I want....

[Mike]

Is there something missing from the forum you'd like?
Maaaybeeee we'll put it on.
What is it?

[Mike]

I want an RSS feed.

[Jeff]

I want an RSS feed.

We do have an ATOM RSS feed. I use Google Reader, and that supports ATOM.

Here's the address:

Code: Select all

http://www.ikeclub.org/Forums/feed.php

[Mike]

Oops, you're right. I wasn't seeing the feed I used from the old version of the forum. (I use google reader too)

[goestoeleven]

I'm not sure I'm seeing the old "upload an image" button which 1) was broken before the upgrade and 2) stored the image inside the forum vs. out on a photo sharing site. The new button just wants a url which seems to imply we need to host our images elsewhere. Is that the case now? I'm OK with that but I found it easier and less time consuming to load images to one site (IKE) vs. loading to a hosting site and then pasting a link.

I'm sure you know this already but . . . . the IKE logo (top left) directs you to the main forum page, not the main IKE Club page. I think it used to go to the main ikeclub.org site. A link back to the main site would be nice. I don't think the url in the banner actually works as a link at the moment.

[Jeff]

I'm not sure I'm seeing the old "upload an image" button which 1) was broken before the upgrade and 2) stored the image inside the forum vs. out on a photo sharing site. The new button just wants a url which seems to imply we need to host our images elsewhere. Is that the case now? I'm OK with that but I found it easier and less time consuming to load images to one site (IKE) vs. loading to a hosting site and then pasting a link.

I'm sure you know this already but . . . . the IKE logo (top left) directs you to the main forum page, not the main IKE Club page. I think it used to go to the main ikeclub.org site. A link back to the main site would be nice. I don't think the url in the banner actually works as a link at the moment.

Things might appear a little different, but there's always a way.

The Img button above the post composition area gives you the BBCode Image tags to put a link into. This is for pics that are hosted elsewhere.

Below the posting area is a tab to "Upload attachment." This is where you would upload an image if you want it to upload to the site. You can then select to "Place Inline" for a more seamless looking post, like this:

Or you can choose not to do that, and anything not placed inline will be viewable at the end of the post as an attachment, like this.

[Jeff]

Also, the forum will automatically shrink a large photo down to fit better in the post, but you can click on them to see them full size.

[Jeff]

I'm sure you know this already but . . . . the IKE logo (top left) directs you to the main forum page, not the main IKE Club page. I think it used to go to the main ikeclub.org site. A link back to the main site would be nice. I don't think the url in the banner actually works as a link at the moment.

There is a link to the main site, but it may not be where you expect. When the site was first created, it was just a forum. We added the current main page and its more article-like pages later. That was something that was modeled after the style and format of the Wikipedia, and we named it "IKElopedia" as it would be a more static reference section, and not really a conversation. That link above that says IKElopedia will take you there. We can consider if the logo should link back there as well...

[goestoeleven]

What about the related links that used to show up at the bottom of the threads? I think the forum software was using keywords to find similar links. They did not always match up, but sometimes I happened across interesting previous posts seredipitously.

And . . .I did like the random gallery pictures that showed up various places on the forum. I guess I did not use the gallery at all myself, but it was nice to see what other people had posted. Maybe if the inline image posting also put the images into a gallery?

Finally, I think you should redesign the forum every week! There have been lots more posts in the last week due to the pent up demand and general excitement! Just kidding . . . . don't want you to get all at me.

[Jeff]

What about the related links that used to show up at the bottom of the threads? I think the forum software was using keywords to find similar links. They did not always match up, but sometimes I happened across interesting previous posts seredipitously.

Yes, I've thought about that one too. It's a nice feature.

Maybe if the inline image posting also put the images into a gallery?

I'm looking to see if there's something that can deal with the posted images.

[Mike]

A couple of notes.
The older forum was slower and part of the reason was all the extra features.
If every time a forum page loads it also searches all the other posts for related posts, that takes time. Every time you load a page.
However, we have less than 20,000 posts in our database, which is a ton in human terms, but not so much in speedy computer terms. So extra features may not slow us down so much. We wont know until we try.
So we may add a feature, and then take it away, at least in the early stages of setting up our new forum.

This forum is still old school technology in terms of programming. Newer programming technologies and web design are more interactive and faster (programmers: think Ajax, which has been around for a while). In a couple years, this forum will most likely change again.
That said, this forum is open source (read: free, community supported software), and works quite well for what we want.

[Darkspark]

Would it be possible to show "today" for the date when a post has been added to or a new thread made. Kinda like it was on the old forum? I always liked that feature, it made the new stuff stand out with a glance. I know I can go to unread posts, but I always thought it was nice to for the new stuff to stand out.

[goestoeleven]

And . . . . can the "last post" on the Forum Index page show the thread topic as well as the date/time and member?

BTW, new forum is working great overall, so thanks for all the work to upgrade it.

[Mike]

[quote="goestoeleven"]And . . . . can the "last post" on the Forum Index page show the thread topic as well as the date/time and member?/quote]

done.

[Jeff]

And . . . . can the "last post" on the Forum Index page show the thread topic as well as the date/time and member?

done.

[Jynx]

My signature is goofed-up... must I re-do?

[Jeff]

My signature is goofed-up... must I re-do?

Jynx, some of the settings for text sizes and formatting changed, so if it doesn't look the way you want, go ahead and edit it.

[Elix]

Unread: XX

This is one of my favorite features. Keep it around!

[Mike]

Unread: XX

This is one of my favorite features. Keep it around!

It was the first thing we added. It's not going away.

Speaking of which, I may change it from:

VIEW POSTS: unread:9 | new | yours

to

Unread Posts: 9 | Your posts | Active Topics

That might be clearer?
Active Topics shows you any topics which have been posted to in the last week (or optionally 1 day, etc.)
New, just shows recently posted topics ( in the last 3 days?)

[Jeff]

Active topics are ones that have at least XX replies as defined in the board configuration. I forget what the current setting is.