Merge 16:9 and 4:3 theme upload sections?

[thatman84]

Hi All,

I was thinking of merging the aspect ration theme upload sections for easier management and browsing.

Why?

1. Easier for me to move things

2. Easier to browse, less sections to click through

3. Maybe easier for search

4. Promote uploaded to tag the title with 4:3 Or 16:9. This should help user searches.

 

Please comment.

I am now expert but I do like our upload section but I don't like the mess it's gotten into. Only me keeping an eye on it and I don't see that changing much soon.

[Agard]

very good idea but also it would be good if the 4;3 themes was converted to 16;9 too

[thatman84]

1 hour ago, Agard said:

very good idea but also it would be good if the 4;3 themes was converted to 16;9 too

Your welcome to start doing it like others have in the past. Avar done a comprehensive guide on the process. It's in the tutorials section.

Edit: needed to refresh Thanks for the vote, much appreciated

I notice you did not add a vote. I urge you to vote on the poll

 

[Aorin]

I don't know how difficult it is to have both 4:3 and 16:9 separated categories, I often see the aspect omitted for tons of themes, specially in their title, even descriptions.

As for converting the themes to wide-screen, I'm not sure how was Avar's mileage with that, since I never saw a converted theme.

If we're talking about the thousands MAME themes, then it's a problem. Anyway, maybe more people sharing the same interest could get together and see what could be done. In practice, the overall composition of a theme would need manual inspection for a better quality overall, backgrounds would probably need new sources, content-aware and other filling techniques to complete the larger horizontal area can be risky.

[thatman84]

17 hours ago, Aorin said:

I don't know how difficult it is to have both 4:3 and 16:9 separated categories, I often see the aspect omitted for tons of themes, specially in their title, even descriptions.

Yeah this is one of my issues with having both sections. Many uploaded just don't take the time to add relevant info for sorting. I would say it's much easier for people to download an unspecified theme and test then grab another if it's the wrong AR. 

I would have to do the above then go back, find the theme, change the title and move the file to it's correct subfolder. I don't mind helping out but that's just to much.

As for Avars' mileage I'm guessing whatever he uploaded is as much as we are going to see. He said he won't be a part of the community again when he left

[Aorin]

10 hours ago, thatman84 said:

Yeah this is one of my issues with having both sections. Many uploaded just don't take the time to add relevant info for sorting. I would say it's much easier for people to download an unspecified theme and test then grab another if it's the wrong AR. 

I would have to do the above then go back, find the theme, change the title and move the file to it's correct subfolder. I don't mind helping out but that's just to much.

As for Avars' mileage I'm guessing whatever he uploaded is as much as we are going to see. He said he won't be a part of the community again when he left

I didn't see him saying goodbye, anyway, I believe it's better for you to have it all together in one place then.

[JSinn]

@thatman84

Honestly, I don't mind which way we sort the uploads. When I get my act together I'll be helping with the upload section. But first I have nearly 2 years of HS to catch up on.

 

[Bungles]

Cant see the harm in it. I have always tried to label my uploads with the aspect ratios. 
Might make a return to the scene one day, still making a new mini pinball cabinet. 

Just not up to the software side of things yet.
Hope y'all are well.

[thatman84]

Nice to see some familiar faces about!

 

Will see what the poll says on the 23rd

[thatman84]

UPDATE,

This poll may be redundant now. @JSinn is now helping me out with the download section so things may start changing slightly.

[Shippo]

So you wont be merging the 2 sections together ? Would be great to know before i will upload some new Themes

Also the Forum shows that before posting in the Theme Upload Section we should post it in Hyperstudio ? Can you post a link to that Section since i cant find it. 

Also what exactly is the Point of this ? Does the Themes needs to be checked before they are moved to the right section ? 

 

 

[thatman84]

20 minutes ago, Shippo said:

So you wont be merging the 2 sections together ? Would be great to know before i will upload some new Themes

Also the Forum shows that before posting in the Theme Upload Section we should post it in Hyperstudio ? Can you post a link to that Section since i cant find it. 

Also what exactly is the Point of this ? Does the Themes needs to be checked before they are moved to the right section ? 

 

 

I may not be merging but we will see.

Yes strictly speaking the process should be Announce your them with a forum topic then upload after any comments. The last couple of years there’s that’s not been happening but we are hoping to move back to that effort.

you should see all the announcement threads under the HyperStudio forum

 

You are still able to upload into the Upload Here section but not any subsections. For now anyway.

[Kondorito]

I agree that it is easier for both managing as well as finding to have all the themes merged in the same section, however, if this happens, I believe that an aspect ratio field selection should be mandatory for themes uploads (not just an optional tag in it). I know that this might require a little programming on the site's back-end; I'm just thinking of being ready for what's to come.

[thatman84]

2 hours ago, Kondorito said:

I agree that it is easier for both managing as well as finding to have all the themes merged in the same section, however, if this happens, I believe that an aspect ratio field selection should be mandatory for themes uploads (not just an optional tag in it). I know that this might require a little programming on the site's back-end; I'm just thinking of being ready for what's to come.

Good spot. I'll look into that

[thatman84]

@Kondorito I have added a working solution.

There's a new Required file detail field for Aspect ratio. 

Just need to speak with the other admins about getting so code behind to to limit the options. The fall back would be to make make two fields and Yes/No options for 4:3/16:9 but that's a bit limiting for 16:9ST and maybe 16:10 which there are some files for.