Linked Accounts and Post As Features - Yay or Nay?

[Xochiquetzal 9]

I'd love to hear thoughts on this type of feature both from a staff perspective as well as a user prospective. What sort of pros and cons have you run into? How did you handle the cons that came up? Did you find the feature to be useful in the long run?

 

My primary thought for using a feature like this was so that staff profiles could be separated from user profiles without having to log out and log back in for the Mod/Admin panel, but I also know I personally have several active original characters and I wonder if linking "dummy" accounts for characters would be useful or not. I belong to a XenForo RP Forum (shoutout to Chronicles RP) where this was my first time seeing such a feature and admittedly, I was so new to it that I found it frustrating because I wanted to know what character belonged to which "original" profile. Once I figured out how to identify that (shh, I'm slow sometimes), I thought it was pretty nifty though I've refrained from using it there.

However, I'm considering implementing it on my own forum RP (IPB) and I see there is a similar feature on the Marketplace that allows you to toggle and post as XYZ, so I'm curious with the JCink/IPB community if you've had successes, failures or mixed results with this and how you handled it (IE, a user that's banned--is there a simplified way to handle the 13+ character accounts they created or am I in for a nightmare?), and how your userbase received or took advantage of it.

 

So yes, I'd love to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly from you guys! Thanks in advance for any feedback!

[Morrigan 1,826]

Well I'll start with telling you that the feature you're looking at is hot garbage and I recommend the one MADE for RPs that we support (albeit a little slowly) here on RPG Initiative. It also doesn't require multiple registrations which IPS really has an issue with:

I made this when 3.4 was a thing and we maintain it through a newer Dev as I'm unable to keep up.

 

Beyond this, OOC accounts with character accounts attached are my favorite thing since ever. I actually developed the IPS Character manager before ANY site started using them because I was constantly annoyed without having to either log in and out or switch or whatever (depended on the software being used, I have horror stories).

 

I will never go back to not having things where I can post as, basically.You can view any of the sites in my signature and see the IPS Character Manager in action. It has been my saving grace over the years. I am so glad I thought it up and glad that other people have taken the time to develop similar features (though not as good in my opinion).

 

I wouldn't setup an RP site without a character switcher. There are so many boons depending on what one you use.

 

Some of my favorites from the IPS Character Manager:

1. Auto Playby List
2. Auto Player list (that lists Characters)
3. Auto sorting
4. Auto filtering
5. Ability to have auto approval for characters or require that they be approved before they are shown.
6. (this list is about to get long so I'll stop at the next one)
7. Ability to auto inactive characters and move them into hidden groups.

Automation for me is key.

[Xochiquetzal 9]

2 hours ago, Morrigan said:

Well I'll start with telling you that the feature you're looking at is hot garbage and I recommend the one MADE for RPs that we support (albeit a little slowly) here on RPG Initiative. It also doesn't require multiple registrations which IPS really has an issue with:

 

I had a feeling, and that's honestly why I wanted to ask before I even considered that particular one. It looked nice but I was like eeeehhhh, inquiring minds want to know so thank you for even linking that, I've got it bookmarked.

 

Right now I am going through formatting my attached Wiki (which, being a first timer, is a learning curb for sure) and it just occurred to me I have all these once NPCs/child characters who are now growing up and will be active and crucial to certain plots fellow members are going to be involved with--not to mention being able to switch from a Mod/Admin account to an RP account no sweat (keep my business and hobby pleasure separated and all that).

 

Even better when it comes to banning members since multi-registrations aren't required (which was a huge concern). I was wholly prepared for a whole hot mess of having to go through and ban registrations. chef's kiss This is wonderful! Thank you.

[clipsed 231]

I can't talk to the technical end as we're MyBB so use our own extensions etc., but I can say from a practical perspective it is a delight. Post on the wrong account? Quick fix. Want to live on your main with minimal effort? Done. As a super moderator/admin, I can also edit the author of any post--which means our staff team can post up content that can then be assigned to the main account without giving everyone root main access.

 

 

The main downside for us, with no OOC accounts, is that can become a Production if people want to change their main accounts. 

 

 

Edited July 10, 2022 by clipsed

[Byrn 102]

We have a jcink forum but I can say with 100% assurance that linked accounts are an absolute dream. I can't think of a downside. I live on my staff account for the most part so management is never stunted by having to log out and log into my staff account. If i accidentally post with the wrong account it is as easy as a few simple clicks. And you absolutely have ways to see what accounts belong to whom. 

 

I do WISH there was no registration process for each account but like Morrigan mentioned, the software you use might have options available that work around needing to register multiple accounts and that is really the only thing I would change about the jcink set-up. But this is in no way reducing my absolute LOVE for sub-accounts. 

[Xochiquetzal 9]

1 hour ago, Hannable said:

We have a jcink forum but I can say with 100% assurance that linked accounts are an absolute dream. I can't think of a downside. I live on my staff account for the most part so management is never stunted by having to log out and log into my staff account. If i accidentally post with the wrong account it is as easy as a few simple clicks. And you absolutely have ways to see what accounts belong to whom. 

 

I do WISH there was no registration process for each account but like Morrigan mentioned, the software you use might have options available that work around needing to register multiple accounts and that is really the only thing I would change about the jcink set-up. But this is in no way reducing my absolute LOVE for sub-accounts. 

I used JCink for my test forum (but I almost considered sticking to it and paying for the premium) to help me decide how I wanted to arrange everything and we occasionally RP on there while I'm setting up the main site and it never crossed my mind since I had (wildly enough) never seen that before. Which is crazy because it seems very prevalent in RP communities now that I am branching out.

 

My first true forum I attended outside of Gaia Online I stick with for about six or seven years before it switched to Read Only and they never implemented anything like that to my knowledge (they went through several forums and are currently a XenForo with their new site). JCink seems a loooott more customizable but the registration process is what made me wonder if there was a workaround for that sort of thing.

Having tried various forums, I definitely enjoyed JCink and IPB the best, with XenForo being a close second. Knowing what does and does not work incase I ever decide to switch from one to the other is also super helpful so I'm glad you mentioned this as far as JCink goes.

[Byrn 102]

1 hour ago, Xochiquetzal said:

I used JCink for my test forum (but I almost considered sticking to it and paying for the premium) to help me decide how I wanted to arrange everything and we occasionally RP on there while I'm setting up the main site and it never crossed my mind since I had (wildly enough) never seen that before. Which is crazy because it seems very prevalent in RP communities now that I am branching out.

 

My first true forum I attended outside of Gaia Online I stick with for about six or seven years before it switched to Read Only and they never implemented anything like that to my knowledge (they went through several forums and are currently a XenForo with their new site). JCink seems a loooott more customizable but the registration process is what made me wonder if there was a workaround for that sort of thing.

Having tried various forums, I definitely enjoyed JCink and IPB the best, with XenForo being a close second. Knowing what does and does not work incase I ever decide to switch from one to the other is also super helpful so I'm glad you mentioned this as far as JCink goes.

 

Honestly, it's a fairly new feature in the world of text-based rpgs. It was around six years back or less than that I think, that SMF forums became a big thing and with them came this cool thing called Sub-accounts. And I think another free forum software offered them as well. So it created a HUGE push for jcink to have them. I am SO glad they did. Management of Jcink are really good about listening to their community and working hard to get features that are desired - within reason of course.

Edited July 10, 2022 by Hannable

[Xochiquetzal 9]

19 minutes ago, Hannable said:

 Management of Jcink are really good about listening to their community and working hard to get features that are desired - within reason of course.

 

I've noticed that! And good for them. I spent a long time getting familiar with JCink to really decide if I wanted to keep my forum there. Ultimately, I opted to try IPB for myself to see if I preferred it or not. I'd even like to try XenForo to see how the community receives it, but a lot of the userbase is used to IPB since our old forum was with them the longest.

 

That being said, it's good to know that the community can push like that. I feel like I am one of the very few people who go into this without the necessary skillsets to pull things off myself, but I've tried to take everything I've learned and observed from past forums I've been in to sort of consider what has and what hasn't worked (I also consider myself pretty teachable so if I can find a reliable source to show me (like getting MediaWiki configured) I can figure the rest out and go from there. I figured this kind of add on would be more of a hit than a miss, depending on the technical side of it (such as the registration debacle I was hesitant on, and why Morrigan's is a perfect solution).

 

<.> Now I feel like I can breathe easily and focus on the things that are absolutely the Wild West for me.

 

 

[kjSage 81]

Long, long ago, in 2010, there was a wolf RP site by the name of Caiuka that had full-blown character profiles very similar to the IPS character manager that Morrigan now handles. It was one of the very first sites I started tp RP on seriously, and despite it having shut down in 2013, I dearly miss it just for the character management alone. I don't understand how full character systems like this aren't more popular, especially compared to the tediousness of subaccounts that require separate registrations for each user. Jcink's subaccounts and mybb's enhanced account switcher mod at least make this a little easier but at the end of the day it's still a deeply inelegant solution (like having to go through every individual account when someone is banned, as the OP mentioned; moving characters into an inactive group and just general handling being that of individual accounts, because they are individual accounts) and doesn't compare at all to having actual character profiles. At the end of the day I stick with jcink because the price for running an IPS board (and that absolutely fantastic character mod) isn't something I can keep up with. I've RPed on IPS boards with the character system and let me tell you, it really deserves every bit of praise it has earned. I love jcink for what it offers, but I increasingly feel as if it has been stretched to the limit of what can be done with it. John is great at listening to suggestions, and Cory/Fizzyelf are fantastic at filling in gaps where they can, but there is only so much they can do but that's a tangent for another time.

 

I'm currently one one forum that has a single account and character profiles in threads (yeah, old-school) and it's the thing I despise most about that RP aside from it being on forumotion - hot garbage software. Honestly. I would never join another forum if it were set up this way even though that sort of system is how I got my start RPing on many boards. It's messy and information is disgustingly easy to lose and it'll never compare to actual character profiles linked to your OOC profile. Give me a profile application with at minimum an account switcher at the very least.

 

In short, real character systems have spoiled me rotten and ruined doing things any other way for me. It's so much simpler from a user's perspective, and from the admin side of things is also so much nicer to work with. If it's unaffordable, jcink/mybb and subaccounts is absolutely the way to go.

[Morrigan 1,826]

On 7/10/2022 at 10:58 AM, Hannable said:

 

Honestly, it's a fairly new feature in the world of text-based rpgs. It was around six years back or less than that I think, that SMF forums became a big thing and with them came this cool thing called Sub-accounts. And I think another free forum software offered them as well. So it created a HUGE push for jcink to have them. I am SO glad they did. Management of Jcink are really good about listening to their community and working hard to get features that are desired - within reason of course.

The IPS character manager has been around for at least 15 years and the SMF sub accounts feature came out around the same time. Sub accounts have been around for a long time in RP communities. It even existed in IPBFree before that site was shut down ten years ago.

 

The only one “new to the game” so to speak is Jcink and they still have had it for at least 6 years.

[Byrn 102]

7 hours ago, Morrigan said:

The IPS character manager has been around for at least 15 years and the SMF sub accounts feature came out around the same time. Sub accounts have been around for a long time in RP communities. It even existed in IPBFree before that site was shut down ten years ago.

 

The only one “new to the game” so to speak is Jcink and they still have had it for at least 6 years.

 

It's hard to imagine so much time has passed. 😅 I stuck almost exclusively to free forums for a large portion of my rp activities so had no idea this was a thing long before. This forced me to look at the math and realize it's been around much longer than I gave it credit for even with jcink lol. I guess it seems new for a forum feature when my first dive into rp was 21 years ago. >.>

 

I am definitely wrong, it's been around much longer than I knew.

 

It seems like yesterday I finally ventured onto a forum rp after roaming aol groups and neopets.

[remidarjeet232 0]

Implementing a feature that separates staff profiles from user profiles can have both pros and cons, both from a staff and user perspective. Let's explore some of the potential benefits and challenges you may encounter:

Pros:

1. Clear distinction: Separating staff profiles from user profiles can help establish a clear hierarchy and differentiate the roles and responsibilities of staff members. This can enhance the professionalism and credibility of your forum.

2. Simplified access: Having staff profiles separate from user profiles allows staff members to access the Mod/Admin panel without needing to log out and log back in. This convenience can streamline administrative tasks and save time.

3. Organization and control: With individual staff profiles, you can easily assign specific permissions and privileges to each staff member based on their role. This allows for better control over access to certain features and areas of the forum.

Cons:

1. User confusion: As you mentioned, some users may find it confusing to navigate between the main profile and character profiles, especially if there isn't clear identification. It's important to provide clear instructions and guidelines on how to identify and connect character accounts to their respective main profiles.

2. Complexity for users: Managing multiple character accounts or switching between them can be challenging for users, particularly if the process is not intuitive. It's important to design the feature in a user-friendly manner to minimize confusion and frustration.

3. Potential for misuse: Introducing multiple character accounts opens the possibility of users creating duplicate or fake accounts, which can complicate moderation efforts. Implementing robust user verification measures and closely monitoring user activity can help mitigate this risk.

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