Aurora 4x

Announcements => Announcements => Topic started by: Erik L on September 30, 2015, 07:14:18 PM

Title: New Features
Post by: Erik L on September 30, 2015, 07:14:18 PM
Let's see if I remember them all.

Popup notifications for new/unread posts and PMs.
Unread Posts link in the main bar (let me know if you don't see it)
Contact page in the main bar.
Gallery link in the main bar.
Staff Page (not sure how useful this will be)
And lastly, some Twitter integration. Again, not sure how useful this will be. It will require tweaking I am sure.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on October 06, 2015, 02:20:08 PM
How are the new features treating people? Anyone have any issues with them?
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: AL on October 06, 2015, 05:04:52 PM
The day you posted about the new features, I saw a popup for someone "replying" to me in a thread  I never posted in... I havn't seen another popup since.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on October 06, 2015, 06:05:16 PM
Hmmm odd. I've only seen them to threads I've replied to. Or started.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: AL on October 07, 2015, 03:24:01 AM
Just got a popup for this one, so maybe it does work after all?
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: boggo2300 on October 08, 2015, 04:08:29 AM
I've gotten some popups for threads I posted in (and was replied to) years ago,  and some I think I've never posted in as well (when I get them like that I'll get a whole heap at once)
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on October 13, 2015, 10:09:07 AM
Not sure if anyone has noticed, but there are two new additions to the menu bar, Fanfics and Knowledge Base. They both are currently empty.

I think the Fanfic can be a nice repository/archive of older fiction. No need to wade through numerous posts to find what you want.

And the KB could be an alternative to the wiki.

I've also made the Download link a menu drop. It links to all of the current download utilities.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Ostia on October 13, 2015, 01:02:49 PM
And now the grand question: how do we add to both categories?
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on October 13, 2015, 01:15:41 PM
And now the grand question: how do we add to both categories?

For Fanfics, hover over the menu item until My Fanfics shows, then click. There should be a button on that screen to "Add story".

KB, on the left side, Add Article.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Ostia on October 13, 2015, 01:22:34 PM
I think you need to set the permissions first, because the KB outright tells me that I can't do anything in it.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on October 13, 2015, 01:49:16 PM
I think you need to set the permissions first, because the KB outright tells me that I can't do anything in it.

You are not seeing the menu in the attachment?
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Ostia on October 13, 2015, 02:18:29 PM
Now I do, but not before.

Giving out full Admin access to the KB might be a bit much.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on October 13, 2015, 02:19:17 PM
And you can add an article?
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Ostia on October 13, 2015, 02:21:32 PM
I can now add and edit articles.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: AL on October 14, 2015, 03:39:28 AM
Well, the fanfic section seems to be broken. To submit a story you must select a category and a rating, but currently no options exist for either.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on October 14, 2015, 08:26:31 AM
There is a rating now. There was a category already, called Aurora.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: AL on October 14, 2015, 03:55:15 PM
The category wasn't selectable though, even if it did appear in the menu
Edit: just tested, none of the 3 categories there can be selected - the placeholder "select a category" remains highlighted no matter where and how many times I click something
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: boggo2300 on October 14, 2015, 03:57:19 PM
I don't get the mouseover dropdown for the Knowledge base,  do get one for fanfics though
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: GreatTuna on October 14, 2015, 04:49:57 PM
Quote from: knowledge base
You can modify any article.
You can delete any articles.

I don't think that's right.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on October 14, 2015, 05:52:49 PM
I don't get the mouseover dropdown for the Knowledge base,  do get one for fanfics though

That's because there isn't one :)
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on October 14, 2015, 06:20:07 PM
The category wasn't selectable though, even if it did appear in the menu
Edit: just tested, none of the 3 categories there can be selected - the placeholder "select a category" remains highlighted no matter where and how many times I click something

I get the same result. The last post on the forum for the author is over a year old.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on October 14, 2015, 06:24:39 PM
I don't think that's right.

It seems the only way to allow creation of articles from others besides myself is to grant full admin rights on the KB.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: AL on October 14, 2015, 11:12:16 PM
It seems the only way to allow creation of articles from others besides myself is to grant full admin rights on the KB.
Don't worry, its not like we will abuse that or anything (not that there's much to abuse at the moment anyway  ;))

I get the same result. The last post on the forum for the author is over a year old.
I'm assuming you are referring to the author of the fanfic system...
Anyway, maybe try adding some subcategories to the list? What options are available?

Edit: Also, the comment system in the knowledge base doesn't seem to be working.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on October 15, 2015, 11:13:16 AM
Both should be working now.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: AL on October 15, 2015, 05:21:58 PM
So I noticed you changed the permissions system on the knowledge base. I thought it would be a good idea to allow people to edit any article to give it a sort of wiki feel, and it might encourage more people to contribute as they are able to make small edits rather than having to upload a whole new article.
Well, the fanfic system is functional now, but comments still don't work in the knowledge base.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on October 15, 2015, 06:18:09 PM
So I noticed you changed the permissions system on the knowledge base. I thought it would be a good idea to allow people to edit any article to give it a sort of wiki feel, and it might encourage more people to contribute as they are able to make small edits rather than having to upload a whole new article.
Well, the fanfic system is functional now, but comments still don't work in the knowledge base.

I changed the top level permissions to allow edits on any article. Let me know if that trickles down.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: MarcAFK on October 15, 2015, 06:31:59 PM
Is the knowledge base revertable?
If there isn't good protection from extreme bad edits, ie spam bots taking over, maybe you coukd give access to only those with over a certain number of posts?
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on October 15, 2015, 06:33:25 PM
Is the knowledge base revertable?
If there isn't good protection from extreme bad edits, ie spam bots taking over, maybe you coukd give access to only those with over a certain number of posts?

I suppose I could create a "KB Contributor" member group and put the permissions there.

And I'm trying to think of the last time we actually had a spam bot here :)
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: AL on October 16, 2015, 07:19:52 AM
Still don't have permissions to edit other articles, and comments still don't work (tested on two different computers...)
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: 83athom on October 19, 2015, 09:40:03 AM
Now Erik, you never said anything about a new, nice looking News bar.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on October 19, 2015, 11:50:36 AM
Now Erik, you never said anything about a new, nice looking News bar.

Cuz I didn't change anything on it? :)
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: 83athom on October 19, 2015, 11:54:02 AM
Cuz I didn't change anything on it? :)
Really? Am I that blind that I just now see the News bar fades in/out after how long?
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on October 19, 2015, 11:55:13 AM
Really? Am I that blind that I just now see the News bar fades in/out after how long?

Since like, forever? :)
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: 83athom on October 19, 2015, 12:00:34 PM
Since like, forever? :)
It was always in one big block for me. Today was the first time I've ever seen it do that.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on October 19, 2015, 12:01:47 PM
It was always in one big block for me. Today was the first time I've ever seen it do that.

You change your browser or theme lately?
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: 83athom on October 19, 2015, 12:23:12 PM
You change your browser or theme lately?
Nope, I've always used Chrome with the same theme.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Din182 on October 19, 2015, 01:56:02 PM
I just noticed it now as well. It always was one big block for me. I am also using Chrome
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on October 21, 2015, 03:14:39 PM
Odd. It's always been the rotating style for me, but then I've pretty much only used IE.

Also: aurora.pentarch.org redirects to aurora2.pentarch.org
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on October 21, 2015, 03:25:03 PM
I just tested on latest versions of IE, Safari, Opera, Firefox and Chrome. Chrome is the only one that choked on the news.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Din182 on October 21, 2015, 03:42:03 PM
The redirect does not work if there's anything after the domain name. If say, you go to http://aurora.pentarch.org/index.php , you'll get a Not Found error.

Also, I'm curious: what's the reason behind the 2 in the domain name? If you were able to redirect aurora.pentarch.org, and the game is not Aurora 2, what exactly would the purpose have been?
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on October 21, 2015, 03:47:55 PM
The redirect does not work if there's anything after the domain name. If say, you go to http://aurora.pentarch.org/index.php , you'll get a Not Found error.

Also, I'm curious: what's the reason behind the 2 in the domain name? If you were able to redirect aurora.pentarch.org, and the game is not Aurora 2, what exactly would the purpose have been?

Umm don't do that then? ;)

The 2 is because the forums originally used phpBB. The software on the aurora subdomain got compromised and so when I moved to SMF, I put it on a new subdomain to mitigate some of the issues. I also too a fairly hardline on account creation (though I've relaxed that somewhat recently). This all happened circa 2007 I think.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: AL on November 22, 2015, 05:08:29 AM
I don't suppose it would be possible and/or worth the time to add a chatbox/instant messaging area to the forum? Seems like it might be useful in the occasional circumstance where someone wants some help figuring something out and both parties (helper and helpee) are online at the same time.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on November 22, 2015, 01:00:22 PM
I don't suppose it would be possible and/or worth the time to add a chatbox/instant messaging area to the forum? Seems like it might be useful in the occasional circumstance where someone wants some help figuring something out and both parties (helper and helpee) are online at the same time.

I've thought about it, but there hasn't seemed to be enough interest for it.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: AL on November 22, 2015, 02:49:22 PM
The new(ish) reply popups sort of do the job so I guess it's not too important, it was just an idea to throw around.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on November 22, 2015, 04:46:11 PM
The new(ish) reply popups sort of do the job so I guess it's not too important, it was just an idea to throw around.

Though that doesn't really tell you if they are online or not. Just that they've replied since you last were on the site.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Sematary on November 22, 2015, 05:19:15 PM
I think I would be interested in that feature.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: boggo2300 on November 23, 2015, 04:25:51 PM
Though that doesn't really tell you if they are online or not. Just that they've replied since you last were on the site.

the Green box next to someone's name is a bit of a give away though
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on November 23, 2015, 07:51:27 PM
the Green box next to someone's name is a bit of a give away though

But that has always been there :)
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: boggo2300 on November 24, 2015, 02:33:35 PM
how do you think I've known when to barrage you with questions?
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on November 24, 2015, 04:05:25 PM
Of course, since I'm always online but not always looking at the page, that is a hit or miss proposition :p
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on November 24, 2015, 06:08:05 PM
I added a chat. Should show up similar to the facebook chat. I'm not seeing it. Is anyone else?
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: MarcAFK on November 24, 2015, 06:11:26 PM
I dont, flush your cache maybe?
Edit: nope, its broken. I just noticed the twitter link though, oh and look the wiki is down.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: AL on November 25, 2015, 02:26:16 AM
I'm fairly sure that twitter link has been around for a while now, and no chat box here either.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on November 25, 2015, 08:34:44 AM
The twitter link coincides timing-wise to the new reply notification. So maybe a month or so.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on November 25, 2015, 10:11:08 AM
Chat should be fixed now. There was an option buried deep in the settings to fix it.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Sematary on November 25, 2015, 11:39:41 AM
As of right now, I don't see a chat box of any kind.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on November 25, 2015, 01:03:33 PM
It should be docked to the lower right corner of your browser window. It also should persist across all of the pages.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Sematary on November 25, 2015, 01:08:44 PM
Nope, nothing different. Chrome is not reporting blocking anything from this site either so its not that.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: GreatTuna on November 25, 2015, 01:26:32 PM
I see the thing.
...
How do I use it? I see list of users, settings and button to hide it, but how do I chat?
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on November 25, 2015, 01:29:12 PM
I see the thing.
...
How do I use it? I see list of users, settings and button to hide it, but how do I chat?

Click a name, and it opens a new box. Then chat there.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: AL on November 25, 2015, 02:32:02 PM
I saw the chat for a while, tried sending a couple people messages with it then it disappeared.

Edit: everything seems to be working now
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on November 25, 2015, 02:36:42 PM
If you click the globe, it hides the chat bar. And turns colorless. Clicking again turns it green.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: boggo2300 on November 25, 2015, 03:25:59 PM
no chat box, no globe,  do have a twitter link though;   doh!  it just showed up right as I was typing this!
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: MarcAFK on November 25, 2015, 04:04:28 PM
It appears to be working in iOS.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: misora on November 26, 2015, 08:11:17 PM
How exactly does the chat work? I've seen it, but no one seems to talk on it.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on November 26, 2015, 09:19:57 PM
It's more of a direct message system than something like irc.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on December 30, 2015, 10:06:17 AM
I slightly modified the link for Unread Posts. Previously it was showing unread posts since last visit. Now it shows all unread posts, which is what my intent originally was.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: MarcAFK on December 30, 2015, 04:41:26 PM
Thank you ! It was slightly annoying when some threads would slip through my notice.....
Maybe I spend too much time here.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Froggiest1982 on April 20, 2020, 05:22:14 PM
When I post I don't get the like feature, this is a test

EDIT: it may be possible you don't see the like button under your own message :-)
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: thashepherd on April 20, 2020, 05:47:58 PM
Is there a way to make the process of posting images any slicker? It's a PITA to upload to google drive, then get a link, then convert it to a direct image link, then add the image tags...


(Have I been doing it wrong this whole time?)
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on April 20, 2020, 07:04:36 PM
You can always click Additional Options and add it as an attachment. But that is size limited due to PHP.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on April 20, 2020, 07:05:20 PM
When I post I don't get the like feature, this is a test

EDIT: it may be possible you don't see the like button under your own message :-)

I don't on my own messages.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: thashepherd on April 20, 2020, 07:12:55 PM
You can always click Additional Options and add it as an attachment. But that is size limited due to PHP.

And doesn't permit in-line images as far as I know
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Agm-114 on April 20, 2020, 07:13:42 PM
What's up with the like / unlike system.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on April 20, 2020, 07:16:55 PM
What's up with the like / unlike system.

Why not?
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: DFNewb on April 20, 2020, 07:19:32 PM
What's up with the like / unlike system.

Why not?

Don't we already have thanks?
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Agm-114 on April 20, 2020, 07:26:38 PM
Like's are anonymous I guess
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on April 20, 2020, 07:27:23 PM
Like's are anonymous I guess

To you maybe :)
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Kyle on April 21, 2020, 12:13:35 AM
There are a lot of bad color combinations on the tags.  I can't read this :/

(https://i.imgur.com/nu3C27T.png)


This hurts my eyes.

(https://i.imgur.com/MvUnTOo.png)


The (xyz liked this) text crashes into the icons

(https://i.imgur.com/h7kLd5x.png)


In general the tags and like buttons are ... visually intense ... compared to the rest of the forum's default theme.

Is there a way to just disable tags and like buttons in my forum profile somehow? 
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on April 21, 2020, 12:34:24 AM
There are a lot of bad color combinations on the tags.  I can't read this :/

(https://i.imgur.com/nu3C27T.png)


This hurts my eyes.

(https://i.imgur.com/MvUnTOo.png)


The (xyz liked this) text crashes into the icons

(https://i.imgur.com/h7kLd5x.png)


In general the tags and like buttons are ... visually intense ... compared to the rest of the forum's default theme.

Is there a way to just disable tags and like buttons in my forum profile somehow?

The colors are auto-generated I believe. I did not set them up.

I will look at disabling them for people.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Garfunkel on April 21, 2020, 10:28:27 AM
Agreed with Kyle, they are really aggressive in their appearance when compared to the older features. The pale blue/gray and white theme is very subdued.

Also, when looking at threads, this is a bit annoying:
(https://i.imgur.com/nPmCYfW.png)

Could the like buttons be only inside threads? As well as the "x people liked this" note?
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Desdinova on April 21, 2020, 10:31:21 AM
I'm not a fan of the changes. We already had the "thanks" system, and the new buttons are kind of obnoxious.
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Bughunter on April 21, 2020, 10:37:24 AM
Where are the Reddit guys when you actually need them for something?  :)
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on April 21, 2020, 01:33:32 PM
Agreed with Kyle, they are really aggressive in their appearance when compared to the older features. The pale blue/gray and white theme is very subdued.

Also, when looking at threads, this is a bit annoying:
(https://i.imgur.com/nPmCYfW.png)

Could the like buttons be only inside threads? As well as the "x people liked this" note?

Done :)
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Father Tim on April 21, 2020, 06:14:03 PM
I'm going to miss my "Hero of the Draconis Combine" medal.

- - - - -

While the award ribbons look pretty good and follow a logical progression & unified colour scheme, I wish there were more pixels between them (both horizontally & vertically).  I'd find them easier to 'read' with more of a border effect.


(Actually, what I really want is a big contest where any member can submit ribbon designs and we all vote on them and the top eighteen or so become the board's new 'medals'.)
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Erik L on April 21, 2020, 06:30:47 PM

(Actually, what I really want is a big contest where any member can submit ribbon designs and we all vote on them and the top eighteen or so become the board's new 'medals'.)

I'm all for that :)

And it is 16
Title: Re: New Features
Post by: Father Tim on April 21, 2020, 06:33:00 PM

(Actually, what I really want is a big contest where any member can submit ribbon designs and we all vote on them and the top eighteen or so become the board's new 'medals'.)

I'm all for that :)

And it is 16


So far. . .