Fur Affinity Turns 6!

[the-pale-tailed-fox]

wait wouldnt there also have to be areas that list artists for certain art types such as lists of traditional or textural ETC.

[the-pale-tailed-fox]

Quick Fact: If today is FA's birfday, Dragoneer, you started it on Dragon Appreciation Day! Strange coincidence?
-- Dee

coincidence i think not as its dragoneer were talking about here

lmao

[arpad]

It might sound dull, but I really enjoy FA's easy-to-look at format right now (as opposed to Inkbunny's confusing format or DA's too-much-shit-going-on). I'm sure I'll get used to the looks, but I'm mostly worried about FA slowing down or becoming unusable (There are plenty of artists I still like on DA, but my internet just won't load it anymore because of all the crapcrapcrap).

I'm also a little bit curious about what kind of TOS the new FA will have regarding the commissions. if it has this rating system and all that, will it be dealing with the money? How will it keep track of who owes what to who if it doesn't deal with it directly? I don't know anything about law, but it seems to me that if FA becomes an active participant in the commission, doesn't that bring up a whole load of issues?

Mostly I'm just worried about being able to load FA, though. This is my favorite site, and I would really hate to have my internet cut off every time I try to log on or something. Is there any way a 'slow-connections' version could be enacted along with this new site?

[the-pale-tailed-fox]

ive got an idea maybe for those taking commissions for every commission they recive you must donate a $1 or 80cents lol might help FA keep stable money wise a bit better.

[redfoxnudetoons]

comparing the current coding http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=ht...alidator%2F1.1

to the new one http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=ht...alidator%2F1.1

Not much of an improvement in coding. How many security holes will actually get fixed? or can we expect new and more damaging security holes with the new design?

Quick Fact: If today is FA's birfday, Dragoneer, you started it on Dragon Appreciation Day! Strange coincidence?
-- Dee

Dragoneer did not start FA. He is only the current site owner.

[Lazarian]

Happy Bday for FA. Thanks D!

[Dragoneer]

comparing the current coding http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=ht...alidator%2F1.1

to the new one http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=ht...alidator%2F1.1

Not much of an improvement in coding. How many security holes will actually get fixed? or can we expect new and more damaging security holes with the new design?

You're comparing live coding to a mock-up/preview as if it's some final product? That's kinda... stupid, even for FA standards.

ive got an idea maybe for those taking commissions for every commission they recive you must donate a $1 or 80cents lol might help FA keep stable money wise a bit better.

That is an absolutely terrible idea.

[redfoxnudetoons]

You're comparing live coding to a mock-up/preview as if it's some final product? That's kinda... stupid, even for FA standards.

I'm pointing out that you're mock up has even more problems then the current site coding, a step backwards.

And you are sill dodging a question that 4 people have asked: When are all the site vulnerabilities going to be fixed.

Also, you are dodging my original question: How are you paying a pro if you have been using the fact that you don't have the money to hire help as your reason for not fixing things for 2 years now?

That is an absolutely terrible idea.

I do agree with that, however.

[Sanyi]

Today, Fur Affinity turns 6

In all of those years, we've had some times and bad, and hit some incredible milestones. We've managed to see over 5.1 million submissions made to the site, 37.7 million comments, 1.25 million notes and over 2 million journals. And shouts? We don't even want to get started.

Happy Birthday FA!

So what's next for FA?

Things have been slack in the coding department, and we know that. It's time for a change, and we're long overdue. We're going to fix that.

Today, we're announcing the Version 3.0 of FA, which we will be launching at FA United 4 this Summer. We've got a date (May 21st), and we're going to be pulling in new coders, new talent and a wealth of resources to pull the site to modern standards. Fresh, zesty new commenting, a unique commissions and rating system and a wealth of requested features. We're hiring (yes, paying!) professional UI developer to finish, refine and tweak our new design (a live template test can be found here).

It's good to hear that you are pulling in some additional coders. I was a little worried that it was going to continue on the same track that it has been going on for years.


A few suggestions of the new UI:

The new UI design seems a little limited in space right now. Perhaps you could ask your web designer to have it use more of the page width (especially on wide-screen monitors)? Those 2 side bars on either side of the page are a little large for my tastes, and I am only using 1280x800.

It would also be great if they could add in the User ID and Featured Submission area in as an optional feature. Some people do use those areas.

The Profile Info area is also a little small. I would suggest bumping down the page shouts area and allowing the Profile Info to use the full width of the page.

The text on the live page could be hard to read because of the fact that it's gray on gray on gray. Lightening up the text would really help.

I'm looking at that "FA" header (the same one the forums use) and I just want to smack it off the page. ^^;; I really do. I hope that isn't a permanent fixture.

Not to mention, FA's official web hosting will be up-and-running within the next 30 days! More on that soon.

Uhhh... what? This is new to me. Not to many comments on it though, so I'm guessing it's old news? I would definitely like some info on this, if anybody can direct me to it. Thanks.

[redfoxnudetoons]

Not to mention, FA's official web hosting will be up-and-running within the next 30 days! More on that soon.

Will this have the same security problems as the mainsite has had to (and continues to) contend with?

[Sanyi]

Will this have the same security problems as the mainsite has had to (and continues to) contend with?

[redfoxnudetoons]

It's only beating a dead horse if the issue has been resolved. Which it has not. Only ignored until something goes wrong, like Eevee hacking the comment hide feature or someone hacking through the admin account and getting access to countless PM's, which, 'Ner has admitted that he didn't think of the fact that a script kiddie could copy the entire PM database, when it wasw pointed out in the LJ page.

Security is still a big issue, a fact that 'Neer seems to want people to ignore.

[Sanyi]

It's only beating a dead horse if the issue has been resolved. Which it has not. Only ignored until something goes wrong, like Eevee hacking the comment hide feature or someone hacking through the admin account and getting access to countless PM's, which, 'Ner has admitted that he didn't think of the fact that a script kiddie could copy the entire PM database, when it wasw pointed out in the LJ page.

Security is still a big issue, a fact that 'Neer seems to want people to ignore.

The site has security flaws. Everyone knows that, OK? You don't need to bring it up in every single post you make, thank you very much. I would imagine that if the site had no security flaws, there would be no need to drag additional coders in. Since FA is, then I think we can safely assume that they are going to be fixed. Depending on the complexity of the actual problem it could take weeks, or it could take months to fix. It is impossible to predict when such bugs can and will be fixed, thus making it impossible for him to accurately answer your questions.

If he says "they are being worked on", or gives some other vague answer, you will whine and bitch and say "THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!"
If he gives an estimated date and ends up being off by a week or two, or even a month, you will whine and bitch about that too.

See the problem here?


A similar thing happened when the "new" UI (or rather, the in-progress UI) was released. I seriously doubt he will want to make that mistake twice.


@edit: and just to be clear, I am not attempting to speak on behalf of FA in this matter. These are my own personal views based on my opinion and personal experiences (and whatever information I manage to drag up through research).

[redfoxnudetoons]

If he says "they are being worked on", or gives some other vague answer, you will whine and bitch and say "THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!"

Wrong. I bitch because for 2 years 'Neer has told me and everyone else that there were NO security problems. NONE.

I would be happy for him to ADMIT that he needs to get them fixed, but he has also said for 2 years that he could not pay for coders to fix the site.

Now, all of a sudden he can, even after the donation collection ability he had has been removed.

There are many questions that he is dodging, or flat out lying about. I ask for answers. Nothing more, nothing less. It's all I have ever asked for.

[Willow]

I would be happy for him to ADMIT that he needs to get them fixed

I think he did recently.

Also, get over yourself.

[redfoxnudetoons]

I think he did recently.

But then turned around and said that he could not afford to hire coders in the same post. And that was just after the leaked notes.

If no one else is going to ask the questions, I will. I've been with FA for just as long as 'Neer has, and I've noticed a steady downward trend to the site. I'm not happy to see FA go through so much down times.

I bring these things up for the betterment of the site. If staff want to ignore or flat out LIE about serious problems until it hits the site hard, I get rather annoyed that the staff allowed it to happen.

FA's can be a wonderful place, if there is accountability.

[Dragoneer]

I'm pointing out that you're mock up has even more problems then the current site coding, a step backwards.

And you are sill dodging a question that 4 people have asked: When are all the site vulnerabilities going to be fixed.

Also, you are dodging my original question: How are you paying a pro if you have been using the fact that you don't have the money to hire help as your reason for not fixing things for 2 years now?

The vulnerabilities will be fixed between now and then, and some of them require complete system re-writes which will be necessary to resolve them.

Also, as far as the UI person... some FA staff are helping donate funding. we don't have the money on hand to take care of it, or it would have been something we'd have done a long time ago. I am still working to improve that as well.

Wrong. I bitch because for 2 years 'Neer has told me and everyone else that there were NO security problems. NONE.

I would be happy for him to ADMIT that he needs to get them fixed, but he has also said for 2 years that he could not pay for coders to fix the site.

No I didn't.

[Sanyi]

But then turned around and said that he could not afford to hire coders in the same post. And that was just after the leaked notes.

If no one else is going to ask the questions, I will. I've been with FA for just as long as 'Neer has, and I've noticed a steady downward trend to the site. I'm not happy to see FA go through so much down times.

I bring these things up for the betterment of the site. If staff want to ignore or flat out LIE about serious problems until it hits the site hard, I get rather annoyed that the staff allowed it to happen.

FA's can be a wonderful place, if there is accountability.

Where do you see anything about hiring coders? I can read perfectly fine and I'm reading that he is hiring on a "professional UI developer" to "finish, refine and tweak our new design". I'm willing to bet that the coders are coming in on a volunteer basis, as with all the other staff.

[redfoxnudetoons]

The vulnerabilities will be fixed between now and then, and some of them require complete system re-writes which will be necessary to resolve them.

Also, as far as the UI person... some FA staff are helping donate funding. we don't have the money on hand to take care of it, or it would have been something we'd have done a long time ago. I am still working to improve that as well.

Thank you for finally answering the questions.

No I didn't.

Bull. It wasn't until the PM leaks issue that you even acknowledged the fact that the trouble ticket system had massive problems. Before then, you, Irreverent, and Yak all claimed that nothing was wrong with the TT system for over a year.

Having open harassment tickets for 6 months or more, like I have stated many times, is not acceptable. You, Irreverent, and Yak seemed to disagree.

Where do you see anything about hiring coders? I can read perfectly fine and I'm reading that he is hiring on a "professional UI developer" to "finish, refine and tweak our new design". I'm willing to bet that the coders are coming in on a volunteer basis, as with all the other staff.

You need a website coder in order to create an UI. A "professional UI developer" IS a coder.

[sawblade5]

Dragoneer. I had a very bad dealing with a FA Artist here. It was for a Fursuit commission which I had already paid for. But when I was sending notes to that artist with no response. After repeated requests (a few days to a week apart of em) for responses, the artist blocked me from sending more message.

With the new rating system what is gonna stop the artists/buyers from blocking each other to prevent bad ratings? Because there's people here that abuse the block system like in my case above.

[Eevee]

You're comparing live coding to a mock-up/preview as if it's some final product? That's kinda... stupid, even for FA standards.

No it's not. What would be the point in mocking up a design in HTML if not to use that HTML?

If he says "they are being worked on", or gives some other vague answer, you will whine and bitch and say "THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!"
If he gives an estimated date and ends up being off by a week or two, or even a month, you will whine and bitch about that too.

See the problem here?

Yes. The problem is that he can't do the correct thing and announce progress as it happens, because there's never any actual progress. You've only discovered that there's no way to make stagnation sound any better.


Worth pointing out that the tweets earlier were, in fact, announcements about future announcements about more future announcements.

[redfoxnudetoons]

No it's not. What would be the point in mocking up a design in HTML if not to use that HTML?

Agreed. If I were to give that excuse to a graphic design client, I'd loose that client.

Yes. The problem is that he can't do the correct thing and announce progress as it happens, because there's never any actual progress. You've only discovered that there's no way to make stagnation sound any better.


Worth pointing out that the tweets earlier were, in fact, announcements about future announcements about more future announcements.

I've noticed that as well. And it's a disturbing trend.

[insane_kangaroo]

Dragoneer. I had a very bad dealing with a FA Artist here. It was for a Fursuit commission which I had already paid for. But when I was sending notes to that artist with no response. After repeated requests (a few days to a week apart of em) for responses, the artist blocked me from sending more message.

With the new rating system what is gonna stop the artists/buyers from blocking each other to prevent bad ratings? Because there's people here that abuse the block system like in my case above.

Did you make a post to artists_beware on livejournal?

[redfoxnudetoons]

Did you make a post to artists_beware on livejournal?

That should have a link from FA's "community" drop-down menu. I forgot about that site, and I'm sure I'm not alone. Not everyone uses LJ on a regular basis.

[Kesteh]

Wasn't this new template announced more than once and promised for 2010?
I'm skeptical after that entire year came and went.