Unable to dismiss the Announcements on the Forums

spartaxoxo · August 31

I agree that it is a bug. But, I don't agree that it is a high priority. I don't think high priority bugs are things that actually negatively impact only a small amount of users. Most mobile users are using the mobile website. This is not a bug on the mobile website. It's with desktop view using a mobile phone. In addition, some people like it and want to keep the bug.

kargen27 · August 31

TheMajority wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

TheMajority wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

TheMajority wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Posters that don't want to dismiss the Announcements can just not click the X, as it's always been.

I get sad when I accidentally hit x and can't get the announcement back again It's more official to have it always there for not forgetting.

If that is an issue for some then request an Announcements tab that can be opened to read them again.

But this thread is about not having the ability to do something we have always been able to do. The fact that it is just on the English forums points to it being a glitch and I hope they fix this soon because I find this huge block of text irritating and intrusive.

I don't want to bother the developers for a tab when having it always there is a simple elegant solution which I am enjoying much.

But I do like Erickson9610's idea though because it's helpful.

Not being able to dismiss the Announcements is NOT a solution... it is an ERROR going on with the English forums. Players can not click the X if they don't want to, just like it has been for many years now. But this error needs to be resolved.

well...it is perhaps a matter of perspective. for one who mistakes and accidentally hits this x often, it becomes a solution, but for one who dislikes it, it's an error.

i will make the choice of viewing it as a positive change while I get the chance to enjoy it, and perhaps the person who handles this site will see my love for it, and will implement a nice tab system so that we can all be happy in the end.

i think that's a good resolution for me.

How do you accidently click on the X multiple times? On my screen it is/was a very small area and located in a place not near anything else I would click on.
That aside right now being unable to send the announcements away with a click is an annoyance.

and I'm guessing the people that maintain and troubleshoot the forums are not the same people that work on game development. Making people who are in charge of keeping the forums run smooth aware of a problem shouldn't be a bother.

SilverBride · August 31

spartaxoxo wrote: »

This is not a bug on the mobile website. It's with desktop view using a mobile phone.

It is an issue on a mobile phone using the mobile website. The X is missing there, too.

If players find this bug beneficial to their preferences they need to make a thread about what feature they would like to see reguarding the forum Announcements. But this thread is to report a bug and ask for assistance with it.

spartaxoxo · August 31

SilverBride wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

This is not a bug on the mobile website. It's with desktop view using a mobile phone.

It is an issue on a mobile phone using the mobile website. The X is missing there, too.

If players find this bug beneficial to their preferences they need to make a thread about what feature they would like to see reguarding the forum Announcements. But this thread is to report a bug and ask for assistance with it.

It's never been able to be dismissed on the mobile site afaik. The mobile site is a simplified version and doesn't have all the same features.

Edit: nvm I am wrong. It looks like it worked on the German forum so it should be dismissible in English too.

FlopsyPrince · August 31

spartaxoxo wrote: »

I agree that it is a bug. But, I don't agree that it is a high priority. I don't think high priority bugs are things that actually negatively impact only a small amount of users. Most mobile users are using the mobile website. This is not a bug on the mobile website. It's with desktop view using a mobile phone. In addition, some people like it and want to keep the bug.

Read up on the Broken Window Theory. (Or whatever the proper name is.)

Not fixing things looks really bad.

Erickson9610 · August 31

SilverBride wrote: »

Players are always welcome to make threads with their own suggestions.

This is the discussion thread for this matter. We don't need more than one thread on the subject.

spartaxoxo · August 31

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

I agree that it is a bug. But, I don't agree that it is a high priority. I don't think high priority bugs are things that actually negatively impact only a small amount of users. Most mobile users are using the mobile website. This is not a bug on the mobile website. It's with desktop view using a mobile phone. In addition, some people like it and want to keep the bug.

Read up on the Broken Window Theory. (Or whatever the proper name is.)

Not fixing things looks really bad.

I agree it should be fixed. But, things like the undo feature when sending emails wouldn't exist if bugs couldn't become features. Light attack weaving and being able to pose with your weapon with certain emotes both started as bugs in this game. But, the game is better off with them. Just because something is a bug, does not automatically mean it needs to be fixed as soon as possible.

Sometimes, if people like a bug, the developers can take that information in and develop ways to fix the bug that also allows for a more official way to enable what it offered. In this case, perhaps something like a setting that keeps maintenance announcements pinned to the top so people who accidentally dismiss them don't have to worry about it. While still allowing those who want to dismiss them to get rid of them because they find them irritating. That way everyone wins and can be happy. Such a thing might take a little longer but that's okay imo

SilverBride · August 31

spartaxoxo wrote: »

It's never been able to be dismissed on the mobile site afaik. The mobile site is a simplified version and doesn't have all the same features.

It is able to be dismissed on the mobile site. I just took a screenshot on the French forums while on the mobile site. After I took the screenshot I was able to dismiss them.

Announcements are blue when on the mobile site and yellowish on the desktop site.

spartaxoxo · August 31

SilverBride wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

It's never been able to be dismissed on the mobile site afaik. The mobile site is a simplified version and doesn't have all the same features.

It is able to be dismissed on the mobile site. I just took a screenshot on the French forums while on the mobile site. After I took the screenshot I was able to dismiss them.

Announcements are blue when on the mobile site and yellowish on the desktop site.

Yes. I already stated that I was wrong about that. I guess you missed the edit.

SilverBride · August 31

Erickson9610 wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Players are always welcome to make threads with their own suggestions.

This is the discussion thread for this matter. We don't need more than one thread on the subject.

The topic of this thread is asking for assistance with a forum bug. It is not a thread open for suggestions on other features some would like to see in the forums. It is merely a request for assistance.

SilverBride · August 31

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Yes. I already stated that I was wrong about that. I guess you missed the edit.

I did miss the edit while making that post. Thanks for clarifying.

Erickson9610 · August 31

SilverBride wrote: »

Erickson9610 wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Players are always welcome to make threads with their own suggestions.

This is the discussion thread for this matter. We don't need more than one thread on the subject.

The topic of this thread is asking for assistance with a forum bug. It is not a thread open for suggestions on other features some would like to see in the forums. It is merely a request for assistance.

Why can't we give suggestions for possible fixes for the issue being presented in the original post? The topic of the thread is about the issue at hand. It only makes sense to ask for assistance and offer suggestions for how to fix it here.

TaSheen · August 31

Erickson9610 wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Erickson9610 wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Players are always welcome to make threads with their own suggestions.

This is the discussion thread for this matter. We don't need more than one thread on the subject.

The topic of this thread is asking for assistance with a forum bug. It is not a thread open for suggestions on other features some would like to see in the forums. It is merely a request for assistance.

Why can't we give suggestions for possible fixes for the issue being presented in the original post? The topic of the thread is about the issue at hand. It only makes sense to ask for assistance and offer suggestions for how to fix it here.

True. It's not any kind of issue for me because I never bother to dismiss the announcements - why would I? - they don't interfere with anything; but y'know, someone (not you obviously) insisting on a fix on a holiday weekend in the US is just.... not likely going to be taken into account. It will probably be Tuesday or Wednesday before anyone has time to look at it. And it's not as if the whole forum is broken....

FlopsyPrince · August 31

TaSheen wrote: »

Erickson9610 wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Erickson9610 wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Players are always welcome to make threads with their own suggestions.

This is the discussion thread for this matter. We don't need more than one thread on the subject.

The topic of this thread is asking for assistance with a forum bug. It is not a thread open for suggestions on other features some would like to see in the forums. It is merely a request for assistance.

Why can't we give suggestions for possible fixes for the issue being presented in the original post? The topic of the thread is about the issue at hand. It only makes sense to ask for assistance and offer suggestions for how to fix it here.

True. It's not any kind of issue for me; but y'know, insisting on a fix on a holiday weekend in the US is just.... not very apt. It will likely be Tuesday or Wednesday before anyone has time to look at it.

I didn't see anyone insisting it be fixed this weekend, just noting that it should be restored the way it was and also be consistent with the other language sites.

SilverBride · August 31

Derailing from the topic and may hinder getting this current issue resolved.

Erickson9610 · August 31

The claim in the original post is that people wish to be able to hide the notification, and they're upset that the button to hide the notification is missing.

Other people responded to the OP, claiming that they're glad that they can't accidentally hide the notification, because there's no way to bring it back.

So, a possible compromise between both viewpoints is to have a toggle that allows the user to collapse/expand the notification box. This allows the user to hide the notification if they dislike how much space it takes, while allowing other users to bring the notification box back if they accidentally dismiss it.

The discussion in the thread has opposing viewpoints, so that's why we're offering suggestions — it's not right to tell the people who disagree with the OP to just make their own thread.

Erickson9610 · August 31

SilverBride wrote: »

Derailing from the topic and may hinder getting this current issue resolved.

The constant discussion in this thread is keeping it on page one of the general section. Plus, with how many times @ZOS_Kevin was inadvertently pinged in all of those quote replies, and with how all the information they need to know is in the original post, there's little chance that this thread will be overlooked by the people who need to see it.

If we keep debating this topic into next week, surely ZOS will see it....

SilverBride · August 31

Erickson9610 wrote: »

The claim in the original post is that people wish to be able to hide the notification...

The claim I made in the original post is that the X for dismissing the Announcements is no longer there. It was not a request that we wish to be able to hide the notification... that is a feature that was already present as long as I can remember. The original post was asking for help to fix the bug that caused the missing X.

Erickson9610 · September 1

After briefly skimming the Vanilla Forums documentation, I learned that this announcement box is called a Moderation Message, and it can be set to Dismissable or not:

https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/169-moderation-messages

This is not a bug. It just happened that whoever wrote those maintenance announcements decided to not make the English version be dismissable.

Should this be the standard going forward? I think so. It's up to ZOS whether they want to continue making these messages dismissable or not. I find it humorous that an entire thread and debate occurred over what is a simple toggle.

SilverBride · September 1

Erickson9610 wrote: »

This is not a bug. It just happened that whoever wrote those maintenance announcements decided to not make the English version be dismissable.

There is absolutely no evidence that this feature was purposely left out rather than just accidentally omitted.

kargen27 · September 1

Erickson9610 wrote: »

After briefly skimming the Vanilla Forums documentation, I learned that this announcement box is called a Moderation Message, and it can be set to Dismissable or not:

https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/169-moderation-messages

This is not a bug. It just happened that whoever wrote those maintenance announcements decided to not make the English version be dismissable.

Should this be the standard going forward? I think so. It's up to ZOS whether they want to continue making these messages dismissable or not. I find it humorous that an entire thread and debate occurred over what is a simple toggle.

I think not. If they can not be dismissed those that want to dismiss have no recourse. If they can be dismissed those that don't want them dismissed can choose not to dismiss them. They still have that option so both sides get what they want. Accidently dismissing them can be fixed by users being more careful and taking time when they open the forum and start scrolling.
Accidental dismissing to me is a user issue not a forum issue that can easily be dealt with by the user.

Erickson9610 · September 1

SilverBride wrote: »

Erickson9610 wrote: »

This is not a bug. It just happened that whoever wrote those maintenance announcements decided to not make the English version be dismissable.

There is absolutely no evidence that this feature was purposely left out rather than just accidentally omitted.

How else would you explain it? It seems perfectly reasonable to assume that when creating the Moderation Message for the English forums, the Dismissable option wasn't toggled on. That would explain why only the English forums has this issue, when the Moderation Messages for the other language forums are able to be dismissed.

And besides, the Moderation Message is going to be removed when the maintenance of September 2nd happens, because there'd be no further reason to keep those announcements up. It wouldn't hurt to get an official statement from ZOS to clear up any remaining misconceptions here.

Edit: To clarify, I believe the Dismissable option was accidentally not enabled for this particular Moderation Message. I don't think ZOS intentionally left it non-dismissable on the English forums, and I highly doubt they expected this sort of heated reaction from the community over it.

TheMajority · September 1

vsrs_au wrote: »

No, it's an error/bug. As people have already mentioned several times in this thread, the 'x' button to dismiss the announcement is still present in various non-English versions of the forum, so it's only this one which has the bug. They all use the same forum software framework.

Yes, I understand. But with flexibility of the mind, it does not have to have this view of negativity. It is a plus for me, so I am of the view that it is an enjoyable thing. I will think of this as a feature until the time when it becomes removed and will continue to have this hope that my calm stated feedback will reach listening ears

kargen27 wrote: »

How do you accidently click on the X multiple times? On my screen it is/was a very small area and located in a place not near anything else I would click on.
That aside right now being unable to send the announcements away with a click is an annoyance.

and I'm guessing the people that maintain and troubleshoot the forums are not the same people that work on game development. Making people who are in charge of keeping the forums run smooth aware of a problem shouldn't be a bother.

It is unfortunate, but I can not explain the how and why of this to you completely because I do not want to display my personal problems. I will say only that we are all having differences and struggles in life and what a usual person can do or avoid, sometimes is difficult for me.

I can only try to remain in a positive perspective against all odds and troubles which happen, including things like these which can become a positive change with the right eyes

spartaxoxo · September 1

Erickson9610 wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Erickson9610 wrote: »

This is not a bug. It just happened that whoever wrote those maintenance announcements decided to not make the English version be dismissable.

There is absolutely no evidence that this feature was purposely left out rather than just accidentally omitted.

How else would you explain it? It seems perfectly reasonable to assume that when creating the Moderation Message for the English forums, the Dismissable option wasn't toggled on. That would explain why only the English forums has this issue, when the Moderation Messages for the other language forums are able to be dismissed.

Interesting. This would also explain why in the past I was unable to dismiss it, whereas other weeks evidently it was dismissible. It would also explain why it's the not the same site wide but only an issue in the English section.

Thanks for the information!

edit: Also, I see that it's the same on the desktop website now that I have my laptop.

CrashTest · September 1

I was just wondering what happened to the X to dismiss the announcements. I hope this gets fixed. It's annoying to scroll through the entire gigantic announcement block every time you view the forum or a topic.

I_killed_Vivec · September 1

Erickson9610 wrote: »

It seems perfectly reasonable to assume that when creating the Moderation Message for the English forums, the Dismissable option wasn't toggled on. That would explain why only the English forums has this issue, when the Moderation Messages for the other language forums are able to be dismissed.

[snip]

Why does it only affect the English forum? Why haven't ZoS commented? Indeed, more likely, why hasn't ZoS just quickly corrected the "error" without bringing any further attention to it? It's been several days now.

After all, if it is a simple error that could easily be made then it could also be easily corrected...

[edited for conspiracy theory]

vsrs_au · September 1

I_killed_Vivec wrote: »

Erickson9610 wrote: »

It seems perfectly reasonable to assume that when creating the Moderation Message for the English forums, the Dismissable option wasn't toggled on. That would explain why only the English forums has this issue, when the Moderation Messages for the other language forums are able to be dismissed.

[snip]

Why does it only affect the English forum? Why haven't ZoS commented? Indeed, more likely, why hasn't ZoS just quickly corrected the "error" without bringing any further attention to it? It's been several days now.

After all, if it is a simple error that could easily be made then it could also be easily corrected...

Actually, it's only been 1.5 days so far. Also, as someone else mentioned earlier in the thread, it's a 3 day weekend in the US, so that's probably why no comment from ZOS yet.

[edited to remove quote]

Elsonso · September 1

I wish to note that Vanilla suggests that important messages should not be dismissable. I would classify service announcements (maintenance, outages, etc) fall into that category.

(assuming they are using this type of message and they have not installed plugins that modify this behavior)

This may also be the case as to why I sometimes don't get maintenance notifications after I dismiss them. If someone is just editing the maintenance notification and changing the dates and times, rather than creating a new one from scratch, then the edit would not appear to anyone who had dismissed it.

sleepy_worm · September 1

This is my new favorite QoL feature.

Four_Fingers · September 1

All this hub bub because somebody forgot to check off the box that make a message dismissible on this one message.