Cookiemonsters

Imported from the pre-Redmine CookieMonsters TODO during the 2026-08-29 migration.

Original priority: P2 — Next feature layer

• Build user-created communities / forum spaces / channels so CookieMonsters becomes something members can actively grow themselves:
  • any member may create as many communities/spaces as they want;
  • a member can create a space around a game, guild, group or topic, e.g. Minecraft — Guild Name;
  • the creator becomes the owner/admin of that community and can appoint additional community admins/moderators;
  • community-admin/moderator permissions must be scoped to that specific community and must NOT automatically grant site-wide CookieMonsters admin access;
  • members can create new forum channels themselves rather than waiting for a site admin to create every section;
  • create a default site-owned CookieMonsters forum group alongside user-created forums, so there is always a shared place for normal community posts with both text and images;
  • forum posts and replies must use the same shared Like / Love / Agree / Hugs / Happy / Sad reaction system as Wall, Gallery and Screenshots rather than a forum-specific voting/Like implementation;
  • reaction counts/people lists on forum content must respect channel/community membership, SFW/NSFW visibility, blocks and moderation permissions so reactions cannot leak a hidden post or hidden member;
  • forum display names should use normal spaces/capitalization rather than Discord-style hyphenated channel names; the old - characters existed because Discord channel names did not handle spaces the way we wanted, not because CookieMonsters should copy that limitation;
  • internal URL/database slugs may stay hyphenated if useful, but users should see friendly names such as The Gardener 🌱;
  • initial standard CookieMonsters forum channels should be: Photobomb 📸, Foodporn 🍽️🍕, The Gardener 🌱, All Recommendations 💡, Fun 😂, The Zoo 🐒🐱, Art and Crafts 🎨, and Peptalk Encouragement Boost 💛;
  • keep the emoji at the end of each visible forum name so channels are quick to recognize visually;
  • do NOT create Screenshots Whatever as a standard forum channel because screenshots already have their own dedicated CookieMonsters section;
  • do NOT carry over AI Generated Cookie Monsters or Punkt Se Se from the old channel list;
  • the default forum group should coexist with the flexible system where members can create their own forums/communities and manage them independently;
  • create a game forum space for every game in the shared game catalog as the game/forum layer is built, so games added to CookieMonsters can have a natural discussion home without manual forum setup each time;
  • if a member has added a game to My Games, that game's forum should automatically be visible/expanded prominently in the member's forum view;
  • game forums for games the member has not selected should stay available but be collapsed/minimized by default so the forum page does not become an enormous list;
  • provide a polished Manage game forums / Choose visible games control where members can check/uncheck which game forum groups they want shown, independent of whether they currently list the game on their profile;
  • use a friendly expandable/collapsible treatment with game cover/icon, game name and unread/activity indicator rather than a plain settings checklist as the primary forum UI;
  • organize the forum view so My Games are easy to find first, with More Games collapsed underneath and an easy way to expand/browse/search all game forums;
  • adding a game to My Games should automatically opt its forum into the visible set; removing the game may return it to the collapsed More Games area unless the member has explicitly chosen to keep that forum visible;
  • every newly created forum channel is SFW by default;
  • the creator can explicitly mark a forum channel as NSFW / 18+ when appropriate, but the NSFW classification/control itself should only be offered to members who are age-eligible and have enabled 18+/NSFW content mode;
  • future forum spaces may support clearly marked X-rated / adult communities when the creator wants that, but only inside the NSFW system and never in the default SFW experience;
  • SFW/NSFW status should be clearly stored as channel metadata and shown discreetly in the UI;
  • NSFW content/channels require the member to be 18+, based on the stored private date of birth and enforced server-side;
  • an adult member must also have explicitly enabled Settings → Content mode → NSFW / 18+ (or enabled the same account-level option during registration) before NSFW channels, communities, creation choices or other adult-only site controls become visible, searchable, selectable or joinable;
  • NSFW areas should be hidden by default, even for adults, until that explicit opt-in is enabled;
  • members under 18 must not be able to enable NSFW visibility, open NSFW channels, create NSFW spaces or join NSFW spaces;
  • birthday profile visibility is separate from this: members can keep their birthday hidden while age eligibility still works;
  • provide a clear but tasteful warning/confirmation before first entering NSFW areas;
  • exact NSFW filtering, moderation and additional safety behaviour will be designed before the feature goes live;
  • the creator manages the community's structure, members, posts/channels and local rules;
  • nobody should be assigned an admin/moderator role automatically: elevated roles should be explicitly offered/accepted so members who just want to participate never need to moderate anything;
  • spaces can be open/public so anyone may participate, or invite-only/private;
  • CookieMonsters-owned forum areas should use the same model and may be open to everyone or limited to invited members;
  • allow an explicit SFW / NSFW classification for spaces/content, with age-gating and visibility enforced consistently across forum/community UI;
  • make creating/joining communities optional: members who never create or join a special community should still get the full fun CookieMonsters experience;
  • design this to feel alive and user-driven, so members can build new places without waiting for a site administrator to create every section.

CM-TODO-ID:ff592fe0ff3d5461405d

Future notes, acceptance criteria and status changes belong in this Redmine issue.