Group Change!

[Stefan Archer]

Hello All,

After a site suggestion and a subsequent poll, we have made a rather large change. All of the students who are in Beauxbatons or Durmstrang have now been put into one encompassing group: Other Students. This group will cover all students who are not currently at HNZ but are at other magical schools.

Those people with students who are currently just in the Magical group will need to apply for these characters to be moved into this new all encompassing group. The topics in the areas of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will soon be moved to the Europe area and the forums themselves will disappear.

A huge thanks to Nick for putting this all together, and a thank you to everyone who took part in the discussion and poll itself. We know this is a rather large change, but it is for the better!

If you have any questions/concerns/feedback please do let us know below.

With Thanks,
Emzies
On behalf of the Admin

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

While I voted against this idea, I've slowly come around to it and started to actually like it a bit. But I do have to say I'm not a big fan of the color, as it's very close to the 'Magical' group color but (in my opinion) harder to read on the default theme. I would probably prefer some more neutral color, but I do appreciate how hard it is to pick one that hasn't been used for another group.

And this is coming from someone whose favorite color is pink I would love it in theory, just not on this background I suppose.

 

[Nicolas King]

as it's very close to the 'Magical' group color

This was the purpose of it - it's related to the "magical" group. Just like how the other employees colour is related to the ministry colour (though in that case, they're the exact same just plus italics for the 'other' group). (Styling Doc)

We tested a number of colours for readability across two different themes and bearing in mind what colours are already used for what groups or otherwise associated with certain themes. (Drab greens are creatures, for example.)

Colours especially take some getting used to. That said, as with any change, we may make adjustments over time.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Thanks for responding so quickly I understand the point of it being similar & I also think its largely having to get used to it

 

[Chaser Reeves Rosendale]

though in that case, they're the exact same just plus italics for the 'other' group

On that note, would it be possible perhaps to do a similar thing for this group? Using the darker shade of pink but in italics. It actually makes sense to me and could see the reason behind having it that colour before you mentioned why it's pink, but it does look incredibly bright against the background

I really don't mean to be awkward, and I appreciate the effort that's gone into all this. Just my thought. I'm sure we would get used to it, it's going to feel strange to begin with regardless I think, but I don't know, I see the "a"'s especially and it's all fuzzy for me.. I say that but I do need new glasses

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Why not give it a colour similar like that of the Death Eaters? Seems unnecessary to have that group around still

 

[Stefan Archer]

Well, the problem with the death eater colour, is that it's also used by the ghosts and dementors. It's different shades but the same colour.

We did consider a lot of different colours, but this one did align best with the Magical group and didn't clash or look like any of the other colours we already had, while still being readable on both the themes and on the team icon.

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

And we've already explained our interest in keeping it similar to the magical group, so give it some time. We know change is difficult to get used to.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

while still being readable on both the themes and on the team icon.

Quite clearly not for everyone

 

[Nicolas King]

As I said above - new colours for groups take time to adjust to, and as with any change we may make adjustments over time. A plethora of other colours tested were not even visible in the "classic" theme (this one is at least visible - even if some feel it is too bright). This is the colour for now, we're not making a change today, but we're not saying we're not going to make a change.

As I also said above - certain colours or colour groups are dedicated. Obviously grey is for evil/dead. Other students shouldn't be grey. Colours are indexes on the site, they point to something beyond themselves. We don’t throw darts at a board, we're thoughtful about the connections we're making with the colours we choose.

We appreciate that right now there’s a lot of brighter pink on the board and it’s distracting, as people stop logging in to these characters to change their group it will calm down then we'll be able to rebalance things appropriately again, as necessary.

That said, no matter what, Netiquette matters.

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

I think we're only trying to give feedback and make suggestions because the post specifically asks us to, and it really is hard to read for some people. I don't think it's bad to have us discuss and let our opinion known, especially as I agree on it being hard to read. Of course, getting used to change is a part of it, and we probably will get used to this color despite our initial reaction. But the point I'm trying to make is that we are trying to be helpful, not being difficult for the sake of it. If you don't want members to discuss the changes, perhaps it would be better not to add a call for feedback at the end of the post.

 

[Nicolas King]

If you don't want members to discuss the changes, perhaps it would be better not to add a call for feedback at the end of the post.

Your initial post was fine - it acknowledged the change itself, appreciated the work gone into it, and gave your feedback about the colour. That's great.
In fact, when I acknowledged your feedback and gave a bit more context you were appreciative - that's great, too!
Productive dialogue. Acknowledging concerns, giving context, saying we'll revisit when things have settled from the change itself. Cool.

Other posts in this thread, however, have ignored what was said (you haven't done that) and have even been rude (you didn't do that).
We want questions/concerns/feedback - we don't want people ignoring what we say or being rude.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

while still being readable on both the themes and on the team icon.

Quite clearly not for everyone

@Nick, if this is me being rude you and I clearly have a different opinion on what is considering being rude. But ok, guess I was rude then. Sorry Emzies, I did not mean to be rude

 

[November Albertson]

Feedback: I don't really have a problem reading the color on either theme, but that might just be differences in computers and screen brightness and eyes or something.

I'm really excited for this change! I'm glad you guys went with the side that had the most majority, as I'm sure you would have done that if the other choice had won out from what the people picked. I hope this group gives us an easier chance to find other students that were not in the og schools from the books. Now we have so many more options as JK Rowling has created a much larger picture of the Magical World for us!

Also I dislike pink, mostly from my mom loving it But I'm down with this and I actually never picked up on your color coding beforehand, other than purple for staff. It's really neat and I just appreciate what you've all done with the groups helps to make things clear.
​

 

[Katherine Alicastell]

Thanks for the update! Friendly reminder to people in the new group to keep me posted of which school your character is in for the Other Students list!

I for one am a big fan of the colour, and keeping it aligned with Magical in the same way Ministry and Other Employees is. I only use the default background but Beauxbatons seems harder to read than the new Other Students so I'm quite happy
​

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Thank you for this update!! I don't have any students in the group right now but I was all for the collapsing and I agree the colour is much easier to read than the old Beauxbatons one.

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

Archived​

---

This topic can no longer be considered 'news' but should rather be called 'olds'. It has thusly been archived.
If you have any questions or concerns involving this [former] news, please contact an administrator and keep looking for newer 'news' in the News and Updates forum.

Thank you,
~The HNZ Site Staff