JCINK Migration - NEW FORUM OPEN

[Scottie]

It’s finally here!

As you know we have been working on transferring RPA to a new host which will offer lower running costs and more opportunities to grow our user base. The staff have been working hard behind the scenes for some time now, and we are happy to announce that the new forum is ready to accept new members. Please register using the link that will be sent to you in a PM by Scottie.

There are a few things still to be finalised, primarily the forum skins that you can use to make the new site feel like home, but the sub-forums are set up and ready for you to play around in - go create some new RPs!

You can also transfer across old RPs that you want to keep - our wonderful techie mod NoviDome has coded a button specifically for this purpose, which will appear if you scroll to the bottom of the current RPA site and select the “Download” skin.

You should see a new button at the bottom of every thread (see below for screenshot). Clicking the button will convert all posts in the current thread into either a text or csv file which you can save offline and / or re-upload as new posts on the new Jcink forum. We have created an Archive forum on Jcink for completed RPs that you want to transfer.

Please note that we will be keeping the current RPA forum open and functional until TUESDAY THE FIRST OF APRIL 2025 to give you all plenty of time to download, save and transfer any writing that you wish to keep. However after this deadline the old site will close and we cannot guarantee that your posts will still be available anywhere - please use the handover time wisely to avoid disappointment as we will not be taking requests to extend the deadline

See you on the other side, glorious members of RPA

[Azazeal849]

Some helpful instructions from our tech mod on how to use the download button to quickly save your RPA threads:

1 - Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the website. There should be a drop-down menu that allows you to select the site style. If you've never touched this before, it should say "-- RPA Default"

2 - Click it, and select "---- Download Style" (somewhere under Standard Styles)

3 - The page will automatically refresh, and scroll back to the top. Check that the banner along the top of the page now no longer shows the "Jump into spring" image, but the words "Roleplay Adventures" in orange letters on a smoky black-and-white background, with orange arrows to the left and right. If you see this banner, it means you have successfully selected the Download Style

4 - Navigate to the thread you would like to save

5 - Scroll down to the last post (of the page, not necessarily of the thread). Just below it, next to the "+ Reply to Thread" button (or on their own, if the thread is closed), there should now be 2 new buttons: "Download posts as CSV" and "Download posts as RTF".

Both of these buttons will query RPA's database, and create and download a file for you that contains all of the posts in this thread. It does not matter on which page you are when you click the button; it will always download the entire thread. If the thread is very big, this may take a moment, but it shouldn't take longer than a minute!

The information that these files will contain is as follows: author, timestamp, and message. This means that for each post in the thread, the file will have recorded the user who made the post, the time at which the post was made, and the content of the post.

The difference between the buttons:

CSV stands for "Comma Separated Values." This button downloads the thread in a .csv file. This is a filetype in which, as the name suggests, values are separated by commas. This is a very common data format, and is recognised by software like Microsoft Excel, LibreOffice Calc, and the like. I'd recommend this option for users who would like to store their threads as a table, in a more data-driven format, or who would like to bulk-edit the contents of the file and customise it for personal use.

RTF stands for "Rich Text Format." This button downloads the thread in a .rtf file. This is a slightly more feature-rich filetype than .txt, but not as luxurious as .doc. It will be a plain text file, recognised by software like Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer, and the like (a very simple text editor may struggle with it though!). I'd recommend this option for users who would like a more readable and uncomplicated format. The contents of this file can also more easily be copy-pasted into a new thread on JCink!

Note: text formatting, such as bold or italic text, other font options (colour, size, etc) or spoiler tags, will not translate to either file format. You will just see the BB tags in the post content, e.g. '['B']'.

Also note: some special characters may not quite survive the encoding into the downloadable files either. I have tried to catch most of these, but just be aware that some might slip through, and you might have to fix those yourself in the files.

If anything malfunctions, or you need help with anything at all, do not hesitate to let a staff member know! NoviDome will be happy to look at it as soon as she has time.