[Iain Baker]

Just a quick thought - is there an equivalent of a thumbs up / thumbs down button on here. If not would it be possible to add one? Quite often I see great posts that I would like to show my appreciation of but I'm too busy, tired, lazy etc. to put it into words.

[Nightmare]

TBH I think part of HLPs charme was that we didn't need that, but the Discord has it for a month or 2 now so it's possible.

[Iain Baker]

looking at this forum at midnight has just made me think of something else - is there a way to change fonts and text size on here at the reader's end since the default text size it is very small?

I know we can use different fonts and sizes when we write stuff, but a universal setting at the viewers end could be very handy, something along the lines of a large print viewer, or one that uses the fonts designed to be more easily readable by those with dyslexia and the like. Is this doable?

I.e. this: OpenDyslexia

 

A free-to-use typeface designed to be more easily readable by those with dyslexia.


https://www.opendyslexic.org

[RazorsKiss]

Just as a minor note: attempt, very heartily, to avoid putting all your eggs in one basket, as far as community goes. The vagaries of chosen forms of communication will, by their very nature, lead to a bit of fragmentation in the community. Short of some way (or reason to) centralize it, consider this one of the costs of doing business - but incentivize cross-pollination by using your *most* central assets as bridges between the sub-communities - namely, the website, including wiki & forums - and frequently refer your sub-communities back to those centralized assets for reference and the feeling of belonging. In other words, nobody on any platform under your banner should go very long without knowing the other platforms which exist under your aegis - but conversely, neglected platforms need either frequent updates (especially social media), some sort of easily visible schedule (especially video), or an announced hiatus (with archives) until there is a manager on that platform.

[Mongoose]

Pretty much agree with everything karajorma and Ryan listed, among others.  I think the overarching priority here should be to make HLP a place that draws new members in and effectively advertises the amazing work that's being done here.  That starts with the main page of the site getting a huge revamp that puts content front-and-center.  There was a discussion on Discord about how the total conversions need to be advertised loudly and proudly as Free Honest-to-God Games.  Get Discord integrated into the site in a huge way, since it's where much of the everyday chatter takes place now.  Get the social media accounts pumping out content on a regular basis, even if it's something as simple as glamour shots.  If possible, see if we can find someone with the knowledge to take point on Knossos dev to help push it forward.  (And if there is the possibility of finishing up a new forum theme, please tell me it's actually decent on mobile...)

On the staff side, I definitely agree that everyone with some official role in the community should get access to a staff forum, since that makes cross-platform coordination much easier.  We need to clearly define everyone's roles, and there needs to be a clean break between the technical and community moderation side of things.  As has been stated, we're also desperately in need of some new staff in all roles. As stated in the other thread, I am all in favor of retaining PolDisc, albeit with careful consideration of its guidelines.  And the rules as a whole need an overhaul to discourage lawyering and encourage respectful, productive discussion.

...that's not so much, right?

[karajorma]

The way I envisioned the last site redesign was a big banner that just simply said "Our free games!" with all the TCs on it and "Our paid games" and just put Freespace in the latter section. Once someone clicks on it, they can be told the true story that we don't own Freespace.

Instead we got a history lesson about Freespace.


Drag them in with the free stuff. If someone has come here because of Freespace, they'll find it when they scroll down a little.

[Sandwich]

looking at this forum at midnight has just made me think of something else - is there a way to change fonts and text size on here at the reader's end since the default text size it is very small?

I know we can use different fonts and sizes when we write stuff, but a universal setting at the viewers end could be very handy, something along the lines of a large print viewer, or one that uses the fonts designed to be more easily readable by those with dyslexia and the like. Is this doable?

I.e. this: OpenDyslexia

 

A free-to-use typeface designed to be more easily readable by those with dyslexia.


https://www.opendyslexic.org

I was wondering why that site was trying to pass off Comic Sans as their own OpenDyslexic font. Then I opened devtools and realized the browser is blocking their own font from rendering due to CORS.

Regardless, I know the current forum theme isn't perfect (since I made it but never fully completed it), but it is fully responsive, meaning that it works on small screens just as well as on large ones. So you should be able to simply increase the zoom (CTRL-mousewheel or CTRL-+) in-browser to get the perfect screen size for you. The browser should remember that zoom level per-domain.

Is that sufficient?

[Mobius]

Regarding staff. HLP doesn't really update it's staff. IMO, after N days not logging in and N attempts at communicating, a position should be vacated and filled by someone currently active. When was the last time HLP got a new global mod? How many GMs or Admins are on the roles but haven't logged in this year?

I'd enforce this, and for a specific reason: if we have no idea what happened to a staff member, we have to assume his or her account may be hacked after a given amount of time, and this may therefore be dangerous especially when it comes to admin powers.

Inactive staff members can get the Aide-de-camp badge or something should they no longer be able to contribute.

[Sandwich]

That's a very good point.

[MatthTheGeek]

And if someone that used to be inactive suddenly comes back, they can just wave and ask nicely to get their old status back if they intend to be active again. Little bit of communication never hurt anyone, and a little bit of precautious action on inactive members doesn't sound like a bad idea.

[The E]

I've split out the questions about discord moderation their own thread, as they constitute a vastly different topic.

[Iain Baker]

looking at this forum at midnight has just made me think of something else - is there a way to change fonts and text size on here at the reader's end since the default text size it is very small?

I know we can use different fonts and sizes when we write stuff, but a universal setting at the viewers end could be very handy, something along the lines of a large print viewer, or one that uses the fonts designed to be more easily readable by those with dyslexia and the like. Is this doable?

I.e. this: OpenDyslexia

 

A free-to-use typeface designed to be more easily readable by those with dyslexia.


https://www.opendyslexic.org

I was wondering why that site was trying to pass off Comic Sans as their own OpenDyslexic font. Then I opened devtools and realized the browser is blocking their own font from rendering due to CORS.

Regardless, I know the current forum theme isn't perfect (since I made it but never fully completed it), but it is fully responsive, meaning that it works on small screens just as well as on large ones. So you should be able to simply increase the zoom (CTRL-mousewheel or CTRL-+) in-browser to get the perfect screen size for you. The browser should remember that zoom level per-domain.

Is that sufficient?

Yup, that works. I would suggest putting this on the front page for anyone who doesn't already know this (or had forgotten about it)

[Androgeos Exeunt]

Here's a thing that I just thought of: should users be able to edit their own Custom Title? I understand that this was allowed in the very early days of HLP, but it was later restricted to being given out only by admins as a sort of reflection of the user's behaviour based on their actions here.

[Rogue Assassin04]

I'd like to offer a few suggestions based on the list you wrote about looking at HLP as a whole.

- Social Media Aspect: I've been almost completely unaware of the existence of the HLP Twitter/Facebook/Youtube, and despite being one of the more active members here, I was actually very surprised to find all three actually existed.
The core problem is that neither of the three accounts really try to make people aware that it exists. They just post news and that's it. Social Media is a ruthless desert where everyone fights for attention, so it'd help to make their presence a bit more "aggressive". Perhaps by generously using appropriate space related hashtags on Twitter can already help improve its presence (lord knows it helped me with my art account, for how little I used it).

- Main Website: The question "What are the boards even good for?" is one I see occasionally tossed around. So far their main point is to act as a bulletin board for mods, how to install them, etc. But it doesn't have to be that. Something to engage the forum population, get them interested, organise friendly modding competition to inspire fresh modders, bring back the monthly HLP Newsletter. Stuff like that.

I'd write more but I also need to work towards my studies a bit. Expect more later.

There is an instagram account too, but nothing recent has been posted there...

[Colonol Dekker]

Here's a thing that I just thought of: should users be able to edit their own Custom Title? I understand that this was allowed in the very early days of HLP, but it was later restricted to being given out only by admins as a sort of reflection of the user's behaviour based on their actions here.

There are two aren't there?

Aken tigh Dekker is my own shout,  HLP is my mistress was karajormas idea once I got married.

[karajorma]

Yep. We stopped giving out titles years ago. But those who already had them get to keep them if they want.

[Lorric]

Yep. We stopped giving out titles years ago. But those who already had them get to keep them if they want.

And you're allowed to get staff to have your custom title removed if you don't like it.

[Colonol Dekker]

I've been called worse 😂👍

[Strygon]

I'm still curious what mine would have been, if I were to be given one. :thinking:

[Grizzly]

request to name Strygon the Designated Cutie