Notifications
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This is the biggest thing I've added since... well, user profiles last week. In truth, it's not actually very big.
The Notifications area is not like notifications on most social network sites. It won't clear everything after visiting it, and it won't even tell you if you have new notifications without going to it first. So in those two respects, it may be somewhat of a let down for some.
However, what the Notifications area does do is let you know about everything that has happened and concerns you since your last visit to YWS. That should make things a whole lot easier for a whole lot of people. No more skimming through the "View New Posts" area to see if a topic you made was replied to, checking up on a blog entry you replied to so that you could read what others said, or visiting your profile only to be disappointed!
Here is just a sampling of what the Notifications area notifies you about:
- New Reviews
- New replies to your blog entries
- New replies to a blog entry you responded to
- New comments on your profile
- New comments on a profile you posted on
- New storybook activity in storybooks you're participating in
Etc.
At the time being, the Notifications area is still a work in progress. The badges area does not work at all yet, and I am trying to figure out how to make it such that you'll be alerted to New Notifications without visiting the area (don't worry, it will be unobtrusive). I am also working on making it such that you can fill in a date as a substitute for your last visit. For instance, it'd be useful for me to see all my notifications going back a week rather than just the past day.
Yet, I think you'll find it very useful right away. Just be warned: it can take a very long time to load! However, I'm working on a way of caching the data so that it'll run much faster.
The Minor Stuff
Different fonts
No, you haven't gone crazy if you've noticed the font of the forum titles (e.g., Information Desk) is a little different. Also, the font for typing a new post is also different. This was actually an unintended consequence of the second minor thing (discussed right below), but I liked this unintended consequence so I didn't change it.
Organized the CSS Stylesheet
Most websites have what is called a CSS Stylesheet. Basically, these control the design of the webpage. For a long time, YWS' stylesheet was devilishly unorganized. But I went through on Saturday and reorganized the stylesheet, which cut its size by about 20%. The organization lead to some good unintended consequences (see the different fonts above), and also sped things up a bit.
Subforums Now Viewable on Main Forum Page
If you've gone to The Lounge or any of the short story forums lately, then you've noticed that subforums are now viewable on the main forum page. The reason they weren't there to begin with was a mistake on my part in manipulating the original coding. So, mistake finally fixed! Better late than never, no?
