Gosh now that exam period is almost over, I was finally able to sit down and answer the backlog of emails in my inbox (and I’m still no where near done!). However, I was able to update about 20 pages on PPT which is always a good thing, and over the next few days I’ll be clearing out all the guides and articles and tips and suggestions so PPT can be on top of the ball as usual.

I’ve added back to the main site the Neopets Cheats Index for all game guides and stuffage which will appear on every page to make things easier to locate/navigate. The news system is working out well but I’ll also want to remind visitors that we have a rich and vast resource of Neopets articles, tips, tricks and codes so this is probably a great way to do that.

Finally, the forum upgrade to phpbb3 is nearly complete and let me tell you, the new look is incredibly sexy! You’re all in for a treat when it comes back up!

Gosh we went for nearly an entire month where it looked like the comments weren’t disappearing anymore but I spoke too soon! (Should have touched wood I think.) I think possibly this is due to a spammage problem where too many spam bots somehow find their way into the news, so I’ve implemented a new security tool in the comments where verification codes need to be entered before a comment will appear. Take that!!

The site may look a little different today (or over the past day and a bit). The entire layout has been stripped down by removing all the images. This is to make the site load faster and to provide me with an easy way to organize the site to feature the proper areas before slowly building up a new template again.

The menu will be vastly simplified again just to make everything that much easier. New sections have also been added to the menu which now has a complete focus on providing easy access Neopets news.

The news area is also the main focus of PPT with a large link inviting people to submit their own news for inclusion. Let’s see how this plays out over the next few months.

Update: The news boxes and the left and right navigation boxes have been converted from HTML tables to CSS for faster loading times. Paving the way towards the future here people!

Update 2: The more news box at the bottom of every page is now also converted to CSS. Hello faster page loading times!

Update 3: I’ve just gone to heck with it and bought a license for cutenews which is the official news updating platform on PPT. Time to put those PPT funds to good use I say. Interestingly the comments seem to be working now. Very well. Curious…

Over the past year, the comments on the PPT news have been randomly disappearing. Today I’ve fixed it… tentatively. This means I’m not sure if they’re actually fixed but they seem to be working fine now after a little code tweaking.

Over the next few weeks, the news posting team will be consolidated and a few more people will be added. The PPT teams will now be contacted via email to make things easier for everyone.

Update: The comments problem is not fixed. Worse still is that the people who created the script seemed to have stopped providing support for the script so this means I’ll either have to wait for an update from them, or go out and search for a new script. Anyone have any suggestions? I’ve looked at fusionnews but changing everything over is such a hassle…

I’ve also been looking at phpbb and it looks like they are going to release the next version soon. Great news!

A while back, I suggested we create a FAQ in order for people to refer to rather than post the same old questions in Neopets Help and the General Forum (or at least, if people do post them, we can simply refer them to the FAQ and lock the thread). When I suggested it, I was mainly thinking of stopping the constant flow of questions regarding accounts and what is allowed, what is not allowed etc.

My original suggestion was that we assemble a crack team of experts to trawl through the editorial archives and find as many references to commonly asked questions as possible then compile them into clear cut rules which we could state in our own words and link to the answer in question. My intention for the not-so-clear rules was to quote them and link to the answer in question.

But, that seemed a lot of work and it tended to put people off the idea from what I gathered from the thread. Luckily, however, some helpful wee beaver posted this on the General Chat board

http://www.neopets.com/~atheneum

Which has done all the hard-yards for us

My suggestion now is that we contact the person, ask them if its ok for us to use their page as a reference (I can’t imagine them saying no as its public info) and then using their groundwork to assemble a list of what TNT have said is alright, and what they have said isn’t. Then link to the Neopian Times Issue in question for each statement

For example, you are allowed to…

1. Collect your newbie freebie packs on side accounts [1]
2. Partake in Von Roo’s Deadly Dice on side accounts [2]

etc etc etc
The basic goal of this is to have a definitive list of every relevant thing TNT have said about the commonly asked questions and have evidence to back it up. It should (hopefully) stop the influx of common questions to both us and the Neopian Times and it’ll also make our job a lot easier in terms of finding Editorial Answers to quote to people.

So basically this post is to report the status of what’s going on (I for one think this is a great idea and would be hard pressed to be swayed on the issue of making one… save for one of the bosses stepping in and kicking sand in my face).

1. Thanks to amigurumi’s ground work, I’m happy to plug through and create the FAQ myself (unless somebody really has a burning desire to do so as well). However, to do this, I feel we need to:
   • Contact her and ask permission (as I said, can’t imagine a problem here).
   • At the very least, link to her page with one of the buttons she has created on the FAQ.
2. I can start on this as early as tomorrow, but it probably won’t be up for a while (ETA: Thursday??) due to time constraints.

And to ask two questions to all applicable parties:

1. Whether you think I should even create the FAQ.
2. If I do, should it go in General, Neopets Help or Both?
3. What topics should be covered in the FAQ.

So anyway, that’s my poorly worded (Hey, its late and I’m tired [/standard excuse]) report to satisfy Kym’s demands. Questions? Comments?