Mitch-Seasonal Effects Hub 22.0.1

Seasonal Effects Hub 22.1.0 – User-Selectable Modes

This release introduces a long-requested feature: user-selectable seasonal effects, implemented in a way that is fully compatible with XenForo 2.3.x and safe for live boards.


New: User Seasonal Effects Settings

Users can now choose how seasonal visuals behave on their own account:

Holiday effects (ACP-controlled active holiday)
Weather overlay
Off (disable all seasonal visuals)

The setting is:
Stored per user
Persistent across sessions
Exportable with the add-on
Independent of custom profile fields

A new front-end settings page is available and linked directly from the Account Preferences sidebar.

Admin Control & Overrides

Admins retain full control:
The existing Automatic holiday selection master switch continues to act as a global override.
When automatic holiday selection is enabled, it may override user preferences (by design).
When disabled, user preferences apply cleanly.
This behavior is documented to avoid confusion.


🛠 Technical Notes
Uses a dedicated column on xf_user_option (no profile fields)
No edits to _output or PAGE_CONTAINER
No entity listeners
Fully compatible with XenForo 2.3.7
Template logic is cleanly gated to prevent effect “stickiness” when switching modes
Safe for live upgrades

Upgrade Notes
This is a drop-in update.
Existing installations will continue to behave exactly as before unless admins enable user choice.
No data loss, no schema conflicts.

• Fixed missing template

Seasonal Effects Hub — 2.19.0 Beta Released!


This is one of the biggest upgrades yet — your forum now reacts to the time of day, the weather, and even the sky above.


NEW DAY / NIGHT SYSTEM — FULLY LIVE!


Your forum now changes personality depending on the time:


Day Mode Enhancements


Soft atmospheric tinting

New sun sprite with subtle animation

Optional daytime airplanes that fly across the screen (image-based, not CSS!)



Night Mode Enhancements


Beautiful animated moon glow effect

True starfield background with density control (Low / Medium / High)

Optional orbiting satellites that traverse the screen for a dynamic night sky

Night brightness control — adjust how dark nighttime should appear


Your community will literally see the forum “go to sleep” and “wake up” with the world.


🌦 Smarter Weather Effects


The weather overlay has been upgraded across the board:


Improved Condition Detection


Mist, haze, smoke, and similar conditions now intelligently switch to Clouds when cloud cover is high.
No more “always stuck on mist.”


More Realistic Visual Layers


Updated fog behavior

Improved cloud sprites

Smoother transitions between weather states



Mini Forecast Panel Enhanced


The forecast overlay at the top now displays cleaner condition labels and formatting.



Winter Snow Improvements


Snow accumulation system started (experimental)

Cleaner snow fade-in/out behavior

Upgraded snowflake animations



🛠 Under-the-Hood Improvements


Template cleanup & performance tweaks

Better handling of geolocation errors

Reduced overlay stacking to eliminate ghost elements


What’s Coming Next


More realistic snow-bank buildup

Melt cycle

Better shape-mapped snow at the bottom of the screen

Additional plane & satellite variations