Forum changes

[DinoToyForum]

I'm now considering simplifying the forum front page by removing the separate categories (the blue bars on the main forum page) and having all the boards under one category instead. There is actually a lot of duplication between the categories and boards (see below), so it would avoid that, and make the front page look tidier and less overwhelming. In other words, I can change this:

Dinosaur collectibles (6 boards + sub-boards)
Dinosaurs and palaeontology ( 3 boards, including one also called "Dinosaurs and palaeontology")
Dinosaur art (3 boards including one called "Dinosaur art")
General (3 boards including one called "General")
Members (1 board for members called "Members", 2 boards for staff)
Administration (4 boards)

To this:

Forum boards (21 boards + sub-boards)

Or I could compromise and merge some categories but keep others. How useful do you find the categories?

[Newt]

I'm all for removing the categories. I navigate the front page by scanning for board titles anyhow; the categories are just clutter.

[DinoToyForum]

I'm all for removing the categories. I navigate the front page by scanning for board titles anyhow; the categories are just clutter.

Yeah, that's my thinking. Also, if I'm dropping by to see what's new then the recent topics list at the top is how I navigate. I rarely scroll down to the boards section any more.

[DinoToyForum]

I'm now considering simplifying the forum front page by removing the separate categories (the blue bars on the main forum page) and having all the boards under one category instead. There is actually a lot of duplication between the categories and boards (see below), so it would avoid that, and make the front page look tidier and less overwhelming. In other words, I can change this:

Dinosaur collectibles (6 boards + sub-boards)
Dinosaurs and palaeontology ( 3 boards, including one also called "Dinosaurs and palaeontology")
Dinosaur art (3 boards including one called "Dinosaur art")
General (3 boards including one called "General")
Members (1 board for members called "Members", 2 boards for staff)
Administration (4 boards)

To this:

Forum boards (21 boards + sub-boards)

Or I could compromise and merge some categories but keep others. How useful do you find the categories?

I went ahead and did this. I also tweaked some of the boards for clarity in the process. For example, "Dinosaur Groups" became "Dinosaur Toy Groups" to differentiate it from the "Dinosaurs and Palaeontology" board.

Edit: Then, to help break up the resulting wall of boards, I've changed the colour of some of the board titles.

[Faelrin]

Looking much cleaner. That was a great idea.

[DinoToyForum]

Looking much cleaner. That was a great idea.

Thanks! Sometimes you get so used to the way something is it becomes difficult to imagine it any other way. I'm happy with this change!

[Bread]

Also liking the new layout. Even with the slight bug, I'm enjoying it so far. Well done DinoToyForum!

[Halichoeres]

Since we no longer have much of a social media team to speak of I'm deleting a Social Media Team membergroup that provided access to a hidden Social Media board (which I've also deleted).  @Halichoeres was the only member assigned to that group so he's the only member who will be affected: he'll lose his purple text and icons and revert to the "reviewers" membergroup (green) instead. @suspsy is posting to the FB page now but I never added him to the Social Media Team member group in the first place as we always discussed social media on a different board anyway.

Darn! I kinda liked being the only purple one. But you're right, it doesn't really make sense anymore.

[Faelrin]

I vouch for keeping his purple even if it is needed per se. I'll miss it too lol.

[DinoToyForum]

Ha. Well, it's certainly possible to have four colour-coded categories: Admin, Moderator, Reviewer, and Halichoeres. 

[DinoToyForum]

I'm trying to troubleshoot an issue with the front page of the forum width not displaying properly on mobile screens. Can someone who views the forum regularly on a mobile device let me know if this problem first occurred yesterday, or has it been like this for a while?

Edit: fixed it. The problem was with the Amazon ads at the bottom of the forum, so I have deleted them.

[Halichoeres]

I'm not sure when this happened, but I appreciate that now when you type "ctrl+i" it brings up the

Code Select Expand

[i][/i]tags. Very convenient, and I don't believe that was always the case.

[DinoToyForum]

I'm not sure when this happened, but I appreciate that now when you type "ctrl+i" it brings up the

Code Select Expand

[i][/i]tags. Very convenient, and I don't believe that was always the case.

Also ctrl+b for bold and ctrl+u for underline also work for me. There may be others. I think they're basic bbcode shortcuts, but they may vary from browser to browser, and are not due to anything I've done.

[DinoToyForum]

I've permanently removed the gender field from user profiles. It's personal data covered by GDPR so better to just get rid of it.

[Sim]

Could the recent members box be put under the users online box again?  The latter already shows the most recent member.

[DinoToyForum]

Could the recent members box be put under the users online box again?  The latter already shows the most recent member.

Sure, done. And I also removed some of the stats from that section sine they are duplicated at the bottom of the page anyway. Users online is also duplicated but I like to see whose online at the top as well.

[Sim]

Thanks @DinoToyForum!   I prefer it much more the way it is now.  It's the same as on the Animal Toy Forum, just right in my opinion!

[DinoToyForum]

Thanks @DinoToyForum!   I prefer it much more the way it is now.  It's the same as on the Animal Toy Forum, just right in my opinion!

Yes, I also like to keep the two forums identical, not sure how that asymmetry happened.

[DinoToyForum]

I also just removed the duplicate heading "Users online", seemed unnecessary.

[DinoToyForum]

I was recently contacted by Ebay who informed me I've accidentally been in violation of their terms of service by omitting a disclaimer on the forum to state that some links to Ebay are affiliate links and that the forum may make a commission on any purchases made through them. So, I've had to add such a disclaimer to more or less every page of the forum (and blog). The same is true for Amazon links as well, so I've added a disclaimer for Amazon, too, just to be safe!