A great idea to tackle the rank/badge problem

[Lightning Dash 327]

Okay, I've been around for awhile and couldn't help but notice there's occasionally some concern over the ranks/badges. Of course for most it's only a minor thing, although to improve individual member experience, I do believe something like this could be compensated for, so that members that have issues with this can have a feature that puts their minds at rest over them.

 

To start off with, I do like the whole idea of ranks and badges; So don't get me wrong on this, I'm not against them. They look pretty cool, and adds just a bit more MLP to our posts and stuff.

 

However, I have noticed some members have concerns, over specific badges, or badges all together, and to be honest, I too also have an issue with the Cupcake badge specifically, and every time I see my own posts, all I can see is my Cupcake badge, and I cringe every time over it because there is indeed a certain fanfic about that (Which I will not mention), that I find it being the most offensive thing/video that's on the internet for me, especially as RD is my favorite Pony and I'm a Pegasus Pony (There's a special blog entry on my profile if you want to clear up on the type of Brony I am ) Anyway, onto the suggestion.

 

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I was thinking that while only few members like myself have specific issues with badges when most are perfectly okay with them, and again, most of them are actually pretty cool, I was thinking maybe a new feature could be add that allows individual members to disable viewing the badges, or a feature to allow individual members to hide or show their badge in their posts.

 

The thing is, we've got a lot of cool feature already on here, and some things like badges is just one of those things that improves member experiences on the forums, and be fair with me, a forums should mostly be centered around it's members so they can have the best user experience possible, while at the same time not changing things for all members.

 

That's why I thought we could have either or both of these features which I'll go more into detail.

 

The first suggestion is adding on a feature that can be in our account settings where we as individuals can disable the badges from being shown on all posts. This one would work in pretty much the same way as how the block feature works where you can block a member, but you can also block or "Ignore" their signature.

 

That way if a member that joins the forums just so happens to have a dislike to the whole badge thing, or like me that where a certain badge which contently reminds them of something that they really do not want to be remember on, then they can simply go into their settings and disable them, and that's problem solved for them without having to affect all the other members on the forums.

 

The second feature I mentioned is being able to disable our badge from appearing in our posts. Of course some members really don't like the specific badge they're on (Like me for example), and although I don't post much because I'm generally the strong silent type on here, I'm still gonna end up having to see my highly cringy badge being there when I do make a post, and as I class MLP Forums as my first home on the internet, I as a member should be comfortable in being here and without having something like this being a problem for me; Same for the other members that also have the same or similar issues with that.

 

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The whole idea with these is to improve user experience, and at the same time not affect any other member on the forums that doesn't have an issue with them. That way, if either or both of these features could be added, then that would solve and make both parties happy.

 

A very minor thing for most, but some like me, it's a real pain and burden. As time goes on, I'm sure there will be more members that will join and some may have issues over the whole badge thing. With that said, such a feature(s) would indeed solve all of the problems concerning badges for the rest of time on here, and at the same time not affect all the other members as it'll be a personal setting for each individual user.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read either way, and I hope these feature are considered

[Frith is Magick 1,471]

Normally people getting uppiy about the badges seems quite petty to me, but this is the first solution that I have been able to get behind. Ultimately it is up to the admins to decide if it is a good idea and for the techs to figure out if it will work, but I think the idea of being able to simply disable viewing is a good one, so here I am to express support.

[Jokuc 8,174]

I'm not sure if this is possible right now but I don't think it'd be that difficult to add this feature.

 

Meanwhile you can download AdBlock and then block the images you don't want to see. They'll automatically be hidden for you whenever you're on mlpf. Alternatively you could download Greasemonkey (firefox) / Tampermonkey (chrome) and replace the badge image link with a link to another image like an apple or whatever.

 

This is how to block an image with AdBlock:

 

 

 

 

1. Press Filter Settings

 

2.

Go to Custom Filters -> Blocking Rules or something (sorry my computer is in swedish) -> Add Filter and then paste the link to the cupcake image.

https://mlpforums.com/public/style_extra/team_icons/sapphire-cupcake.png

 

Result:

 

 

[Jeric 46,854]

Outside of what Jokuc suggested I don't see us utilizing technical resources and staff effort to implement this feature. In fact there has been some discussion on revamping the images used in general to better allign with the age of the forum and additional aired FiM content.

 

I may be biased as I believe web design is a form of art, and representative of the creator ... so outside of browser blocking (which I personally see as modifying art) the rank badges should remain visible for users as that is the general intention of the site's defined user experience and theme.