Graphics forum changes

[aero]

So this was an idea brought up in staff and was implemented for a minute, but really more discussion could be had about it first with more input. The idea is to treat the Graphics forum like the Levels forum with one thread per author. An alternative to this was quickly brought up in the Q&A thread by Enjl mentioning a tag system using this extension: https://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/exte ... cprefixes/

I'd support one or the other, or both at the same time because I think either one would work just fine. How does everyone else feel about this change, or possibly other changes to the graphics forum? If you have any thoughts on this for how to make the forum easier to search for graphics, please share!

[RudeGuy]

I find a tag system would work much better: if I want to find, say, SMW grassland graphics, I'm probably going to find much better result by searching "SMW grass" or just "SMW" and looking at what each topic that comes up offer than having to sift through a lot of topics to find something which interests me.
I'd also add that a topic per author system works better with levels because, if I played someone's level and liked it, it's easier for me to find his topic with all his levels. But with graphics it's another matter entirely: I don't really care about the author, I'm just trying to find something I can use

[Eri7]

Yeah i think its way better to have the tag system, it would make my experience here way easier, but why not allow this feature for every topic?

[KateBulka]

Sure why not? I think it will work out better.

[FireyPaperMario]

If we're gonna make a tag system for the Graphics forums, I wanna get my voice heard on some tag samples:

---

• #Super Mario Bros. 1/Lost Levels style/customs

• #Super Mario Bros. 2 USA style/customs

• #Super Mario Bros. 3 style/customs

• #Super Mario World style/customs

• #SMBX community created customs

• #Sega Mega Drive/Genesis customs*

• #Monochrome customs*

• #Recolored graphics

• NEC Turbografx-16/PC Engine customs*

---

It's okay if you say no to some of the tag suggestions....

*The ones listed with a small star are just my ideas.

[Emral]

When it comes to specific tags, I should give my thoughts on how I think they'd be effective, since I brought the idea up in the first place.

The descriptions of the suggestions below don't assume a unified tag system, and I've never used the extension I linked for myself, so some of what I suggest may not be possible or feasible to do. They're merely suggestions to consider in case these kinds of overarching categories become up for debate, but might become helpful to look towards when the specifics of the system are being discussed.

I'm thinking the following categories and tags are a good starter set to think about. The ideal scenario for this setup to work in would be a tag system in which multiple tags from a category could be selected in order to filter forum search further, but in a way in which the abundance of tags doesn't clutter the topic title (or is not present in it at all, and the topic title provides information on its contents like they used to, while a list of its tags is perhaps shown above the first post).

GAME STYLE
The standard SMBX styles are probably enough, with more being addable on demand. Depending on the length of the tags in the forum view, shorter names are desirable:
SMB1, SMB2, SMB3, SMW, Custom, Other

THEME
A theme might be a worthwhile tag for certain topics that supply a range of graphics for specific scenarios. Whether this is necessary is up for debate, considering more often than not topics already have information on the contents. However, in a scenario where topics can be tagged only for search (tags not showing up on forum pages), this can be extremely useful for using forum search to find specific graphics in larger packs:
Grassland, Desert, Water, Forest, Volcano, Cave, Sky, Mountain, Haunted, Castle, Factory, Other

TYPE
The type of content. Sometimes topics aren't specific to a theme, but rather a type of content. Multiple options could be tagged for more elaborate landscapes, if possible. Other can be used for things like custom HUD mods and the likes. This category is probably the most effective to be used in a scenario where only one tag can be supplied per topic, since if an "Environment" tag is added to cover the combination of Background, Tileset and perhaps NPCs, there would be no more potential overlaps between entries here, while topics are more likely to carry a combination of tags from the other categories.
Background, Tileset, NPCs, Scenery, Pack, Other

Again, please consider these more ideas than demands. I'm sure there's room for improvement with these, after all.

[Taycamgame]

Are we really that close to hitting the limit on topic numbers?
Anyway, i'd support the tag system more than the "one topic per person" approach. I'd also recommend allowing people to create custom tags just in-case they have something unique to share. I'd think this system would make searching much more easier, especially with things like "SMW" where the search box will not allow words smaller than 4 characters long (on another note, would it be possible that this limitation could be removed in future?).

[aero]

The tag extension linked to in the OP does add to the topic title so there should be care with selecting tags for it to avoid clutter. Unfortunately there are no up to date extensions for meta tags so if there's going to be tag suggestions make sure they're expressive and limited. Also just as note, one extension at most should be up for discussion so there's no running wild with extensions.

[Emral]

Mmh... bummer about the lack of up-to-date meta tag extensions... That kind of gives a blow to the usefulness of this idea, since the major bulk of search tagging work would still have to be handled through the topic title itself, which is unfeasable for a varied collection, or a topic containing several types of graphic-related content. I'll give the idea further thought, to figure out which expressive terms would be ideal.
Out of curiousity, how difficult do you reckon would it be to update one of those meta tag extensions manually? I've never worked with phpbb code before, but I might be up for giving it a shot if there's interest in its implementation.

[Fuyu]

Between the two I am more inclined to pick the multi-tag system, and since Enjl is willing to consider doing this, previous phpbb experience or not, I'd say go for it. A search system reminiscent of the one from SMWCentral would be without a doubt immensely beneficial to this forum and SMBX users in general.

A bit of a nitpick but very much a gripe of mine with one-thread graphic topics is that at least in my case, I may want to share something I have made immediately after I'm done. Otherwise, I would just put it on a GFX Pack where content is abundant. But then again, that depends on my mood and what I think of my work. Though, limiting graphics to one post may be a good thing if we like a particular GFX designer, such as Squishy Rex, Enjl, PROX, etc. I guess I am technically fine with either, preference notwithstanding.

[Emral]

On that last paragraphs note, one thing I had planned to do was to switch to a smaller thread system for my stuff because my pack has always been incredible unwieldy I find.