The changing face of Occult Forum.org

[Clockwork Ghost]

You have probably noticed that the way the forum looks has been changing a bit over the last week. Some new boards have appeared, others have moved, and the troll pit merged with the Humour board. The legend at the top of the screen has changed too - the Wiki and Chatroom, both being rather broken and not used, have gone along with the Editor position. The Wiki may come back later, if we ever need such a resource, but for the time being it has gone.

These have been structural changes that are intended to make the forum an easier place to use, boards that are similar in type or scope have been grouped together, this decreasing the size of the forum overall, which also makes it easier to use on smartphones and tablets.

There are several other things being considered, and I would like anyone who wishes to express an opinion on the matter to please share their thoughts, these are:

1. The way the forum looks. We can change colours, styles, and icons. Do you like the little scrolls? Would you prefer something else?

2. The ranks under the names. Should your rank be based on the number of posts you have made? Should we call someone a Magus simply because they have made a few hundred posts? What would you prefer in their place?

3. Is there anything else you would like to see here, or have certain changes really annoyed you?

This is your forum, and what you think about it really matters. If you have an opinion on how to make it better, please feel free to share it.

Thank you. [thumbup]

[Frumens]

I would like to know what those Enochian letters under my name mean.

[Clockwork Ghost]

I would like to know what those Enochian letters under my name mean.

They say 'Adept'. Each letter represents an English letter - if you look at every rank on the forum, the letters simply correspond to their English equivalents. Sorry to disappoint you, they have no hidden meaning whatsoever.

[Rin]

2. The ranks under the names. Should your rank be based on the number of posts you have made? Should we call someone a Magus simply because they have made a few hundred posts? What would you prefer in their place?

Honestly, I think we could do without the ranks. I know when I think about it I feel vaguely uncomfortable with the idea of having titles I would never claim in the real world next to what I've typed, even when it's understood that they're just arbitrary forum designations. Hell, I think we could even go without the post counts. I think a post should speak for itself. But that's just me.

3. Is there anything else you would like to see here, or have certain changes really annoyed you?

It's not a big deal, but the pink box up the top with the "rules" for each section seems somewhat unnecessary (and it's a bit of an eyesore).

And as always, I think we could do with trimming away a lot of the sub-sections which are rarely or never used.

[Clockwork Ghost]

Okay, will remove pink sections tonight. I have no idea if I can remove post counts, but I'm pretty sure I can remove ranks, though I might have to do a bit of fiddling around with things.

[Urscumug]

I would like to know what those Enochian letters under my name mean.

They are Theban letters.
Otherwise I agree with Rin, I see no values in these rankings.

[Maya The Generator]

Yep, rankings are pointless. I think post counter is good. I often find usefull the fact I can find some user, see through his comments and knew what value it represents for me. I will more often look users with lots of posts hoping there will be lot of content I am interested in. Other than that I like forum graphics.

Keep good work and have fun, see ya ^^

[EternalReturn]

Great idea concerning Paradigms and Methods [thumbup] it's much easier to find what you're looking for [grin]

[Clockwork Ghost]

Sorry guys, time ran away on me and I haven't had a chance to remove the pink tags. Will do this tomorrow.

[Clockwork Ghost]

Okay, pink tags should all be removed now (let me know if you find any I might have missed), rank is set to Forum Member, Benefactor, Global Moderator, or Administrator. Working on how to not show post counts, had to get rid of the squiggly writing, but it is stored if anyone wants it to come back.

Any more suggestions for changes you want made?

[cyberdemon]

Aw, I miss the blue squiggly writibg already..

[Haelos]

I might mess up what I'm trying to say..

While you're in a certain board, I'd like you to be able to go back to that board via a link at the top of any thread inside of said board.

I said board too much. I hope this makes sense for you. This was indeed a request.

[Clockwork Ghost]

Aw, I miss the blue squiggly writibg already..

Squiggly writing can be added back any time. We don't have one for the 'Benefactor' title, but I'm sure that can be built without much problem. [grin]

[Clockwork Ghost]

I might mess up what I'm trying to say..

While you're in a certain board, I'd like you to be able to go back to that board via a link at the top of any thread inside of said board.

I said board too much. I hope this makes sense for you. This was indeed a request.

I think this might exist already, just making sure I understand where you are coming from. At the top of the page you are on is a path link. The one at the top of this page says 'Board index‹ General ‹ Site Discussion'. If you click on any of the three words you will be taken to that part of the forum. You can find the path link above where it says 'User Contol Panel'. Can Forum Member's see this, or is it just an Admin thing? I have so many extra buttons, I lose track of who can see what.

If you want an extended link that shows all the boards you have visited during your session, I'll have to look deeper into that. I'm not sure if an extended link is supported, but I can definitely find out for you.

[Haelos]

I might mess up what I'm trying to say..

While you're in a certain board, I'd like you to be able to go back to that board via a link at the top of any thread inside of said board.

I said board too much. I hope this makes sense for you. This was indeed a request.

I think this might exist already, just making sure I understand where you are coming from. At the top of the page you are on is a path link. The one at the top of this page says 'Board index‹ General ‹ Site Discussion'. If you click on any of the three words you will be taken to that part of the forum. You can find the path link above where it says 'User Contol Panel'. Can Forum Member's see this, or is it just an Admin thing? I have so many extra buttons, I lose track of who can see what.

If you want an extended link that shows all the boards you have visited during your session, I'll have to look deeper into that. I'm not sure if an extended link is supported, but I can definitely find out for you.

You are correct at what I was asking for, and for some reason (probably on my end), I never saw those links before. I always had Board Index, and that was it. Taking a second glance at a few pages, it's there on each of them, so I think I'm set.

[cyberdemon]

Aw, I miss the blue squiggly writibg already..

Squiggly writing can be added back any time. We don't have one for the 'Benefactor' title, but I'm sure that can be built without much problem. [grin]

I'd really like those back. The blue Moderator squigglies were nice to look at. Purple for Admin, Orange for Benefactor, Pink for School, Red for Forum..

Also, not to drop hints for members or anything, but I did go through a lot of themes/styles and some of them would look really nice on these boards..

[Clockwork Ghost]

Squiggly writing is back. [thumbup]

[Maya The Generator]

Also, not to drop hints for members or anything, but I did go through a lot of themes/styles and some of them would look really nice on these boards..

I don't mind current one but If you have something specific in mind I am ready to go through some of them. Maybe we should do some voting?

[ultimafool]

The titles and post counts don't bother me. Could keep them or not. *shrug*

One thing I'd like to comment on - and I feel a bit ashamed admitting this, but I gots ta keep it real - is the background with the various symbols and the "occultforum.org" font. When I first found this forum, I skipped past it immediately because of the font and background. I didn't even bother checking out the posts because it just seemed, I dunno, hokey, is a bit too strong... It has a sort of "new-agey", bohemian, Tim Burton feel to it, if that makes sense. I don't know why this turns me off.

I tend to prefer simple, even austere, modern-ish designs. I only joined because after searching the interwebs, it seemed to be the only relatively active forum dealing with the wide range of subjects I'm into. I may be a bit too hung up on aesthetics, but then again, I've only ever approached a girl based on how she's dressed and what she looks like 'cause that's all you can know before you interact, right? I mean, sometimes, you totes can judge a book by its cover. If it's got a snake coming out of a skull's mouth that's covered in maggots it's probably not a romance novel. What I'm trying to say is I'm not superficial guys! Don't judge me! [cry]

[Sypheara]

I can understand the above to some extent, it is why my own blog theme is very simplistic. However, the forum theme has grown on me and it gives the place a distinctive feel as a brand.

That is kinda weird hearing myself say, but i'v grown to be quite fond of it. Not sure of the other changes yet - they seem good at face value, need to see how they are on a longer timescale.

[cyberdemon]

Note that new themes will not replace the current one. This will remain available as a choice in the User Conntrol Panel.

[Nahemah]

Note that new themes will not replace the current one. This will remain available as a choice in the User Conntrol Panel.

[yay] [thumbup]

[Clockwork Ghost]

Thanks for all the input guys, keep it coming - everything you say is being considered. [thumbup]

[the_spiral]

Note that new themes will not replace the current one. This will remain available as a choice in the User Conntrol Panel.

I love this idea! Any chance of a theme option that's a bit more...discreet? I'm not fully "out" as an occultist right now, and I feel weird about certain people I know looking over my shoulder to see a big red "OCCULT FORUM" with a bunch of esoteric symbols on my screen.

[Cybernetic_Jazz]

The one thing I do like about the present forum colors is they're easy on the eyes - if we do replace them we'll want to similarly think about the ease of reading. I'm all for keeping with neutrals. Question is what would we have at the top of the page that looks less flashy and more academic (if that's really what we want).