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CGC Journals migrated!
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43 posts in this topic

  • Administrator
Posted

All journals that were originally created on CGC Collectors Society have been migrated into the Journals feature on the CGC Chat Boards. This means that all Collectors Society Journals are now available in one place, in the same area where new journals can be created ^^
 

Go to the CGC Journals now to read journals by other collectors or to start your own Journal!

 

Background / More Info:

Prior to this migration, some Collectors Society Journals were only available as threads in the obsolete journals forum. Any CS journal that wasn't cross-posted to the old Chat Boards has been unavailable for many months, which is one of the main things we aimed to solve with this migration.

We wanted to make it easy for users to navigate from the old/obsolete threads to the equivalent new journal, so we added a post in old threads which links to the corresponding new journal. Mapping old threads to the new journal requires manual review, so to save time we've only added that post to old threads if they received replies in the last 18 months or so.

 

Tips for navigating and using the new journals (kudos to @Get Marwood & I for inspiring this content):

1. You can navigate to journals via the main menu, and you can preview the most recent journal activity in the sidebar on any page (see images below). Journal activity will also be listed on the All Activity page and in activity streams.

Pic 1.png    Pic 2.png

 

2. A key difference with the new Journals is that each member can have one journal, and an unlimited number of "journal entries" within that journal. For example, my journal titled "Scott's Thoughts :D" currently consists of two journal entries: A poll about journals and test journal

Journal.png

 

3. The "Latest Entries" and "By Author" options in the main menu bring you to roughly the same content, but presented differently. Both pages are a list of journal entries in the order they were created. The difference is that the latter is grouped by author. In the "By Author" view, you can quickly see other entries posted by that author and stats for their journal (entries, comments, views).

4. Journals are NOT sorted to the top when someone comments in them. In that way, both formats of the new journals encourage you to create new/separate journal entries rather than one entry with a never-ending chain of replies.

5. The "Recent Journal Entries & Replies" sidebar panel in the journals section is a great place to find journals with recent comments. That panel shows the journals that have been created/edited/commented most recently, sorted on recency of activity. You can click a title (ex: A poll about journals) to read that journal entry, or you can click a journal name (ex: Scott's Thoughts) to go to that journal.

Sidebar.png

 

There is no fee to participate on the CGC Message Boards, only a free CGC membership is required.

  • Administrator
Posted

Important notes about this migration:

  1. Threads in the obsolete journals forum have been locked to replies. 
  2. Replies from old threads have NOT been migrated to the new journals area. Only the initial post was migrated, along with a link to the replies in the old area. This is obviously less than ideal, and we knew it would be a pain point. Unfortunately, we couldn't migrate the replies ourselves because they're stored in a database we can't access, and the chat boards vendor was unwilling and/or unable to help us :cry:. The initial journal/post was preserved in a separate database that we control, which is why we could migrate the OP.
  3. Threads that were created directly in the old journals area (as opposed to created on Collectors Society) have NOT been migrated to the new area due to the situation described in the previous comment. We never intended to allow threads to be created there directly, but for a period of time a bug in the settings allowed it.
  4. We also couldn't migrate your journal to the new area if you originally posted it on Collectors Society and cross posted it to the Chat Boards, but later deleted the journal from Collectors Society.

Situations 3/4 above are rare, but may affect a few people. We saw 3 recently active journals like that and manually created them in the new area, but there may be a couple inactive ones we missed.

If you want us to unlock your old journals thread: we'll move your thread to an unlocked section of the Chat Boards. Simply send a private message to @dena and @Scott =) including the URL of your thread and which forum you'd like it to be moved to, and we'll move it for you and make sure it's unlocked. If you don't specify a forum, we'll move it to Comics General.

  • Administrator
Posted

Here are a few cool features of the new journals:

  1. You can control who can see your journal / journal entries. You can make your journal visible to everyone, visible to specific user(s), or only visible to you.
  2. You can moderate comments in your journal / journal entries - by request only
    • If you want moderator access to your journal, send a private message to @dena and @Scott =) and we'll set you up.
  3. You can create journal entries in advance and schedule them to be published at a specific date/time in the future.
  4. You can choose to receive notifications when people comment on your journal or journal entries, and you can control when and how you're notified.
  5. You can choose to follow someone else's journal to receive notifications when they post new content.
  6. You can add a cover photo to Journals and Journal entries.
  7. If you create an album in the Image Gallery, you can associate it with a journal entry.
  8. Using the search features to find journals is more intuitive. It's also easier to find someone's journal activity via their profile page - just click "Journal Entries" or "Journal Comments" on the left of that page.

Whenever we upgrade to the latest version of the chat boards (this happens about once a month, typically), we may also discover that cool new features have been added. For example, I wouldn't be surprised if the boards vendor eventually adds a feature that lets you block specific members from viewing your journals, instead of only letting you specify who CAN see them. 

Please reply below if you have any questions or comments, or want to suggest a feature for the new journals!

  • Administrator
Posted

If you'd like to create more than one "Journal" for some reason, send a private message to @dena and @Scott =) and say a little bit about why you want more than one. Limiting members to one journal (with unlimited entries) by default should help keep the journals section neatly organized, but I'm sure there are great reasons someone would need more than one. As long as your explanation makes sense, we'll accommodate you.

Posted
18 hours ago, Scott =) said:

If you want us to unlock your old journals thread: we'll move your thread to an unlocked section of the Chat Boards. Simply send a private message to @dena and @Scott =) including the URL of your thread and which forum you'd like it to be moved to, and we'll move it for you and make sure it's unlocked. If you don't specify a forum, we'll move it to Comics General.

Hi Scott, you know my personal feelings on the new journals but I do want to thank you for this update and all the hard work you have put in over recent days. I don't like the result of the activity, but I cannot fault the quality of your execution of it and the concessions you have put forward (although an announcement prior to the event may have lessened the impact / negative member reception).

Just one question from me, to make sure I understand what you're saying. You lost me a little with the bit about journals being created in the 'old area' / the Collectors Society. Can, for example, @AJD ask you to move his journal to Comics General, you'll do so and he can then carry away posting as he did prior to it's locking?

It's this one:

 

I'm not saying he'd want that - just want to clarify using his journal as an example.

Cheers

Posted

I'm sorry, but the new journal format is absolutely horrible. 

I've really enjoyed keeping one over the last few years, but I don't think I'll be participating. 2c

Posted
2 minutes ago, newshane said:

I'm sorry, but the new journal format is absolutely horrible. 

I've really enjoyed keeping one over the last few years, but I don't think I'll be participating. 2c

 

1 minute ago, newshane said:

I thought you guys would get the point when only a few took advantage of the new format...back when we had the choice

I absolutely agree, and have been making the point since they started up. But no one listened. 

I'm often accused of giving the admin team a hard time. They are not full time on this site and are likely under pressure. Scott and the team have delivered the transition well technically. But there is a disconnect on the CGC boards between what the members want, what they say, and what is then delivered. It can seem at times that our opinions don't matter, hence the need for clear and timely communication. I like Scott. He has a great attitude. I like Dena. Ditto.

But I do not like the new journals and am still trying to work out why they had to be delivered at all. The new boards were a necessity - the old software was unsupported. The pain came from a lack of communication and a disconnect between what the members wanted and what they finally got after long months of dragging the optimum model out of the initial mess that was delivered.

Subject to further clarification, the new journals were an optional change. There was nothing wrong with the old ones (subject to clarification). If so, the issue is that those in the delivery area do not understand what the users want. The new journals are not user friendly, if only comparative to the old ones. It would be great if we had a board member support the admin team with this kind of thing. Ditch or AJD would be a great choice to discuss the journals with admin before they decide to deliver new - optional - functionality. But we can't expect this from a site that is delivered free, with support staff having 5 minutes a day to support the site.

Let's see what Scott says. I'm only writing this because I care by the way, odd as that may seem to some. 

  • Administrator
Posted
32 minutes ago, Get Marwood & I said:

Hi Scott, you know my personal feelings on the new journals but I do want to thank you for this update and all the hard work you have put in over recent days. I don't like the result of the activity, but I cannot fault the quality of your execution of it and the concessions you have put forward (although an announcement prior to the event may have lessened the impact / negative member reception).

Just one question from me, to make sure I understand what you're saying. You lost me a little with the bit about journals being created in the 'old area' / the Collectors Society. Can, for example, @AJD ask you to move his journal to Comics General, you'll do so and he can then carry away posting as he did prior to it's locking?

It's this one: https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/topic/312774-ajds-comic-notebook/

I'm not saying he'd want that - just want to clarify using his journal as an example.

Cheers

Agreed - this announcement should have been posted earlier. A news article was posted on CGC right when the migration completed, but it took me longer than expected to pull everything together for the (much more detailed) announcement here.

To answer your question about @AJD's journal - Yes, you got it. If anyone wants their old journal unlocked / moved elsewhere, they can PM me and @dena.

Posted
1 minute ago, Scott =) said:

Agreed - this announcement should have been posted earlier. A news article was posted on CGC right when the migration completed, but it took me longer than expected to pull everything together for the (much more detailed) announcement here.

No worries.

1 minute ago, Scott =) said:

To answer your question about @AJD's journal - Yes, you got it. If anyone wants their old journal unlocked / moved elsewhere, they can PM me and @dena.

I suspect that one point will make a lot of people happy. Their old journals can continue, just in a different forum. I'm sure a few will take you up on it.

It does mean that we will have an old journals area, a new one and then journals scattered about if people take you up on the offer. Not ideal, but who cares as long as we can read the ones we want to in the format that best suits us.

Thanks Scott :foryou:

  • Administrator
Posted
38 minutes ago, newshane said:

I'm sorry, but the new journal format is absolutely horrible. 

I've really enjoyed keeping one over the last few years, but I don't think I'll be participating. 2c

Sorry to hear that. 

As mentioned above, feel free to reach out to me and @dena if you want us to unlock your old journal thread and move it elsewhere.

 

36 minutes ago, newshane said:

I thought you guys would get the point when only a few took advantage of the new format...back when we had the choice

For what it's worth, over 600 journal entries have been created in the new format. More than half are here on CGC, a little less than half are on NGC, and a smaller number are on PMG.

Posted
1 minute ago, Scott =) said:

over 600 journal entries have been created in the new format. More than half are here on CGC

13 of them are mine. And they're about farting. 

Or are they.......hm

 

 

I'd just like to apologise about everything. 

Posted
57 minutes ago, Get Marwood & I said:

Hi Scott, you know my personal feelings on the new journals but I do want to thank you for this update and all the hard work you have put in over recent days. I don't like the result of the activity, but I cannot fault the quality of your execution of it and the concessions you have put forward (although an announcement prior to the event may have lessened the impact / negative member reception).

Just one question from me, to make sure I understand what you're saying. You lost me a little with the bit about journals being created in the 'old area' / the Collectors Society. Can, for example, @AJD ask you to move his journal to Comics General, you'll do so and he can then carry away posting as he did prior to it's locking?

It's this one:

 

I'm not saying he'd want that - just want to clarify using his journal as an example.

Cheers

I hope so. I've already requested that my journal be moved to the SA section and there's others that would hopefully benefit from increased exposure in the appropriate forums, AJD's being one amongst them.

11 minutes ago, Get Marwood & I said:

 

I'd just like to apologise about everything. 

And so you should!

Posted
1 minute ago, Harry Lime said:
16 minutes ago, Get Marwood & I said:

 

I'd just like to apologise about everything. 

And so you should!

1438305926_LAHSorry.gif.c9c2436b1094e181a93f41307a74ae8a.gif

  • Administrator
Posted
51 minutes ago, Harry Lime said:

I hope so. I've already requested that my journal be moved to the SA section and there's others that would hopefully benefit from increased exposure in the appropriate forums, AJD's being one amongst them.

I haven't seen this request. Did you send a private message to me/Dena?

We won't necessarily know if you post about it elsewhere, and we'd like to keep a record of who made what request in case there are questions down the line. So please send a PM if you haven't already.

Thanks!
Scott

Posted
3 hours ago, Scott =) said:

I haven't seen this request. Did you send a private message to me/Dena?

We won't necessarily know if you post about it elsewhere, and we'd like to keep a record of who made what request in case there are questions down the line. So please send a PM if you haven't already.

Thanks!
Scott

Thanks for the offer Scott. That's much appreciated. I haven't decided what I'd like to do with my journal. (Other than that it won't continue in the new format.)

TBH, while it's gratifying that others have held my journal up as an exemplar, I'm thinking that there might be enough threads in gold already (including ones I started) for me to simply use those. Though it was nice to have it all in one place. hm

Posted (edited)

I'm not fond of the new journal format too. Personally I don't understand the need to move (=kill) all these nice old journals (Doc Joe's journal has more than 600,000 views) - these journals have taken countless of hours to make and some during many years. 

Would it really hurt to keep the old journals forum in respect to the boardies who spent so much time writing them? - Especially when new journals can't be created and thus the "old journals forum" is no competitor to the new journal format? I think the old journals are a fun part of the CGC Forums' history that should be honored.

Scattering the old journals over a lot of CGC forums will just make them harder to find for readers, I don't see any advantage to that solution. 

Or - if it's really needed - maybe all old journals could be moved to "Personal announcements and topics" and unlocked? - I don't feel these nice old journals really fit in other CGC forums. 2c

Edited by Rune
Posted
43 minutes ago, Rune said:

I'm not fond of the new journal format too. Personally I don't understand the need to move (=kill) all these nice old journals (Doc Joe's journal has more than 600.000 views) - these journals have taken countless of hours to make and some during many years. 

Would it really hurt to keep the old journals forum in respect to the boardies who spent so much time writing them? - Especially when new journals can't be created and thus the "old journals forum" is no competitor to the new journal format? I think the old journals are a fun part of the CGC Forums' history that should be honored.

Scattering the old journals over a lot of CGC forums will just make them harder to find for readers, I don't see any advantage to that solution. 

Or - if it's really needed - maybe all old journals could be moved to "Personal announcements and topics" and unlocked? - I don't feel these nice old journals really fit in other CGC forums. 2c

THIS +1,000,000^^

Posted
On 8/22/2018 at 11:21 PM, Scott =) said:

Here are a few cool features of the new journals:

  1. You can control who can see your journal / journal entries. You can make your journal visible to everyone, visible to specific user(s), or only visible to you.

 

If anyone was wondering how you do this, here's how.

When you create the journal you'll see two options at the foot of the page in which you create the post:

  • Everyone can read this journal
  • Only the members I choose can read this journal

When you select the second option, a box appears in which you can type the names of the members who you want to have access. Unlike the tagging system, you don't type the @ symbol, just the users name.

In this example I start to type Foley and up he pops:

yyy3.PNG.7882887cc3b60f2f82e3d15792aa275a.PNG

 

For existing journals, you just have to edit the overarching journal page using the 'Edit Journal' function within the 'Manage Journal' button (see below, to the left of 'Add Journal Entry'):

yyy4.thumb.PNG.5a9c31d69a58bcf9e46b40fa274150a9.PNG

 

My journal was an experiment (that failed). Only Foley can see it now. Poor sod.

 

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