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Development Update 2/2 New Menus We're changing the menus today to an implementation that uses CSS instead of Javascript, courtesy of coaster_vn. This should a) make the menus substantially faster, b) make the page load faster, and c) prevent some problems that people were having with the menus breaking (basically, ads had a javascript error which caused the menus to stop working for that page). Please try out the new menus and let us know how it works on your system. Reporting Change Those of you that report threads (and we appreciate everyone that does) may have noticed that we added categories to the reports -- this makes it easier on our rockin' mod team, and allows them to process stuff faster. We're adding some categories that users mentioned (i.e., misplaced thread), and that change should roll out in the next couple of weeks. Guest Experience You might have noticed a "login as guest" option in the login dialog -- this option allowed you to browse a substantial percentage of the site without having to go all the way through registration. I think it's good to allow people to explore, but QA was trying the feature and noticing that there were all these edge cases that weren't well handled; basically, if you're going to allow people to come in as a guest, it's not good to get them stuck in some kind of strange flow. So, we turned it off so that we can fix the cases that would be confusing to new users. Gaia has been doing focus groups recently -- they're immensely interesting -- and one of the key things that have come from the focus group is that the site's pretty overwhelming to new users. I distinctly remember when I first joined Gaia being kind of floored by the size of thing; it's not necessarily obvious where to go or what to do. Guild Invite Problems This is (apparently) a well known bug, but I didn't see any obvious threads about it in the Bug Reports forum -- anybody want to give me the TL;DR version of this bug? Panagrammic's Betting Guide - Feb/Mar 2009 For those of you betting on Gaia Features, here's my current take on the odds that you'll see certain features by March. Please note that a) all opinions are my own and do not reflect the official position of the company, b) I don't know everything, c) I have been amazingly, famously wrong before, d) there is stuff going on that is not listed here. By March Inventory UI update, HTML based -- good Store UI update -- good Speed improvements -- good Guild UI changes -- good Minor Guild feature improvements -- good Minor forum improvements -- mediumish good Towns security fixes -- iffy Homes fixes -- poor Inventory Arranger -- poor Journal & Profile Changes -- poor Bugs Fixed Recently - Cooldown period after using emote/pose change - Admins unable to remove frozen/soulbound items - showing <strong> and <span> in profile comments - Gaia-generated sigs do not get clipped in the 500px max-height user sig area - buttons change in clans - text overlaps in Mischief makers page on IE6 - "Add to Wishlist" button appears for Null Fragments when user buys them, but actually doesn't work - zOMG In Game Registration - Suggestions not always present for username field when username is taken - faster menus - Forums detail error page - avatar lookup model hitting exception - static 404 - Cleaner URLs for reporting - removed Promo tab from Mobile Wallpaper download

Posted by: Panagrammic Thu Feb 05, 2009 @ 10:27pm

Read my journal!

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Smaddy
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Commented on: Thu Feb 05, 2009 @ 10:37pm


	It's always good to see changes. heart I'd like to make one suggestion for the Reporting system. After submitting a report, there is the default "You submitted your report, here's the ID number." Then it offers you a link to "go back to what I was doing". I want to suggest that a "return to forum I was in" or "return to forum index" link should be added. When you have to report disgusting pictures, the last thing I want to do is "go back to what I was doing" and look at the gross pic again.

Commented on: Thu Feb 05, 2009 @ 10:46pm


	»ĘмǿЯέжĨç~ÞĨмþ« reporting change - will there be a "sig is over the limit" one? or maybe even just an "other" option? oh, and do you have to select one for the report to go through? focus groups - almost went to the chicago one... unfortunately, it was scheduled on my dad's birthday... i have to agree with their findings... when i joined there was at least the newbie tutorial so i got a basic feel for the site, but even then it was a bit overwhelming! bets - nothing but good news to me.... I HAS AN AUTO-FORMAT TOO! SEE?

emorexic-pimp
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tasteslikecanadian
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Commented on: Thu Feb 05, 2009 @ 11:22pm


	Looking forward to the menus. Thanks for the update! A thought, but is there a way for Gaia to not have an irritating pop-up window on log on? I'm aware that pop-up blockers can kill it, but in order to use other features of the site which are accessed through pop-up windows I have to allow all pop-ups from Gaia. That "How Smart Are You?" thing. Very annoying. I know you guys need the revenues from advertisements, but something less in-your-face would be nice.

Commented on: Thu Feb 05, 2009 @ 11:51pm


	Thanks for the betting guide. It's very helpful to see the possible updates that are happening as well as the items on the back burner (Homes, Inventory Arranger, Journals) It shows that they're not forgotten. :3 Definately let us know when Profiles and Journals will be in the "good" category. I have some ideas I'd like to put forward. 3nodding Cheers! Edit: Holy smokes! Those drop downs are on fire! What sort of rockets did you attach to them?! eek Edit 2: <333 The Shortcuts drop down works so well now! I use that all the time. All I need now is the ability to add my own links to it. ;3

pirhan
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armadillodreamer
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Commented on: Thu Feb 05, 2009 @ 11:52pm


	Menus were really wonky for a second there, but I love the new ones! I'm so glad that we don't have to click on the Shortcuts menu any more. Having it be a rollover just like the others is much more convenient. Even after months of knowing how the menu is supposed to work, I constantly made mistakes navigating it. Thanks for the changes!

Commented on: Thu Feb 05, 2009 @ 11:59pm


	the menus seem to be working much better for me! (Even the sire seems faster for some reason today!)

dizziedobsession
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Leurun
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Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 12:06am


	The menus are crazy fast. The shortcuts font is a smaller, though. It doesn't fit the space right anymore, so fixing that would be nice. c: ♥♥♥

Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 12:18am


	Thank you for adding other reasons to the report screen, picking the closest option and then manually stating the exact reason for reporting did bother me. I hope this will be the last change for the drop down menu, it used to be 'hoverable' before - then it became clickable, and now we are back to 'hoverable.' Seeing as you mentioned a zOMG bug and getting to an AtA thread isn't possible for me at the moment. There is a significant issue that has been ignored completely so far - to the point nobody is even aware if any member of Gaia staff is even aware of it, even with the numerous threads about it. Since the update to zOMG on (or close to) the 15th January 09, a lot of people have been having trouble getting in to zOMG as they are encountering an issue that is preventing player base information loading and it seems to be account specific. Its been reported in the game bug forum but to no avail: http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/games-bugs/zomg-le-suspens-de-loading-player-base-info-15-1-1-2/t.46826493/ Could there at least be an acknowledgment of the issue and it is being looked in to?

Erebea revius
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Chema
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Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 12:34am


	Maybe it would be better to give new users different paths after they register, and then maybe subpaths if they are needed Play Games-> or just Play zOMG Chat with other members in the forums -> narrowed down list of forums to pick Go shopping maybe aquarium etc --- The menu looks good; shame that it doesn't have a mouseout intent property so it doesn't autoclose as soon as you mouseout

Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 12:37am


	I was wondering why the drop-down menus were so fast now. It's practically instantaneous. It's so much better! Thank you! ^^

The Sweet Mango
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Bitte Orca
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Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 12:47am


	I was advised to post this here. I'm having problems with the bot detection. If this isn't your area, could you let me know who to contact? Thank you.

Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 01:11am


	... Inventory arranger... D: It'd be great if they fixed it March. I've wasted hours arranging my big inventory and it didn't save. >___>; The other updates sound good too. ;o Thank you~ <3

iMadame Twinkle
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Gamine
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Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 01:15am


	The new shortcut menu is working like gangbusters on my end. 3nodding I'll give you a shout if anything spontaneously combusts. It's been driving me crazy the past couple of weeks too, so mad props to coaster_vn! Also, I QQ'd at the 'poor' estimation for the arranger. sad But I'm still really psyched for the customize me update, so full steam ahead I s'pose!

Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 01:19am


	I'm with emorexic-pimp on the "sig is over the size limit"/"other" choice for the new drop down reporting list. But great job on the menus! They are a TON faster. :3

Ena Lucine
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Panagrammic
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Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 01:19am


	@GL: zOMG team is definitely looking at that bug -- they will follow up in that thread.

Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 01:34am


	Nice to see the new menus in action but they're a tad icky looking IMO. As for the Guest option getting pulled, figured it might've been due to a bug. Nice to know it wasn't an accident though. As for feature predictions, they sound good, but I'm not going to quote you on any (except for mediumish good - that's priceless). Thanks for the updates, but I wonder why this entry didn't appear in my feeds.

France Hopper
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Okami Rose
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Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 02:13am


	The menus work sooo much better and more fluid! Thank you soo much! With the guild and clan invites- what's going on is when guild or clan captains are accepting people into their clan/guild people are getting a private message that says on the subject "You Have Been Declined" but when opening the private message it says "You Have Been Accepted into: (insert clan/guild here)" It affects BOTH clans and guilds, and confuses some folks sad Again, thanks for all of your hard work Pana! <33

Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 02:17am


	The menu is really fast! Before it would take forever for it to load in Aquariums and now there isn't a problem. heart

Darkfreakoid
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Elliandra McTiernen
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Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 02:26am


	Looking forward to a store UI update, we've had the same ones for a long time now. Will you make it so it doesn't pop up with the same thing I just sold to the shop for me to buy it back? I often sell all my junk back in bulk, and it slows down the process. I am SUPER excited for the DressUp update. Really. A lot. It's too bad about the arranger though, I hate having to reload the page after every couple of items just so it doesn't fail or wonk it up even more. Maybe in April? lol Thanks for all your hard work, I love seeing your updates. Do you know if there's a prom in the works for this year?

Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 02:38am


	Regarding the Guild Invite Problems: I'm not sure which problem you're speaking of, but there was a problem discussed in this week's Ask the admin. The condensed version is: a whole bunch of stuff that Crew and Captains do with Guilds (including, but not limited to, accepting join requests, moving or deleting threads, and promoting or banning people) is being met with an error accusing the user of not being logged into an account that has permission to do that. In truth, the operation actually succeeds despite the error...but doesn't get entered into the Crew Log, leaving all of these actions completely untraceable (at least outside of GOHQ.)

Platonix
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Nobara
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Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 04:50am


	-Cooldown period after using emote/pose change Was this in Towns? That was a glitch? But I liked it. crying Well, I hadn't noticed emotes. Also, I am a sad panda that inventory arranger is more than likely not going to be done by March. It's probably not an easy project, but I've been waiting for what seems ages for it to be fixed already. sweatdrop

Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 06:38am


	Quote: it's not necessarily obvious where to go or what to do gonk Same thing with me and I started in 03! Even coming back after a year was pretty overwhelming. But, omg, do this and I think it will be a little better? (there's a TL;DR at the bottom too). Perhaps there is an organizational problem? I dunno. Good job so far. I'm looking forward to the new customize me page! 3nodding

Sevi Rais
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Endrael
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Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 07:10am


	Guild updates = win. blaugh And is the store UI update for the gold shops? If so, I'm really looking forward to that. They've been in need of an update for a looooooong time. I have to ask, though (even though I know you're not on the UI part of the site, but you mentioned it, so...), because it seems like such a stupidly basic site design thing to me: Why in the world were the menus done with javascript instead of CSS in the first place? gonk Mind that I'm not complaining in the least with the switch to the CSS for the menus, because the pages load immensely faster now (and the shortcuts menu finally doesn't require clicking anymore); just that it seems like one of those "duh" things, since CSS is much faster and lighter than javascript for things like that.

Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 08:39am


	Thank you Panagrammic, that is the news I and many others have been waiting for! heart

Erebea revius
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Chocobo Princess
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Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 09:30am


	As always, tons of great progress! Go, team~! I have a minor request: Could there be a switch to turn off the autopop of item info when viewing someone else's Equipped Items? I usually know what the items are without reading the long description, and the box persists even after I close the window. It's a small thing, but I'd love to be able to turn it off. I just want the list of items, with the thumbnails. Thanks for considering it.

Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 09:50am


	Aha, so THAT explains why when I moved the mouse the wrong direction, I had menus suddenly popping up all over the place! xD Great job though, it was rather aggravating, having to wait for them to decide to come up before. I will say, however, that the pose button limitations are fiercely annoying, and I wish it would go back to the way it was. :/

Kai-Shan Valandria
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Kamika Sugi
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Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 09:50am


	I immediately noticed the menus changed when I logged on today. And it's a good thing we can now choose a category for reporting threads because having to type stuff out every single time is kind of annoying and time consuming.

Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 01:31pm


	¤´¨) ¸.·´¸.·´¨) ¸.·¨) (¸.·`¤~I'm sad that the Houses are not at the top of the list of things to fix. I haven't been able to fix my house in a year emo ~¤´¨) ¸.·´¸.·´¨) ¸.·¨) (¸.·`¤

Digital Puppetry
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Kamikazi-Cloud
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Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 04:36pm


	What I have shown you is reality... I have to say that I love the new menues. They look much more up to date and I love the smaller text. It also speeds things up a bit as well. As for the guide invites, one problem I have come a crossed lately is not so much inviting people myself to join a guild but when they submit a request to join. When I go to approve a request I get an error that says 'Sorry! You have to be logged in to do that!" Then when I refresh the screen, it seems the person got accepted anyways. :/ I can't wait to see the new Inventory Features. Sadly, I will have to way to get things color cornaded in my inventory then since the arranger won't be fixed for quite some time? What you remember... that is the illusion.

Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 08:04pm


	OMG THANK YOU It was SO ANNOYING having to pull down the menu 6-7 times to get it to register your cursor and actually PULL the menu down, and have it stay there while you made your selection. And now? it works without a hitch. It's perfectly attuned to your cursor.. it speeds down the menu to your selection... I LOVE IT. Thank you ever so much, this small detail has enhanced my gaian life a full 40%. You dont realize how much you use those menus until they dont work. And having them actually work when you need them saves precious seconds. I almost feel like I've got high speed! WOO! yeah ok not so much. But it's kickass. Thank You!!!!

Artimus The Renowned
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Simply Angle
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Commented on: Fri Feb 06, 2009 @ 08:33pm


	I'm glad to hear that you guys are adding a "Misplaced Thread" option into the report choices. heart

Commented on: Sat Feb 07, 2009 @ 01:20am


	What about fixing that gimpi 1st gen showing up as gimpi 3rd gen?

Mistress Charlene
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Hikari_Sango
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Commented on: Sat Feb 07, 2009 @ 01:20am


	I thought the menus seemed different. They loaded a lot faster! I always had few issues with them taking a bit to load, especially on the aquariums page, and now they're so fast!! And thank you so much for the change to the reporting form! I love the drop down menu! Can't wait for the updates that might come by March!

Commented on: Sat Feb 07, 2009 @ 02:03am


	@Endrael: Quote: Why in the world were the menus done with javascript instead of CSS in the first place? Mind that I'm not complaining in the least with the switch to the CSS for the menus, because the pages load immensely faster now (and the shortcuts menu finally doesn't require clicking anymore); just that it seems like one of those "duh" things, since CSS is much faster and lighter than javascript for things like that. In retrospect it does seem like something stupidly simple we should've done long ago. The Javascript menus provided by YUI though have some nice usability enhancements that we can't offer with a CSS-only version. Foremost in my mind is having a slight delay both for displaying and hiding the menus. With the CSS menus now, it's possible to interact with them accidentally, something I really hate (i.e., you're just moving your mouse around and *poof, there's a menu when you didn't expect it!), and if you have a twitchy finger, it's easy to lose the hover and close it. There are additional usability tweaks that JS can offer, like auto-focusing and keyboard navigation which are useful for folks that might be browsing on different devices or with disabilities. Other things like auto-positioning and compensating for resized text are nice to have, too. In spite of all that though, the massive weight of those menus was really killing our performance. It's really nice to see pages rendering a lot faster with this new method, so we're going to keep it and see how it works for us. We might be able to also make use of it with the MyGaia tabs too, which should further improve things within that section. Anyway, that's why. lol*

pacifisticuffs
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Cleocatra
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Commented on: Sat Feb 07, 2009 @ 03:06pm


	Huzzah! No more strong-span!

Commented on: Mon Feb 09, 2009 @ 11:46am


	Yay css menus ty

Absol - Ruler of Chaos
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Elliandra McTiernen
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Commented on: Wed Feb 11, 2009 @ 11:19am


	Another thought, are there changes being made to MyGaia's main page? Because mine seems to have disappeared altogether (though I can still pull-down and get to where I need to go, there are no tabs...nothing at all actually, just the quicklinks from the bottom of the page). Just thought I'd ask before I start panicking. =D Keep doing your thing! heart heh captcha = diamond robe. Odd choice of clothing! sweatdrop

Commented on: Wed Feb 11, 2009 @ 08:13pm


	@Elliandra McTiernen: we haven't made any changes recently. Can you try clearing your browser cache and reloading? It could potentially be a CDN issue.

Panagrammic
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Hyzenthlay
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Commented on: Thu Feb 12, 2009 @ 07:24pm


	Hey there, I love the new speed of the drop down menus, even if the font is strangely placed in Shortcuts. But, I must say I found a glitch. I know this probably isn't the best place to put it; here I go anyway: Cash Shop is overlapped. I'm not really sure how many pages this happens on, but it's not very good. Sometimes this makes it impossible to close the Cash Shop and it won't scroll with the page as well. Thanks a bunch. ~<3

Commented on: Fri Feb 13, 2009 @ 06:45am


	Absolutely love the CSS menus. I know it's not as versatile as Javascript, but it still works and is sooooo much faster now. I'm still looking forward to some more JS-only links being fixed for us non-JS people (like selling items in the marketplace).

ffreddd123
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Hankiebeer
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Commented on: Tue Feb 17, 2009 @ 09:21am


	Guild Invite Problems Some newly invited members get an error that they are not authorized to see the forums. (and then get angry that they were un-invited after being invited >.< wink This error message seems to go away after an hour or so. But it makes inviting people to your guild not fun at all.

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