Here is the first incremental update pushing towards v3. Please make sure to flush your browser cache since just there are several JS/CSS file changes for this update.
6/1 updates...
Here are a few of the highlights...
And once again... updates will be trickling in over the course of the next several months so please be patient if we missed an enhancement or bug fix. Thanks!
I agree with drr, moving over that part of the website should cause it to stop rotating...
Keep it up team, the website is looking great :)
P.S. I am starting to miss the rating dots in the list, and I can only choose from the normal smileys... Might just be my computer/browser tho.
Edit: Never mind, cleared my cookies etc. now it's working fine.
Yeah I knew about them, I just meant that hovering over should have the same effect as clicking. It just thought it would be intuitive that way, but if it's just me then never mind, it's not a big deal 
EDIT: Whilst it is auto-transitioning, you actually can't click the tab it's currently on. I'm on Google Chrome - but if it's jQuery, I don't see this being the problem.
Anyway these are minor nitpicks, loving the minor fixes Sedge
@drr: Try this :)
Just noticed, the reCaptcha thing is cool. Better'n me trying to find out how many nickels in a dime 
Oh no! Another site going boring and depressing black/greyish. :(
I'm glad I can choose another colour, but still...
I know you do this to get the artwork more in the spotlight, but an inviting and nice feeling layout is also important!
@Sedge: Is it possible to stop the Top Pixel Art display thing to stop transitioning when you have your mouse over it? This way say you want to open two pieces, it doesn't transition as you are clicking the second piece
These emotes are sexy.
DawnBringer, drop the net-testicles. You wouldn't say any of these rude, immature comments to them in person. We all know you aren't going to leave.
mom always said: learn to adapt yourself, or die in the past
Share hover fixed.
Let's just say that the emoticons issue is resolved. Those who want to update or use their own can do so and those who want to use the sweet dumbo set can as well. Case closed.
Actually I thought that <----these smiles were default ones all this time, I thought that they are just on some button I haven't noticed. I never told, but when I see those generic smiles which are on every forum, it's like minus 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 to intelligence of that who uses them. But I like PJ set, that nerd looks intelligent enough.
Do no such thing! PJ is and will always be a community site, if people don't want to be a part of the community *points finger* door's thatta way ---->
Emotes stay. End of story. 
I the same! I actually say take them down to be honest! I cant believe a gift to the site like this has caused so much lose of sleep.
Man, of all the bitching I foresaw, I never imagined people would be bitching over dumbo's emotes. Damn.
That share thing is a nuisance I guess... I'll look into it.
The only thing i really miss are the rating dots in the gallery view.
Just stopping by to say I like the new website, but I have a few comments tho.
I agree with everyone on the share button, when you mouse over that link on the homepage or at a pixel piece, it opens an annoying screen. I suggest making it so it pops up when actually CLICK on it.
I'd also dislike the speed in which the thumb gallery switches. In fact, i'd like it to be customizable so I can switch off the Hall of Fame, but I guess that's just me.
Overall, really well done! And I don't care about the smiley problem, previous ones where fine, but the nerd is also cool :) Haters kan just use symbols :) instead of smileys. Also, is it just me or are the smileys reverted? I at least want both :(
It's probably because they are somewhat distracting, and despite an advanced level of awesomeness, don't all, in every case, read as well as regular smilies. Also, I've mostly ever seen them in the chat box, where they seem to be used for their comedic affect (I could die laughing at some of those little guys, if I wasn't careful!) and so when people want to make a serious comment (with smilies? oh well...) they seem to dilute the message, in the way a rambunctious child shouting "Mother, look!" will draw your attention despite what other siblings are doing.
And I also mouse over the "share it" icon all the time by accident, and silently wish it a fun retirement to hades.
Hey, threats and name-calling! Remember Penn & Teller Get Killed? What's life without a little excitement! What Ireally wish is that people would never comment on the 'tone' of a comment ("oh, how hurtful!", "oh no, you cleverly thought of a pun of my name that rhymes with stoopid!", "why are you picking on me, Mr. Angry Pants?") and stick to addressing its content!
Oh, and thanks for the tip about the smilies, dumbo 
.
I'm perfectly fine with both namecalling and threats, my mind is an impenetrable fortress of steel. Sticks and stones and you know the rest...
As for the emotes I am genuininely confused as to why everyone is such in an uproar. Why do people want generic smilies when we've got custom made smilies to match our mascot? It's like going to a hockey game and wearing a football t-shirt.
@dumbo: Don't talk to me.
Huh? He was explaining how to use other smileys since you seem to dislike his so much.
@All: Let's stop antagonizing each other please. Just ignore negativity and move this into a more positive place
@dumbo: Don't talk to me.
@Sedge: It was a joke...perhaps it would have been clearer if there was real smilies! ;) So, "threats" are ok but not namecalling?
Yes, the share-link. It opens a pop-up every time the mouse happens the cross over it. Same in FireFox and Opera. Since the link is in the midde of the screen it happens ALL THE TIME.
@DawnBringer: Let's chill on calling people names please. We are genuinely interested in making things work, but we would prefer to keep it civil and constructive.
What exactly is the "share-link-auto-popup-in-the-middle-of-every-screen"? Are you referring to the Share link under news posts and pixel art? Maybe this is something you are seeing that other people are not. What OS/Browser are you using? Can you provide a screenshot? And again, the auto-max-rate sounds like a bug, but I don't see it so it would be helpful if you could provide an example.
@All: Let's stop antagonizing each other please. Just ignore negativity and move this into a more positive place.
As for the motivation for some of our design changes like the "thumb" layout and the new home page.... one of the problems we've had on this site is a lack of clarity and simplicity. Removing a vertical column on the home and having thumbs for the gallery is meant to give more focus to the actual art. And with the thumb gallery in particular we were trying to cut out a lot of the scrolling. Obviously, this move in particular has upset some people and we will certainly do our best to address concerns while still moving forward with other development.
@DawnBringer: Are you really this angry about the changes. Does the interweb make you this mad, really?
You can use your own now. Jal and green have been using these emotes along with others for years. All you have to do is click that smiley face right up there, right click it, and type in the web location of the emote you want to use. Then POOF... it shows up here in your comment. It's not an internet secret. Most know how to use it actually.
@greenpussy: Bring it on! ;) How can one use these when you can't even tell what it is, and some people say there is no ;) which is my most commonly used smiley, is this right?. When I send someone a message I don't want to talk silly-nerd...I want to express my serious (hrmph, well...) emotions. And what do mean, make your own... will you implement them if I do or are you just ranting? :P We don't need any new ones...the old ones were just fine. And if you're not about to change them...then the smiley-button in the message tool-bar should be updated to nerd-face! :D
And again; what the hell is that f**king "share-link-auto-popup-in-the-middle-of-every-screen" good for?... is it some add financing the entire PJ? If not; kick it to kingdom come!
And I don't like the thumbnail-system either. The info-bubbles are just akward and I miss the overview. It might be fancy but it's not practical. An option to swap into 2.0-listmode would be great.
And what's with those maxscore-prefilled ratings? Do you auto-max-rate an image by viewing it or is it just a bug?
"If changes bring up so much distress why would we ever want to try again"
Because deep inside you realize that despite all your hard work not all things turned out well. And when the smoke has settled and you've caught your breath - you will remember that true virtue lies in the aspiration of personal excellence...and that there is still hope of gaining the public admiration and gratefulness that might have eluded you the last time! :D
Awesome that you guys fixed up everything so quickly with the new layout.
Fade-in is much better than the other transition, and helps a lot. I still miss having the hall of fame on the side, though; it was kinda a constant, inspirational presence.
Added info in the mouse-overs is really great too, though I still miss the old vertical layout. I kinda feel like it's harder to take them all in this way (instead of seeing each one in turn as I scrolled). That's probably the biggest thing for me.
Still really hope the google search is temporary. When I search through a gallery, I really want to see pieces in that gallery, not bits picked out of comments and forum posts, but since the old one is still in place, that's more of an inconvenience.
Anyway, I really appreciate the fact that you guys are listening to the posts. As has been stated numerous times, you don't really have any obligation to; it's just really nice.
@A number of posts: I find characterizing all complaints as "whining" more annoying than actual whining...
Next person I hear whining about the emotes is going to get a bullet between the pointless gray matter. 
Here's some sage (and very blunt) advice: Put up or shut up. You don't like the emotes, then make your own.
Anyway, bug report: It said I had new messages (someone replied to a chatterbox post I made), so I click on them but it took me to Sedge's profile instead.
Fixed everything that bothered me, and damned quickly too. A++ guys!
Any idea if there will be an option to return to the old one? Not really digging the new one much D:
Awesome improvements with the rating boxes and the scroller 
Oh and I've found a good point for the google searching tool : you can launch it hitting enter
>So if comments/faves were shown underneath the gallery items would that work for you? That seems to be a common crit.
Yes, it would be better. But 2.0 variant still has the advantage of being in the style of Queue/galleries and representing a constant vertical stream as blogs and any website updates/news sections have. So it should be more natural not only to those used to 2.0, but also for new public.
Perhaps grid-based approach reminds of deviantArt, but I never found it's interface very appealing. Grid has more base on YouTube and Google image search because that way you can very quickly find the specific image/video you need without much scrolling. But in the gallery constantly updated in certain order it is not the best way, I think.
where the nerd is? :_(
Anyway the new pixeljoint is amazing... really cool view and it looks very handy... Great job.
My only qualm (I don't know if someone already told this) is about voting squares size; imho they are too small and too close each other...
im totally raging about this for the sake of raging, just letting you know
Love the theme personally just have on problem with it, Its pretty hard to tell the difference when you rate something because of the color change light gray to a regular gray. I prefer if you went back to gray to blue, it would be so much easier to tell how you rated something <:
Alrighty, I've added about a dozen items to the list today and will get to them for a 2.6 update sometime very soon. Some updates might trickle in without a formal "release" so keep your eyes peeled.
Excellent job, I'm really enjoying the change and I appreciate it. =)
Why can't we update the PJ-Logo? I'd bet people here could make the awesomest logo.
Although I personally find the new emoticons to be a major eyesore and relatively functionless, and would personally prefer not ot have them in my posts or near my work (that's about as firm a stance as anyone could take on the matter, yeah?), there's nothing forcing me or anyone else to use them, and I can't understand what the fuss is about.
It should also be highlighted as frequently as possible that this site, by hosting portfolios, brings far, far greater profit to its users (through job offers and general exposure) than it does to the creators/managers, and that few here (if anyone) really gives back to the community, so vulgarity and whininess is not apropriate. It is important to remember who is being served, and on what terms, and that nobody is entitled to anything here (except civility).
Furthermore, "SPEND HOURS WORKING TO MAKE IT HOW I WANNIT OR IM GONNA LEAVE" isn't as impressive an argument as one might think it to be, especially given the above-noted lack of contribution. What does pixeljoint gain from a single, beligerent member? Let's try making points using direct, constructive criticism rather than immature (and ineffective) leveraging and trash-talking.
well yes i still stand by that, but not to as a harsh of a degree as i stated it. my activity will be dropped due to this update and its many annoying natures. some things may have alreaady beent here but if so they've surfaced to be more noticeable.
its just that there is only so many annoying things i can take at once, and i work around people that are no smarter then peanuts. so having to pick up there slack as a programmer takes most of my patience. and its for that reaason that this place seeming more annoying well i don't want to get to worked up so dropping my activity is probably the better option.
forth one along is a clown, how does that resemble a person poking there tongue out in any way? and i kind of mean't when you type ":P" then when comment is posted usually it gets replaced with the emoticon for it. thats how most places are. like i said before it doesn't really phase me though about the emoticons. there not worth using anyway so i dont care about them enough to complain any further.
however in the previous version didn't emoticons have alt text? so when you moused over them it would say what it was like crying o r happy or what ever...
That'd be a problem on your end then. (It's the fourth one)
It's what you said earlier that was irritating.
"i'm not coming here anymore until version three comes out"
"there is so many annoying things about this update"
And, on something that happened before the update: "how mnay problems am i going to find bloody hell. way to beta test your updates guys"
And blue dots are now squares! Yaaaay!
actually jeremy look at your post the emoticon for :P didn't show up. lol and its not listed as one eiter from what i can see so you just kind of proved my point thanks. also if you read my post and not just the parts you wish to, you'll see i politely wrote up the top "for the next release can you consider adding the following:" :)
so i was asking if they'd consider doing all that in future updates. dumb-dumb.
wow i just read through all of the comments
literally everyone is being a babby beiber about this. you know you love the change, stop your complaining
Argh they changed and now it sucks /rage delete 
Really, versatility with the emotes is a wonderful thing. If you click one of the little buttons below the scroller it stays in place. Try actually going 'round the site before bitching at first impressions.
@x-death: Some of those "new problems" have been here for years. Stop complaining about things that may well be fixed in later updates. 
works fine for :P and The old set really didn't show of the pixellyness of the site (No offense intended to Blueberry Pie!)
(Is this blue dots being full thing a bug or not? halp? )
Sedge: if you look over my posts i've claimed many found issues or problems with the site. but for the next release can you consider adding the following:
- moving zoom buttons to above image. so they don't change location upon image being zoomed in
- when you mouse over a picture you get its title and creators name. right now its lacking of info and is seeming a liitle empty. perhaps you could add more in there like info on the creator or more on the peices like the fav's and comments. i know many have asked for that back as well. perhaps you could even add something there so people will know if the picture is just what we can see in the preview picture or if there is something else that lies beyond that.
- i have no problem with the look of the emoticons, but i feel that if a set was going to be choosen it needs to cover everything like the basic ones as well. like this :P or ;) those are two emoticons that are very popular and widely used. but yet its not covered in this set.
- the editor that opens when your editing a post looks really good and fis in with the pixelation theme i use great, not sure abut other themes. so why not do the same thing for the editor we use to post comments and stuff?
- i'm not sure what you guys did but theres sessions now. and i'll be on a page typing into the edit post box or posting a comment and the psession will end and i'll be taken to a register page but if this is going to happen either log the person out first and then take them to the page or get rid of it from happening. its just annoying currently, and makes this place feel like a buggy mess. wether its true or not.
- i'm using pixelation theme and when i try to view my favourites i get taken to a blank white page with all my favourites listed down the page. is this permanent or a mistake? because i liked how it displayed previously in version 2. which for those who are unaware is the version before the update that was just made.
- via PM previously the site remembered PM's made by you to someone a good number of them. and it displayed them now it shows only the last few. i understand you guys probably done this to increase speed of loading. but it might be something to consider because it was good being able to look through your conversation via PM. no other site allowed that at all really.
- the image rotator i feel should give poeple more time before it begins moving a new set on screen. not alot more time just a bit more.
also the drop down menus you get for going over an image or a nav button, is the same color no matter the theme. i was told by jal that this is because it has a big impact on performance, a big enough one to not mess around with it. so is that something you guys are going to work on for next update?
Mmmm, I get a little bit dizzy with the fast change of pixel-art galleries at the top of the site.
I like those changes but I keept the PJ v2 thece cause is easier to read over clear color backgounds and the transparencies for many pixel arts looks better and realistic. Howeva, congrats fot this change!
Mostly looks good to me. I have just one complaint for the time being: I can't tell/remember when I'm done rating new pieces anymore. 
Looks awesome, and works great for me! Good work!
select messages/whatever-that-other-one-is doesn't work anymore
it's not a huge deal to have to select everything in my inbox individually to delete them but
having those buttons working again would be nice
I mean, if we're taking suggestions, I do really think that the ratings buttons could be enlarged at least to twice the size they are now, and the scroll speed of the top previews could be slowed significantly (right now it causes some vertigo).
I sound like an old man...
pointless empty area with a ffew pixel arts on the left side, whats the deal with this?
Reistance to change is a human condition, look at the positives and give yourself some time with the new to point out the things that really bother you
More of you get Weekly Showcase exposure 
More people will be forced to look at new pieces that may otherwise go unoticed
Stray pixels and useless BGs will occur less with a dark default theme
Since when have emotes been such a big deal, this 
set is exclusive
If changes bring up so much distress why would we ever want to try again 
What's with the huge sense of entitlement in this thread.
So something went wrong and most of you just go waa waa bitch bitch, I'm leaving forever. Come on guys what the hell.
Once again, love the work you guys have put into this. I will be PMing you some CSS bugs soon.
Just for the record. It's fine, and I understand that some of you may not want to use the new emote set added in the update. But I made them as a mere gift for the Pj message center over a year ago (all 60 something of them). So please keep in mind they were based off of iSTVAN's Nerd mascot. And that no one here asked me to do them for the site. I did all of that work out of the kindness of my heart, truly . It just seemed as though a pixel site (such as PJ) needed to have their own custom emoticons to me. Not the same old round, smiley faces EVERYONE has.
I think the best idea is as Hatch said. Add the old ones as well.
the bar at top who show the weekly, hall of fame, etc is a really annoying. Plz... is there is anyway to do the same but in vertical scrolling for less annoying and more time or configurable??... if that possible, pzl plz!!! XDD. The rest is all neat. I like the menu, is similar to the old but less confuse. Keep up the good work!, and thx for keep this site alive and kicking... :D
I don't mind that the new emoticons are borderline unusable/noncommunicative, because I'm growing to like more and more in recent months when people write what they think using words :).
Ok, I am seriously confused. Why have generic emotes when you've got tailor made one? I mean really?
dumbo's emotes are perfect, purrr~fect! 
@DawnBringer: Hatch's idea of alt sets and/or expanding set is fine by me. I just want to make sure it's a "set" and not one-offs.
@A.B. Lazer: So if comments/faves were shown underneath the gallery items would that work for you? That seems to be a common crit.
@Redshrike: I've tried a couple times to fix that search enter bug and it hasn't worked. Maybe I'll try and update that with jQuery tooltip to see if that'll fix it. As for the Google Search... it's more effective for me personally because I like searching with more "phrases" which doesn't work with our simple PJ search.
@sedge and crew. I think everyone understand you're doing your best to make stuff as good as possible. People just have different preferences (and level of patience ;) ). But surely you must recognize the need for a generic smiley-set!? Then if it's possible...by all means, add all the extra nerdicons and symbols that can be found! :D
And yeah, please move or remove that "share it" link in the middle of the picture pages that auto-opens that incredibly irritating window...it's driving me crazy!
"Fixed www.pixeljoint.com and pixeljoint.com conflicting session/cookie issues"
Best thing.
Only thing I really miss is the layout of Newest Pixelart section, the core section of the site. I think that old one was a lot more hands-on and quick to use because you could say who done what and which amount of comments got without need of placing cursor over it. And it was in the style of Queue and personal galleries.
I don't really like some of the new things I've noticed: I don't like jumping between weekly showcase, new and hall of fame (especially hall of fame; I liked having those on the edge a lot), and I don't like the google search (every site I've been on that's had it, I either don't use search at all or do an external google search if I really need to). Also, all the empty space at the sides grates on me. Maybe that's because I'm using the 2.0 theme, but I prefer lighter themes, so yeah.
Really, the only problem I've ever had on PJ, and the only change I'd particularly like to see, was that if you press enter after you write your search item on the other search system, it just reloads the page, and that problem has not been solved.
So it's not like I'm saying it's all bad; it's just that, in terms of visible features, I don't see any particular advantage to the new over the old. Just my two cents...
Edit: Also what AB Lazer said.
There are already a ton of nice emoticon sets made by members. Maybe those who are interested could say so and we could vote on another set to use alongside the dumbo set, or just bring Blueberry_pie's set back (again, alongside the dumbo ones). I'm happy to throw my set into the ring.
There are a few bugs I'm tracking down right now. Some of them came up last night while posting and I'm trying to get them worked out now. Please read the following if you have a concern...
And lastly... I don't mind a few slings directed at me, but I'm a little annoyed at the comments of the emoticons... dumbo's set is so clearly popular in the site and the forum even without them being integrated at all. How could we NOT integrate them? If you'd like to see new icons feel free to create them yourself (seriously) or ask dumbo nicely if he'll consider making new ones.
I agree with DawnBringer. It'd be great if we could get the option to switch between views back, but regardless it seems like it should default to list view.
Also, I'd suggest removing the light grey lines around everything. It makes it look a lot cleaner and nicer in my opinion: [link]
EDIT: [better link]
Also changed the color of the remaining light gray lines to the header color.
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first time using new emotes wooo yaaa
@Pragz: What the hell is wrong with you? How do you dare accusing me of that bullshit!?!
"net-testicles"? You think I've been tough so far!?? Wow, then pray you never see me real angry! And would never say anything to anyone I wouldn't say to their face..actually, I'd say a lot more to their face. Wanna meet? ;)
And I haven't been rude...I gently snubbed one patronizing comment becuse I'm mature enough not to escalate a conflict. Everything else was in good spirit; jokes or pointers at technical problems. I haven't said anything about leaving that I can recall (Although that pop-up made think about it ;) ...but now it's fixed. thanks sedge.). And let me educate you (and a few others): There is nothing more offensive and immature than uninvited, involving oneself in others conflicts/discussions, picking sides and publicly handing out one-sided & incorrect criticism. I wasn't upset at all before people starting doing that. But it's ok, I'm used to it. The world is full of idiots, there isn't much you can do about it...except ranting in places like this! Besides, who doesn't like a bit of drama and a good fight!? Haha!...
And, yeah the site is coming along nicely. However there seem to be quite a delay when ones messages/comments pages are displayed... can that be improved?