Site Discussion Thread

[PixelPest]

Aero: Okay, that makes more sense. Thanks for clarifying. I think we definitely should specify somewhere at the very least that Mediafire and Imgur are the recommended hosting sites. What other services/methods do you have in mind?

I agree with Ace. I would never recommend MediaFire and switched to Dropbox after I learned it existed. Dropbox is faster, more user friendly, has no adds, does not solely rely on a Cloud-based operating system, does not redirect you anywhere you don't want to be, and has unlimited storage space

[aero]

Aero: Okay, that makes more sense. Thanks for clarifying. I think we definitely should specify somewhere at the very least that Mediafire and Imgur are the recommended hosting sites. What other services/methods do you have in mind?

Firstly I think screenshots themselves should be encouraged instead of required, so if a new person doesn't post screenshots they could just be referred to Imgur publicly so they and others can know where to go in the future instead. I understand some want to know what a level looks like before they download it, however I don't think this should compromise threads from new users who don't understand or forget to add screenshots or a video. If the person is new someone could just type out a comment on their level, and if stuff is missing from their post then a notice can just be appended to the end of their comment and let it be done with. This all goes without mentioning that sometimes people post playthrough videos, or screenshots of the level in their reviews so it also accomplishes the same thing more effectively than having a strict requirement for screenshots. Just point new comers in the right direction if they need to be, and encourage the rest of the community to participate in level threads by posting videos and screenshots of their own and you will have a much more efficient system that helps new users get their levels out, learn the Levels forum practices, encourages engagement, and helps with free advertising on YouTube if people choose there to upload playthroughs. Using the phpbb forum rules feature could be more useful than stickies or announcements since it shows information right on the forum page which can direct people to Image and Video hosting sites and remind people to immerse themselves in other threads to figure out how to properly make level threads.

Having a depot like RVLution had, but better, would also work too but that would defeat the purpose of the Levels forum itself, fill up server space with big levels, and would take some time to code to the point where it's safe and sustainable. It can work though if the time and effort were put into it, and this place had a large amount of storage space.

[KittyCat]

Good uploading websites that I recommend are in the following order...

(1st) Dropbox and (2nd) Mega.co.nz

But I don't like how Mega takes up double the amount of space on your computer while it downloads.

[PixelPest]

Good uploading websites that I recommend are in the following order...

(1st) Dropbox and (2nd) Mega.co.nz

But I don't like how Mega takes up double the amount of space on your computer while it downloads.

Mega also requires mobile devices to download an app and has adds, while for Dropbox you can just get a direct download link and avoid adds completely. I also find Mega less user-friendly than Dropbox. Wouldn't recommend it

[KittyCat]

Good uploading websites that I recommend are in the following order...

(1st) Dropbox and (2nd) Mega.co.nz

But I don't like how Mega takes up double the amount of space on your computer while it downloads.

Mega also requires mobile devices to download an app and has adds, while for Dropbox you can just get a direct download link and avoid adds completely. I also find Mega less user-friendly than Dropbox. Wouldn't recommend it

Ads*

Now on topic, I think...

You still can't download anything on iDevices from the Safari app, so basicly just from Android devices.

[Julia Pseudo]

Google Drive and Dropbox are also really good, yeah. I would definitely recommend those personally.

[KittyCat]

Google Drive and Dropbox are also really good, yeah. I would definitely recommend those personally.

Oh yeah...I forgot about Google Drive

[HeroLinik]

Because when new users sign up, they're not expected to know that graphic requests are done away with entirely, especially considering that after a global announcement concerning it was archived, they wouldn't know unless they bothered to look in the archives. This is especially considering some of these have come from older SMBX forums after a long hiatus, where graphic requests were a thing. Now they're not anymore, and there appears to be at least one graphic request every week ever since the announcement got archived. I'm also pretty sure that archives are for stuff that isn't relevant anymore as well, so this is basically saying that the "no requests" rule isn't relevant anymore, but it technically is, and it probably always will be until some kind of rule changes.

Can someone, like, enforce this rule more in the graphics forum in an effort to curb the amount of graphic requests that are getting made?

[Kyo Saito]

Aero: Okay, that makes more sense. Thanks for clarifying. I think we definitely should specify somewhere at the very least that Mediafire and Imgur are the recommended hosting sites. What other services/methods do you have in mind?

I wouldn't recommend mediafire, it always redirects me to shady websites for downloads over 5MB, even with adblock, and I know it does this to a lot of other users as well. I would recommend dropbox instead.

The only problem I had with DropBox, as good as it is and as much as I would recommend it, is that two of my accounts were terminated because they had "unsupported" or "potentially malicious" file types, which I can only assume to be .lvls, as the .gifs I had should have been supported.

[Ace]

Aero: Okay, that makes more sense. Thanks for clarifying. I think we definitely should specify somewhere at the very least that Mediafire and Imgur are the recommended hosting sites. What other services/methods do you have in mind?

I wouldn't recommend mediafire, it always redirects me to shady websites for downloads over 5MB, even with adblock, and I know it does this to a lot of other users as well. I would recommend dropbox instead.

The only problem I had with DropBox, as good as it is and as much as I would recommend it, is that two of my accounts were terminated because they had "unsupported" or "potentially malicious" file types, which I can only assume to be .lvls, as the .gifs I had should have been supported.

I didn't know that could happen. I'd assume that if you zipped all your .lvl files, though, it would work fine.

[Cedur]

To everyone, this is how 350 px on a sig would look like:



I have a 15 inch laptop, and this would cover two thirds of my browser screen modulo tabs / task bar etc. This IS a generous limit if you really think about it, and everything above ~400px is simply overboard. If you want to enjoy memes, nothing hinders you if you just resize your images accordingly and organize them in spoilers. Generally, signatures aren't supposed to pack tons of stuff into them, this even applies for stuff in spoilers from a certain point onwards.

[Shadow Yoshi]

Aero: Okay. I think the best course of action would be to have a depot. One of my ideas was to write an MFGG-like system that could be used for graphics, and it would be great to have that for levels and episodes as well. It would be really easy and efficient to enforce screenshots for everything at that point. The problem we run into with that is mainly my inability to write something like that but also lack of storage space, which would mean people would have to add links rather than upload files.

Anyway, since that probably won't happen, I'm not too keen on the idea of letting worse threads (those without screenshots, a download link, etc.) stick around. I like the current system because, despite taking more time than doing nothing at all, it makes sure the forum is only populated by good threads. Another concept worth mentioning is that if a user is unwilling to read their PMs and fix their thread, is whatever they were gonna post worthwhile anyway?

I do think the Levels/Projects forums need updated sets of rules.

[KittyCat]

To everyone, this is how 350 px on a sig would look like:

Spoiler: show

if you just resize your images accordingly and organize them in spoilers. Generally, signatures aren't supposed to pack tons of stuff into them, this even applies for stuff in spoilers from a certain point onwards.

Or if you just simply put it in spoiler if you want large images.

[Mable]

Or just deactivate it from the UCP.

[Cedur]

Or just deactivate it from the UCP.

It would make sense to have an option on user's profiles to block only their signatures specifically instead of all of them. The majority of sigs here is still fine to be looked at.

In regards to clarifying rules on levels, episodes, graphic requests etc., are Forum Rules bars possible to be implemented here? Like that:

[KittyCat]

Or just deactivate it from the UCP.

It would make sense to have an option on user's profiles to block only their signatures specifically instead of all of them. The majority of sigs here is still fine to be looked at.

In regards to clarifying rules on levels, episodes, graphic requests etc., are Forum Rules bars possible to be implemented here? Like that:

What about that pastebin link that someone posted, didn't that have the old forum rules?

[aero]

Another concept worth mentioning is that if a user is unwilling to read their PMs and fix their thread, is whatever they were gonna post worthwhile anyway?

That would depend on a case by case basis. It's not really fair to just generalize the worth of threads by user status and how they respond to an admittedly inefficient system.

I do think the Levels/Projects forums need updated sets of rules.

Have you been keeping up with the state of the LJs thread (or the back and forth in the legit request thread) lately? The poll showed people want some sort of shake up and I've proposed scrapping LJs, organizing level threads like art threads in the Art forum with one topic per user, getting rid of the level forum categories and making a sticky to showoff The Best tier levels. Others have their own fair (and unfair) opposition to this, and their own good ideas so if you could, please consider the opinion of people in this poll and those threads before making any changes to the Levels forum.

[Shadow Yoshi]

Linik: We need a rules thread for the graphics forum that says that requests aren't allowed, so that's on us for not taking care of that sooner. I moved this to the site discussion thread because it really didn't need its own thread.

[Kyo Saito]

I do think the Levels/Projects forums need updated sets of rules.

The poll

What is your obsession with polls? You do know how easy it is to rig a poll, right?

[aero]

Strawpoll is reliable and it deflects false accusations of people being in the minority by showing numerically how popular something actually is. That's basically what polls are for.

EDIT: Joey, how many SMBX downloads have their been according to mediafire? The thread is near 500k views so I just wondered how that number relates to the download count.