Tuesday Topics #67: Website Updates & Opening Character Commissions

Published by Loren , Borb

Learn about our recent website updates and us opening character commissions.

Introduction

Hey everyone, this is Loren from Donut Team and welcome to another Tuesday Topics.

This week, I'd like to discuss our recent website maintenance and Borb would like to discuss a new way you can support our team and our web services via Character Commissions!

Let's get into it!

Website Maintenance

This past week, we rolled out some significant website updates that have been cooking for about 6 months. Here's a breakdown of what changed:

  • An entirely new homepage that better introduces people finding us for the first time to who we are and what we do.
  • Brand new user profiles with customisable banners and showcases for various content.
    • In future updates, you will be able to customise the order of these showcases and whether each one appears at all.
  • A new account management page with largely the same features plus some new ones.
  • Significant internal updates to all websites to modernize the codebase, reduce room for errors and accelerate future development.

This update acts as an excellent base for all future web developments for Donut Team including:

  • Mod Bakery's long awaited upload/create-a-release feature that will allow users to create and manage releases on their own.
  • A new Wiki site to replace our docs and make them much more community driven.
  • A new Forum engine.

We are very excited to finally have these updates out and look forward to continuing to make awesome new websites to power the community.

Now, I'll pass it over to Borb to talk about our new Ko-fi page!

Ko-fi and Character Comissions

Hi folks, Borb from Donut Team here with an announcement.

After the launch of our Ko-fi page a while back, we're going to be starting up Character Sponsorships! These are effectively commissions that allow you to donate in a specific manner on our Ko-fi page and sponsor the creation of a character for Additional Characters or commission a 3D model of your own character (Simpsons style reference preferred, but not strictly required) in the SHAR style. The proceeds will be split between the modeler and Loren, the latter's share intended to help shoulder the cost of running the services we provide.

The cost will be $40, $25 for the modeler and $15 for website expenses. Please remember this is not a replacement for just making a traditional request, only a way to support the team and get the finished result faster.

Q. Does this mean we can't make requests without paying?

A. Nope! You can still make requests and we'll get to them as we can. This method just gets them worked on faster and helps support the modeler and cover site-related costs.

Q. If I sponsor a Simpsons character, do I get to dictate how the model is used?

A. No. Despite sponsoring it, there is no exclusivity agreement and any model of an existing Simpsons character sponsored will be made available for everyone's use. It's like adopting a highway!

Original characters are different as they are your own characters and we will not require them to be distributed.

Q. Will my contribution be recognized?

A. Yes! We'll list you in the documentation for Additional Characters (or the appropriate pack) as having sponsored the character. You will be listed under your Donut Team username.

Q. Can my request be denied?

A. Yes, but we'll most likely only deny grossly inappropriate or offensive characters. This is up to our discretion and if you're not sure about the character you have in mind, it is probably a good idea to ask us in advance.

For example, Adolf Hitler appears in The Simpsons but we wouldn't be willing to create a character model of him.

Conclusion

That’s all for this week. Stay tuned for another Tuesday Topics in the future!

- Loren from Donut Team

P.S.: Borb wants you to listen to this and Mochapoke wants you to listen to this.