Neopound Updates (07/13/11)

Hey, guys! I haven't done a Neopound update in a while, so I figured I might as well do it now. :)

The Magnify page (our Neopound express! page) is currently down because of the mass freezings - at the time, there was no real evidence as to who was getting frozen or what, so I took down everything related to our offsite business from our accounts. That site will return this weekend, probably on Friday.

But onto more important business: our site revamp.

I have confirmed it with Drew, and we will most likely be having our (long overdue) site revamp, starting this weekend. A new layout hasn't been 100% chosen yet, but I spoke with Drew about our most popular design (View the New Site Layout thread for designs), and he suggested some changes. I'll make those and will send him the CSS in a few days.

On the topic of new layouts, our new forum skin has been chosen (See Forum POLL for the results). I will be coding the new forum skin hopefully this weekend, as well.

Now going back to the site revamp (I should've just put that at the end BUT THAT REQUIRES EFFORT, SO...), Drew said that he was planning on cleaning up the code and implementing some of the new features I sent him through e-mail.

Those features were:

- New news system
- Facebook "Like" button
- UC search option
- Easier search options (username + pet name search without having to choose)

(Oh man, that's all I can find in my emails? Anyway, I asked him if I could send him some more suggestions, so here're some other things we may or may not have discussed and what he might add if it's not too difficult to code):

- Deadline alerts/calendar system
- Newest pet feed
- Featured pets feed (?)
- Foster reputation
- Foster "lookup"
- Fostering a pet "status" page (see if the pet was accepted/rejected/etc)
- Pet description page
- Easier admin pet submission form
- Flag system for (un)reputable fosters
- Auto purge system for pets on the database for more than certain amount of days days since last edited
- Split database to UFA and spoken for.

Feel free to suggest more things; I won't send him the email until I get the new layout comp done to send that over, as well.


Aside from that, we definitely need a content revamp. I made a list of what needs to be rewritten, replaced, and removed:

If you can help out with any of these, I would very much appreciate it. :)

Lastly, once the most important parts of the revamp are completed, I will be sending out site affiliate applications to popular sites like JN, etc. If you know any other sites that might be accepting affiliates, please post? Or if you do own a site and would like to affiliate, that'd be great, too.

I will also be opening up new admin positions once the revamp is over with. I will be looking for people who can be/do the following things, so if you're interested, get your fancy resume ready (no, not really, but just be on the lookout):

- Normal Anubis admin
- Database sweepers
- Neopound board makers
- Neopound guild front page editors

...and I think that's it for now.

I was considering having special ranks for users who contribute guides and art, but I'm not sure how happy Drew would be to code that.

Also, if you are fluent in PHP and can help out with this site revamp, please post/PM me. Any help would be very much appreciated.

I'm so excited! 8D
I'm really glad to see how your hard work has paid off, Dorothy! Thanks! <3

I'd be happy to rewrite the FAQ, Rules and Contact Us page.
On Neopets, I'm also working on a guild activity page, although I'm having trouble unzipping the images so I might need somone to send me the .pngs. >_<;

I agree about getting rid of the AGA related things, the avatars, cursors and glitters.

this should be awesome :D

I can code and make all forms of layouts, but guild layouts are definitely my specialty and I'll happily help with those :3
my samples:
http://www.neopets.com/guilds/guild.phtml?id=2709862
my actual guild :3
http://www.neopets.com/~alsonse
here I've got every stinken layout I have ever made for TFFC.

I know not one of them is neopets themed but it transfers about, least I think it does.


-I'm sorry if this post is error ridden, I am functioning on roughly four hours of sleep and I forgot that I had to be woken up early and BLEGH

Your layouts are super pretty, Swift! :o
If you could code some premade guild layouts and such, that'd be great, but no obligation if you can't/don't want to. ^^

Thanks so much!


And thanks, Skye! I think I'll rewrite those three, actually. I hope you don't mind. :(

The guides and stuff were the ones I was hoping someone would be willing to rewrite. (It was midnight, and I didn't really want to edit the notepad list that I made eheheh. /brick'd)

I can unzip images for you. :)
Do you not have winRAR?

woo updates!

honestly i think the Testimonials & Hall of Shame can go too?
or we can turn hall of shame into douchebag fosters and people who adopt then retrade fffff

so just some general comments on things

THINGS THAT NEED REWRITTEN
Adoption Restrictions- what exactly does this entail?
Art Theft- I can write this, I think it is p straight forward and can get it done quick
How to Foster- i believe umbra is working on this?
LE Pets (?)- don't think this is needed? i can write up a brief description of them if you want
Transfer Guide (?)- w/ transfer system, i don't think this is needed. if we want to keep it, we could do one of those "you get this many transfers when you're this old, you cannot transfer these pets when you're this young" type of thing. if you want that, i can write one out really fast, it shouldn't take much
Application Guide- working on this! sorry i'm slow, i've actually been spending my free time working on an app ffff once that's finished i'll be back on this


on graphics stuff, once teh freezing crap is over, i'll be back on the adoptable database. we can do a makeable db, but those are p easy to find so i don't think they need to be top priority
personally i think repeating backgrounds are derpy and no one really use them anymore, we can prolly cut them out? if not, i can jack some nice patterns from colourlovers?
blinkies and blogs are kind of outdated, i think we can cut those out too

i have the premades i've already done that can go on the site
AND I DO HAVE MORE I WANT TO DO but i'm gonna focus more on finishing the application guide first


for this stuff-
- Deadline alerts/calendar system
- Foster reputation
- Foster "lookup"
- Pet description page -

i don't think any of these things are really needed?
idk maybe a foster warning if a foster is really notorious for putting pets ufa and taking them down
but don't get too much into putting info on the fosters up, it will discourage some people from fostering on neopound fffff
also i already thinkt he pet submission form is easy? how we would edit that?

ok break is over GTG /runs away

I am angry because I don not like typing on my iPod because it is such a pain, orz. Even with autocorrect on, it doesn't interpret my bad typing correctly.

Anyway, you are right about the foster info thing. Maybe we can just set up a flag system so admins can manually flag people for things.

I don't really care about people who retrace as long as the foster is aware and the person has been given a decent amount of time between adoption and trade.

Another thing hat would be great is if we could have separate databases for pets because it'll be more incentive for us to actually edit pets as spoken for and not just delete. Or for pets that were on he database before, we could have a warning confirmation type thing thy will overwrite the pet's current data with the new submission.

Ineill edit the post when I can but I should also ask Drew to fix the rules page link on the submission form to actually link to the rules page. Same goes for the foster-pet update thing so that he adopted pets will actually show their new owner instead of their old one on the adoptions page.

Do outthink we should add a trading database too? Hen we could set up a trader rep type thing for that instead.

i like neopound just begin adoptions?
i've seen sites that do both adoptions and trading, the trading always over shadows the adoptions. that aside, people are not good with keeping them up to date. we have our little trading board on the forums, but neopound was started as an adoption agency and i think it'd be cool if it stayed that way!

seeing up a flag system for admins seems like a good idea O:

also lol i always edit pets as spoken for :'C (ok there has been a time or two when i delete cuz i'm in a rush, but for the most part i am good about it)
SHAME ON THOSE WHO DON'T

Pshhh. You might be he only one who does then.

And alright. You have a point - Neopound has always been an adoption agency and just hat. I like he flaggin system as well, and since there is already one for inactive admins (that only I can see), it shouldn't be hard to implement one for normal users as well.

Uummm. I had one other thing I meant to say earlier to your previous post... Oh right. No, I was talking about s adding pets because it is kind of tedious for us to add pets under our name and have to edit it so it says it's owner is the real owner. If that makes sense!

Then maybe there should be a way where admin account pets can be separated from normal user pets so that admins don't accidentally delete pet another admin is dealing with.

o i get what you mean!
yeah that seems like a good idea (8

also are there epople that want it to be a trading place...?
i don't even get why, most trading sites turn into hot messes
p much everyone is looking to penny trades, adn when trades do happen or pets get taken down no one bothers to get that updated
plus neopound is very well known, i think we'd get a very large load of pets uft and it'd be difficult to keep mod'd
AND like i said before, the trading would over shadow adoptions


idk, that's my feelings against it ffff people who trade usually aren't that serious about it, a lot of people put pets uft just to see what they can get.

I think we need to clear all the old adopted pets out of the database. I don't think you were around when it happened, Dorothy, however a few years back Neopound was hacked, and one of the things that happened was the hacker used the records we kept to take valuable pets from inactive accounts. Our "adopted pets" end up at risk because we literally have a gallery of inactive accounts with UCs on them in our adopted section. It's neat to have the adopted section, but it is the recently adopted section. Perhaps we should put a time-limit on how long they stay in there.

I only edit when the foster tells me who they adopted out to... most who neomail me just say that the pet is adopted. :x

How would we do a flag for those guys though, hmmm... And how would we flag?

I think that there should at least be an extra page for each pet that is put UFA where it lists out all of the details for the pets, maybe some extra notes the owner might want to add...

And then for the regular listing, we can have the pet's name, owner's name, date added, view petlookup link, but then there should also be a view the pet description link directly on Neopound. It might help some other guys who are paranoid of petlookup CGs (lol why would they be offsite then), too, but that's just some trivial issue.

There can also be a link for admins to "quick edit" a pet, but then on the pet description page, it'll give you all the stuff you can edit, I guess? Quick edit being changing the owner, status, and species/color/gender.



I was thinking that too, Vicats - a time limit for how long pets will be on the database for. It was originally for the pets that were listed as UFA for like a year or something so that we don't always have to browse through for old pets (not that it'd be too hard anyway since it's our job) - maybe 180 days because I don't think I've seen any process last longer than that except Rhiow's pets. I didn't suggest it because it would clash with the adopted pets listing, since I figured that'd be up for forever.

BUT YEAH. Aside from keeping the database clean and inactive users safe, it'd also clear up some database space we may or may not need.

I wasn't there for that - the only time I ever saw Neopound hacked was the llama guy... I think it was a llama, at least. I can't quite remember since I was so young, eheh.



Also, I finished all of my summer school work for today, so I'll work on another layout design I want to throw at you guys so I can send Drew the code.

http://z13.invisionfree.com/Neopoundia/index.php

That's going to be the Neopound test skin page, if you want to watch (and scold me for procrastinating). Plus, I'd like some help with skinning the private parts of the forum and not just the external area, if you know what I mean.

SO SIGN UP. Browse around, and I'll ask for your opinions. If you see anything that looks ugly, just tell me, and I'll find a way to fix it. y/y?

if someone's nervous about cg's they shouldn't being going to offsite stuff in the first place fff
pets have to be approved anyways, a mod would catch the cg first
it's a nice feature idea, but i don't think it's really a necessary one. i think coding efforts could go towards more useful things

also on time limits
i once said i deleted pets that had been listed for super super long time
and everyone told me i wasn't spose to? personally i am all for a time limit, having a halloween chia ufa for two years is a bit ridic



and i'll check out the forum O:

Haha, alright. Maybe if Drew has time after, we can add it? ;w;

I'll add the time limit to the first post then. ^^

lolpedobear.

Adoption restrictions - the thing for kids under four months
Art theft - okie dokie
How to Foster - I'll cross it out, along with the other one
LE Pets - I honestly don't really care. I think we can merge this and adoption restrctions together
Transfer guide - Pound transfer guide? And that transfer thing too.
App guide - No worries! Take your time. :) I can link to guides for now.









Also, Drew seems to want to add ads to the site. We've always had ads from as long as I can remember, but is this allowed?

why wouldn't it be allowed? ads are what pay for sites xD

also i DO NOT APPROVE OF POUND TRANSFER GUIDE with the transfer system, people should not even be pound transferring, too risk!

i feel like adoption restrictions could be in a transfer guide O:
like "you can transfer your neopet BUT REMEMBER THESE THINGS"

and i can maybe do an LE thing if i have extra time, it sounds p easy to write ffff

I recently got access to the Neopound Twitter! TELL YOUR WIFE, TELL YOUR KIDS. THERE'RE UPDATES COMIN'. /brick'd

I promise, I won't say it again.



I dunno. I feel like for some reason, we'd get in legal trouble if we did. xP

Hahha, on the transfer guide, we can just say we don't recommend pound transferring, so we won't write a guide for it. 8)

I can add the LE thing. ^^

Maybe this would involve too much coding/changing of the system, but one thing that I think is still the case is that if a pet is adopted out, and its status is changed to spoken for so it moves to the adopted section, the pet can't be put back up for adoption unless the new foster goes and asks an admin to change it, which is kind of inconvenient (and it's not always immediately apparent that that's how to solve the problem).

not sure if that was clear at all :u

No, I know what you mean.

Pets can't be listed on the database twice for some reason, and the pets are all held in one database. I'll talk to Drew about it, but I think it'll require two databases, which I think cost extra money?

i think an easier solution to that is to just remove all adopted pet listings a couple months after being posted
then after a few months there will be no problem! And if the pet goes back up before it's expired, they SHOULD have to contact an admin >:U because adopting + relisting right away isnt very nice
plus in general there's no need to hold all that data in our system + like someone brought up before it basically provides a list of rare pets to hack

I mentioned it in my email. 8)
I asked him to make the time limit 180 days though. That's half a year; is that alright? :V

OH AND AKKY.
Are you still interested in helping out code? o:



I need to learn how to code PHP/mySQL, orz.
SOMEONE TEACH ME.

ATTENTION ALL NEOPOUNDERS!

I am currently coding the new forum skin; however, in order for me to catch (and style) everything there is on the forum so that there are no random uglies, I need your help!

Please go to the following forum, sign up, and post everywhere, please. Posting is tedious business, and I'd like to get done with the coding as soon as possible, so the sooner I can get everything stylized, the sooner we can have the new skin!

Also, if you have any suggestions or whatnot for the forum, by all means, post a thread (there!) with the suggestion.

http://z13.invisionfree.com/Neopoundia/index.php?

Thanks, everyone!

on another computer, can't remember my pw

but was looking at the layout, it's p nice looking!
but still
v girly

idk, just something to think about
i know most of neopound is girls anyways but
maybe try making the bg color blue instead of purple? like snag the blue shade from the main eyrie
i feel like this will help balance it out O:

I'll tryyy.

My original alternate color scheme was actually ppurple outside and blue inside, but Ophelia liked the purple skin wrapper thing instead.

But yes, very girly. :C

If only we could switch to zetaboards, but I think that would be more confusing than anything else.

I'll tryyy.

My original alternate color scheme was actually ppurple outside and blue inside, but Ophelia liked the purple skin wrapper thing instead.

But yes, very girly. :C

If only we could switch to zetaboards, but I think that would be more confusing than anything else.

Well, after this skin is all set we can work on other skins, and just rotate them every couple of months. That way if people absolutely hate a skin they only have to live with it for a month or two.

It will also make us look more active if we rotate layouts often >3>
At least I think so.

No, that works. :D
I thought we were going to do that anyway? Since that's what we were going to do with the main site layout.


Speaking of which, Drew has yet to OK the comp I sent him. >>
I'm not coding anything until he says it's fine.

can you make the blue darker? like the blue color of the eyrie's body
when a layout is mostly light colors, a dark base looks nice |D i literally just pb'd in the eyrie's body color in the bg and i thought it looked nice O:

i think the rest of the set up looks nice
i like the purple headers with the blue subheaders o3o

^ That

The new update you made to the layout is wonderfulllll. I really love it :D

i like it w the darker blue!
could you maybe down the saturation on it just a tad?
^^^
as suggested per akky, but i think it's a good idea too
i do like it with the darker blue though (8

Oh man, I'd be more than happy to! ;w;
(I didn't know what kind of blue on the eyrie you meant BUT ALL OF THE EYRIE IS TOO BRIGHT but I thought you wanted something directly on the eyrie so I tried to eyedrop the least saturated color on it)

I prefer the more saturated one, only because this one seems kinda dull.

But I will live either way

Made it less saturated than the first but more saturated than the last. How's that? o: