Obsidian Portal Launch Feedback

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Comments

  • dr_venture
    dr_venture
    Posts: 32
    Good updates and good work - things are improving, and at this point I'd be unlikely to leave OP, as it seems that there is real progress towards implementing usability changes. I think I have only 1 remaining deal-breaker at this point: page code editing (see below).

    I actually would be really interested in taking a look at your idea of how forums could work - it might be a fantastic idea, but you can't force it on people, especially with existing campaign flows and content. If you could offer the option as a setting that could be switched back and forth in Settings under the user's control, that'd be great! Let folks convert over time, monitor the use of the two forum options, and depreciate the old functionality when/if it becomes unused.

    The new image upload widget is... odd... not very intuitive, in that when I select the image to upload, it's not clear that anything is happening... then a selectable version of the image suddenly appears. I'd suggest just showing a simple animated progress indicator when the user begins their upload, then hiding it when the upload completes/errors out/whatever. At least the user then knows that something is happening and they should wait a moment.

    My personal #1 bugaboo: The majority of my time on the site, as the GM, is spent either editing or creating pages, which means most of my time is spent using your page code editor. I'd *really* like an option for "Old Man" (I deserve capital letters... there, I said it) standard page editing colors: black text on a white background, and I'd prefer a mono-spaced editing font for ease of seeing what the heck you're doing.

    And buttons/fields that don't automatically scale to fit the entire width of the space they're in with very little visual indication that they are either a button or a field or a section title or ? Many of the fields and buttons look like some kind of graphic page element on my 2-page monitor, with a little tiny "Save" in the middle... very unintuitive. As a rule of thumb, it's very, very difficult have a site UI that automatically and gracefully scales from an iPhone to a 2-page monitor - especially with a site with as many page widgets as you have. It's probably going to look bad on one or the other, which is why most sites have a "web browser" version and a "mobile" version to optimize the site's look and usefulness on those common conditions.
  • Leonidas300
    Leonidas300
    Posts: 273 edited November 2013
    Hello All,

    I am Leonidas300 and I have been a member of the Obsidian Portal for over 2 years. During this time I have had the privilege of seeing many awesome campaigns, meeting and becoming friends with dozens of great people and the honor of winning a Campaign of the Month award. I am writing this to bring focused attention to what I believe is a risk to what really makes the Obsidian Portal special, and that is the Obsidian Portal community.

    Now before I begin, I want to acknowledge that it is no secret that I am not a fan of the Reforge and I can give many, many well thought out and articulate reasons why, but that said, I also want to acknowledge that the Reforge Team has manned up and have been responsive to the feedback thus far provided and are in the process of addressing concerns to make things right.

    Currently, I do realize there are a lot of things to for them to work on but as a person who is a part of the Obsidian Portal community, I want to shine a light on the following things that threaten that community so that they are not overlooked.

    The Adventure Log Comments, Forums and Sub-forums, The Reforge Team has already stated that they are bringing these back – I am certain I am not alone when I say, Thank You.

    I will move on to what I consider to be the most important of the “OP Community Tools” that needs to be reinstated:

    Campaign Comments – The Campaign Comments are huge in fostering a sense of camaraderie, a great way to encourage others and let’s face it an awesome icebreaker to meet new people interested in what you are. Speaking just for myself (but, I believe for many others as well) When, I was new to the portal and Tolsmir, Stephen, and Killervp all took the time to graciously comment on my campaign it was great source of encouragement to me and my guys. I and many others have also tried to pay that encouragement forward by taking time to look in on other campaigns and encourage their development. I have found so many awesome campaigns and great people this way, IMHO, it is truly the bedrock that the OP community is built on.

    Next,

    The Ability to Search the Whole Site – Prior to the Reforge, someone could just type in a subject and it would bring up dozens and dozens of links to other campaigns for that very subject. I have to say that this is an immeasurably valuable tool.

    For Example:

    I am starting/working on a Greyhawk campaign and I want to put together a deity wiki-page for it. I think to myself, well heck, I can’t be the only guy ever to think of this, let me see how some other folks here have done it. I type Greyhawk deities into the search bar and voila you get a hundred links to check out. You then start to look at them and you get, hey here’s a guy who’s got a list, or hey here’s another dude who has a list with some cool images, you continue on and then you find wow!! There’s a dude who has a massive list full of nice crunchy information and then the next one you find is a gal who has an awesome book theme to her deity page and think damn that looks cool!!! I want to do something like that.

    The point is that by being able to find like minded individuals who are doing and creating things that are in your area of interest, it gives you a tangible opportunity and common ground to reach out and make a connection. With the ability to only search your campaign (while, I’ll admit was needed) this opportunity is lost. I think just setting up site search bar on one of the main OP pages would be the perfect fix to this.

    Lastly,

    The ability to sort campaigns by popularity and recently updated and the ability to see all a list of all of the supported game systems.
    This sort feature is nice because it allows you to see the potential of the portal by being able to easily go to campaigns where other users have providing positive feedback in the form of becoming a fan.

    The ability to see all of the supported game systems allows you to easily find/search system(s) you are interested in as well as allows you to check out systems you might otherwise overlook.If I were to join the portal today, I’d think they only care about/support the systems on the main page.

    These options as well as the options the Reforge Team have promised to bring back are at the core of what makes the Obsidian Portal Community what it is and what truly differentiates it from other sites. I am a member of nearly two dozen gaming sites and the Obsidian Portal’s community has no equal. A fact that is bore out by the Vanguard Program, does anyone honestly believe that without these options the community would be where it is at, is better served or better off?


    "Leonidas300":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/metzger/wikis/leonidas300
    "A Manifestation of Chaos":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/metzger/wikis/main-page
    COTM - Sept. 2012
    Post edited by Leonidas300 on
  • Langy
    Langy
    Posts: 364
    I don't really mind the lack of campaign comments, but I think an interesting option would be for campaign comments to basically be a thread on the forums (and potentially the only thread on the forums that non-campaign-members can read or reply to). I dunno if that's easier or harder for you guys to do if you decide to reinstate them, but it'd be cool anyways.

    Anyways, adventure log comments are already back and looking great, so yay:) Keep up the good work, guys!

    (I really like how the OP staff's responses are getting these nice replies - warms my little heart)
  • MarkGiguere
    MarkGiguere
    Posts: 53
    I posted this in the "request a feature" thread but I thought it would be good to post it here too seeing as the forums will be worked on soon.

    I would like to have the ability to link to a forum post from any page. Sometimes, a discussion or role playing events could happen in the forum that would need to be referenced.

    While we are on the subject, maybe add the ability to link to the other types you can't at the moment: a calendar event, an adventure log or a map.

    All this is a "nice to have" but I imagine it to be rather useful.

    Thanks!
  • Langy
    Langy
    Posts: 364
    Er, you can already link to individual adventure logs and maps. Not sure why you think you can't.

    Not sure on calendar events, as I haven't used them yet.
  • MarkGiguere
    MarkGiguere
    Posts: 53
    hmmm....had not noticed the "adventure log" checkbox for the wiki link. Ok, that's done. Where can you link to a map? None of the button on the right in the editor seem to link to them. Am I missing something?
  • Kallak
    Kallak
    Posts: 1,090
    I was going to put this in the compiled bug type thread, but I can't seem to find it now. Anyway, it's not a bug per se, but it's really damn annoying, so a fix is deserved. The ".description-text" entry on the character page has the word "description" in it's class name, thus it can't be styled because of the permissions setup in the CSS area. Change the name of this class to like ".descrip-text" or something that will let me actually style it.
    All the best,
    - Kallak
  • Langy
    Langy
    Posts: 364
    Er, you don't need to use a button to link to stuff. You can type in links to things.
  • MarkGiguere
    MarkGiguere
    Posts: 53
    Well, ok, I can always go the URL way, agreed. I just think it might be a good idea to make all links to content within your campaign site work the same way and abstract the ...technical?..aspect. Click a button, choose from a list of content of a specific type and, voilà! a nice clean link.

    Technically, I don't need ANY of the buttons to link to stuff, but it's be nice to have them.

    Just an idea I thought of as I was planning my next game this evening.
  • Langy
    Langy
    Posts: 364
    Yeah, a button might be neat - but your post made it sound like it was impossible to link to a map at all, which is what I was replying to. *shrug* Anyways, it's an idea; maybe they'll institute it when they roll out natural editing.
  • Kallak
    Kallak
    Posts: 1,090
    Natural editing isn't going to become the only way to edit pages is it?
    All the best,
    - Kallak
  • Belrathius
    Belrathius
    Posts: 206
    @Leonidas300: Well stated, and I completely support each piece indicated.

    @Kallak: The issue about built-in classes is on my reforge issue tracking list (under the category of OP Back End), but at this point I don't believe the devs even look at that thread despite the fact that making their job easier was the sole reason I started it.

    @MarkGiguere: I agree, part of the appeal of OP is supposed to be about making the tools accessible to the non-technical types. I think your suggestion has considerable merit.
  • MarkGiguere
    MarkGiguere
    Posts: 53
    Sorry if I made it sound like it wasn't possible at all. I have been working on my campaign for 5 hours, both pen/paper and OP. I am suffering a bit of "tunnel vision" at the moment. :-)
  • Langy
    Langy
    Posts: 364
    Pretty certain they've said natural editing *won't* be the only way to edit pages; we'll still have the option of editing the page code directly.
  • Kallak
    Kallak
    Posts: 1,090
    Thank god! lol
    All the best,
    - Kallak
  • SkidAce
    SkidAce
    Posts: 830
    Whew...glad to hear that @Langy...
  • Pils
    Pils
    Posts: 149
    Do you know how we can delete maps ?

    Thanks


    -Pils
    "Dark Sun -- La Décade des Héros":https://dark-sun-a-trova.obsidianportal.com/: Face the Fire of the Dark Sun... a World ravaged by Sorcery!

    -Pils

    Dark Sun ● La Décade des Héros : Face the Fire of the Dark Sun... a World ravaged by Sorcery! (CotM - Dec 2012)

    Les Royaumes Oubliés : A D&D 5e old school style Forgotten Realms campaign!

    (And I'm so soooorry for my poor english...)

  • Andyr
    Andyr
    Posts: 1
    Thank you for agreeing to put subforums and comments back. That was one of the big things our group disliked about the update. It would be nice to have an email newsletter come out in advance of future sweeping changes, so we're not surprised, and also to give you feedback before those changes are made.
  • Jarred
    Jarred
    Posts: 14 edited November 2013
    Hi everyone. First off, I want to thank the devs for their years of hard work. Thank you, you've done great service to the gaming community for years, and I am sure you will continue to do so for years to come.

    I am having some issues with my very simple campaign page (I don't use CSS), and I am having a difficult time figuring out what to do. I've skimmed some of these forum/discussion posts, including the six pages here, and I haven't seen my issues mentioned and/or resolved yet. The reason why may become apparent soon:

    The new version is giving me a headache. This is not hyperbole or literary speech. I am literally experiencing physical headaches and pain from eye strain with exacerbation from frustration. Due to this, I am having a difficult time finding the answers I am looking for (if they exist), which only adds to the frustration and makes my headache worse.

    I am aware that others are complaining about the color scheme with the light text on a light background (from the white text on light grey in the post creation, to the preview with light grey text on white background, to the various yellow links on white background, to the box links that are white text on light grey background, etc). This is the cause of the majority of my eye strain, and once this is fixed, I'll be able to use the site again. Microsoft had the same problem when they came out with their new version of Office; since they did not offer a version that did not cause me physical pain, I ended up returning Office 2013 and using an older version. I see that using the older version is not an option with Obsidian Portal, so if my issues are unable to be resolved, then I will not be able to continue to use this wonderful website (and I say wonderful with sincerity, not with sarcasm).

    The source of my frustration comes from my lack of ability to control my OP campaign pages. I am not any good with CSS; it mostly confuses me, so I have always avoided using it when editing my campaigns. But I would be happy with CSS if it allowed me to control my campaign at all. I cannot figure out how to edit the following: Adventure Logs, Adventure Log Comments, Forum Posts, Forum Post Comments, Wiki Pages, Player Characters. I am able to edit NPC's by clicking the "Change Picture" button, which then takes me to the full edit site for that NPC, but none of the others have an edit option for me to click so I can change them. Perhaps I'm not seeing it? That's a possibility, due to the color scheme which is causing me to strain my eyes (which only adds to my physical pain). I am able to add new forum posts, add new adventure logs, add new comments, and upload new maps (but I can't edit any of them once I add them). I cannot add new characters.

    I am having a difficult time changing the color scheme. I found the 4 color options in the settings menu. I have been testing the color options by making three of them darker colors and one a bright color, so I can see where the changes occur. The "Main Color" changes almost everything: the forefront color (what I chose), the background color (slightly darker), and all the internal links (same color as the main color). The "Main Dark" color changes the highlight color when I hover over the side bar, and other hover-over buttons. The "Active Color" changes the date on the Adventure Log and the currently active forum. The "Hover Color" doesn't seem to do anything. I am unable to change the text color; including the yellow links at the bottom of the settings menu (which took me a while to find, and due to that it took me a while to make it to these discussion pages).

    Some of these I'll be able to deal with. For example, many of the yellow links with a white background at the bottom of the setting page are things I do not use often, so I'll be able to ignore that if it can't be changed.

    I really hope someone is able to assist me with my issues. If I am unable to edit my campaign and if I continue to experience eye strain while reading or editing my campaign page, then I will no longer be able to use Obsidian Portal.

    Thank you in advance for any assistance.

    Edit: One thing I forgot to check: the front page. I can edit the front page! Woo!
    Post edited by Jarred on
  • Bookscorpion
    Bookscorpion
    Posts: 58
    Jarred, I can't say anything about forums and comments, but the Wiki pages and the characters have an editing symbol next to their title, on the left. It is a bit faint, so maybe you have problems seeing it, I know I sometimes have.
    To add a new character, you can click on the +-symbol in the right corner of the Character Quick Search. Or you use the "New"-dropdown menu in the menu right on top of the page (the menu bar that contains the link to your profile and other campaigns). That one allows you to create new characters, wiki pages, adventure logs ect. with two clicks.

    Shadowrun: The Rat's Nest - COTM  November 2014

  • deljohn
    deljohn
    Posts: 24 edited November 2013
    Quick question to the community.

    When creating/editing a wiki page I'm noticing that Player's Secrets only provides an edit window that is, at best, three or four lines in height. Is anyone else seeing this behavior?
    Post edited by deljohn on
  • Jarred
    Jarred
    Posts: 14
    Book,

    Thank you for the quick response. I completely missed the "New" tab at the top of the screen. That takes care of a lot of it. Thank you so much. I do not see the edit buttons you're talking about. I've taken some screen shots for you to see what I mean.

    Wiki Page: http://s17.postimg.org/bqr9lo8qn/Wiki.jpg
    Character Page http://s24.postimg.org/nkh6odp9x/characters.jpg

    I don't suppose you can point them out for me? Maybe I'll try adjusting my screen contrast to see if I can see them as well.

    Thank you again.
  • Thorvaldr
    Thorvaldr
    Posts: 141
    For the wiki page, it's a small box just to the left of your "M" in Main Page.

    For the Characters, it is all the way to the right, just above the horizontal line that goes across - right across from the Character's name. (Screenshots attached.)

    http://postimg.org/image/58yccugn1/

    http://postimg.org/image/d8itv5629/

    -Thorvaldr
    DM of "Tyellador":https://tyellador.obsidianportal.com/
  • Jarred
    Jarred
    Posts: 14
    Thor,

    Thank you for the screen shots. That helps immensely. I can still barely see it with my computer, but since this is supposed to support mobile, I decided to check it out with my droid and my iPad. It works great on both. I can easily see the edit buttons.

    It looks like the devs did a great job on the mobile version, but doing so brought along complications with the PC version.

    I still have issues with the colors and light contrast causing eye strain while using my PC. I'm going to see if I have that problem with the mobile version; I'll report back later today.

    (I also went out for a walk, which made may headache go away, so that likely helped me see things better)
  • Thorvaldr
    Thorvaldr
    Posts: 141
    @Jarred: If you're using a laptop, try tilting the screen forward and back. Sometimes that helps with contrast.

    Otherwise, if you are Ascendant, feel free to throw this in your CSS:

    bc. .icon-edit {color:black !important;}

    Feel free change the icon color to whatever you want!

    -Thorvaldr
    DM of "Tyellador":https://tyellador.obsidianportal.com/
  • Jarred
    Jarred
    Posts: 14
    Thank you Thor; that works wonderfully.

    I should start implementing more CSS. I found a work around to the contrast issue, so entering posts doesn't hurt my eyes. This makes it so I can continue to use OP. Yay!

    Here's the CSS I used to change the edit text:background contrast issue (I'd give credit to the person I got it from, but now I don't remember where I found it):

    input[type=“text”], input[type=“email”], input[type=“password”], input[type=“tel”], textarea, textarea:focus, .campaign-settings #style-settings #custom-css-field {color:white !important;background-color:black !important;}
  • Bartleby
    Bartleby
    Posts: 2
    I notice some of the text on the Front Page (like the campaign name, the news stream) is hard to see as it is White on a light background. But I like my campaign wallpaper and would rather not change it. Is there a CSS command or option that would allow me to either put in a black text background for these items, or change the text color altogether?
  • Thorvaldr
    Thorvaldr
    Posts: 141
    @Bartleby: try this:

    bc. .campaign-title{color:black !important;}
    #sidebar {color:black !important;}
    #sidebar .name {color:black;}

    Tell me if that doesn't take care of something!

    -Thorvaldr
    DM of "Tyellador":https://tyellador.obsidianportal.com/
  • Bartleby
    Bartleby
    Posts: 2
    Thorvaldr,

    That works great. Thank-you!
  • ruleslawyermark
    ruleslawyermark
    Posts: 9
    I agree with others about the character pages, that the lists of PC and NPC's should still be separated like before.
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