405th Ownership Change, Site Move and Updates - ALL PLEASE READ!

[Art Andrews]

OMG!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO THE 405th?!?

First off, let’s back up a bit…

Hi, my name is Art and I recently acquired the 405th from Adam Grumbo. Many of you might already know me from therpf.com, thedentedhelmet.com, and thehunterslair.com. If you don’t know me already, I run a website management company (Movie Prop Sites, LLC) that specifically focuses on managing communities like the 405th.

With that in mind, let’s just get the unpleasant stuff out of the way first. With this transition, you are going to see change… a LOT of change. No one likes change, but without change we cannot grow and improve. You are already witnessing the first of that change now. If you are reading this, you are reading it from an all-new, much more powerful server, as we have moved the 405th onto our own platform. We have also updated the site software to the latest version (not vB 5… everyone knows how bad that is), and we have also made some minimal changes to the structure of the forums and made a couple of forum name tweaks. Again, while I know it is uncomfortable, this and more change will be coming down the road. Please be patient with us because once we come out on the other side of it, things will be a lot better.

Now that we have explained the unpleasant part, let’s talk about the good things. First, I believe this is an amazing community and we are very excited to be able to serve you. We think there is a lot of potential here and over the next year or so, we plan to try some new and interesting things… some of which many of you have wanted, and probably a few things you haven’t even thought of! We don’t want to spill all the beans just yet, but we see a fun future for the community!

I am sure you have questions and possibly concerns, so instead of me prattling on, let me know what is on your mind and I’ll try to answer to the best of my ability.

 

[Art Andrews]

YES! Thank you for applying the updates and getting my IP unblocked. One quick question, I believe that it was the use of the search function that caused my IP to get flagged as a spam account and I am trepidatious to try it again. I fear I will again get blocked. Any chance anyone could tell me whether the search is a-okay to use now?

All the IP blocks that were happening, were due to the previous hosting company. They were (very poorly) trying to limit the spammers, but seemed instead to be blocking community members. Last night we moved away from them and to servers that we own exclusively and entirely. You will not be blocked for running searches.

 

[Zero Prime]

This is great news, I hope that this will help bring the 405th back to life. I think I joined right before the hack, this site introduced me into cosplay and it broke my heart to see it decline as it has over the past couple years. It will be exiting to see what changes and improvements you bring to the 405th!

 

[WandererTJ]

It is unlikely that we will use an app specifically for the 405th (we tried that with thedentedhelmet and honestly... it didn't go well.). What we MIGHT do is add Tapatalk, which is a pretty powerful app that is geared for sites like this.

Nooooo.
I don't want that popup on my phone everytime I come here on my phone's browser

Highlight I have not heard of before. Let me see what it would take to do it. I don't think it is built into vB. Spoiler we can do easily. Color and Font... those are rough ones and we have at least, temporarily disabled them. The reason? While they can be fantastic for formatting, they can also make it impossible to read certain text. As a general rule, we don't use them or enable those tags.

Those bad colors can be fixed with highlighting

 

[Art Andrews]

I have a few questions myself that may be pertinent:

First and foremost, what does this change mean for the ownership of the 405th? Who actually holds the reins to the 405th as a 'brand name'?

We, Movie Prop Sites, do.

Secondly: I realise that the forum structure has altered and that further, potentially significant alterations are in the works. Does this mean that the restructuring will bring about a consolidation of resources and a streamlining of the forum to make the assets available to the community more accessible and newcomer-friendly?

That is certainly the hope.... but it is something that is going to take time. We are newcomers to this community and while some things are universal, there are many needs that are unique. Before we make certain changes, we want to get a better understanding of what the community needs. With that in mind, if you have thoughts, I'd love to hear them.

Third: what does this change mean in terms of an official Charter for the 405th? A Charter for the 405th as a Division trooping at conventions has been in the works for years - does this change in ownership mean that a more official, organised set of guidelines for the Division for members when on deployments is in the works?

We WILL be working toward finally establishing a charter for the community, for creating and maintaining Regiments, for general membership guidelines and for event representation, BUT (and that is a HUGE BUT) that is a lot of work and not something to be taken lightly. We see a lot of potential in this community for a formalized club, but before we touch that, we want to get the site where it needs to be, so that the site is rock solid before we get into the club aspect.

Fourth: will this new organisation mean that new staff members will be recruited? Frankly, we're thin on the ground as far as staff go, and having extra hands on deck would go a long way.

Possibly. I have not yet talked to the existing staff, but we will either use the existing staff or recruit new staff until we have the appropriate staff to handle the needs of the community.

Finally: are suggestions and input welcome during this period of change? The forum and the Division have been in need of some re-structuring for a long time now, and certainly the more long-standing and experienced members of the forum and Division may be able to lend valuable insight. Will a Q&A/Suggestions panel be held to glean useful suggestions from the members?

Yes!!! VERY WELCOME! With that being said, we won't implement every idea and there will certainly be aspects that we will implement even in the face of criticism, BUT (another big but) our primary purpose is to serve this community and we WANT your input and thoughts. Just don't be offended if we don't use every suggestion.

I hope that this change brings about a new era of success to the Division, and I'd like to be on hand to witness it.

We do too! We think this is an amazing community which is why we pursued it! We think there can be a lot of great things that come from this, but it will need to be a partnership between us and the members. Looking forward to your help and thoughts.

 

[Art Andrews]

Nooooo.
I don't want that popup on my phone everytime I come here on my phone's browser

That is why I said MIGHT. Personally, I absolutely HATE Tapatalk. We have some alternatives in mind though; a responsive designed site.

Those bad colors can be fixed with highlighting

Can you point me to a site that uses highlighting? That often helps us pin down how they are doing it.

 

[Chernobyl]

That is certainly the hope.... but it is something that is going to take time. We are newcomers to this community and while some things are universal, there are many needs that are unique. Before we make certain changes, we want to get a better understanding of what the community needs. With that in mind, if you have thoughts, I'd love to hear them.

You might want to have an ask around, then. Several members (myself included) have already geared up to try and consolidate resources - the cogs are, for this portion of the project - already in motion, and have been for some time. After all, I mean no disrespect when I say this: the longer-standing members of this site know what's here and know the needs of the community at large through hard-won experience. Again, I realise that this is something geared more towards a Suggestions topic, but corresponding with willing members who have already contributed FAQs and tutorials to consolidate their works may be a good idea in the future.

We WILL be working toward finally establishing a charter for the community, for creating and maintaining Regiments, for general membership guidelines and for event representation, BUT (and that is a HUGE BUT) that is a lot of work and not something to be taken lightly. We see a lot of potential in this community for a formalized club, but before we touch that, we want to get the site where it needs to be, so that the site is rock solid before we get into the club aspect.

Good. This has been a long time coming, and when it's time to deploy with the 405th as a Division I'm sure we'll be able to do so with pride. Getting the community into a place where we can truly feel a part of something greater will be a goal to look forward to.

 

[Art Andrews]

You might want to have an ask around, then. Several members (myself included) have already geared up to try and consolidate resources - the cogs are, for this portion of the project - already in motion, and have been for some time. After all, I mean no disrespect when I say this: the longer-standing members of this site know what's here and know the needs of the community at large through hard-won experience. Again, I realise that this is something geared more towards a Suggestions topic, but corresponding with willing members who have already contributed FAQs and tutorials to consolidate their works may be a good idea in the future.

OMG. I just realized we don't even have a "thumbs up" smiley icon!!! LOL We definitely want to work with members like you (and we are talking with quite a few other long timers as well) to make sure we move in the right direction.

Good. This has been a long time coming, and when it's time to deploy with the 405th as a Division I'm sure we'll be able to do so with pride. Getting the community into a place where we can truly feel a part of something greater will be a goal to look forward to.

This is a top priority for us for sure, but it is also something that we want to learn from the mistakes of other, similar groups and not repeat those mistakes when establishing the club for the 405th.

 

[Gaming239]

Hi,welcome and congrats on running this site.I hope there won't be so much changes around here.

 

[BiGHARYSCOTSMiN]

DUDE.

Already liking the navigation header on the top man

Although I'm not among those who were experiencing problems in the past with the site, I'm glad to see a site staff member actually being a staff member today.

EDIT: AAAAAAAHHHH QUICK REPLY SO CONVENIENT!

 

[Art Andrews]

LOL. Nothing is better than a happy community!

 

[Gilmortar]

Well, I'll throw it out there guys and gals. NO ONE, has had more success with online costuming forums than Art Andrews. This is a big venture here, and I know some of the behind the scenes, and I will echo to Arcanine, yes. Art has enlisted the help of some of the veteran members and mod staff to ensure that this place is the best of the best. I've spoken to them and Adam as well and if they all trust him as I do, than you know it will be incredible. Change is what makes the world go around, and we will have to accept it. Again, Art is a master at this, he runs some of the most successful costuming websites on the web... THE WEB. And he has all of us, with our love of Halo to back him up. And he is no stranger to Halo, so lets get on board and help to make the 405th the BEST costume group out there (not that it isn't already)

 

[WandererTJ]

Slowly watching as visual updates are being added is kinda amusing.

I would love to see a full (ongoing) list of everything you've done to change the forums.

 

[Art Andrews]

Slowly watching as visual updates are being added is kinda amusing.

I would love to see a full (ongoing) list of everything you've done to change the forums.

Hahaha... yeah... just trying to do quick edits to the existing layout to make it acceptable for now until we can do a full revamp.

 

[Art Andrews]

Oh... and so I am in the spirit... watching Red Vs Blue on Netflix!

 

[AugmentedHuman013]

I am curious to see what you all do with our friendly corner of the world but I am liking what has been done so far. Seeing so much more traffic on with all the post is amazing.

 

[Sean Bradley]

I can't express how excited I am for the new potential for the 405th. Just seeing so many old names return to see the changes beginning.. it's pretty exhilarating. I'm looking forward to a new beginning for the group, and all that it brings. Congrats Art, and WELCOME!

 

[23Magnum]

I can't express how excited I am for the new potential for the 405th. Just seeing so many old names return to see the changes beginning.. it's pretty exhilarating. I'm looking forward to a new beginning for the group, and all that it brings. Congrats Art, and WELCOME!

My sentiments exactly!

 

[drgon47]

Change, if brought about in the wrong way can be painful indeed. However, it can also be the catalyst this group needs to move forward. Welcome aboard Art!

 

[Bobby Boucher]

I am really excited for this. I can't say much because I have only been on here since April, but a more community/club feel would be real nice. I guess my opinions are a little biased thanks to the 501st but I would love to have some more pride in being a part of this! I wish you luck with running the place, but you seem to know what you're doing!

we are working on a massive backlog of infrastructure issues, including over 200k spam accounts!!!!

:eek It's the internet, I shouldn't be surprised but I am.

 

[Gokussj5okazu]

I, for one am VERY excited, Art. No offense meant to anyone at all, but is is amazing to see someone behind the reins that will have the time to run everything properly. Welcome! If there's anything I can help with, just let me know!