
Staff member
Messages
4,404
Reaction score
207
Trophy Points
68
bionicbob said:
The new Forum design seems to be a chaotic mess, ancient threads now at the top of the pile, recent threads buried under pages and pages....

Everything is still transitioning. It's a safe assumption that anything that seems broken is being worked on.
 

TomH1138

Well-known member
Messages
2,819
Reaction score
43
Trophy Points
53
Thanks to the mods for clearing up the confusion!

I actually really like the new design. Pretty easy navigation and pleasant aesthetically. Ironically, this may be the aspect of the gag that caused it to backfire the most for some people: Clearly, so much time and work went into creating this, that it couldn't just be for a one-day joke. But now it makes sense -- The site redesign is real; only the new name and the hostile takeover parts are the gags.

What brought me to the site yesterday was the fact that I didn't receive any e-mail notifications, nor did I today. Is this happening for anyone else? Should I mention this in the "Bug reports" thread or will mentioning it here suffice?

Finally, thank you to all the admins who put in a ton of time and effort to making this site and this community a pleasant and fun place for us to visit! And great job on the new look for the site!
 

ThrowgnCpr

awol
Staff member
Messages
15,090
Reaction score
36
Trophy Points
133
Thanks Tom, I'll add the email notifications to our bugs list. You may just need to resubscribe. I know that some of us were getting emails.
 

bionicbob

Well-known member
Donor
Faneditor
Messages
8,265
Reaction score
2,390
Trophy Points
168
reave said:
You're right, because you're Bob. But I'm not sorry.

Not certain how to interpret your comment (funny? sarcasm? angry?) but I am not asking for an apology.

Before this gets out of hand, I want to make clear I truly appreciate the commitment, all the hard work you (hundreds and hundreds of hours)and the others put into this site.  It is staggering and mind-blowing.  I don't know how you juggle it all and real life too!  It's amazing, inspiring and you all should be highly commended!

And I have no issue with changing or redesigning the site (which looks really cool!!!).  And I know fully well that a new design will have bugs and will take time to work out.

My issue was only combing the relaunch with an "in-joke" that only a very elite few would understand, and then expecting the general membership to "get it" and not question anything.
 

ThrowgnCpr

awol
Staff member
Messages
15,090
Reaction score
36
Trophy Points
133
bionicbob said:
My issue was only combing the relaunch with an "in-joke" that only a very elite few would understand, and then expecting the general membership to "get it" and not question anything.

Unfortunately that is often the case with 4/1 jokes. We assumed that everyone, everywhere should understand that every byte of info on the internet on April 1st is suspect. We're sorry if people got upset, but let's not try to dwell on this. While it seemed to go on too long for some members, many probably missed the experience completely. 

We are quite glad you and others are enjoying the new design, and we hope that we can continue to improve the experience.  We do it because we have such a great community of people here, thanks to wonderful members like you.  The people and atmosphere are really the reason I continue to help after nearly 10 years.
 

Rogue-theX

Well-known member
Faneditor
Cover Artist
Messages
6,890
Reaction score
7
Trophy Points
81
It was a good/bad joke. So bad it's good? Nah. So good it's bad? Yea. But I was ammused anyways after the initial 45 seconds of terror.
 

Vultural

Well-known member
Donor
Messages
3,073
Reaction score
3
Trophy Points
43
bionicbob said:
This is about clarity for the membership.  Especially since we have a large active group of newer members that know nothing of history some of our people may have experienced with the old Digital Fanedits site.


But then at the same time, if you are going to do something like this and time it with a very ill conceived joke imo, then you really can not be or should not be, surprised by the reaction of some of the membership.

But I will shut up now and return to my corner.

BBob, you can count on something occurring every 01 April.
I can still recall a couple jokes Boon launched, like trying to monetize edits.
Shrug this off as a joke that backfired a bit.

Bug - The "Quote" button does not work for me.
Bug - When I replied in a thread, I was automatically subscribed.  Default ought to be DO NOT.

Useless Opinion - If that FE logo is permanent, it is clunky and squeals corporate 80s.  If a gag, well done!

BBob, I'm inclined to see how this goes.  OT's redesign was total balls, but I doubt it affected interest or membership.
As noted earlier, none of the crew here is raking in money.  Being the weekend, there's a strong chance someone is hollering at one of them right now,  "Get off that computer and clean the gutters! - That lawn is getting tall again! - When, when, when are you going to do the taxes?!?!"

And, Neg, I don't know who the hell Anti-Matter is, was, did, said.  Pictures, please.
 

Neglify

Well-known member
Messages
13,968
Reaction score
31
Trophy Points
133
Vultural said:
And, Neg, I don't know who the hell Anti-Matter is, was, did, said.  Pictures, please.

He was the guy who started digital-fanedits.com and made a series of fanedits. He hated OT.com and FE.org.
 

ThrowgnCpr

awol
Staff member
Messages
15,090
Reaction score
36
Trophy Points
133
Vultural said:
Bug - The "Quote" button does not work for me.

It does, but it is for multi-quote. The pop-up that happens when you click it needs to be restyled (it lower right of your browser). This is on our to-do list.


Vultural said:
Bug - When I replied in a thread, I was automatically subscribed.  Default ought to be DO NOT.

This is one tricky thing with the phpbb to mybb import. New users will have the option when they sign up. For current members, go to your user control panel, click EDIT OPTIONS in the left sidebar, and change your preference on the next screen


Vultural said:
Useless Opinion - If that FE logo is permanent, it is clunky and squeals corporate 80s.  If a gag, well done!

Not a gag; it's real, and something we had envisioned for a while. We're quite happy with it, even if it isn't your taste. Sorry, its staying.


Vultural said:
BBob, I'm inclined to see how this goes.  OT's redesign was total balls, but I doubt it affected interest or membership.
As noted earlier, none of the crew here is raking in money.  Being the weekend, there's a strong chance someone is hollering at one of them right now,  "Get off that computer and clean the gutters! - That lawn is getting tall again! - When, when, when are you going to do the taxes?!?!"

taxes and flower beds are actually on my to-do list today. Some of the forum fixes will have to wait ;)
 

TV's Frink

You Catch On Pretty Quick
Staff member
Donor
Faneditor
Messages
23,676
Reaction score
406
Trophy Points
193
Vultural said:
Useless Opinion - If that FE logo is permanent, it is clunky and squeals corporate 80s.  If a gag, well done!

Filed under "Useless Opinions Best Kept To Youself."
 

NewSpock

Well-known member
Faneditor
Messages
908
Reaction score
1
Trophy Points
21
bionicbob said:
My issue was only combing the relaunch with an "in-joke" that only a very elite few would understand, and then expecting the general membership to "get it" and not question anything.

I didn't know anything of the backstory but still after 5 seconds of shock, I was laughing at a imho pretty good 1st April joke, especially amused by the "Evil-dead"-meme and supposed TV Frink's lifetime ban. Lol.

It was 1st April, and everyone should know not to take anything serious on the internet on that day.

Regarding the redesign: I can get accustomed to the new design, but I think some important functionality got lost:

1. In the old design, you could find everything important on the front page, what new fanedits are published for the week, and the latest review on the right side.

Now you need to click on IFdb to see the latest reviews, and what new fanedits are published is not visible at all.

2. And when you want to search for fanedits of a specific faneditor, you can't anymore.
 

ThrowgnCpr

awol
Staff member
Messages
15,090
Reaction score
36
Trophy Points
133
NewSpock said:
I think some important functionality got lost:

1. In the old design, you could find everything important on the front page, what new fanedits are published for the week, and the latest review on the right side.

Now you need to click on IFdb to see the latest reviews, and what new fanedits are published is not visible at all.

2. And when you want to search for fanedits of a specific faneditor, you can't anymore.

Thanks NewSpock. RE: your concerns:

1) The old front page was a complete and utter mess. We (the staff) all hated it. Much of that info was redundant, most of the "articles" weren't really articles, and it was impossible to read it anywhere but a desktop. This is a big platform change for everyone, but hopefully you'll see it is a much better system. Articles will be posted regularly, covering new releases, movie news, tutorials, etc--not just a batch of cookie-cutter notifications for new edits. The entire suite of sites was redesigned to operate as one unit. For the latest reviews and edits, go to IFDb. We are still working on adding functionality to IFDb, so don't be alarmed.

2) See my last comment in #1. We still have to add some of the navigation functionality. The jReviews plugin couldn't handle importing several hundred menu items to the wordpress framework. The navigation won't be exactly the same as it was before, but we still have quite a few things to adjust there before it is done.

The next week or two is still going to be a busy one for the staff, stay tuned.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom