New Forum Quirks

[Admin]

Please post about any quirks with the new forum software here.

Known quirks are:
Users using gallery avatars may have to reassign their avatars in the new forum's gallery. Do this via your UserCP.
The styles are no longer on the board. We will have to get the vB versions or obtain new ones. fixed
Everyone's time zones are set wrong. Change this in UserCP > Options.
Teh masses demand legacy postbit (avatars on the left, not the top) - fixed.
Some smilies are retarded and aren't working. Looking at this...


You can also contact Josh on AIM at Lhadatt to contact him about the quirks directly.

[Joe Redifer]

At least the quick reply boxes are back, but damn the forum looks ugly without the styles! Also the "TOP" bottom that is normally at the bottom of the pages seems to be missing.

Please make returning the old style a priority! This default is AWFUL! I really like vBulletin software, but I'm curious as to what was wrong with the other style, other than that it was PHP.

[ary incorparated]

Youre right Joe,this style of board isnt as good as the older one,i find this one to disturbing for the eye and the options are limited,just not fine.I also wander what was wrong with the first one.

[Lhadatt]

The previous style was customized for phpBB, which is the board Sega-16 was running before this conversion. We need a vBulletin version of the style to reapply it. Well, two problems:

- The guy who made the style charges for it. His site says he won't give a vB version of the style if you buy the phpBB, and likewise if you buy the vB version and want to exchange for phpBB.
- He made a new revision of the style at some point, and Ken didn't think it was all that hot when we talked about the styles.

A third problem: Very few vB styles are free. Since vB is a pay-board, vB style makers think it's OK to charge for their work. In most cases, I agree - but then I look at the phpBB community, which doesn't charge for a lot of styles, and I have to wonder...

Ken's aware of the style problem, we'll have some solution forthcoming soon. The main thing Ken wanted was to get vB up and running.

Now, if any of you guys have graphics editing experience, you're more than welcome to make a cool style for S16 - I'll give you Style Administrator access so you can play around. I imagine Ken might not even have a problem with you selling it, using the site as a demo, as long as we get a free copy... :D

[Lhadatt]

Also the "TOP" bottom that is normally at the bottom of the pages seems to be missing.

That's a function of the style, not necessarily a board function.

Actually, it's moved over to the bottom right side.

[Melf]

The other board lacked several key administrative and user options that vbulletin provides. Vbulletin is also more secure. That's why we changed. :)

I'm aware of how fugly the default style is, and am working on changing back to the cool plasma skin bahn got us on the other board. I didn't get it before because it was changed and didn't look as good, and I guess the creator agreed with me because it now looks the same as the phpbb one we had did. We will be going back to that style in the next few days, but as Lhadatt mentioned, anyone who's skilled in graphics should feel free to make a new skin. We can have more than just the default!

[Lhadatt]

New styles imported. :D

Later, we'll look at fixing up little things, like the graphics for smilies and stuff like that. There are still some rough edges.. *glares at logo area*

[GeckoYamori]

Please bring back the optional skin with white background. I have some sort of defective eyesight so it's really hard for me to read anything with a dark background.

[Melf]

That's the default skin, which you can access at any time by switching skins through the drop menu in the lower left-hand corner.

[j_factor]

Is there any way we can go back to having the avatars on the left instead of on top? It's kind of annoying.

[Joe Redifer]

There is definitely a way to have the avatars and member infor to the left of the post as I've seen several VBulletin boards do it. I agree that would be better and make threads easier to read. Also the typeface/font size of the posts needs to be a bit bigger.

I am also having an extremely difficult time discerning which are threads with new posts and which aren't they all look the same.

We don't need it to be EXACTLY like the old plasma skin, just nice.

I have graphics editing experience, just no forum skin experience.

Also having URL links in post should result in that text being a different color than the rest of the text in the post so it stands out a bit more and we can tell if we've clicked on it before or not. Any way to extend the time the "This post was edited..." appears? I make lots of typos because I am a dumbass and I hate trying to fix them in 30 seconds or so. I say it should be 10 minutes unless someone else has already posted afterwards.

[Melf]

All valid concerns, gentlemen. The forum only went up last night, so Josh still needs some time to tweak things. I'm also learning the ins and outs of the new software, so hopefully I'll be able to take some of the load off of him.

[Lhadatt]

Old postbit (avatar location) restored...

text text text linky test (http://www.nerv.us) text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text

[Melf]

Have I told you that you are indeed the man? Because you are!

Now all we need are Galaga shield pips and I'll send someone to have your baby! :p

[landstalkerx]

I am also having an extremely difficult time discerning which are threads with new posts and which aren't they all look the same.


The new ones have a tiny pixilated V to the left of the threads title. At least I think that's what the V means.

[Lhadatt]

Yeah. Threads with new posts are bold and have the V next to the title.

[Joe Redifer]

It's getting there! Obviously nobody expects overnight fixes, but with the right amount of feedback and tweaking I think we'll get a nice forum.

Could we perhaps replace the pixelated V with something a little easier to see and click on? Maybe an arrow like this: http://www.the-magicbox.com/forums/images/buttons/firstnew.gif

I also think the standard icons are a bit hard to see. Try
http://www.the-magicbox.com/forums/images/statusicon/thread_hot.gif - for threads that you haven't participated in
http://www.the-magicbox.com/forums/images/statusicon/thread_dot_hot.gif - for threads that you HAVE participated in.
That little dot that indicates participation is a bit hard to see. The only problem with these is that the dark background makes the icons look kind of crappy due to a white outline. I can fix that if you like.

Also if you can maybe get rid of the second column of icons. They seem to serve no purpose that I can discern.

[j_factor]

Maybe we could replace the V with a little icon of the word "new". That would be cool.

Thanks for the fixes so far.

[lordofduct]

Yeah the icons are kinda iffy... The one thing I was loved about SX (the other forum I hang at) is the icons... it is why i came back. It is easy to see not only what threads you've participated in, but also what new posts have been made.

The graphic of an open envelope and closed envelope isn't a quick eyegrabber at that small size. It is hard to recognize when quickly skimming by. It would be nicer if already read threads without new posts were greyed out like on SX.

[Joe Redifer]

Yeah, I'm noticing that some forum names have bright white text and other have grey text. I cannot figure out why.

[Melf]

Links you haven't clicked on are white, and those you have are grey.

[landstalkerx]

Also if you can maybe get rid of the second column of icons. They seem to serve no purpose that I can discern.

They show if the post has a poll, or not.
I agree though, they aren't very useful.

[Lhadatt]

It's getting there! Obviously nobody expects overnight fixes, but with the right amount of feedback and tweaking I think we'll get a nice forum.

Could we perhaps replace the pixelated V with something a little easier to see and click on? Maybe an arrow like this: http://www.the-magicbox.com/forums/images/buttons/firstnew.gif

I also think the standard icons are a bit hard to see. Try
http://www.the-magicbox.com/forums/images/statusicon/thread_hot.gif - for threads that you haven't participated in
http://www.the-magicbox.com/forums/images/statusicon/thread_dot_hot.gif - for threads that you HAVE participated in.
That little dot that indicates participation is a bit hard to see. The only problem with these is that the dark background makes the icons look kind of crappy due to a white outline. I can fix that if you like.

Also if you can maybe get rid of the second column of icons. They seem to serve no purpose that I can discern.
Those images aren't coming through, most likely because TMB has direct linking to images disabled - this is known as hotlinking. Be thankful they only disabled the image, rather than replacing it with something that Something Aweful might do...

OK, my input on this:


Ken is the guy to talk to about this stuff.
There are certain things I will not do - fiddle incessantly with nitpicky changes fall into that category.
I'm not going to alter the design of the forum unless a sufficient case for it being broken can be made; otherwise, it's good as-is. There are reasons why the vB team made these design choices, and I like them. For instance: the first icon column on the thread display page is to tell you if a topic is open/closed/hot. The second column is a post icon, that should tell you what kind of thread it is. Alot of boards have icons denoting topics like PS2, Saturn, 32X, GCN, etc. This is core to vB's functionality and I won't be party to removing it.
If you want to help out with graphics or style design, instant message me or Ken. If you can produce, you can get Style Admin access.
Threads that have been read are not bolded and grey. Threads you have not read are bolded and white, with the V icon. Threads you have read but that have new messages are grey and bolded, with the V icon.
Please read the vB FAQ. It's linked at the navbar at the top of the screen.

[Joe Redifer]

Well since you put the member avatars and info over to the left and things like that, I find that the DEFAULT skin looks freakin' awesome! The ONLY thing that is missing from all skins is the Sega-16 logo at the top left (or somewhere at the top of the screen). I liked how it linked back to the main page,

[Melf]

That will be put back, and it will link to the main page too. It's just a question of re-editing it to fit the vBulletin version of the Plasma Skin. I liked it a lot too, and the forum just isn't the same without it!

[landstalkerx]

Maybe we could replace the V with a little icon of the word "new". That would be cool.

Thanks for the fixes so far.

You mean something like this?: http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y153/sf2genesis/firstnew2.gif (http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y153/sf2genesis/firstnew2.gif)
Feel free to use the graphic if you'd like, Melf.

[Joe Redifer]

Just be sure to put the Sega-16 logo on ALL available skins. Maybe you should have a joke skin where every letter is in the SEGA font. OK maybe not.

[Lhadatt]

Just be sure to put the Sega-16 logo on ALL available skins. Maybe you should have a joke skin where every letter is in the SEGA font. OK maybe not.
:lol:

Relax, Joe. It'll get done. :mrgreen:

[Joe Redifer]

Maybe an April 1st skin where everything is Nintendo Nintendo Nintendo. Worth the work? Maybe if we had more members. Maybe in 2007.

[Lhadatt]

Arg. Just noticed some smilies aren't working.

Well, continue to use them. I'll figure it out later on. Need sleep.

*zzzZZz*

[ary incorparated]

maybe it would be nice if you just can upload thing out of youre own directory(PC) or copy and paste,i cant find my way in imageshack.but thats just me,overall the forum is very fine right now,its as used to be the Damn good site,sega 16 fargin Rullezz.

[Lhadatt]

You can, actually.

When replying, either click Post Reply under the thread, quote a message, or click Go Advanced from the Quick Reply box. Under the message editor and stuff, you'll see an Attachments section. Click Manage Attachments and have fun with it.

Again, alot of this stuff is listed at the FAQ link at the top of the page.

[Joe Redifer]

For some reason the Sega CD forum lists only one day's worth of threads. In order to see them all the user must change it manually.

[Melf]

You can change the thread view options permanently in your user CP.

[Joe Redifer]

OK but does that mean EVERYONE will have to do that in order to see beyond a day in the Sega CD forum?

[Melf]

Yep. It's an individual preference thing, since the forum default is set to view all threads and never have them disappear. You just decide how much you want to see.

I prefer to see everything, while some people only want the most current topics. This ay everyone's taken care of. :)

[Joe Redifer]

I like to see everything, too. But my point is that the default of the Sega CD forum seems to be one day. Any new users who sign up will think the Sega CD is a super-dead forum. All of the other forums are set for a month.

[Melf]

How's it now?

[Joe Redifer]

Ha ha much better! I had to return my User CP to "Forum Default" to check. Now everything is from the beginning. Awesome!

[Melf]

Cool. I set all the forums that way, so everyone can see all our goodness! Anyone who wants to see less only has to change it in their CP.

[Lhadatt]

Spoiler tag GET! :D