Guild Launch News
VERSION 2.5 - Released
The following features have been released today Wednesday, September 5th for Version 2.5 of Guild Launch.
This release represents a major improvement in the customization ability of our guild sites. Forum icons, and primary menus are now completely in your control. In addition we have improved and streamlined the user application and account creation process as well as giving you more control over the layout of images and text in posts.
Major Features
Complete Control Over Forum Icons
All forum icons can now be replaced. Users can upload new icons into their file library or anywhere else and then paste the images URL into a
page where each default icon is shown. When that page is saved the new URL is used for the icon on the forum pages. Any valid URL can be used, and blanking out the URL returns the default icon.
Complete Primary Navigation Menu Control
The primary navigation, the navigation across the top on most templates and on the top left in some templates, is now fully customizable. You can add links to any URL, you can use images instead of text, you can use a dropdown to add a link to a custom page, and you can use a dropdown to
add a link to any of the default items. All links are sortable and can be moved up and down, etc. In addition, you can choose whether to show
your navigation across the top in a horizontal fashion or on the left navigation in a vertical fashion.
This menu customization screen in the template area will replace the "Yes/No" settings on the Admin->Content screen since removing the link is equivalent to saying "no" on the Admin->Content screen. Some items, such as bank and who's online settings will remain on the Admin->Content screen.
Friends List
Users can now mark other users as "friends". You can make a comment about them such as "Awesome Team Player" and we'll link to their guild site and profile.
Accented Imports for Rapid Raid
Accented characters will now import properly with the CT_RaidTracker.
Bank Improvements
The bank backpack will now import properly.
The first two customization items while they sound fairly small in their explanation are HUGE and critical when it comes to customization of your site. Those two options will increase the customizability of the sites tremendously.
New BBCode Additions
Centering and image alignment have been added as bbcode options. The BBCodes are:
[ center ][ /center ] (without the extra spaces before and after the brackets)
and
[img=left][/img]
The center BBCode is self explanatory. In the case of the image BBCode it works just like the previous image BBCode did but it allows you to put
the "=xyz" into the opening tag to indicate which type of alignment should be used for the image. The alignments available are standard HTML:
left, right, top, bottom, absmiddle.
Application/New Account/Recruiting vs. Non Recruiting Slight ReWork
We've adjusted the links for "Apply to Guild" and "Create an Account" to be more based on whether the guild is recruiting and whether the person is logged in or not.
Guild is Recruiting, User Not Logged In
If the guild is recruiting and the person is not logged in they will now be presented with a single form that includes the create account form and the guild application. That one submission will create their account and apply to the guild. In this case the link on the left hand widget will read "Apply to Guild."
Guild is Recruiting, User *is* Logged In
If the guild is recruiting and the user is logged in they will be presented with just the guild application. In this case the link on the left hand widget will read "Apply to Guild."
Guild is Not Recruiting, User Not Logged In
If the guild is not recruiting and the user is not logged in the link will be removed completely from the widget sidebars and the user will only be presented with the "Create Account" link at the top of the page. The user will only be able to create an account from this point.
Guild Is Not Recruiting, User Is Logged In
If the guild is not recruiting and the user is not logged in the link will be removed completely from the widget sidebars and the user will not see the Create Account links since they have an account already. The user will only be able to create an account from this point.
The guild master will still have the option to directly link any person with a Guild Launch account directly to the application form. This will allow guilds to be "not recruiting" but direct link people to the application for the exceptions that do occur. In order to do this, the person
will need an account.
General Features
User Notification System
We now have a way to notify all users at the top of every page if some system level event occurs such as the need to reboot one of the servers or something similar. We hope to never use this, but it is now available.
Forum Options on User Profile
User can now choose to have the "notify me of replies to this post" checkbox checked by default.
User Requests
The following items were specifically requested by users.
Upcoming Raid vs. Past Raid View Changes
Requested by: Baidden & Omegi
The Raids page is now split into two pages.
The "Upcoming Raids" page shows all raids occuring today and into the future and shows the earliest raid at the top of the page.
The "Past Raids" page shows all raids before today and shows the most recent raid at the top.
Character Selection Retention on Characters and Members Page in Admin
Request by: Cante & Some Others
There is now a chechbox to "Retain Selections" on the character and member list in Admin. This will allow you to perform multiple actions on many different members or characters quickly by keeping the selections. The "Retain Selections" checkbox must be clicked each time you want to retain settings. This is to keep people from accidentally performing an action on retained users.
The "Guild" Designation is now Game Specific
Requested by: asualt7 & Others
On the user facing portions of the sites the term "Guild" is now replaced with the game specific term be it "Linkshell" for Final Fantasy XI or "Kinship" for Lord of the Rings Online or "Clan" for Anarchy Online. This means that things like "Apply to Guild" will now read "Apply to "Kinship" and "Guild Roster" will now read "Kinship Roster".
The admin areas and some of the description text still say "guild" but we'll iron those out in a future release.
Animated Forum Icons
Requested by: Everyone & Their Mother & Their Mother's Cat
When user avatars are uploaded if the avatar is less than 100 pixels wide it will not be resized for the forum. This will preserve any animation or transparency in the forum. The larger avatar for the user profile page and the tiny avatar for the shout box will still be resized and will lose animation. In addition an animated avatar wider than 100 pixels will be resized and will lose animation.
Security Enhancements and Fixes
Potential Privelege Elevation
During testing of Version 2.5 we found that a person with the ability to add members could add the incoming member to any security group. This would allow a member with only "Applications" priveleges to add the incoming user to the officer group or any other group with potentially any priveleges. If the incoming account were their own or someone they knew, this could be used maliciously or lead to a person having improper permissions even if not used maliciously.
To resolve this the approve apps page has been changed to only allow members who also have "Permissions" priveleges in Admin to add incoming members to security groups when approving their apps.
Incorrect Auth Check Fixed
The permissions tab, in certain cases, was not checking and enforcing the correct security priveleges for a guild. This particular hole was not directly or casually exploitable, but we found the potential for it during testing and have fixed it.
Enjoy!
Stephen
This release represents a major improvement in the customization ability of our guild sites. Forum icons, and primary menus are now completely in your control. In addition we have improved and streamlined the user application and account creation process as well as giving you more control over the layout of images and text in posts.
Major Features
Complete Control Over Forum Icons
All forum icons can now be replaced. Users can upload new icons into their file library or anywhere else and then paste the images URL into a
page where each default icon is shown. When that page is saved the new URL is used for the icon on the forum pages. Any valid URL can be used, and blanking out the URL returns the default icon.
Complete Primary Navigation Menu Control
The primary navigation, the navigation across the top on most templates and on the top left in some templates, is now fully customizable. You can add links to any URL, you can use images instead of text, you can use a dropdown to add a link to a custom page, and you can use a dropdown to
add a link to any of the default items. All links are sortable and can be moved up and down, etc. In addition, you can choose whether to show
your navigation across the top in a horizontal fashion or on the left navigation in a vertical fashion.
This menu customization screen in the template area will replace the "Yes/No" settings on the Admin->Content screen since removing the link is equivalent to saying "no" on the Admin->Content screen. Some items, such as bank and who's online settings will remain on the Admin->Content screen.
Friends List
Users can now mark other users as "friends". You can make a comment about them such as "Awesome Team Player" and we'll link to their guild site and profile.
Accented Imports for Rapid Raid
Accented characters will now import properly with the CT_RaidTracker.
Bank Improvements
The bank backpack will now import properly.
The first two customization items while they sound fairly small in their explanation are HUGE and critical when it comes to customization of your site. Those two options will increase the customizability of the sites tremendously.
New BBCode Additions
Centering and image alignment have been added as bbcode options. The BBCodes are:
[ center ][ /center ] (without the extra spaces before and after the brackets)
and
[img=left][/img]
The center BBCode is self explanatory. In the case of the image BBCode it works just like the previous image BBCode did but it allows you to put
the "=xyz" into the opening tag to indicate which type of alignment should be used for the image. The alignments available are standard HTML:
left, right, top, bottom, absmiddle.
Application/New Account/Recruiting vs. Non Recruiting Slight ReWork
We've adjusted the links for "Apply to Guild" and "Create an Account" to be more based on whether the guild is recruiting and whether the person is logged in or not.
Guild is Recruiting, User Not Logged In
If the guild is recruiting and the person is not logged in they will now be presented with a single form that includes the create account form and the guild application. That one submission will create their account and apply to the guild. In this case the link on the left hand widget will read "Apply to Guild."
Guild is Recruiting, User *is* Logged In
If the guild is recruiting and the user is logged in they will be presented with just the guild application. In this case the link on the left hand widget will read "Apply to Guild."
Guild is Not Recruiting, User Not Logged In
If the guild is not recruiting and the user is not logged in the link will be removed completely from the widget sidebars and the user will only be presented with the "Create Account" link at the top of the page. The user will only be able to create an account from this point.
Guild Is Not Recruiting, User Is Logged In
If the guild is not recruiting and the user is not logged in the link will be removed completely from the widget sidebars and the user will not see the Create Account links since they have an account already. The user will only be able to create an account from this point.
The guild master will still have the option to directly link any person with a Guild Launch account directly to the application form. This will allow guilds to be "not recruiting" but direct link people to the application for the exceptions that do occur. In order to do this, the person
will need an account.
General Features
User Notification System
We now have a way to notify all users at the top of every page if some system level event occurs such as the need to reboot one of the servers or something similar. We hope to never use this, but it is now available.
Forum Options on User Profile
User can now choose to have the "notify me of replies to this post" checkbox checked by default.
User Requests
The following items were specifically requested by users.
Upcoming Raid vs. Past Raid View Changes
Requested by: Baidden & Omegi
The Raids page is now split into two pages.
The "Upcoming Raids" page shows all raids occuring today and into the future and shows the earliest raid at the top of the page.
The "Past Raids" page shows all raids before today and shows the most recent raid at the top.
Character Selection Retention on Characters and Members Page in Admin
Request by: Cante & Some Others
There is now a chechbox to "Retain Selections" on the character and member list in Admin. This will allow you to perform multiple actions on many different members or characters quickly by keeping the selections. The "Retain Selections" checkbox must be clicked each time you want to retain settings. This is to keep people from accidentally performing an action on retained users.
The "Guild" Designation is now Game Specific
Requested by: asualt7 & Others
On the user facing portions of the sites the term "Guild" is now replaced with the game specific term be it "Linkshell" for Final Fantasy XI or "Kinship" for Lord of the Rings Online or "Clan" for Anarchy Online. This means that things like "Apply to Guild" will now read "Apply to "Kinship" and "Guild Roster" will now read "Kinship Roster".
The admin areas and some of the description text still say "guild" but we'll iron those out in a future release.
Animated Forum Icons
Requested by: Everyone & Their Mother & Their Mother's Cat
When user avatars are uploaded if the avatar is less than 100 pixels wide it will not be resized for the forum. This will preserve any animation or transparency in the forum. The larger avatar for the user profile page and the tiny avatar for the shout box will still be resized and will lose animation. In addition an animated avatar wider than 100 pixels will be resized and will lose animation.
Security Enhancements and Fixes
Potential Privelege Elevation
During testing of Version 2.5 we found that a person with the ability to add members could add the incoming member to any security group. This would allow a member with only "Applications" priveleges to add the incoming user to the officer group or any other group with potentially any priveleges. If the incoming account were their own or someone they knew, this could be used maliciously or lead to a person having improper permissions even if not used maliciously.
To resolve this the approve apps page has been changed to only allow members who also have "Permissions" priveleges in Admin to add incoming members to security groups when approving their apps.
Incorrect Auth Check Fixed
The permissions tab, in certain cases, was not checking and enforcing the correct security priveleges for a guild. This particular hole was not directly or casually exploitable, but we found the potential for it during testing and have fixed it.
Enjoy!
Stephen
Last edited by GL_Support on Wed Sep 05, 2007 8:36 am; edited 2 times in total
Is this the proper place for feedback?
I'm very happy that the raid page was separated, but I think it might have been better to show both types (upcoming vs. past) on a single page instead of defaulting to the full listing of past raids. In my opinion, it would be nice for the user to click on the "Raid" tab and go to a page that has two tables. The first table would be titled "Past Raids" and would display the 10 most recent raids. The second table would be titled "Upcoming Raids" and would display the next 10 raids that are scheduled. At the bottom of each table, a link to the page for the full listing of that type.
Just my two cents.
I'm very happy that the raid page was separated, but I think it might have been better to show both types (upcoming vs. past) on a single page instead of defaulting to the full listing of past raids. In my opinion, it would be nice for the user to click on the "Raid" tab and go to a page that has two tables. The first table would be titled "Past Raids" and would display the 10 most recent raids. The second table would be titled "Upcoming Raids" and would display the next 10 raids that are scheduled. At the bottom of each table, a link to the page for the full listing of that type.
Just my two cents.
Dunnar wrote:
Agree somewhat with Dunnar's comments. When I heard it was being split I thought it would be a tab similar to the Guild Roster where you have Members/Characters/Search. In this case you would be presented with Past Raids/Upcoming Raids tabs. Just would make the site "cleaner" IMO...
Is this the proper place for feedback?
I'm very happy that the raid page was separated, but I think it might have been better to show both types (upcoming vs. past) on a single page instead of defaulting to the full listing of past raids. In my opinion, it would be nice for the user to click on the "Raid" tab and go to a page that has two tables. The first table would be titled "Past Raids" and would display the 10 most recent raids. The second table would be titled "Upcoming Raids" and would display the next 10 raids that are scheduled. At the bottom of each table, a link to the page for the full listing of that type.
Just my two cents.
I'm very happy that the raid page was separated, but I think it might have been better to show both types (upcoming vs. past) on a single page instead of defaulting to the full listing of past raids. In my opinion, it would be nice for the user to click on the "Raid" tab and go to a page that has two tables. The first table would be titled "Past Raids" and would display the 10 most recent raids. The second table would be titled "Upcoming Raids" and would display the next 10 raids that are scheduled. At the bottom of each table, a link to the page for the full listing of that type.
Just my two cents.
Agree somewhat with Dunnar's comments. When I heard it was being split I thought it would be a tab similar to the Guild Roster where you have Members/Characters/Search. In this case you would be presented with Past Raids/Upcoming Raids tabs. Just would make the site "cleaner" IMO...
I can see you all's reasoning but your really just splitting the same hair differently. In my mind the problem that needed to be solved was this:
1. Users typically perform two distinct tasks: Looking for raids to join or manage that are upcoming. Looking for a raid in the past to manage.
2. The user would like to be presented quickly with the nearest upcoming raids.
3. The user would like to be presented quickly with the most recent past raid
The previous implementation, for guilds that schedule many raids into the future, didn't do either of those common use cases well. Since the nearest future raid was somewhere in the middle along with the most recently passed raid.
This implementation does do that well and Dunnar's idea can be added to it, since this is really step two of the "combined reduced" form, and Mithoron's idea is functionally equivalent though it requires 1 more click if you want to get to whichever tab is the non-default.
Now, in some future release... I might combine them all... change the link back to "Raids" have it go to the landing page that is like Dunnar's with tabs for each of the full lists. So you'd have three tabs - Summary, Upcoming, Past. Sounds neat.
-Stephen
1. Users typically perform two distinct tasks: Looking for raids to join or manage that are upcoming. Looking for a raid in the past to manage.
2. The user would like to be presented quickly with the nearest upcoming raids.
3. The user would like to be presented quickly with the most recent past raid
The previous implementation, for guilds that schedule many raids into the future, didn't do either of those common use cases well. Since the nearest future raid was somewhere in the middle along with the most recently passed raid.
This implementation does do that well and Dunnar's idea can be added to it, since this is really step two of the "combined reduced" form, and Mithoron's idea is functionally equivalent though it requires 1 more click if you want to get to whichever tab is the non-default.
Now, in some future release... I might combine them all... change the link back to "Raids" have it go to the landing page that is like Dunnar's with tabs for each of the full lists. So you'd have three tabs - Summary, Upcoming, Past. Sounds neat.
-Stephen
Actually there's no need to do anything because with the new ability to add Navigational links, I just removed the Rapid Raid link and added a link (Raiding) and have it take the person directly to the points page. At that point they can pick any other links within the Rapid Raid system (Upcoming raids, past raids, etc).
In all honestly, with the functionality to create your own Navigational links it doesn't matter what the default links take you to because those can be changed by personal preference...so problem is actually configurable on the user end, hehehe.
Just took a bit to start playing with the new features to figure out the solution was already there starting at me!
In all honestly, with the functionality to create your own Navigational links it doesn't matter what the default links take you to because those can be changed by personal preference...so problem is actually configurable on the user end, hehehe.
Just took a bit to start playing with the new features to figure out the solution was already there starting at me!
I guess I'd still like to have some kind of "landing page" that has snapshots of all the relevant raiding info (next 5 raids, last 5 raids, top 5 DKP/PR characters, etc.). When you click the link "Raids", it can be confusing if the user is expecting to see raid sign ups and gets the DKP listing. Another user might expect to see past raids and get upcoming raids. The point it, the nav link needs to be generic so that it covers the entire topic which means the user is left to interpret what data should be expected when the link is clicked on. Since users aren't ever going to agree on what's appropriate, I think a landing page is the best solution.
Dunnar wrote:
I agree. A landing page for Rapid Raid is in the works. We just wanted to solve the issue of the "unwieldy raid list" with a targeted change.
-Stephen
I guess I'd still like to have some kind of "landing page" that has snapshots of all the relevant raiding info (next 5 raids, last 5 raids, top 5 DKP/PR characters, etc.). When you click the link "Raids", it can be confusing if the user is expecting to see raid sign ups and gets the DKP listing. Another user might expect to see past raids and get upcoming raids. The point it, the nav link needs to be generic so that it covers the entire topic which means the user is left to interpret what data should be expected when the link is clicked on. Since users aren't ever going to agree on what's appropriate, I think a landing page is the best solution.
I agree. A landing page for Rapid Raid is in the works. We just wanted to solve the issue of the "unwieldy raid list" with a targeted change.
-Stephen
I'm liking a lot of the changes. I do like the split raid feature, although I feel the "Upcoming Raids" should be the default view. Like the above user said, I can change that if I'm really keen to, but it would be nice to have that set by default.
Keep up the good work.
Oh, and how I'll love you guys forever (well, that's a lie, but for a while anyhow! ;)) if you can give us some methods to sort through sign-ups, remove names, put them on an alt-list, sort by class/role, etc...any/all of the above would be awesome.
Keep up the good work.
Oh, and how I'll love you guys forever (well, that's a lie, but for a while anyhow! ;)) if you can give us some methods to sort through sign-ups, remove names, put them on an alt-list, sort by class/role, etc...any/all of the above would be awesome.
Seraphim Rave wrote:
Hear! Hear!!
DEFINITELY wanted! :envy
Oh, and how I'll love you guys forever (well, that's a lie, but for a while anyhow! ;)) if you can give us some methods to sort through sign-ups, remove names, put them on an alt-list, sort by class/role, etc...any/all of the above would be awesome.
Hear! Hear!!
DEFINITELY wanted! :envy
Approved list, groups, queueing, etc. is in Version 2.6. I was working on it today. Once the exact implementation coalesces a bit more I'll let you guys know. It will be very powerful and flexible though, without removing the simplicity of the existing system if the existing system is all you want to use.
-Stephen
-Stephen
Mithoron wrote:
Can you elaborate? I don't see a way to remove the Rapid Raid link or add new links. I am referring to the horizontal bar below the guild banner image, and it currently has these links in it:
Home Forums Rapid Raid PvP Guild Roster Gallery Calendar Wiki
Is this what you're editing? If so, how?
Thanks.
Actually there's no need to do anything because with the new ability to add Navigational links, I just removed the Rapid Raid link and added a link (Raiding) and have it take the person directly to the points page. At that point they can pick any other links within the Rapid Raid system (Upcoming raids, past raids, etc).
In all honestly, with the functionality to create your own Navigational links it doesn't matter what the default links take you to because those can be changed by personal preference...so problem is actually configurable on the user end, hehehe.
Just took a bit to start playing with the new features to figure out the solution was already there starting at me!
In all honestly, with the functionality to create your own Navigational links it doesn't matter what the default links take you to because those can be changed by personal preference...so problem is actually configurable on the user end, hehehe.
Just took a bit to start playing with the new features to figure out the solution was already there starting at me!
Can you elaborate? I don't see a way to remove the Rapid Raid link or add new links. I am referring to the horizontal bar below the guild banner image, and it currently has these links in it:
Home Forums Rapid Raid PvP Guild Roster Gallery Calendar Wiki
Is this what you're editing? If so, how?
Thanks.