The Future of DollfieDreams

Hey, all! It's your friendly neighborhood admin and fellow DollfieDream owner.

 

It dawned on me recently how long I've been a DollfieDream owner when I was dressing one of my girls. Which reminded me how long ago I launched this site since it was around the same time I got into the hobby. And, yeah, even just looking at the site, its pretty obvious, it's old! This site is over a decade old, and hasn't changed since then. Quite frankly, I'm surprised it's still working as well as it is.

 

It's far from a modern website. It doesn't even work for phones. ><

 

I think we deserve better! I want to upgrade the site to a modern system with more options and something that is easier to maintain.

 

But here's the problem, I can't easily just update our current software. The site has been so customized to offer the various features we use that it would be a nightmare, if not impossible, to do. This was before plug-ins were common in software like this. Besides that, if I was to start again, I would use different forum software anyway. Since I started this site better options have come out.

 

I'm looking at a forum software package that would be great for us! But, of course, these things are not free. There is a decent starting price and maintenance fees. But it would bring DollfieDreams up to modern times as well as open the door for many new features we don't currently have. Of course, moving from one forum package to another comes with caveats. While all our member accounts, post, and even private messages would move over fine, some things like the gallery and feedback information would not. Sometimes to move forward you need to reset some things. I believe in the end it will be worth it. And knowing how important the feedback system is, I do plan to look into ways to move that as well, though there is no guarantee.

 

With all of that in mind I need a little help. To bring DollfieDreams up to modern times I'm thinking of opening a Patreon for the site and offer some perks to anyone that wants to help give their support. In the beginning the Patreon will go towards getting the new forum software and afterwards help with maintenance fees. Along with that I'll open donations for anyone that wants to help boost us along to the initial fee for the forum software, which is about $550.

 

For Patreon I'm thinking of offering 3 tiers. The lowest would offer a tag similar to the one under my avatar for those that donate the minimum. The second tier would have a couple functional perks, which are currently limited due to the current forum software. The third tier would be for our community's custom creators that offer various items for our girls by giving them more exposure with banner ads on the site etc.

 

When the new site launches there will be many more perks I can offer. And for those that can't or don't want to support this, nothing will change. All that DollfieDreams offers now will stay as is and the new site will offer the same and more.

 

Some things the new site will offer us is:

-A prettier and mobile-friendly site

-Doll profiles

-A fully featured Classifieds system

-A Questions and Answers system

-Events Calendar

-A modern Gallery that also supports video

-User created Clubs

-A fun reaction system

-A reputation system with leaderboards

-Digest Emails for site updates

-Personalized activity streams

-Status updates and replies

-An advanced search

-Valuable reply flag

-Topic starter flag

-Tags

-@ Mentions

-Rich text editing

-Drag and Drop image uploading

-Social network sharing

-Social network sign-in

-Social network buttons on member posts

-And more! ^^

 

I hope you'll agree a new site would be really nice. It would likely be more inviting and help the community grow as well. Especially with mobile capabilities.

 

So let us know what you think! We'd love to hear your feedback before diving into this endeavor.

I'll be honest, my feelings are mixed. I know the importance of updating and that it could help grow our numbers, but at the same time I love how this site just works for me as is. I don't want any social integration, or tags or reputation stuff. As for mobile sites, I hate them with a passion. Current tablets and phone are more then powerful enough to render the full desktop site and there has yet to be a mobile site I can stand using, or even am willing to use. But in the end this is your baby and you need to do what you feel is best for her.

 

BTW, your poll is broken, I can't vote on any of the selections.

The poll should be fixed now. Thanks for the heads up. And keep the feedback coming. ^^

Wow, so DollfieDreams might be changing, huh! Fair enough. At least for now my feelings are mixed, like sinclair's. The site works great as it is - it's responsive, has everything I need, and no unnecessary overhead that I don't. Keeping up with the times could provide new features and could be the way to go, but it's important not to take steps backwards in the process, as you're well aware.

 

For example, Den of Angels upgraded to XenForo a while back, and I think that change didn't really do much positive for the site that I could point out (as a user), yet it broke many aspects of their old version. On balance I'm not sure I like their new site as much, even though I've now had a couple years to work with it. I hope if DD upgrades it can be for better reasons - like some of those you've already listed out! Even if you went with the same software, I feel like you could whip it into shape .

 

I'd like to second sinclair's comments regarding social networking integration and mobile compatibility being turn-offs. Privacy is important, so putting Facebook tracking code where it doesn't belong, for instance, would be a concern. Similarly, having huge oval / circular buttons that are easy to tap with fingers is conversely irritating for desktop users because it wastes screen real estate (the newest look for eBay and PayPal is definitely not welcomed, for instance).

 

To sum up, I wouldn't say that DD Forums "needs" to upgrade by any stretch, but if you want to do so to provide new features it might be cool. I have an open mind. I just hope we can avoid some of the less desirable modern trends in web development along the way if we do change. Ultimately the foregoing is just one loudmouth's opinion, to be filed away as one voice amongst many.

I'd like to second sinclair's comments regarding social networking integration and mobile compatibility being turn-offs. Privacy is important, so putting Facebook tracking code where it doesn't belong, for instance, would be a concern. Similarly, having huge oval / circular buttons that are easy to tap with fingers is conversely irritating for desktop users because it wastes screen real estate (the newest look for eBay and PayPal is definitely not welcomed, for instance).

I'd like to echo this part. I don't have any social media accounts both because I'm not really interested, and I suppose I'm paranoid, so if those sorts of things are added I'd want a user option to disable them.

 

If there's a way to make things more mobile-friendly for those who want to use it that way, without compromising how things work on a PC then that's fine. I don't use mobile except I did a few days ago when my desktop internet was down for a couple of days; I responded to a post here and wanted to quote and editing that was a nightmare so I don't doubt that mobile-focused users can be frustrated with the current forum software. But it's also a pet peeve of mine how so many websites focus on mobile to the detriment of the desktop experience; I hate how so many sites have everything huge and with so little on a page because of mobile.

A couple things: The social media features are purely optional. IE, if enough people don't want those, I don't have to enable them. As for being "mobile friendly" that really just means that the site will scale dependent on the width of the screen looking at it.

 

But these are all fair points. And the reason I posted this here (after talking to Baldylox about it as well) was to see if you guys would want such a thing. If not, that's okay as well and the site can stay as is. ^^ I don't want to force change where it is not needed.

I'm one of the newer members on the board and haven't been very active lately, but I thought that I'd write down some of my thoughts.

 

The current phpBB version is quite outdated and the layout is rather narrow on my desktop (although my screen resolution is only 1680x1050px, so I can only imagine how tiny the site looks on bigger resolutions) and it cuts off most horizontally 700px or wider photos unless you use the RIMG code... which adds to the outdatedness, as these days most people have faster internet connections and bigger resolutions so it's more common to post bigger photos. Not that I think posting wider than 1000px photos on a forum would be necessary, but being able to post 800px or 900px wide photos without using the RIMG code would be nice.

 

And yeah, the site scaling better on mobile devices would be a plus. I mostly use my desktop to browse the site, but occasionally when I'm on the go, I use my phone or tablet. I often have to zoom in on the site to read the texts when I'm browsing on my phone.

 

Some of the new features that a new software would bring, like doll profiles, sound nice but aren't necessarily something that I feel I would absolutely need to have. I don't use social media that much so I'll have to agree with the comments above, I wouldn't really want those features added on this site. For me it's enough to have links to my social media accounts in my signature. Reading that feedback may not transfer onto the new software worries me more than not being able to get the new features. Feedback is important when conducting sales, and I've found that the feedback system on this forum is pretty well put together.

 

For me, I think an upgraded layout would be the most important. And I'd also feel that doing some cleaning around the forum would be nice. As it is, it can be a bit difficult to browse, especially as a newbie when you're looking for answers to certain questions. I've noticed that people tend to start new threads and then there are a bunch of short threads about the same subject... so I would like to suggest that on areas such as "Dollfie Dreams Questions & Answers" it would be more encouraged not to start new threads but instead contribute to existing threads. As someone who is looking for information, it would be more handy to look up a thread and read what's in there, rather than have the information scattered around in several different threads. I can only imagine what the size of the database currently is with so many threads. If the forum had a smaller number of threads, it could help run the site more smoothly as well. I mean, it's nice that the forum doesn't have strict rules and all that, but I feel it could use a bit more moderation on some aspects. In the long run it would be better for both the users and forum software itself.

 

Updating to a newer version of phpBB would already be nice, but I'm not a 100% against changing softwares altogether either. But yeah, for me the biggest question about the change in software is whether feedback can be successfully migrated onto the new site or not.

 

Oh, and about the possible loss of photos in the move - does this mean the ones that have been added to the forum software itself as attachments? I don't use that feature but instead have my own domain and flickr for hosting photos, so for me personally it wouldn't necessarily matter... unless there are informative photos, such as comparisons or tutorials, by other members that have been uploaded as attachments and those were to be lost.

 

But yeah, these are just my thoughts and suggestions. In the end it's up to the administration to decide what's best for the forum in the long run.

For me, I think an upgraded layout would be the most important. And I'd also feel that doing some cleaning around the forum would be nice. As it is, it can be a bit difficult to browse, especially as a newbie when you're looking for answers to certain questions. I've noticed that people tend to start new threads and then there are a bunch of short threads about the same subject... so I would like to suggest that on areas such as "Dollfie Dreams Questions & Answers" it would be more encouraged not to start new threads but instead contribute to existing threads. As someone who is looking for information, it would be more handy to look up a thread and read what's in there, rather than have the information scattered around in several different threads. I can only imagine what the size of the database currently is with so many threads. If the forum had a smaller number of threads, it could help run the site more smoothly as well. I mean, it's nice that the forum doesn't have strict rules and all that, but I feel it could use a bit more moderation on some aspects. In the long run it would be better for both the users and forum software itself.

I was thinking about some of this recently even before this thread came up. It's nice that some topic drift is allowed so discussion isn't stifled, but I also think some sections could be better made clear exactly what they are intended for, or perhaps reorganized. I'm thinking specifically in the Photos and related areas. Waiting Rooms is generally discussion before someone gets their doll, as intended, but sometimes those threads end up with pictures as well making it practically the same thing as New Arrivals. I myself am confused on exactly what should be in the Database threads and what should be in a general Photos thread instead in some cases. Having different areas for different things is certainly a good idea to keep things organized, but that only works well if there's a pretty clear understanding of what should be posted where.

 

That's unrelated to changing the forum software and such, but maybe could be considered while these updates are being discussed and made.

 

I've only been here a year myself (and lurked off and on for a couple of years prior) though I've read a large percentage of the forum's archives, and my impression is activity is down from a few years ago, but perhaps that's just a perception from going through so much history over a short period.

I was thinking about some of this recently even before this thread came up. It's nice that some topic drift is allowed so discussion isn't stifled, but I also think some sections could be better made clear exactly what they are intended for, or perhaps reorganized. I'm thinking specifically in the Photos and related areas. Waiting Rooms is generally discussion before someone gets their doll, as intended, but sometimes those threads end up with pictures as well making it practically the same thing as New Arrivals. I myself am confused on exactly what should be in the Database threads and what should be in a general Photos thread instead in some cases. Having different areas for different things is certainly a good idea to keep things organized, but that only works well if there's a pretty clear understanding of what should be posted where.

I've made the same observations about the database and waiting room threads, but I was a little hesitant to bring it up as a newer member of the forum, so I just mentioned the Q&A section in my post. It's good to know that I'm not the only one who feels that these sections are a bit confusing sometimes. ^^;

 

Because, I've always thought that the purpose of the database threads is more about keeping count of the dolls on the forum, and then the photo areas are for... well, posting photos of your dolls. It kinda beats the purpose of having a database thread if a person adds a new post into it every time they want to show a newer photo of the doll, instead of just updating the original post with a new photo. And then waiting room threads have been (in my mind) more about discussing your incoming doll, and then once the doll arrives, it would make sense to post it in the new arrivals section. The new arrivals section becomes a bit redundant otherwise.

 

Yeah, I'm not sure if this talk is relevant to upgrading the forum, but I thought that it's worth mentioning because it's something that affects browsing the forum and contributing to it.

I've only been here a year myself (and lurked off and on for a couple of years prior) though I've read a large percentage of the forum's archives, and my impression is activity is down from a few years ago, but perhaps that's just a perception from going through so much history over a short period.

 

Activity is definitely down recently, it's not just you. I'm sorry to say that for my own part I don't help with this, I still visit regularly but am more of a lurker. My only excuse is that the past few years have been stressful.

 

On a related note, I think being able to like posts could help things. As they are, when someone takes the time to post photos or a photo story and only gets a few comments, it may not seem like it was worth the time to them, and they may post less. I think there was a topic on this at some point. It takes less effort to hit a like button than to post a comment, so maybe new threads would get a bit more activity.

 

I am also somewhat concerned by the potential loss of feedback, but otherwise I am ambivalent about a potential change.

These features do sound awesome. Also, would the new site come with an SSL? Chrome has started giving me crap about the forum being "not secure" thanks to it being HTTP instead of HTTPS, sigh.

 

My main concern is whether or not there's any risk of data not migrating over. As you mentioned, this forum is a decade old, which means there's a LOT of content here. Granted, I've been working on migrating my photo stories, box openings, etc. to my WordPress blog, but that still leaves quite literally a thousand comments from me alone that would be at risk of being lost if it's not going to convert to the new system.

 

That said, a mobile friendly layout would be fantastic and a Classifieds system would have a lot of potential.

I’m one of the people on the middle. I second what Poofiemus says, my main concern would be losing existing content and posts. We don’t want another figure fm situation.

There’s so much here, the bulk of which was before my time, and looking back on it all is kinda fascinating - it’s like archaeology/time capsules.

But I do like the idea of doll profiles like what DOA has, especially if there was a way to browse through them without having to individually look at each users profile (even if it was just the most recently updated ones, again like what DoA has)

 

I’m really glad that you are allowing discussion of potential changes rather than just abruptly changing things without warning, like certain social media platforms I’m still using purely out of stockholm syndrome.

Thanks for the clarification on what mobile compatibility was intended to mean, in which case it sounds like a good thing for the overall health of the site. I'm desktop-only myself so I'm unaware of any challenges mobile users face here, but if we can make things more friendly for mobile users without impacting desktop (the critical nuance that cfx brought up), then having more people happy sounds great.

 

Re: traffic: There's definitely been a decline in discussion traffic in recent years, but I'm not sure whether that relates to anything specific about DollfieDreams the site, or whether it reflects a shifting level of interest in Dollfie Dreams the dolls. There seem to be more sellers than buyers in the marketplace these days, on this site and others, so perhaps more people are moving on than we have new ones coming in? I'm not sure. Or maybe much of the volume has migrated to social media where I'll never see it, and thus I just think it's gone.

You'll have my support whatever you decide

 

If you decide to upgrade please try to keep the marketplace feedback and archive posts if possible. There's so much wonderful data on here I'd hate to lose access to.

I love the idea of updating the site to take advantage of the new tools available. I think an update may help reinvigorate functionality of the site. I’ll be honest unless I’m looking for specific info or to buy/sell/trade I don’t come on here nearly as much as I used to. Part of that could be just the dilution of the hobby since it seems a lot easier to get into now versus back when I first started.

 

You have my support with whatever you decide. I just hope you can find a way to preserve the priceless data in the forum. There’s so much treasure buried in here!

Re: traffic: There's definitely been a decline in discussion traffic in recent years, but I'm not sure whether that relates to anything specific about DollfieDreams the site, or whether it reflects a shifting level of interest in Dollfie Dreams the dolls. There seem to be more sellers than buyers in the marketplace these days, on this site and others, so perhaps more people are moving on than we have new ones coming in? I'm not sure. Or maybe much of the volume has migrated to social media where I'll never see it, and thus I just think it's gone.

Good points. It stuck out to me since I read so much of the forum's archives over a relatively short period of time that there are a number of people who used to be quite active here who are now gone, but whether they have left the hobby completely, just left the more public part of it, or moved to social media I wouldn't know for the same reason as you. I don't do facebook, period, unless it's something linked here or elsewhere and typically I can't view even that since so many things are inaccessible unless you have an account. I look at twitter occasionally again mostly from links, but I browse instagram with some consistency using the #dollfiedream tag to see pictures and get ideas of things I would like, or not like, for my dolls, and I notice some number of people who post pictures there, who based on usernames also appear to be members here, but only post here in the marketplace. That's perfectly fine and their choice of course, but it also suggests to me that they view something about this forum as not worth their time or effort compared to other outlets, so if something can be changed that would make it more appealing for people like that to participate it would certainly be a good thing.

For those worried about loss of data, I had always planned to backup the current database and site, just in case things didn't work out properly.

 

As for SSL, that could be done, but there is a yearly fee for that. ><

I'm clueless on how everyting SSL works, so if this is a bad suggestion I apologize.

 

It appears you can get a free SSL certificate via Let's Encrypt, https://letsencrypt.org/ but I have no idea if that is all that is involved.

 

I always check the certificate stuff when buying anything online, and I notice a lot of smaller and independent shops use Let's Encrypt.

I think it would be cool to have an upgraded website! I think that it might bring in more people to join the forums. I have been here a long time, but if I am being honest - if I were a new DD owner and I saw this site I might think it was dead and inactive because it looks outdated. So if I were someone new, I'm not sure if I would join. I don't mean to be rude by saying that. I know that maintaining and updating websites isn't an easy thing at all.

 

I think that the feedback would need to be saved somehow, it is very important when conducting sales of such expensive items. There are also some great threads here that are informative that I feel would need to be transferred over as well. Mobile does not matter A LOT to me, but sometimes I have been conducting a sale... I get a PM when I'm out, and I try to read it, and I have a really hard time. However, that's not a common thing to happen to me. So mobile is not my personal priority, but I'm sure some people use mobile a lot so they might appreciate better compatibility.

 

I would try to support on Patreon if I could afford any of the tiers. I do not have a job, I have severe depression, but if I could make it work I would support you and the website Averis.

I'm fine with either option, but I just wanted to chime and add that I'm happy to donate/contribute to the running of the site. I know all of this takes time and money, and I'm happy to chip in how I can.

Re: traffic: There's definitely been a decline in discussion traffic in recent years, but I'm not sure whether that relates to anything specific about DollfieDreams the site, or whether it reflects a shifting level of interest in Dollfie Dreams the dolls. There seem to be more sellers than buyers in the marketplace these days, on this site and others, so perhaps more people are moving on than we have new ones coming in? I'm not sure. Or maybe much of the volume has migrated to social media where I'll never see it, and thus I just think it's gone.

Good points. It stuck out to me since I read so much of the forum's archives over a relatively short period of time that there are a number of people who used to be quite active here who are now gone, but whether they have left the hobby completely, just left the more public part of it, or moved to social media I wouldn't know for the same reason as you. I don't do facebook, period, unless it's something linked here or elsewhere and typically I can't view even that since so many things are inaccessible unless you have an account. I look at twitter occasionally again mostly from links, but I browse instagram with some consistency using the #dollfiedream tag to see pictures and get ideas of things I would like, or not like, for my dolls, and I notice some number of people who post pictures there, who based on usernames also appear to be members here, but only post here in the marketplace. That's perfectly fine and their choice of course, but it also suggests to me that they view something about this forum as not worth their time or effort compared to other outlets, so if something can be changed that would make it more appealing for people like that to participate it would certainly be a good thing.

 

I wouldn't say that the problem is that the forum isn't "worth" the time or effort, but it was a lot easier to just switch to IG after the whole Photobucket debacle. I basically lost my whole thread and Imgur just isn't doing it for me. For me, switching to IG over here was strictly about ease of posting. Since all my photos are phone pictures...IG became the easy choice.

 

Improvement I'd love to see here would be ease of image posting that doesn't require so much...editing, I guess. I'm always worried about breaking a page from an image being too wide. But then I'm also worried that my images are displaying very small on other people's computers after I've resized them or something. I'm a nervous poster though, I admit. These things make me more anxious than most probably lol.

 

Would really like to see that reaction system though! I "like" more than I comment for sure. There's plenty of posts I'd give a "like" to, but don't have more to comment than "nice!".

 

Honestly I like the whole list of suggested features. I likely wouldn't use the social media integration, but the option for those who do like that would be glad, I'm sure.

 

The only thing I want out of moblie is for it to stop logging me out whenever I switch to Desktop Mode for other sites

 

But on the whole, I want a reason to come back here more. I miss using the forum, it's just not very active these days. Would love to see it more lively again!

I don't know anything about Photobucket, but I know images must be an issue here since that in particular seems to be something that is really down in volume here.

 

I browse instagram for doll pics, and I hate it! Maybe it's different for other people or other computers, on mine the pictures are too small, and they are always blurry. If I want to see details of some doll's faceup or something, I can't, because there is no detail.

 

The pictures I've taken so far are crap so I've got them in the library here but if I had better quality pictures that has its own issues since the file size limits as well as pixel limits are so low.

 

It's claimed as part of the overhaul of flickr, now that Smugmug bought it that they will make it where you no longer have to have a Yahoo email address to use the site. If they ever actually get around to doing this I will maybe use that site for photos. I've had my fill of AT&T and Yahoo and don't wish to deal with them again.

I don't know anything about Photobucket, but I know images must be an issue here since that in particular seems to be something that is really down in volume here.

 

I browse instagram for doll pics, and I hate it! Maybe it's different for other people or other computers, on mine the pictures are too small, and they are always blurry. If I want to see details of some doll's faceup or something, I can't, because there is no detail.

 

The pictures I've taken so far are crap so I've got them in the library here but if I had better quality pictures that has its own issues since the file size limits as well as pixel limits are so low.

 

It's claimed as part of the overhaul of flickr, now that Smugmug bought it that they will make it where you no longer have to have a Yahoo email address to use the site. If they ever actually get around to doing this I will maybe use that site for photos. I've had my fill of AT&T and Yahoo and don't wish to deal with them again.

 

Since you're using desktop IG, I don't blame you at all for hating it It's a clunky wreck and totally different experience from the app. If there was only desktop IG, I wouldn't use it for the reasons you gave. Though the images being too small for fine detail is sadly an issue on both.

 

That aside, a drag and drop upload system here with a higher file size/pizel limit sounds like a dream since image hosting is such a hassle through any of the current sites right now...(Photobucket watermarks now, the Flickr and Smugmug thing, Imgur's community can be...intense, etc). I'd love to be able to fix up my old thread and post basically a year's worth of stuff I haven't been posting here...

Sooo,I'm new. Fresh outta the box new! So I thought maybe it would help to provide some insight. I am active more on mobile then I am on desktop, in case that helps anyone! I also am pretty certain a forum I frequent uses the software you are considering( based on the options listed). It is /very/ good!

 

1) Traffic is down

 

I think this to be expected,and not on the part of the forum. I LOVE forums because things are in order and easy to find. But they don't have the simple draw power of social media. However...

 

2) There's a lot of clutter

 

I find that a lot of sections on the forum aren't clear, or aren't clearly enforced. Don't get me wrong, I'm not really interested in too strict enforcement. I just think topics/sections could be combined,condensed or even just chucked out the window.

 

3) It's outdated

 

You called it! It does appear so, and it is off-putting. When I stumbled onto the forum, I was expecting it to be dead. I was very pleasantly surprised! But I rooted around for awhile. I imagine some folks are instantly turned off by the appearance.( I like it but I'm just one dork).

 

4) Mobile is actually ok!

 

I have a smart phone and do a lot of web-surfing on it. Often this forum!( I lurk a lot, sorry guys) It's honestly just peachy. I don't have any trouble with functionality while browsing, though responding is clunky/difficult.

 

 

That's all I can think of immediately!

A little update:

 

I modified the poll so you can change your vote.

 

I'm toying with the idea of possibly leaving DollfieDreams as is and instead make a new site with a new domain and the new forum software as listed in the original post. I'd still move everything over that is possible (accounts, posts, etc), and then basically leave DollfieDreams as an archive (preventing new posts) and pointing people to the new site.

 

I'm not sure why this didn't dawn on me before, but upgrading seems like a good time to do such a change since the vinyl doll market has grown so much in the last ten years (such as SmartDoll ).

 

Of course we would need a new name, but this way DollfieDreams can remain with all data intact and a new site can expand our community.

 

What do you think?