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The Department of Technology has been working through a series of changes over the past few months. As plans have recently solidified, and proposals are being enacted, we decided it was time to update the community on what’s happening.
Director Changes
Deoan Kakarot decided to step down as Co-Director of Technology last month. He served the Tower in that capacity for roughly 4.5 years. Sincerely -- thank you for your service, Deoan! With Deoan stepping down, we made the decision to revert back to a sole Director for Technology -- @Mendo Cath. We will not be hiring a Co-Director to replace Deoan.
Staffing Changes
In December, I met with Mendo and Deoan to discuss what they needed and wanted for their department. One big shift was moving moderation out; that has already been implemented. Another change was in restructuring the Master of the Watch positions into two roles, one focused on front-end functions (the Wansho) and the other on back-end functions (The Illuminator); this change has also already happened.
The last two changes deal with staff roles within the Department. First, they decided to hire an assistant for the Wansho, to be called the Mason, to help with various and sundry projects around the site. They have offered this position to @Kerwin Thaumiel, a long-term Department of Technology staff member, and he has accepted it.
Congratulations, Thaum!
Second, they decided to do away with the Department of Technology staff role. Many people have served in that role over the years, and we thank you for your service! Going forward, Technology will hire individuals on an as-needed basis for specific projects rather than keeping staff on hand that may or may not have tasks to accomplish.
These changes are already visible on the Organizational Chart shared with the community by Serinia back in January.
Xenforo 2.0
We have been testing Xenforo 2.0 for the past couple of months. Siera emulated the theme we have now, so that when we switch to what is essentially a new platform, things will still look somewhat similar. She is also working on a dark theme; look forward to it!
Mendo and his team will be migrating the site to Xenforo 2.0 from May 27, 2022 through June 1, 2022. During this period of time, no posts made on the TarValon.Net forums will be migrated to Xenforo 2.0. Look forward to the Void! Aintza and her team will be planning a multitude of shenanigans to distract you while we handle the transition.
Email
We researched pursued different avenues, but ultimately decided to keep a limited number of email accounts with Google going forward. The email changes were initially announced in this thread. Officer and Director accounts, along with miscellaneous others (such as chairman@ and sysadmin@) will continue to be maintained. This will incur cost for the Tower, but we feel it is a necessary expense. We have been working on updating processes behind the scenes in light of the elimination of other email accounts.
Mendo will be enabling a feature that will allow users to download their own content in their respective accounts prior to account removal. More information will be provided about that at a later date.
Director Changes
Deoan Kakarot decided to step down as Co-Director of Technology last month. He served the Tower in that capacity for roughly 4.5 years. Sincerely -- thank you for your service, Deoan! With Deoan stepping down, we made the decision to revert back to a sole Director for Technology -- @Mendo Cath. We will not be hiring a Co-Director to replace Deoan.
Staffing Changes
In December, I met with Mendo and Deoan to discuss what they needed and wanted for their department. One big shift was moving moderation out; that has already been implemented. Another change was in restructuring the Master of the Watch positions into two roles, one focused on front-end functions (the Wansho) and the other on back-end functions (The Illuminator); this change has also already happened.
The last two changes deal with staff roles within the Department. First, they decided to hire an assistant for the Wansho, to be called the Mason, to help with various and sundry projects around the site. They have offered this position to @Kerwin Thaumiel, a long-term Department of Technology staff member, and he has accepted it.
Congratulations, Thaum!Second, they decided to do away with the Department of Technology staff role. Many people have served in that role over the years, and we thank you for your service! Going forward, Technology will hire individuals on an as-needed basis for specific projects rather than keeping staff on hand that may or may not have tasks to accomplish.
These changes are already visible on the Organizational Chart shared with the community by Serinia back in January.
Xenforo 2.0
We have been testing Xenforo 2.0 for the past couple of months. Siera emulated the theme we have now, so that when we switch to what is essentially a new platform, things will still look somewhat similar. She is also working on a dark theme; look forward to it!
Mendo and his team will be migrating the site to Xenforo 2.0 from May 27, 2022 through June 1, 2022. During this period of time, no posts made on the TarValon.Net forums will be migrated to Xenforo 2.0. Look forward to the Void! Aintza and her team will be planning a multitude of shenanigans to distract you while we handle the transition.
We researched pursued different avenues, but ultimately decided to keep a limited number of email accounts with Google going forward. The email changes were initially announced in this thread. Officer and Director accounts, along with miscellaneous others (such as chairman@ and sysadmin@) will continue to be maintained. This will incur cost for the Tower, but we feel it is a necessary expense. We have been working on updating processes behind the scenes in light of the elimination of other email accounts.
Mendo will be enabling a feature that will allow users to download their own content in their respective accounts prior to account removal. More information will be provided about that at a later date.
