Posted by Kim on October 14, 2014, 9:57am
Patch notes
- Group pages now resize to work on mobile and tablet devices. Yes, this is indeed a sign of things to come for the site at large.
- Group members can be re-ordered and viewed in alphabetical or reverse alphabetical order by clicking the "name" column title on the member's page.
- When editing group members, you can also sort in alphabetical or reverse alphabetical order if desired. However, you can additonally filter to show only users that are assigned to a particular role. Again, click the titles of the various columns while on the group member editing page.
- Group notifications can now be controlled individually. Don't want to see new gallery images from one particular group? No problem. From the home page, click the pencil next to "All" in the sidebar, then click the name of the group you want to adjust.
- Group notification widgets should be better about not showing forum posts to people who don't have access to said forum.
- Group sidebars are now smarter about not creating blank sidebars when a recruitment widget is there but invisible to members.
- A whole bunch of little bugs were addressed.
A word of warning
If you've been with us for years and years, you may recall that when groups first hit the site, way back at the dawn of time, there were ads on group pages.
When it became clear that it was going to take a long time before I would be able to launch the paid features of groups that would give people an opportunity to remove said ads, I took them all down until we got closer to the "completion" date of groups. Getting to that point took even longer than I imagined, and I suspect that most people have by now either forgotten or never knew that group pages once had ads on them - and are still intended to have ads on them!
We are now head-spinningly close to the day when groups can go Epic, purchase extra pages, and more -- which means that we are getting closer to the time when ads will be re-instated on group pages.
Giving groups paid capabilities - or ads, to help make up the cost in another way - is becoming ever more urgent not just because it will be super cool to be able to trick your group out in custom styles, but because groups recently gained the ability to upload images to galleries, and image hosting is easily the single most expensive thing that the site has to handle.
So expect a flood of awesome things very soon, but also mentally prepare yourself that just like free character profiles, free group profiles will also sport an ad.
Comments
@Masha - Yes! Just likes with members, groups will be able to buy (permanent) extra pages.
Tate
October 16, 2014
5:09pm
I'm excited for it, as I'm working on a new group that could probably REALLY use the extra pages. Will there be anything like we have with members where you can buy JUST the extra pages (if, say, you're a small group and can't afford much)?
@Corvus - Account epicness and group epicness are basically separate, as group epicness can potentially provide perks to hundreds of people at once. The one perk that will carry through absolutely everywhere is that if you are personally epic, you won't personally see google ads anywhere on the site. This includes groups, both those that belong to you and those that belong to others.
@Cacophony - I think a lot of people are super excited about group epic features! Maybe fewer are excited about actually buying it, but with the holidays coming up, who knows!
@SanityCatch & @Copper_Dragon - So glad you are enjoying the new mobile size! I have to say I'm pretty stoked for that too.
@Cacophony - I think a lot of people are super excited about group epic features! Maybe fewer are excited about actually buying it, but with the holidays coming up, who knows!
@SanityCatch & @Copper_Dragon - So glad you are enjoying the new mobile size! I have to say I'm pretty stoked for that too.
I love this, and I'm excited to continue help support RPR with an epic group subscription (considering how freakin' much NV utilizes the feature)!
That said, will founders who are Epic have any perks for their groups? Idly curiosity!
That said, will founders who are Epic have any perks for their groups? Idly curiosity!
I hopped onto the site via my phone earlier today, and I have to say I am SO pleased to see groups fitting neatly inside my screen! Fighting with a good size prior to this has been such a bother.
My phone loves the new updates, thanks for everything you do for the site to keep making awesomeness even more awesome!
Is it weird I'm excited at the thought of Epic group memberships? I actually wondered about another way to support the site (even if I don't have a group myself at the moment) and this seems like the perfect way.
@Novalyyn - I adjusted the post info length a bit. It's not perfect yet but it's definitely shorter.
Awesome.
@novalyyn - Unfortunately, there just isn't room on most mobile devices to keep the poster info to the left of the post body in the forums. I've noticed the height too, though, and I'm working on adjusting that.
About group paid features -- groups are going to make use of a treasury system, that will allow all of the members (and possibly non-members) to contribute to the group funds/general perks.
About group paid features -- groups are going to make use of a treasury system, that will allow all of the members (and possibly non-members) to contribute to the group funds/general perks.
Skitzie
October 14, 2014
10:22am
I am very excited for this update!!! I can't wait to see what else is coming (evil ads!)
I noticed the layout change earlier. Weirded me out and I'm not sure how to feel about it yet. Seems like there's a lot of unnecessary height from the profile info being at the top of each post instead of next to it. 
But yay everything else!
Concerning upcoming epic group stuff - will there be a way for members to help pay to make/keep a group epic, or will it be entirely on the founder?
But yay everything else!
Concerning upcoming epic group stuff - will there be a way for members to help pay to make/keep a group epic, or will it be entirely on the founder?
TateOctober 16, 2014
6:51pm