Site Update » How to make Fimfiction work & Banners · 9:54am Dec 24th, 2014
Upgrade your browser.
In all seriousness, it is quite absurd and worrying how many people are using the internet with browsers like Firefox 1. That's about as bad as using IE7. If you are using an old version of a browser, you need to update it. Not just for Fimfiction, but for any websites, because those old browsers are unsafe.
A few people are still getting signing errors when sending PMs/posting comments and such. If you're getting these issues it means one of two things.
1. Your browser is ridiculously outdated and it's basically impossible to support
2. You're using private browsing mode in safari mobile, which is almost impossible to support due to its inability to use local storage. (I think we actually worked around this one but I'm not sure, is difficult to test)
edit: 3. You're using some dodgy extensions that are doing things like clearing localstorage
A couple of months back we added some advanced security features for Fimfiction which are the cause of these issues, but for the vast majority of users on competent browsers, everything works fine. These features give the site a level of security to your requests that goes above and beyond what even SSL can do, preventing a lot of attacks that SSL does nothing against. In my mind, this is well worth it at the cost of a small minority of users who insist on users unsafe and outdated technology.
tl;dr: Always keep your browser up to date
Banners
I didn't want to make a post on this because, frankly, it is typically a waste of time and just ends up with the usual 20 suspects who post 1,000 comments, but I thought I'd explain things here anyway for the users willing to listen to my reasoning and vision for what this gives the site.
Bandwidth
First thing is bandwidth. Those banners were in the range of 70-80kb or so. Since they're random by default, and there's a lot of them, this added a RIDICULOUS amount of bandwidth usage onto what is otherwise a largely text based site. Removing banners lets me feel more okay about including the larger cover images in story cards.
Space
Banners used up 175px of vertical space at the top of every page. That is a LOT of space on something that isn't actually site content. I can now make better use of that space for content that's relevant to the pages.
Colour
Because banners had a wide variety of colours, it was problematic to consider anything like theming and forcing a colour of the user toolbar below was, for example, a compromise to make the site not look atrocious. The fact that they weren't 100% wide too made it impossible to do any proper fullscreen stuff because there was the whitespace on either side of the banner, meaning the content area wasn't clearly segregated off.
They're ponies
I don't think it's any secret anymore that the site is going general fiction sometime in the near future. This means pony branding is going to have to go anyway, so whether I had any other reasoning, this was an inevitable change
edit: http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/420953/clarification-on-fimfiction-expansion
But why didn't you keep them on non user/story pages?
Because it would require making the page header look totally different on those since the old banner area wasn't 100% wide, and the new one is. Also I have plans to add content to the top of various pages like the frontpage.
What was wrong with user cards?!?!?
The problem is that they forced a sidebar, all for a single tiny card. With the user information up top we can do stuff like this:
The content can now take up the full width, making much better use of the space that would otherwise just be the usercard and recent blog list (which was only there to fill space essentially). The new suer headers also give us a "tab-like" system, since the buttons highlight to show you what page you're on. They also remove the need for the user card on user pages, so you don't have that annoying space taken up by your card anymore.
But the banners gave the site colour and were pretty!
Damn right they were pretty, that's why I chose them? However, they didn't add enough to the site to outweigh the stuff above.
UGH THE SITE IS SO COLOURLESS AND BLAND NOW, IT'S LIKE A BUSINESS SITE!!!
First of all, you're literally as wrong as you can be here. Business sites are usually very strongly coloured because they have a brand identity. Fimfiction is a content site. The content is Fimfiction's identity. You look at any big content site like youtube and they're all devoid of colours outside of buttons/logo. Why? Because the content is what gives the site colour, not the branding.
Reopening comments but please use basic common sense when commenting
Rewind and define please.
What? I never heard of any rumblings about this.
Would this happen it would likely be extremely disruptive. A lot of people write here not just because the site is so well designed, it's because nearly everyone here is a fan of the sense. There's a loose sense of community here that would be lost if the site went 'general fiction'.
2674586
I assume he's joking
The site is going general fiction?
Well then...
... Can you please elaborate on this?
to be that repetitive fuck
wut
wutwut
wutwutwutwutwutwutwutwutwutwutwut
also what 2674588 said
Ok I'm usually ok with all the changes that happen on this site as it is inevitable
BUT THIS!
FIMficion should keep on ony having MLP related content as that's what's makes it special and not like the fan fiction website and the fact this will go against what I believe fimfiction.net was set up for
I'm confused
2674591
I don't.
Now I really need that Delete Your Own Account button. I refuse to still be here when the news anchor shipping crowd arrives.
2674591
That ain't no joke.
Browse -> banner archive -> "If you see a banner you'd like you use permanently on the site, just click it below!" (is not working)
Wait, do you mean this isn't going to be just pony fiction anymore? GASP!
I don't want it to go
i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii285/wmspins/futurama-fry-meme-generator-not-sure-if-serious-or-just-trolling-104db8.jpg
can we at least be given the option to change the bar colour?
May I ask why is it being considered to allow general fiction on this site? (Basically becoming fan fiction.com)
2674599
If it isn't... I don't think this is a good move.
The site is already huge and the moderators/story approvers have their hands full with just the MLP crowd. Bring in the Superwholockians, the Potterheads, the Disney geeks, etc. with their bulk of stories, groups, and users...
If we're concerned enough about bandwidth to be getting rid of the banners, isn't it somewhat contradictory to open the floodgates to the rest of the Internet's fan content? Cutting off your nose to spite your face, so to speak?
Thank you so fucking much for doing that. I really don't want to have to drift back to that shitty site 'fanfiction.net' out of fear of this site disappearing once bronyhood dies out. Also it'd be nice to have more than pony in the network.
I don't know about anyone else, but does the olive green and solid black tick you off? Because it gives me eye cancer. (If there's an option to change this, correct me if I'm wrong).
2674606
Don't worry, we've been talking for a long time about how to handle things when we eventually transition. By the time it happens, we should have everything in place to run the site just as smoothly (if not smoother!) than Fimfiction currently is.
2674608 dear god yes - I thought I needed laser eye surgery after seeing it XD
I'm crying right now. Physical tears of joy appeared in the corners of my eyes.
No, seriously, fimfiction.net is straight-up the best web fiction platform on the goddamn internet and has been for years, even as it kept getting better and better and better. The idea that I may someday never have to bother with the hear-tearingly bad fanfiction.net and stuck-in-the-90s archive of our own ever again is a better Christmas present than I could have possibly asked for.
Holy shit. Just, holy shit.
Firefox 34 is hopelessly out of date? Does this have to do with not having Flash or Java/script enabled or installed? Is NoScript blocking this?
All I know is that I have to logout and login to post fresh comments.
I think the arrangement is fine
It may take a while to get used to but it's no bi deal. And the banners bothered me a bit TBH
Oh my god what is wrong with you people. I seriously worry sometimes. What do you think I'm going to do, open the door for anything tomorrow? Not use any more mods? Not buy more server hardware to support more users? Not have tags so you can only see FIM content if you wish? Christ almighty...this is why I don't bother with these things. The lack of common sense is outstanding.
also I don't mind the change to general fanfiction. The Site layout for Fanfiction.net is awful to look at, FIMfic is much nicer.
2674611 I agree, I'd like the site to be on its own as well, though.
2674612 You have some extension that's deleting localstorage probably. I can't do anything if you're using badly made extensions that do crap like that
I'm... unsure about this new (to me) news that FIMFiction is going general. I understand and support the reasoning, but I'd still like to pretend the site is all pone, all the time; are there any plans for per-user tag settings so I can pretend all those other fandoms don't exist?
2674600
Banners are dead. Long live banners. (Yeah, those checkboxes should be removed.)
2674609
I sense a lot of server upgrades in your (knighty and team's) future. Best of luck with that, sincerely. From my own limited experience at work, it's definitely fun.
Since we're (correct me if I'm wrong), discussing this "inevitable change" now, here's something to consider...
Not only do we have drama issues popping up on this site at times between different users, groups, fans of certain stories/universes/etc. within the brony community itself, realize that when we add the non-bronies, this is going to escalate exponentially.
What's to keep some non-brony/anti-brony from spamming all the horsewords with downvotes or nasty comments? We already have people who abuse those privileges amongst ourselves. Can you imagine the flamewars you guys will/would have to deal with, especially in the comments sections of clopfics? Are you really prepared to handle that?
"I dunno about you but there's only one Twilight I want to see fanfiction of on this site." Frission 2014
2674618 Yes of course, I'm not going to take everything away from people who want to use Fimfiction for ponies. Fimfiction.net will act as a gateway with a permanent "MLP:FIM" tag applied to everything.
Because that would wreck a thriving community very much based around horse words....?
Idk, seems like a bad idea to me. Using the platform to build another new fiction site would be awesome, but "opening up" the FimFic community would be akin to Equestria Daily suddenly expanding into NFL coverage or Bronycon trying to become a comic book convention.
Genfiction.net
2674620 There's nothing stopping anyone who doesn't like ponies signing up and posting that stuff already, nothing changes there?
2674614
There's no need to be condescending here, especially when these large-scale changes are rolled out without a hint of warning or asking for input.
Knighty, no.
It won't be FimFiction anymore.
And you really can't call it common knowledge. What's common knowledge is that non pony stories are auto-rejected. After so many years of non pony discrimination, this almost seems rude.
I'm so close to being done with pony fiction it's sad. And this site is beginning to push me closer to the edge.
Eh, I'll get over it eventually. If nothing else, at least I won't have to look at fanfiction.net anymore. That place is uuuuuuuuuugly. That said, it's kind of a pain in the flank for people who've been denied for not having pony in their sr
2674625
Fair point, but moving the site as a whole to fans of anything (not just ponies) is going to exacerbate the issue.
2674614
So. Self account deletion option. Any chance?
2674625 I for one, agree with babs, opening this site to general fiction would give them a REASON to join and post that stuff.
Really think we should go with a blue and white minimalist theme. Small pictures, mostly text, it seems to work for some other site I just can't quite remember.
I like the new look and layout.
2674620
Again, it's a very long ways off, and we still have things to consider, implement, and talk about before we come anywhere close to transitioning to general fanfiction. By the time that actually happens, the voting system will probably have gotten a substantial overhaul to prevent that sort of exact thing from happening. I can't really properly express how much more work we're going to need to do before this change happens, but it's a lot.
Hopefully we'll have covered our bases to have as few issues as possible when those fandoms do start to come over and mingle with who we have here. It's going to become a very interesting place, that's for sure!
2674611
That's how I've been thinking about it! I've been wanting to try my hand at different fanfiction for a little while now, but there's no good place to put it, and I'm certainly not going to touch FF.net.
It sure is news to me. Its called *Fimfiction* for goodness sake, it is literally named after MLP. I completely understand wanting to replicate the design for a general fanfiction website, it is a very user-friendly site and visually pleasing, but come on. That'd be like making EquestriaDaily a SuperWhoLock news site. Honestly, between FimFiction and EQD is half the fandom's 'territory' as it were
Why is everyone assuming that this will somehow summon a tidal wave of trolls?
It's 2014 going on 2015, most people are over it, just like the brony community is basically over with being obsessed with "recruitment". Even if something happens, it won't be persistent, and it may not even be noticeable to most people during the tiny blip in time when it happens. There just aren't enough people who give a shit anymore.
I mean, good grief, have you folks even thought about the positive effects that may come about from bringing non-pony authors to the site? You know, like getting more good authors writing what you like? The effects of casual traffic aren't all negative, you know!
2674622
Sounds cool.
2674627
It must be pretty damn frustrating when the response to every single change is "OMG WAT R U DOIN!!! RUINED FOREVER!!!". Have more faith in Lord Al-knighty, our Benevolent Dictator For Life!
2674640 Did you maybe consider that I'll be changing the name for the general part of the site?
Going over to general fiction? https://www.fanfiction.net/ What is the point of this site if that one is already what you are proposing? Is there some other motive or reasoning pushing you into including "general" fiction into a site that's focused on MLP fiction? Whats next?? EQD becoming a general fan oriented site where pony,Disney,Sonic, whatever! All appear on one place? Or Derpibooru becoming an image board of the same? Honestly man... What the hell are you thinking?
navylifeofapilotswife.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/triple_facepalm.png
Since everyone is on here for MLP fanfiction, it makes no sense to do that.
Why not build another site for general fiction that kind of looks like fimfiction?
I also like the site moving towards other fandoms. I HATE using fanfiction.net because it is so unwieldy and ugly. If fanfiction.net looked more like fimfiction.net, or fimfiction.net opened up to other fandoms, I would be a much happier person.