Civ3DuelZone homepage and portal feedback

[ProPain]

The thread for feedback on the new URL and portal!

[Shabbaman]

Make a donation... cool. Unfortunately, donating through paypal is a bit costly for me, since I'd have to pay for the initial transfer to the U.S. bank.

[ProPain]

We thought that was free. I'll look into that and o/w start a more UK/Dutch/Euro scheme also

[digger760]

i'd rather slip a fiver in a birthday card and post it than use pay pal or any other sort of online paymnet. My other half will think i've been surfing porn.

[Shabbaman]

Maybe it's free, but I doubt that. It differs per bank I think. afaik it costs 7 euro's.

[ProPain]

quote:Originally posted by digger760

i'd rather slip a fiver in a birthday card and post it than use pay pal or any other sort of online paymnet. My other half will think i've been surfing porn.

[rotfl] porn [rotfl]

We'll just show her the Catherine leaderhead and she won't worry anymore

[anarres]

No, PayPal *is* free!

If you pay be Credit card we pay a 3% fee, there are no charges to the payee.

Also, we accept donations in Euros, so there is no USD involved at all...

Try actually clicking the PayPal link, you will see that it accepts Euros and that there is no fee. ;)

[Lt. Killer M]

I'd suggest the first round oof donations be done in cash in Amsterdam ;)

[ProPain]

Thats the first round of drinks Killer.

[col]

Paid my 5 euros, guys

[anarres]

Thanks Col!

You will go down in history as our <s>only</s> first donator! :D

[Lt. Killer M]

First round of drinks in Amsterdam is on me (provided we take it in a reasonable location - Stapel, you know what I am talking about ;))

[Skyfish]

quote:Paid my 5 euros, guys

Is that serious ? Can one already start supporting the site and get rid of his excess wealth ?

LINK !

[Shabbaman]

Yeah, paypal is free, but transferring money to paypal isn't. At least, not for me. Well, I'm willing to make a donation anyway, I could always transfer it to propain or something.

[anarres]

Skyfish, the main page has a Make A Donation (http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/portal.asp?ContentID=11&CategoryID=3) link...

Shabba, it really shouldn't cost you a fee to make a payment in Euros via PayPal. Have you tried clicking the link and checking agian? If they only accept dollars, or if you are trying to add money to your own PayPal account then that may incour a fee, but everything I read said you could make a payment to someone else without a fee.

Having said that, if you want to give directly to ProPain I am sure something could be arranged. :)

[ERIKK]

I would like to donate too. Col did you pay by credit card with PayPal?

[digger760]

if you can provide a PO box or address i will mail it to you, i won't use the pay pal thing, i've been stung back in my early years for porn surfing....credit card transactions on the net for me are a strict no no.

[Skyfish]

So now he is admitting to the Porn surfing :D

Indeed PayPal means Credit Card payment, the only other way would be what Shabba says I think which would be making a
bank transfer to PayPal and its assorted costs and complications...

Question to anarres : can you see WHO paid or is it all anonymous when you receive it ?

[anarres]

Well, you can fake your details I suppose, but why would you bother?

Give PP and me a days or so and we will think of a way to make non-Credit/Debit Card payments (probably snail mail a cheque to one of us).

BTW, if anyone has suggestions for the main page we accept them too. :)

[ERIKK]

Never mind, I will pay with credit card like Col did. I think I have used PayPal before when I bought my RoboSuck... ;)

[col]

I use Paypal a lot for Ebay transactions so its no big deal for me. I've had an account there for a long time!

[Skyfish]

OK to get back on topic of feedback :

1- You need more graphics on the homepage, but you already know that...
:)

2- How about a "Featured PBEMs" column that will link to the spoilers of some of the nice games we got going ? It could be real nice...
Criterias for which game would be featured could be a direct result of a spoiler update : it would also incite ppl to update their spoilers regularly.
This would be real attractive for newcomers I believe. Imagine: you discover this site, come on the homepage and see " Killer M vs Cartouche Bee game : read all about it here..."
First it's captivating to get inside the games of those great players.
Then you think "Wait a sec I could play CB in a PBEM ? Wow !, I'm registering !"

[ProPain]

I like both ideas! I think the featured PBEM would be brilliant!

[anarres]

mmm, nice...

[Skyfish]

Third idea is a bit time-consuming but well worth the effort I believe : "an A to Z on how to play PBEMs
at CDZ" : from finding an opponent, to requesting a map (even making a map), to subscribing to the ladder, to get on the chat with opponents and exchange turns, to getting your forum, having an open thread, a spoiler thread, taking a nice snapshot of your game etc... etc...
It is a big project but could get done in stages and maybe some volunteer (Killer?) would like to help....
It's a must in my opinion !
Should have it's own section on the site but with a big link on the main page.

[Eklektikos]

My only complaint with the new main page is that all the links open in a new window rather than in the current one. I personally find that a bit irritating, although I guess I might be in the minority where that's concerned.

[ProPain]

dunno if we can do something about that Eklektikos. It's in the code so we have to look for the _blank additions and remove em. I know from experience hunting for the right code is very time consuming and I plan to use my time before my holiday to add some content first.

[DrAlimentado]

Nice job guys :)

How about we link to the map-making guide in the portal? or we could html it up and stick it in there. I'm happy to do some more blurb for that section too. I could even write some stuff for the suggested 'A to Z of how to do stuff on CDZ', maybe that could be a team effort.

Have you got a plan yet for 'asthetics'? The layout and design is fine but I think white BG is a little utilitarian looking, how about a change of colour, or even something a bit more radical... dare I say it, some graphics?

[Shabbaman]

Paypal has a dutch bank account nowadays. Which makes it possible for me to make foreign internet payments at last. Expect my bribe soon.

[anarres]

As soon is Killer is back we shall unleash him on the evil fucking German ISP that won't release CDZ.com to us. atm all we can do is redirect. Soon we will move the site proper and set up @CDZ.com email addresses for all donors! :D

[Shabbaman]

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/ERIKK/2003628162230_20036158268_Killer2.jpg

"Lt. Killer, bane of ISP callcentrecrews around the world"

(allright, I admit it's a bit low to make fun of him behind his back, but that'll teach him to take a holiday THIS long)

[anarres]

He looks as though he just got off the phone to an ISP... [:o]

...well, they do call him Killer!

[DrAlimentado]

"low to make fun of killer behind his back...."

now who would do a thing like that?

[DrAlimentado]

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/DrAlimentado/2003822222429_LtKiller pisstake.jpg
10.56KB

[Shabbaman]

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Shabbaman/2003822232941_cookiemonster.jpg
"Go ahead, make my day!"

[DrAlimentado]

hehe, this could get silly... [tongue]



http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/DrAlimentado/200382321630_sillyshabba.gif

"ShillyShallyMan"

[anarres]

[rotfl]

[Shabbaman]

[lol]

[Shabbaman]

I was just checking the civ3-forum of our site, and I noticed there's very little consistency in the order in which the subfora are displayed.
I mean, the order is now something like this (more 'exactly like this'): game mods, sp, gd, ladder, mm, opponent finding, 1 vs 1.
Is there *any* logic behind this order? I think it should be rearranged.

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Shabbaman/20031024131733_shabba.gif

[anarres]

Suggest a new order and me or PP can set it in the admin options.

Funnily enough I thought the same thing last night (but was too lazy to do anything)...

[Shabbaman]

Hehe...

GD-1 vs 1-mods-ladder-mm-opp

The logic: general things first, then to the more specific things and lastly to the two 'service' fora.

[Lt. Killer M]

ha!


I go on holiday for a few weeks and what ahppenes behind my back?

And none of you cowrads dares to tell me! Not even anonymously!

[Aggie]

quote:Originally posted by Lt. Killer M


And none of you cowrads dares to tell me! Not even anonymously!


They don't call you killer for nothing ;)

[DrAlimentado]

[lol]

I had completely forgotten about the picture editing duel, hehe... I would apologise but I'm laughing too much ;)

[Shabbaman]

quote:Originally posted by Lt. Killer M

ha!


I go on holiday for a few weeks and what ahppenes behind my back?

And none of you cowrads dares to tell me! Not even anonymously!


Hey, you should have checked all active topics when you got back [shabba]

[anarres]

Hmm, I'm thinking of adding this album to the site and getting it to play on a loop:

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/anarres/20031027164436__countrychurch.jpg
28.13KB

[ProPain]

Next time you rob an old lady take her money instead of her LP records. Tssk.

[Pastorius]

Say, what's the deal with all them numbers, making a horisontal scrollbar needed

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/paalikles/2004111195232_weird_search.jpg
22.59KB

[ProPain]

From the looks of it you are using the search option I tried it but I dont get those numbers.

Could you make a bigger screenshot including the url.

[digger760]

i get a horizontal scroll bar to, but its always been there. I never use the search option.

[Shabbaman]

quote:Originally posted by Paalikles

Say, what's the deal with all them numbers, making a horisontal scrollbar needed

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/paalikles/2004111195232_weird_search.jpg
22.59*KB


It does the same for me, even before I've performed a search.

[Skyfish]

For me too, no scrollbar but those rows of number.

[Pastorius]

I use 1024*768 for surfing btw

here you go with the larger screenie:


http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/paalikles/2004112123350_weird_search2.jpg
90.06KB

I get it, as you now clearly see, when I click the search link. Do not have to perform a search

[ProPain]

I see you use mozilla. I think that's the problem. I use IE5.0 and have no problem I tried with mozilla and experience the same problem.

How's that for the rest of the people having this problem.

[Pastorius]

Shall I provide an IE6 screenie showing the same?
It does

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/paalikles/20041121333_ie_weird_search.jpg
55.34 KB

damn - forgot the horisontal scrollbar....just didnt want to use up too much space making a large pic...


EDIT:
Also looked at the search page source, and there is a whole line of numbers - at the appropriate spot for being shown as on the screenies. I dont know diddly about writing asp however, but it looks like someone might have ment to add something, and forgot about it...

[anarres]

I don't get it either - it will be something that depends on the user level then.

I will look at it when I get a chance.

[ProPain]

Thanks, Paal. Don;t worry about the scrollbar, that just appears automaticaly when the forum expands beyond horizontal screensize. My guess is, it will disappear when this problem is solved.

[ProPain]

@anarres, when I log on as a user instead of admin, I get the numbers too. Sky and Shabba get them too, so mods have em too. So your hinch of user level relation seems spot on.

[Emperor Amirsan]

phpbb forums are great. If you can find out how to change the language and transfer this forum, you would love it.

check out mine here;

www.stratcommandcenter.com

[anarres]

I am familiar with UBB and it has pros and cons.

Maybe if you posted a bit more you would love it here regardless. [:p]

[Pastorius]

DrA says the colors stink. Meli disagrees, but if people are dissatisfied with the forum template, perhaps we can convince someone to whip up some alternatives.

I ve run an error checker on the forum, and it has lots of errors compared to the w3c standard. My firefox plugin wasnt able to fix those errors though, so I cant pinpoint them to y'all just yet.

But instead of wasting a lot of dough on vB3 when the existing software is free, why not try to improve snitz using the skilled minds that frequent this forum?

Anar and others are knowledgable in database building. DrA and others are skilled in html, css and javascript. While javascript isnt as good as php and the like, I dont think it should be counted out, as more and more browsers have support for that... (security could be an issue that prevents js from being effectively used though)

[ProPain]

Some of the more advanced Snitz instances have much more functionality than the one that we currently run.

Check out his one for example:

http://www.fishinacage.nl

However the vB3 has some truely great functions:

- different mods: 'uber'admin, admin, super mod, mod
That would be great for us really. With our everybody is a mod population we could really use the difference between pbem mod and mod

- great thread management.
Splitting and moving threads is possible and has quite extensive possibilities.

- admin control panel much more intuitive and elaborate.

However I wouldn't mind messing around with Snitz a bit also, I need to adjust it a bit for another forum anyway. My asp programming skills suck big time however. Or more true: my programming skills suck big time.

[Kingreno]

I see I am still in solid second position when it comes to number of total posts.[hmm]

[Pastorius]

What an odd little forum. [:p]

Some of those additions to snitz would be interesting to look into though

[akots]

quote:Originally posted by Kingreno

I see I am still in solid second position when it comes to number of total posts.[hmm]


I'm actually 3 posts away from one thousand. Two away counting this spammy one.

[Kingreno]

I was refering to the Fish in a cage forum! I have no idea what my rank is here, nor do I care. :)

[Pastorius]

The calendar/event thingie looks nice. If we stay, can we get it?

[DrAlimentado]

Hacking forum software is good fun imo, and useful for adding quirky stuff.

Why bother hacking it for stuff that free forum software already provides though! I would rather hack it to get really useful stuff that we can't get off the shelf. Or add to it to integrate the forum and ladder/game databases, provide snazzy stats pages or somesuch. Some mods would be a nightmare to do as well, I have seen the source for several php BB's and implementing something like thread-splitting would not be at all trivial.

If we ever do want some hacks doing then my programming skills do not suck at all... although I have never written a line of asp I know all the requisite bits, java, vb etc. I'm sure I can help out if needed, I prefer php though ;)

there is a windows installer for mySQL, no idea how stable it is etc. but its been supported for a while.

[DrAlimentado]

quote:Originally posted by Dell19 in the other thread


Yeah thats what I kind of think as well although admittedly I'm just learning that .asp is evil.


hehe, well asp IS evil, but the issues with the page appearance being written in the html (and not via a css sheet) are not inherent to asp at all, snitz could be coded exactly the same way in php.

[Pastorius]

portal feedback: why not archive the OLD news stuff.

WAAY down at the bottom of the portal page is the "at least/last we have a main page post"

That is an oldie, no?

And if you dont know how to write asp/html/whatever - please call tech support [:p]

[Pastorius]

[bump]

Also want to add that the clear.gif used as a spacer on the portal page does not exist on server, and looks stupid. I can see the no-image placeholder for it, but that is not as cool as having an ok design.

Someone with magical powers should look into this perhaps?

[ProPain]

well, portal page looks fine to me. Also the spacer for the portal is the same as the spacer for the forum itself.

Could you post a screenie perhaps?

[Pastorius]

It may be related to the difference between Mozilla and IE handling of stylesheets:

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Paalikles/2005123215755_portal_spacergif.jpg
6.8KB

Using latest build of Mozilla, as usual. (IE is too strict to use for browsing, since I ve modified it to be more secure...)

[Ginger_Ale]

Yeah, in IE (just checked because I get the same problem as Paal (had it for a while, never bothered to complain)), it doesn't appear (though there is no space between them).

[Shabbaman]

civduelzone.com (http://www.civduelzone.com) is online. Something seems wrong here though. Anyway able to shed some light on this (looking at you PP)?

[ProPain]

Did a whois, some belgian company owns it starting 29th december 2005. Dunno how that happened, anarres handles the domains.

I'll try and PM him

[ProPain]

Did a whois, some belgian company owns it starting 29th december 2005. Dunno how that happened, anarres handles the domains.

I'll try and PM him

[Shabbaman]

Stupid belgians, now we have to invade that country and annex it again.

[Socrates]

quote:Originally posted by Shabbaman

Stupid belgians, now we have to invade that country and annex it again.

Yes please, do. [blush2] [goodjob] A lot of my countrymen will be glad to hear that funny grass can be freely found closer...

[Shabbaman]

Double post! [banned]

Heh.

Well, otherwise we'll have to resort to civilizationduelzone.com or something. civ4duelzone is still available as well.

[ProPain]

I'll take civ4duelzone out today/tomorrow.

[Shabbaman]

OK,

Think it's about time for some action. We've discussed some of the things we want (new domain, logo, vbulletin, gold), perhaps we should consider a plan to actually implement these things. A plan that consists of more than PP to get it done, because the guy's obviously very busy. I think it's important that we move this site forward: to me, it seems CDZ is stagnating. Aside from a visual overhaul, we should work on some actual content (not spam). What do you people think about this?

[Socrates]

... That it's a very good idea you have here. Thanks for doing the job ! [goodjob]

Nah j/k. But yes, well said, I don't like the idea of a site stagnating either. I can make propositions and comments, and I can do some of the job if I'm told what to do ; it's just that I don't know how to manage such a site/forum. I can also discuss the plan with you guys. I think we should do it step by step. One thing I have in mind is that we should do these things in this order :
1. Take the www.civduelzone.com domain, forget the Civ version inside, we embrace all Civs.
2. Move to vB if that's OK with the majority (I think it is, according to PP's poll).
3. Discuss the rest later, as all the stuff we'd implement now will have to be moved too (vB, new domain...). For example, no point in choosing a new logo in the top left of the page if we can't have one in vB (I don't know, but you can see the thinking there).

Shabba, do you feel some responsability, now you're #1 here ? [groucho]

[Shabbaman]

If I'm in charge we're in big trouble [rolleyes]

[Socrates]

Maybe Meli can lead us through this tunnel ?? [tongue]

What about my plan ?

[Shabbaman]

It might be a solid plan, but it doesn't meet my main criterium. Changing domain and forum software requires a lot of time from propain, time that he clearly doesn't have. Besides, it's still cosmetic. Changing forum software really doesn't add to the content of the site.

[Socrates]

I don't know what you're referring to, what is "content" to you ? To me, it is what people post, and it is up to them everyday of the year...?

- New domain : So as to be more logical, we aren't a Civ3 site anymore, just a Civ site.
- New software : This is how, as a mod, you'll have access to so many useful features, I think. It is costly. I'd like to work on my contribution if this happens then.

[Shabbaman]

I doubt changing domain will increase our popularity. And while vB has some nice mod tools, there's not much to mod anyway. If there's anything that's overdue for an update, it's the front page. We don't have a lot of news, we could just as well change it to active topics anyway.

Besides IP banning spambots, but that's apparently possible with snitz as well.

[BCLG100]

this may sound stupid and i really dont understand how these things work but could we not see about advertising?

[Shabbaman]

What do we need advertising for?

[BCLG100]

i more meant advertising at other places, this would increase the number of folk here.

[Pastorius]

But that will mean we also attract...err...weird people

[Beam]

quote:Originally posted by Paalikles

But that will mean we also attract...err...weird people


Like those at that other site when they teamed with Firaxis for release of CiV?

[spam]

[Beam]

quote:Originally posted by Paalikles

But that will mean we also attract...err...weird people


QED. ;)

[Matrix]

[lol]

[mauer]

Simon must have been offline when they did the testing for this.....



http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/mauer/2008491633_untitled.JPG
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http://www.siteadvisor.nl/sites/civ3duelzone.com/