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Forum software upgrade

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P.S.: Messages order can be reversed in user's preferences aren't they?
I haven't come across that, I have to admit, but quite possibly! The software name is XenForo 2 if you want to google for instructions on how to do things.
 
..... but how does everyone else feel about them?

TBH, I haven't found them to be distracting, but also haven't found myself using them either. Mr Neutral, that's me.
 
Victoria - You'll probably find that everyone else likes it, but I hate the text pop-up that occurs when you hover the mouse over a thread title. I generally read the new messages in order, bottom to top. If I hesitate just a second too long in moving from one thread to the next, the pop-up obscures the next thread, causing me to have to move the mouse to the side and wait for the pop-up to go away so that I can see the next thread. Better way?
I tought about suggesting to order messages oldest first in user's preferences but it seem this option is gone with the new forum software. I guess most prefer most recent first (as I do)...
 
I tought about suggesting to order messages oldest first in user's preferences but it seem this option is gone with the new forum software. I guess most prefer most recent first (as I do)...
That wasn't possible in the previous software either, as far as I can see, because there's a post on the Xenforo forum saying it would require custom development. Perhaps you're thinking of another forum? Or software from years ago perhaps. Anyway, the post link goes to the first unread post and there's a Jump to New button at the top to skip right down to the latest too.
 
No, I don't like the pop-up message previews either.

Everything else is just great, though, thanks Victoria for your excellent work :)
 
I'm not a big fan either. There is a way to disable them (for my reference, Options > Threads, Discussions & Private Messages > Enable discussion preview) - but how does everyone else feel about them?

I find that they are a bother too. At least they only happen if you happen to hover over the actual topic text so you can avoid them but I rather not have to deal with them.

-louie
 
I tought about suggesting to order messages oldest first in user's preferences but it seem this option is gone with the new forum software. I guess most prefer most recent first (as I do)...
It wouldn't help, even if you could reverse the order. When you are at the top of a list of threads, the pop-up is below the current thread, thus obscuring the next thread below.
 
Yes Bruce. But you originally said that your generally look at new posts from bottom up... :whistling:

To Victoria. I effectively saw the "oldest posts first" looong ago.
 
Thanks Victoria - much better now.
 
I like the new look. I am a moderator over on Photography-Forum.org and we use Xenforo as well, but an older version.
 
I seem to now lose the ability to edit messages, after doing a couple/few edits. I find the ability to do that extremely useful due to a cognitive disability. I'm constant messing something up, even after several edits in which I 'swear' I got everything right. :unsure:

... I also miss the big green smiley, for 'big grin' - it now looks more like it's laughing, as opposed to a big grin.
 
I seem to now lose the ability to edit messages, after doing a couple/few edits.

I think it now gives you 10 minutes in which to edit a post. We made the change from unlimited edits as spammers were posting something that looked ok, and then editing to add their spam links later. If you spot something you want to add, you can always add a follow up post though.
 
I think it now gives you 10 minutes in which to edit a post. We made the change from unlimited edits as spammers were posting something that looked ok, and then editing to add their spam links later. If you spot something you want to add, you can always add a follow up post though.

I thought I remember seeing one of those, but it was after many days - if I do at all remember correctly on that instance.

Is it possible to maybe change that to maybe one hour or a bit longer? (I frequently post at nighttime, GMT-6 here - where I'm up throughout the night.) Or maybe allow changes until someone posts after you?

It often takes more than one go to even corrently currently correctly put down I wanting to get across in the first place, and/or it wuld wite write (<- well, these three strike-throughs really almost went through, for instance) like this sentnce. :)
Yes, even pretty simple messages take me about an hour or more to put together.. Which is why I don't post much. :laugh: (For example, I've been working on this reply since immediately after yours. :eek2: )

Although, isn't there a system in place where a newbie has to post ~5 messages or so in one sub-forum/thread? If not, that's something else I've seen meassage boards do - that might also be considered.

<sigh> Damn spammers! They're just sickening. You would think that even the spammers would hate other spammers - and know what it's like To deal with spam.

--------------------

On another note regarding the update: Is it just me, or does the cursor always go down to the bottom whenever anything in the toolbar is pressed (i.e. bold, strike-through, and smileys)? Even when clicking the formatting ones when a word is highlighted - it just goes straight to the bottom without formatting the highlighted word.
I also don't's see those squiggly underlines for misspelled words - which means I could be in real trouble here. :sick:
---- I'm using this board's "Dark" theme, and using Firefox Quantum 59.0.2
 
Hoggy,

Maybe you don't have spell checking turned on. Right click in the box you're typing on and make sure it's checked:

2018-04-18 20_57_40-Forum software upgrade _ Page 3 _ Lightroom Queen Forums.jpg
 
Maybe you don't have spell checking turned on. Right click in the box you're typing on and make sure it's checked:

Yeah, it was checked. It turns out that was due to the forum's Dark theme. It was actually underlined, but it blended so well with the background of the edit box as to be quite invisible. As partially expected, I turned on the Owl extension (to see how it interacted the Dark forum-theme, and it was still quite invisible.

So I ended up going back to the forum 'light' Default, and just using the Night Mode Pro Firefox extension to darken the pages. The underline shows up fine now. So the problem seems to be with the forum's Dark theme. (Firefox Quantum 59.0.2)
The issue I was trying to solve with using the forum's Dark, was that when using the darkening Firefox extension "Dark Mode Pro" with the forum set to Light (default) - highlighted text within the editor box is not very visible. With using the forum's Dark theme with all Firefox darkening extensions disabled for the site, highlighted text within the editor was easy to see. ... So, I need to choose between highlighting being nearly invisible - or misspelling underlines being nearly invisible. ... Although this one would be hard for Victoria to diagnose, unless she also installs the "Dark Mode Pro" Firefox extension. ......... I just found I can get around this by using only the "Owl" Firefox extension for darkening, but it's not quite as dark. However the highlighting in the editor is a bit more visible, and the misspelling underlines are more visible as well. <sigh> Oy! The joys of extension juggling for aging eyes! :wacky:

============

However, the issue with editor toolbar buttons always bringing the cursor to the bottom of the editor still persists, regardless.

Another persistent problematic issue that's new with the forum is that once I press any reply button, I'll be brought down to the bottom of the page and into the editor - which is good and expected behavior, of course. The problem, though, is that a horizontal scroll bar will suddenly appear and start flashing, even if at 100% zoom (or under/over, for that matter). It will keep flashing till the page is refreshed - after which there will be no horizontal scroll bar anymore. The horizontal scroll bar that appears is for the page - not the editor box.
ETA: It will also come back after pressing "Edit" to edit a just-posted message. -- Again, until the page is refreshed.
 
Last edited:
@Hoggy

Depending on the forum, I often actually write many posts in Notepad or Word first. I then come back and post the actual message later.

Tim
 
@Hoggy

Depending on the forum, I often actually write many posts in Notepad or Word first. I then come back and post the actual message later.

I keep meaning to use that - also for a bit better crash protection.. I've set up a system-wide hotkey and automatic text file and everything, but I keep forgetting the damn hotkey. =)

A relatively 'big' downside to that, though - and perhaps why I tend not to use it - is that formating is generally lost. And no smileys - gotta have me my smileys.
 
Hoggy,

I find the preview button a useful way to help me detect silly errors. It is especially helpful when making a long post. I find that the reformatting changes things just enough that my eyes will often find typos that I did not otherwise see.

-louie
 
Since I add most emoticons and others by typing the code directly it is not much of an issue for me.
e.g. a colon followed by a ) is a :) smile. while a colon followed by a capital D is a big grin... :D

Tim
 
Since I add most emoticons and others by typing the code directly it is not much of an issue for me.
e.g. a colon followed by a ) is a :) smile. while a colon followed by a capital D is a big grin... :D

I know about those simple ones, but I many times like to try choosing the more esoteric ones, which I can never seem to remember. (BTW, I miss the big green guy, standing for 'big grin' - that one just looks like laughing. Just me? :D )


I find the preview button a useful way to help me detect silly errors. It is especially helpful when making a long post. I find that the reformatting changes things just enough that my eyes will often find typos that I did not otherwise see.

I do use that, and of course that catches some things. But my difficulties run much, much deeper than that. I often have great difficulty formulating thoughts into words. So what I'm saying at any one time is just a close approximation to what I'm trying to get across to someone else - for brevity's sake. I guess sort of like thoughts that first come to mind (only not as deep as that :) ) . Only for me, the correct thoughts and wording many times don't come till hours later.

That ends up working for me because I'm up when most of the people on this [USA] side of the pond are sleeping - so not too many people [on English-speaking boards] are posting.. And most message boards allow unlimited edits, so I come back to the messages I post once the 'correct' or 'more correct' thoughts/wording comes to light. Of course after someone posts a message in a thread after mine, I limit any changes more to grammatical and spelling errors that I missed during the 'preview' and shortly-after-message stage.. Or add "EDIT:" if anything a bit more substantial.

And yes. I HATE fast-moving threads! :banghead: (Also because of speed-of-comprehension issues. o_O )
Fortunately, I still have my orginial intelligence (thank GOODness!). But it just ain't work no good no more.
 
I know about those simple ones, but I many times like to try choosing the more esoteric ones, which I can never seem to remember. (BTW, I miss the big green guy, standing for 'big grin' - that one just looks like laughing. Just me? :D )

I have no idea where that got to. I've added it to my to do list, but it could be a while before it hits the top of the list.

Only for me, the correct thoughts and wording many times don't come till hours later.

There's a Save Drafts button especially for you! That way you can save as you go along, and when you're happy, you can hit post.
2018-04-20_17-14-38.png


Of course after someone posts a message in a thread after mine, I limit any changes more to grammatical and spelling errors that I missed during the 'preview' and shortly-after-message stage.. Or add "EDIT:" if anything a bit more substantial.

Most people aren't so cautious, and an edit can change the whole meaning of the post, which isn't helpful for tech support kind of cases.
 
However, the issue with editor toolbar buttons always bringing the cursor to the bottom of the editor still persists, regardless.

Another persistent problematic issue that's new with the forum is that once I press any reply button, I'll be brought down to the bottom of the page and into the editor - which is good and expected behavior, of course. The problem, though, is that a horizontal scroll bar will suddenly appear and start flashing, even if at 100% zoom (or under/over, for that matter). It will keep flashing till the page is refreshed - after which there will be no horizontal scroll bar anymore. The horizontal scroll bar that appears is for the page - not the editor box.
ETA: It will also come back after pressing "Edit" to edit a just-posted message. -- Again, until the page is refreshed.

I've finally tracked down these two problems.

1) Starting with likely the easiest to remedy, and for aging eyes: I narrowed down the blinking scrollbar to occur when EITHER of the following darkening addons are used and turned on for this site (separately), in Firefox Quantum (both beta and release): "Night Mode Pro", and "Owl".

While it would be nice to get the forum software working with either of those extensions, as I like their darkening better - since they retain some color... It might be more difficult to nail down fixes with those.

However, an easier solution might be to adjust the color of the 'squiggly underlines' for misspelled words in the editor when using the Forum's own built-in Dark theme. Right now they're nearly impossible to distinguish from the lighter grey background in the editor.


2) The 2nd biggest issue would be the first thing above: "toolbar buttons always bringing the cursor to the bottom of the editor".
I've tracked this one down to any Firefox extension that enables you to drag-select link text. Notable ones are: "Drag-Select Link Text", and "Select Link Text".

I find it much more handy to use those, than holding 'ALT' down to select the text within links. Many times a keyboard isn't in the handiest of places.. Like when sitting back in a chair while using a pen mouse. I have a mini-Bluetooth keyboard relatively close, but it takes several seconds for it to recconect after going into power-save mode.

Although this one I wouldn't know how to tackle. But there's got to be SOMEthing that this forum software is doing differently for the editor than other boards that seem to use the same software - or at least the same 'flavor' (like both the look and placement of buttons being the same).
 
adjust the color of the 'squiggly underlines' for misspelled words in the editor when using the Forum's own built-in Dark theme. Right now they're nearly impossible to distinguish from the lighter grey background in the editor.

It looks like a operating system level or browser setting change, as there's no styling for spelling that the software is sending to the browser. I did find some Firefox configuration settings that you can change though:

Configuration Editor for Firefox | Firefox Help
ui.SpellCheckerUnderline - ui.SpellCheckerUnderline holds the colour which is used to underline words not recognized by the spellchecker.
ui.SpellCheckerUnderlineStyle - ui.SpellCheckerUnderlineStyle holds the style which is used to underline words not recognized by the spellchecker.

there's got to be SOMEthing that this forum software is doing differently for the editor than other boards that seem to use the same software

The software is almost at its defaults. If you find another forum running Xenforo 2 that doesn't have the same issue, send me a link and I'll see if I can figure out the difference.
 
It looks like a operating system level or browser setting change, as there's no styling for spelling that the software is sending to the browser. I did find some Firefox configuration settings that you can change though:

Configuration Editor for Firefox | Firefox Help
ui.SpellCheckerUnderline - ui.SpellCheckerUnderline holds the colour which is used to underline words not recognized by the spellchecker.
ui.SpellCheckerUnderlineStyle - ui.SpellCheckerUnderlineStyle holds the style which is used to underline words not recognized by the spellchecker.

AHA! That'll do it. Thanks!
OTOH, now I get to find the right combo that works with all my sites and darkening extensions or dark forum themes. :rolleyes:


The software is almost at its defaults. If you find another forum running Xenforo 2 that doesn't have the same issue, send me a link and I'll see if I can figure out the difference.

Is there any way to tell what software they use if they don't show it, like here at the very bottom?
Such as -- is that copyright notice at the bottom hard-coded into this forum software, or is it configurable whether to show it or not?
 
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