Usergroup Updates.

Recently I noticed my inbox size was 200 instead of the old 100, I believe this is a good chance and want to suggest more change for long time members of the forum when it comes to their limits on certain things.

All these changes if accepted would only be applied to a new usergroup for long time members, like over a year old, could be called something like Ancient Members or something. If you do accept my suggestion tell me if you need help when it comes to setting up where it moves members from one usergroup to another automatically.


First suggestion is a slight increase of the avatar limit, maybe to either 150x150 or 200x200. 200 can be a bit large for the layout we have, but I think 150 would fit rather nicely. Reasons for this change is that 100x100 was set up about 7 years ago and is sorely outdated. It can also give members a little more freedom when it comes to avatars and be able to show off better avatars. If large gifs are a worry then a simple lowering of how many KBs the image can be will work really well.


Next suggestion would be a larger inbox size, maybe 300. Make 200 for Veteran members.

Another suggestion is along with bigger avatars is bigger profile pictures. Normally on most forums the profile picture is bigger than the avatar so I've never understood why it is the same on this forum. Maybe make it 200x200 which would fit nicely on a profile I think.

Also while many people never use the attachments feature as a "reward" to old foogies of the forum maybe up the limit on that as well, maybe to something like 1MB or something.




Beyond all these suggestions for a new usergroup I believe that the current usergroups are in a need of a simple update since they are 7 years old and were made at a time where spambots were a serious threat to the forum which doesn't seem to be the case anymore.


First, maybe Neophyte Members can send PM's, but very limited. Like 5 PM's or so. Maybe Junior Members can upload attachments.

I don't really have any suggestions for Seniors or Veterans beyond Veterans getting a 200 inbox limit and Ancient getting 300.





Oh, also, here are some images showing 100x100, 150x150 and 200x200 to sort of see what they would look like as an avatar or profile picture.

100x100

150x150

200x200

 

A bigger avatar would be nice. Fifty extra pixels won't take up too much room. I've never had more than 10 messages in my inbox at one time, so I can't say whether we should increase the limit.

Giving new members a limited inbox/outbox sounds good, unless we start getting PM's from spambots. It's like getting a coupon for a present.

 

This seems like a good idea.

Also longer custom user titles.

 

I don't see why only old members should get these benefits, as opposed to everyone. Segregating the oldies and the newies feels like a step in the wrong direction.
So: Good stuff for everyone!


Also, about the small pmboxes for new members, I recall that someone (I think Meta) suggested a pming of the rules and norms to members as soon as they join. I like that idea. Perhaps they wouldn't be able to post until they sent a summary of the rules to a moderator/whatever to make sure people ACTUALLY read them? (Along with where to post quick hacking qs etc). Then we could Bump the benfits all up at one post because spambots wouldn't have been able to pm a rule summary.
</totallyrandomthought>

Edit: They could also be told when to post threads in the spot as opposed to non-trash forums. >:[

 

I don't see why only old members should get these benefits, as opposed to everyone. Segregating the oldies and the newies feels like a step in the wrong direction.

A step in the wrong direction? We already have a system that rewards old members more than new members so how is this a step in the wrong direction? Unless you mean another step in the wrong direction.

Either way, I disagree with you. It's not like the forum is saying old members are better than new members or something like that, it is just the simple fact that members who have stuck around for a long time deserve slightly better rewards than those who just joined. I am all for giving more to new members though, the suggestions I made were only a few I could come up with on the spot, but I am sure there is more. But, I still think older members should have access to more than those who just joined.

 

Indeed, I meant another step in the wrong direction.
I simply do not understand why those who stick around should be given more access. People should be given merit based on what they do, not how long they've been registered.

 

I've never had more than 10 messages in my inbox at one time, so I can't say whether we should increase the limit.

You took the words right out of my mouth.

I tried to have a wide (and small) avatar and signature, so that when I make short posts I won't take up too much space. Personally, I would rather everyone have smaller, higher quality avatars than ones that take up a lot of space and are blurred. Just my opinion, though.

 

Having larger avatar doesn't mean they're going to be blurry >_>
It just means larger. For example, if the limit was 150x150 then I could use the full seahorse avatar

As opposed to the cropped version I have now,

since shrinking it much more than that makes it look pretty bad.

I don't think there's anything wrong with rewarding members for duration / postcount, personally. Rewarding for merit is a scosh more difficult you see, as that's more subjective and you'd have to either tell people that they aren't as cool as X and don't get the 'reward' or simply giving it to everybody thereby defeating the purpose. Being around for longer doesn't necessarily make you better, and I don't think simply having a larger avatar limit or PM box really implies that someone is better than someone else anwyay. I think it sounds like an alright idea..

 

150x150 is common for most boards, I'm pretty sure
if we restrict some users to 100x100 while others have 150x150 it'll look sort of odd

try it if you want, but if it doesn't work out just remember I TOLD YOU GUYS
I TOLD YOU ABOUT AVATARS

 

Rewarding for merit is a scosh more difficult you see

Well yeah. That's why I suggested everyone gets benefits.

I just don't see the logic behind benefits with time/posts.

 

Having larger avatar doesn't mean they're going to be blurry >_>
It just means larger.

I was basing my statenent off of MS's example. I didn't know if the forum would change the quality of the image like it did in her example. If it doesn't, then I have no problem with it.

 

Well your current avatar is smaller than 100x100. It isn't stretched -- why assume they would be stretched to other sizes?

 

I left post count out of my suggestion for a reason. It could possibly lead to people spamming to get higher post count. (Awww, hell. Who am I kidding?)

Anyway, it being based on time is the easiest way for this system to work. See it as a reward for the time you've spent on the forum. Like Noxid said it doesn't mean one user is better than the other, just the user has spent more time on the forum than the other.

If you spend more time on the forum you should get better rewards. It works like it does in real life. You don't go to a place as a completely new face and expect everything that people who have been there for 10 years before you get. It may seem as unfair, but in fact it is the fairest way to reward someone.

I was basing my statenent off of MS's example. I didn't know if the forum would change the quality of the image like it did in her example. If it doesn't, then I have no problem with it.

I just took a 90x90 image and made it 100x100, 150x150 and 200x200 which is why it looks like that. Images that are naturally bigger size won't look like that.

 

Well I've allowed new members to have avatars (80px though) and vet users can now have 200px profile images.

However, short of changing the layout of the forums (avatar to the left instead of on top) I can tell you that increasing the size of the avatars would be a bad idea. Plus adding another usergroup for the sake of adding another 100 PMs to a limit that no-one is meeting anyway doesn't seem like it would be worth it.

Anyhow I should note that the current system uses both postcount and time registered to determine that user's usergroup. This means that the user can't spam their way to the next usergroup, nor would he/she be able to register and then leave after 5 posts only to return to a unearned usergroup upgrade after a month.

 

Is it possible to make the profile picture not appear on the members list?

 

Infinite inbox for 2007ers!

 

However, short of changing the layout of the forums (avatar to the left instead of on top) I can tell you that increasing the size of the avatars would be a bad idea.

I don't think it would make it look that bad. Only a little extra space on the bottom and slightly lesser space to the side.

Can we at least see what it would look like? You don't even have to make a usergroup change since Admins can just bypass the limit if they want.

Is it possible to make the profile picture not appear on the members list?

It is possible, though it is kind of nice being able to see a profile picture without clicking on their profile.

 

A more important question: what purpose do profile pictures serve? I just use it as a second avatar that I never remember to change.

 

It is possible, though it is kind of nice being able to see a profile picture without clicking on their profile.

I know, but the larger size makes browsing the members list a bit funky.

A more important question: what purpose do profile pictures serve? I just use it as a second avatar that I never remember to change.

I think they're fun. I like my profile picture more than my avatar.

 

A more important question: what purpose do profile pictures serve? I just use it as a second avatar that I never remember to change.

It is basically that, a second avatar.