I wanted to post some information publicly for everyone to read regarding some new plans for ThinkingWithPortals to better serve our community. None of this has a set date; we're a volunteer army and we do the best we can in our spare time.

The long talked about changes to how the Community Spotlight are in progress and should be moving forward soon. If this is news to you, you can read the discussion thread for Spotlight changes, but the short version is that it's going to update more frequently and more automatically.

The big news, though, is the long overdue update / rewrite to our Download system. We will be closely integrating the Workshop platform to our new Download Database, ultimately replacing map uploads with Workshop links. Non-map uploads (skin packs, models, instance VMFs, and so on) will still be allowed, but all maps will be directed towards the Workshop.

The idea for the process will work like this: You, as a mapper, will go to a page here on the forum that will link your forum account with your SteamID account (using the OpenID method already in place on numerous sites). Once your account is linked, you will see a listing of all of your maps that are uploaded to the Workshop. From this page, you will be able to "publish" the map to our Download Database. Published maps will function very similarly to our current map listing; players will be able to view screenshots, you will have a forum thread created for discussion, and so on.

We will also be revamping category and rating options, so mappers will be able to set a "difficulty" and select testing element options and things like that. The new rating system will be a bit more intuitive. There will also be much more specific filters, so players will be able to find maps that they will want to play more easily.

As I said, we don't have an ETA on these changes, but they are on the forefront of our efforts and you will be hearing more about these very soon.

If you have any ideas or questions, don't hesitate to post them here! Thanks as always.

Spotlight automatic updating works, maybe. We'll see what happens in a few days when it rolls over.

Sounds good!

I was planning to publish future maps as workshop links anyway, so anything that makes that process easier is very welcome.

(One security-related question: I assume that this OpenID link will only allow viewing of someone's workshop maps, and not any form of "write access", right?)

HMW, yes. Steam OpenID is used in many steam related 3rd party services.

MrLate is correct. It's the same system used by most of the TF2 item sites, or at least any where you need to login. I can pull up info if you would like, but Steam fully supports OpenID.

This makes sense for singleplayer maps, but what about coop maps?

What about them? Currently the Workshop platform doesn't support them. Which is why, at this time, we're only recommending that people upload SP maps to the Workshop and not requiring it. When the Workshop does support Coop maps, we should (hopefully!) have our new download system well built and tested so that we can make a more serious move over to Workshop downloading. At that point in time, 99% of all maps should be uploaded through the Workshop and "published" on the site using the new download system.

msleeper wrote:
We're a volunteer army and we do the best we can in our spare time.

Volunteer army or not, General msleeper, you and the rest of the leaders do a fantastic job running this site. It's better than the vast majority of professionally run sites out there, imho. Thank you!

Really excited about the planned changes.

Thanks, friend.

msleeper wrote:
We will also be revamping category and rating options, so mappers will be able to set a "difficulty"(...)

Great! That really would be a welcome change.

Cheers, loving the changes!
It's nice not to have to hit the download button twice, and have the first post in a submission tied more closely to the file's description. (E.g. so you don't have to copypasta bits when updating.)

So I kinda fucked up some board permissions. I'm working on getting all of that corrected, the big problems should be fixed. If you can't view/post/reply to anything, let me know.

msleeper wrote:
So I kinda fucked up some board permissions. I'm working on getting all of that corrected, the big problems should be fixed. If you can't view/post/reply to anything, let me know.

And if you're having problems replying and sending pm's drop by in the IRC chat:

irc.html and report your issues there

hi, im new here, how do I post a question? (NOT a reply, a forum question)

Probably by not asking the same question in 3 different threads.