The Town Herald

The netpaper about Elftowners, by Elftowners, for Elftowners.

What is new in Elfwood?

Reported by [Sir. Robert] and [Kaimee]



Elfwood.com
Science Fiction, Fantasy and FanArt Pictures & Fiction


Many people around Elftown will of course recognise Elfwood as our sister site, home to art and writing galleries for science-fiction and fantasy themed pieces, and the place from which many of the original Elftown members came. Of course these days, Elftown is made up of people from all over the internet, and only a fraction joined through Elfwood, so we thought we’d put together some basic information about Elfwood; detailing what it is, and the new improvements that have been made on the site, making it much more user-friendly.

Elfwood has always been a very rule-driven site, allowing only sci-fi and fantasy genre pieces to be submitted, with very strict rules within that category regarding quality and theme. Elfwood also operated in two parts, the primary site with galleries, and the Elfwood Extranet, where artists and writers maintained their galleries, uploaded new pieces, and edited their details. All changes made through the extranet remained unpublished until the member submitted a ticket, that then had to be approved by a moderator before being published to Elfwood. As dedicated moderators always seem to be in short supply, some changes took a very long time to be published, and many artists and writers became impatient and fled to the less demanding realms of sites like Deviantart.com, where the general quality is certainly lower, but changes are instantaneous.

If you haven't visited Elfwood in a while the first thing you may notice is its new look. Elfwood's old graphics and grey textured backgrounds have been replaced with a woodsier theme showcasing earth tone backgrounds. New drop-down navigation tabs at the top of each page, slideshows of the newest mod's choice, and community picks which are showcased on the start page, all help to make navigation around the site more pleasurable for both first time and returning users. One of the other great changes that has been made is a relaxation in the joining process, allowing people to create a user account simply to browse, and add favourites, rather than to submit art or writing. These newer changes promote more of a community aspect to Elfwood, while still showcasing art, and make it easier to keep up to date with your favourite members and friends, and other active members.

The fresh skin is only the tip of the iceberg of all the changes Elfwood has gone through in recent months. Much of the code underlying Elfwood's foundation has been replaced with new a new modern database driven code. This new code makes the site easier to maintain and allows for many new features to be added in the future. The uploading system was simplified during this update eliminating the old extranet system, allowing a wider range of image formats, automatically scaling images which are too large, and generally making the uploading process more intuitive. To upload images now, you simply have to log in to your account at Elfwood, rather than go to the separate extranet site.

Another huge step Elfwood took in the updating process was to tackle the outdated rules. The most drastic of the changes is the addition of an "Other Works" tab allowing for non-genre work to be submitted regardless of theme as long as the images were not stolen, porn, or depict extreme violence. This allows artists to submit other works they have done which may not fit Elfwood's science-fiction and fantasy theme, and should encourage a broader range of material posted on the site. This also tackles one of the primary problems that has been driving members to other sites, as they can now upload all their pieces to Elfwood, rather than having to use those separate sites to publish non-genre work.

Not only were the rules simplified, but the infamous ticket system has been replaced along with the extranet. The ticket system was the way for artists to see where their art sat in the queue for it to be inspected and by the moderators prior to being published on Elfwood. The new system works in the background, and takes into account: time from your last upload, how active you are on the Elfwood site, and if you are a patron. Uploaded art which has not been reviewed by the moderators can be viewed by the owner and is tagged as "unpublished".


<sub>Considering Joining?
Elfwood is 100% free and another place where you can post your art, comment on other artist’s work, and make new friends!
Moderators Wanted

And for older members: Elfwood is always seeking new Moderators so if you’re interested and you meet the following requirements, apply!
- You must be at least 18 years old.
- You must have a published account that have been published for at least 4 months.
- You must have a good record, meaning no major rejections in the past year, for example for copying or repeated rejections.
- You must be willing to give at least 1-2 hours a week to moderating.
- You must have a good understanding of the rules.</sub>


www.Elfwood.com




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