[Outdated] Developer Forum Restructure & Collaboration Category Changes

Updates Announcements
#1

NOTE: This topic is from May 2018 and so contains outdated information on the categories and groups that are available.

Hello Developers,

We have some major updates to the Developer Forum to present. We’ve broken them down into two parts: New structure and Revamped Collaboration category.

The New structure section details the overall changes we’re making to the structure of the Developer Forum, while the Revamped Collaboration category section explains our goals for breathing new life into a section that we feel has not been utilized to its full potential. We’ve changed the Collaboration subcategory into its own category and are providing developers with improved tools for finding jobs, hiring contractors, creating partnerships, and building teams.

None of these changes would have been made possible without help from
@Lilly_S, @Astranox @EchoReaper @buildthomas @new_storm @Firecait @Nightgaladeld and lastly YOU the developer community! :slight_smile:

New structure

As our Developer Forum community grows, so does the breadth of conversations that take place. To accommodate the need for more distinguished areas of discussion, we have decided to make a few changes to the structure of the Developer Forum’s categories and subcategories. This includes some new additions, as well as some category restructuring to increase clarity and make it easier to find topics.

This is what the structure will look like going forward:

  • Public
    • Public Updates and Announcements
    • Release Notes
    • Surveys (Moved into Public from Developer Community Surveys)
  • Roblox Developers Conference 2018
    • RDC 2018 Announcements
  • Learning Resources
    • Roblox Tutorials (Moved into Learning Resources from Public)
    • Community Tutorials (Moved into Learning Resources from Tutorials)
    • Community Resources (New)
  • Development Support
    • Scripting Support
    • Building Support
    • Design Support
    • Xbox Developer Support (Moved into Development Support from Platform Support)
    • Virtual Reality Support (Moved into Development Support from Platform Support)
    • Mobile Support (Moved into Development Support from Platform Support)
    • Code Review (New)
  • Development Discussion
    • Cool Creations
  • Collaboration (Now its own category)
    • Recruitment (New)
    • Portfolios (New)
  • Platform Feedback
    • Documentation Requests (New)
    • Engine Features
    • Studio Features
    • Web Features
    • Engine Bugs
    • Studio Bugs
    • Web Bugs
    • Exploit Reports (Moved into Platform Feedback from Private Bugs and Exploit Reports)
  • Forum Feedback
  • Lounge
    • Roblox Discussion
    • Off Topic
  • International
    • Categoria en Español
  • Moderation Review Requests
  • Bulletin Board

New subcategories

As listed above, there are a few new subcategories on the Developer Forum. Here’s a brief description of each:

  • Learning Resources → Community Resources
    The Community Resources subcategory is meant for developers to post topics that will assist others with the development process. For example, a developer may want to share a website that provides royalty-free music or textures.

  • Development Support → Code Review
    The Code Review subcategory is a place to post your already-working code and have it reviewed by peers for tips, efficiency, and feedback for improvement. Non-working code that you’re trying to get help on should be posted in the Scripting Support subcategory of Development Support. The Code Review subcategory requires a template to be followed when starting new topics.

  • Platform Feedback → Documentation
    The Documentation subcategory is designed as a place to post feedback on existing documentation or to request new documentation.

Revamped Collaboration category

In addition to all of the above changes, we want to further encourage collaboration on the Developer Forum. We envision a category in which developers hire other developers, search for jobs, and post portfolios detailing their skills and experience developing on the Roblox platform.

The Collaboration subcategory has been moved into its own category to emphasize collaborating with other developers, and we also added some new subcategories to make that process easier.

Previously, the Collaboration category was more like an add-on than a real point of interest, and we want to adjust our focus to change this. Our vision for developer collaboration on the DevForum turns the Collaboration section into an area for recruitment, scouting, and hiring. We want to encourage teamwork and game studios, and we believe that the best way to get started is by providing comprehensive tools and discussion areas to make that happen.

  • Recruitment: This subcategory is designed for team leaders to seek developers for long-term partnerships or short-term contract work. Replies to these topics should be users who are interested in these team positions or contracted development. Again, we suggest that you should always seek legal contracts whenever payment is involved.

  • Portfolios: This subcategory is designed as a repository for developers to post their own portfolios and show off their development skills and experience for use in the Recruitment subcategory. Replies can be used as a way to show support for a Developer’s work and should be on-topic and minimal.

New DevForum user groups

You may have noticed we’ve also added new user groups to join that will give you an optional title to use on your DevForum account. You can see them here:

These groups and titles are designed to display what area of development users identify with, encouraging more collaboration and hopefully providing more context to development-related posts.

For those wondering what happens if you join multiple groups: you have to choose between which title you want displayed. You can do so here: https://devforum.roblox.com/u/(yourusernamehere)/preferences/account.

These groups are unable to be pinged, so don’t worry about joining and being mass-pinged.

New About Categories

We look forward to seeing how these changes affect the Developer Forum. If you have any more ideas about collaborating on the Developer Forum or the structure thereof, please do make a topic in the Forum Feedback category!

Thanks,
Developer Engagement Team

74 Likes
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#3

I like that we now have a proper place for portfolios to be posted on here. Wonderful :smile:

6 Likes
#4

Programmer tag owo

4 Likes
#5

Are we entirely certain that a Code Review section is a good idea? I’ve seen things get pretty heated based off of matters of optimization and a lot of people have very different ideas of what should be where along with how far into optimization one should go.

Beyond that, I for one welcome this stuff with open arms. Programmer tag hype!

1 Like
#6

And they say you guys don’t listen to us. Pfft please.

5 Likes
#7

Could we get a Web Developer group? i think finding web developers will be helpful for some people

1 Like
#8

Was this why the site was sluggish af earlier in the afternoon?

#9

While creating the sub-category this concern came up. Which is why we decided to add this text to the template. We can adjust it as we go.

#10

Not related to these changes. We investigated that issue and quickly resolved it. It might have been a setting that was incorrectly set at the time.

2 Likes
#11

What do you mean? :thinking:

:ghost: might have added it? :wink:

https://devforum.roblox.com/groups/Web_Developer

3 Likes
#12

Love the updates. My favorite is the addition of user groups as we can see who does what in terms of development.

Good work.

Edit/Note: Shockingly, I am the only Web Developer so far.

Another Note: I don’t know if this is intentional or not, but Web Developer doesn’t have a title.

2 Likes
#13

hmm … could this be the replacement to the ‘official’ ROBLOX forums I’m seeing here? :thinking:

Liking the changes. Think it’s going to bring a more vibrant atmosphere, especially as more and more members join and become full members. Titles are cool too.

Also a thought:
don’t know if you’re planning on archiving or deleting the categories after the fact, but if you’re going to archive them … why not remove the year in the parent RDC Category and keep it in the subs?

1 Like
#14

For next year, (Roblox Developer Conference category) we’re planning to leave the content from previous years and make it a general title for future years. This way we won’t have to create new categories for every year and at the same time keep the content posted. :slight_smile:

1 Like
#15

Love these changes! :fire: I owe you all a high five when I drop by the HQ in the distant future.

2 Likes
#16

All the changes are great, though I don’t understand the merging of feature requests and bug reports.

1 Like
#17

This change looks promising for both the veteran developers and newcomers to the site. Could you just reiterate the access levels for each type of account for the new and old categories now this change has been implemented.

1 Like
#18

This is an awesome change. It provides for better organization as well as a higher possible response time. :smiley:

1 Like
#19

coolio

2 Likes
#20

These changes are great! I like the groups that were added as well.

1 Like
#21

I cant become Web Developer on my settings.

1 Like