Everyone,
We've obviously changed the software the Forge runs on. My apologies for the current looks of it. It's all unintegrated and wacko. Give me a day or two to finish, but feel free to go ahead and use the software as is right now.
I miss the "Recent Topics" search link from the older forums. Does SMF have a similar feature?
Quote from: Selene Tan on July 17, 2005, 03:04:19 AM
I miss the "Recent Topics" search link from the older forums. Does SMF have a similar feature?
You should see that right up top, under your name.
Going to sleep now, guys - I'll answer more questions in the morning.
Seriously, is this thing faster? It feels like I'm driving a race car over here.
Well, I've got a wierd problem. I'm using Firefox under Linux. When I view a thread, I scroll with the mouse wheel like I'm sure everyone else does. However now, I'll get basically past the first message and hit a dead zone, where I can't scroll at all. So I have to manually pull down from the side. I went over to Simple Machines community forum and have the same problem. In researching and setting it up, did you run across anyone else having this problem at all Clinton?
Note my scroll wheel works just fine everywhere else and actually works at the forge outside of viewing a thread.
Quote from: Uzzah on July 17, 2005, 10:39:43 AM
Well, I've got a wierd problem. I'm using Firefox under Linux. When I view a thread, I scroll with the mouse wheel like I'm sure everyone else does. However now, I'll get basically past the first message and hit a dead zone, where I can't scroll at all. So I have to manually pull down from the side. I went over to Simple Machines community forum and have the same problem. In researching and setting it up, did you run across anyone else having this problem at all Clinton?
Note my scroll wheel works just fine everywhere else and actually works at the forge outside of viewing a thread.
Happens to me too - here and at Gmail. It's something about the way they make the search text boxes - Firefox totally gets trapped in them. However, since I've seen it at several websites (including my own weblog, not Gmail. But whatever...) I'm totally putting that one off on Firefox.
Quote from: Clinton R. Nixon on July 17, 2005, 10:47:38 AM
Happens to me too - here and at Gmail. It's something about the way they make the search text boxes - Firefox totally gets trapped in them. However, since I've seen it at several websites (including my own weblog, not Gmail. But whatever...) I'm totally putting that one off on Firefox.
Hmmm, it doesn't suprise me that it's Firefox's problem. Ah well, time to fire up lynx I guess. ;)
Hey Clinton,
Did we lose the "saved messages" section of private messages?
Paul
Also, I seem to be missing several recently received private messages.
Paul
Quote from: Paul Czege on July 17, 2005, 11:14:05 AM
Also, I seem to be missing several recently received private messages.
Paul
Paul,
I'll check on that. I've got a backup from when I converted it. (Last night, 10 PM.)
On the private message issue: saved messages are still there, but they're integrated into your other private messages now. No one should be missing any private messages according to my accounting, but I could be wrong.
I will look into finding an extension for the forum software that allows for saved private messages in a separate queue.
Wow. VERY interesting. I know you're gonna be adjusting here and there for a bit. Just wanted to say that I like the current color scheme.
Still, it's gonna take my brain a while to adjust.
Clinton,
Just so you know, old posts don't seem to be accessible. I can't reach the posts listed in "The Infamous Five."
Yes, the forum feels much faster- at least on my end. Go go gadget Clinton! :)
Quote from: Miskatonic on July 17, 2005, 03:25:24 PM
Clinton,
Just so you know, old posts don't seem to be accessible. I can't reach the posts listed in "The Infamous Five."
Larry,
Good catch. It's fixed now. Thanks!
Ack! I'm an idiot! The default sort order for private messages is reversed. The ones I came looking for this morning, and couldn't find, were at the bottom of the page.
Quote from: Paul Czege on July 17, 2005, 04:38:33 PM
Ack! I'm an idiot! The default sort order for private messages is reversed. The ones I came looking for this morning, and couldn't find, were at the bottom of the page.
By the way, you can totally change that in your profile.
You can even change the order of posts in threads, which I'm iffy about, but would have to hack into the code to turn off, so I won't right now.
We've got a lot of new options here, some of which are a bit of a reversal from the previous minimalism of the Forge. I'm interested to see where they take us.
I'm very much liking the new format. However...
Am I totally blind, or is the Favorites feature no longer around. I had a bunch of threads that I had saved as favorites, and I'd hate to have to search for them everytime I want to reread them. However, being a librarian, I will certainly search for them everytime if I have to--it's not really that big a deal.
Quote from: joshua neff on July 17, 2005, 05:28:41 PM
Am I totally blind, or is the Favorites feature no longer around. I had a bunch of threads that I had saved as favorites, and I'd hate to have to search for them everytime I want to reread them. However, being a librarian, I will certainly search for them everytime if I have to--it's not really that big a deal.
It's
currently not present. The data is preserved, and will be restored with a new format. I decided to do all this yesterday, so we're not completely to where we're going yet.
Quote from: Clinton R. Nixon on July 17, 2005, 05:30:10 PMIt's currently not present. The data is preserved, and will be restored with a new format. I decided to do all this yesterday, so we're not completely to where we're going yet.
That's what I figured.
Cool.
Just a navigation question within topics...
At the bottom and top of the threads the word "Page" is listed followed by each numbered page.
Will there be a "next page", "previous page", "last page", "first page" option available?
btw... what new software is this. It's actually kind of exciting; although I was a bit flummoxed when I first signed on.
Quote from: Asrogoth on July 17, 2005, 05:35:31 PM
btw... what new software is this. It's actually kind of exciting; although I was a bit flummoxed when I first signed on.
Simple Machines Forum. It's got a few too many features for my taste, but is almost perfect.
I'm posting for another reason, though:
Everyone, start previewing posts.I just noticed that some of the BBCode is different on here, especially the format of quotes. So, seriously, preview. Thanks!
I could have sworn that the "time adjust" profile setting in the previous software was based on GMT. The currect software's base time is Pacific time. Took me a while to figure out how everyone was posting in the future.
Look ma! I don't have to pester Clinton if I want my display name changed!
Say, links to Essays and Bookshelf and all that will be returning at some point, yes?
Hey, I like the new code. I've only got one little quibble with it. The icons to the left of the Threads that indicate whether something has been read, unread, etc are difficult to distinquish from each other at a glance. Is there any way to make the colors of those icons contrast a little more?
Other than that, I really like everything.
Quote from: Larry Lade on July 18, 2005, 09:05:37 AM
Say, links to Essays and Bookshelf and all that will be returning at some point, yes?
Hopefully, today.
Quote from: Gaerik on July 18, 2005, 09:19:31 AM
Hey, I like the new code. I've only got one little quibble with it. The icons to the left of the Threads that indicate whether something has been read, unread, etc are difficult to distinquish from each other at a glance. Is there any way to make the colors of those icons contrast a little more?
I agree. I'll be working on site design and look today.
Change is good. Yay, Clinton!
Heya,
I like how the forum sections are all collapsable. It's easier to navigate now and really find what I'm looking for. Nice work, Clinton.
EDIT: The only problem I seem to be having is when I click a link in a post to another thread, the popup window is just the Forge home site. Specifically in this thread: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=15974.msg170305#msg170305
Peace,
-Troy
Oh, and where are the articles and reviews?
Peace,
-Troy
Quote from: Troy_Costisick on July 18, 2005, 10:35:37 AM
EDIT: The only problem I seem to be having is when I click a link in a post to another thread, the popup window is just the Forge home site. Specifically in this thread: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=15974.msg170305#msg170305
What? I just tried that and it worked fine. More details, please.
Heya,
In that thread, when I click on the "Plagiarism. good plagiarism" link, it just takes me back to the Forge home page. I'm using IE with all the most recent patches, so I don't think it's my browser. :(
Peace,
-Troy
How do I access and use Moderator features? (particularly sticky threads.)
yrs--
--Ben
I have verified the issue Troy is having.
Quote from: Larry Lade on July 18, 2005, 11:30:04 AM
I have verified the issue Troy is having.
I have just fixed it. Good call.
Quote from: Clinton R. Nixon on July 17, 2005, 10:35:18 AM
Seriously, is this thing faster? It feels like I'm driving a race car over here.
It's not you, it's not a race car, this thing flies.
SR
--
Yep, it is fast. It also renders much nicer on my phone with the images turned off than the previous code did. Partly because more of the buttons have alt text, so it's much more user friendly in that regard, but also in other ways. The text in the tables wraps better, so I don't have to do that pain-in-the-ass back-and-forth horizontal panning to read a line of text. I'm liking it.
And a question: is there any way to set my profile so my signature doesn't always appear? Where I have to check a box when I post if I do want it to appear?
Paul
Quote from: Paul Czege on July 18, 2005, 02:00:18 PM
Yep, it is fast. It also renders much nicer on my phone with the images turned off than the previous code did. Partly because more of the buttons have alt text, so it's much more user friendly in that regard, but also in other ways. The text in the tables wraps better, so I don't have to do that pain-in-the-ass back-and-forth horizontal panning to read a line of text. I'm liking it.
Paul - if you like that, try this:
http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?wap2
Quote
And a question: is there any way to set my profile so my signature doesn't always appear? Where I have to check a box when I post if I do want it to appear?
It's funny - I don't see an option. It's on my list of things to investigate.
Is there something that can be done about the font used? I find the text very
difficult to read follow and concentrate upon (maybe because it's sans-serif?) - especially in large posts, which are not rare at the Forge. It's really turned reading this site from a pleasure into a chore, I'm afraid.
I'm reading this in Firefox if that matters.
Quote from: Clinton R. Nixon on July 18, 2005, 11:34:14 AM
Quote from: Larry Lade on July 18, 2005, 11:30:04 AM
I have verified the issue Troy is having.
I have just fixed it. Good call.
I'm still having problems clicking on links to old threads. They all take me to the Forge home page. (Using IE6 with all patches, natch).
Cheers, Nick
Quote from: Nick Brooke on July 18, 2005, 04:10:13 PM
I'm still having problems clicking on links to old threads. They all take me to the Forge home page. (Using IE6 with all patches, natch).
Please provide an example link.
Heya,
In my most recent forum read I've been getting weird text wrapping issues (I noticed in this thread (http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=16022.0) and have seen it since then in most other threads). I keep my browser window at about 3/4 the width of my display, and it looks like it cuts off the last couple letters of some lines. If I expand my window all the way they appear. I'm browsing with Firefox 1.0.3 on a Powerbook. If it's a browser issues, that's fine, but if not...
Clinton,
Am I overlooking a delete post button function? Thor posted a duplicate post in the Chimera Creative form, and I can't figure out how to delete the duplicate.
is just me, or are there no more Announcement or Sticky options for Moderators?
thanks,
-Luke
Luke,
Click "Additional options" when you post. Sticky's there. Announcement's gone and is just sticky.
Love the new software, Clinton. Thanks for all your hard work getting it up and running. I'm not crazy about the font, but you can't please everyone. I do find quote boxes all but unreadable now, though. They're black text on dark purple at what appears to be 4 pixel type. Yeah... I know... bitch bitch bitch. :-)
I second John's post ;)
There's just another thing I really miss from the old forum: the fact that you could log in from any machine and the unread threads where still correct. Here the last time visited seems to be stored in a cookie on each individual machine.
Trains my memory... :)
[edit: Didn't notice the "mark read" button... so actually there's no problem at all!]
Quote from: John Harper on July 19, 2005, 03:48:13 AM
Love the new software, Clinton. Thanks for all your hard work getting it up and running. I'm not crazy about the font, but you can't please everyone. I do find quote boxes all but unreadable now, though. They're black text on dark purple at what appears to be 4 pixel type. Yeah... I know... bitch bitch bitch. :-)
Quote boxes have been somewhat lightened and the font has been made bigger.
As for the font, what? Here's what you're seeing for a font. Understand that for each font in this list, if you don't have it, it goes to the next font until it finds one you have:
font-family: "Bitstream Vera Sans", Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
If someone has a better suggestion for fonts, I'll take it. (Note: not if it's serif, so drop that issue.)
Note: Hey, most of you don't have that "Bitstream Vera Sans" font, I know. If you want it, to see how the site looks to me, you can get it here (http://www.gnome.org/fonts/). It's very crisp. I have looked at the site in Verdana (the second choice), and it seems quite nice, too.
A minor gripe, I know, but I find the colour of visited links hard to distinguish from body text, any chance of a more distinct colour?
Also, could we have unread threads names in bold?
Am I missing something? When I go into a forum, it's easy to see which threads have new posts, but when I go into the thread itself, I see no indicator of the new posts, so I have to try and remember what I last read.
Frank
I can't tell which threads are new. Am I missing something?
Warning: this post consists of pure enthusiasm.
I just ran into the "someone has posted since you last read this topic" message, and it's totally awesome. What a fantastic feature. Thanks Clinton!
If you haven't seen it yet, when the page comes up to reply to a thread, if someone posted something between when you loaded the thread to read it and you clicked Reply, a message in big red letters comes up telling you so. Totally Awesome.
Quote from: Andrew Morris
I can't tell which threads are new. Am I missing something?
For me, all new topics have a little box next to the thread title on the right-hand side that says "new".
p.s. Still having line-wrapping problems...any possible solutions?
Hey Clinton,
I'm seeing some properly html-coded anchors/links looking like they didn't convert over properly. Check the one in my post here:
http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=7317.msg77440#msg77440
Paul
Quote from: Nathan P. on July 19, 2005, 01:15:17 PMFor me, all new topics have a little box next to the thread title on the right-hand side that says "new".
Oh. Yeah. Well...sure, if you want to use the obvious indicator that only a blind person could miss. I meant...something else, of course.
Thanks, Nathan. I can't believe I missed that.
[Edited to add:]
Oh, and I just noticed that the green yin/yang symbol disappears if I've viewed the forum, even if there are still new posts in the forum.
Quote from: Clinton R. Nixon on July 19, 2005, 07:58:52 AMIf someone has a better suggestion for fonts, I'll take it. (Note: not if it's serif, so drop that issue.)
Is it particularly hard to set up multiple stylesheets, or allow users to set their own font display preferences? Some people do not share your prejudices.
Read before posting any further in this thread.
This is not a "demand a new feature we didn't have before" thread. I'm looking for technical issues. Not seeing unread posts? Awesome. I'll work on that.
Don't like the fonts? Fixed it once to look a lot like the older Forge. That's that.
I mean, I'm a nice guy. Feel free to suggest things. That's cool. If I see something about my "prejudices," again... well... come on. Did you really intend to come off like such a jerk?
Haven't any of you guys heard of "thank you?"
(By the way, on the font tip: it's the policy of the Forge, set long ago by Ron and I, that there would be a unified user experience. That policy would have to change before we went making all sorts of "have it your way" changes. The sans serif bit is part of that: all studies show that sans serif fonts are easier to read on a computer screen. Also, there's this thing called Greasemonkey (http://diveintogreasemonkey.org/) you can use with Firefox. That'll do the trick for you.)
Thank you Clinton!
-Eric
Thanks for addressing the font issue, Clinton. Especially the quote boxes. Much, much easier to read now.
Sadly, all the fonts look good now, except the body copy of a post. It's being rendered in this strange way that I have not seen before, which makes me think it is trouble on my end (though no other webpages display this way). The font appears "dotty" for lack of a better term. But as far as I can tell, it's just Verdana. Bizarre.
Here are some images to show what I mean:
Forge font (image):
(http://www.onesevendesign.com/forge_1.jpg)
Text from 20x20 Room (image):
(http://www.onesevendesign.com/forge_2.jpg)
The second looks very crisp. Anyone know what's causing this? Is it just me? I'm running Firefox on Windows XP and I installed the font Clinton suggested.
Quote from: John Harper on July 19, 2005, 03:14:57 PM
Sadly, all the fonts look good now, except the body copy of a post. It's being rendered in this strange way that I have not seen before, which makes me think it is trouble on my end (though no other webpages display this way). The font appears "dotty" for lack of a better term. But as far as I can tell, it's just Verdana. Bizarre.
Here are some images to show what I mean:
Forge font (image):
(http://www.onesevendesign.com/forge_1.jpg)
Verdana from 20x20 Room (image):
(http://www.onesevendesign.com/forge_2.jpg)
Anyone know what's causing this? Is it just me? I'm running Firefox on Windows XP.
Huh. Definitely on the "need to investigate further" list. Looking at the CSS, I can't see why that'd be happening.
Quote from: Clinton R. Nixon on July 19, 2005, 02:46:00 PMI mean, I'm a nice guy. Feel free to suggest things. That's cool. If I see something about my "prejudices," again... well... come on. Did you really intend to come off like such a jerk?
Yeah, actually I did. I was responding in kind to what I felt was a dismissive comment on your part.
Now, if Forge policy is that you want to have a unified user experience, that's fine. I wasn't previously aware of that. I'm familiar with third-party methods of forcing my own styles onto web sites; I was simply examining options that are less brute-force and more beneficial to a larger portion of users, who may prefer various different display options regardless of the claims of studies.
Here's what I'm going to do on the font issue. All fonts will be set up to use your default sans-serif font first, and then your default serif font. If you really hate sans-serif fonts, you can set your default sans-serif font in your browser preferences to be a serif font. (Really, you can.) Thusly, everyone picks their own font to look at the site in and hopefully you won't all flip out.
None of this indicates Shreyas' comments above were appropriate in any way. They were not, and I would appreciate it if the tone around here got cleaned up a bit.
When I select "Show unread posts since last visit" I get a list of the unread posts. But, unlike before, once I have read a thread and click back to the list of unread posts, the one I just looked at is gone from the list. While this does make more sense for a list of unread posts than the old version, I'd gotten used to it, and actually prefer it.
Also, on the "unread posts" page, I usually have two pages listed, but when I click on the second page, it takes me back to the fist page, which no longer shows a second page.
On the main page, the green yin/yang vanishes if I just look in that forum, even if I don't read any of the threads.
Awesome, Clinton! That fixed the font issue completely. Crystal clear and readable now. Thanks a lot.
Yee-haw -- we can now search on hyphenated words!
Julie
Quote from: jrs on July 20, 2005, 12:36:38 AM
Yee-haw -- we can now search on hyphenated words!
Julie
Oh, yeah, the new search
rules. That was a major deciding factor on this software.
Hey Clinton,
I noticed that I can no longer click on the large image of the Forge logo to go back to the main listing of forums. No biggie, but it is something that I miss (and I keep clicking on the image with no response.)
Julie
Are the little 'new' icons working for other people? I get them next to every last topic.
Quote from: Jack Aidley on July 20, 2005, 05:36:48 AM
Are the little 'new' icons working for other people? I get them next to every last topic.
I believe that's because of the move to the new forums -- every topic is "new" because the forum doesn't know you've seen it already. The "Mark as Read" button at the bottom of the main index page will mark every single thread as read, so they'll stop showing up as "new" unless they actually are.
That worked, thanks Selene.
Clinton,
Your post in http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=15966.0 seems to be misformated after the change.
Sorry about taking so long to reply, but yes, thank you for the font changes. It's still sans, but it's a lot more readable now
Thank you.
Clinton,
I seem to no longer be moderator of my company's forum.
Other than that, I'm slowly growing used to the new software. I hate change, but it WORKS so much better. ;)
I don't think this has been addressed already. . . . Any word on when the Resource Library will be up? I'm currently getting a 404.
Has the link for bringing up the most recent unread topics been removed? Or relocated and I can't find it?
('cuz I really like that link!)
-Eric
Quote from: Technocrat13 on July 21, 2005, 08:08:38 AM
Has the link for bringing up the most recent unread topics been removed? Or relocated and I can't find it?
('cuz I really like that link!)
-Eric
Top of the page:
Quote
Hey, X, you have 270 messages, 0 are new.
Total time logged in: 22 hours and 33 minutes.
Show unread posts since last visit.
Show new replies to your posts.
July 21, 2005, 07:20:30 AM
Using Mozilla with the prefer local color settings option I can't see the action buttons. (HOME HELP ... LOGOUT)
John
Quote from: Clinton R. Nixon on July 21, 2005, 08:21:54 AM
Top of the page:
Quote
Hey, X, you have 270 messages, 0 are new.
Total time logged in: 22 hours and 33 minutes.
Show unread posts since last visit.
Show new replies to your posts.
July 21, 2005, 07:20:30 AM
I think this comes up because when you log in for the first time, that section doesn't actually appear. You have to click the arrow on the left side of the bar with Home Help ... Logout to make it show up. Afterwards, it'll show up whenever you log in, unless you minimize it again and log out.
Ah! The arrow!
I knew that stuff was there the other day...
Thanks Selene.
-Eric
All the links on the resource page (at least, all the ones I tried) go right back to resource page.
First, thanks for all your hard work converting to the new software, and being so responsive to user feedback! I appreciate it.
I notice my bookmarks for the old Forge of the form http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?p=164648 now just take me to the Forum home page, although bookmarks by topic/thread (?t=#) still seem to be fine. Is there some alternate URL I can use to reach post 164648? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
--
Carl
First of all, thanks! Looks better, works smoother, yay!
Second, though: When I click "Show new replies to your posts", sometimes some of the threads aren't there. Right now I'm getting "Sweet Dreams Cover" (http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=15834.0;topicseen) as the newest one, although that one hasn't been posted to since July 1.
Some weird behavior I noticed today: at the main page, all the forums with posts I have not yet read show the green symbol. Yet when I click on "Show Unread Posts", the page pops up empty, telling me there are no unread posts. I can go right back to the main page, however, and find forums that indicate recent posts I have not read.
Quote from: Jack Aidley on July 20, 2005, 07:49:00 AM
Your post in http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=15966.0 seems to be misformated after the change.
http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=1896.0 is also badly misformated. I'm thinking it's something to do with lists that is breaking them?
I'm getting scroll bars appearing on some of the posts, they don't seem to follow any sensible pattern though and just clip off the last line or two.
Example: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=16124.0
I used the search feature today, and it was returning entire posts, even though I had that box unchecked, and had checked "topics only."
Thanks for the hard work, Clinton.
Here's a tough question: does the new format at all impact any of the rules/protocols around here? In particular, I've noticed that the first page has fewer threads on it. That, combined with the increasing member base here, means that when I come back after a week there are (to me) new posts, a week or less old, on the second page. The old protocol was always that you don't post to threads that drop off the first page, but since the first page is so very much shorter is that modified?
I'm going to post to at least one second-page thread in RPG Theory today, because someone addressed a question specifically to me that has not been answered, and waiting a week for the answer only compounds the problem. However, I will watch for an update on that policy for future reference.
As an aside, I note that there is nothing to distinguish the "stickies" anymore. It was rather confusing on the Site Discussion board where there are several of these, the software is marking everything "new" that I haven't seen since the software change, and the dates of some are confusing. If there's a way to change that, it would probably be helpful.
--M. J. Young
I know this thread's getting a little on the stale side, but I really just wanted to say thanks. The new three-dot image that lets me know that I've posted to a thread already is really groovy for me.
I mean, five minutes after I finish reading and posting to a thread I may not remember what the title of the thread was. So that obvious image, nearly stark alone in it's column, helps me out a lot.
Thanks.
-Eric
Kudos and thanks for the continued efforts, particularly the new sticky icon (very nice, very clear to my mind). I also like the dots, now that I know what they are.
--M. J. Young
This thing is turning into a real beaut.
Thanks
SR
--