Polycount is being updated
polycounter lvl 19
Hello! In the coming couple of weeks Polycount is going to be receiving a much needed overhaul to its backend software, which means a number of things we think you'll find interesting.
First off, we're no longer going to be using vBulletin. We've teamed up with Vanilla to bring the overhaul to our community. Using Vanilla means a number of things, but the big win for us is that it means we'll be able to bring you new features to the site that were either impossible or very difficult to achieve with vBulletin.
When the new community site launches, it will feel familiar but new. We're still a forum for video game artists to share and discuss their game art, but its how we'll be able to expose you to that content that will be getting a massive improvement over time.
At launch, some new features coming to the site:
What should be your take-away from this update? We feel it should be that while the new features are nice, and that the site will feel familiar at launch, switching to a new platform means that we can finally bring you more usability and features you've request for years (E.g. Mobile accessibility!).
Stay tuned to this thread. As we lead up to the update going live I will post some more images and share more information you'll need to know before the switch happens.
First off, we're no longer going to be using vBulletin. We've teamed up with Vanilla to bring the overhaul to our community. Using Vanilla means a number of things, but the big win for us is that it means we'll be able to bring you new features to the site that were either impossible or very difficult to achieve with vBulletin.
When the new community site launches, it will feel familiar but new. We're still a forum for video game artists to share and discuss their game art, but its how we'll be able to expose you to that content that will be getting a massive improvement over time.
At launch, some new features coming to the site:
- The News page will now exclusively feature content found from the community. The vast majority of content found on the News page will come from you. The team here at Polycount will be able to push any thread or post directly to the News page for you to check out and participate in. More often than not we found that any news we wanted to write about was already posted here to the forum. This will allow us to share that content easier. In the future, we plan to expand this so that meta-data that you subscribe to will be automatically pushed to the front page, curating the content of News specifically for you.
- Attaching and sharing media just got a whole lot easier. Let`s face it, Image attachments on our forum sucks right now. In the new site, you`ll be able to drag content directly from your community right in to your thread and have it shared beautifully. This is going to be a powerful tool that we`ll be using in other features that we encourage you to utilize. For example...
- Threads can now be previewed without clicking directly in to them. Mouse-over any thread title to have the first image posted to it pop-up for you to preview.
- The banner art will be updated more often and much easier. Essentially, any thread that contains artwork we`d like to showcase can be, at the click of a button, added to the banner rotation. This will require that the artwork is uploaded to the thread by you, rather than linked to from an external URL, but its such an easy process that it can be done in second.
- You`ll now be able to Pin your OP (original post) to the top of your thread, no matter how many pages deep it gets. This means that you`ll be able to update your project on the first post for everyone to see, no matter which part of the thread they are in. From there you can use replies to participate int eh discussion of your project.
- Browsing thread art content just got a whole lot easier. The first iteration of this new direction will allow you to click on a single image within a thread, and bring that up in a lightbox. From there you`ll be able to browse all the images posted to a thread quickly and directly. For those of you who browse the WAYWO threads, you should find this feature stream-lines your image browsing habits. We are planning to expand this feature greatly post-launch, based on your feedback and ideas.
- Single sign-on, featuring Steam. You`ll now be able to sign-in to Polycount with your Steam account. If you`re already a member, you can link your account to your Steam account. We`ll be expanding on this in the future to work well with Steam Workshop.
- Support for full integration of Sketchfab and Marmoset Viewer, directly in our posts (at launch or just after). We also plan to expand this integration further, which I can get in to more details once the site update launches.
- Sexier thread formatting. Reading your content and viewing your images will be a lot easier on the eyes.
What should be your take-away from this update? We feel it should be that while the new features are nice, and that the site will feel familiar at launch, switching to a new platform means that we can finally bring you more usability and features you've request for years (E.g. Mobile accessibility!).
Stay tuned to this thread. As we lead up to the update going live I will post some more images and share more information you'll need to know before the switch happens.
This discussion has been closed.
Replies
1 - Those are pictures from our staging site. So ignore the author names attached to the heads
2 - Yes, you will be keeping your account information and credentials, and your threads/replies will remain intact.
When do you anticipate the down time and changeover to happen?
Looking forward to that marmoset viewer integration!
A couple of weeks from now. We'll need to lock the current site for a few hours while it happens and the *POOF*, new.
You see how much more you can see? The overview of the site is quite frankly superior. Not saying that this is how it will be, but that first picture kind of hinted towards a similar style.
Will the demo build site be up before hand for people to knowsy on or will it flat old -> new changeover? Probably already know the answer but one can hope haha!
Love everything about this!
Er...AWESOME!
Will there be a way to browse images but then be able to jump to that images place in the thread? Just in case people see an image and want to comment or quote it without having to then look through the pages to find said image?
Also... Is the thumbnail front page thing people keep asking for in the works? (CGHUB). But I spose we have Artstation for that now... I recall there being an app or feed site someone posted that shows all images uploaded, cant remember what it was called.
Seriously, looks good in the previews. Can't wait for the update.
Who do we thank for all the hard work? (other than you, Adam) ... or should we wait until the switch, so no one gets lynched, if things go bad?
The features sound really nice and thought through though. Looks like there's some really useful stuff coming
Yeah, the huge fonts and and getting rid of separation lines is a horrible trend. I wish it went away already, instead of defiling more and more of sites I browse - now including my beloved polycount
I suspect it's supposed to cater to folks who browse web on their smartfones?
Or is it just "others are doing it so we should do it as well"?
Seriously though, nice. Wondered when we would see marmoset viewer supported on here.
Can't wait !
But seriously, I love how tight the forum looks right now. I'm sure I'll get used to a more modern look... But I'm worried that some vanilla forums seem kinda bloated.
I mean that is fine for touch interfaces, but the great majority of us use 3d programs with interfaces that attempt to populate their interfaces with as much as they can as efficiently as they can.
Hopefully the new layout strikes a good balance.