Gir Tygrin:
Since I've been getting a lot of questions about my work on the website I figured I'll take a moment to fill you all in on everything I've done thus far and what is still to come.
1. I've upgraded the code base that this website operates on.
The MiFur website utilizes a piece of software called "Simple Machines Forum" with some modifications to achieve a useable content management system. The software version that the website used to be running was out of date and not nearly as secure as the new version. As I am very concerned about the security of each individual's account I wanted to move to the new code base as soon as the "gold" release version was out. I'm proud to say that I managed to test and implement it within a month of it's release.
2. The upgrade was not seamless.
Thanks to the code and database structure being vastly different in the new version many of the modifications that I had made to the old software did not port over to the new code base. I have been scrambling to manually transition as much as possible but there were a few problems. So far I have successfully migrated the Google Member Map (which runs MUCH faster that it did before thanks to code enhancements) the chat room and the treasury. I am still working to re-enable and relink the gallery system.
3. During the transition some data was lost.
Well, that is a bit of a misnomer, but some data is no longer showing up even though it is not technically lost. Most notably is some of the profile fields. Unfortunately this was an unavoidable consequence of how the profile module of code was updated. I am slowly adding back the old fields but each user will have to make sure to update their profile manually. I try to look at this as a positive as it will make members of the community who wish to have personal information in their profile add in more current and up to date information about them.
4. The profiles section is about to get WAY better.
Despite the "data loss" the new profile module gives us something we've never had before; we now can do in depth searches on profiles. I am now able to index additional fields so people will be able to search for people by species, interest, area or whatever other fields we want to add. I hope to have all of the profile fields recreated by the end of the week and set up to be indexed. If anyone would like to see a searchable field added the profiles section feel free to let me know.
5. The look and feel of the site has changed.
Yeah, this one's pretty obvious. I've had one or two complains about the high contrast color scheme but as someone who spends too much of their time on this website I kind of like it as it's easier on my eyes. I'm looking into implementing multiple forum skins to give people choice on how they want to view the forum but it will take me a while as I have to redo the index template for each skin to support the various forum modifications that I have installed. I'm not 100% on this one but I will be trying.
6. There's a new way to contact people, check out the bar at the bottom of the screen.
You may have noticed that there is now a bar at the bottom of the screen that says "Who's Online." If you click on that it will allow you to IM anyone currently using the MiFur website. I thought being able to contact any other user at any time would be a nice supplement to the chat system. It's more meant for short messages but feel free to use it however you guys like. Additionally in that bar there is a home link button, a PM shortcut and links to post whatever post you are viewing directly to your Twitter or Facebook accounts.
7. Speaking of Twitter, MiFur now has a Twitter account.
I'll be integrating this with the site announcement and also using it to syndicate meet announcements via Twitter. Its not up and running quite yet but the tests are promising; I should have it rolled out this month. If you'd like to follow it in the mean time the name of the account is simply "MiFur".
8. The Karma system
Yes, I know we tried this once before and it was abused but I've put certain controls in place to prevent it from happening again. Proctoring this website is difficult for me as my time is limited. In the future I hope to rely more on the users of this site to bring attention to individuals who may require moderation or administrative actions. This will be done by automatic triggers based on karma count automatically alerting me when someone has a specific set value of karma. I have not yet determined this threshold but I do plan on having it be somewhere in the negatives. People found to be abusing the karma system will receive administrative action up to and including a site ban depending on the scale of the offense.
That's it for now but there's a lot more to come. I'll keep you all posted.
Kuro:
Thank you for this, Gir.
Gir Tygrin:
I made a few updates to the Karma system today to hopefully mitigate abuse. First I have removed administrators and moderators from the Karma pool. As my staff has to on occasion issue warnings and such I didn't want unhappy users unfairly adjusting their Karma for them doing their jobs. Also, I have limited Karma changes to 10 per user per day so no one can completely tank someone's score on their own. Additionally there is a 4 hour wait between Karma given to a single person. Hopefully these changes help keep the system honest.
Gir Tygrin:
Profile comments are up and running and now rolled out to the entire user base now that the test group seems to not have had problems. Much like FA where you can leave a "shout" on someone's profile you can now leave comments at the bottom of any user profile on this site.
Platero:
Thanks for all the work and for keeping us posted!
If I notice a bug or a missing feature, should I send you a message, or post in this thread (or in Feedback?) so that everyone knows the question has been asked? Or just wait until the all clear to see if it goes away?