Forum Upgrade

[Clarity]

1. Some of the smilies ( :) :( , etc.) have a blue tint to them. I can live with it but the traditional yellow tint (or maybe a scarlet/gray) would look better to my eyes. It's your call obviously, it just looks "wierd" to me.

vb3.0 RC1 (the version of the software we're running) was released with the graphics sets used in vb2.X (what we were running before). I had customized those so the smilies were better, etc. and lost that when I upgraded. However, vb3.0 FINAL is going to have an all new set of graphic widgets. Meaning new buttons, icons, smilies, everything will be at least new, and hopefully improved. Which is why I'm dragging my feet a bit customizing things like the smilies, the little blue folders up on top of the page, the little checkboxes next to our names that show we're online or not, etc. Mostly because the new release with the new gfx could be out within the next week or two, and I'd rather just edit all those images (100+) once in Photoshop. I have been going through and making some custom icons that we'll be using regardless of what the new ones look like. Such as the little Buckeye stickers that now show which forums have new posts on the front page (I also added one as a Post Icon so people can stick them on threads). I'm playing with a variation on them as a measure for reputation as well. So we'll see how that goes. Bottom line is that the blue gfx are temporary. Even if the new ones are blue, we'll be going to either scarlet, gray, or in the cases of smilies (for example) some complimenary yellow.

2. I can only save 10,000 private messages on this board!?!?!? Whats up with that??? Obviously I'm kidding here. That's a ridiculous number. Unbelievable in fact. I can't imagine having that many saved on this board (meaning on "your" disk space). and to think I've been limited to 5 EZmessages at Bucknuts!

I had this server built for a business where I was the COO. I actually had two of them built, but when the company folded post-9/11 (the biggest investor took massive stock hits and had to bail) I only kept one for myself. Anyway, this machine was actually designed to handle data storage and manipulation for not one, but rather up to a few dozen different vBulletins, as well as ad serving for several million pageviews a month across what was a good size family of websites. All it does now is host BP and a couple tiny little no-traffic pages of my own personal use, so when storage and database limits come up in the settings, I enjoy no small amount of freedom in opening them up a bit. 10k private messages is off the deep end a bit though, I could see paring that down to something a little more reasonable. Like 1k. But maybe not, there may never be a need. This box has 4 15k rpm 18GB drives, I think we're currently only using like 6% capacity. Our processor use is between 0% at the low and 5% at the busiest it's ever been (80 users on -- I think all 80 were Inktomi indexing spiders (feeding various search engines)). RAM use (I think we have 2gb) is a non-issue as well.

The only reason I'm going into is to demonstrate that we're going to be covered for a good long time. But it will be interesting to see how the stats engine impacts everything if that really gets cranking.

As I've said before, I'm not a tech guy, but I like toys. And I guess I sort of look at this server as a toy. It's just too bad I don't have the skill sets to play with it more (unix admin, some programming, etc.) I tried to teach myself to program about a year ago, and learned some basic stuff, but it just didn't want to take. I'm wired well for some things, but programming doesn't seem to be one of them. Things start to get complicated, the characters start swimming around on the screen violently, then I bleed from the eyes and ears. It's no good.

Had I been smart, I would have taken some computer science courses while at OSU. But no, I had to be microbio/biochem. A lot of good that's doing me these days.

3. In the User CP section of the board I've noticed a possible "glitch". When you go to the "Edit Options" section there seems to be an excessive amount of "blank" space between several of the headings (Messaging & Notification, Thread Display, Date & Time Options, Miscellaneous, possible others) and the area where you would select your settings. It's not really a big issue other than convenience. I had to "scroll" down for quite some time before I got to the options I could set. Then I needed to "scroll" down again for each additional heading. Again, not a major issue, but I almost stopped, assuming there was nothing more to be seen, or that it was a software "error".

I've noticed that in a few places, it seems to be a little glitch in the software. That's what I get for not being patient enough to wait for the final release. I'm glad you mentioned that, I'll bring it up in their bug tracker.

4. Some of the new features are crazy cool. I've used 282 KB of your disk space to store/upload 15 attachments. One of my attachments (the OSU Helmet with Buckeye Leaf stickers) has be acceced/downloaded 3,935 times?!?!? Wow! That one seems to be popular/a problem. This was already discussed in another thread, but it is very cool to seen the numbers for myself.

I didn't know it gave you that information. Very cool. I'm still discovering new stuff myself.

5. Keep up the great work, it is appreciated. I assume there will be other things I run across, but the upgrade is very cool.

Let me know, because some of it is still news to me. Seems like every time I wrap up tweaking in one place, I discover some new cool thing that I have to explore.

 

[BuckNutty]

I hate change! :susp:

All kidding aside, the site looks great. I just figured out how to quote stuff so things are looking up already. Nice work, Clarity

 

[3yardsandacloud]

Thanks for the info Clarity. I've noticed another "glitch" or possibly forgotten where to look. I can't seem to find where a member would access/change an avatar. I thought it was in the User CP section, but can't seem to find it anywhere. Through the FAQ section I can get to the standard board avatars but it just seems to be a visual list with no facility for adding/changing the avatar. Am I looking in the wrong place? :tic:

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

C-Dog: The site is looking great now that we have our scarlet and gray color scheme. I do have one possible glitch. There has been a couple of times where I've signed in, but later when I try to post, it makes me log in again.

I do like the fact you can store a shit-load of PMs, because I use them to keep track of stuff I send to folks or get sent from folks. Now I nee to check and see if you can set up folders to organize them in.

Oh yeah, I have to agree with everyone that the buckeye sticker icons to show if a forum/thread has new posts is way cool.

One last thing...how do you get your thread to have the rollover preview on the main page like so of them do?

 

[Clarity]

I think the rollover preview is just on threads that were created after I upgraded. So no previous threads will have them.

You can set up folders. I've got like 350 pms in there, I need to get in there and organize as well. 1000 might not be enough of a limit, as long as 10k isn't taking up all the disc space (don't see how it could), I'm going to leave it there.

I haven't been able to replicate your sign-in problem. I'll hit the vB boards to see if anyone else has mentioned that, and if there's a fix. What browser are you using? And do you allow cookies?

I'm glad everyone digs the Buckeye stickers. My first attempt at them was less than impressive, those were only online for about 30 minutes until the current ones were uploaded. They look much cleaner.

Once the software is at the final release point, I'm going to make another couple color schemes for people to choose from. Maybe one predominately scarlet, another one like this with darker themes, etc. Will be nice to have a few to choose from.

C-Dog: The site is looking great now that we have our scarlet and gray color scheme. I do have one possible glitch. There has been a couple of times where I've signed in, but later when I try to post, it makes me log in again.

I do like the fact you can store a shit-load of PMs, because I use them to keep track of stuff I send to folks or get sent from folks. Now I nee to check and see if you can set up folders to organize them in.

Oh yeah, I have to agree with everyone that the buckeye sticker icons to show if a forum/thread has new posts is way cool.

One last thing...how do you get your thread to have the rollover preview on the main page like so of them do?

 

[Clarity]

Thanks for the info Clarity. I've noticed another "glitch" or possibly forgotten where to look. I can't seem to find where a member would access/change an avatar. I thought it was in the User CP section, but can't seem to find it anywhere. Through the FAQ section I can get to the standard board avatars but it just seems to be a visual list with no facility for adding/changing the avatar. Am I looking in the wrong place? :tic:

Hey 3y. I see "Edit Avatar" in UserCP under "Settings and Options", which is the top left option cell. I think it was the last option in a row.

It's not impossible that it's there for me, but not you. Some settings are based on the user group (in your case "moderator"), and it may be turned off there.

Just let me know if you find it. If not, I'll figure it out.

 

[Clarity]

Aha...

From vB.com;

Changed postbit and bbcode_* templates to use <table> tags rather than 
<div> tags for increased cross browser compatibility. (This should also fix several related 
bugs.)
Fixed possible security issue relating to 
logging in. Note: some users may need to request a new password in order to be able to login.
Readded no-cache header setting, which was mistakenly left out. (Link)
Forced sending of no-cache headers in the admin control panel. (Link)
Fixed situation where "Edit Avatar" didn't show when it was supposed to. (Link)
Fully removed references to $vboptions['abspath'] (Link)
Fixed issue causing '//' to be displayed in the URL after being redirected. (Link)
Fixed fatal error when using certain forum jump options. (Link)
Admin editing member's post can result in signature not being shown (Link)
Last post info bleeds into adjacent cells (Mozilla, Opera) (Link)
Inability to set unlimited attachment count (Link)
Assorted style issues.
Assorted language issues.

I don't know what any of that means, but I see mention of Edit Avatar being buggy. I'm about to shut the board down for a couple minutes and upgrade to RC2.

Once again, I'll make my disclaimer. Should anything catch fire, I'm just going to run and hide. Some day, something will happen where my lack of comprehension of the tech side is going to cost us here.

Hey 3y. I see "Edit Avatar" in UserCP under "Settings and Options", which is the top left option cell. I think it was the last option in a row.

It's not impossible that it's there for me, but not you. Some settings are based on the user group (in your case "moderator"), and it may be turned off there.

Just let me know if you find it. If not, I'll figure it out.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

I have cookies blocked as a default at home, but have your site as a "trusted site" in the security settings. Here at work, I don't, so that may be the problem. I just added you as a "trusted site" on my work computer, so I'll see if I get the same problem tomorrow.

 

[Clarity]

I have cookies blocked as a default at home, but have your site as a "trusted site" in the security settings. Here at work, I don't, so that may be the problem. I just added you as a "trusted site" on my work computer, so I'll see if I get the same problem tomorrow.

Cool, let me know. If that doesn't do it, hopefully some of the changes from RC1 to RC2 will.

Speaking of that. I'm not going to upgrade tonight. There's nothing urgent in there, and I'd like to wait and see how other boards respond to new updates.

Truth be told, I probably should have held out and waited for the final release version of 3.0, but I got impatient. So I'll just have to deal with the upgrades as they come out. Hopefully there won't be too many. From a user standpoint, you all probably won't even notice that I'm upgrading except glitches will start to disappear.

 

[3yardsandacloud]

Clarity, here's what I'm getting in the User CP section:

Control Panel

Settings & Options
Edit Signature
Edit Email & Password
Edit Profile
Edit Options

Private Messages
List Messages
Send New Message
Track Messages
Edit Folders

Subscribed Threads
List Subscriptions
Edit Folders

Miscellaneous
Event Reminders
Paid Subscriptions
Group Memberships
Buddy / Ignore Lists
Attachments

I was also experiencing the same "glitch" as Mili for a brief period ( the board forcing me to Re-login at certain juctures). It seems to have cleared up though. I also got a few messages that stated "specified server could not be found". When I tried the same operation several minutes later all was OK again. I haven't had any of these errors lately either.

Personally I'm glad you upgraded now rather than waiting. It gives us a chance to get familiar with the new features AND gives you a chance to suggest changes to JelSoft that might make final release. It might be a "headache" for you though with more "stuff" to fix and keep track of.

Hey 3y. I see "Edit Avatar" in UserCP under "Settings and Options", which is the top left option cell. I think it was the last option in a row.

It's not impossible that it's there for me, but not you. Some settings are based on the user group (in your case "moderator"), and it may be turned off there.

Just let me know if you find it. If not, I'll figure it out.

 

[3yardsandacloud]

Clarity, just noticed something else. In the "Search" section there seems to be some "layout" issues. The cell width under the headings "Search Forums" and "Search Options" appear to be wider than intended. I can't explain it better than that, if you take a look you'll se what I'm talking about. Also, there is a selection menu (scroll box) to the right of those cells called "Search in forum" (it lets you pick what forum to seach in) that extends off the visable page (you can scroll over to see it all). That also doesn't seem/look right. Finally, just below that menu is a check box for "Also search in child forums" ... um, WTF?!?!? On second thought, I don't even want to know about that one!

Oh and what the hell is an "Inktomi Spider"? Apparently we've got one snooping around. I'm imagining one of those small robotic contraptions like in the movie "Minority Report". Spooky! :)

 

[Clarity]

I saw some chatter about the random logout issue. I found a fix for it, I just have to figure out if it was already implemented in RC2, which I'm going to install in the morning.

I figure I'll pop a couple percocet, wash it down with robitussin, and let the good times roll here with the laptop. If you log on later only to discover pictures of kittens, don't fret, I just need to come down a bit.

I *believe* the cell width issues you mention are part of the styles fixes they implemented. It's going to be interesting to see what gets cleaned up when I drop RC2 tomorrow. But as things stand, it sounds like it's going to squash most of the issues I've heard of and seen here.

I appreciate all the feedback on problems, glitches, bugs and stuff. It's all extremely helpful. Like you said, it's probably good we're in on these later stages of the development progress, gives us a better voice with the developers while their ears are pressed down to the earth.

The Inktomi spider is an annoying critter. I've seen literally 60 of them crawling all over the site at one time before. They're slurping up data and taking it all back to their masters back at Inktomi for the sake of driving search engine results. Why they feed on our site so much is beyond me, more or less around the clock, there's always at least one here sulking around. I actually had a mental visual of the Minority Report spiders as well, which isn't entirely pleasant. I tried banning them once, they just adapted and came pouring back in. But more of them. Seriously. There were 6 on the board. I banned their IPs and they disappeared for about 30 minutes. Then I noticed 18 or so of them appear all at once and they were all over the site with a new IP range. Sneaky little arachnids. I don't mind them as much anymore. They're free to crawl, as long as they don't bite anyone. I laughed earlier when 4 of them were all spending a large amount of time looking at Hubbard's profile. I don't know what they liked there, but something caught their beady little eyes.

Child forums are just subordinate to a parent. Buckeyes is a child of Football, which is a child of BuckeyePlanet Forums.

Clarity, just noticed something else. In the "Search" section there seems to be some "layout" issues. The cell width under the headings "Search Forums" and "Search Options" appear to be wider than intended. I can't explain it better than that, if you take a look you'll se what I'm talking about. Also, there is a selection menu (scroll box) to the right of those cells called "Search in forum" (it lets you pick what forum to seach in) that extends off the visable page (you can scroll over to see it all). That also doesn't seem/look right. Finally, just below that menu is a check box for "Also search in child forums" ... um, WTF?!?!? On second thought, I don't even want to know about that one!

Oh and what the hell is an "Inktomi Spider"? Apparently we've got one snooping around. I'm imagining one of those small robotic contraptions like in the movie "Minority Report". Spooky! :)

 

[Clarity]

Now here's something *really* funny... The moment I posted that thread, I went to the who's online page. Guess where a spider was snooping? This is not a joke, I didn't fabricate this. In fact, if you hurry, he may still be there...

 

[3yardsandacloud]

Sh!t, that's funny as hell! I bet every time I type Inktomi Spider they start crawling all over my profile.

Inktomi Spider
Inktomi Spider
Inktomi Spider
Inktomi Spider
Inktomi Spider
Inktomi Spider
Inktomi Spider
Inktomi Spider

Ahhh, get off me you 8 legged freaks!

BTW, clarity, you don't need to respond to any of my posts about possible glitches. I'm just throwing them out there for your knowledge. You can check them out as your available time and inclination warrant. None of them seem to be all that serious anyway. Hopefully your next upgrade/patch will eliminate most of them.

Later - 3yards

 

[Clarity]

lol, you make it sound like I have something better to do. If it's not this, then it's a book, tv, or some writing. My days only break down into so many types of activities. Right now I'm enjoying working on the web stuff, so while it lasts I'm going to be pretty active. The upgrade process tomorrow will slow me down. I want to backup everything everywhere before I start, and that will take a bit.

Sh!t, that's funny as hell! I bet every time I type Inktomi Spider they start crawling all over my profile.

Inktomi Spider
Inktomi Spider
Inktomi Spider
Inktomi Spider
Inktomi Spider
Inktomi Spider
Inktomi Spider
Inktomi Spider

Ahhh, get off me you 8 legged freaks!

BTW, clarity, you don't need to respond to any of my posts about possible glitches. I'm just throwing them out there for your knowledge. You can check them out as your available time and inclination warrant. None of them seem to be all that serious anyway. Hopefully your next upgrade/patch will eliminate most of them.

Later - 3yards