something about this banner tells me that... the water's fine...

Tee hee

water's fine.. water's fine.. water's fine..

watersfinewatersfinewatersfinewatersfinewatersfine

(I'm glad Adalore's influence reaches this far lol)

Cute ^^

The pooltoys remind me of the duck from US Acres

This banner looks great!

Just a thought: would it be possible to make it so that clicking on the banner will take you to the banner artist's page instead of the browse page?

I've always wondered why this wasn't a thing.

Maybe even just a little "banner artist" button at the top of the page, right in between "shop" and "search." Just something to make it a little more prominent than having to go to the journal to find out who it is - a lot of folks probably close out the journal/announcement without really looking, but something that's right there next to the banner might get more notice :)

👀

Oh that'd be awesome!

That would be a nice addition! Something with the same idea would be great to see for the icons of users, as a large amount are made by another person. Not sure how hard is to implement but can have it in two states when in the profile page to click on the user's icon making the icon to flip, displaying "Icon made by (artist's icon with name under icon)", and in hovering state when not in the profile page (like in here) to show from whom is made

there is a link to the front page that's always visible at the top, and right next to that is another link that shows you the most recent uploads.

Clicking on the banner absolutely should take you to at the very least, a page describing the way that banner got there. That's how google works, and people are pretty used to that online.

I think that if a user contributed the banner you click on, that click should take you to that user's page.

That would be great. There's some banners in the past I'm curious to know the artist but I don't find the name anywhere

this is a good idea tbh

Very cute banner!

💖💖💖SUPER CUTEEEEEE LOVE IT!!!! 💖💖💖

NOOOOOOO. D:

Oh no fender is bad at swimming, get him to shore before he drowns

If Fender is a really bad swimmer, and Rednef is the exact opposite of Fender, wouldn't that mean that Rednef would be about as good at swimming as Michael Phelps?

I'd love to get the response from Rednef herself, if at all possible, please.

I like it.

This is Fender bullying and I won't stand for it!

*sits*

Get him to shore now! I won't let him drown

Keep sitting.

REDNEF FOREVER!

Justice for fender!

aww cute

love how smug the tube holding fender looks

Ah, this one's nice.

oh this banner is super cute. love it.

Fender's expression reminds me of a moment from "The Fox and the Hound".

POOLTOYS

Petition for a drop down menu that lets us choose which banner art gets displayed so we can further customise our FA experience :3

_{seconded! please, i would love to be able to choose to use the previous one for the entirety of the summer!}

Thirded!

Ooooh I like this idea! More customization rocks! =D

Holy Shit, I love this banner.

haha get dunked lol

I'm so happy people love the banner! thank ya so much!

Congrats! :3 Rawr!!

is there a way to access the older banners too?

Nicely done! Though, still haven't brought back the gender drop down menu though. Slacking on that!

I don't think it's intended to come back, I think the checkmarks are the current version until they switch over entirely to tag-based with suggested tags and such.

They should bring it back. Things were far more simpler, now we have huge tags. They should have never have taken that away, now it's causing numerous issues for us.

Tagging systems SHOULD be thorough and 'huge', it's the best way for artists to have their work found and for viewers to find the art they want. The checkbox system does the exact same thing the dropdown does except that it adds the gender to the tags, which is a step towards replacing the (very limited and previously regressive/outdated/slur-tastic) dropdown system with a fully tag-based system that is much more in keeping with how the rest of the modern Internet functions. I believe they are going to be working on both a suggested tags function (so that everyone uses the same tags for the same things, a current complaint about the tagging system) and a community tagging system (so that viewers can suggest tags that the artist forgot or didn't use) as well. The gender dropdown was very outdated and does not express the spectrum of gender identities and body types that exist both in fantasy and in the real world. If I'm not mistaken the push is going to be to use body part tags as well (such as tagging based on genitals, presence of developed breasts, etc) since some users prefer to see specific sex characteristics more than they do specific genders (the morality of this could be debated pretty hotly but the fact remains that it's how many people want to use the search function). This would also help with the fact that there are many, many more options for gender than there are for body parts (especially real-world body parts).

The issues it's causing are pretty much purely based on those users who are emotionally attached to this outdated mode for whatever reason, and comments on previous journals made it clear that many people's issues were based in sexism or transphobia rather than any valid reason based on ease of site use. Moving to a purely tagging based system just brings FA up to date with how most other websites handle their search functions and image uploads, and while there have been some growing pains, pushback from the community has been limited to a small number of very loud users giving the impression of a bigger issue than most users feel there is. At this point it's more or less set in stone that we're moving to a tagging based system, so complaining about it is just beating a very dead horse for no useful reason.

I spent quite a bit of time in those journal comments, and I'd say there were some valid concerns about the way things were implemented (and I felt like staff actually did pretty well with addressing them, after some initial mod rudeness that was eventually handled appropriately), but other than that I completely agree.

I don't want to see Fur Affinity "modernized" in the sense of it becoming a web3, endless-scrolling, let-us-show-you-what-we-think-you'll-like model that has enshittified the rest of the internet. I don't want it to get gentrified and sanitized. But I __do__ think it is to everyone's benefit if FA can get out from the mountain of code debt they're buried under, and going tag-based has been a very highly requested feature for a long time now.

At this point, a lot of the complaints (aside from the sexism and transphobia, like you mentioned) really do come across almost like "I'm mad that Steam no longer works on my Windows XP computer."

Agreed on all counts, yeah.

I'm developing a web database right now to catalog electronic parts.

I use tags to describe the things in boxes in my inventory.

I don't think this is something we need to do to people and artists.

I'm honestly surprised at how "important" tagging is to furries, given that tagging is one of the things that make generative AI possible, and given FA's hysterically anti-AI policies.

This "upgrade" does nothing for me as an artist or a user. All I ever saw as a result was more people bickering about transgender issues, and not in a "well it gets people talking" way either! If it did somehow advance FA into the modern web era, I don't see why the same outrage didn't have to happen on any of the other websites I use.

I also would challenge anyone comparing "what we used to have" with "what we have now" on a linear quality scale. Some users very much want this to become a commercial site and divide users into shoppers and merchants. It's already become incredibly tacky with the shinies and ads.

Giving out my FA link used to feel like I was inviting someone to a space that's predominantly mine to express myself with. Now it feels like I'm inviting them over to an Amway party.

I'm for "modernizing" FA, but adamantly opposed to turning it into twitter or youtube. Social media is cancer and FA is no worse than a light cold.. for now at least.

Tagging does have a use, it helps users find content they like and tag blacklisting, which was recently added, lets people avoid triggering or upsetting content when browsing or when following artists who produce some content they enjoy and some content they would rather not see. It can also serve as a quick reference to recognize the genders or species present in the image without folx posting art having to give a lengthy description in every image. Not only does it help more normative gay and straight folx find art they like while avoiding art they do not, it also works as a great tool for less normative queer, trans, disabled, PoC, and other marginalized folx find content that is validating, cathartic, supportive, or just attractive to them on a website where this content can be hard to find if you don't know where to look. I don't think tagging is what's wrong with social media and I think having searchable databases is absolutely useful for any website where media is being shared.

I also don't think FA is 'hysterically' anti-AI; I think that being firmly anti-AI is just basic respect and decency towards creators, underserved populations, and the environment, all of which are affected by the use of generative AI.

The fact that the changes to the site do nothing for you personally does not change the effect they have on many of the other users of this site, including marginalized folx who need to be able to see themselves in the artwork they seek out to feel validated and welcomed in the community. Try having a little empathy instead of only thinking about your own personal experience.

Is there a place we can suggest site features? I saw the forums were closed, and couldn't find anything related from a google search.

There is a trouble ticket category specifically for "Feedback", and I believe suggestions are considered an appropriate use of that category (staff, please correct me if I'm wrong about this). FurAffinity also has a Discord server (which you can get to by clicking "Support" at the top of the site) where there's a pretty active feedback channel for suggestions.

Absolutely love this banner!

Funny banner. ^^
What are your team's progress on the updates so far? I would at least like the custom thumbnails to make a return soon!

That water must be ICE Cold. I can relate, honestly...

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cute!!! Fender's face is priceless.

I freaking LOVE your icon lol

LMAO thank you!

This is a cute banner~
I like it!

Cool!

Cooooooooooool.

thats a really cute banner! :3

lol niiiiiice :D

I do love the background of the other banner because it almost reminds of Hawaii. But in this new banner art, it reminds me of going to summer camp and enjoying the river of water! I love the new one.

Actual Fender inflatable rings for purchase when??

seconding. I'd so grab one!

I mean, Bad Dragon has Rex and Duke...come on, FA~

This is definitely a very cute banner!! The artist is a great guy!

I'm so happy to see submitted banners again! =3

Thank y'all for doing it.

omg i LOVE the floaties


i wonder if real ones can be made and sold on the FA Shop 👀👀👀👀

Oh gosh, get in contact with me and i'll point ya in the right direction :D

Oh noes Fender fell in at some point! X3 Adorable work! ❤️^^

always wondered: is there any detailed references for these too? :D

Yup!

Thank you! Found it ^-^

I'm super digging this banner! Its very fun! Makes me wanna take a dip in some cool water myself. The heat lately has been making me feel like a melted popcicle... -_-;

Now THIS looks lovely! ^w^

Adorable banner!

awww this banner is cute <3
Fender seems they don't like water all too much!

Its cool!
Also please I need help, i want to contact furaffinity but the problem is, there´s an error on your website furaffinity.com/contact. I got some suggestions. Please fix it. Thank you for your cooperation.

Frani

Thank you so much!

The water's perfectly fine…

I like the banner
Alot

the waters fine

New banner is nice

pretty cute banner, tho i wonder what the temperature of the water is.

"And the river was fed by snow that melted up in the mountains--"

"So does it ever really get warm?"

"No."

"So our hero is about to dive into what?"

"TWELVE. DEGREES."

Oooh...those claws, and inflatable pool toy...Rednef's goin' for a ride very soon, I'm betting...high velocity and spinning around backwards...with a sound like a whoopiee cushion...

Tubing sounds kind of pleasant with all of this awful heat to be honest.

unfortunately we are heading into a warmer climate thanks to CO2 emissions from human activity we all need to be prepared to a warmer & hotter climate especially heat domes that can happen anywhere in the world

I'm ashamed to admit my brain thought it was a pooltoy tf at first. ;w;

It's super cute though!

POOLTOY FURRIES ARE WINNING

avoid drinking alcohol when it's hot don't do to much & if you have a energy drink or a coffee make sure to drink plenty of water as well because those drinks dehydrate you

Late but congrats to the fella who is know the face of the web!!!

I love it

I would like to ask if there's any plan to replace the part where you have to train google AIs to log in

What

I don't speak tinfoil-hat-language, but I *think* they're referring to the Captcha.

it's... not a conspiracy mate. the only verification google recaptcha does is checking that the identity of the origin is known. they then make you train their shit for a while for free

What's the Meta Tag feature? That is very new and you didn't say anything about it?

I know, right? I just saw it recently and I also put it to good use.

New banner is awesome!

Personally love it ~