Forum Software Upgrade Next Weekend

[Enzap]

At some point next weekend (tentatively Saturday, the 19th) the forums are going to be closed for maintenance while we upgrade the forum software to XenForo 2! We're not quite sure how long the upgrade will take, but it could be in the ballpark of up to 24 hours. When we get back, everything's going to be sparkly and new. Here are some changes you need to be aware of.

Perhaps the most significant one is blogs will no longer be a feature. At least not until someone develops an add on that will bring them to the software. We are working on the possibility of converting existing blog posts to forum posts, so I'll keep you updated on that. In the meantime I recommend externally saving anything from your blogs you want to keep just in case we aren't able to work something out or if there are complications.

To accommodate for the loss, our current plan is to implement a new subforum under Outside the Box that will function very similarly. Any user will be welcome to start their own thread where they can post whatever they want, as long as it's within forum rules.

Here are just some of the cool features that are being added with the upgrade!

• Emoji support, along with some custom Bulbagarden emotes
• Automated tables (I'm personally very excited for this one)
• Post bookmarks
• Push notifications for your phone and desktop

And we will also be unveiling a brand new default Bulbagarden style, with both a light and dark version to better meet your preferences.

If you have any questions or comments about the above changes just post them here!

 

[Icy Wind]

Question, will the custom bulbagarden themes (like bluebook) still be supported or not?

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

Pretty concerned about Bulbagarden Classic style...
It’s been my absolutely unparalleled favourite style. No other style hasn’t even come close. I hope the next one has a similar style option too.

 

[Enzap]

Question, will the custom bulbagarden themes (like bluebook) still be supported or not?

We're working on exporting most if not all of the current skins to the new software.

And don't worry, Bulbagarden Classic is definitely not going anywhere. My bosses that have been around for centuries wouldn't let me remove the original style.

 

[SoaringDylan]

I've personally been reworking most of our current skins into the Xenforo 2 environment.

While there will definitely be differences due to the new look and feel mostly in regards to buttons and the look of posts themselves, the color schemes and banners of all skins have stayed true to their original.
(which included some very pesky changes for the rainbow rocket style!)

Bluebook will also return, with its standard half-width form factor with a button to change it to full-width.
Which will be a feature on all skins with full-width being the default.

I will note though that bluebook will have the biggest change out of all skins but again, I've tried to stay true to the original.

I'll see if I can post some pictures later this week.
Of course, when we do go live if you find any discrepancies in your favorite skin just let me know and we'll patch them right up!

 

[Vulpix037]

This is exciting! I wonder what the new skins will look like. And of course, emoji support is something I've been wanting for quite a while.

 

[Kung Fu Ferret]

All I know is I will miss the blogs....

 

[Alola]

You all will love it, I'm sure~

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

As long as ongoing discussions aren't deleted, I'm fine.

 

[Enzap]

All I know is I will miss the blogs....

We will have an alternative in some form. And blogs may return in the future in a more traditional form as well.

As long as ongoing discussions aren't deleted, I'm fine.

Which discussions are you referring to?

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Which discussions are you referring to?

Sorry, I meant conversations. The ones in the inbox.

 

[Enzap]

Sorry, I meant conversations. The ones in the inbox.

Oh yes those should be untouched.

 

[SoaringDylan]

I'm bad at keeping you guys waiting. So in the mean time, feel free to have a look at the preview of our update styles!

Spoiler: Eevee's Pride

Spoiler: ORAS

View attachment 115065

Spoiler: Distortion World

Spoiler: Year of the Dog

Spoiler: Bluebook

Oh, and I'd also like to give you guys a sneak peek on this new feature called Lightswitch, which allows two styles to be linked together and changed interchangeably with the click of a button. Because of this some of our styles will now have 2 versions, the first style to have been updated to work with this feature is the Let's Go style, now with a new Dark Theme (and my personal favourite new theme!)

Spoiler: Let's Go [Dark]

I hope you guys are interested in seeing the updated and new styles live in action, feel free to share any feedback you have as we're always looking to improve our styling!

 

[colours]

Hiya @SoaringDylan! Quick concern I have. ^^;

I noticed that the avatars are circular in the preview. Is that more of a Xenforo 2 thing as well? I'm... mostly concerned because I mainly use pixel art avatars, which would look odd circular unless it's just that particular avatar. Sorry for any possible misunderstandings!

 

[SoaringDylan]

Hiya @SoaringDylan! Quick concern I have. ^^;

I noticed that the avatars are circular in the preview. Is that more of a Xenforo 2 thing as well? I'm... mostly concerned because I mainly use pixel art avatars, which would look odd circular unless it's just that particular avatar. Sorry for any possible misunderstandings!

Ah yes! This also was a concern by one of our moderators Lone_Garurumon,
while I have already made a solution for this issue it currently has to be manually set for users by an administrator, so I'll add you to that list for when the update goes live.

Sometime later this month/next month I will release an add-on to provide users the ability to pick whether they'd like square or round avatars in their preferences, but sadly that won't be ready in time for the update.

Spoiler: Square vs Round

 

[Snowy]

'll add you to that list for when the update goes live.

Add me to that list too please

On that note, gravatar support is staying, right?

 

[SoaringDylan]

Add me to that list too please

On that note, gravatar support is staying, right?

Most definitely.

 

[Icy Wind]

I'm bad at keeping you guys waiting. So in the mean time, feel free to have a look at the preview of our update styles!

Spoiler: Eevee's Pride

View attachment 115060

Spoiler: ORAS

View attachment 115066View attachment 115065

Spoiler: Distortion World

View attachment 115061

Spoiler: Year of the Dog

View attachment 115062

Spoiler: Bluebook

View attachment 115064

Oh, and I'd also like to give you guys a sneak peek on this new feature called Lightswitch, which allows two styles to be linked together and changed interchangeably with the click of a button. Because of this some of our styles will now have 2 versions, the first style to have been updated to work with this feature is the Let's Go style, now with a new Dark Theme (and my personal favourite new theme!)

Spoiler: Let's Go [Dark]

View attachment 115063

I hope you guys are interested in seeing the updated and new styles live in action, feel free to share any feedback you have as we're always looking to improve our styling!

How come there’s a big empty space in bluebook?

 

[omahanime]

 

[SoaringDylan]

How come there’s a big empty space in bluebook?

Just like how it is on the current forums, Bluebook's default form is half-width (taking up only a part of the screen) with a button to change to full-width (taking up almost all of the screen)

The button can be found next to the change style button.

Since this is how the current one works I kept it this way. All other styles have the same feature however by default they start as a full-width and have the option to go half-width.