Info Common Questions Concerning the Update

[Kazu]

Hello everyone! As my title might suggest, I'm here to give you some answers to the questions you've been looking for! That is... if you haven't already found an answer to them yet! 


I know many people are bustling here and there trying to grasp just what the heck is going on, but have no fear! I'll try my best to give you what I've hoarded up in my little pea-sized brain. *taps head*


Q: Um... how do I mention users again?


Just type in @Username. I've found that I need to click on the list that the site gives me, and when the name is highlighted, I know that it'll mention them.


Q: Ooh, we can use gifs as our profile pics?


Yes, we can! :smile2:   


Q: My reputation changed?! 


I will be quoting @welian here for the answer:

The site's search index is like a table of contents, it tells the database where to go to find information. As the site continues to reorganize and rebuild the search index, it will also be recounting items that the new software calls "Reputation Activity". So, numbers will jump around until the site is full done re indexing. Until then, some people will have artificially low or high numbers due to content that is not yet properly indexed.

Q: Wait! Woah! What happened to my followers?!


If you were an ancient user before the big redesign came, unfortunately your little pack of stalkers followers weren't able to follow along on your journey. Quite sorry for the inconvenience if you were a popular person, but you'll just have to catch 'em all again! You can do it! Your faboo will shine once more!


Q: My old status posts... poofed? 


They are still there! Just got some invisible ink put on 'em! You should be able to find your old status messages from the pre-update by going on your profile, clicking "See my activity", and then go look through the tab "All Activity", choose "Status Updates" and ta-da! They should be listed there along with your more recent ones. You should also be able to find your old Topics and Posts listed as well so if you want to start digging, your profile is a great place to start! (If you need more help with this, I made a tutorial with screenshots in the comments!  :smile1: )


Q: Why did the site have to update? 


Thanks to @ApfelSeine, this is their given explanation on the matter:

Why did the site have to update? Well according to the explanation given, it's because the site was on track to breaking with the current system. Perhaps it would have been okay for a while, but eventually it would have broken. I'm a firm believer in the principle of changing things quickly if things are going to have to be changed. The change was a necessary one. It's not going to undo itself because that would defeat the purpose of changing what the site is using to run.

Q: M-my beautiful BBCode...


*pat* *pat* BBCodes were a fine thing and the people who used it with proficiency are admirable in their efforts. Unfortunately, the program they will be using to run RpNation is no longer compatible with it. The old system of BBCode is outdated (just think of trying to put a 3DS game into a DS Lite - you can't, and if you somehow manage to put the cartridge in... well, you've done broke it), but thankfully the same customization will be made available. It'll take a bit of practice and time, but it's a learning experience, Reader-chan/kun.


Q: What's up with roleplays now? Everything is so separated, it's such a pain to move around! Can't we go back to the tabs system?


I fully agree, it is a pain. But the staff didn't have much of a choice. The tabs add-on was on its way to breaking, not to mention also slowly breaking the site, so it would have had to go soon either way. By switching hosts, the previous add-ons had to be left behind because they were unfortunately incompatible. 


The staff are looking for replacements, and not to mention also making sure that the replacements are going to be adequately supported by whoever developed it. The problem with the old ones is that while the software for the forum was being updated, the add-ons were not, and so kept falling further and further behind. 


Q: Honestly, why release the site so early if it ain't finished yet? 


People want to RP. There were quite a few people anxiously waiting for the site to be back up so they could go right back into their RPs, interact with their fellow RpNationians, and many other things. It is now and it's working. The staff would still be continuing to update and stomp out any bugs that will pop up in the future either way, but it would've been months or maybe even years before things would be thought of as "finished" if they had decided to keep this place down. I would probably have forgotten about the site by then if they were to do that, thanks to my all forgetting memory, and if I hadn't forgotten I would be itching to just give it up and deem the project as dead. Everything definitely needs to be polished, some completed, but it's a functional site and I haven't come across many bugs so far. You just have to be patient~


And thirdly, they need to have it online before they can convert any of the old threads over. 


This is just what I can remember from the top of my head. If you have anymore, feel free to ask below in the comments! 

 

[Dugym]

Thank you! This was helpful.

 

[Kazu]

Thank you! This was helpful.

Glad to be of help! I'll probably be editing this later today, since right now I'm really sleep deprived and I'll see all those ugly grammatical errors. :'D

 

[Kazu]

Okay! Finally got around to taking some screenshots...


Here's how you can find your old threads nice and easy!





STEP ONE! 


CLICK ON THE OPTION I HAVE CIRCLED IN RED. YOU CAN FIND IT ON YOUR PROFILE.





STEP TWO!


LOOK AT THE BIG LIST. LOOK THROUGH THEM CAREFULLY. THIS IS WHERE YOU WILL FIND YOUR BELOVED TREASURES.





STEP THREE!


LOOK THROUGH THEM. AS YOU CAN SEE HERE, I WAS SUCCESSFUL AND FOUND A STATUS FROM JULY 24TH. >:3 





AND HERE IS WHERE YOU'LL FIND OLD RPS


REMEMBER THAT ALL THE TABS HAVE BEEN REPLACED AND ALL OF THEM ARE NOW SEPARATE THREADS. YOU MUST LOOK CAREFULLY. THAT IS ALL. 


I HOPED I HELPED.


TYPING IN CAPS IS WEIRD

 

[cupidcreep]

Very helpful to users who are confused. I appreciate you for making this, thanks!

 

[Girouette]

Okay but.

We're forgetting the most important question.

Where's the chat system?

...Joking. Slightly.

 

[Kazu]

Okay but.

We're forgetting the most important question.

Where's the chat system?

...Joking. Slightly.

Which chat system? Status messages? PMs? OOCs? 

 

[Girouette]

Eh. I was mostly kidding, my dreams for chat on RPN like we had before have gone farrrrr away already ^-^

 

[Fazy]

THANK YOUUUUU

 

[Aura Of Twilight]

Thank you for the answers! I just have one more question. How do we turn the alerts back on? I'm part of a few threads and am not getting a alert whenever someone posts something. Sorry if the question seems stupid. ^^

 

[Obsessed]

As far as I know, last year, gif profile pictures were not allowed, but I seethey were allowed then banned again?


And are gif cover photos allowed

 

[Dugym]

Thank you for the answers! I just have one more question. How do we turn the alerts back on? I'm part of a few threads and am not getting a alert whenever someone posts something. Sorry if the question seems stupid. ^^

You lost all your watched threads. We all did. 

 

[Kazu]

THANK YOUUUUU

You're welcome!

Thank you for the answers! I just have one more question. How do we turn the alerts back on? I'm part of a few threads and am not getting a alert whenever someone posts something. Sorry if the question seems stupid. ^^

Go into your Account Settings, and look around a bit. It might a bit different on yours since I noticed that a few things move around a bit with each theme a person uses, but there should be an option called "Notification Settings" after you click on Account Settings (which you can find listed when you click on your name on the top corner of the page). However, for your problems, all the threads that you were watching before the update are now unwatched by you. 

As far as I know, last year, gif profile pictures were not allowed, but I seethey were allowed then banned again?


And are gif cover photos allowed

I just heard about it from Sunkissed, so I added it to my list. So far, there's no word (as far as I know) about gif covers, so I'll leave them out for now. Seeing as I have a gif cover myself, I might be unknowingly breaking a rule, eheh.

 

[Life.]

Thank you for the answers! I just have one more question. How do we turn the alerts back on? I'm part of a few threads and am not getting a alert whenever someone posts something. Sorry if the question seems stupid. ^^

Actually we don't "watch" threads now, we "follow" them. So if you click under "Manage Followed Content" under the "Account" drop-down option this is where you can manage what threads you can get notifications from. And to change your preferences of notifications (cause you can receive emails now notifying you if someone has posted back on a thread) it's under the "Notification Settings" under "Account Settings".  Now as for threads you were previously watching in the old site you'll probably have to find under your activities which Kazu has pointed out. Otherwise this is all I know. I hope this helped! 

As far as I know, last year, gif profile pictures were not allowed, but I seethey were allowed then banned again?


And are gif cover photos allowed

Gif profile pictures were never allowed to begin with from what I know. Users probably thought with the new update they could have gif profile pictures but I guess that's not the case. I would think this would go the same for gif cover photos. 

 

[Obsessed]

I just heard about it from Sunkissed, so I added it to my list. So far, there's no word (as far as I know) about gif covers, so I'll leave them out for now. Seeing as I have a gif cover myself, I might be unknowingly breaking a rule, eheh.

I'll make a gif my cover photo then. So if I get a warning point, I know I'm not only the one

 

[Meredith]

This is a really nice thread. Mind if I add a couple questions/answers?


Q: How do I convert my roleplay to the new system?


Well, fortunately, this is pretty easy once you get the name of it. It might take a couple tabs, though!


The first step - go to the top of the page and open the 'support' thing at the top.


Second step - make a new forum roleplay in the forum you want it in. (Fantasy, Futuristic, etc .)


Third step - if you can, go look through your content, and give us a link to the roleplay. (We really appreciate it!)


Fourth step - put both of those links in the support request, along with the name of your roleplay.


Fifth step - keep an eye on the ticket - staff may reply asking a question or telling you it's done.


Q: What about 1x1s?


1x1s are staying in one thread, at least for now, as in a 1x1 it makes just as much sense to put characters first (and edit new ones into your first post) as it does to use the new method of roleplaying. For old ones, link the characters/OOC thread in one of the first posts.


Also, thank you for making this - I think a lot of users are confused right now.

 

[AlbaGuBrath]

Ahh, this is very helpful! And probably makes life a lot easier for the poor souls having to deal with this flood of questions... (x


I had a couple questions as well, mostly dealing with whether things have disappeared or where they are now/have changed into.


First, bookmarks. I only had a couple, so I'm not terribly excited, but I'm sure other users had many more. I'm not finding them on my profile, but that doesn't mean they're not there. (Public Service Announcement: Trying to learn the new site for the first time from a phone is not a great experience...)


So, I guess my question is 1) do we still have bookmarks? 2) where can we find them, if they are still around and 3) is there some sort of equivalent of they're not?


I also was curious about this new like/follow system. I don't see any of the cute little icons ("Funny", "Spooky", etc.) anywhere, just a Like button. Exploring my profile and other users' while trying to figure out how everything works, I noticed a "Community Reputation" bar. Is this the equivalent of the old system? How is it supposed to work? Are those little arrow things related to it?


Third, I understand that all old roleplays are backed up and stored on-site to be transitioned into the new system. Is this also the case for old discussion threads and such? Also, is there a deadline for when they must be moved or deleted, or will they be in storage indefinitely?


Finally, are there plans for a thorough site-wite explanation of all the things that have changed, how they work, etc.? I realise that would be a lot of work (though if this thread does well, I bet it would save a lot!) but it might be helpful. If nothing else, it might help to stem the hate-mail (so to speak) that seems to be popping up. Perhaps, once this thread has exhausted as many questions as possible, it could be stickied or remade as a FAQ?

 

[Meredith]

Ahh, this is very helpful! And probably makes life a lot easier for the poor souls having to deal with this flood of questions... (x


I had a couple questions as well, mostly dealing with whether things have disappeared or where they are now/have changed into.


First, bookmarks. I only had a couple, so I'm not terribly excited, but I'm sure other users had many more. I'm not finding them on my profile, but that doesn't mean they're not there. (Public Service Announcement: Trying to learn the new site for the first time from a phone is not a great experience...)


So, I guess my question is 1) do we still have bookmarks? 2) where can we find them, if they are still around and 3) is there some sort of equivalent of they're not?


I also was curious about this new like/follow system. I don't see any of the cute little icons ("Funny", "Spooky", etc.) anywhere, just a Like button. Exploring my profile and other users' while trying to figure out how everything works, I noticed a "Community Reputation" bar. Is this the equivalent of the old system? How is it supposed to work? Are those little arrow things related to it?


Third, I understand that all old roleplays are backed up and stored on-site to be transitioned into the new system. Is this also the case for old discussion threads and such? Also, is there a deadline for when they must be moved or deleted, or will they be in storage indefinitely?


Finally, are there plans for a thorough site-wite explanation of all the things that have changed, how they work, etc.? I realise that would be a lot of work (though if this thread does well, I bet it would save a lot!) but it might be helpful. If nothing else, it might help to stem the hate-mail (so to speak) that seems to be popping up. Perhaps, once this thread has exhausted as many questions as possible, it could be stickied or remade as a FAQ?

Bookmarks still work - I think existing ones were lost. You can bookmark posts at the bottom, though.


Reputation is just like a like system - it's what it looks like out of the box. Hopefully we'll get custom likes back.


Old discussion threads are just being reprefixed. There's nothing wrong with them, go have fun!


And we're trying to make tutorials once we have some time to. Right now, moving RPs and helping users is a priority. 

 

[AnimeGenork]

This helps, I'll admit, but I still have one question, and this is sort of specific. 


A page or two from my RP has disappeared, and those posts are nowhere to be found. Is there a specific reason for this, or will they appear at some point like POOF? We were going to start a story arc from Fairy Tail, and some of the posts leading up to it are now gone.

 

[AlbaGuBrath]

Thank you very much! That definitely was helpful.


And I found the bookmarks right after posting and felt like a dum-dum... (x


Sure, I understand y'all are really busy right now. You're doing a great job! This new system is a bit overwealming and hard to get used to, but it is pretty neat and seems like it will get easier with time. (:

 

[Meredith]

This helps, I'll admit, but I still have one question, and this is sort of specific. 


A page or two from my RP has disappeared, and those posts are nowhere to be found. Is there a specific reason for this, or will they appear at some point like POOF? We were going to start a story arc from Fairy Tail, and some of the posts leading up to it are now gone.

That's.. weird. Can you file a support ticket with the link to the roleplay?

 

[AnimeGenork]

Will do!

 

[Meredith]

Thank you very much! That definitely was helpful.


And I found the bookmarks right after posting and felt like a dum-dum... (x


Sure, I understand y'all are really busy right now. You're doing a great job! This new system is a bit overwealming and hard to get used to, but it is pretty neat and seems like it will get easier with time. (:

Yeah - to my understanding, the site that merged with RpN (in the days of yore) had forums that worked almost like this. It'll be a welcome change, once people get used to it, or at least I think so!

 

[CarpeNoctem1213]

Will the RP tags, "Detailed," etc. be coming back as everything gets sorted, as well? I've been wondering that for a bit.

 

[Meredith]

Will the RP tags, "Detailed," etc. be coming back as everything gets sorted, as well? I've been wondering that for a bit.

I don't believe so. You can tag a roleplay as 'detailed' upon creation, though - or anything else. Tag it as multi-para, lit, lit+ - a lot of things can communicate the same as a prefix.