Next batch of updates

Published by Vlasta about 17 hours ago.

More updates are ready to be published. Or are they? One never knows until he tries (entomologist trophy is always waiting). The most visible change is a replacement of the old "People" tab with a more general page currently called "Mingle", but that may change if anyone proposes a better name. I have considered calling the tab "Social", but that sounds too corporately.

(Before you read any further, press CTRL+F5 to force-reload all the styles and javascripts. Otherwise some of the new functions will not be working until your web browser decides on its own to reload the relevant files.)

Mingle

This new "Mingle" page follows the trend started during the web redesign. Main tabs are supposed to lead to pages that give overview of what hides inside the tab.

The old "People" page used to be quite popular, especially its comment section. And when I say popular, I sometimes mean infamous. This page still exists on the same address, but now it is one step lower in the hierarchy - you will have to click on "People" under the "Mingle" tab to get there. It s functionality was actually enhanced. You can now search for users on that page. There are two modes. In exact mode, users with exactly the given nick or email are found. You have to type the nick or email exactly, so this does not open a way to obtain users' emails. But it gives a chance to users returning after years to find their old profile. In non-exact mode, you can search by nicknames only (not by emails) and partial matches are allowed. For example if you search for "vla" or "sta", my profile will be displayed. To make this even more restricted and safe, only accounts that have been active during the last year can be found this way.

Live chat

I have already mentioned the infamous comment section of the old "People" page, it is very very long and mostly irrelevant, with many "Hi" messages and such. The new "Live chat" section on the "Mingle" page is an attempt to solve this problem. It is chat panel that auto-updates, where anyone can type. This includes anonymous users, but only a limited number of recent messages is displayed. Offensive massages or messages with limited long-term value will just gradually disappear. If this proves to be a place where ONLY inappropriate messages are ever present, more restrictions will be applied to it.

Bookmarks

Another panel on the "Mingle" page contains a list of most useful links, all in one place, you will find links to your profile, inbox, workshop, blog, icon and cursor upload pages, etc. You are also allowed to bookmark a limited amount of pages on the web using a checkbox in the footer and they will be displayed here.

Gallery

Similarly to the "Mingle" page, the main gallery was slightly changed and modernized. You will now find a list of current and recent contests there to promote them more to motivate more people to participate. More changes to the Gallery may come later.

Oh, and the Icon assembler was moved from the Software tab to the Gallery tab.

Groups

Yes, yes, there are still only 2 groups and they are not very active, but it is a start. And maybe these new changes will make them more attractive. So, panels on the main Group page can be rearranged by the group founder, just like panels on user profiles. There is a new "Live chat" panel on each group page, but unlike on the "Mingle" page, only group members may post messages there. And finally, custom panels can be added to Group pages, again in a similar fashion as custom panels are added to user profiles - you buy a panel from Scunkie, and in your workshop, you decide, where it should be displayed. Only group founders may add panels.