Questions for The B Team

Come here to voice your comments, concerns, and questions with the mayor and their aides!
User avatar
Bren
Be positive!
Posts: 6046
Joined: March 2008
Location: Behind the cash register
Gender:
Contact:

Questions for The B Team

Post by Bren »

Since you guys elected us, you get to ask us all kinds of crazy questions. If you have any platform questions, it has been archived here in City Hall for easy access. Now, fire away with the questions.
ImageImageImage
logos linked
User avatar
bookworm
ToO Historian
ToO Historian
Posts: 16248
Joined: July 2006
Contact:

Post by bookworm »

Why are your names not red? Breaking with administration usergroup traditions wasn't part of your platform.
Image
User avatar
Bren
Be positive!
Posts: 6046
Joined: March 2008
Location: Behind the cash register
Gender:
Contact:

Post by Bren »

bookworm wrote: Mon Feb 07, 2022 8:56 pm Why are your names not red? Breaking with administration usergroup traditions wasn't part of your platform.
It fit with our theme colors. We have had a town council under a different color without it being on those platforms either.
ImageImageImage
logos linked
User avatar
Bob
Catspaw Rocks!
Posts: 705
Joined: September 2006
Location: The Metroplex
Gender:
Contact:

Post by Bob »

I feel it's worth clarifying this in further detail.

It's true that 1) usergroup colours were changed, 2) usergroup colours are different from what they have been in the past, and 3) we did not specifically announce this change in advance.

For point 1, I would note that this is not unprecedented. There have been many such tweaks through the years. Town councils are a modern example of the usergroups being notably different from the norm that existed prior to their election. In the Doctor Who-themed term, the candidates changed everything; the admins were dark blue, and there was a "Companion" group that was sort of cyan/neon blue. Currently and usually, the admin colour has been #AA0000, but during the most recent Catsville, regular admins were a slightly brighter #CC3333). The current mod position is currently gold, rather than its usual historic colour of green.

It is worth noting that the red/green scheme itself is not original. I believe it started after the forum was upgraded to phpBB3. Before that, the colours were yellow and dark green (specifically, #FFA34F and #006600).

For point 2, the decision to use purple/green was certainly influenced by our campaign, but it is worth noting it wasn't a foregone conclusion. Our first idea was to switch back to the original colours listed above. The main reason why we didn't is that that yellow doesn't show up well on the current forum theme, which has translucent sections in certain areas. After we decided it'd be better to do something besides that, we had to consider what other colour might be acceptable. Council orange and (current mod) gold were mentioned. But if it is going to be different from the most traditional colour anyway, it is my opinion that it ought to be both good-looking and clear. The purple we chose is better-looking than orange, and switching to gold for admins (after a long period of time where it was used for mods) would be a recipe for confusion. Finally, having a delineation between the mayoral team and our permanent leader, Catspaw improves clarity. We understand that red has become a well-loved colour in the community, implying power and authority. Thus, we chose to comply with tradition even in our decision to change things, by retaining red for the permanent administration and using a different colour for ourselves.

For point 3, although it is true we didn't specifically announce this change, we have mentioned that not everything we do will be announced in advance. Furthermore, we announced in item VI, 'forum changes', that "we intend to make general changes and tweaks to the forum to help streamline things and promote the general welfare". As alluded to before, we feel that it is a useful change for people to clearly know both that we are the mayoral staff, and that there is a difference between us and Catspaw. It is also an aesthetically pleasing change, given that purple and green go well together, as evidenced in our lovely campaign art. If it is both useful and aesthetically pleasing, it can be said to promote the general welfare, so it still fits into our platform, in spite of not being specifically announced in it.
User avatar
bookworm
ToO Historian
ToO Historian
Posts: 16248
Joined: July 2006
Contact:

Post by bookworm »

I don't think bringing up past Councils' approaches to the matter is relevant, because that is a different situation. They changed the names specifically because they were different from a usual administration in format and function and so were differentiating their appearance to acknowledge there was a difference from a usual admin team.

Your term, I thought, was our finally going back to normalcy so I just didn't anticipate immediately seeing another departure from it as soon as the Election concluded. I don't have a problem with it, it was just unexpected since all your other plans had been announced in detail beforehand. I appreciate your responses!
Image
User avatar
Bren
Be positive!
Posts: 6046
Joined: March 2008
Location: Behind the cash register
Gender:
Contact:

Post by Bren »

Does anyone know what normal is around here anymore?
ImageImageImage
logos linked
User avatar
bookworm
ToO Historian
ToO Historian
Posts: 16248
Joined: July 2006
Contact:

Post by bookworm »

For an elected administration: two admins and a team of mods
Image
User avatar
Bren
Be positive!
Posts: 6046
Joined: March 2008
Location: Behind the cash register
Gender:
Contact:

Post by Bren »

I was referring to the fact that since COVID, normal for everyone has changed. 😉 Even our little reunion in 2020 wasn't normal.
ImageImageImage
logos linked
User avatar
Bob
Catspaw Rocks!
Posts: 705
Joined: September 2006
Location: The Metroplex
Gender:
Contact:

Post by Bob »

@Bren - How would you feel about a petition to ban emojis? (Emoticons were here first!)
User avatar
Bren
Be positive!
Posts: 6046
Joined: March 2008
Location: Behind the cash register
Gender:
Contact:

Post by Bren »

Bob wrote: Sat Feb 26, 2022 9:13 am @Bren - How would you feel about a petition to ban emojis? (Emoticons were here first!)
I strongly appose that idea. Emojis matter. :yes:
ImageImageImage
logos linked
User avatar
KODY 105
Radio Station
Radio Station
Posts: 13550
Joined: September 2008
Location: In downtown Odyssey

Post by KODY 105 »

Did somebody change the order of topics in the Episode Reviews sub-forum? The new order is unclear. I know that I appreciated the regular most-recent order.
Image
ToO siblings: Donna Blackbeard, Perron, Evil Chick, American Eagle, Stubborn, Shadowfax, and thelordismyshepherd (aka Anna), but StrongNChrist is my twin!
StrongNChrist, deceased 03-25-11, requiescat in pace :mecry: :mecry: :mecry:
User avatar
Bren
Be positive!
Posts: 6046
Joined: March 2008
Location: Behind the cash register
Gender:
Contact:

Post by Bren »

Yes sir. We switched back to the original format that listed the episodes by appearance with newly released episodes first.
ImageImageImage
logos linked
User avatar
KODY 105
Radio Station
Radio Station
Posts: 13550
Joined: September 2008
Location: In downtown Odyssey

Post by KODY 105 »

I'm mildly intrigued as to the technical details of that. Did you have to add metadata to each thread, for the original airdate of the discussed episode?
Image
ToO siblings: Donna Blackbeard, Perron, Evil Chick, American Eagle, Stubborn, Shadowfax, and thelordismyshepherd (aka Anna), but StrongNChrist is my twin!
StrongNChrist, deceased 03-25-11, requiescat in pace :mecry: :mecry: :mecry:
User avatar
Bren
Be positive!
Posts: 6046
Joined: March 2008
Location: Behind the cash register
Gender:
Contact:

Post by Bren »

No sir. It is a phpbb extension to sort topics that @Eugene was kind enough to reinstall for us.
ImageImageImage
logos linked
User avatar
Bob
Catspaw Rocks!
Posts: 705
Joined: September 2006
Location: The Metroplex
Gender:
Contact:

Post by Bob »

KODY 105 wrote: Wed Mar 02, 2022 7:03 am Did somebody change the order of topics in the Episode Reviews sub-forum? The new order is unclear. I know that I appreciated the regular most-recent order.
It is worth noting that you can change it back, although the interface to do so isn't especially discoverable. If you click on the menu to the right of "New topic", below the topic list, and change "Sort by" to "Post time", it should work as it did before. I think you have to do it each time, though, which I admit is a pain.
User avatar
KODY 105
Radio Station
Radio Station
Posts: 13550
Joined: September 2008
Location: In downtown Odyssey

Post by KODY 105 »

Ah, thank you! I find that choice acceptable. And yes, the discoverability is weak, but only because the drop-down is below the entire list of topics. But it's there, so I'm good. Carry on!

-- March 7th, 2022, 7:34 pm --

Sorry for the double-post. You can merge these if necessary. I need the attention from a new post in the thread.

I take back what I said about the order of topics in the Episode Review sub-board. The order makes it incredibly difficult to find anything. I realize that catering to experienced AIO listeners by sorting episodes by episode number can sound appealing, but in practice it has shown to make it more difficult to find what I'm looking for. And new visitors who don't know what exactly they're looking for, probably don't know the current daily broadcasts are from the beginning of the collection and won't know to visit page 6 of the topic list.

I would like to formally ask that you return the Episode Review board back to the normal order, which would be the most recently updated. That way, the recent discussions of recently broadcast episodes is first in the list, which is the most important anyway.
Image
ToO siblings: Donna Blackbeard, Perron, Evil Chick, American Eagle, Stubborn, Shadowfax, and thelordismyshepherd (aka Anna), but StrongNChrist is my twin!
StrongNChrist, deceased 03-25-11, requiescat in pace :mecry: :mecry: :mecry:
User avatar
Bren
Be positive!
Posts: 6046
Joined: March 2008
Location: Behind the cash register
Gender:
Contact:

Post by Bren »

This is a decision that was approved by @Catspaw and was in place for years. I would like to hear her and @bookworm's thoughts before changing it right back.
ImageImageImage
logos linked
User avatar
TheDinosaurPlanet
Processing
Posts: 107
Joined: July 2020
Location: The Kuyper Belt
Gender:

Post by TheDinosaurPlanet »

I myself was a bit confused with the order myself. I was trying to find some early episodes and realized I had to go all the way back. But I get it now. Maybe there could just be a note somewhere saying "Hey, this how you use this sub-forum :)" .
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TOO!

Other places are okay
And some are fine
But as far as hometowns go
Well, Odyssey is mine
Oh, it's the place to be
I'm sure you will agree
Have you ever been to Odyssey?
User avatar
bookworm
ToO Historian
ToO Historian
Posts: 16248
Joined: July 2006
Contact:

Post by bookworm »

I don't use that forum so I don't have thoughts on it; the people who frequently post there would know what makes sense better than I.

I would say for now set it up the way active posters most prefer, and I have an idea I'll post in the Mod HQ for what could be done.
Image
User avatar
Bren
Be positive!
Posts: 6046
Joined: March 2008
Location: Behind the cash register
Gender:
Contact:

Post by Bren »

I didn't think this would cause such a fuss. I'll see what I can do.
ImageImageImage
logos linked
Locked