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State of this Forum

edited October 2017 in Support
As a lot of new people are trickling in, I think its time to talk a bit about the state of this forum. The software we are using is an open-source free forum software called Vanilla. It has several neat features, is very programmable/extendable (why I chose it actually), and some issues. Seems one can't get the good without the bad in modern technology these days, but what can you do? I'm going to explain some features below, and then also describe known bugs I am working on. I'll close out with stuff that I'm actively working on but you won't see for a while. Feel free to chime in on this thread if you have ideas for things you'd like to see on the forum, or additional issues you might encounter.

// Features //


YAGA: This is a plugin for the forum that means: Yet Another Gamification Application. Essentially it lets everyone add reactions to others posts they read, and issues out badges to user for various milestones. It also provides a link on the left panel that tallies up the most active posts in these regards. Its not a big feature, but I think it helps enhance the sense of community.

Enhanced Private Messaging: The private messaging on this forum allows multiple people to be involved, so you can kind of have a side-chat with several people without starting a new thread for all to see.

HTML editor: The editor for posts is HTML, and WYSIWYG (mostly). This simplifies things, but can sometimes create issues if you try and cut a post from another forum and paste it in here. It can support BBcode or Markdown, but that is not how I have it configured. The advantage of HTML is that you can drag and drop images onto posts, etc. The editor is simply more powerful in that mode.

Responsive Theme: The theme is truly responsive and as such you don't need a special client to use it on your phone. Just loading the page on a mobile device works fine (at least on all devices I've tested).

// Issues //


Attachments: For some unknown reason, the attachment upload is eating everything that isn't an image. I'm working on it, but I haven't been able to get any input from the Vanilla community so that means I have to basically create a new blank test forum, start adding stuff, and see what breaks the upload. So its going to be a bit on that. The strange thing is that the uploads work, but for some reason they never get attached to the posts.

Theme Glitches: Since this site isn't secured, I'm having some issues with Chrome overriding theme settings to "protect the end-user". It seems if an unsecured page asks for a password (when you login for example) Chrome won't allow text color changes. This is why your login field text may appear black instead of normal white.

User Themes: Vanilla was not built to support this feature, but I've gotten a few questions about alternate brighter themes. I'd like to have that option open to people. Right now you can click Snow or Slate on the left panel to change the theme, but that isn't perfect and everything isn't applied as I'd like. Eventually I'll write a plugin to allow each user to select their own theme and I'll offer several colors.

// Future //


Chat: There is no real-time chat at the moment. I had setup a Rumbletalk chat, which was nice, but was barely used and a monthly expense to boot. So I took that down, and I'm planning on something else. I'll likely setup a Discord channel and link on the left panel in its place for now and see what people think of that. Its a good client, is free, and runs on just about any platforms (even inside a web browser).

Archiving: Next year archiving will begin. Essentially that meant posts older than one year will be dumped into an archive and no longer a burden to the forum database. Once that starts (using an automated system), on the first of each month posts from that month a year ago will enter the archive. They will still be viewable and searchable, etc. But unable to edit in any way at all, and can't be commented on. Of course you can link to them in new posts.

FRD Rendering: I've been working slowly on this for a while, but I have some code written now that will allow one to view an FRD file on the forum. This means if you just attach an FRD to a post (see issues above, ugh), you'll get a link that you can click to open it in a pop-up window and view it. I don't expect to have this ready and well tested till next year though.

That is a short synopsis. If you have an comments or questions, fire away!

= Howard Stark: "This is the key to the future. I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day you'll figure this out."
kennykD1PP1NgreywardenBryan@MACrjj45
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Comments

  • Great list Jason. As usual look forward to the updates and fixes.
  • Thanks for all the work Jason.
  • That FRD viewer would be really slick.  You've done a nice job with this forum and it looks like it's starting to get some traction.  

    Dan
    greywarden
  • FWIW I don't have any qualms with the slate theme, it's easy on the eyes, nothing seems out of place.
    deadhorse - leviathan - harbinger - shockwave (wip)
  • Anyway to get email notifications of posts on threads and PMs?

    The posting preferences don't seem to work for me

     John H, btw forum has decided I don't get emails
  • Is there e-mail notify of responses or updates?
  • edited October 2017
    Hmmm, email notifications work for both my normal account and my test account (lower status) @Wolf you might have to wait a day to get access to notification preferences. There is a ranking system you climb with time and activity.
    = Howard Stark: "This is the key to the future. I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day you'll figure this out."
  • Wolf said:
    Is there e-mail notify of responses or updates?
    Try clicking your profile, then edit profile, then notification preferences on the left side.  Should get a big menu of crap that looks like this: 


    My signature goes here
  • ^^^^ yeah for some reason that doesn't work for me
     John H, btw forum has decided I don't get emails
  • ^^^^ yeah for some reason that doesn't work for me

    Do you see an option on the left that says EDIT PREFERENCES ??

    It might be an admin thing - where we see different wording....no clue.  But those email settings are also located in the EDIT PREFERENCES option.


    My signature goes here
  • Yup see that.  I've changed that a few times.  Jason said he will look at it.  

    It does keeps me from posting which might be a good thing  ;)
     John H, btw forum has decided I don't get emails
  • edited October 2017
    This is the goofiest shit. I've been doing things the long way....arrrrrg.  You can click the notification bell icon at the top of the page and then NOTIFICATION PREFERENCES is the first item to show up.  When I click that, I get a full page of stuff to enable/disable.  Don't you have those options?  
    My signature goes here
  • @Bryan@MAC
    He has set those preferences, but they seem to be non-functional. I'm looking deeper to see what is going on.
    = Howard Stark: "This is the key to the future. I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day you'll figure this out."
  • All function for me.........must be 'cauze I'm special.
    ............. could you hum a few bars.
  • All working now!

    Thanks,

  • Stupid question but how does one edit their post after it is posted, to fix typos or add more information without making another post? I see several posts above marked as "edited" but I don't see an edit button next to anything I post.
    I'm not deaf, I'm just not listening.
  • edited October 2017
    There is an edit button. 
    My signature goes here
  • No editing aloud. If you say something its permanent.
  • Allowed lol fuck....
    Bryan@MACdcibel
  • D1PP1N said:
    No editing aloud. If you say something its permanent.
    Yes, if you must edit, please do it quietly.  Bwahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
    D1PP1Ngreywarden
    My signature goes here
  • edited October 2017
    On further investigation there does not appear to be an edit post option on iPhone. From PC you hover over your post and the "option gear" appears, from which you can edit or delete your post.

    My signature goes here
  • Bryan@MAC said:
    There is an edit button. 

    Interesting,I don't have that button. I see it on the OP, but the options are announce and sink.
    I'm not deaf, I'm just not listening.

  • I'm not deaf, I'm just not listening.
  • dcibel said:
    Bryan@MAC said:
    There is an edit button. 

    Interesting,I don't have that button. I see it on the OP, but the options are announce and sink.

    dcibel said:


    Are you seeing this on a PC or a mobile device? What is your OS?  The forum seems very stable in Win10 with Chrome and Firefox. It's a bit quirky on my iPhone 6s. For example I don't have a delete or edit option on the phone and the window zoom is a little funky. However it's 100 times better than PETT with tapatalk. 
    My signature goes here
  • If I hold my phone(NEXUS 5x) vertical, a boarder appears at the bottom that includes the gear symbol. If I hold it horizontal, it appears in the upper right corner with the star symbol, same as the posted example.
    ............. could you hum a few bars.
  • Bryan@MAC said:
    dcibel said:
    Bryan@MAC said:
    There is an edit button. 

    Interesting,I don't have that button. I see it on the OP, but the options are announce and sink.

    dcibel said:


    Are you seeing this on a PC or a mobile device? What is your OS?  The forum seems very stable in Win10 with Chrome and Firefox. It's a bit quirky on my iPhone 6s. For example I don't have a delete or edit option on the phone and the window zoom is a little funky. However it's 100 times better than PETT with tapatalk. 
    Linux, both Firefox and Chrome display the same, as does Firefox and Chrome on my android phone (LG G6).
    I'm not deaf, I'm just not listening.
  • kennyk said:
    If I hold my phone(NEXUS 5x) vertical, a boarder appears at the bottom that includes the gear symbol. If I hold it horizontal, it appears in the upper right corner with the star symbol, same as the posted example.
    On a phone, the gear symbol at the bottom gets you to your profile options, not for editing your posts.
    I'm not deaf, I'm just not listening.
  • At work on Firefox in Win10, same deal, I don't think it is a browser or OS issue or anything on my end.
    I'm not deaf, I'm just not listening.
  • There is an edit window, typos are only a concern to assholes like certain people we know. The limited edit function is to encourage other certain types of people to not engage in bait and switch trolltard posting - post something inflammatory and go back and edit it away. 
    I have a signature.
  • By window I mean a limited time. I didn't even want to allow that. 
    I have a signature.
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