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Here we go!!! After more than ten very productive years, Fast Eddie is stepping down as the administrator of TV Tropes. To Fast Eddie – Thank You! And on behalf of all of us here, cheers to a happy retirement.

Without further ado, the new Administrators are myself (drewski) and my good friend itcdr. We are youngerish TV addicts, movie lovers, gamers, web developers, and entertainment junkies with a ton of passion for the TV Tropes project and one general goal – to make this site insanely awesome!

So, what does this mean for the community and site?

  • Wiki policy: No policies are being changed. We share the values and commitment to an open, informal, breezy and fun wiki.

  • Forum policy: No changes.

  • The staff: The mods are staying as they are, including keeping all their current powers and authority. We will continue to work with the Mods and the Troper base as always.

  • The tech wish list and site development: Coding will no longer be a one-man labour of love, so more headway can be made on fixing bugs, developing new features, and generally polishing the wiki. This may take a little time to get going as we dig through several hundred thousand lines of code…thanks for that Fast Eddie…but we will get there!

Also, if you haven’t already seen the announcement - which is probably impossible - we launched a campaign on Kickstarter to accelerate new developments on TV Tropes. Check out the campaign - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tvtropes/the-tv-tropes-revitalization-project - to learn more about our plans and how you can contribute - and see the awesome rewards for your help.

Please share your questions, comments, concerns and love below.

edited 30th Nov '14 1:38:24 PM by drewski

GameSpazzer The Beta Male from Against! The! Wall! Since: Jun, 2010
The Beta Male
#176: Nov 30th 2014 at 11:51:06 PM

People keep mentioning an improved look, but I'm not seeing anything different apart from the Kickstarter bubble.

MY SOUL IS DARK BUT MY HAIR IS COLORFUL — Brahian Pokémon Alchemist
MorganWick (Elder Troper)
#177: Dec 1st 2014 at 12:11:44 AM

I know there are people quietly singing "ding dong the witch is dead" but don't want to disrupt the overall friendly atmosphere of the thread... certainly early signs are that the new guys will be governing rather differently from Fast Eddie's not-so-benevolent dictatorship, but whether that's good or bad for the wiki is another matter, concerning many of Fast Eddie's more controversial decisions were made with an eye towards people who may not be editing or even reading the site...

I know the layout on the Kickstarter is very preliminary, but if I'm attached to the current design (for the record, I'm not; I occasionally edit Wikipedia and browse Wikia wikis, the biggest problem with the latter is the ads, not the layout, and there are a lot of things about the layout on the Kickstarter I like), I'm very worried that the Wikia-like layout on the Kickstarter is a clue to the direction the new guys are thinking; unless they're just used to Wikia, I would think if they wanted to hew close to the current design that would be reflected on the mock-up. Certainly if something like that were to be pushed through it would engender a MASSIVE They Changed It, Now It Sucks! reaction.

A little over four and a half years ago, Fast Eddie tried to give the wiki a "facelift", but because the discussion of said facelift took place in a thread with a title that made it look much narrower (having to do with the color scheme of Darth Wiki, Sugar Wiki, and the then-existing Troper Tales), for the vast majority of the wiki's users the change came from absolutely out of nowhere and reflected zero input as to what worked and didn't work about the existing layout (and it didn't help that the new layout may not have worked entirely as intended). As a result, things went back to normal after less than a day, many changes to improve communication from the powers that be (most notably the wiki headlines) directly or indirectly resulted, and the threads involved no longer exist, though that may be part of the space-clearing purges more than anything Orwellian. The changes entailed by that facelift were nothing compared to the Wikia-alike on the Kickstarter (I thought I might have linked to an Internet Archive page from the short time the facelift was up in a prior post, but maybe not). We definitely need to make wiki navigation more consistent and intuitive, but the new guys make major changes to the design at their peril.

Because Kickstarter only charges you if the drive makes goal, and it's theoretically possible for enough people to back out at any time before the drive closes for the drive to miss goal, you shouldn't be charged until after the drive closes no matter when you pledge, so you only need to make sure you have enough money to cover your pledge in the new year. I'll probably be pledging $10 at some point, though I don't know how much I'd be using my beta-testing-powers, but you will definitely see me plenty throwing out my own ideas for shaping the changes to the wiki... :)

For example, say you like Doctor Who. If you specify that in your profile, you might come across a trope that has multiple possible page images. But it will show you the Doctor Who one.

That would require all our registered images to meet our page image guidelines. That is not necessarily the case for Image Links today. Also, the caption would need to change for each image, and I don't think they mentioned multiple captions in the Kickstarter, so I suspect the registering of multiple images primarily has Image Links in mind.

Just had a look at the Kickstarter page. That is a pretty short time line. What happens if the goal isn't reached?

I think either 30 or 60 days is the longest Kickstarter allows.

People keep mentioning an improved look, but I'm not seeing anything different apart from the Kickstarter bubble.
Nothing has changed yet. Probably you're seeing people refer to one of the proposals for what would be done if the Kickstarter meets goal.

edited 1st Dec '14 12:17:46 AM by MorganWick

Confession0791 Confession0791 from St. Louis, MO Since: Apr, 2011
Confession0791
#178: Dec 1st 2014 at 12:19:36 AM

One thing that's always bugged me about this site ( no disrespect meant) is the page difference layout. It's extremely hard to tell what's been changed, added or subtracted. Also the page history only goes back so far.

Have these things ever been discussed?

edited 1st Dec '14 12:20:32 AM by Confession0791

Telcontar In uffish thought from England Since: Feb, 2012
In uffish thought
#179: Dec 1st 2014 at 12:36:48 AM

Totemic Hero:

what happens/happened to FELH 2? I know he was run by someone who wasn't Eddie, so...

Yes, he was a third party. We haven't done anything to him, if that's what you're wondering. :P He is still around, though at some point when we were having server troubles I think Eddie told him to lay off making and running so many scripts. He can decide whether he wants to contact the new admins and see if it would be possible to take that up again; I wish him well whatever he does.

Shlugo:

So we got new management, and they want to make major changes from the get go. Not gonna lie - to say I'm worried would be an understatement. But I guess we can just hope for the best and see what happens.

For what it's worth...

They've been around for a couple months invisibly, interacting with the mods and doing code stuff. It was a warm handoff. I personally have confidence in them and that they want to change the look of the site only.

Revolution Stone:

I hope the automatic system doesn't entirely delete tropes that have become NRLEP or undergone an Example Sectionectomy that are used as unproblematic examples on other pages, even if those examples can't be crosswicked to the page due to that.

Example Sectionectomy pages are something we will have to look at in more detail nearer the time. It could work to have classes of sectionectomy pages: no work wicks allowed ever, no non-invoked work wicks allowed, work wicks allowed. As for NRLEP pages, I see no reason for their examples to be removed from anywhere automatically.

Leaper:

I do have a question: as the founder, Mr. Eddie held ultimate veto power, and things have happened in the past just because he said so. Does anyone under the new regime hold that kind of authority? Are we still prevented from revisiting any issues resolved under his say so, out of respect for all he's done for this wiki?

The admins could have ultimate veto power if they so chose, but for now at least they have said that they will leave such issues to us. The staff as a whole retains its veto powers although I personally prefer not to use them. As for existing vetos he made, I think this post about Image Pickin' can likely be expanded to the whole site. (Short version: they can be revisited, but (a) not immediately, (b) not without justification, and (c) the staff gets the final word.)

Game Spazzer:

People keep mentioning an improved look, but I'm not seeing anything different apart from the Kickstarter bubble.

A new design for the site is in the works, but it hasn't even reached beta-testing yet. A screenshot of a concept (not the final piece) is shown on the Kickstarter page.

Morgan Wick:

A little over four and a half years ago, Fast Eddie tried to give the wiki a "facelift", but because the discussion of said facelift took place in a thread with a title that made it look much narrower (having to do with the color scheme of Darth Wiki, Sugar Wiki, and the then-existing Troper Tales), for the vast majority of the wiki's users the change came from absolutely out of nowhere and reflected zero input as to what worked and didn't work about the existing layout (and it didn't help that the new layout may not have worked entirely as intended). As a result, things went back to normal after less than a day, many changes to improve communication from the powers that be (most notably the wiki headlines) directly or indirectly resulted, and the threads involved no longer exist, though that may be part of the space-clearing purges more than anything Orwellian. The changes entailed by that facelift were nothing compared to the Wikia-alike on the Kickstarter (I thought I might have linked to an Internet Archive page from the short time the facelift was up in a prior post, but maybe not). We definitely need to make wiki navigation more consistent and intuitive, but the new guys make major changes to the design at their peril.

I can say with certainty that that won't happen this time. As part of that, I foresee many headlines bringing people in to discussions about the new design; an official beta-testing phase with a good number of testers should head off many problems; and the change shouldn't be sudden. Personally (gosh I'm saying this a lot) I'm also very interested in your input as such a long-time user. :)

That was the amazing part. Things just keep going.
MorganWick (Elder Troper)
#180: Dec 1st 2014 at 12:45:12 AM

Incidentially, how would Real Life examples work? We have a LOT of them, and most of them aren't crosslinked from any other page (because Real Life itself is treated as a Just for Fun page and we aren't supposed to trope real people or things on their own Useful Notes pages).

By the way, I can't be the only one who saw the banner saying "TV Tropes Needs Your Help" and immediately thought of "A personal appeal from Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales".

edited 1st Dec '14 12:46:43 AM by MorganWick

EternityofSpirits Since: Mar, 2014
#181: Dec 1st 2014 at 1:45:26 AM

Just a note, I hope everyone considers how the new design would effect certain browsers. Because anything related to wikia runs like a turd on my computer, and I'm pretty sure there will be other people who'll agree with me.

Druplesnubb Editor of Posts Since: Dec, 2013
Editor of Posts
#182: Dec 1st 2014 at 1:46:33 AM

@Beholderess: I suggest you actually read the forums, people disagree all the time here.

edited 1st Dec '14 1:46:40 AM by Druplesnubb

SR3NORMANDY Problem Child from N/A - In constant flux Since: Jul, 2012
Problem Child
#183: Dec 1st 2014 at 3:03:18 AM

Provided the forums remain intact and all pages in each thread are preserved, I am quite pleased with this development.

Plenty of roleplayers such as myself call this site home, and any loss of our history of pages would be quite painful.

What if there’s no better word than just not saying anything?
MidnightRambler Ich bin nicht schuld! 's ist Gottes Plan! from Germania Inferior Since: Mar, 2011
Ich bin nicht schuld! 's ist Gottes Plan!
#184: Dec 1st 2014 at 3:13:53 AM

Oh. Yeah, that's important. I don't RP, but I still want to refer to earlier posts every now and then.

Mache dich, mein Herze, rein...
IchigoPockyChama from my new account Since: Dec, 2013
#185: Dec 1st 2014 at 3:28:17 AM

I've made plenty of close friends here, in fact we're like a family. The good memories ned to stay.

Korodzik Since: Jan, 2001
#186: Dec 1st 2014 at 3:41:53 AM

@Morgan Wick: I'm guessing that an example wouldn't necessarily have to be linked to a work page (after all some pages have a lot of "general" examples which concern entire genres or tropes — e.g. see Follow the Leader, Forgotten Trope, Deader Than Disco etc.; we'd lose a lot if we forced every example to link to a specific work.)

I'm hoping there will be still a lot of leeway in how can we format and phrase examples.

edited 1st Dec '14 3:47:00 AM by Korodzik

Knowlessman hey i dunno, why don't you tell me from Stupidtown, USA (FL) Since: Jun, 2013 Relationship Status: Holding out for a hero
hey i dunno, why don't you tell me
#187: Dec 1st 2014 at 3:49:08 AM

[up][up] The whole point of memories is that they stay. Whether the posts themselves still exist is relatively irrelevant, and the forum's space is finite, in any case. :/ They're gonna go eventually. If you want permanency, copy them; take screenshots and save them somewhere./nitpicking

edited 1st Dec '14 3:50:37 AM by Knowlessman

i care but i'm restless, i'm here but i'm really gone, i'm wrong and i'm sorry, baby
Korodzik Since: Jan, 2001
#188: Dec 1st 2014 at 3:54:31 AM

[up]And this is exactly the sort of thing I'd like to change. Even if some of the money goes towards purchasing more disk space so that we don't have to erase our past every now and then.

And memories fade.

Knowlessman hey i dunno, why don't you tell me from Stupidtown, USA (FL) Since: Jun, 2013 Relationship Status: Holding out for a hero
hey i dunno, why don't you tell me
#189: Dec 1st 2014 at 4:02:41 AM

[up] That's why you go out of your own way to preserve them.

I'm not opposed to the idea of dead threads being purged less often, but I don't think preservation of the forums, including or especially the game subforums, is or should be a priority of the admins/mods/people in charge of things; it's not like they're integral to the purpose of the site. :/ I say this as someone whose second home is FG, by the way, and who has memories in dead and purged threads.

edited 1st Dec '14 4:04:05 AM by Knowlessman

i care but i'm restless, i'm here but i'm really gone, i'm wrong and i'm sorry, baby
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#190: Dec 1st 2014 at 4:31:21 AM

I should have said this earlier, I think, but:

Thanks, Fast Eddie, for providing this website and running it. I know we have had disputes with each other in the past, but overall this place has made a positive contribution to my life and social interactions.

That is all.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Irene (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Crazy Cat Lady
#191: Dec 1st 2014 at 4:53:26 AM

I prefer to find more memory space. The only reason to purge threads is if they're duplicates or are both locked and don't retain any overall value. A forum game can sometimes contain nothing. In most cases, if a forum game is essentially a roleplay or a Yack Fest thread, it will contain notable memories. I can't think of a good reason to purge these. There's tons of locked thread in Forum Games, mostly for new rules, that could probably be purged for space, but only due to the fact that they take up a lot. The ones that have multiple imbeds could probably free up a lot of space. They're still great threads, but reading them alone has issues due to the multiple imbeds. If I remember correctly, didn't we make that rule due to having trouble loading the pages?

I do not know if deleting those specific types of threads(obviously not in the roleplaying section back when they used to use them, since a lock or forceful restart of a roleplay to follow those rules, or make them starting following that rule as of now is just as good) would free up more space than a regular thread without multiple imbeds per post. Can this be clarified, please?

Shadow?
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#192: Dec 1st 2014 at 4:58:23 AM

At present, we have no knowledge of any plans to change the functionality of the forums. I'm sure that the developers will take a look at the code and database structure, as they are every other part of the site, but there is currently no discussion about deleting anything.

The right side of the forums (Yack Fest, Forum Games, Role-Playing) has always been simultaneously the most active and least productive part of the site. Under Eddie, it was occasionally minutes from being shut down on several occasions. Under the new management, there's no such prejudice. It's simply a matter of logistics.

If you're concerned about permanence, remember that nothing on the Internet is guaranteed to stay. If you're that concerned about keeping your RPs forever, copy them. This would apply on any site, not just TV Tropes.

edited 1st Dec '14 4:58:41 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Midna Blorbonmyoji (he/she/they) from way down south in the land of the traitors (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
Blorbonmyoji (he/she/they)
#193: Dec 1st 2014 at 5:02:21 AM

I like the Wikia comparison. It sort of reminds me of the time Wikia forced everyone to switch over from Monobook to an in-house style no one liked.

I personally hope things don't change as drastically as that mock-up. It looks too serious for a laid-back wiki like this. Where's the personality? We really only need to fix up a few things in the existing layout to make them look neater and less mid-2000's (and for god's sake ditch that blue bar, it makes the whole thing look like Facebook).

pearlina brainrot affects millions of people worldwide. if you or a loved one are suffering from pearlina brainrot, call 1-800-GAY-NERDS
Deadbeatloser22 from Disappeared by Space Magic (Great Old One) Relationship Status: Tsundere'ing
#194: Dec 1st 2014 at 5:03:47 AM

Or the fact that Wikia is trying to force a WYSIWYG editor, which makes using commented-out instructions impossible.

"Yup. That tasted purple."
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#195: Dec 1st 2014 at 5:04:40 AM

Commented out instructions, and comments in general, would become irrelevant with a database redesign.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#196: Dec 1st 2014 at 5:07:38 AM

Regarding that database overhaul, I have to wonder how noncrosswicking pages (such as WMG, Headscratchers and Moments) will work under that system.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Knowlessman hey i dunno, why don't you tell me from Stupidtown, USA (FL) Since: Jun, 2013 Relationship Status: Holding out for a hero
hey i dunno, why don't you tell me
#197: Dec 1st 2014 at 5:07:48 AM

[up][up] Well now that just sounds ominous. o_o

*finally looks at preview* Kill the Facebook bar with fire. Please. And the gradient in the left stuff column is completely unnecessary. A web site is not meant to achieve liftoff; there's no reason for it to look aerodynamic.

edited 1st Dec '14 5:10:33 AM by Knowlessman

i care but i'm restless, i'm here but i'm really gone, i'm wrong and i'm sorry, baby
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#198: Dec 1st 2014 at 5:10:10 AM

[up][up] I suggested changing all of those pages into threaded comment sections, much like the current Discussion layout.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Knowlessman hey i dunno, why don't you tell me from Stupidtown, USA (FL) Since: Jun, 2013 Relationship Status: Holding out for a hero
hey i dunno, why don't you tell me
#199: Dec 1st 2014 at 5:15:56 AM

And maybe leave yellow out of the color scheme and put the hint of orange back in. There's a reason Hollywood loves Orange/Blue Contrast so much nowadays.

edited 1st Dec '14 5:19:53 AM by Knowlessman

i care but i'm restless, i'm here but i'm really gone, i'm wrong and i'm sorry, baby
Midna Blorbonmyoji (he/she/they) from way down south in the land of the traitors (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
Blorbonmyoji (he/she/they)
#200: Dec 1st 2014 at 5:22:40 AM

[up][up]That sounds kind of interesting actually.

[up]I also think it would be a good idea if we kept the buttons for some things (like the Troperville-Tools-Toys trio on the left side or the screen and the New Edits et al. row at the top. Replacing all of those with plaintext makes it all much less visually interesting.

pearlina brainrot affects millions of people worldwide. if you or a loved one are suffering from pearlina brainrot, call 1-800-GAY-NERDS

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