Topics

1

News and Announcements / New Rules regarding Temporary Layouts and Codes/Buttons

« on: January 14, 2017, 07:25:41 PM »

The Anime Fanlistings Network is implementing new rules regarding temporary layouts and codes/buttons effective immediately.

Temporary Layouts
- You are allowed to use "temporary layouts" for a limited period of time.
- If you can't finish your layout by the due date, you can still submit a Finished form and your fanlisting will be processed as finished as usual.
- Your temporary/incomplete layout *must* still include a way for members to join the fanlisting, a members list with countries, a last update date, and a link back to TAFL.
- A non-temporary/"complete" layout must have both a header and a css/style sheet. However, your layout will NOT be considered non-temporary/complete if it is based on a template and/or obviously put together in a hurry with a simple header image, minimal styling, and no codes. It is in the category staffers' discretion whether your layout is temporary/incomplete, but you can contact the Senior Staffers if you dispute the Troubles e-mail.
- You will have two months from your fanlisting's initial approval date to finish the layout and e-mail the F/U/C staffer. If you fail to do so, your fanlisting will still be listed, but your layout will be considered incomplete. Your fanlisting will then be subject to the normal Troubles process.

Codes/Buttons
- All fanlistings are required to have at least 3 graphical codes/buttons total. These graphical codes can be any combination of the standard sizes (50x50, 75x50, and 100x50).

These rules will be retroactive and apply to all existing fanlistings. Fanlistings with temporary layouts still up after two months from their initial approval date will be subject to the normal Troubles process, and there will not be any grace period for existing fanlistings. For the codes/buttons rule, existing fanlistings will be given a one month grace period (i.e. until February 14, 2017).

Please note that these rules are DIFFERENT from The Fanlistings Network's. As a reminder, The Anime Fanlistings Network is a separate network from TFL, and so we have different rules and policies.

2

News and Announcements / Holiday Troubles Hiatus

« on: November 18, 2016, 11:42:11 AM »

With the holiday season just around the corner, this becomes a time where many of our staff and fanlisting owners travel for vacation and become busy with their respective festivities. This announcement serves to inform everyone that, once again, we will be holding our annual troubles hiatus.

This hiatus will last from December 19th 2016 to January 8th 2017. It will only affect Troubles and Overdue updates. Therefore, during the hiatus period, no fanlistings will be placed on TAFL troubles.

We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season, and expect normal Troubles updates to occur after January 8th.

3

News and Announcements / Holiday Troubles Hiatus + New Year Greetings!

« on: December 24, 2011, 01:15:50 PM »

With the holiday season just around the corner, this becomes a time where many of our staff and fanlisting owners travel for vacation and become busy with their respective festivities. This announcement serves to inform everyone that, once again, we will be holding our annual troubles hiatus.

This hiatus will last from December 19th, 2011 to January 8th, 2012 - it will only affect Troubles and TLOU updates. Therefore, during the hiatus period, no fanlistings will be placed on TAFL troubles.

We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season, and expect normal Troubles updates to occur after January 8th. Last but no least, we've prepared a small greetings card, please enjoy!

[size="7"][color="#FFC0CB"]Happy[/color] [color="#9ACD32"]Holidays![/color][/size]

4

News and Announcements / Application System Revamp

« on: January 28, 2010, 01:42:01 PM »

With 2010 only a month underway, TAFL has already set about making some large and exciting changes that we'd like to draw your attention to.

As we have previously stated, the network continues to grow steadily, and our current backend is quickly reaching the peak of its abilities. Since we have hundreds of owners, as well as a dedicated staff, we recognized that a process both smoother and more efficient is something we truly needed to work on. Thanks to our wonderful Development Team, we are excited to announce that we will be introducing a new system for Applications. Not only will it ease the process that a staffer must go through when handling applications, but it will also help owners keep track of their pending applications via the "Your TAFL List" feature. As TAFL puts this new system into effect, we will be disabling the applications form starting tomorrow, Friday, January 29th until TBA in order to make this a smooth transition.

While we know you're just as excited about these new changes as we are, we urge you not to flood categories with applications before the forms go down. This will only slow the transition and make it harder on Applications staffers to make the switch. In addition, once the forms go down, any applications received by creative means or applications sent through other forms, including the contact form, will be IMMEDIATELY discarded. We ask for your patience as we make these changes, so that they can be as quick and painless as possible.

In addition, you might notice the Message Board out of service periodically during this week - please do not panic. While we update our Applications system, we are also taking the opportunity to update our Message Board. Should the board go down, or any other serious outage take place, we will be using Twitter to keep everyone updated.

We thank you for your patience as we implement these exciting new changes, and of course, any questions can be directed to the Senior Staff at seniorstaffers

• animefanlistings.org[/b].

5

News and Announcements / TAFL Network Policies and Rules

« on: October 14, 2009, 11:32:54 PM »

The Senior Staff feel a need to clarify the Network's stance on multiple identities, after a recent instance has made us take action against those disregarding our policies. Multiple identities are, and always have been, prohibited at The Anime Fanlistings Network. They are an attempt to gain unfair advantages over other network members during the application process. It is sad and unfortunate that there are those who would resort to such measures - fanlistings are supposed to be fun, after all, and the staff have always tried to make TAFL a welcome and open community. Thus, while a prohibition against multiple identities may seem to be common sense, recent circumstances have forced us to emphasize the existence of this policy and the consequences for violating it.

Members who are discovered to be creating and using multiple identities will be warned; if, even after being warned, members persist in using multiple identities, more drastic measures will be taken, including the removal of fanlistings unfairly gained and/or a network ban. These are not actions that the Senior Staff take lightly - in fact, since TAFL's inception, we have never had to ban anyone from the network. Obviously, we hope never to have to do so. Again, however, certain members have tried to circumvent network policy by using false identities, despite being warned; as a result, the Senior Staff have identified and removed the fanlistings (listed below) belonging to those false identities.

The Senior Staff hopes that this will be the last time we have to post about such a thing. We want to remind everyone that network rules are created and implemented to ensure a safe, fun, and respectful environment, both for visitors and for staffers. Furthermore, as a precaution, we would like to advise network members to not use multiple names and email addresses when applying for fanlistings. This causes more work for staffers and creates the appearance of multiple identities (even if unintentional). If you need to change your email address or the name that you're listed under in the database, please submit a Change Email form to the Senior Staff, prior to submitting additional applications, and notify the category staffers if you have pending applications under the old email. If you would like to change your board name, you may request that in the appropriate forum thread as well.

While we will take any step necessary to protect the network and this community, we do not enjoy admonishing or punishing, because that's not what fanlistings are about. Above all, we would like to remind our visitors that fanlistings are supposed to be fun! It's great to enjoy them, but please do so responsibly and fairly!

For a full list of removed fanlistings, please see the full update at our Network Log.

6

News and Announcements / TAFL Developer Drive!

« on: March 05, 2009, 08:31:10 PM »

Here at TAFL, we are dedicated to providing a pleasant and efficient experience for everyone, both staffers and owners alike. That's why, in our fifth year, we are looking to implement some needed changes to our current backend to make things run even smoother for all involved. We are therefore looking for some new Developers to help us do just that.

TAFL is a large network with 6,000 listed fanlistings and hundreds of fanlisting owners. Staffers do their best to keep things updated and organized as promptly and effectively as possible, but we are quickly outgrowing the limitations of our existing backend. We have many ideas on how to improve this, but we need help in making our goals a reality.

If you have experience with coding and script management, and you are interested in joining the Development Team, then we'd love to hear from you. All interested parties should send an email to the Senior Staff at seniorstaffers

• animefanlistings.org[/b] with your name, contact information, and a description of your coding experience. Please be aware that this is a volunteer position and only serious applicants should apply. We will be in touch to see if you can help!

7

News and Announcements / Happy New Year, TAFL!

« on: January 01, 2009, 12:51:04 AM »

2008 was an exciting year for all of us here at TAFL - lots of new faces and fanlistings were only the tip of the iceberg! For the continued support that all of you continue to show the network, the Senior Staff would just like to say: THANK YOU! We could not have made it through this year without all of our wonderful staffers and members.

On behalf of TAFL, we wish all of you a very Happy New Year! Here's looking forward to an even more exciting 2009!   :wub:

8

News and Announcements / Troubles Hiatus & Board Avatars News :)

« on: November 26, 2007, 11:16:25 PM »

Since we are quickly approaching the holiday season when many of our staff and fanlisting owners will be on vacation and busy with holiday events, we have decided to hold another troubles hiatus.

This hiatus will last from December 16, 2007 through January 6, 2008; and will only affect troubles and too long on upcoming updates. Therefore, during the hiatus period, no fanlistings will be placed on TAFL troubles.

We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season, and expect normal troubles updates to occur after January 6th. :/

We are also happy to announce that we have increased the board avatar size from 64x64 to 100x100 (consider it an early Christmas gift!

9

News and Announcements / Change to New Network Rule

« on: April 16, 2007, 01:25:05 PM »

Based on feedback we've received from staff and owners, we feel that the layouts requirement was in error on our part, and we are hereby removing the following from our rules:

Fanlisting graphics should reflect the subject you are approved for.
Your fanlisting's layout and image codes should feature images that accurately reflect the subject you have been approved for. (For example, if you have been approved for the manga version of a character featured in a movie or a game, your layout should feature manga images of the character, unless you are approved for the other versions of the character as well.) Your image codes should also be clearly marked with the subject you have been approved for. (For example, if you own a series, character or relationship fanlisting, you can not have codes featuring only one character from the series and the word "fan.")

The code buttons portion of the old rule remains in place.  It has been reworded as follows:

Fanlisting codes must reflect the subject you are approved for.
Your fanlisting's image codes should feature images that accurately reflect the subject you have been approved for.  The codes should be clearly marked with the subject you have been approved for.  (For example, if you own a series or relationship fanlisting, you can not have codes featuring only one character from the series and the world "fan.")

We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

10

News and Announcements / Characters N-Z: Recent TLOU Update Error

« on: April 11, 2007, 05:57:38 PM »

Due to an apparent error in a recent Characters N-Z update - which was beyond the current staffer's control, all fanlistings placed on Too Long on Upcoming/Overdue status are being removed from troubles until we can verify all Finished forms.

We apologize for the inconvenience if your fanlisting was incorrectly troubled, and thank you for your patience as we rectify the situation as quickly as possible.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact the Senior Staff with your direct inquiry.

11

News and Announcements / New Network Rules and Policies

« on: March 07, 2007, 07:14:43 PM »

This will also be posted on the updates blog, but here are some new network rules and policies related to applying, building and maintaining your fanlistings that will be going into effect immediately.  If you have any questions regarding these rules, please contact the Senior Staff directly via our contact form.  If you have a question about a specific fanlisting, please contact the appropriate Category staffer where your fanlisting is listed.

BUILDING A FANLISTING

Fanlisting graphics should reflect the subject you are approved for.
Your fanlisting's layout and image codes should feature images that accurately reflect the subject you have been approved for. (For example, if you have been approved for the manga version of a character featured in a movie or a game, your layout should feature manga images of the character, unless you are approved for the other versions of the character as well.) Your image codes should also be clearly marked with the subject you have been approved for. (For example, if you own a series, character or relationship fanlisting, you can not have codes featuring only one character from the series and the word "fan.")

MAINTAINING A FANLISTING

Your fanlisting must be easy to navigate and join.
Fanlistings that are difficult to navigate, have "hidden" links, and require code words will be placed on the Troubles list as this makes it difficult to join and goes against the network philosophy of accepting ALL fans. (This is not the same as fanlistings using Enthusiast or a management script, which asks for the fan to enter a password, or one is generated for them, so that they can change their information securely. The difference is that fans are added regardless of whether or not they choose to use the Enthusiast password feature.)

Each approved subject must have its own join form and members list.
If you have the fanlistings for two or more subjects hosted on the same site, the use of a single join form with a "Favorite" option to allow members to select the subject they are joining for is acceptable, although it is preferable that each subject have its own join form and member list.

APPLYING FOR A FANLISTING

You may have up to 6 fanlistings listed as upcoming at the network at any time, and up to 3 pending applications in one category.
If you already have 6 upcoming fanlistings, any new application you send will be rejected because you may not be approved for anything else until some of them are finished. Once you reach the limit of 3 pending applications in a category, any new applications you send in will be disregarded until the pending applications are either approved or rejected.

To further explain the first rule -- This fits into the 'ambiguous code' rule we have been implementing for awhile. This rule simply clarifies the infraction. If a fanlisting is for a character, it is permissible for the code to simply say FAN. If the fanlisting is for a group, relationship/rivalry, series, etc. the code must have the subject name. (If it is a series name, the code can simply say "series", or an abbreviated form of the series name) This rule also covers fanlisting layout graphics. If the fanlisting subject is ONLY approved at TAFL, only anime/manga graphics are permissible. If the fanlisting is crosslisted, other graphics are fine. If the fanlisting is crosslisted and there are several layout skins available, it is fine as well. (Example #1: I own a Pokemon character fanlisting here at TAFL, but not at TFL. I use game graphics on my fanlisting.) (Example #2: I own a Song fanlisting here at TAFL, but I use manga images in the layout. Exceptions to using manga images for a Song fanlisting is if the song is mentioned in the manga storyline -- ie: Gravitation, Full Moon wo Sagashite.)

Troublecheckers will be looking for these problems on all fanlistings in the next month and the Troubles staffers will send all fanlisting owners with violations a warning to fix the problem.  THIS EMAIL WILL NOT MEAN YOU ARE ON TROUBLES.  You will have a month to fix the problem and any subsequent trouble check will cause the fanlisting to be placed on troubles status if the issue is not fixed.

As stated previously, if you have any questions regarding these new policies, please contact the staffers directly with your inquiries.

12

News and Announcements / Trouble Checker Volunteer Drive

« on: January 21, 2007, 09:17:29 PM »

The volunteers list of trouble checkers was recently purged to weed out any older volunteers who were no longer interested in becoming trouble checkers or could no longer dedicate time to performing checks for one reason or another. Because of this, we need more volunteers!

Even if you've applied before in the past and have not been hired, please apply again, as we wanted to make sure we had correct and current information from all of our applicants.

If you're interested in becoming a trouble checker, please fill out the volunteer form. Be sure you read all of the requirements and fully complete the form before submitting it.  Just remember as fun as trouble checking can be, it is a very time-consuming job and we only want the best!

Thanks so much! :blush:

13

News and Announcements / 2006 Troubles Hiatus

« on: November 26, 2006, 06:20:28 PM »

Since we are quickly approaching the holiday season when many of our staff and fanlisting owners will be on vacation and busy with holiday events, we have decided to hold another troubles hiatus.

This hiatus will last from December 17, 2006 through January 7, 2007; and will only affect troubles and too long on upcoming updates. Therefore, during the hiatus period, no fanlistings will be placed on TAFL troubles.

We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season, and expect normal troubles updates to occur after January 7th. :/

14

News and Announcements / "Did you get..?" Thread Abuse

« on: February 08, 2006, 10:07:53 PM »

It has come to our attention that the "Did you get...?" threads are becoming more of a hindrance than a convenience. Please keep in mind that those threads exist solely as a courtesy to board members and that you should always use the contact forms to reach a staffer directly.

Chances are that you will receive a much quicker response using contact forms. E-mail is much more efficient for the staffer and thus for the category and for you, since a staffer is more likely to check their e-mail at least once a day than visit the boards every day. :kitty:

Although the "Did you get...?" threads will continue to be permitted on the board, please don't abuse them. We know that random issues will sometimes prevent mail from getting to and from TAFL. Just remember that there is no need to hammer the threads with repeat posts. Also, please keep your requests to the point by following the template described in the staffer's original post to keep things moving, civil, and efficient.

If the threads continue to be abused, then we will be forced to close them.

15

News and Announcements / TFL/TAFL Ambassadors

« on: March 07, 2005, 03:03:30 PM »

Continuing the partnership and good will established between The Fanlistings Network and The Anime Fanlistings Network, we are pleased to announce the appointment of network ambassadors, representing each site. Each network ambassador has full staff access at the partner network, and can represent their home network at the partner site.

The ambassador will assist in cross-network debates (should this subject be listed at TFL, TAFL or both?), can answer questions with the full authority of their home network, and generally help the partner network staff, if the need arises.

The TAFL network ambassador is Danielle, and she will act as TAFL's representative at the TFL network. The TFL network ambassador is Bonnie, and she will represent TFL here at the TAFL network. Although Bonnie is not a member of the TAFL staff, you will still see her at the TAFL board with her spiffy little TFL-coloured button. :bounce: Similarly, if you visit the TFL board, you may see Danielle with her watermelon-y TAFL-coloured button!

We hope that this will be a positive move for both networks, and are looking forward to further developing this partnership. :x