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Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 06:56 PM »

JJ, yes i will be looking into those forum mods tonight -- seems the spammers are swarming us like mosquitos!

5652

Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 06:31 PM »

On a related note, is there a way to view the content of a thread in a way such that one can see reply to a particular post appearing immediately after the post-being-replied to?  I think this is sometimes referred to as a "threaded" view (e.g. one of gmane.org's views is like this).  May be there's other ways, but with that type of view, it might be easier to follow some of the "contained" sub-discussions...

there isn't.  i've given this some thought over the years -- there are pros and cons to threaded and non-threaded views on forums.

the conclusion i came to is that the threaded views are more logical and indeed easier to follow when things branch off into different sub-discussions (exactly as you say), but that there is a heavy price to be paid for facilitating that kind of workflow, in terms of having threads be focused, coherent, digestable chunks of information.  by providing a threaded view one essentially facilitates and encourages each thread to be a giant forest of sub-discussions.  the sub-discussions become parseable, but the larger whole suffers.  my 2 cents.

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Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 06:09 PM »

I'd like that too.

i knew you would.  See above, i already implemented the solution. 

5654

Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 05:33 PM »

Ok I think i see now the old code for ignoring threads to keep them off those pages of recent posts..
Im going to look into adding that back, just give me a bit -- the feature was provided by non-trivial modifications that we made on the original forum that was tied into the ability to mark threads in a variety of ways (to ignore, to bookmark, to rate), etc., and so it's non-trivial to add back.

There is a good chance i will port in the old code and we will get back the ability to ignore and bookmark topics like before, but i want to make sure it's done right.

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Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 05:17 PM »

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement with the upgrade.. I know sometimes change can be unnerving, and I know it can take some time to adjust to changes.

The new forum code is 100x cleaner and easier to maintain than the old codebase, which was my main motivation for the upgrade -- so I'm thrilled with the results in that respect.  And I feel 100x better about customizing stuff now.

So if there are still parts of the site that continue to rub people the wrong way after a week or two, or just feel less efficient than on the old forum, we'll fix them.

5656

Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 05:01 PM »

rj, can you elaborate a little bit -- since i don't often view the pages that show replies to my posts, i'm not familiar with what used to be shown/possible from there.

or to put it a different way -- im not sure if you are saying that there was a page of replies that used to behave differently, or use to have additional options, or if you are saying just that you used to be able to ignore topics on a one by one basis -- and if the latter -- can someone tell me how this option to ignore a topic was presented -- i.e. where the choice to do that was.

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Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 04:59 PM »

I've modified the Image button to explain better how to use the inline attachment feature, and removed the button from the Quick Reply bbc editor, since there is no way to attach files from the quick reply editor.
As has been discussed above, my intent for this button is largely to serve as help for those who don't yet know how our inline attached images work -- and therefore it is mainly about explaining to the user how to attach an image and refer to it.
As deozaan pointed out above, if you want to quickly insert an inline image you can use the new button down by the Attach Choose File buttons.  So there are solutions both for newbies and advanced users.

5658

Living Room / Re: Is pranking Josh unfair?

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 02:16 PM »

It is DC tradition to prank josh whenever the site is upgraded.
I tried my best this time, making it so when Josh visited the site he saw only the funny video announcing the pending upgrade, full screen, and then an error message.

But josh seems to have caught on to how to defeat my attempts by just waiting for me to go crazy wondering why he wasn't complaining 

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Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 02:07 PM »

 

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Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 12:20 PM »

I wouldn't say its nitpicking -- but there are a couple of things we need to contend with including the facts that no color scheme is going to be perfect for everyone, and that we want dc to have a somewhat unique feel so we dont just become another stock looking site.

Having said that, I am open to tweaking colors and styles.  The best thing would be if anyone wants to try to improve the dc forum look, set up a browser addon that lets you customize the dc css files in-place, and then when you get it the way you want it, send me the changes!

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Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 12:01 PM »

Anand said:

1. Minor spelling mistake in "Still have questions?  Don't hesitate to context us ([email protected])."
http://www.donationc...&action=register

thanks, fixed.

2. The guest image, if temporary then ok, else I will suggest some blank face type image there.

im happy to get a replacement!

3. The thread page numbers make difficult to click, at least for me.  Pages: prev | 1 2 [3] | bottom | last
I find difficult in positioning my mouse cursor at '1' or '2', say. Can we make it bit wider with space, box etc. ?

possibly, though im a little concerned with running out of space on small monitor.

I found the "Print" option of message thread very useful. All messages in one long page and one can find any text too.    Many times I needed to find my apps name for any bug fixes mentioned in another thread, say.

great 

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Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 11:55 AM »

Is there any way I can hide the social media buttons and the translate drop down box at the bottom of each page? I don't need them and they bother me.

If you go to the Forum Profile page of your profile, you will now see a new "Custom options:" item.  I will now use that for supporting miscelaneous advanced/custom options.  If you put -nosocial in that box, it will no longer add the social bookmarking items to your forum pages, or google analytitcs code, protecting you from any privacy concerns.  Translate box still shows because it is completely harmless.

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Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 11:26 AM »

Surely someone likes the new forum? 

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Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 09:42 AM »

In the "Info Center - Active Topics" section would it be possible to re-enable the feature where it shows "Re:" at the start of the title for posts that are replies (as opposed to brand new threads without any replies)? This made it possible to distinguish at first sight between a new post without replies, and an older discussion with new replies.

fixed -- and discovered a substantial inefficiency in the code making that list, so forum should be a little faster to load now too.

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Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 09:24 AM »

In the "Info Center - Active Topics" section would it be possible to re-enable the feature where it shows "Re:" at the start of the title for posts that are replies (as opposed to brand new threads without any replies)? This made it possible to distinguish at first sight between a new post without replies, and an older discussion with new replies.

yes, someone else was asking about this too.

Another more general point: the first thing I do when I visit the forum is scroll down to the very bottom to see what's latest in the "Info Center - Active Topics" section.

You are the 2nd person who has told me that's how you read the forum. I had no idea people did this.  Let me think about it a little more, but my main advice is to bookmark the page in the Go to menu that says "Recently updated topics" which is mainly the same contents, but nicer as its on its own page.

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Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 09:22 AM »

Smileys not working in preview should be fixed.

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Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 09:04 AM »

Well, for me that makes perfect sense. If I post on a thread I want to know if someone replied or posted on that same thread. But then I do not post or reply that much

i hear ya -- i'm not saying its not a reasonable thing to enable -- just don't think it's a good default for all users.

ps: now, after changing these settings I assume, I got notified about the reply.

this still troubles me -- i wonder if notifications are not working for others until they change settings..

smilies not working in preview: It's a little strange they don't work in the preview -- i'll look into that.

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Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 08:51 AM »

The mobile version looks fine on my Android. Great work, mouser!

Awesome.  Mostly thanks to the smf folks but i worked quite a bit on making the forum theme more responsive (slimming down when screen is small), so i'm happy to hear it looks reasonable.

The main website will soon (in 30 days or so?) be completely moved to cms and it will also be responsive/mobile friendly -- we have that working well already.  So looks like we are on the right path. 

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Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 08:49 AM »

Ok, so a couple of thoughts:
I probably reset some customization options when i upgraded the forum, so users who have customized some settings may find them set to the new default.
I think your "Turn notification on when you post or reply to a topic' was not ticked" is the default -- and sensibly so, right? this option if checked will send you notifications by email automatically for every thread you ever post to.

Now the last item sounds like maybe that default is badly set; it sounds like its making notifications basically useless, yeah? that the default should be "'Replies and moderation' ".  Let me look into it and change the default if so.

ACTUALLY: You know i'm thinking that this option is maybe just worded poorly -- the default option may mean to send emails on all replies *AND* "Moderation only if i started topic" -- which would mean that the default IS a reasonable default setting.  That is, the default should be sending you notifications on new replies, as i understand it.

Let me know what behavior you observe, phitsc.

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Find And Run Robot / Re: Customization of FARR icons

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 08:37 AM »

Sorry it's taken me so long to reply -- i've been super busy working on our forum upgrade here.

I like this idea and will try to add it. 

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Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 08:30 AM »

I do not get any update notifications any more. Has that been reported?

no, that's the first i've heard.
anyone else?

have you checked your profile options for notifications to see if anything looks weird?

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Find And Run Robot / Re: Launch history gone

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 08:08 AM »

It sounds like a simple issue of FARR looking in a different directory for your search history file.

Questions:
Are you guys using the portable version of FARR? Or is your FARR install the result of copying settings from one computer to another?
Will it save NEW searches in your history? In other words did it just clear your old search history but new items are being added, or is the search history always blank when you restart farr?

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Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 06:47 AM »

There are two basic techniques to stopping spam:

• Prevent the spammer from ever getting a chance to post their spam content -- with things like captchas or requiring moderator approval on first post, or automated spam-recognition tools, etc.
• Detecting and removing spam content quickly with the help of a human.

In general, because of the high annoyance factor with technique #1 -- and the high chance of false positives, and confusing new posters, DC has always favored mild captchas and early-stopping techniques, and leaned heavily on technique #2, with some custom code to help alert moderators quickly to suspicious stuff, and remove it expeditiously.

Usually this means that a spam message is posted and then removed within minutes due to a quick moderator -- but occasionally a spammer will sneak through while all the moderators are sleeping -- despite our odd and overlapping sleep hours

After the new forum upgrade settles in we will get some more tools in place to exterminate the spam varmin..

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Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 06:39 AM »

lotsa spam here this morning, is that an artifact of the upgrade or just a happy coincidence?

well the good news is that with an upgraded forum we have a few more weapons we can deploy against spammers -- and more importantly adding more custom code to stop them isn't so painful -- so any increase in spammers is only temporary

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Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by mouser on August 31, 2015, 06:37 AM »

And to add a request if possible; a Powershell Code Highlighter if there's one available?

done.