Some New Forum Software Updates and Wish List...

[Unimatic1140]

Hi Everyone, last week Ausin (ozzie908) asked if I could change to posting system so if you don't feel the need to preview your post, you could just post it immediately. So I've just updated the system with that change (see image at bottom with the new button). This change is for upgraded members only as non-upgraded members don't have an edit ability, so it's best to have a preview for non-upgraded members.

The other change I've made is for all members, upgraded or not. The system will no longer give you an error message if you are uploading a picture but want to leave the message box blank. For new threads you still have to include a thread title, but you will be able to post a picture without any text included with it if you so desire.

Please let me know if you find anything odd in posting to the forum that might be a bug related to these changes.

Now I'd like to open this thread up as a wish list to hear anything you all might like to see feature wise added to the Forum software. Maybe there is a feature on another forum you use that you'd like to see here as well, or maybe there is something you think might enhance the forum. Obviously I only have so much time to work on this so please take this as nothing more than a wish-list, but if I see something that I think would be really helpful, and wont cause a complete software re-write to implement, I'll add it my future enhancement list.

Thanks everyone!

 

[mattl]

Thanks for the new option, I will be using this one!

With the latest additions this forum is more user functional than most and I can't think of much that is needed. The one question I do have would be are photos automatically resized or not. If not that would be one feature I'd like. I rarely post photos but when I do I try to resize them. I notice photo heavy threads take forever to load even on my 20m connection. I can imagine on a slower connection it would be terrible. I enjoy the threads with old ads and such but perhaps auto splitting them when they get to a certain size would be helpful.

One other though would be regarding threads brought back from the dead. Perhaps changing the color of the typeface would help identify them as such. Many times I've clicked on a thread only to find its from 3years ago. In that case I'd like to be taken to the newest post, or at least be made aware it's old info and choose to look at the whole thread or not.

 

[DADoES]

 
<blockquote>The other change I've made is for all members, upgraded or not. The system will no longer give you an error message if you are uploading a picture but want to leave the message box blank.</blockquote> I've been doing an easy workaround for that for a long time. 

Previewing the post is a must if html tags are included, effects can go wonky if tags are not closed.

Hmmm ... what else ... maybe multiple pictures in a post? (I can do a workaround for that also but it's not so easy).

An option to "subscribe" to threads of interest, with the on-board message system giving a heads-up notice when there are follow-up posts?

A preview function on the message system.

 

[Unimatic1140]

The one question I do have would be are photos automatically resized or not.

Hi Matt, that was fast !

Yes photos are automatically re-sized when they are uploaded to posts. If they are larger than 1000 pixels wide they are automatically re-sized down to 1000 px wide. On occasion they system has trouble with a picture and can't re-size it, but that is extremely rare.

The only photos that are not re-sized are photo album photos and profile pictures, but I'll probably change that at some point.

 

[ken]

A couple thoughts of mine

First I will say I havent searched or asked if these are features available here so my apologies if they already are.

1. Would be nice to have a save feature to be able to save a thread to a "saved thread" box attached to your account for future reference.

2. I dont know if everyone experiences this or if its just my operating system but after clicking on and reading a particular thread in any of the forums and I then click the back arrow it always takes me back to the top of that forums listings. It would be very helpful if the screen would go back to the spot in the listings
where the thread I just read was located. In other words go back to where you left off.

[this post was last edited: 3/27/2014-15:36]

 

[rp2813]

A couple of things I've thought about:

 

Resurrected threads -- can they be displayed in a grayed-out scheme (to contrast with the existing pink, yellow, brown and two shades of green) so they're immediately recognizable as oldies?

 

Editing -- can it be available for a longer period?  Some sites I visit allow editing indefinitely.

 

I'm on the fence about e-mail notification of new posts to a thread a member may have launched or be following.   In some cases it could be a useful option, but I don't use it very often on other sites I visit.

 

Thanks for the latest upgrades.  I'm an avid proofreader so will still use the preview option in most cases, but can see myself taking advantage of the textless photo posts for sure!

 

[washer111]

Thus far, I am quite happy with the changes being made here. Thanks Robert for your care and support.

 

The only thing I can request is more of a convenience to those with a slow connect. Whilst we have and ADSL2+ connection running at about 16m, having to re-load the picture threads on every visit tends to knock around the software letting you view the most recent posts, not to mention it can take a while with posts at High-Resolutions. 

Could I suggest an "extension" to the Hiding feature that hides posts members have read, and only displays the most recent posts?*

On some of the heavier-trafficked sites I visit, this feature is an option, though it isn't present on most smaller "Mom and Pop" style sites like this one. 

 

Thanks again for your consideration of our thoughts - Its so great that you actively care about your members and want to make a great place for them and yourself to discuss appliances

 

***To clarify - posts that are read are hidden, and not re-downloaded. This saves bandwidth from Robert's end too.

I'm not sure how reversing the post order would help - but I'd be okay with it if it saves me time

[this post was last edited: 3/27/2014-19:58]

 

[jeffg]

Robert, my only current wish for AW is wider support of image and video embed codes from sites other than Youtube. E.g. secure URL prefixes (https://) seem to be either unrecognized, or sometimes overwritten by your software with an unsecured prefix (http://). This can be a problem or not, depending on if the unsecured site has an automatic redirect to the secure one. Many do not.

To Washer111's request, to get to new content immediately, the standard on most sites is an option to read threads in reverse order, i.e. most recent first. Not sure if that's possible here but I agree it would be useful.

 

[ozzie908]

Here goes a post with .....

No pre-view.

Thank you Robert your effort is very much appreciated.

Austin

 

[countryguy]

The only wish I have is for the resurrected threads to somehow be easier to distinguished. I too have started reading a thread from the beginning only to realize that the posts are several months or years old.

Gary

 

[Unimatic1140]

Thanks everyone for great feedback! Now here are some comments and questions about all this...

An option to "subscribe" to threads of interest, with the on-board message system giving a heads-up notice when there are follow-up posts?
I think this is a very good idea and something that I will plan implementing at some point.

Would be nice to have a save feature to be able to save a thread to a "saved thread" box attached to your account for future reference.
Another excellent idea that I will consider.

I don't know if everyone experiences this or if its just my operating system but after clicking on and reading a particular thread in any of the forums and I then click the back arrow it always takes me back to the top of that forums listings. It would be very helpful if the screen would go back to the spot in the listings where the thread I just read was located. In other words go back to where you left off.
That is browser related, I use Chrome and while I don't use the back-arrow key to go back to the index, when I do click back-arrow it does return to the same location.

Could I suggest an "extension" to the Hiding feature that hides posts members have read, and only displays the most recent posts?*
Actually that suggestion gave me an idea. What do you guys think about me changing the

button that when you click it, the system will only load the title frame and the posts you haven't seen yet. Right above the posts I could have a link called something like "Load the Entire Thread" which then will load everything else if the user deems it necessary to see the posts above that they have already read at least once before. What do you all think of that idea?

To Washer111's request, to get to new content immediately, the standard on most sites is an option to read threads in reverse order, i.e. most recent first. Not sure if that's possible here but I agree it would be useful.
Well that's easy we've had that feature for years! That little green arrow on the index automatically loads the posts backwards, give it a try...

Now let's chat about "resurrected threads"...
There is no such thing anymore as resurrected threads. All threads back to number one are active threads. There is no way for the system to determine something has been "resurrected" except for coming up with an arbitrary date. Now I did this a while ago and that is why in all old posts in older threads the information bar on posts older than 6 months are turned yellow. I certainly don't mind adding functionality, but I'm confused does this not clearly show what is an older post and what are the newer ones within a thread?

 

[countryguy]

I like your idea for the Rinse button to display only the non-read posts and then being able to display the entire thread optionally. This should speed up the load process on long threads.

Resurrected threads - the problem I have with it that the 'colour scheme' of yellow does not stand out enough (especially for me since I am colour blind). Making that line blink or maybe instead of yellow using a dark colour and then putting the text in white might make them stand out more?

Gary

 

[DirectDriveDave]

Rinse button idea.

Robert, I like that idea! It definitely makes scrolling easier and simpler!

 

 

<span style="text-decoration: line-through;">One thing, what if someone wants to see the rest of the thread though?</span>

 

Edit: *facepalm* I can't believe I just posted that above. I should really read your sentences more careful and not rush next time, sheesh........ haha. 

 

[mattl]

If an old thread is brought back, a zombie thread of sorts if you will, I think it should function with the Rinse button, take me to the newest post in any thread over 6 months or some arbitrary date old. I find it a bit disconcerting to click on a thread only to find the first post is years old, then I have to scroll through 40, 50 or more posts to get to the new content.

 

[earthling177]

Old(er) Threads

While I usually do take a look at the dates (Originally Posted and Last Reply) in the Index page, sometimes I get distracted and end up being surprised and/or confused by some old thread resurfacing.

One suggestion that might help is to offer users the option to mark all threads as read/spin in each forum. If the operation is complicated or time intensive, just warn them it might take overnight to complete and schedule the change to happen at some time the database is less busy, like 4 AM. (I mention each forum because I wouldn't mind marking some forums as all read, but I do want to preserve the state of threads I have not read yet on Imperial, for example.)

That way all threads that are "resurrected" will show up with the Rinse light on and, once the new changes happen, only the new comments will show (Yay! I *love* that suggestion!) and if people really want to see the entire thread they can either click a button to load the rest or click Wash.

 

[DADoES]

 
"Old" threads do already function with the Rinse button opening them to the latest addition.

Tried it two mins ago on a thread in Imperial - # 27047, originated 2/5/2010 with the last "original" post being 2/21/2010.  It has a newer posts dated 3/16/2014 and 3/18/2014.  The yellow Rinse button opened it directly to Reply # 26 dated 3/18/2014.  I'd already viewed the 3/16/2014 posts.

Worked again on a thread in Deluxe, originated 2/15/2010.  The newest post in it for me is #72 dated 11/15/2013, Rinse took me directly to that position.

Keyboard navigation shortcuts can also be useful.  End (or Ctrl-End) goes directly to bottom of the page, then Page Up a few times.  Space bar is an alternate for Page Down, Shift-Space for Page Up.

As Robert brought to attention above, the green arrow at the end of thread titles opens them sorted in "reverse" order of date, newest post at the top.

I'm a heavy user of tabs in Firefox.  Middle-click (mouse wheel) on a link opens it in a new thread (without switching the view to that thread).  My standard AW browsing method is to go through each section index page in turn (mouse wheel to scroll down/up), middle-clicking on threads of interest so they open in a new tab, then read through the waiting tabs (which are all loaded by the time I get to them).

 

[earthling177]

Glen,

The Rinse button works for some but not all threads.

If I got back a couple of pages in a forum, some threads will be read and some unread. But if I go to the very last page (for example, Page 85 on Deluxe), *all* threads are marked unread, even the ones I'm sure I've read way back in the day, like for example, "Welcome to the turquoise Deluxe Forum", from Sep. 4th 2004.

My impression is that when one of the upgrades to the forum software happened all threads got marked "Unread". My guess is it happened when the button to mark all the forum threads as read disappeared, but I'm not sure.

 

[DADoES]

 
Yes, but an old thread isn't brought new until someone posts to it, in which case the Rinse function should get reindexed and work.  Otherwise the Rinse button is grayed-out, which I take as a visual indication that there are no new posts and Rinse goes to bottom of the thread.

I guess I'm not understanding what's the problem.  All the in-site navigation features and indicators work for me.  Maybe that's not the case for everyone.

 

[Unimatic1140]

If an old thread is brought back, a zombie thread of sorts if you will, I think it should function with the Rinse button, take me to the newest post in any thread over 6 months or some arbitrary date old. I find it a bit disconcerting to click on a thread only to find the first post is years old, then I have to scroll through 40, 50 or more posts to get to the new content.
Hi Matt, the problem with that is that could make the RINSE button very confusing, because it's purpose is to let you know that you've been inside this thread before. If any older thread pops up and is automatically marked as rinse just because it's old, it would make some users think that they have been in there before when they have not. I'm sure there is a better way to do that than use than using the rinse indicator.

One suggestion that might help is to offer users the option to mark all threads as read/spin in each forum. .
Hi Paulo, the problem with that is we have nearly 60,000 threads and growing. With hundreds of members the database entries just to remember the Wash/Rinse/Spin indicators could bloat to nearly 20,000,000 records! This would cause a major drag on the database having to look up 100 entries out of 20,000,000 every time someone clicks on the index.

The Rinse button works for some but not all threads.
No it works perfectly in all threads after the date it was implemented. Early on I used a cookie on the local machine to remember the indicators. Then a little over a year ago I changed it to record it in on the server database so the indicators would work for each upgraded user from any computer and not just the last computer they used. So with that said any thread that has been seen from about two years ago and onwards will be remembered forever.