Halx

To report a bug, please read this thread to see if it hasn't already been noted, then post in THIS THREAD

Ok, over the weekend, if you didn't catch on, I upgraded the TFP to vBulletin 3.5.4. The following is a list of changes, planned changes, and bugs. Some things will go without mention, because they are just part of how the new software functions. Please do not use this thread to report bugs. There is a separate thread for bugs. If you have any input on the features I mention, please speak up.

<ol type="I">
<li>NEW FEATURES -- Let us know what you think so far.</li>
<ol type="A">
<li>Testimonials -- Users can post their impressions about the site here. We'll use this function to introduce the site to new users and hopefully drag them over to the Tilted side.</li>
<li>Google Map -- A nifty little visual of member dispersion. Add your pin to the map to show everyone where you live. Instructions on how to get your coordinates are HERE</li>
<li>Double Post Auto-Merge -- If you add a post to a thread, then add another before anyone has responded, your second post will be merged with your previous one. This is to help the fluidity of posts and to prevent incessant thread bumping.</li>
<li>New Warning System -- This is a tool used by the mods to better manage the warnings we hand out. The Warning % next to your post is your "toxicity" level, if you will. If you get warned by a mod, you will be able to see why. Various infractions have different weights, however when you reach 100%, banning ensues. I'm sure 95% of you don't ever have to worry about this. </li>
<li>New BBcodes -- You can check out the new additions HERE. BBcodes are formatting shortcuts to help you customize and organize the look of your posts.</li>
</ol>
<li>PLANNED FEATURES -- Please provide feedback on these to help me decide to implement them or not</li>
<ol type="A">
<li>Pager -- An in-forum instant messenger. Talk to your friends without continuously refreshing the page as you wait for their private message. Alert a mod instantly about an issue. Surprise-welcome a newbie.</li>
<li>Personal Stickies -- Attach a thread to the top of the forum for easy reference. You're the only one who can see it.</li>
<li>Toplist -- Link enchange for traffic trading. Put a link to the TFP on your site and we'll link to you based on how much traffic you send us.</li>
<li>Arcade -- Play games like Snake, Pacman, Asteroids, Tetris and Space Invaders right here on the TFP. Get the top score. Brag about it.</li>
<li>Support -- A trouble ticket system for more organized reporting and tracking of issues.</li>
<li>Styles -- The following styles will be adapted to TFP standards: vBulletin 3, TFP Green, Insignia, fromBasics Dark, 2e Forest, I-Bulletin, Dark Cloud, and Sandstorm. At this moment, only vBulletin 3 and TFP Green are at least 95% functional with the new board software.</li>
</ol>
<li>KNOWN BUGS/MISSING FEATURES -- Things I'm aware of.</li>
<ol type="A">
<li>Missing Donor/Mod tags -- This was a customization that I need to reinstate. To do this, I'm gonna be teaching myself XML!</li>
<li>Slow Journals -- The Journals feature is written by a 3rd party who just made it to appease popular demand. The SQL queries it uses are horribly unrefined and are single-handedly responsible for the slowness of this site, especially since you can't view single entries with the new version. If I can't fix up the queries myself, I will look into new journal software.</li>
<li>Broken Images in Styles -- Right now, the only style that should be working is vBulletin 3. TFP Green, to a lesser extent, is also working. The rest of the styles will eventually receive working links and graphics.</li>
<li>Missing Avatars -- If your avatar is missing, please upload a new one. I've disabled animated avatars for some usegroups.</li>
<li>Unable to upload files -- This is an issue with old versions of MSIE. Upgrade!</li>
<li>Old Journal Buddies not working -- Please edit your journal buddies list. The new version seems to parse them differently.</li>
<li>Search Index Gone - I deleted it to help with speeding the upgrade. I'll be rebuilding it soon.</li>
</ol>
</ol>

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MexicanOnABike

...........

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ubertuber

Well, this is exciting stuff, and I can see that you have done (will will continue to do) a ton of work! Thanks so much Hal!!

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stevie667

All sounds pretty swish-tastic!

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macmanmike6100

wow, thanks for all of your hard work; it's interesting to see how the TFP evolves over the years

nmm

Sounds cool... Can't wait for the Arcade to come... I LOVE Arcade games...

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hulk

Only part I'm iffy about is the toplist... Is it really needed? They nearly inevitably end up with four or five sites that will never budge. Ever. Kinda pointless.

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Redlemon

Sounds pretty nifty, and it'll make it easier to respond to multiple posts without lots of cutting and pasting between tabs.

I think that you also need to reedit (just open and close) an old private Journal entry to reopen it to your buddies, otherwise it will be completely private. I posted a response to JustJess in the Bugs thread with a quote from the vBulletin.org thread.

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Halx

Thanks for the comments so far. I think some people are pretty tired of all this upgrade hoopla, but I need more feedback!

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fresnelly

I suppose the pager feature might need a blocking or "ignore" mechanism; either for specified members or as a general setting.

It's all coming together nicely!

Redlemon

OK Halx, if you want more input, I'll toss out my opinion on each planned feature.

Pager -- Sounds like it is a little more than a Private Message, but a little less than Chat. I'm not sure if we really need a tool to fill in that gap. Also, I only expect to see a message pop up when I load a new page; if one pops up while I'm trying to type a response, that would probably be annoying. (On the other hand, I'm old-school when in comes to communications. I've never IM'd, and my cell phone is just a phone.)

Personal Stickies -- Possibly useful for Ladies Lounge threads, but otherwise, if I'm interested in a thread, I've posted in it, so it'll show up when I search for threads that I've posted in.

Toplist -- Meaningless to me; I don't have a website.

Arcade -- I won't be in there.

Support trouble ticket -- Often, the answers in the Support forum are from general users, rather than from admins or mods. Or, it will turn into a conversation as to whether or not a feature would be useful. I think that might be lost if it is just a 'support ticket', where the only communication would be between that single user and an administrator.

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maleficent

The PAGER The company I currently work for has an instant messenger type program built into it (we had it long before AOL did and honestly, most of our clients prefer either YIM, AIM, Trillian, or whatever the flavor du jour is... having an instant chat program is nice... but many folks have an instant messenger program that is already running- so does any benefit come from this? It's getting messages in two places.

Support trouble Ticket I actually like provided it gets filled in with meaningful information... that's a good way to track issues that people are having and to see what can be fixed with upgrades.

Arcade: Sounds like fun...

Stickies: i'm not sure what they'd be used for...

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onodrim

Of all the possible features, I like the idea of the Pager best. It would be great for in-forum communication without the wait of a PM. However, some of the above users do have valid points about it being just one more way to talk online apart from chat and IM. But there are situation where I'm talking to someone that deals directly with a board issue, and in those cases this would be very useful. I think it'd be a good feature to add, but not necessary either. The rest I wouldn't really ever use.

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RickB

On the Buddy/Ignore Lists in the Control Panel, I have 2 sets of the Journal Buddy List with the same names in them. When I add/delete/change a name in one of them, it changes in the other. I'm pretty sure I only need one Journal Buddy List.

Daoust

Just a question regarding this... can only the mods see this? Can others? Can I bring my rating back to 0% if I have no warnings over a certain period of time?

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SecretMethod70

I generally agree with this.
OK, I can see how there *might* be some circumstances where it's actually useful, but in this case, will it save logs so that users can look back on the chats the same way they look back on PMs? My IMs log, IRC logs, I save my PMs...I'm very unlikely to use a form of communication that will no longer log.

Only mods and you can see your warning status. Notice how you can't see the warning meter on anyone's posts except your own. Most warnings are permanent - this is the way it has always been, we just have a much better way of keeping track of things now.

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ubertuber

Pager I don't see this as competing with AIM et al at all (heh). First off, it's several extra steps to get a person's screen name from their profile (if it's even listed) and get them up on the service, if they're even signed on. Secondly, I can see it being really helpful for contacting mods and admins when in need. So long as individual users can disable the feature I actually think it would be really helpful overall.

I've used the gmail chat more than I thought I would, and it would save me the silly 4-5 PMs back and forth that you get when answering questions for people (which I'm happy to do - I just want it to be efficient).

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DarkPho

# Search Index Gone - I deleted it to help with speeding the upgrade. I'll be rebuilding it soon.

Has this been rebuilt yet?