Hey all. So as many of you know, we are having a professional style created for Hyrule Castle's website and forums. Its going to be pretty great and I'm really excited for it, however its gotten me thinking about it lately. The main topic that I want to bring before you guys is the Cbox. Part of the goal of getting a new skin is first, making us look professional, and two, bringing in a lot of new traffic and members. What I propose to you, the member base, is that we take the Cbox off of every page, and off of the footer of the forums, and put a link to it in the header next to your username and PM's etc... The reason for doing this is it would help us look more professional and would let people get their first impression of the site from the forums and such themselves instead of the cbox. I mean, lets face it, there is some pretty crazy stuff that goes on in the cbox sometimes and its not always the most appealing, lol. Making the cbox its own window would help this I think, and would let us keep the tight feeling of the community while also appearing clean and professional. Anyway, tell me what you think.
At first I didn't want to, then I read your reasons, and honestly, it won't effect me much in the long run, so yeah, go for it.
The only reasons I would say no is that its easy for new members to see right off the bat. Otherwise, I'd agree, considering I'm one of those people who make it "not the most appealing" .
Well, Senpai, thats part of the problem. Its kind of like "CHATBOX FIRST RP SECOND" Hyrule Castle, the zelda chatbox lol.
I disagree, keeping the CBox visible constantly would be the best course of action, as it adds to the sense of community and lets newcomers know that there's a way to talk to the other members of the site faster than PM and easier than using an third-party IM. After all, even if you're right and they see something on there that they don't like, wouldn't moving the CBox to it's own window just delay the newbie seeing something similar. I think it might also slow the CBox down cause you always have to open a new window and switch back and forth rather than just scroll to the bottom of the page. As for professionalism, the ads already take away from that so having the CBox probably won't hurt much.
Raz, your point with "they'll see it sooner or later" isn't what I'm getting at, its that they dont HAVE to see it if its in its own window, its something that they only see if they want to, unlike this where its always on the page. Though, what about a collapsible table at the bottom that would originally be collapsed but could be opened? It would be a compromise of both I think.
I love Toko's idea about a collapsible box at the bottom. If you make it possible, I'll vote for that instead. It does solve all the problems with both. Only downside is it may be hard to notice, but it's a small price to pay.
I don't like the idea of it being moved since seeing an active and current Cbox on the main page allows me to realize "Hey, this site is full of active members, awesome!" and it's the best way to get people attached to the site (I can assure you most sites I've joined and become a core member on (HS, DU) I would not of if it wasn't for the fact that I formed actual friendships with the members in the Cbox). I think, what would probably be the best, if not most complicated, compromise would be to create an account option in Profile that allows you to toggle the Cbox at the bottom, having it hidden to newbies and an option to turn it on. Probably the more technically easier work-around would be to have two duplicates of the Site Skin, the exact same, except one has the Cbox at the bottom and one doesn't. Anyone who wants the Cbox can select the "Cbox Enabled Skin" while the default site skin for Guests and Newbies who don't change it is the "No Cbox Skin". I just never liked having to switch windows constantly when I can just scroll down to check the Cbox in any window I'm working in.
Voted no for basically the same reasons listed above by CJ, and Raz. I would be fine with a collapsible table, though
While I agree with Toko that some of the conversations in the Cbox might, um, not be very appealing (and I know that I'm guilty of that as well), I think removing it from the page might also remove the community feel. I think it's nice for new members to see there's an active community and that it's possible to talk with others when needed/wanted. I'd vote for the collapsible table though, and maybe writing it down somewhere so people can find it.
I voted hell yes, because if it's being made it's own window, there's a chance I may be able to actually use it. For whatever reason, the current cbox is impossible to use from iPods, which means I can't use it.
If people want it right now, the direct link to the cbox is right here: http://cbox.ws/?n=3-3298800-bdxeq7 This may or may not solve the mobile problem (I've had it too on my Droid)
I don't really mind one way or the other, though ideally it doesn't automatically pop up on every page. It can be pretty obnoxious on slower connections, and the tick noises can drive me insane if I don't mute them when I have multiple tabs open. The cbox doesn't work properly on the iPhone and apparently most mobile devices. For me, it appears drastically elongated at the bottom edge (thereby making the scroll bar on the right purposeless). Perhaps because the elongation covers up the profile button, I can't see it, can't click it, and therefore can't log in and post. The cbox otherwise functions in that it displays the messages of others, albeit without noise.
A collapsible C-box is a good idea. I think it'd make concentrating on my posts (and hiding the *ahem* interesting conversations we have from my parents) a lot easier. As for the mobile issue... well, that sounds like something you'd want to bring up with Adad. He could do something funky with this place's coding. Maybe a C-box app would help? I dunno.
Hmm... I really don't know if there is a way to make it work for mobile devices, its kind of just the code and its held by cbox.ws and not us. Two identical skins could work, CJ, perhaps we could do that along with even a hide feature on the one that had the cbox, so that it doesn't need to be up all the time but can be accessed if desired. I also think that we could move it off of every page, perhaps thats a separate vote in and of itself, whether to keep it on just the forum homepage or every page. Stuff to think about for sure.
