Layout Testing :)

Hey Jammers!

These past couple days, I've been making a lot of progress with my longterm goal of redesigning my blog layout. I guess I got a little burst of motivation when I learned that a lot of the older Blogger tutorials I've been finding actually can still work in 2022!

Here's a screenshot of what I've got done so far on my layout test blog:

A few of you may know that I actually finished that header in late 2019, but... never did... anything... with it. 0-0

While the header may have been the biggest part of the redesign– what with drawing the panda, positioning the background, adding glows/shadows, and don't get me started on the fonts– it was the page tabs that made me the most nervous. 

It's just hard customizing page tabs with Blogger. In the past I had tried using an image map (an image with multiple links), but the code stopped working after a while and many people told me that not all the page links worked.

But recently I've found a bunch of tutorials that did work!!! And now, after much trial and error, I think I'm pretty much happy with how the page tabs look. At least on my layout test blog.

While I haven't begun layout designing below the page tabs yet, I think the hardest part is finally out of the way. Hopefully...

> Here's the link to my layout test blog < if you ever feel like checking in on my progress!

I can't promise I'll be completely done anytime soon, but this project has started becoming more fun than annoying, so who knows?

See you in Jamaa!

WildWorks is Trash Again + Some Jam-a-Grams

Hey Jammers! Eek, it's been over a month since my last post. ^^;

This semester of school has been super challenging for me in a lot of different ways, so I've been pretty stressed out just trying to get work done. Though even through my gaps in posting, I'm still here! I check comments every couple of days.

And while I'm busy focusing on other things, sometimes your comments help me learn what's going on in the world of Jamaa:

Or in this case, the world of WildWorks' long list of horrible mistakes TT_TT

The day I learned that WildWorks was re-using Fer.al graphics and user data to push its player base into a shady game that runs on NFTs/cryptocurrency... I had a project for my animation class to edit. I ended up needing to spend the whole night working on it because it was so hard to focus on editing when I was just so disappointed.

For those who don't know, NFTs and other kinds of cryptocurrency have a terrible impact on the environment. They require huge amounts of electricity, produce huge amounts of e-waste (electronic waste), and put massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. They are exactly what we don't need right in the middle of a climate emergency. 

So... this just in, WildWorks: you stink. 

I'm frustrated that I have so much emotional attachment to a game about nature run by a company that obviously just doesn't care about the Earth at this point.

That's all I have to say about Cinder. I don't really have the mental energy to write anything more about it.

EDIT 1/1/22: But wait– there's more! Wildflower75 just alerted me to this AJPW Jamaa Journal page from April 2021:

(Screenshot from Rainbow000Pegasus' Ultimate AJ Blog)

...

Well, guys...

I only got one thing to say about this:

–––

While I know it doesn't make anything better, I don't want my first post in over a month to end on an entirely sad note. So here's a small content update I noticed in AJC:

A handful of cute older Jam-a-Grams seem to have returned–

Fun fact: the 'Friends!' one is based on an older JAG that was illustrated in a really pretty way–

The wolf JAG is also based on a cool older one too–

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the newer one also used to say 'Join our wolf pack' but they removed the text? I wonder why.

–––

That's all the content I have for this post today, but one more thing–

While WildWorks may stink, this little corner of the Animal Jam community brings me nothing but joy. 

All of you are kind, awesome people, and I appreciate every one of you. You are what makes this place special! :)

I'm gonna end this post now, but I hope the last few days of 2021 are all good days for you, and I'll see you in the new year!

New AJC Thing: 2-Step Verification

 Hey Jammers! Another quick post here. You know how I pretty much never talk about updates unless it's one of those rare times where something actually new comes to Animal Jam Classic? Well, today is one of those times!

2-step verification is a form of extra security that you can choose to add to your account so even if someone gets your password somehow, they'll still be locked out. You'll also get notified about any log-in attempts, so you can know when to change your password just in case. 

Button in settings that opens the Parent Tools page in your browser

2-Step Verification option in Parent Tools

It's kind of wack that hacking has become such a problem on AJ that 2-step verification makes sense, even though this is just supposed to be a fun and low-key game. 

It's the trading system, man... it's gotten way too intense. The Item Worth Wiki values some items at 100+ spikes, and the community has just gone with it for reasons unknown. With trading feeling unaccessible to so many people, it almost makes sense why some would want to steal items.

I'm not going to turn this post into another item rant, but I still think that a lot of problems would be solved if AJ items had rarity labels that were based off the actual number of that item in the game. It'd make trading a lot more fun and scamming easier to avoid :)

Alright, that wraps up this post. See you all in Jamaa!

A Spooky Surprise for Nonmembers

No matter what you've decided to do on Halloween, I hope you're all having a fun and safe day/night!

This is just another quick post, because the homework never ends ^^;

But! I do have some good news, courtesy of jrl4547, who posted about it first on their AJ blog here. 

Apparently, without AJHQ letting anyone know... 

The Haunted Mansion was re-released as nonmember this year!!!!! :O

A part of me worries that it was a mistake, and that they'll just smack the member's lock back on it as soon as they realize it. But I don't think so... I'm betting it was purposeful, because this is the smaller version of two haunted dens. The other one, the Epic Haunted Manor, is like this one, only with a bunch of extra areas. It makes sense to me that the smaller one would be nonmember– otherwise, why have both? 

A big thanks from us nonmembers, AJHQ <3

---

Ack, today is my favorite holiday, but I admit I'd be feeling a lot more Halloween-y right now if I didn't have a midterm to complete this very night >.<

But you know...

Every day can be Halloween. 

If you want to dress like a vampire and carve a jack-o-lantern in November...

Or December...

Or March...

et cetera...

literally no one can stop you. No one.

Think about it, Jammers B)

And stay spooky...

Short Lil' Post

Hey Jammers! I'm gonna be honest, I don't have any planned content today, but I wanted to write up a post anyway today, mostly to check in and let y'all know I'm still alive and thinking about AJ Stream ^^

Let's see... what to talk about?

This past contest went super well (as I'm sure you're aware), so I'll be definitely sure to host more in the future– hopefully before the end of this year? We'll see how it goes. So far I've gotten the prizes to two out of the three prize-winners. (If you see this jrl4547, let me know a good time to meet on AJC so I can trade ya!)

Also, a small heads-up: you might possibly be seeing a guest post from a different person on here at some point soon-ish! While I'm definitely not planning on making Animal Jam Stream a multi-author blog, Blackstanford3 told me they were interested in seeing what it's like to write a post or two, so I thought why not. :)

In other news... a couple different things from Jamaa:

I like how people have been creatively false-advertising their My Shops to get people to go. I wonder what the people who rushed over to Captain Arcticmajor's den were expecting... kidneys on sale for 2 diamonds a piece? Well, either way, this tactic worked on me. I guess a part of me wondered if AJHQ made it possible to sell organs while I wasn't looking xD

And here's just a Masterpiece I found that made me smile. I think it's the tiger's face that got me.

That's all I have for now! 

See you in Jamaa, and I hope you have as great a day/night as you can. c: