Forum software upgrade

[Chris Blount]

Sometime today, the final "Gold" version of our forum software will get released. Before I install the software, I plan on running tests at our beta site. If all goes well, I will do the installation to the main site this weekend.

Just wanted to give you a heads up in case you find DBSTalk down for a few hours.

[Nick]

Thanks for the heads up, Chris, and good luck on the install. :righton:

Maybe I'll sleep in this weekend :zzz: instead of jumping out of bed before daylight as I normally do to check in with the board and beat up on certain folks :bonk1:.

[Chris Blount]

Okay, I have upgraded the software but still need to do a few things. Please note any problems you are having in this thread. Thanks!

[MarkA]

New icons... VERY nice :)

[Chris Blount]

New icons... VERY nice :)

They definitely do look different. I like them myself but I'm not sure how well they will be received in general. We will see how it goes. It's very easy to go back to the old graphics.

The new graphics look pretty good using a few of the other styles we have available. You can test them using the dropdown box at the bottom left corner of this page. I think they look pretty good with the "DBSTalk Blue" scheme.

[Mark Holtz]

Can we remove the tack on the right side for sticky messages?

[guruka]

Chris - Yah, I find the new look much more attractive. The new icons are larger and offer more information at a glance as well.

I am, however, getting an error message nearly every time I post or edit a message. The message seems to get posted just fine, but when the message is saved or edited, instead of seeing the old 'success' screen, I see:

"No Post specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the webmaster"

This is pretty consistent.

.....G

[Chris Blount]

Can we remove the tack on the right side for sticky messages?

Done!

[Chris Blount]

Chris - Yah, I find the new look much more attractive. The new icons are larger and offer more information at a glance as well.

I am, however, getting an error message nearly every time I post or edit a message. The message seems to get posted just fine, but when the message is saved or edited, instead of seeing the old 'success' screen, I see:

"No Post specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the webmaster"

This is pretty consistent.

.....G

Thanks for letting me know. Every time we do an upgrade, some people have this problem. First try flushing your cache. If that doesn't work try deleting your DBSTalk cookies and log back in.

If you still have trouble let me know. Thanks.

[Darkman]

The new graphics look pretty good using a few of the other styles we have available. You can test them using the dropdown box at the bottom left corner of this page. I think they look pretty good with the "DBSTalk Blue" scheme.

Ya..
new Graphics look pretty good.. - I like those colorfull icons on the left side of each thread...

By default though, i have/had/have "DBSTalk Vbulletin 3 style" Scheme...
So i just tried - i tried them all .. and saw the "Blue" one you mentioned above as well -----------> They all look pretty good.. but i ended up going back to the one i had originally - "DBSTalk Vbulletin 3 style" Scheme...(i think i find it still the best, or maybe i just got used to it)

Is "DBSTalk Vbulletin 3 style" Scheme - default/standard one?

Looks good anyhow

[Chris Blount]

Is "DBSTalk Vbulletin 3 style" Scheme - default/standard one?



Yes, it's the default.

[Darkman]

That's why it's the Best - Default ones usually ment to be used most often, most popular and therefore - it's the Best :D

[JohnH]

The Quote box extends beyond the right border of the post box and some of the quote message is cutoff.

[Darkman]

hmm - didn't see that..
nor did i pay attension...

Maybe Chris can do something about this.. if the problem exists..

[JohnH]

Here is an example of the Quote text being cutoff.

That's why it's the Best - Default ones usually ment to be used most often, most popular and therefore - it's the Best :D

19" NEC Multisync XL at 1024 X 768

[Chris Blount]

Here is an example of the Quote text being cutoff.

John,

I don't see it. Could you please post an actual screenshot? Thanks.

[JohnH]

John,

I don't see it. Could you please post an actual screenshot? Thanks.

Chris,

I posted the screen characteristics above. I do run with the favorites on the left. Also, do you see that the quote box goes all the way to the Post box border? It actually goes a bit farther, but is blocked by the post box.

As far as I know, I do not have the capability to do screen shots.

[Darkman]

maybe it's prob on your side John?

about Screen shots - there could be a trick.. and maybe anyone can do it:

John while on any screen - try Pressing "Print Scrn" button... then:

Open any viewer (like irfanview.. or any other for that matter)..
and go to "Edit" .. then "Paste" there (or maybe different in other viewer ..but find "Paste" button in it then anyhow however)

Then - the screen shot will load.. and you go to Save or Save as .. and save it to any format you wish - .jpg, .gif, .bmp, etc :)

Good luck (if you gonna try it)

[Mark Lamutt]

The quote box looks correct on my setup here, using the Professional scheme.

[Chris Blount]

John,

I have received your screenshot. Thanks.

There have been reports of this problem when using I.E. 5.5.

What version are you using?

It doesn't occur under I.E. 6 and Netscape.

[Ira Lacher]

Forum looks great! Thanks for all your efforts.
One small request: Is there any way to mark all threads read so that when I re-log on I get only the threads with new posts? Or is there something already existing that I'm just missing? 'Preciate it.

[JohnH]

John,

I have received your screenshot. Thanks.

There have been reports of this problem when using I.E. 5.5.

What version are you using?

It doesn't occur under I.E. 6 and Netscape.

You guessed it. :)

I don't use this system much on the web, but past few days have been stuck here. Not much choice, since it is Windows 95. :)

Thanks.

[Chris Blount]

Forum looks great! Thanks for all your efforts.
One small request: Is there any way to mark all threads read so that when I re-log on I get only the threads with new posts? Or is there something already existing that I'm just missing? 'Preciate it.

Hi Ira,

The easiest way is to use the "Quick Links" selection on the main navigation bar located at the top of the page. Click on "Mark Forums Read". That should do it for you.

If you forget to do that, all forums will get marked read after one hour of non-activity.

Hope this helps.

[timf]

I have one gripe with the icons. It's hard to tell at a glance a "hot" thread with new posts and one without new posts because both icons are the same bright red color. Is there a way to make the no new threads icon a different color so it doesn't stick out as much? Otherwise, I do prefer the new icons to the old ones.

[Chris Blount]

I have one gripe with the icons. It's hard to tell at a glance a "hot" thread with new posts and one without new posts because both icons are the same bright red color. Is there a way to make the no new threads icon a different color so it doesn't stick out as much? Otherwise, I do prefer the new icons to the old ones.

Yes, there is a way. I plan on doing a little tweeking to the icons as soon as I get the chance. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Darkman]

ahh.. hmmm .. 5.5 vs 6.0 issue..
I upgraded to 6.0 on this one here ..not long ago.. used to be 5.5...
it's Win ME though here.. - AMD 1800+ or something.. (can't even remember now)

My other one i think actuallly also - 6.0 (IE)..
And also Win ME (lol - not too anxious to go to XP yet))))
Other one - i think is Pentium II - 300 or something like that (not sure if overclocked to 450.. or if i set it back.. can't even remember now)

Also have some older Pentium 200 MMX standing somewhere...
Geeze - pretty soon - will be Garage Sale material :)

[Chris Blount]

Okay Tim, how about this. I've increased the numbers that qualify a thread as "hot". It used to be 20 posts or 100 views. Now it's 50 posts or 1000 views. I actually should have done this a long time ago because the old numbers were based on when our board was much smaller.

So now there shouldn't be as many hot thread icons making it a little simpler to pick out which ones have new messages and which ones don't.

I tried changing the color but found it to be overkill as far as our overall color scheme. Less is more sometimes.

Hope this helps.

[timf]

Thanks, it looks good for now.