Forum Upgrade (mostly) Complete!

[Thomas Jentzsch]

There used to be a version where your subscribed blogs where presented at the top. That was the one when I was regularly using the blogs.

[+Random Terrain]

How badly do people want an "Ignore Topics Mod"? I was just quoted $150 by one developer to create this mod. I'm open to the idea of taking donations for mods such as this that have a concrete cost of this nature (and realistically will likely only be used by a small percentage of forum members).

I cannot see a reason justifying such an investment. Just don't click on anything you already know not to like. If you cannot control your own curiosity (happens to me too), that's not a board problem.

It's not about curiosity, it's about threads you're done with taking up space in the list. Why waste your eyes on topics you never intend on replying to or reading again? If threads such as "What's your favorite flavor of cotton candy?" keep being in the list week after week, month after month, you can get tired of skipping over topics like that and just want them gone.

 

I've seen other people post the same desire over the years, so maybe a thread about the subject will make them aware that they can finally do something about it.

[LYNXGUY]

Al, totally rockin awesome job on the upgrade and I love the new default skin and I will check out the other skins later today and whatever isn't working will work soon so take your time and all of us need to be patient.

 

Not sure though on the popup forum content when you hover over it... might end up annoying, might end up real handy.

 

Maybe a option to turn it on or off ???

[Christophero Sly]

I just re-added the "Block Forums from View New Content" mod!

 

How badly do people want an "Ignore Topics Mod"? I was just quoted $150 by one developer to create this mod. I'm open to the idea of taking donations for mods such as this that have a concrete cost of this nature (and realistically will likely only be used by a small percentage of forum members).

I've requested the return of this feature every time you've updated the forum. I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is, if that's what it comes down to.

[+Random Terrain]

How badly do people want an "Ignore Topics Mod"? I was just quoted $150 by one developer to create this mod. I'm open to the idea of taking donations for mods such as this that have a concrete cost of this nature (and realistically will likely only be used by a small percentage of forum members).

I've requested the return of this feature every time you've updated the forum. I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is, if that's what it comes down to.

I created a thread about this in General Chat:

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/179144-want-to-ignore-topics-at-aa-heres-your-chance/

 

I figured it might get more views there.

[Albert]

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/179144-want-to-ignore-topics-at-aa-heres-your-chance/

 

I figured it might get more views there.

Very likely, thanks.

 

..Al

[Albert]

Not sure though on the popup forum content when you hover over it... might end up annoying, might end up real handy.

 

Maybe a option to turn it on or off ???

Yes, that is really what should happen. Invision is spending time improving this feature for version 3.2 of the software (which is in heavy development right now and has some fairly significant front-end UI improvements). I'm going to post a request for a mod that adds a user setting to turn the Hover Preview on/off.

 

..Al

[Albert]

I just installed a patch that should fix at least some of the IE9 issues. For those of you using IE9 (I don't have Windows 7 or Vista available to test), can you let me know if there are still issues? Please be sure to clear your browser cache first so you get a fresh copy of the Javascript library that was updated.

 

Thanks!

 

..Al

[Pixelboy]

Al, totally rockin awesome job on the upgrade and I love the new default skin and I will check out the other skins later today and whatever isn't working will work soon so take your time and all of us need to be patient.

You actually like the default skin? I sure don't...

 

The layout is okay, I guess, but the colors bother me, especially the dark cyan used to highlight stuff. I much prefer the orange color of the previous skin, and I liked the previous retrogaming-style icons as well.

 

So you can put my name firmly in the "don't like it" column.

[Albert]

So you can put my name firmly in the "don't like it" column.

I am soliciting bids for a third-party to convert the old skin so it works properly on the upgraded forum. This default skin is a stopgap measure (although it will remain available for those who want to continue using it after I get the "AtariAge" skin back up and running).

 

..Al

[+Philsan]

I just installed a patch that should fix at least some of the IE9 issues. For those of you using IE9 (I don't have Windows 7 or Vista available to test), can you let me know if there are still issues? Please be sure to clear your browser cache first so you get a fresh copy of the Javascript library that was updated.

 

Thanks!

 

..Al

After clearing cache, now it seems all OK with IE9.

 

Thank you.

[Pixelboy]

So you can put my name firmly in the "don't like it" column.

I am soliciting bids for a third-party to convert the old skin so it works properly on the upgraded forum. This default skin is a stopgap measure (although it will remain available for those who want to continue using it after I get the "AtariAge" skin back up and running).

Couldn't the current skin just be slightly altered? I can only speak for myself here, but I'd settle for just a few icon changes, the rest could remain as it is now.

[Albert]

After clearing cache, now it seems all OK with IE9.

Great, thanks for checking!

 

Couldn't the current skin just be slightly altered? I can only speak for myself here, but I'd settle for just a few icon changes, the rest could remain as it is now.

Yes, the old skin does "mostly" work, but it will still take a bit of work to get it working perfectly. Plus I want to make some additional changes to it. Making icon changes is another issue entirely, but one I will have someone do if I do pay someone to work on the skin.

 

..Al

[Albert]

Just changed the frequency with which the search results are updated--instead of every 15 minutes, I reduced this down to 5 minutes. This means that new posts will only take a maximum of five minutes to show up in search results (which includes "View New Content", "My Content", and "Today's Active Content").

 

..Al

[Albert]

Just spent over an hour going through the old forum skin and making a detailed list of all the problems and areas I want changed. Have forwarded this to two individuals I'm waiting to get quotes for, and once I get those I can give one of them the green light to work on the skin.

 

..Al

[+Nathan Strum]

I will need to hunt for those. I have a feeling Invision is going to spend some time improving the Blog after they release 3.2, as there is a fair amount of discontent with it right now. The blog is a bit of a pain because it has many unique skin elements, so it takes a fair bit of work to modify a skin to work well with it. What issues would you like to see addressed? I can then post these to Invision's site and also search their forum to see what issues people have already brought up and if Invision has commented on them.

Mostly from this thread...

 

• The number of recent entries/comments shown within a blog's content blocks used to display the ten most recent ones, now it's only five. (This was fixed before, and reappeared with the update. Better still would be a way for each user to set what they wanted for their own blog.)
  
• Tags are listed in a useless, unreadable format (where they're all jumbled together in a big, ugly "cloud"), rather than a proper list.
  
• Many entries like this one and this one have emoticons missing in comments.
  
• There needs to be clickable page numbers at the top of each page for multiple page listings. Currently it's only at the bottom.
  
• I'd like to see profile photos removed from the content blocks (most recent entries/comments). It's just clutter. Lists are cleaner. (Or this should be a user or blog-based preference.)
  
• I'd rather see avatars in comments like the rest of the forums, instead of the often-blank profile pics.
  
• Images are still often reduced in size when they could easily fit. (see screenshots #1 and #2 below)
  
• Can't quote "quotes". It reads " as & quot; (see screenshot #3 below)
  
• There's no Preview, Cancel or Use Full Editor buttons for blog comments. (see screenshot #3 below)
  
• The window for the Emoticons for adding blog comments is messed up - the "show all" button overlaps it wrong, leaving a gap (until you actually "show all"). (see screenshot #3 below)
  
• I'm waiting for Cybergoth to post on an odd-numbered day to see if this still happens.
  
• Paragraph breaks have been deleted from numerous posts, destroying the formatting (this happened in the last update). Here, here, here, here, and here, among others.
  
• The text at the top right of the main blog page is ghastly:
  Mixing various sizes and styles of
  fonts like that doesn't make it easier to
  read, it just makes me not want to read it.
  

 

That'll do for a start. I still haven't used the updated blogs enough yet to note other problems.

 

Reduced image... for no apparent reason.

 

See? It fits.

 

All sorts of problems with the blog comments...

 

Edit: This comment (that starts out "Funny... I thought I already wrote up...") has had its paragraph breaks stripped out, too. You can see this where there is no space after the end of one sentence, and the beginning of the next. Also, if you hit "Reply" to that comment, not only are the quotation marks messed up, but apostrophes read as & #39; and exclamation points read as & #33;

 

Edit 2: The text problem seems fixed now. I added spaces after the & above, to show what was going on.

Edited March 22, 2011 by Nathan Strum

[Albert]

Some comments on your comments:

 

The number of recent entries/comments shown within a blog's content blocks used to display the ten most recent ones, now it's only five. (This was fixed before, and reappeared with the update. Better still would be a way for each user to set what they wanted for their own blog.)

I probably changed that before, it is surely hardcoded to five somewhere. Not going to change it now.

 

Tags are listed in a useless, unreadable format (where they're all jumbled together in a big, ugly "cloud"), rather than a proper list.

I agree, they are useless like that. I changed this before as well.

 

Many entries like this one and this one have emoticons missing in comments.

I just fixed these.

 

There needs to be clickable page numbers at the top of each page for multiple page listings. Currently it's only at the bottom.

On which pages are you specifically talking about this? Examples with links would be good.

 

I'd like to see profile photos removed from the content blocks (most recent entries/comments). It's just clutter. Lists are cleaner. (Or this should be a user or blog-based preference.)

I generally agree that lists are cleaner. Easy change to make in the skin.

 

I'd rather see avatars in comments like the rest of the forums, instead of the often-blank profile pics.

This is going to change soon and be more consistent across the entire forum/modules, as Invision is combining the avatar and profile pic into one. So at least there will be consistency there. I've never been fond of this, either. For instance, your profile pic is shown at the top of ever page, yet your avatar is shown next to posts. And your profile pic is shown in the blog.

 

Images are still often reduced in size when they could easily fit. (see screenshots #1 and #2 below)

No idea why this is done this way. I know I have fixed this in the past.

 

Can't quote "quotes". It reads " as " (see screenshot #3 below)

A completely new editor is coming in 3.2, which will hopefully fix issues like this:

 

http://community.invisionpower.com/blog/1174/entry-5822-ipboard-320-new-text-editor/

http://community.invisionpower.com/blog/1174/entry-5825-ipboard-320-new-text-editor-part-ii/

http://community.invisionpower.com/blog/1174/entry-5831-ipboard-320-text-editor-part-iii-live-topic-replies/

 

There's no Preview, Cancel or Use Full Editor buttons for blog comments. (see screenshot #3 below)

Agreed, this is pretty weak.

 

The window for the Emoticons for adding blog comments is messed up - the "show all" button overlaps it wrong, leaving a gap (until you actually "show all"). (see screenshot #3 below)

This will be fixed with the new editor.

 

I'm waiting for Cybergoth to post on an odd-numbered day to see if this still happens.

I had forgotten about that.

 

Paragraph breaks have been deleted from numerous posts, destroying the formatting (this happened in the last update). Here, here, here, here, and here, among others.

That really does suck and I doubt there's anything that can be done about it at this point.

 

The text at the top right of the main blog page is ghastly:

Mixing various sizes and styles of

fonts like that doesn't make it easier to

read, it just makes me not want to read it.

I agree, it's horrid. I believe this is what happens when programmers believe they are designers. Again, this can be changed in the skin pretty easily. Waiting for quotes from two different skinners to get the AtariAge skin reworked. This is one issue I can have them fix.

 

..Al

[Tempest]

I believe this is what happens when programmers believe they are designers.

Quote for the win!

 

Tempest

[+Nathan Strum]

On which pages are you specifically talking about this? Examples with links would be good.

Any time there are multiple pages to click through. Like here, for example.

 

Say... I'd really like to be able to skip to another page...

 

But it looks like I have to scroll all the way to the bottom to do it.

[+Nathan Strum]

Paragraph breaks have been deleted from numerous posts, destroying the formatting (this happened in the last update). Here, here, here, here, and here, among others.

That really does suck and I doubt there's anything that can be done about it at this point.

I'd just like to know that if I slog through all of my broken blog entries and fix them, that it will stay fixed.

[Albert]

I'd just like to know that if I slog through all of my broken blog entries and fix them, that it will stay fixed.

I cannot guarantee that, but if you were to do so, I would recommend saving each individual blog entry in a separate text file.

 

At some point, should I find myself with copious amounts of free time, I could write a script that extracts the old blog entries from a database backup and replaces the munged ones on the live forum. I have done this sort of thing before, but one has to be extremely careful (for obvious reasons). I'd need to see if there's some way I can determine which blog entries are affected (a certain date range?) and also not modify entries that have been updated after the backup was made. It's a bit of a pain in the ass, but worthwhile if there are a fair number of screwed up entries.

 

..Al

[+Nathan Strum]

The number of recent entries/comments shown within a blog's content blocks used to display the ten most recent ones, now it's only five. (This was fixed before, and reappeared with the update. Better still would be a way for each user to set what they wanted for their own blog.)

I probably changed that before, it is surely hardcoded to five somewhere. Not going to change it now.

But hopefully maybe later? Five comments rolls over pretty fast, and there's no way to find out if you've missed reading a comment prior to those. For example - sorting within a blog by recent comments would be useful.

Edited March 22, 2011 by Nathan Strum

[+Nathan Strum]

Another blog bug. When you reply to another comment, all of the paragraph breaks are stripped out of the quoted text in the reply.

[Albert]

But hopefully maybe later? Five comments rolls over pretty fast, and there's no way to find out if you've missed reading a comment prior to those. For example - sorting within a blog by recent comments would be useful.

You can subscribe to comments in a blog, and you get email every time there's a new comment. Look for the "Like" button at the bottom of the blog entry (yes, they changed this recently, and this is how the entire forum will be with 3.2). The forum also does keep track of unread comments on a blog-entry basis, so you can click on the (horrible) orange-ish icon to jump to the first unread comment in a blog. If you look at your specific blog, though, I don't see a "Jump to first unread comment" button anywhere, which is dumb. And the icon next to the "3 Comments" text IS different if there are unread comments. However, for some idiotic reason they didn't link this to jump to the first unread comment. This is something I should be able to fix easily.

 

..Al

[Albert]

Another blog bug. When you reply to another comment, all of the paragraph breaks are stripped out of the quoted text in the reply.

Nice. We need to maintain a list of these problems so I can file all these as bugs in the bug tracker on Invision's site. That's the only way they are going to get fixed. If you want to start a separate thread, I'll give you the ability to edit the first post indefinitely, and together we can nail out a list of reproducible problems or bad design issues so we can get Invision to fix them.

 

..Al