How can we make the 405th great?

[Art Andrews]

As mentioned elsewhere, we are very excited to be managing this community! We think it has a tremendous amount of potential and want to see it grow and flourish, but we need YOUR help to do that! This thread is for posting your thoughts and ideas about 1) existing changes as they are made and 2) changes you would like to see made.

Please bear in mind that there is only a handful of us and 10s of thousands of you, so we may not respond to every post or comment on every idea but we WILL read and consider every idea, comment and even criticism. Some things we should be able to implement quickly and easily while others may take time or not be feasible at all. Be patient with us as we already have a tremendous backlog of things that need to be done, but one-by-one, we will get to them.

 

[WandererTJ]

Are you planing on removing all the locked and dead threads on the forum and Art since you have the support of many 405th veterans you have my support hope you can make the site great but I have but one question will you continue the 405th tradition and make a halo costume of your own?

Why would we remove all the old threads?
They still serve as valuable sources of information.

---

EDIT 1: 11:50PM GMT -6:00

I'd like to suggest an amendment to the Rules regarding posting:

It's often rather a pain to see users quoting a large string of posted images, only to have them responding with a short message at the end of it. I see this a lot, and it's incredibly annoying to scroll through the same set of images twice for such a meagre response to the thread.

That said, if what I saw about images as an attachment comes about, then the tags should be made fairly redundant and this shouldn't be a problem much more.[/QUOTE]

I can't agree more with this statement. Either limit quotes to not include images at all or limit them to 1 max. Alternatively, you might be able to make it so that quoted images (when in large format originally) automatically become thumbnail sized versions that expand when clicked in the quoted version.
Another alternative, is to make it so that the Quoted boxes have a limited size to them, but they have a button you can press to expand them.
I [U]wouldn't[/U] make it like a Spoiler in the sense that Spoilers have Zero lines of text/space before they are clicked. Quoted posts should contain around 5-10 lines of space (space, not text) before they expand.

I will additionally note (and I might be the only one here that does this), but when I quote something with an image, and I notice that the person uploaded their image to Photobucket, well, I go to the photobucket page and I use the Thumbnail version of the image in the text that I am quoting instead of the original image.
Yes, it does take extra time for me to do it, and yes, I usually just omit all the images when I quote others, but in the few rare times when I feel like I need to actually include the image in the quote, using the thumbnail version instead of the original size is a much better way to quote it.

Adding attachments, from what I've seen in my Mazda3 forum that I frequent, adds the attachments all at the bottom as thumbnails that cannot be quoted. When you click them, a window pops up and expands the image, and you can navigate through the images by clicking the arrows. BUT you cannot use your keyboard arrows to navigate through them which sucks :(. Additionally, with the image window open, if you click on the image, a new tab opens giving you the full resolution of the original image, which is nice.

I know some website (like facebook) automatically generate meaningless names for your images when you attach them.
Personally, I would really like it if either
1) No changes are made to the names of the images you upload, or
2) A prefix gets added to the name of the image, with the prefix being your username.
Personally, I really like the idea of #2. Can it be done? I'm not sure. I get paid just for thinking up awesome ideas.

In regards to having Attachments for a post:
I would like to have a method of inserting the thumbnail images into the middle of the post without there being the redundant thumbnails at the bottom of the post (you know, in a box at the bottom that is labeled "Attachments") - I can show an example of this on request.

So, lets say you upload 5 images in a post. There are 3 that you use to detail steps of a guide, the 4th and 5th ones are just some extra details you wished to add that don't need a step to be shown in the tutorial/guide and of which you can just refer to in your posts.
Your post would appear as:
[QUOTE][B]Tutorial/Guide[/B]
[U]Step 1:[/U]
Text
[Picture 1 - either in window adjusted size or thumbnail]

[U]Step 2:[/U]
Text
[Picture 2 - either in window adjusted size or thumbnail]

[U]Step 3:[/U]
Text
[Picture 3 - either in window adjusted size or thumbnail]

//End Post

[U]Attachments Box[/U] [QUOTE][Picture 4 Thumbnail] [Picture 5 Thumbnail][/QUOTE]
[/QUOTE]
Instead of:
[QUOTE][B]Tutorial/Guide[/B]
...(snip)...

[U]Attachments Box[/U] [QUOTE][Picture 1 Thumbnail] [Picture 2 Thumbnail] [Picture 3 Thumbnail]
[Picture 4 Thumbnail] [Picture 5 Thumbnail][/QUOTE]
[/QUOTE]

[hr][/hr]
[B]EDIT 2:[/B] 12:00PM GMT -6:00
Also, I would love it if we could get the Wiki integrated into the forums. Maybe have a Tab for it at the very top :)

As for the file database, I would love it if there is a way to host it on here.
BUT, MS7 has done an amazing job with the sorting of the folders on 4shared. It is really well organized. If moving the database to the forums compromises the sorting organization, I'd almost say that it would be better to keep the database on 4shared.

With the database, I think that there needs to be a Controlled Copy.
Should anyone be able to add files? Yes.
Should they be viewable for everyone immediately once uploaded? Yes.
BUT, the should be marked as needing approval/Verification. Otherwise, what will happen is we will end up with 5 versions of the same file everywhere.

Additionally, I think there needs to be details available for each model.
Sometimes 2 of the same model will be needed. Though they might be the same model, one of them could have been altered/modified in some way; case and point: models for foam builds.
Personally, I would love it if the file system looked something like (but as square boxes, rather than page-width boxes):
[QUOTE]
[B]Halo Reach ODST Helmet[/B] (File Name)
[QUOTE][Download Halo Reach ODST Helmet][/QUOTE]
[B]Author:[/B] Hugh Holder
[B]Unfolder:[/B] mkshane81
[B]Version:[/B] 2-Rev.B
[B]Description:[/B] This version improves on the last by adding
[INDENT]more details at (something) (something else) and (something more)
and it is laid out in an easier way to assemble[/INDENT]
[B]Scaled originally for:[/B] 6'1" tall male
[B]Model for:[/B] [Fiberglass / Foam / 3D-Printing]
[/QUOTE]

 

[FlusherCape26]

Why would we remove all the old threads?
They still serve as valuable sources of information.

I am just saying if he'll remove the inactive/ dead threads, and I don't mean threads that have been inactive for like a week I mean threads that haven't been active for a year plus, and a lot of the locked threads have viruses in them so their a hazard.

 

[WandererTJ]

Fyi, I edited my previous post to say more in case anyone may have missed it.

I am just saying if he'll remove the inactive/ dead threads, and I don't mean threads that have been inactive for like a week I mean threads that haven't been active for a year plus, and a lot of the locked threads have viruses in them so their a hazard.

So if I make a build thread, and then I don't post in my thread for a year, and then finally get around to add an update, should I return to the forums to find my thread removed? I don't think that's a good plan. Please let me explain why.

I haven't seen the Ben Streeper (I think that was his name) thread with all the video tutorials for pepping and resining helmets in a while (like 4 years...) and I hope they still exist. Locked or Inactive, they had some amazing information in them.

If there really are viruses/spam in some of the old threads that are locked, I say that it would be great if Art took the time to go through and delete those specific posts that do not contain any helpful information. I know it will be a massive undertaking and hopefully removing the 200K spam accounts might get rid of some of those posts.

If anything, each subforum should have an "Archived" subforum within for all the old threads. But ONLY if it is possible to request one to be pulled out from "the grave" and reactivated to be posted in.
I still would not archive anyone's build thread though.
Why? Because if I am someone who comes back and I don't know that I can get my thread out of the archives and back into active posting mode (or whatever you'd like to call it), I'm going to create an unnecessarily redundant thread. I guarantee that this would happen with at least 95% of all cases.

 

[Chernobyl]

I still would not archive anyone's build thread though.

I would. Archiving is a great way to keep forums relevant and up-to-date, while still allowing old topics to be viewed by members. If Archived threads require reinstating, the thread owner could easily make an appeal upon his/her return, ensuring that truly dead threads remain so, while threads that are simply inactive for a long period are able to be accessed at a later time. Members returning from a long absence is reasonably rare, so I'd imagine that appeals for reinstatement would be likewise fairly infrequent.

Deciding the cutoff date between archiving and deleting is another matter entirely. I would advocate a year's inactivity before archiving, and a further two years before full purging - time enough for any useful information to be gleaned and added to the relevant sections while still keeping the forums current, up-to-date, and clutter free.

 

[WandererTJ]

I would. Archiving is a great way to keep forums relevant and up-to-date, while still allowing old topics to be viewed by members. If Archived threads require reinstating, the thread owner could easily make an appeal upon his/her return, ensuring that truly dead threads remain so, while threads that are simply inactive for a long period are able to be accessed at a later time. Members returning from a long absence is reasonably rare, so I'd imagine that appeals for reinstatement would be likewise fairly infrequent.

Deciding the cutoff date between archiving and deleting is another matter entirely. I would advocate a year's inactivity before archiving, and a further two years before full purging - time enough for any useful information to be gleaned and added to the relevant sections while still keeping the forums current, up-to-date, and clutter free.

I'm enjoying this discussion

Please allow me to stand for the members who have or might one day return after a long absence.
As you can see under my avatar, I joined back in 2010. I was active for maybe the length of a year, but school really needed to become a priority and I had to shut down a lot of my activities, I even had to cut out videogames at one point. But you don't need my life story, you just need to know that I've sadly been on hiatus for at least 3 years, and now I'm back.

Maybe I don't deserve to talk and share due to not being around all the time, but in the times where I have been active, both before I took my leave and recently, I have done my best to not be an annoying noob and instead I've tried my best to assist everyone and be a contributing member. I reached infantryman by reading everything on the forums that I could and then sharing my knowledge to those who asked. That being said, having been on such a long hiatus, now that I have returned, I lost a lot of the knowledge that I had and at one point I was actually considering on asking for my infantryman status to be removed until I earned it again.

2010 was a great time to be a member, the level of activity around the forums was very high, and things were really fun.
After I've made my return, the forums seemed to be quite dead by comparison, it has seemed as though everyone had gone off to work on their own, using facebook primarily instead of the forums. I understand those who want to make a profit by creating models and selling them, that's fine, but it would still be nice to see them around here.

Random thought on that topic:​

In fact.... maybe we could add a section of the forums where all the professional Prop Makers / Prop Studios / Dedicated Prop Teams (or whatever you might call them) have a section on the forums, probably under classifieds/marketplace where they can kinda host there own pages in a way. Maybe have catalog pages for their products rather than threads.
While I don't want to see them trying to market their products 24/7, it would be nice to find a way to get them to come back, having special pages for professional builders would be a nice way to do it I think.

Anyways...... I'm glad to see the spirit of the forum revive with Art coming in and taking over. It really is pleasant

Now, with all of that aside, onto the topic at hand.

I love the thought of archiving old threads, especially since when you archive things, they typically all get put into a folder/subforum when it happens. This is great, it prevents necro-ing while still allowing the information to be accessed (we do need to ensure that pictures/attachments and links get preserved though when threads get archived, it would be a shame to lose them).

I am curious though, what if an archived thread seems to be the only place to ask about a certain piece of information? Not as much so as a noob question, but there are a few instances where someone might build something in a certain way that you can't find anywhere else. Example:

How does Longshot-X attach his shotgun to the back of his torso? There are very few individuals that I have seen tackle the feat of attaching larger weapons to their armor, and I was wondering what all methods the individuals that did have used. Are there specific mounting points that would be better used with a Reach torso vs a Halo 3 Chief torso?​

On another note, I just recently contacted Random Flying Pigeons, one of our female members who made a Jackal costume and a Grunt costume a long time ago, and I actually have a lot of information that I have been meaning to post in her old Jackal thread.
But maybe it would just be better for me to start a new thread for it, I'm not sure.
...actually, I think I might post my conversation with her in her thread, and then spawn a new thread dedicated to coming up with ideas on how to build a Point Defense Gauntlet (Jackal shield) and then point to her as a reference.
But, in instances were one of us might communicate with one of our long lost members, I do believe that it would be nice to come here and share an update on their story. I also think that the best place to do so would be to do it in their old threads.

If we are going to have certain time-frames in which things occur automatically, I suggest that we try to find certain ways to improve upon the system.
Rather than simply setting threads to become archived automatically after a year (actual period of time we could use could be different, it doesn't necessarily have to be 1 year) of inactivity, I suggest that instead, that the topic creator of the threads needs to have also not logged on in a year. If they do log in after a year's time after the items have been archived, I believe that what could happen is either their threads all get automatically unarchived (they do not appear as threads with new posts, and they do not appear at the top of any list until posted in) OR instead, they could remain in the archived section, but they could permit the TC to be the one and only person who can post in the threads. Upon posting in the thread, it would then become unarchived and alive again.

In terms of deleting old threads, go look around the forums. I'd say that the vast majority of useful content and creative ideas came from around 2008-2010.
When I do a search for ANYTHING, almost all if not 100% of the results I return have been inactive for at least 2 years.

I really think that deleting anything would be a disservice to the community.

Prior to this week, I think the forums have suffered 2 bad events, right? I would archive things in groups of when those instances occurred. There was the time when the forums were hacked and I think the other big schism was from a system transfer/upgrade or something, I'm not sure.
Since most of those threads have lost their images, it would fine to group them all together, but there are a few rare threads where individuals used photobucket to host their images, and I think an amendment might need to be made for them, or rather, have them listed in an archived group separate from the rest.

Moving all the older threads to archived subsections doesn't really clutter the forum up at all. Keeping really old ones in the archived subsections doesn't cause any much clutter either, especially if we created tags for all the old threads in order to help sort through them whenever we are looking for something. I've actually mentioned that before. I think it would be great to have something like ebay or newegg or a website that sells products. Everyone has seen the panel they have on the Left side of the pages that let you refine your searches. I think it would be superb to have something like that in order to refine our searches on the forums.

Lastly, I think that if/when the +1/Thanks/Thumbs Up buttons get added, they should also be added for the archived threads. In fact, it would be pretty nice to have a page somewhere on the forums that lists the top most Thumbs Up'd posts.

Cutting myself off before I ramble on.

Okay, 1 quick ramble...
I think an announcement should be made for all the Elite threads that have lost their pictures.
I'm sure some of you out there, like me, save pictures of things when you are like "omg cool".
As such, I'm sure that some of us might have pictures on our computers from those threads that lost their images.
It would be pretty cool to do what we can to restore some of the lost images.

 

[BiGHARYSCOTSMiN]

Please allow me to stand for the members who have or might one day return after a long absence.

Yea I agree with TJ's points here. My build has been put off for about a year to half a year but I have things to post. I've been slowly putting pieces onto my helmet and went through 3 attempts at the chest piece.
I haven't been putting pictures up precisely because progress has been sloooooow because of school. I still have summer school right now but I have a lot more time than I did during my Junior year at HS so I might post some pictures of the vew stuff. I don't think it would've been worth putting up pictures of pieces that would get scrapped because of scaling issues and such over the course of a year.

I guess archiving my thread would've been alright and it would've given me a fresh start but I would rather revive a thread than have the old one (which didn't get very far) sit in a corner and become redundant. Still, I think TJ's method will give builders who have put off their project because of life-issues a chance to revisit what they had left how many months ago. Who knows, maybe one of them might kick some serious ass!

Maybe it would be good to have threads archived but give the posters an option to revive them if they have a worthwhile update? Also if archiving is a thing I would suggest implementing a way to route traffic to excellent threads... or put them in the elite showcase...

------------------------------------------------------------

*TRANSITION INTO SUGGESTION*


The idea of a gallery is really really attractive to me. I hate the idea of having really good and inspiring builds collect dust in page 700 somewhere, sitting next to 3 page long got-nowhere threads. Personally, a Windows 8 style tiles and pictures style is most desirable right now.

I'm imaging an art gallery like this one:

...but with links to the build on the picture. So members can come by and take a look at the "gallery" and find a build that interests them and click on the header picture which links them to the thread where they can read up on what happened five years ago... or something like that.

Overall I think this system will keep old yet absolutely beautiful builds relevant because more people would've stumbled by them this way.

 

[Art Andrews]

Holy cow, guys! I have to say, I am bit overwhelmed, but very encouraged and excited at your passion and enthusiasm!

Just wanted to post and let you know that Saturday is my my day off, so you won't see much from me here on Saturday's but I will catch back up and try to respond to as much as possible tonight or tomorrow.

On a very good note, we were able to find a way to delete the existing spammers enmasse as opposed to 1000 at a time. We have blown away over 230k spammer accounts!

 

[BiGHARYSCOTSMiN]

We have blown away over 230k spammer accounts!

What the hell.... 230k. What... the. Just... oh my god.

 

[Art Andrews]

What the hell.... 230k. What... the. Just... oh my god.

In all my time managing communities like this, I have never seen anything like it.

 

[Connor Xfor]

I'm shocked by the 230K, what do these spam accounts actually do? I haven't had the displeasure of coming across one, I don't think so anyway.

 

[AI Blue Fox]

I'm shocked by the 230K, what do these spam accounts actually do? I haven't had the displeasure of coming across one, I don't think so anyway.

Be glad you haven't. We've had everything from early access jordan sneaker sellers to atm hacker devices. There is no telling when they could turn up.

 

[MikyVengeance]

I am loving all the suggestions by everybody! Glad to see somebody cleaning up the forum, it's been a long time coming.

If I could leave a tip, a tab, an easy to find, organised pepakura file data base would be great!
For newer members, maybe there should be a welcome package made so people who are interested in how everything is made can be explained but I'm not sure how that would go.

Can't wait for some changes! : )

 

[Zaff]

If I could leave a tip, a tab, an easy to find, organised pepakura file data base would be great!

You mean other than MissingSpartans7's 4-Shared 405th database?

 

[MikyVengeance]

You mean other than MissingSpartans7's 4-Shared 405th database?

Yeah, just put it on the front page or something.

 

[Dracosfire83]

content unavailable

 

[FlusherCape26]

Fyi, I edited my previous post to say more in case anyone may have missed it.



So if I make a build thread, and then I don't post in my thread for a year, and then finally get around to add an update, should I return to the forums to find my thread removed? I don't think that's a good plan. Please let me explain why.

I haven't seen the Ben Streeper (I think that was his name) thread with all the video tutorials for pepping and resining helmets in a while (like 4 years...) and I hope they still exist. Locked or Inactive, they had some amazing information in them.

If there really are viruses/spam in some of the old threads that are locked, I say that it would be great if Art took the time to go through and delete those specific posts that do not contain any helpful information. I know it will be a massive undertaking and hopefully removing the 200K spam accounts might get rid of some of those posts.

If anything, each subforum should have an "Archived" subforum within for all the old threads. But ONLY if it is possible to request one to be pulled out from "the grave" and reactivated to be posted in.
I still would not archive anyone's build thread though.
Why? Because if I am someone who comes back and I don't know that I can get my thread out of the archives and back into active posting mode (or whatever you'd like to call it), I'm going to create an unnecessarily redundant thread. I guarantee that this would happen with at least 95% of all cases.

Well how's about if the staff was to notify the user who started it before they do it so if they want to keep it then they could ask them not to delete it and if u want a year to revive a thread then you sir need a medal lol

 

[Zaff]

Yeah, just put it on the front page or something.

Personally I've never had any trouble keeping track of it because I added it to my favorites as soon as I found out about it. But add to that the fact that it has it's own thread, is referenced in most help and FAQ threads within what was the "noob forum's" orientation and initiation collection of stickies, and is linked to in a few members' signatures including MS7's and it seems like it should not be a difficult thing to find so long as a little effort is put forth to find it. Unfortunately all too often I've found that new (or simply "newer") members don't ever even bother looking for anything. They sign up, they might lurk for a bit and look at a couple builds, but they ignore the FAQs, ignore the help threads, even ignore the search tools and go straight to posting a new thread that can be reduced to "gimme gimme gimme." I mean it's kind of like walking into Sherwin Williams and yelling "where's the paint? I can't find the paint?" It's there, right in front of them, but they won't even look for it. It's not even like it's difficult to find or takes any special trick. Short of turning the header into a giant flashing banner with "Database here" in bright, color changing font it really could not be made any easier to find. If people can't even be bothered to take note of the readily available search tool, they won't notice a link to the database being integrated into the nav bar. Call me cynical, but I'm just going on experience.

 

[WandererTJ]

Personally I've never had any trouble keeping track of it because I added it to my favorites as soon as I found out about it. But add to that the fact that it has it's own thread, is referenced in most help and FAQ threads within what was the "noob forum's" orientation and initiation collection of stickies, and is linked to in a few members' signatures including MS7's and it seems like it should not be a difficult thing to find so long as a little effort is put forth to find it. Unfortunately all too often I've found that new (or simply "newer") members don't ever even bother looking for anything. They sign up, they might lurk for a bit and look at a couple builds, but they ignore the FAQs, ignore the help threads, even ignore the search tools and go straight to posting a new thread that can be reduced to "gimme gimme gimme." I mean it's kind of like walking into Sherwin Williams and yelling "where's the paint? I can't find the paint?" It's there, right in front of them, but they won't even look for it. It's not even like it's difficult to find or takes any special trick. Short of turning the header into a giant flashing banner with "Database here" in bright, color changing font it really could not be made any easier to find. If people can't even be bothered to take note of the readily available search tool, they won't notice a link to the database being integrated into the nav bar. Call me cynical, but I'm just going on experience.

You KNOW people would still ask for it even if we did this.
Lol.

Well how's about if the staff was to notify the user who started it before they do it so if they want to keep it then they could ask them not to delete it and if u want a year to revive a thread then you sir need a medal lol

And you need a medal for whining about every single person who necros a thread instead of just ignoring them.
Shouting "don't necro" really doesn't help, and you seem like the kind of person who probably does that.

Also, messaging people that may not have the time to come and respond is a pretty dumb move.


If you want to purge the world of information that could be needed by somebody, I suggest you first go burn a library down.

I find the fact that you want to do away with possible valuable information to be highly annoying.

It's like, "let me just go put all of my most important files onto a single hard drive and then randomly decide to format it without creating backups first"
Sure seems like a great idea!

 

[Zaff]

You KNOW people would still ask for it even if we did this.
Lol.

Sadly yes, yes I do know this. But then I am (or at least have become) a very cynical person as of late.

 

[glasscutter]

In my opinion, deleting old threads is a bad idea. I started researching old threads when deciding to do the armor from Halo CE. Posts 3-4 years old were invaluable for research. Besides a lot of the old posts still have relevant information and file links that did not make it in the database. Not to mention people stopping projects and then coming back to revive them. Archiving them fine, but deleting them no. That's my two cents on the subject.

Edit Add: As for the database, I found 4 Shared to be a massive amount of spam software and ads. First few times using it was horrendous. I finally learned how to get a file downloaded without being asked to download a bunch of other bloatware. The whole site, for me anyway, is a massive pain in the butt from start to finish. It amazes me MissingSpartan7 was able to forge it into what they have. A move to a different storage system would be a great idea.