Young Writers Society

Did a whole bunch of stuff this past weekend; some of it noticeable, some of it not. But all of it either made YWS a little speedier and/or a little easier to use. So here we go!

Notifications


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?

Haha, sweeeet.

Where is the Notifications area?

Snoink wrote:Haha, sweeeet.

Where is the Notifications area?

Adding a picture to the post

Awesommmee! I was kind of stalking it while you were setting it up. Great stuff Nate.

Ooh, very cool. I don't really like the placement of it though. I thought it was going to be *in* the profile itself, like a self-updating stream, a la Twitter. There's a natural space for it along the tabs in My Profile, right at the end...is it too much to ask for it to be placed there?

Or is this just a beta-testing sort of thing?

It's awesome, either way!

Jiggity wrote:Ooh, very cool. I don't really like the placement of it though. I thought it was going to be *in* the profile itself, like a self-updating stream, a la Twitter. There's a natural space for it along the tabs in My Profile, right at the end...is it too much to ask for it to be placed there?

Or is this just a beta-testing sort of thing?

It's awesome, either way!

I'm actually saving that space for The Caligrafeed (aka The Feed)

Aha, I knew *something* ought to go there. It just looks like it ought to be filled.

Well, that's extra gravy then. Yayness.

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)

Well not about how you should get the coding done, but if you could just have it change colour from white to blue (I'm sort of against red.)
Otherwise, awesome-ness!

I'm actually saving that space for The Caligrafeed (aka The Feed)

Yes. Yes yes yes.

But it looks awesome, Nate!

O.o I would have hated to organize the CSS! Go you

And now I'm off to check out the notifications...

Well, that's epic. Already been using it!

For a long time, YWS' stylesheet was devilishly unorganized.

That is a gross understatement, and you know it. ._.

But, yes, I love how there's a link to Notifications all the way at the top. It was getting a bit tedious going into My YWS and clicking the tab. :P And being able to see the subforums is so nice. :D

I absolutely love that the subforums can be accessed from the main forum pages! And I thought I noticed something differet about the font as I typed... Great job as always, Nate.

Oh, good I'm not going crazy. XD I like this font though, so I'm just going to praise you.

Also, CALLIGRAFEED. I'm so excited for my feed. Complete with my Notifications Area, I'll be one happy YWSer. Have I mentioned how much I love YWS?

Heh, it'd appear the only people who read these are JMs, mods, and DMs.