What is torque3d.net lacking
by JD · 08/17/2014 (9:08 am) · 71 comments
So guys & gals I'm wondering what http://www.torque3d.net is lacking? I would like to see this site live long and prosper, but there is a lack of traffic. I realize at first I had to lock the site down to keep out spammers but I have seemed to have put enough measures in to control them, so I'm wondering what else is everyone looking for that would better the site?
I'm hoping to better develop a more organized platform where people can do q & a more efficiently and quickly, as well as a better way of showcasing their stuff.
I'm hoping to better develop a more organized platform where people can do q & a more efficiently and quickly, as well as a better way of showcasing their stuff.
About the author
Check out my website: http://lethonline.com/ *a home for all gamers!*
#62
Does anyone have a script to pull the RSS feed from GG's website? I'm thinking I'll have to create a custom block and write it in manually
Latest Docs? Do you mean like from github? Or is this like a highlight section of what's been going on recently? Please expand
08/24/2014 (7:22 am)
I've sat down and made a password protected steering committee area of the forum. That should help them.Does anyone have a script to pull the RSS feed from GG's website? I'm thinking I'll have to create a custom block and write it in manually
Latest Docs? Do you mean like from github? Or is this like a highlight section of what's been going on recently? Please expand
#63
We should probably unify torque3d.net/torque3d.org and make them both point to the github.io landing page, and then make a forums link off of that. Which leads to questions of a unified visual theme, but that can be sorted out later.
08/25/2014 (6:34 am)
I've packed my bags and I'm ready to move. After watching the same user, who still hasn't been banned, post spam on the forums for the last ~4 days straight, I'm ready to move to a new forum.We should probably unify torque3d.net/torque3d.org and make them both point to the github.io landing page, and then make a forums link off of that. Which leads to questions of a unified visual theme, but that can be sorted out later.
#64
Any particular reason you went with phpBB?
I've used myBB for a loooooooooong time now, and I've never had problems with it. It's very extensible as well. So I'm just wondering if there were specific reasonings for going with phpBB.
As a personal weigh-in on it:
I would suggest having Torque3D.net itself point to the git landing page for cohesion, and then we have a main navigation link back to the Torque3d.net forums.
Aligning with that, I would also suggest changing to a simpler, more streamlined theme. ideally one that matches to the landing page, but that could be optional.
Having a pictured namebar at the top, and large thread icons makes the board look less professional and visually busy. You want clean, simple and easy to read.
I also would very much agree with Mich's points that we should foremost work to get it to the current standards before really pushing to migrate everyone. If the destination site is inferior, no one will move there.
If there's nothing specifically tying you to phpBB, I'd be willing to help with getting a myBB board setup and sorted if you're willing to swing to it.
08/25/2014 (8:17 am)
Hey James,Any particular reason you went with phpBB?
I've used myBB for a loooooooooong time now, and I've never had problems with it. It's very extensible as well. So I'm just wondering if there were specific reasonings for going with phpBB.
As a personal weigh-in on it:
I would suggest having Torque3D.net itself point to the git landing page for cohesion, and then we have a main navigation link back to the Torque3d.net forums.
Aligning with that, I would also suggest changing to a simpler, more streamlined theme. ideally one that matches to the landing page, but that could be optional.
Having a pictured namebar at the top, and large thread icons makes the board look less professional and visually busy. You want clean, simple and easy to read.
I also would very much agree with Mich's points that we should foremost work to get it to the current standards before really pushing to migrate everyone. If the destination site is inferior, no one will move there.
If there's nothing specifically tying you to phpBB, I'd be willing to help with getting a myBB board setup and sorted if you're willing to swing to it.
#65
08/25/2014 (9:10 am)
@Andrew - It's either one or multiple people representing the same spam group, but we are banning each one. This new one just happens to be creating accounts using the same name. Again, I ban and clean up everyday, but they keep creating new accounts =/
#66
Still not opposed to migrating to a new forum though, but clearly there were some issues raised in this thread that I should have read before posting haha.
08/25/2014 (2:38 pm)
@Mich - I didn't mean to crap on your efforts. I was just annoyed this morning after seeing the top posts from that same guy. I didn't even read all of this 4 page thread, I was just in search of a bandwagon to jump onto this morning. Monday mornings truly bring out the best in people. Still not opposed to migrating to a new forum though, but clearly there were some issues raised in this thread that I should have read before posting haha.
#67
www.demolishun.com
It is on the right have side. I am betting a quick search on Google will get you simple code for it too. Again, I have never coded it myself.
08/25/2014 (11:09 pm)
@James, Wordpress does it with a plugin or something. I have no idea how it works. You can see it here:www.demolishun.com
It is on the right have side. I am betting a quick search on Google will get you simple code for it too. Again, I have never coded it myself.
#68
08/26/2014 (9:23 am)
You may also want to consider moderating the site a little more often. I tried to reply to a post yesterday and I'm still waiting on it to be approved. Your going to want your administrators and moderators to be a little more active, especially if, and when the site gains more members.
#69
To respond to this...
Michael you need to add challenge questions to the board, I have one "Torque does not support Two Dimensional" with a yes or no... (I think that's it)... just enough to make it annoying for spammers haha.
Andrew I hope you come on over and join us but don't be discouraged by a spammer here... they get through pretty often anywhere now days. I'll keep adding a security question everytime I see a new one... (it'll be a contract signed by the blood of every new user soon). But yea come join us man... I'm seeing some awesome things arise from the forums.
Brian I am working on the moderation side, I was tightening security when this stuff happened-working on being fixed though.
Demo-I'll look into wordpress-I'm not against it or anything... but I think as the user-base on this forum is growing I'll begin leaving it up to the community there to decide what they want or what they don't... out of respect for them taking a leap of faith :)
Jeff, I've never heard of myBB... Please post that question on the other forum, I'll have to talley up the cms I'm being recommended and do a poll lol... With that said I'll need help installing any CMS that requires a lot of plugins to get it performing in the right way this site is aiming to do at the current point and time.
08/27/2014 (7:31 pm)
Hi all, sorry I've been back at work- a lot of stuff to clean up... getting the yearly training ready, figuring out a First Lieutenant I thought was so so is just straight garbage haha... and I'm finding out loads that went wrong while I was gone... To respond to this...
Michael you need to add challenge questions to the board, I have one "Torque does not support Two Dimensional" with a yes or no... (I think that's it)... just enough to make it annoying for spammers haha.
Andrew I hope you come on over and join us but don't be discouraged by a spammer here... they get through pretty often anywhere now days. I'll keep adding a security question everytime I see a new one... (it'll be a contract signed by the blood of every new user soon). But yea come join us man... I'm seeing some awesome things arise from the forums.
Brian I am working on the moderation side, I was tightening security when this stuff happened-working on being fixed though.
Demo-I'll look into wordpress-I'm not against it or anything... but I think as the user-base on this forum is growing I'll begin leaving it up to the community there to decide what they want or what they don't... out of respect for them taking a leap of faith :)
Jeff, I've never heard of myBB... Please post that question on the other forum, I'll have to talley up the cms I'm being recommended and do a poll lol... With that said I'll need help installing any CMS that requires a lot of plugins to get it performing in the right way this site is aiming to do at the current point and time.
#70
EDIT: you know what I've wanted to do for a while? I want to make a frontend application (clientside/JS) that just uses the GG website as a backend, scrapes all the posts and so on, and presents it in a nice modern single-page UI. We could even implement insane stuff like @mentions on top of the existing forums, not lose the wealth of info, but have a nicer user experience. We could set up an intermediate server, if necessary, that would scrape GG regularly and publish that information to the clients, rather than having every single client scrape GG individually, since that would be mean to the server. And it could be hosted right on torque3d.org, with a free Heroku app for the intermediate server.
Ugh. Sorry, just wanted to get that off my chest. Ok, back to non-crazy-talk.
08/28/2014 (3:47 am)
James, here's the JavaScript I use to get the GitHub atom feed. I imagine the GarageGames feed should work similarly.EDIT: you know what I've wanted to do for a while? I want to make a frontend application (clientside/JS) that just uses the GG website as a backend, scrapes all the posts and so on, and presents it in a nice modern single-page UI. We could even implement insane stuff like @mentions on top of the existing forums, not lose the wealth of info, but have a nicer user experience. We could set up an intermediate server, if necessary, that would scrape GG regularly and publish that information to the clients, rather than having every single client scrape GG individually, since that would be mean to the server. And it could be hosted right on torque3d.org, with a free Heroku app for the intermediate server.
Ugh. Sorry, just wanted to get that off my chest. Ok, back to non-crazy-talk.
Community Manager Michael Perry
ZombieShortbus
1. Get torque3d.net up to par, feature wise, with GarageGames.com. Resource section, user blog section, RSS feed, etc. Ignore the store portion for now.
2. Add some features from the "old" GG site that people missed, like embedding the GarageGames IRC channel into a page, and snapshot of the day/week.
3. Add some new features that GG can't add, like embedding pages from GitHub (is that possible?), latest docs, and a steering committee section of the site.
4. Cross-post to project updates to the "main 3": torque3d.net, GarageGames.com, Reddit.com/r/GameDev (Screenshot Saturday). Any big contributors inside and outside of T3D should also post about their contributions to any Sub-Reddits related to open source projects. They'll eat that up, trust me.
I'm telling you, if you hit those 4, you are going to see this take off. As torque3d.net grows, GG will help advertise it from our site in blog sections, doc pages, product pages, forums, and so on.