Wed, 06/23/2010 - 11:25
In the past few days I have been experiencing "Internal Server Error" messages when tying to log in. Refreshing usually works, but it sometimes takes a few tries.
I really like the little stars that indicate there is an unread message in the Forums and the "new" next to a Member Gallery that has been updated. Any chance a similar system could be introduced to alert users that one of the other sections (e.g., Member Galleries or Resource Links) has been updated without actually going to that section? Even changing the font color of the button to show an updated would be good.
Another feature I would like to see is the ability to see the "last post first". Even using the "go to last post" button takes a while on my pokey computer on some of the long threads with pictures embedded.
The website is a great success and I really appreciate the work that has gone into it!
Cheers,
Bruce
- 389 reads
Mon, 08/23/2010 - 16:49
#2
NOS Parts
I've changed the display on the home page of the site. Now when you visit, in the left column towards the bottom, is a section labelled NOS (New On Site) Parts. This area shows a "teaser" for everything that has been added or updated on the site in the last two weeks (besides forum postings). This includes Member Galleries. When you look at this area, you can click the heading or the Read More... link at the bottom of each one to go directly to that item.
I hope this is helpful!
Wed, 08/25/2010 - 07:58
#3
Viewing Order
Bruce, I've turned on the Comment viewing options, which now appear at the bottom of every forum thread page, just above the Post new comment area. This provides for changing the way threads are displayed, including your request for switching the thread order from oldest first to newest first. Change the settings and click the Save settings button to make them permanent. I hope you find this to your liking!
Wed, 08/25/2010 - 10:02
#5
Does this work?
Bruce, I've turned on the Comment viewing options, which now appear at the bottom of every forum thread page, just above the Post new comment area. This provides for changing the way threads are displayed, including your request for switching the thread order from oldest first to newest first. Change the settings and click the Save settings button to make them permanent. I hope you find this to your liking!
Darryl -
I made a change to order newer posts first, then clicked on Save. I got out a given thread and came back...no change. I tried other threads...no change. I logged out, back in...no change. In looking at the posts within this thread, they aren't in any kind of order for me. The older ones are still at the top and Bruce's most recent post is somewhere in the middle.
I can't make sense of it...
Wed, 08/25/2010 - 10:24
#6
I'm confused, too, Kurt. The
I'm confused, too, Kurt. The only thing I can think of is this: the original post is always first. The viewing order only applies to the replies. The reason for this is that the original post is special to the system, and is handled differently, internally, than the replies.
I think the reason I didn't expose this control before is because of the Flat/Threaded/Collapsed/Expanded options. Because the software we're using started out as blogging software, with threaded displays the order can be hard to distinguish. The forum module is configured to suppress the threaded nature of the replies, but I didn't want that to somehow appear here, because the formatting I put on the site removes the indents that would normally show the threaded nature of things.
I wanted the forum to act as much like other forum software as I could reasonably do, to reduce confusion. Besides, how useful is it to have a thread that breaks into a bunch of side threads? An answer to the original thread topic might appear at the end of one of those side threads, which is buried in the middle of the whole page somewhere.
Wed, 08/25/2010 - 10:41
#7
I should have done this from
I should have done this from the start: I just killed off the option for threaded/flat/collapsed/expanded. That is one thing that would surely confuse people. It's not really dead -- there's no adjustability in the software for which choices are available -- it's just not accessible any more because I made it invisible.
Bruce, thanks for the feedback.
The Internal Server Error does seem to be back again. I got rid of it about 4 months ago after doing some research and changing a setting on our shared hosting service. Naturally, I don't recall what it was, but I'll bet I need to do it again. However, as you know, I'm out of town at the moment and don't have any concentrated time to go after it. Although I recall that the change itself was easy to do, I also recall that it took me a while to find it. I guess what I'm saying is that it will probably be a little while before I find this and kill it again.
Although the Member Galleries button doesn't change when there's an update, any new gallery, or gallery with new or changed content, has a little, red "New!" on the left side of its title.
The old forum had an option to change the order of the display of a forum topic and its replies, but it was not an option that the system remembered from visit to visit, per user. Someone requested it, and while I was hacking up something else, I found I could add it pretty easily. The software we're using now can allow you to set the order of display, but it's turned off. And, I believe, it's something that has to be set on each topic, per user, per visit (so in a way, it's worse). I will have to look into what can be done... probably when I get home.
VBMWMO Webmaster,--Darryl Richman
Rider #52 in the 2012 Cannonball--follow my blog!
http://darryl.crafty-fox.com