Scheduled downtime for revamp

Hello everyone,

In my previous announcement, I mentioned that I was evaluating a way to reorganise the Anime Discussion forums into separate forums to allow separate episode discussions for anime titles. This would also allow related threads to be created (e.g. character discussion threads) and also give older anime titles a much needed boost in discussions!

Well the time has come to put that plan into motion.

I have set time aside this coming Friday morning at 9 AM (my time zone in Perth, WA) to implement this.

Depending on how things go, there is a possibility it MIGHT spill into the weekend but I will do my utmost to ensure downtime is minimised.

The check list of changes are as follows:

• Create individual anime forums
  
• Move all anime threads into the new individual forums
  
• SPLIT the current anime discussion threads into individual episode threads
  
• Update module powering profile image covers
  
• Decommission the anime listing/landing pages *see below*
  

Regarding Anime Listing/Landing Pages Removal

With this upcoming change, this will make the anime landing pages redundant.

This was not a decision I took lightly, and I thought about this for quite sometime.

The original intent behind the anime landing pages was to offer something a little different on top of our anime discussion threads. It was an ambitious project to create a database of anime titles containing plot information, character profiles and a link to the main discussion thread for a given anime title.

Unfortunately, this has now become an overwhelming project to maintain. It is apparent that without full-time dedicated contributors it will no longer be of any use to our visitors. Also from the feedback I received, many visitors found it very confusing to use as this feature was a separate function from the forums.

The landing pages did provide a nice method to write reviews, but in its current state the anime landing pages database is not very comprehensive. It is also requires a significant amount of contributors to keep it up to date and to be quite frank - most of this information can be easily be found on other sources on the web.

Could we have continued this in the form of a Wiki? Yes, that's a definite possibility... but...

... I believe our focus should be to stick to what our community is all about, and that is Anime Forums.

So on that basis, the anime landing pages will be decommissioned.

All user reviews that were written on the landing pages will be migrated manually into archive threads that will be created into their new dedicated anime title forums.

Thanks for your support. I'll write another announcement when the update is complete. If you have any feedback, questions or suggestions please feel free to let me know!

I do believe the anime landing page was a bit of a drag as well.... still, since I like the whole review thingy, I thought maybe creating a section for them as articles would be better. We wouldn't have the problem of an anime not existing in the landing page as well, so anyone could review any anime at any time. (dunno if that's even a good suggetion or not )

I personally have no troubles with any of the page loadings on this forum at all, let alone anything else, but I can totally hear and understand why this scheduled downtime from tomorrow will be needed, if it's in the best interests of others in order to be used much happier and easier, not to mention keeps things super fresh and always extra fabulous to be right here

I do believe the anime landing page was a bit of a drag as well.... still, since I like the whole review thingy, I thought maybe creating a section for them as articles would be better. We wouldn't have the problem of an anime not existing in the landing page as well, so anyone could review any anime at any time.

It's a good idea.

I could tweak the Articles section to allow ratings. The reviews might get a bit lonely though as they would no longer be tied to an anime forum or thread (which the landing pages achieved) so Tags would be the only way to maintain some form of link. Definitely worth investigating later down the track.

...if it's in the best interests of others in order to be used much happier and easier, not to mention keeps things super fresh and always extra fabulous to be right here

Indeed - that's the goal.

I'm a bit confused by the 3pm PST time difference though when this will begin...What time will it be over here in the UK when it starts? Will it be ahead or behind of me time-wise?

What time will it be over here in the UK when it starts? Will it be ahead or behind of me time-wise?

Assuming London time, I'm 8 hours ahead of you, so it will be 1 AM Friday for you.

So for you, just assume Anime Forums will be closed all of Friday (and possibly Saturday depending how things go).