Consolidation discussion/Forums v Discord

[UrielZarriah]

We had this topic open up on discord, but I wanted to get a more hard copy discussion going here.

1st off. I would like to state, I am anti-forum in this. I believe that consolidation would be beneficial. Moving to a ticket system on discord, rather than requiring the use of a forum that is actively hostile to the eyes of those who have conditions like mine.

For reference I have an eye condition that basically means that my eyes overheat if I stare at red too much. And slowly the whites will fade to red, and eventually it results in a blank red page if I read the forums too much. Unless I use eye drops, or moisturize my eyes, or cool them down with a damp towel.

And yes you can change the theme, but this breaks player text coloring in their posts and renders a lot of posts illegible.

Beyond just my own health concerns. The forums as a whole are archaic and are due for an upgrade as the version we use is from late 2021. And will likely start suffering vulnerabilities soon if not already. And as the current version of SMF is multiple major releases ahead with 2.2 on the way sometime in the next year possibly, it will enter EOL soon.

I believe that consolidation would be positive. As well as it is an opportunity as well, to consider what should be on the forums, off the forums, and where everything should be centered. As well as take all of the rules that are spread over 17 different threads with multiple posts in each, and consolidate those into an omnibus, and post that everywhere. Call it housekeeping. It's not my place to make the first distinctions. But I think possibly having the FOrums be a place for more IC discussions, the discord be a place for OOC discussions and admin work. And the rules cleaned up and posted on all four platforms the game uses. Would be a fine setup personally.

[apeppertoo]

Discord is awful for actual record keeping. It's a terrible substitute for a proper forum, its best for live chat.

Profile -> Account Settings -> Modify Profile -> Look and Layout -> Current theme (change) -> then pick any theme if you can't take red. I know it breaks formatting but it's better than suffering isn't it?

[Day Old Bread]

First off, sorry your eyes don't work well. There are some things you can do to change how you view the forums. Basically changes the colors from red and white to white and black and blue. I'll update when I get to a PC.

Now to the crux of the issue. The forums are actually highly useful and very effective if you know how to use them well. They also save information and make it easier to retrieve than discord, at least in my own practice.

Rules are, for the most part, clearly written. There have been rulings in the past by some DMs that might have gotten lost in the shuffle, but generally, you can find the vast majority of rules or precedence in a singular page. There is a massive amount of information on the forums that I think would be ridiculous to try to get into discord.

Finally, though discord might be more convenient, it's not as easy to see everything you need within. For ooc communications, I think that the forums do really well.

[FinalHeaven]

Personally can't stand the presentation and organization of Discord Threads.  Forum all the way.

There are probably some different posts scattered about that could be consolidated though.

[Madame Trousers Son]

Discord is good for some things, but terrible for others. As an information archive, it isn't very good. Forums are a bit better, though really the wiki is best for any kind of information that ought to be stored somewhere long term.

[HM01]

Theres plenty of people who have no interest in the discord. I don't particularly want to be forced into using it as an alternative medium.

[Day Old Bread]

Discord is good for some things, but terrible for others. As an information archive, it isn't very good. Forums are a bit better, though really the wiki is best for any kind of information that ought to be stored somewhere long term.

I love the wiki, just hate the disgusting amount of adds. It's also a resource hog to keep it open in the background.

[Wilkins1952]

Discord is good for some things, but terrible for others. As an information archive, it isn't very good. Forums are a bit better, though really the wiki is best for any kind of information that ought to be stored somewhere long term.

I love the wiki, just hate the disgusting amount of adds. It's also a resource hog to keep it open in the background.

Love Wikis but using Fandom is the worst. They are pretty much scam artists and bullies (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcfuA_UAz3I) This video is a good overview of why that is.

[UrielZarriah]

Discord is good for some things, but terrible for others. As an information archive, it isn't very good. Forums are a bit better, though really the wiki is best for any kind of information that ought to be stored somewhere long term.

Agreed on this.

What follows is not directed at the quoted party:

I just counted.

The current rules for the game and associated policies of the game, are spread between 17 different distinct threads. And 2 places in game. And 2 channels on discord.

With multiple posts within some of those threads.

With sometimes conflicting information that requires you to read the entire thread to get to the actual current form of the rule.

At the very least, a summary of each of these threads, with current policy, in a single thread linking to those threads for full context. Would do wonders for releasing confusion.

Along with that there is issues with how everything is formatted, why for instance, is the Rental System Guidelines in a higher spot than the Server Rules. Why is the swearing rules not just in the server and forum rules as a rule?

Why do we not just have a single thread about how best to complain about someone and get consistent results.

Why do we have specific rule clarification threads, and not just an omnibus rule clarification thread?

[bloodless]

I love the wiki, just hate the disgusting amount of adds. It's also a resource hog to keep it open in the background.

That's because the host, fandom, is scum of the earth. But that's a separate conversation.

[UrielZarriah]

Discord is awful for actual record keeping. It's a terrible substitute for a proper forum, its best for live chat.

Profile -> Account Settings -> Modify Profile -> Look and Layout -> Current theme (change) -> then pick any theme if you can't take red. I know it breaks formatting but it's better than suffering isn't it?

On my monitor, on all 3 of the alternate themes, I can barely tell there is text there. Let alone read it.

[apeppertoo]

Maybe some time can be spent putting together a better alternate theme that'll display people's normal formatting properly?

[Madame Trousers Son]

Well, it's hard to know how people will look to "beautify" their posts and make themes that will accommodate both regular OOC posts and beautified IC ones. Short of taking away most HTML-esque tools, that is.

[apeppertoo]

idk if it's possible for a theme to force a specific color formatting

[Purist]

I used the white theme for many years. If you are struggling with it just press control + A on windows to select all, it will highlight everything and create contrast.

[William Roberts]

Many extensions for different browsers allow one to override a site's colors, fonts, etc.

The simplest for dealing with this specific problem of eyestrain in my testing is High Contrast (on Chrome).

Others have many more features and customizations. This is just easy to use and addresses eyestrain. Like many of the others, while on the site you click to turn it on, and the browser remembers the site every time you visit it. Turning it off is a click as well.

[NacreCicatrix]

Discord is awful for actual record keeping. It's a terrible substitute for a proper forum, its best for live chat.

Profile -> Account Settings -> Modify Profile -> Look and Layout -> Current theme (change) -> then pick any theme if you can't take red. I know it breaks formatting but it's better than suffering isn't it?

On my monitor, on all 3 of the alternate themes, I can barely tell there is text there. Let alone read it.

Hey, sorry about this. I will set the text color to default on future posts. I actually use light mode, too, and just highlight everything lol.

[EarlofEtheria]

Discord is awful for actual record keeping. It's a terrible substitute for a proper forum, its best for live chat.

Hard agree, trying to find specific information on a Discord server is an exercise in patience.

[Day Old Bread]

Discord is awful for actual record keeping. It's a terrible substitute for a proper forum, its best for live chat.

Profile -> Account Settings -> Modify Profile -> Look and Layout -> Current theme (change) -> then pick any theme if you can't take red. I know it breaks formatting but it's better than suffering isn't it?

On my monitor, on all 3 of the alternate themes, I can barely tell there is text there. Let alone read it.

Hey, sorry about this. I will set the text color to default on future posts. I actually use light mode, too, and just highlight everything lol.

I believe that is default

[Maiyannah]

I love the wiki, just hate the disgusting amount of adds. It's also a resource hog to keep it open in the background.

That's because the host, fandom, is scum of the earth. But that's a separate conversation.

Why not self-host?

I have a wiki for my own thing.  It took like, half an hour tops to get it going, it is not technically complex (though mediawiki has some lacking features that are in extensions that are real headscratchers, so do check the extension library)

[Madame Trousers Son]

Self-hosting the wiki would be nice, yes!