If you're a regular visitor to the forums you'll notice that as of today we have a new hierarchy to the main forum page. We made these changes specifically to promote what this site is ultimately about: creativity. We felt the old setup wasn't focusing our members to the right areas, creating a very disjointed experience overall. So, we sat down and looked at where we could make changes that are justified improvements and what you see is the end result of that. This is the first time in many years that such a drastic change has been made, and as such we understand that not everyone will like what we've done despite our best intentions. This thread and the SP discussion thread are open to any comments and suggestions you might have about the new layout. We are using this as a chance to experiment to see what works best for our goals with the site, and we will likely be making revisions based on your feedback. These changes come as part of a larger overall reworking of the site in it's current form, before we launch a new version of StickPage. We will also be using what we learn here to improve the new site out of the gate. Over the next few weeks you may see further changes, of which the major ones will be announced here as they happen, so keep an eye out if you want to be involved!

So what changed exactly? Here's a non-comprehensive list:

• Merged the general section into the off topic section
  
• Debate section has been removed due to under use, we will be implementing a different method for having serious conversations for those that still wish to
  
• Tutorial forums have been consolidated into only two: Official and Community Tutorials
  
• The tutorials section has been renamed to Skill Building (names are not necessarily final) to make the section represent action more, as the section is all about improving yourself
  
• Collabs have been split away from Community Projects into their own forum
  
• Help, Resources, Challenges, and Collabs have been moved under Skill Building
  
• Community Projects renamed to Works in Progress, and is now specifically about sharing Tests, WIPs, or just teasing your work
  
• Any forum that contained separate subforums for Pivot, Easytoon, and Flash have been consolidated into one forum and will be given tags for those programs if members still wish to identify their work
  
• The names of the various creative sections have been redone to align more with the naming scheme of the Writers' Lounge
  
• Writers' Lounge subforum Community Originals has been removed and dumped into the main Writers' Lounge forum to scope the section better
  
• Community originals is now Kitchen Sink - a catch-all for content that isn't animation, art, or writing (games, music, etc.)
  
• Renamed all RHG and wRHG forums to be consistent with each other
  
• The section of the forum dedicated to Stick War and Stick Empires has been reorganized to be more in line with the branding Stick War Universe
  
• Stick War and Stick Empires have their clear forums now, with strategy discussion for SE being moved into the SE forum as subforums, and the Stick War* forums being moved into one forum just called Stick War
  
• Main forum reorganized to promote creative content first and foremost

Additionally, I have enabled the ability to delete your own posts again as we're now in a state where it shouldn't be a problem. Have fun!

- Jeff

Maybe this is just me, but I know myself and others would love to see the wRHG section get its own spot on the front page. Not necessarily a whole area of the forum like RHG itself, but just a section under creative that is separate from the straight up "Writer's Lounge."

Generally speaking, the Writer's Lounge seems more fitting for what used to be the Original Literature section and similar works that are unrelated to any system, while the wRHG is every bit as organized as RHG itself.

I think part of the reason that the wRHG gets less traffic that RHG on this forum is that it is somewhat tucked away into a little corner that a lot of people don't notice on a regular basis.

If we could change this, that would be awesome!


Aside from that, btw, I love the new arrangement!

This is going to be on everyone's minds, but I think it's a little unusual how the most popular sub forum which served as a general hub is now lodged in the middle of everything. It does generally make sense in a non specific organisation to bring something general and as easily accessible as well, the general section to be one the quickest to locate. This is just my two cents on just that, but other than that, I'm browsing through everything now to hopefully give you some more feedback on the changes.
EDIT: The Off-Topic Section is in general terms a miscellaneous section, right? It's fairly common to see a category like that underneath everything else, mainly the Trash Can, since it's meant to be out of the way of everything else, being the lowest quality and unneeded threads and such. I do like how everything else feels more organised. The way you've named some of the sections gives them a little charm. It's a nice touch.

Quote from Rosie

This is going to be on everyone's minds, but I think it's a little unusual how the most popular sub forum which served as a general hub is now lodged in the middle of everything. It does generally make sense in a non specific organisation to bring something general and as easily accessible as well, the general section to be one the quickest to locate. This is just my two cents on just that, but other than that, I'm browsing through everything now to hopefully give you some more feedback on the changes.

I figure this will be the biggest point of contention in all of this but hear me out. Ultimately this forum's intention for us is to build a community around the creation of stick figure content. Whether or not you are a fan of stick figures in general, this is StickPage and it was built around that concept. Anyone is allowed to be here, but they have to accept that this is our priority. Keeping this in mind, the first thing you saw after self-promotional forums was an intentionally aimless forum that is home to a lot of users who are no longer a functioning part of the creative ecosystem of this forum. This is only a bad thing for us in that it's an insanely poor representation of what we want for the community, and often we found new members getting the wrong idea or worse after having visited that forum. Having a forum like that is and always has been a staple of animation forums, and I don't intend to change that tradition. It serves a specific purpose and serves it well. But, that doesn't mean we have to feature it up front as the shining beacon of the site, because it shouldn't be if we want to portray ourselves as creatives. I would argue that statistically it's only considered popular because of it's position on the forum, so this change intends to direct that popularity towards the sections that could use it more. The general forum is strong on it's own, and doesn't need the top spot to survive. I seriously doubt it will reduce in quality because of this. In fact, I think it would be better in general because it won't be the first stop for people who don't know any better, the Introduction forum is.

I have to head home at the moment but I will get to any other questions or comments when I can.

Idk what's the useful of moving SW and SW2 and SWL in one forum. Now it's hard to search a thread.

It's going to be hard to adapt to this new change after so long. But I do like the new arrangement and I hope that this one will stay. I just need to get used to it.

i like the change but the trash can is still pulling more viewers than the animation den

Quote from Jeff

I figure this will be the biggest point of contention in all of this but hear me out. Ultimately this forum's intention for us is to build a community around the creation of stick figure content. Whether or not you are a fan of stick figures in general, this is StickPage and it was built around that concept. Anyone is allowed to be here, but they have to accept that this is our priority. Keeping this in mind, the first thing you saw after self-promotional forums was an intentionally aimless forum that is home to a lot of users who are no longer a functioning part of the creative ecosystem of this forum. This is only a bad thing for us in that it's an insanely poor representation of what we want for the community, and often we found new members getting the wrong idea or worse after having visited that forum. Having a forum like that is and always has been a staple of animation forums, and I don't intend to change that tradition. It serves a specific purpose and serves it well. But, that doesn't mean we have to feature it up front as the shining beacon of the site, because it shouldn't be if we want to portray ourselves as creatives. I would argue that statistically it's only considered popular because of it's position on the forum, so this change intends to direct that popularity towards the sections that could use it more. The general forum is strong on it's own, and doesn't need the top spot to survive. I seriously doubt it will reduce in quality because of this. In fact, I think it would be better in general because it won't be the first stop for people who don't know any better, the Introduction forum is.

I have to head home at the moment but I will get to any other questions or comments when I can.

Ah, I see.
But in that case, why is the RHG section at the very bottom of the forum? It is a big feature that attracts a lot of potential animators, right? I think maybe it would be better if it was placed underneath the Skill Building forum, then everything linking to animation is all in one place.

People still take RHG seriously? lol weird.

Praise the lord, we can delete our mistakes again.

Quote from Alphaeus

Maybe this is just me, but I know myself and others would love to see the wRHG section get its own spot on the front page. Not necessarily a whole area of the forum like RHG itself, but just a section under creative that is separate from the straight up "Writer's Lounge."

Generally speaking, the Writer's Lounge seems more fitting for what used to be the Original Literature section and similar works that are unrelated to any system, while the wRHG is every bit as organized as RHG itself.


I think part of the reason that the wRHG gets less traffic that RHG on this forum is that it is somewhat tucked away into a little corner that a lot of people don't notice on a regular basis.

One of the things I was aiming for with this is a more clearly defined scope for each section. It makes sense to have similar content grouped together, which is why wRHG is a bit hard to place. What is now the Creative section is intended to hold any forum that lets you post your work and give/receive constructive criticism, which is only really a part of what RHG in general is about. In the case of wRHG I felt it was more natural to have it still contained in the WL, as anyone visiting that section understands that it's for literature, so there's less chance for confusion. I feel like it would be awkward if I took it out and put it in the Creative section, and I can't think of any other spot more fitting that doesn't put it up along side RHG which would probably lead to increased confusion between the two.

I do understand your concern though, maybe I should change the name of WL to include RHG somewhere? That might increase exposure without breaking the scope I'm trying to establish.

Quote from empiresma

Idk what's the useful of moving SW and SW2 and SWL in one forum. Now it's hard to search a thread.

In what way is it more difficult to search? There is only one additional click, otherwise those sections are functionally the same.

Quote from Rosie

Ah, I see.
But in that case, why is the RHG section at the very bottom of the forum? It is a big feature that attracts a lot of potential animators, right? I think maybe it would be better if it was placed underneath the Skill Building forum, then everything linking to animation is all in one place.

That's a good question. I'm honestly at a bit of a crossroads with RHG because of everything that's been going on behind the scenes here. The main reason being that a new type of RHG has been in development along side the new SP - something we've been working on since even before Hyun's Dojo developed their version of RHG - and it's become something somewhat radically different from the traditional forum-based RHG (or what I like to call "pencil and paper" RHG) that aims to replace it. The new system is a much more integrated experience that takes place off the forums completely. So, when the new site comes out we will be archiving the forum version and any characters in it will need to be remade for the new one. There is also currently no one acting as show runner in it's current form, Shadowkirby and the other mods are doing their best to keep it somewhat moderated but that's about it. It's honestly only there at this point for the people that still find some value in it, as wRHG has shown that people will do it themselves if they find it fun. I would feel bad about closing that up completely, but I'm also stuck in that I don't want to promote something that's outdated and on it's way out. So the interim solution in my mind is to leave it up but put it down low so that we're focusing more on our skills first and foremost. I'm open to suggestions for anyone that has other ideas!

ok i'm probably gonna regret this but...
FluidPage.com
Bringing Back Creativity.
I like how the forums are organised tho,it's really nice!

In what way is it more difficult to search? There is only one additional click, otherwise those sections are functionally the same.

My internet is bad so it takes more time to load the thread that i want.

Quote from empiresma

My internet is bad so it takes more time to load the thread that i want.

Get better internet. That's the only real way to solve your problem at this point.

Quote from poppetje3D

Praise the lord, we can delete our mistakes again.

Too bad your mother couldn't do the same when you were born.

About the layout, I like it. It makes sense and it's still easy to find things despite being used to the old layout. Excited to see future improvements.