.moon - the living fandom

Major Site Changes

June 19, 2010, 05:21:59 PM by Dejana

The contents of this thread apply to every member of the community. Even if the initial announcements don't interest you, please read the entire thread. Everyone will be affected by this.

Mod Consolidation

The story and art moderator jobs have been combined into one role, the Media Moderator. Kasey, Yumeko, Starsea and kelleh have all been transitioned into this new role. The Media Moderator handles the processing of submissions for the Library, Gallery, and Portal, as well as the evaluation of any rule violation reports submitted for items in those areas. Any future moderators added to the team will be expected to handle all three types of submissions.

Update Model

The site has officially been switched from the weekly update model to the rolling updates model. This means that new stories and artwork accepted by the moderators will be available in the Library and Gallery immediately and listed on the New Artwork/Writing pages without any delay. New items will no longer have to wait for a Sunday update before they are available to the public. New items will remain on the New pages for 60 days.

Library/Gallery Changes

In addition to the update model switch, the Top lists for stories and artwork have been expanded to include 100 items rather than the previous 25. The Elite Library has been removed entirely. After four years it has proven to be unnecessary.

Site Reboot

Finally, the biggest announcement of all. I plan to do a complete redesign of the entire community, from scratch. I want to split away from the open-source SMF forum base we've been using and migrate to something developed in-house that will be completely customizable and more resistant to spam bots. In addition, there are many bugs and things I would like to do with the site that are impossible the way I designed it when I was new to PHP. A ground-up redesign is the most efficient solution.

Stories, artwork, reviews and user accounts will be migrated to the new system, but the final product will look and function completely different from what we have now. Essentially, we will have a new site - which is why, while we're at it, I would like to change the name of the community itself. ".moon" has never been a very good name for us. I fell in love with it as a potential name for a Sailormoon fansite and stubbornly used it for a project it didn't really fit. The redesign will give us an opportunity to finally change the name.

I have created a special forum for discussion of the upcoming site reboot. We will be coming up with a new name for the community, so I have hidden the forum so potential domain names won't get snatched up by squatters before we have a chance to get them. I would grant everyone access en masse, but we do have some spam accounts among us. I would love for everyone to participate in the planning of the new site. Please tell me you are interested and I will grant you access to the hidden forum. I will add everyone who asks. I'm only doing this behind closed doors because I don't want us to get our hearts set on a new community name only to have the domain taken from us.

Please, if you have any passing interest at all, ask to be added to the group. This community belongs to everybody and I want everybody to have a say in its future.

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[UFO Awards] 2009 Best of Fandom results and Best Overall voting!

June 08, 2010, 11:09:32 PM by Dejana

Best of Fandom voting for the 2009 UFO Awards has ended, and the winners are now marked on the nominees list for 2009. They are:

Avatar: The Last Airbender

First Place: "Midsummer Madness" by Burning Ice
Second Place: "Love Amongst the Embers" by Misora
Third Place: "Tenderness" by Adridere

Members' Choice: "Tenderness" by Adridere

Bleach

First Place: "Shuffle" by Enchantable
Second Place: "Scarlet" by Enchantable
Third Place: "Saints And Sinners" by Enchantable

Members' Choice: "Shuffle" by Enchantable

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

First Place: "An Unusual Partnership" by Leni
Second Place: "Revolutions" by Anna
Third Place: "Smoke Damage" by Kairos

D. Gray-Man

First Place: "Clockwatching" by a1y-puff
Second Place: "Not Quite Sleepless Nights" by a1y-puff
Third Place: "hard living" by metisket

Members' Choice: "hard living" by metisket

Death Note

First Place: "A Deathly Fairytale" by LightofaThousandSuns
Second Place: "Through Hallowed Windows" by Bloodshot Eyes
Third Place: "Once There Was" by Bialy

Members' Choice: "Through Hallowed Windows" by Bloodshot Eyes

Doctor Who

First Place: "Doctor Donna" by esama
Second Place: "Double Crossing" by Jessa L�Rynn
Third Place: "Elevator To The Moon (A Little Out Of Reach)" by waterofthemoon

Members' Choice: "Double Crossing" by Jessa L�Rynn

Fruits Basket

First Place: "More Than A Doll" by PocketxFullxOfxDreams
Second Place: "Whatever May Come" by Ysabet
Third Place: "Wilted Flowers" by gwensan

Members' Choice: "Whatever May Come" by Ysabet

Full Metal Panic

First Place: "Restless" by jazzpha
Second Place: "Kanpeki no Partner" by Crystal Okamino
Third Place: "The Assailant" by lilkyonkyon

Members' Choice: "Restless" by jazzpha

Fullmetal Alchemist

First Place: "Tears and Rain" by BeautifulFiction
Second Place: "Cost of a Secret" by nomdeplume
Third Place: "Fight On, Second Lieutenant!" by bob_fish

Members' Choice: "Tears and Rain" by BeautifulFiction

Gundam Wing

First Place: "The King and the Shaman" by Jewel of Hell
Second Place: "With Words" by the Quiet Minstrel
Third Place: "Call It Revolution" by opalish

Members' Choice: N/A

Harry Potter

First Place: "Without Sound of Bells" by Scarlet Malfoy
Second Place: "Some Secrets Are Best Kept" by curia_regis
Third Place: "Sailed on Shooting Stars (Three Weddings and a Funeral Remix)" by woldy

Members' Choice: N/A

Hikaru no Go

First Place: "desynchronization" by Ontogenesis
Second Place: "Making the Moves" by stirring_still
Third Place: "Five Scenes Over a Goban" by opalish

Members' Choice: N/A

iCarly

First Place: "Stairwells and Steering Wheels" by Vix23
Second Place: "iCarly�s own MLP" by luna moody
Third Place: "iStow Away" by luna moody

Members' Choice: N/A

Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

First Place: "Falling Up" by sadlygrove
Second Place: "The Only Living Boy in New York" by June
Third Place: "Not a Lost Cause" by imadra_blue

Members' Choice: N/A

Kim Possible

First Place: "22 Minutes" by JAKT
Second Place: "So the Trauma" by King in Yellow
Third Place: "8 Years"by cpneb

Members' Choice: "Failure Is The Only Option" by Mahler Avatar

Naruto

First Place: "Moments in the Dark" by Cynchick
Second Place: "A Book of Five Rings" by sakura haru
Third Place: "The Socially Unacceptable Courtship" by opalish

Members' Choice: "The Grey Crayon" by checkerbloom

One Piece

First Place: "Teaching Luffy" by InsaneMelon
Second Place: "Survivor�s Burden" by TheNinthMaiden
Third Place: "Remembering Luffy" by existence555

Members' Choice: "Teaching Luffy" by InsaneMelon

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

First Place: "Grace" by Peridot Tears
Second Place: "Honey and Cranberries" by Peridot Tears
Third Place: "Of Sound Mind" by Artemis Rae

Members' Choice: N/A

Prince of Tennis

First Place: "Every Day is a Holiday" by SilverCyanide
Second Place: "February 14" by Cinpii
Third Place: "Endless Love, Endless Road" by Tacuma

Members' Choice: "Endless Love, Endless Road" by Tacuma


Sailormoon

First Place: "Silent All These Years" by Dejana Talis
Second Place: "Hide and Seek in Cemeteries" by Kihin Ranno
Third Place: "Graveside Roses" by Spirit-hime

Members' Choice: "Silent All These Years" by Dejana Talis

Torchwood

First Place: "Kissing Ianto Jones" by madder_rose
Second Place: "Road to the Horizon" by madder_rose
Third Place: "The Doctor of Boeshane" by cazmalfoy and teachwriteslash

Members' Choice: N/A

Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle

First Place: "Footsteps" by inafrozenworld
Second Place: "Loneliness" by inafrozenworld
Third Place: "This Cold Country" by shadow_of_egypt

Members' Choice: N/A

Veronica Mars

First Place: "What�s So Great About Living" by celtic_flicka
Second Place: "Two Week Stay-cation" by cloud_forest
Third Place: "No Comment" by fleurb

Members' Choice: "What�s So Great About Living" by celtic_flicka

xxxHOLiC

First Place: "I Dreamed a Dream" by sillyangelfaery
Second Place: "Dreams and Realities" by Anyjen
Third Place: "Vulnerability" by Tyigra

Members' Choice: N/A

There was a massive tie in the WIP category this year, too massive for me to feel comfortable breaking myself, so I decided to award all the stories that tied for tenth place.

Works In Progress Honorable Mentions

"Cover Me" by Black Dragon Queen
"Any Way You Want It" by Novelist Pup
"Arcana" by Enchantable
"Genius is a Curse" by Bloodshot Eyes
"The Seer" by Andra Sashner
"December, Underground" by Enchantable
"Verona" by Enchantable
"Escape Me" by Enchantable
"Gone Forever" by Nayru-chan
"Stygian Solace" by Uzumaki-sama
"The Fifth Act" by sinnatious
"Detective Tezuka" by Tacuma
"Ostara" by Enchantable
"30 Things to Do With a Naked Man" by madi_lover

As indicated by the winners list, the stories on the Best Overall ballot this year are:

"Midsummer Madness" by Burning Ice
"Shuffle" by Enchantable
"An Unusual Partnership" by Leni
"Clockwatching" by a1y-puff
"A Deathly Fairytale" by LightofaThousandSuns
"Doctor Donna" by esama
"More Than A Doll" by PocketxFullxOfxDreams
"Restless" by jazzpha
"Tears and Rain" by BeautifulFiction
"The King and the Shaman" by Jewel of Hell
"Without Sound of Bells" by Scarlet Malfoy
"desynchronization" by Ontogenesis
"Stairwells and Steering Wheels" by Vix23
"Falling Up" by sadlygrove
"22 Minutes" by JAKT
"Moments in the Dark" by Cynchick
"Teaching Luffy" by InsaneMelon
"Grace" by Peridot Tears
"Every Day is a Holiday" by SilverCyanide
"Silent All These Years" by Dejana Talis
"Kissing Ianto Jones" by madder_rose
"Footsteps" by inafrozenworld
"What�s So Great About Living" by celtic_flicka
"I Dreamed a Dream" by sillyangelfaery

Voting for Best Overall of 2009 is open and will continue through July 31st. I am still looking for volunteers for our in-house judging panel, if you are interested let me know ASAP.

Congrats to all the Best of Fandom winners!

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Bugs discovered and fixed

May 29, 2010, 05:09:16 PM by Dejana

It seems a piece of code I had been using since the beginning to process form data suddenly stopped working. I suspect its function changed in some upgrade to PHP on our host's side. I believe I've tracked down and fixed all the places where this code was being used, but in the meantime, you may have had problems submitting new material or reviewing posted submissions. These functions should be working again.

Please be sure to notify me right away when you encounter bugs in the system. I can't fix problems if I don't know about them.

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[UFO Awards] Seeking fanfic judges!

May 20, 2010, 10:44:14 PM by Dejana

It's that time of year again! Voting for the Best of Fandom round has closed, and the Best Overall vote will be starting soon. Like last year, I need to assemble a panel of judges to evaluate the Best Overall candidates. The judges' scores will be combined with the public vote totals to produce the final results of the 2009 UFO Awards.

As a judge, your task would be to read each of the first-place Best of Fandom winners, in full, and decide on your top three choices before the Best Overall voting round ends. Essentially, you'd be doing exactly what any anonymous voter would do, but giving me the blessed peace of mind of knowing someone will be voting. Wink

Also, the votes of the judges will most likely be given more weight than those of the general public.

The voting period will most likely run from June 1st to July 31st, so you'd have the next two months to read the stories and make your choices. You must have been a member of .moon for at least six months to be a UFO Awards judge. If you are interested in being on the panel this year, please send me a PM.

Thanks everyone!

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Today's downtime

May 14, 2010, 02:53:53 PM by Dejana

Something happened to our database and one of the tables was corrupted. I was able to restore the problem table from this morning's backup and we are now back online. If you made any changes to your user account since 4 AM CST this morning those changes may have been undone by the restore, but as far as I know no other data was lost.

While we were down I also updated the forum software to the most current version, so hopefully that will prevent this from happening again. My apologies for the outage.

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