Obsidian Portal Launch Feedback

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Comments

  • SkidAce
    SkidAce
    Posts: 830
    Is anyone able to embed or upload any images?

    I click on the "Image Embed" button in the edit field of a wiki page and the page freezes and must be terminated.
  • darkpaladin45
    darkpaladin45
    Posts: 1
    The Good:
    -For the most part, I like the layout of the dashboard.

    The Bad
    - Sub-forums are gone
    - Extremely poor use of screen real estate on Wiki, Adventure Log, Characters, etc. This includes the large empty spaces on the sides, but especially the space above the banner. The Obsidian Portal dragon looks cool, but it adds nearly two inches of empty space at the top of the page.
    - No option to edit forum posts, or even delete the post
    - No comments on the Adventure logs
    - The aforementioned colors of text, links, etc.
  • SkidAce
    SkidAce
    Posts: 830
    And since I took the time to type this post and get a beer it worked, that was a long load time.

    Disregard.
  • The_D
    The_D
    Posts: 9 edited October 2013
    I see that you're already aware of the complaints about subforums, but I feel I should add my voice for no other reason than an inflated sense of self worth... My group has been using the forums to keep track of certain information and role playing outside of the table, and organization is key to making it useful as a tool for that. Also, I am planning to start an entirely play-by-post RPG on OP, but without organized and separated forums, that is basically impossible. At least the way I want to run it.

    Also, I don't understand why using an ellipsis changes the font of the surrounding text. Is that a coding issue? It comes up quite a bit when typing in character, so this is potentially a big impact for our group, as we do use the forums for a lot of in character discussions. Is there a way around this? I'm not super familiar with HTML, so if it is something to do with that, I'd appreciate any help with some way to make that not happen. If it's a bug, then... well, I look forward to its correction.
    Post edited by The_D on
  • Langy
    Langy
    Posts: 364
    Adventure Log comments are coming back, as are forum post editing buttons. Sub-Forums _may_ return, but we haven't been told that's something they're actually working on yet. Screen real estate and text color issues can be easily solved via custom CSS; heck, if you want, you can make the content area cover basically the entire screen with no whitespace at all.

    I'm hoping that OP will come up with some theming options that will allow people to choose the whitespace/coloring stuff that they desire.
  • tetrasodium
    tetrasodium
    Posts: 26
    the_D . "& # 46 ;" without spaces or "" will give you a ".", doing it 3x will give you three dots, maybe. I know that the less than/greaterthan anglebrackets work for it see http://www.ascii.cl/htmlcodes.htm for a full list
  • Langy
    Langy
    Posts: 364
    I haven't seen any ellipses changing anything. Can you show me an example of that?

    Are you using three actual dots, or the special ellipsis character?
  • The_D
    The_D
    Posts: 9
    It doesn't seem to happen here; only on the forums for the games, so it's hard to show an example. And it might just be a thing with Chrome. I haven't really tried another browser for it yet.

    I actually type out the three dots, though. I don't really know character mapping so well.
  • Langy
    Langy
    Posts: 364
    I just did a test and I don't see any issue with them at all.

    Can you copy the text of something that's giving you trouble and paste it here, and describe what it looks like or get a screengrab of the problem?
  • bassoon201
    bassoon201
    Posts: 9
    Was I the only one who thought the dice function was useful? Did it go away? Is it somewhere and I don't know where it went?

    I really liked have the option to roll on the fly for something as I was describing our set up scenes for our F2F roleplaying...
  • tetrasodium
    tetrasodium
    Posts: 26
    @Bassoon201, I've heard face to face players mention it existed, but I actually never noticed it or asked where. I always assumed they were mistaking another site or something because it was so uncommon to hear & I never saw it lol
  • The_D
    The_D
    Posts: 9
    I can try, yeah. I tried a few times after posting this, and sometimes when using the HTML code for the ellipsis, it was fine, and so were other sentences in the same post, even if I just typed the three dots. But then other times, it doesn't matter and it changes the fault.
    I don't seem to able to put a screengrab up here, though, and the problem doesn't show up here, so I don't know how to show it to anyone here.
  • The_D
    The_D
    Posts: 9
    Langy, what browser are you using?
  • bassoon201
    bassoon201
    Posts: 9
    Icons aren't showing up for the items and the character pages like they did under the old format... instead it has an area with the file name ... Something I'm doing or something that will get fixed?
  • The_D
    The_D
    Posts: 9
    My issue could be browser specific. I'm on a work laptop with Windows XP, so I doubt my Chrome is up to date. I'll check on this again when I get home and can use a newer version.
  • Coulra
    Coulra
    Posts: 7
    Overall I like the new design, the only issue is one that's already been raised.

    It's links on the wiki. Links that don't have pages are now the same colour as those that do.

    This hurts my updating style as I will often create a link on a wiki to be created properly in the future. At the moment It's hard for me to remember exactly what I've still to do.

    I'm sure this will be addressed as the bugs get ironed out.

    Everything else I've been able to sort out on my own.

    Jamie
  • bassoon201
    bassoon201
    Posts: 9
    Put me into the camp that we need to be able to edit our posts in the Forums and other pages on our page. I wanted to go back to edit it (since it was a long post and had wanted to save it) and realized I can't edit that post... just reply to it... pretty lame .... I liked the old way... Hopefully its just an over site and not some statement that we can't edit our posts (or delete them for that matter...)
  • Haligaunt
    Haligaunt
    Posts: 18
    Wow. I'm nauseated. OP people, please put things back the way they were, or give me the option to not use the new format! I feel like my campaign just sat down for a haircut and got butchered. It may take months to regrow my campaign if this is the interface that I have to put up with. Will I be returning for your business in that case? No, I think not.

    I am not especially tech savvy, so I'll stick to laymans terms for my criticisms...

    As others have mentioned:

    1) the colour scheme is horrible.
    2) the colour of text and links was not broken. Why reinvent them? I cannot tell where my links are broken.
    3) the forums are f^cked. I can't edit posts! No subforums also destroys the ability to organise information on a Pbem scale.
    4) the borders are way too small. My text is crunched together
    5) my character section is a complete mess. The list of tags was a good way to navigate through the several hundred npcs that I had in my campaign. Now I can't even see all my tags for each individual character, and there is no sidebar list! Furthermore, the list format for content was easy to use as one could simply scroll down from PCS to NPCS to GM only content, examining tags as I go. What I have now is clunky, unwieldy and aesthetically unpleasant. Lastly, a number of my portraits are no longer functional.
    6) this all amounts to a lack of user-friendliness, particularly to users like me. I find it very unsatisfying that I am going to have spend hours that I can't afford fixing the things with my campaign that this upgrade has broken.

    I should not have to muck around with the CSS to make my campaign accessible again. I have limited skill with it, and little time to devote to learning how to use it more effectively. I don't pay for that. I pay for ease of use -- a layout that is accessible, logical and simple. Keep your bells and whistles. I have no use for them.
  • dr_venture
    dr_venture
    Posts: 32
    Bug (don't know if this is upgrade-related or not): Accepted a friend request (thank you, Leonidas300) by clicking on the link in the email. The link was:

    https://www.obsidianportal.com/friends/138553/accept

    When the page loaded, if contained only the text:

    {"success":true,"message":"Congratulations! You are now friends with Leonidas300"}

    That is all of the page's source code, too.
  • Number_Six
    Number_Six
    Posts: 9
    "I should not have to muck around with the CSS to make my campaign accessible again. I have limited skill with it, and little time to devote to learning how to use it more effectively. I don't pay for that. I pay for ease of use -- a layout that is accessible, logical and simple. Keep your bells and whistles. I have no use for them."

    This. This times a million.
  • PhoenixMark
    PhoenixMark
    Posts: 90
    I hate to say it, without reading through all of these posts, but my pages are seriously broken. I don't have time to fix them, so… I guess it is goodbye op. As the creator of a Campaign of the Month, I am very disappointed. If I feel like commenting further, I will. But NaNoWriMo is upon us, and I don't have time to fix shit.

    I vote to go back to the old way, or to give us the option of going back.

    "PhoenixMark":http://www.obsidianportal.com/profile/PhoenixMark

    "CRIMSON SKIES":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/crimson-skies
    "COTM June 2012":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/crimson-skies-junes-campaign-of-the-month/

    Also "Sactown Blues":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/sactown-blues and "Shimmering Kingdoms":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shimmering-kingdoms
  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998
    So, I am someone that originally made his site with html and textile, and then slowly added some CSS as time has gone on. I have well over 600 pages, about 200 characters, a load of items, over 300 adventure logs- so in all, a very, very big site. I have a custom Nav bar, done in html, on every page. So for those of you complaining about a lot of edits, keep that in mind! Around 1000 pages that I will have to touch at least once! This will not be a couple of hours and then fixed!
    That being said, overall, I like the changes.

    Good- New campaigns, or campaigns that have not done any styling, look a million times better! This is the majority of the campaigns on OP, and while they are not the majority of people on these forums, they are the majority- and they got a major upgrade!
    Flexibility is actually growing, and I am able to make some changes I never have before!
    A true universal tag system will make my life, and my players lives, way easier! Something I have been asking for since day 1!
    Most importantly, on good, the people at OP are listening, as proven by Drew and Jerry both responding to concerns! Give them some time to address things- they are listening!!

    Bad- The 2 dead horses- White text on Grey background, and White text on Yellow background- Yes, someone should have caught that on Beta, but my bet is that was not part of the beta, so no one caught it. We all know it is bad, they know it is bad, blah blah.
    PbP- Subforums are huge- this I also agree with, should get fixed. I don't currently play in a PbP game here, but have in the past, and this needs to get fixed.
    No more listing of Campaigns by # of fans- I know it seems selfish, but it is not. I found help when I started out by looking at the campaigns with the most fans, like Chainsaw's, Arsheesh's, and Duskreign's! They shared with me, and this is why I try and share with people now! Dropping this will hurt the site!

    Remember, there are lots of great people here to help! Just look at Langy, and how much he has been giving advice/help! This is a great community, and we will all get through this together! Be positive!
    killervp
    "A God...Rebuilt":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/a-god-rebuilt
    Unabashadly pushing for 300 fans!

    Just trying to help out.

  • PhoenixMark
    PhoenixMark
    Posts: 90
    And now I went through all my campaigns and looked at a lot of my work, ruined. I am a super visual person, and I spent a lot of time on fonts and making things look visually pleasing. Gods I am ashamed at what I see now. Most all my fonts have been replaced. I am not even an amateur HTML coder, and I know NOTHING about CSS. It looks overwhelming and impossible to fix.

    I have tooled through some of the other folk's sites, like Wolfhound's Dresden Files Dallas, and I see that his stuff looks decent, but I bet he spent a lot of time changing things. Who is gonna do that for me? Call me names, say what you will, but I am in freaking tears.

    What is the 2 acres of dead space at the top of every page? Why are all my fonts now crunched? Why are my campaign's columns so narrow (and Wolfhound's seem normal)? How can I fix this? I don't really fucking care. I am sure that there will be an outpouring of people willing to help us fix it. But damnit, my campaigns were not broken. And yes, I knew this would happen, you all said so. You said this was going to happen. It was decided upon, and the juggernaught rolls on. I really had no say in things. I am an unemployed, brokeass loser who could not afford to kickstart my way into the test group.

    In my opinion, the last few years of my life have been totally wasted by your reforge. Just take a look at the debacle that is my site. I used extensive custom links so that it was easy to navigate. Now I can't even find most of my pages. I had custom nav tabs. Now they are displayed UNDER the bulk of my text. Really?

    OK, I am sorry. This is just a stupid game, and I am taking it way too seriously. I guess I could just chill, and go re-create all my work from scratch, make new campaigns sites and start anew. NOT GONNA HAPPEN. I may just be freeing up your servers soon. If I can salvage any of my data, that is. If I can find my way to *MY* pages.

    "PhoenixMark":http://www.obsidianportal.com/profile/PhoenixMark

    Now Worthless campaigns:

    "CRIMSON SKIES":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/crimson-skies
    "COTM June 2012":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/crimson-skies-junes-campaign-of-the-month/

    Also "Sactown Blues":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/sactown-blues and "Shimmering Kingdoms":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shimmering-kingdoms
  • Basileus
    Basileus
    Posts: 585 edited October 2013
    A quiet, rational part of my brain keeps whispering, "This is good for new campaigns, the new modern style is nice, subdomains are cool, this is a good long-term path for the site..."

    Yet, I wonder if some other part of my brain could not quite comprehend the strange geometries of this new look - if I have looked upon all that the ruined remnants of my post-Reforge campaigns have to hold of horror, and even the most graceful CSS and the most useful Textile tricks must ever afterward be poison to me. At night I awaken with sweat on my brow and a panicked rhythm in my heart, only to hear myself muttering with baited breath, "Ia! Ia! Reforge fhtagn!", like some madman gripped by gibbering sobs and screams to chill the blood.

    Some day the piecing together of dissociated code snippets and graphical elements will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, that we shall go mad from the revelation.

    Aaaiiiieeeee!!!


    Edit:

    On a more serious note, I'd really like to stay positive about all this. But a big part of me is wondering if it is time to take a break from OP - as much as I like OP and want to support it, I simply don't have the will or energy to tackle months' worth of painstaking trial and error, custom CSS and Textile, and rebuilding custom graphics. Maybe after the professionals have figure this out and a new wave of guides, templates, and tips comes out.


    Also edit:

    I would give my left foot for a simple switch/checkbox in the campaign settings "Preserve pre-Reforge formatting" or something like that. And I'm diabetic, so that's no idle promise!
    Post edited by Basileus on
  • Praesi
    Praesi
    Posts: 31
    killervp, I really don't understand that, with all that work in front of you, you still like it!? I'm a big fan of the stuff you're doing - but I'd go crazy on having to do all this!
    I'm one of those that have not done any styling - and it DOES NOT look a million times better! I have pledged and I am paying for a functional site to 'just record' my groups playing and to communicate with my guys on our game and some private stuff. I don't do this OP-stuff as an end in itself! I want to use it - not fix it! The community is great - that's true. And there is a lot of great people that really do help. But even if I'm not a computer- / coding pro I should NOT need help with the bare basics!
    After all I've read here: I don't want to have to use HTML! I don't want to have to use CSS. If I was good at HTML/CSS I guess it would be much easier to pimp an own blog-site to have the functions / colours / sizes I need.
    I'm somewhat disappointed, but I'll give it some more days or even weeks as I know there is a lot of the team's work inside. But there really has to be major improvement over all to keep me ascendant!
  • Ashpin
    Ashpin
    Posts: 6
    Dear Obsidian Portal

    I am going to try and be patient here, because I know this is the first day and you are having a lot of disgruntled people shout at you. However, I have to say that I was very happy with the old format, which through trial and error I had utilised to run a low-tech, enjoyable campaign.

    Having now enountered the new format, I have to say that I am:
    - disappointed that my campaign which was pulled together using my very limited HTML/programming expertise is now incredibly ugly, full of broken links, disjointed and will require a lot of work to bring back to speed.
    - daunted at the work I will have to undertake to bring it back to some sembelance of functionality - which will no doubt require me to invest considerable time, sweat and confusion to salvage.

    A quick scan has identifed the following issues with my campaign:
    - The removal of subforums is crippling. My campaign is played all online and played through postings made in the forums. Their removal significantly impacts on the future of my campaign.
    - My background graphics now sit over my text, making it almost impossible to read that text.
    - All of my existing grahpics are now stretched out of shape and do not fit the current format.
    - All of my map links appear to be dead and if I try and upload a new map (to see if this fixes the problem) it doesnt work.
    - Characters are now mixed in with NPCs in a complete jumble. A major step down from the previous approach of keeping the characters separate.

    While I am sure some of these issues reflect my general lack of coding skill, I would have to say that you should be making it easier for users - not harder. I would alos have thought the option to opt in or out would have avoided a lot of these issues.

    Plainly put - I am concerned and worried that you may have just killed all of my hard work with my campaign.
    -
  • PhoenixMark
    PhoenixMark
    Posts: 90
    Ashpin,

    Thank you for being eloquent as opposed to my major freak out.

    OP folks… what Ashpin said!

    "PhoenixMark":http://www.obsidianportal.com/profile/PhoenixMark

    Perhaps not as dead as I initially reacted:

    "CRIMSON SKIES":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/crimson-skies
    "COTM June 2012":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/crimson-skies-junes-campaign-of-the-month/

    Also "Sactown Blues":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/sactown-blues and "Shimmering Kingdoms":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shimmering-kingdoms
  • Langy
    Langy
    Posts: 364 edited October 2013
    PhoenixMark - While there'll be a decent amount of work to do on your pages, it isn't insurmountable - and it _definitely_ is possible to get them looking acceptable without days and days of work. You may be boggling at the task ahead of you, but _you are not alone_.

    I think this is something a lot of people are missing. If there campaigns have been messed up by the change _they do not need to fix them all by themselves_. Check out the "Vanguard Program":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/vanguard-program/ - it's essentially a way for experienced coders to help out those who are having trouble sort out their own campaigns exactly in order to avoid this kind of trouble.

    Maybe Micah and Jerry can make its existence a site-wide announcement, as everybody seems to keep forgetting that it exists and then panicking.

    Take the advice of Douglas Adams. Don't panic. The OP staff have already foreseen some of these troubles and instituted a system to help people fix them - and they're currently making a few changes to address some of the other issues, like the white-on-grey text, missing comments, and (I believe) subforums issues.
    Post edited by Langy on
  • CutGlass
    Posts: 10
    Skimming through these comments, it seems to me that there's a fair bit of repetition about things that shouldn't be that hard to fix (colour schemes, etc.). In some cases (Adventure Log comments) they're things that we have already been told will be fixed.

    So while I would agree that there are obvious teething issues and some constructive feedback and a bit more work are in order, I've been playing around with creating campaigns, updating pages, editing things and so forth and would have to say that I see signs that it could be pretty neat when it's all shaken out and finished.

    It has only been a day or so, and arguably the transition could have been smoother (whoever it was suggesting an opt-in alpha test might be on the right track), but I'm certainly happy with the update so far as long as the fixes come in reasonable time.

    I sadly don't have time myself, but I hope someone is compiling the list of issues into an easier form to reference than trying to pick through these comments.

    I realise that his isn't particularly constructive feedback, but after going through all the comments I thought the people running the site might like to see something a bit more positive.
  • Baard
    Baard
    Posts: 16
    What CutGlass says. I am very excited about the reforge, and know from personal experience how hard it is to make everything "just work" for everyone when building a huge CMS like this. Keep up the good work!!
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