New Kongregate Version: CR 2010.08.10

Whew - what a crazy month this has been! Acquisition by GameStop, a crazy night in Vegas, and, oh yeah, we did some of this "work" thing too. :) This release is mostly pretty minor, with some formatting changes, optimizations, and a few logo modifications that I'm sure no one has noticed yet. (Just for the record, it was our idea, not GameStop's, to remove the Beta tag)

We do have a couple of fixes for developers in there, and a new kreds-purchase feature that allows you to save your PayPal information instead of logging in every time. Check out all the details in the changelog below, though you can also view the full (non-incremental) one at any time here.

As always, please feel free to add comments, questions, and suggestions to this thread.

However, this is not the place to complain about the GameStop logo or GameStop in general. You're welcome to do that in the multiple threads that have been created on the subject, but I'm keeping this one purely to questions about the release and reported bugs. Thanks!

CR 2010.08.10

Developers:
- Fixed a bug that was preventing us from renaming games. We still strongly recommend that you are careful and proofread your game names, since permalinks stay, well, permanent.
- Fixed another bug that was causing large delays in High Scores tabs showing up for games using our statistics APIs. It should be back to normal, which was a delay of at most 5 minutes after the first stat is submitted.
- If you have a kreds-enabled Flash game, you can now re-publish the game whenever you need to do an update without asking us for permission. The first publish of a kreds game still requires our approval, but once published you'll have control over it.

Users:
- It is officially the dawn of a new day for Kongregate. We are no longer in beta! The beta tag has been removed - rest in peace, you crazy little grey rounded box! (In other news, while we don't officially support it, I've already seen one script (by Vara) that can restore the beta tag for you - though I'd like to correct the script's description: GameStop did not make us take down the beta tag, that was our idea).
- In celebration of our recent acquisition by GameStop, we have added a small, tasteful GameStop logo to our header and footer.
- You can now save your PayPal information when purchasing kreds, meaning you no longer have to log in to PayPal each time you want to make a purchase. If you'd rather not have us save your information, just uncheck the option right below the package selection radio buttons. (Bonus information: you can manually clear saved credit card and PayPal information from your account on your Edit Account Settings page)
- Made some other slight format modifications (like renaming some buttons) to the kred purchase lightbox. Also went through to make sure PayPal was capitalized correctly in all places.
- Fixed a bug that would allow certain forum posts to break our layout.
- Combined a bunch of common sprites on the homepage and gamepages into a single sprite to reduce the number of requests needed, cutting down on bandwidth and load times.
- Made some CSS optimizations to the Welcome Box, game pods, and Quick Picks.
- Fixed a few glitches on IE6. Yes...many people are still using IE6... (though to be fair, in many cases I think it's because they're on someone else's computer who won't let them upgrade)
- Updated the logic for showing user type icons in comments and chat. In game comments you will only see K's and D's, and in chat you will only see K's, R's, D's, and M's. The goal is to only show icons that are relevant to the location, at least in communications (we'll probably leave them in some places, like leaderboards). Updates to logic for forums should be coming soon.
- We can now support pending PayPal transactions automatically. While we still recommend doing instant transfers or credit cards through PayPal, slower methods like e-checks will credit your account automatically when they clear (which can take a few days).
- Fixed a formatting bug in Zong purchases that made it impossible to buy kreds in the Netherlands. We've added "show more" links to give details about carrier-specific deals to keep them from over-wrapping the frame.
- Added "Terms of Sale" links to all kred payment method screens.
- Made some optimizations to pagination for shared content.

Yay for more updates!

[insert beta tag plea] And I want the beta tag back. >: [/beta tag plea]

Psst – didn’t you see the script I linked to that adds the beta tag back? ;-) (granted, it’s unofficial, but I think I’ve seen people already thanking Vara for it, and Ventero helped out, so I assume it works)

What a historic update :)

finkidz – Are you running some user scripts? Actually, I’m pretty sure you are, since user levels aren’t natively visible in forums. I haven’t seen any extra Ks, and my level is listed as 37 for me. We did make changes to how those icons are stored in sprites, so it’s very possible that existing scripts will need to be modified to account for the new dimensions/locations of those sprites.

The mouse-over on profiles, and the slightly-off level tags, are the only changes of those that I see. I’m not sure if we’ll be fixing the mouse-over issue, but I think we’ll probably recenter those icons (though I’m not the graphic designer – maybe the intention was to align to the top of names instead of the bottom – I really don’t know). Thanks for the post though. :)

EDIT: Never mind! Apparently this is an IE issue. Totally my fault for missing that in QA. I’ll file a bug report and we’ll get that cleaned up. Thanks!

I noticed my script that makes your username on the forums the color of any icon you have (dev, mod, K, etc.) is broken. I’m seeing the Ks and Ds again instead of seeing blue and red names.

I quickly installed that beta tag script.

Please let me know if you see any more IE glitches. I’ve already written up the floating level/user type icons in forums and on account pages.

Is this intentional?

Definitely not! I noticed a similar glitch on the Search page, but hadn’t seen it there. Thanks! I’ve added it to our bug report, and one of our graphic designers is working on it now.

Mazel Tov! Who has the champagne?

In all honesty, you should stop supporting IE altogether since IE is the worst browser ever devised.

Originally posted by EndlessSporadic:

In all honesty, you should stop supporting IE altogether since IE is the worst browser ever devised.

Agreed.

No, the browser on my LG enV is the worst browser ever made. :P

Originally posted by Phoenix00017:

No, the browser on my LG enV is the worst browser ever made. :P

Which browser is that?

Originally posted by Phoenix00017:

No, the browser on my LG enV is the worst browser ever made. :P

Details. Can we just continue with the pitchfork waving at IE in peace? D:

Which browser is that?

Phone browser, so you know it’s godawful.

I’ve never understood why IE is always looked upon like it’s a piece of shit. I’ve been using IE ever since I have had a computer, and I’ve never had any problems with it.

Originally posted by AbusedZebra:

I’ve never understood why IE is always looked upon like it’s a piece of shit. I’ve been using IE ever since I have had a computer, and I’ve never had any problems with it.

That’s because it gets you viruses without making it uncomfortable for you to surf.

Yeah, I suppose IE is kinda like a low-priced hooker. You might have a good time, but you’d better use protection. :)

Originally posted by Sharingan123:

Originally posted by AbusedZebra:

I’ve never understood why IE is always looked upon like it’s a piece of shit. I’ve been using IE ever since I have had a computer, and I’ve never had any problems with it.

That’s because it gets you viruses without making it uncomfortable for you to surf.

That’s why you get Norton to block attacks on your computer. I don’t even remember the last time I got a virus.

a list of browsers

This came with my laptop…

sigh A bittersweet celebration. Welp, at least I have my Beta screenshot to prove I was here three years ago. :D

Other than that, I guess I’m glad that Kongregate’s moved on. Although now seemingly more business-like, I guess that at least they’re profiting more. :P

Oh, and just a question to anybody who knows, but is there anything we need to look out for? I heard some sort of Gamespot Points thing is happening, but nothing else too fancy.

Still getting 23 errors here but it’s a nice improvement, the site is noticably more responsive. And drop IE6 for God’s sake.

Oh my, how the heavens have opened up, did you guys finally fix the year-long loading time on ‘Flagged posts’ for forum moderators?!

I clicked it and it loaded within seconds, and no Kongregate error. ♥

Thank you SO MUCH!

Oh, yeah Zshadow – I know we made some modifications to that. Hopefully it’ll be better now. :)

Oh my, how the heavens have opened up, did you guys finally fix the year-long loading time on ‘Flagged posts’ for forum moderators?!

Quite possibly the best update ever.

The beta tag has been removed – rest in peace, you crazy little grey rounded box!

Worst update ever. You guys suck.

Originally posted by finkidz5:

Phoenix- what kind of changes did you guys make that made the whole site bug out like this?

You’re using IE.