Forum changes

[AnimalToyForum]

I've updated the forum rules so they match the updated DTF rules.

[AnimalToyForum]

Very minor one - I fixed @brontodocus avatar (I realised the problem was that the link was pointing to s5.postimg.org, which needed changing to s5.postimg.cc)

[AnimalToyForum]

I've moved the Reviews & walk-arounds section to its own category at the top of the forum main page.

[AnimalToyForum]

I've added animal-themed icons for the different boards. What do you think?

[bmathison1972]

I've added animal-themed icons for the different boards. What do you think?

I really like them!

[Isidro]

Great, very nice! Tough the shoebill and Solomon Islands skink images looks like phantasmagoric faded...

[AnimalToyForum]

Great, very nice! Tough the shoebill and Solomon Islands skink images looks like phantasmagoric faded...

Bold images indicate "unread messages". Faded images indicate "no unread messages". So, they change and are different for each member. All bold for guests. 

[bmathison1972]

Great, very nice! Tough the shoebill and Solomon Islands skink images looks like phantasmagoric faded...

Bold images indicate "unread messages". Faded images indicate "no unread messages". So, they change and are different for each member. All bold for guests. 

You still have two giraffes. Want to replace one? If so, how about a freshwater fish for Sean since he's one of the more active people here

[Isidro]

Bold images indicate "unread messages". Faded images indicate "no unread messages". So, they change and are different for each member. All bold for guests. 

Ah, that explains it! Great, thanks!

[AnimalToyForum]

Great, very nice! Tough the shoebill and Solomon Islands skink images looks like phantasmagoric faded...

Bold images indicate "unread messages". Faded images indicate "no unread messages". So, they change and are different for each member. All bold for guests. 

You still have two giraffes. Want to replace one? If so, how about a freshwater fish for Sean since he's one of the more active people here

Oh! I picked out a freshwater fish especially for @sbell but somehow forgot to use it! Just a goldfish, but that's something. I'll add it now...
Edit - done!

[sbell]

Great, very nice! Tough the shoebill and Solomon Islands skink images looks like phantasmagoric faded...

Bold images indicate "unread messages". Faded images indicate "no unread messages". So, they change and are different for each member. All bold for guests. 

You still have two giraffes. Want to replace one? If so, how about a freshwater fish for Sean since he's one of the more active people here

Oh! I picked out a freshwater fish especially for @sbell but somehow forgot to use it! Just a goldfish, but that's something. I'll add it now...
Edit - done!

Thanks for fish! Although I share Darwin's opinion on goldfish...

[AnimalToyForum]

Great, very nice! Tough the shoebill and Solomon Islands skink images looks like phantasmagoric faded...

Bold images indicate "unread messages". Faded images indicate "no unread messages". So, they change and are different for each member. All bold for guests. 

You still have two giraffes. Want to replace one? If so, how about a freshwater fish for Sean since he's one of the more active people here

Oh! I picked out a freshwater fish especially for @sbell but somehow forgot to use it! Just a goldfish, but that's something. I'll add it now...
Edit - done!

Thanks for fish! Although I share Darwin's opinion on goldfish...

I have no great love for goldfish either... but there are toys of them with promo pics on nice white backgrounds.

[AnimalToyForum]

I've tweaked the forum to introduce a new feature to the Reviews and walk-arounds section - thumbnail previews on the board index pages. The images take the first image from the first post, and appear on the left side of the index pages, like so:



This has many benefits. Mainly, it looks nice, but it also shows at a glance which walk-arounds are now missing images. Where image links are now broken in the posts, the preview thumbnails will be broken too. Hopefully, this will allow us to locate and fix broken walk-around posts more easily.

[Beetle guy]

Nice work, thanks!!

[AnimalToyForum]

Nice work, thanks!!

A pleasure. I feel like I've been neglecting the ATF for some time, as I've been so preoccupied with other projects over the past couple of years, so it feels good to finally have some time to invest into the forum. 

[AnimalToyForum]

A SEGA/ Bandai section would be great, I have loads of them. No suprise...mainly beetles.

Do you mean for reviews or 'New for...'? The New For boards are for new releases, not acquisitions.

I think they mean in the 'Reviews and Walk-arounds section'. Currently, SEGA and Bandai reviews are in the Other/Misc section, but I can move them into new board. That's easy enough for me to do... but before I do, @Beetle guy, are SEGA and Bandai connected in some way or shall I create a separate board for each?

I'm going to go ahead and create a board for both, unless I hear otherwise.

[AnimalToyForum]

I've created and populated new 'review and walk-around child boards' for several lines with a notable number of posts formerly in the 'other/misc' section:

Bandai
K&M/Wild Republic
Sega
Takara Tomy
Yowies

If I've missed any reviews or walk-arounds that should be moved to these categories, please let me know.

Also, if there are other companies I could/should create child boards for, please do suggest them.

[AnimalToyForum]

I'm thinking of reorganising the forum slightly. When I first set up the ATF, I used the same format as the DTF, where's there's a separate board for 'lines'. This makes sense there, since there is no separate 'reviews and walk-arounds' section (that's what the Dinotoyblog is). However, since the ATF has an addition section  organised by lines ('Reviews and walk-arounds'), this essentially splits discussion about lines across two boards. I think this might be confusing to new visitors.

So, I'm thinking of creating a new category called Animal Toy Lines, into which I can move the 'Reviews and walk-arounds' category (which I could rename "Reviews, walk-arounds and line overviews", or even just "Animal Toy Lines". I could also move the "New for..." categories there - I do like having all the new releases in one space, so I'd prefer to keep that section separate. But, I could move all of the individual 'lines' topics into the appropriate company/line categories. I could sticky the line overview/discussion topics, so they are always at the top, with the walk-arounds below.

What do you think?

Edit, maybe something like this for the first two categories of the forum...

Animal Toys Lines
--Reviews, walk-arounds and line overviews
^{-----Company 1
-----Company 2
-----etc}
--New for...
^{-----2018
-----etc}
Animal Toy Collecting
--Animal toys (general)
--Animal groups
--Collections
--Classifieds

[bmathison1972]

I just noticed if you click on the section 'Reviews and Walkarounds' or, on right bar, 'Read Recent Reviews and Walkarounds', all of these new Yowies reviews are not showing up? Did something not carry over when the child board was made?

[AnimalToyForum]

I just noticed if you click on the section 'Reviews and Walkarounds' or, on right bar, 'Read Recent Reviews and Walkarounds', all of these new Yowies reviews are not showing up? Did something not carry over when the child board was made?

Well spotted. Yes, I need to add the new child boards to the list...will do it now.

Any thoughts on my suggestions to rejig the forum?