ATTN: THE GREAT DREAMWIDTH MILLIGRATION 2012
Hello all, and welcome to the official Big Fat Organisation Post for the move to Dreamwidth! This gets long and rather list-happy, so it's been broken up into handy little sections. But first, some important notes:
First: you will notice that the first steps for most of the bits in Section 6 are basically the same. This is because we want to get as many character journals as possible, past and present, backed up to Dreamwidth. Why? Partly so that all their past entries/comments show up all pretty and with the right icons, but also so that, if and when LJ does what LJ does best and screws their site up even more, as much of the game's history as possible will still be accessible on Dreamwith. So if you've been putting off backing up journals for your old characters, now's the time to do it. Cool? Cool.
Second: please read this post carefully before you decide what you want to do with your characters, especially the section on rebooting the cast list and freeing up retired characters. Please also make sure you have read the post thoroughly before you ask a question. We have done our best to cover everything, and while we are happy to help, we also have plenty to be getting on with without needing to answer questions that are covered in the body of the post.
Third: if you have a character that you have not played in a long time, but that you have never formally deleted or retired, that character is technically considered active. Unsure of your character's status? Check the old cast list!
And last, but not least: we will be posting deadline reminders, notification of schedule changes, and any other important information to ways_back_room. To keep up with announcements, please follow the community, or track the 'mod post' tag to receive alerts.
1. We're moving?
2. What exactly is going to happen to my content at Milliways?
3. The schedule
4. Rebooting the cast list, and freeing up retired characters
5. Organisation Pt. 1
a. Milliways sub-communities
b. New contact list
c. New room list
d. New stables stockline
6. Organisation Pt. 2
a. I have active characters I am bringing along to Dreamwidth
b. I have active characters I want to retire
c. I have active characters I want to delete
d. I have retired characters I wish to keep out of circulation
e. I have retired characters I am okay with opening up for new players
f. An ex-player has a retired/dropped character that I want to keep out of circulation
g. I have retired characters I want to play again
h. I have reserved characters that I want to keep reserved
i. I have reserved characters I am okay with freeing up for new players
j. I can't remember who my characters are
7. Help!
a. Dreamwidth importing/OpenID claiming screencap tutorial
b. Cast list error messages
c. I have a character whose name / username / canon begins or ends with the number '3'
1. We're moving?
If you are coming here from the giant email of doom, and/or have somehow missed all of the billionty back room posts on the subject, you may be scratching your head right now. Yes, Milliways is moving to Dreamwidth. Our reasons for this have been extensively discussed but can essentially be boiled down to:
1. LJ's recent changes to the default comment scheme have FUBAR'd comment threads and subject headers, and caused severe accessibility issues, both for users who are prone to migraines, and for those who routinely use screen readers to navigate the site. We do not believe that we should have to employ hacks and workarounds just to make the site usable again, and as a game that highly values its players as a community, we believe that forcing users with accessibility needs to rely on stopgap measures is unacceptable.
2. Over the years, LJ has become an increasingly hostile environment for fannish content, and has demonstrated ever greater disregard towards the needs and interests of its existing userbase. At this stage, given trends both recent and long-reaching, we are no longer confident that any content on LJ will remain accessible. Milliways has a great deal of history that is valuable to a great many people; as mods, we believe that a move to Dreamwidth is in the best interests of the game's past, as well as its future.
For more information, please follow the link above. Please note, however, that this subject is not up for discussion. The decision has been made and voted upon, and while we appreciate that you may still have concerns or questions, the comments of this post are purely for discussing the various mechanics of the move.
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2. What exactly is going to happen to my content at Milliways?
The entirety of milliways_bar will be imported to
milliways_bar at Dreamwidth. All imported comments and entries will be displayed as belonging to the OpenID of the original poster - so, a comment made by character on LJ will show up as belonging to
character.livejournal.com on Dreamwidth.
You will retain control over all your content at Milliways. If you want to edit or delete imported content on Dreamwidth, you simply need to log in to Dreamwidth with your OpenID, and you will have the same level of control over your Milliways entries and comments as you do on LJ.
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3. The Schedule:
MONDAY 6TH - MONDAY 20th FEB:
4. Rebooting the Cast List:
We are also using the move as an opportunity to free up retired characters for apping by new players. The game has been around for a very long time, and continuity and story are important to us, so all characters who are currently retired will remain on a legacy cast list, for posterity. However, unless they are re-listed on the new cast list, they will be available for apping under the 'One Universe Over' clause - that is, any new versions of those characters will be considered to come from the next universe over from the originals. Their in-game canon will not be affected or contradicted; their story in Milliways will Stay Happened. For more information, see here and here.
HOWEVER, for various reasons, it may be that there are retired characters that you wish to re-list on the cast list, and so keep out of circulation. These characters may be yours; they may also be characters belonging to other/former players (for example, your character's BFF who died in a tragic Loompa-related accident years ago, and a new version of whom it would be hugely breaky for your character to have running around the bar). If so, check out sections 6d and 6f, respectively.
To sum up the distinctions in another way:
I want my character's game history to Stay Happened, and I want to keep other people from apping them: 6d.
I want my character's game history to Stay Happened, but I am okay with a new One Universe Over version being apped: 6e.
I am okay with having my character technically removed from game continuity (though individual players/pups may remember them or not, as they choose): 6c.
All that being said, please don't go overboard with re-listing retired characters. The Dreamwidth move is an excellent chance to shake off some dead wood and bring in new blood, so consider carefully whether you really need or want to keep a character retired.
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6a. I have active characters I am bringing along to Dreamwidth:
6b. I have active characters I want to retire:
6c. I have active characters I want to delete: Go to this post.
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6d. I have retired characters I wish to keep out of circulation:
6e. I have retired characters I am okay with opening up for new players:
6f. An ex-player has a retired/dropped character that I want to keep out of circulation:
6g. I have retired characters I want to play again:
6h. I have reserved characters that I want to keep reserved:
6i. I have reserved characters I am okay with freeing up for new players: Do nothing! Congratulations!
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6j. I can't remember who my characters are: Go to this post.
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7b. Cast list error messages:
7c. I have a character whose name / username / canon starts or ends with the number '3':
If you have any questions, comments, or glaring omissions to point out, please use a subject line in your comment. This will not only make the comments easier for us to navigate, but will help others who may have a similar question to find an answer.
(The observant among you may be thinking: "But mods! We haven't gotten any email yet!" Don't worry, this is all a cunning ruse, whereby we allow you lot to catch any obvious mistakes and stress-test the cast list for a short while, before sending out an email and a link to this post to, oh, about 1500 people.)
ETA: Okay, a great swathe of folken have just gone and subscribed to
milliways_bar without actually joining the community. Subscribing will let you follow the community, but does not make you a member. If you plan to continue playing a character, you must JOIN the community with that character's journal.
First: you will notice that the first steps for most of the bits in Section 6 are basically the same. This is because we want to get as many character journals as possible, past and present, backed up to Dreamwidth. Why? Partly so that all their past entries/comments show up all pretty and with the right icons, but also so that, if and when LJ does what LJ does best and screws their site up even more, as much of the game's history as possible will still be accessible on Dreamwith. So if you've been putting off backing up journals for your old characters, now's the time to do it. Cool? Cool.
Second: please read this post carefully before you decide what you want to do with your characters, especially the section on rebooting the cast list and freeing up retired characters. Please also make sure you have read the post thoroughly before you ask a question. We have done our best to cover everything, and while we are happy to help, we also have plenty to be getting on with without needing to answer questions that are covered in the body of the post.
Third: if you have a character that you have not played in a long time, but that you have never formally deleted or retired, that character is technically considered active. Unsure of your character's status? Check the old cast list!
And last, but not least: we will be posting deadline reminders, notification of schedule changes, and any other important information to ways_back_room. To keep up with announcements, please follow the community, or track the 'mod post' tag to receive alerts.
1. We're moving?
2. What exactly is going to happen to my content at Milliways?
3. The schedule
4. Rebooting the cast list, and freeing up retired characters
5. Organisation Pt. 1
a. Milliways sub-communities
b. New contact list
c. New room list
d. New stables stockline
6. Organisation Pt. 2
a. I have active characters I am bringing along to Dreamwidth
b. I have active characters I want to retire
c. I have active characters I want to delete
d. I have retired characters I wish to keep out of circulation
e. I have retired characters I am okay with opening up for new players
f. An ex-player has a retired/dropped character that I want to keep out of circulation
g. I have retired characters I want to play again
h. I have reserved characters that I want to keep reserved
i. I have reserved characters I am okay with freeing up for new players
j. I can't remember who my characters are
7. Help!
a. Dreamwidth importing/OpenID claiming screencap tutorial
b. Cast list error messages
c. I have a character whose name / username / canon begins or ends with the number '3'
1. We're moving?
If you are coming here from the giant email of doom, and/or have somehow missed all of the billionty back room posts on the subject, you may be scratching your head right now. Yes, Milliways is moving to Dreamwidth. Our reasons for this have been extensively discussed but can essentially be boiled down to:
1. LJ's recent changes to the default comment scheme have FUBAR'd comment threads and subject headers, and caused severe accessibility issues, both for users who are prone to migraines, and for those who routinely use screen readers to navigate the site. We do not believe that we should have to employ hacks and workarounds just to make the site usable again, and as a game that highly values its players as a community, we believe that forcing users with accessibility needs to rely on stopgap measures is unacceptable.
2. Over the years, LJ has become an increasingly hostile environment for fannish content, and has demonstrated ever greater disregard towards the needs and interests of its existing userbase. At this stage, given trends both recent and long-reaching, we are no longer confident that any content on LJ will remain accessible. Milliways has a great deal of history that is valuable to a great many people; as mods, we believe that a move to Dreamwidth is in the best interests of the game's past, as well as its future.
For more information, please follow the link above. Please note, however, that this subject is not up for discussion. The decision has been made and voted upon, and while we appreciate that you may still have concerns or questions, the comments of this post are purely for discussing the various mechanics of the move.
[ BACK TO TOP]
2. What exactly is going to happen to my content at Milliways?
The entirety of milliways_bar will be imported to
milliways_bar at Dreamwidth. All imported comments and entries will be displayed as belonging to the OpenID of the original poster - so, a comment made by character on LJ will show up as belonging to
character.livejournal.com on Dreamwidth.
You will retain control over all your content at Milliways. If you want to edit or delete imported content on Dreamwidth, you simply need to log in to Dreamwidth with your OpenID, and you will have the same level of control over your Milliways entries and comments as you do on LJ.
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3. The Schedule:
MONDAY 6TH - MONDAY 20th FEB:
- New cast list launches!
- Get going! Re-list your active characters and your retired characters you wish to keep out of circulation. Make back-up Dreamwidth journals for all your characters (yes, all of them, past and present), and note any new retirements/deletions in the back room roster post.
- Allpocalypse plot is set into motion.
- Re-listing and backing up continues.
- You may now also begin re-listing as retired any characters belonging to other muns that you wish to see kept out of circulation.
- ALLPOCALYPSE NOW
- THURS 23rd FEB: LAST POST ON LJ
- Mods take a breather, make sure nothing anywhere is critically broken, etc.
- Start wrapping up your slowtimes on LJ.
- PLAY BEGINS ON DREAMWIDTH
- DEADLINE FOR RE-LISTING CHARACTERS ON NEW CAST LIST
- Apps open for 2 weeks.
- DEADLINE FOR FINISHING SLOWTIMES ON LJ
- Last import of comments from LJ to DW.
4. Rebooting the Cast List:
We are also using the move as an opportunity to free up retired characters for apping by new players. The game has been around for a very long time, and continuity and story are important to us, so all characters who are currently retired will remain on a legacy cast list, for posterity. However, unless they are re-listed on the new cast list, they will be available for apping under the 'One Universe Over' clause - that is, any new versions of those characters will be considered to come from the next universe over from the originals. Their in-game canon will not be affected or contradicted; their story in Milliways will Stay Happened. For more information, see here and here.
HOWEVER, for various reasons, it may be that there are retired characters that you wish to re-list on the cast list, and so keep out of circulation. These characters may be yours; they may also be characters belonging to other/former players (for example, your character's BFF who died in a tragic Loompa-related accident years ago, and a new version of whom it would be hugely breaky for your character to have running around the bar). If so, check out sections 6d and 6f, respectively.
To sum up the distinctions in another way:
I want my character's game history to Stay Happened, and I want to keep other people from apping them: 6d.
I want my character's game history to Stay Happened, but I am okay with a new One Universe Over version being apped: 6e.
I am okay with having my character technically removed from game continuity (though individual players/pups may remember them or not, as they choose): 6c.
All that being said, please don't go overboard with re-listing retired characters. The Dreamwidth move is an excellent chance to shake off some dead wood and bring in new blood, so consider carefully whether you really need or want to keep a character retired.
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6a. I have active characters I am bringing along to Dreamwidth:
- Create a mirror Dreamwidth account for them (same username optional, but preferred). Then visit Dreamwidth's import tool, and import their LJ. Add a link to their old LJ in the profile info, and vice-versa.
- This will import all active icons from their LJ. If some of your icons are inactive and you want to bring them to Dreamwidth, you will need to either renew your paid account/icon package on LJ and then import, or buy a paid account on Dreamwidth ($3 = 1 month) and upload the remainder of your icons manually.
- This will import all active icons from their LJ. If some of your icons are inactive and you want to bring them to Dreamwidth, you will need to either renew your paid account/icon package on LJ and then import, or buy a paid account on Dreamwidth ($3 = 1 month) and upload the remainder of your icons manually.
- Then claim their OpenID (URL = theirljusername.livejournal.com). Assuming you have icons imported with the right keywords, this will make all their past entries/comments display properly on Dreamwidth, with the correct icons.
- Add them to the new cast list.
- Join
milliways_bar. Also join
ways_back_room, and/or track the 'mod post' tag for important announcements.
- All done!
6b. I have active characters I want to retire:
- Create a mirror Dreamwidth account for any characters you are retiring (same username optional, but preferred). Then visit Dreamwidth's import tool, and import their LJ. Add a link to their old LJ in the profile info, and vice-versa.
- This will import all active icons from their LJ. If some of your icons are inactive and you want to bring them to Dreamwidth, you will need to either renew your paid account/icon package on LJ and then import, or buy a paid account on Dreamwidth ($3 = 1 month) and upload the remainder of your icons manually.
- This will import all active icons from their LJ. If some of your icons are inactive and you want to bring them to Dreamwidth, you will need to either renew your paid account/icon package on LJ and then import, or buy a paid account on Dreamwidth ($3 = 1 month) and upload the remainder of your icons manually.
- Then claim their OpenID (URL = theirljusername.livejournal.com). Assuming you have icons imported with the right keywords, this will make all their past entries/comments display properly on Dreamwidth, with the correct icons.
- If you wish to keep them out of circulation, add them to the new cast list, choosing '[RETIRED]' from the dropdown menu. If you want to free them up for new players, skip this step; your character will remain listed on the legacy cast list.
- Go to this post.
6c. I have active characters I want to delete: Go to this post.
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6d. I have retired characters I wish to keep out of circulation:
- Create a mirror Dreamwidth account for them (same username optional, but preferred). Then visit Dreamwidth's import tool, and import their LJ. Add a link to their old LJ in the profile info, and vice-versa.
- This will import all active icons from their LJ. If some of your icons are inactive and you want to bring them to Dreamwidth, you will need to either renew your paid account/icon package on LJ and then import, or buy a paid account on Dreamwidth ($3 = 1 month) and upload the remainder of your icons manually.
- This will import all active icons from their LJ. If some of your icons are inactive and you want to bring them to Dreamwidth, you will need to either renew your paid account/icon package on LJ and then import, or buy a paid account on Dreamwidth ($3 = 1 month) and upload the remainder of your icons manually.
- Then claim their OpenID (URL = theirljusername.livejournal.com). Assuming you have icons imported with the right keywords, this will make all their past entries/comments display properly on Dreamwidth, with the correct icons.
- Add them to the new cast list, choosing '[RETIRED]' from the dropdown menu.
- All done!
6e. I have retired characters I am okay with opening up for new players:
- Create a mirror Dreamwidth account for them (same username optional, but preferred). Then visit Dreamwidth's import tool, and import their LJ. Add a link to their old LJ in the profile info, and vice-versa.
- This will import all active icons from their LJ. If some of your icons are inactive and you want to bring them to Dreamwidth, you will need to either renew your paid account/icon package on LJ and then import, or buy a paid account on Dreamwidth ($3 = 1 month) and upload the remainder of your icons manually.
- This will import all active icons from their LJ. If some of your icons are inactive and you want to bring them to Dreamwidth, you will need to either renew your paid account/icon package on LJ and then import, or buy a paid account on Dreamwidth ($3 = 1 month) and upload the remainder of your icons manually.
- Then claim their OpenID (URL = theirljusername.livejournal.com). Assuming you have icons imported with the right keywords, this will make all their past entries/comments display properly on Dreamwidth, with the correct icons.
- All done! Your character will remain listed on the legacy cast list, but will be available for re-apping under the 'One Universe Over' principle.
6f. An ex-player has a retired/dropped character that I want to keep out of circulation:
- Wait until FEB 20th to give their old player a chance to add them. If by then they are not on the new cast list...
- Add them to the new cast list, choosing '[RETIRED]' from the dropdown menu.
6g. I have retired characters I want to play again:
- Create a mirror Dreamwidth account for them (same username optional, but preferred). Then visit Dreamwidth's import tool, and import their LJ. Add a link to their old LJ in the profile info, and vice-versa.
- This will import all active icons from their LJ. If some of your icons are inactive and you want to bring them to Dreamwidth, you will need to either renew your paid account/icon package on LJ and then import, or buy a paid account on Dreamwidth ($3 = 1 month) and upload the remainder of your icons manually.
- This will import all active icons from their LJ. If some of your icons are inactive and you want to bring them to Dreamwidth, you will need to either renew your paid account/icon package on LJ and then import, or buy a paid account on Dreamwidth ($3 = 1 month) and upload the remainder of your icons manually.
- Then claim their OpenID (URL = theirljusername.livejournal.com). Assuming you have icons imported with the right keywords, this will make all their past entries/comments display properly on Dreamwidth, with the correct icons.
- Add them to the new cast list.
- Join
milliways_bar. Also join
ways_back_room, and/or track the 'mod post' tag for important announcements.
- Go to this post.
6h. I have reserved characters that I want to keep reserved:
- Add them to the new cast list, choosing '[RESERVED]' from the dropdown menu.
6i. I have reserved characters I am okay with freeing up for new players: Do nothing! Congratulations!
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6j. I can't remember who my characters are: Go to this post.
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7b. Cast list error messages:
- ERROR: Please try again
- Caused by too many concurrent database connections. Wait a few minutes and try again, or come back later!
- An error occured while attempting to add your character to the pending queue. This may be because they are already listed (approved or unapproved), or because the email address you submitted has already been used.
- The cast list requires a unique email address for every entry. Please read the instructions on the form and try again!
7c. I have a character whose name / username / canon starts or ends with the number '3':
- The cast list will trim off any submitted value that starts or ends with the number '3'. Because of... gremlins. Yeah. So 3:10 to Yuma becomes :10 to Yuma,
mycharacter123 becomes
mycharacter12, and so on.
If you have a character whose name / username / canon (/ any other field) starts or ends with the number '3', leave a comment here after you submit them to the cast list, giving their full details.
If you have any questions, comments, or glaring omissions to point out, please use a subject line in your comment. This will not only make the comments easier for us to navigate, but will help others who may have a similar question to find an answer.
(The observant among you may be thinking: "But mods! We haven't gotten any email yet!" Don't worry, this is all a cunning ruse, whereby we allow you lot to catch any obvious mistakes and stress-test the cast list for a short while, before sending out an email and a link to this post to, oh, about 1500 people.)
ETA: Okay, a great swathe of folken have just gone and subscribed to
milliways_bar without actually joining the community. Subscribing will let you follow the community, but does not make you a member. If you plan to continue playing a character, you must JOIN the community with that character's journal.