ChibiPooky
Yay hockey!
You've probably seen it by now. That thing on the right side of the screen that lists HF articles and HF's twitter and some thread links. Yes, it's new this morning. So here's our attempt to answer some questions about it:
Why was this implemented?
This was initiated by Crave (the folks who own Hockey's Future and HFBoards) in an attempt to help drive more traffic to the Hockey's Future side of the site. For HFBoards being the biggest hockey board on the web, Hockey's Future doesn't get nearly as much traffic simply because the material from there isn't always widely visible here.
We (the mods) were just as surprised to see it this morning as all of you are. So I hope you'll respect/understand that our ability to answer all of your questions may be somewhat limited.
Can I make any changes to how it appears on my screen? Can I turn it off?
No. As of right now, there are no options available to users to modify or remove the sidebar. Everyone sees it and they all see it the same way (except in instances noted below)
Where does it show up?
As far as I know, it only shows up (or primarily shows up) when you're on a specific board, but not when you are viewing a thread. It will not show up when you write a post. It will show up if you try to make a new thread though (it's showing up for me right now as I write this). It also doesn't show up on the main page (www.hfboards.com or hfboards.mandatory.com)
What does it show?
When fully active, it should show a) a list of the most recent articles created on Hockey's Future, b) the most recent tweets from HF's official twitter account (mostly links to newly created articles which, yes, seems redundant), and c) a list of the most recently active discussion threads on HFBoards.
I'm not seeing all of that, what gives?
If you use NoScript or a similar script controlling/blocking plugin for your browser, you may not see the article list and twitter feed (just the latest threads). If that's the case, allow scripts from RSSInclude.com. That will cause the article and twitter content to show. This also helps realign and set the sidebar material so that it is boxed in and doesn't look incomplete.
Will there be updates or changes to it?
I honestly can't say at this point. One would think that they will play with it and alter or tweak it as time goes on, but that's above my pay grade. I suppose if enough people suggest the same or similar changes that might spur some alterations, but again, that's not for me to say for certain.
Where does the "Latest Discussion" thread list link to?
I'm not positive exactly what does and doesn't get linked to. I know for sure that it should link to all the major Hockey discussion boards like NHL talk, Prospects, Business of Hockey, Fantasy Hockey, etc. It also for 100% sure links to team board threads, including maybe potentially this one. It could potentially also link to the Page 2 stuff like the Lounge. I'm not positive yet.
But at least because of the team board links, BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN VISITING LINKS FROM THE SIDEBAR. You might see a thread that looks inflammatory to the Sharks and riles you up, but note where the thread is located when you go there. Because if it's on a team board and you respond harshly to the posts you find, you could end up receiving a warning/infraction for trolling even if you had no idea you were on another team board and not the main board.
If I have comments or concerns that I want to voice, who should I direct them to?
For now, it's probably best to just put them in this thread. I've tried to see if there is contact info for Crave Online, but there's no way to tell for sure if those e-mail addresses that are out there are just for Crave's own website or if they are meant to apply to the whole umbrella of sites operated under their ownership. So in lieu of spamming the inboxes of people who have absolutely no idea what anyone might be talking about, just use this thread or PM a mod if you have concerns you would rather not state publicly.
If you have any other questions or feedback, please post it here.
Why was this implemented?
This was initiated by Crave (the folks who own Hockey's Future and HFBoards) in an attempt to help drive more traffic to the Hockey's Future side of the site. For HFBoards being the biggest hockey board on the web, Hockey's Future doesn't get nearly as much traffic simply because the material from there isn't always widely visible here.
We (the mods) were just as surprised to see it this morning as all of you are. So I hope you'll respect/understand that our ability to answer all of your questions may be somewhat limited.
Can I make any changes to how it appears on my screen? Can I turn it off?
No. As of right now, there are no options available to users to modify or remove the sidebar. Everyone sees it and they all see it the same way (except in instances noted below)
Where does it show up?
As far as I know, it only shows up (or primarily shows up) when you're on a specific board, but not when you are viewing a thread. It will not show up when you write a post. It will show up if you try to make a new thread though (it's showing up for me right now as I write this). It also doesn't show up on the main page (www.hfboards.com or hfboards.mandatory.com)
What does it show?
When fully active, it should show a) a list of the most recent articles created on Hockey's Future, b) the most recent tweets from HF's official twitter account (mostly links to newly created articles which, yes, seems redundant), and c) a list of the most recently active discussion threads on HFBoards.
I'm not seeing all of that, what gives?
If you use NoScript or a similar script controlling/blocking plugin for your browser, you may not see the article list and twitter feed (just the latest threads). If that's the case, allow scripts from RSSInclude.com. That will cause the article and twitter content to show. This also helps realign and set the sidebar material so that it is boxed in and doesn't look incomplete.
Will there be updates or changes to it?
I honestly can't say at this point. One would think that they will play with it and alter or tweak it as time goes on, but that's above my pay grade. I suppose if enough people suggest the same or similar changes that might spur some alterations, but again, that's not for me to say for certain.Where does the "Latest Discussion" thread list link to?
I'm not positive exactly what does and doesn't get linked to. I know for sure that it should link to all the major Hockey discussion boards like NHL talk, Prospects, Business of Hockey, Fantasy Hockey, etc. It also for 100% sure links to team board threads, including maybe potentially this one. It could potentially also link to the Page 2 stuff like the Lounge. I'm not positive yet.
But at least because of the team board links, BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN VISITING LINKS FROM THE SIDEBAR. You might see a thread that looks inflammatory to the Sharks and riles you up, but note where the thread is located when you go there. Because if it's on a team board and you respond harshly to the posts you find, you could end up receiving a warning/infraction for trolling even if you had no idea you were on another team board and not the main board.
If I have comments or concerns that I want to voice, who should I direct them to?
For now, it's probably best to just put them in this thread. I've tried to see if there is contact info for Crave Online, but there's no way to tell for sure if those e-mail addresses that are out there are just for Crave's own website or if they are meant to apply to the whole umbrella of sites operated under their ownership. So in lieu of spamming the inboxes of people who have absolutely no idea what anyone might be talking about, just use this thread or PM a mod if you have concerns you would rather not state publicly.
If you have any other questions or feedback, please post it here.
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