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Beta Testers Welcome
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reader50
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Dec 14, 2012, 03:18 PM
 
Welcome back.

Bugs can be posted here, but all content created in vB will be wiped with future updates. So it may be wiser to post bugs in the Huddler feedback thread.

Non-bugs: (needed data unavailable)
• IP addresses are missing on newer content, newer users.
• edit data is missing on posts/threads
• some read PMs flagged as unread

Not fixing:
• older threads edited/deleted under Huddler are not reflected back.
• older posts edited/deleted under Huddler are not reflected back.
• older users banned under Huddler are not reflected back.

These have few examples, and would require trusting the huddler data over existing vB data. Also, some temp changes made under Huddler we don't want to sync back. Like my moving old Market threads to the Archives to prevent bumping.

Bugs I've seen so far:
final tags in messages sometimes not converted. fixed
some (span) formatting not stripped. fixed
attached images in PMs not captured. fixed in code
insane rankstars do not appear on profile pages fixed in CP
some new members under huddler do not have stars (seanc) patched in code
an extended image tag does not convert fixed
     
Ω
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Dec 14, 2012, 04:30 PM
 
Where is the bar as I need a drink.

"angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress"
     
reader50  (op)
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Dec 14, 2012, 09:23 PM
 
One of my data sync scripts did some unexpected work. It checked all users, and updated last activity / last post / PM count for users who have been active under Huddler. This way their profile stats will be up to date. I expected a few thousand profiles to be updated, but it updated ~60K users.

Remember all those old accounts (especially from UBB) that have made posts, but show as never having logged in? Apparently that DB field was added later. Well, they all show activity now, as of their most recent post. And that sync script took about 10x as long as I'd expected it to run.

I'm thinking of running my Rich Text importer over the old UBB posts. The ones with the funny HTML tags, that are hard to read today. Maybe after we're back.
     
Ω
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Dec 15, 2012, 04:21 AM
 
I think you need to fix the width (as in set a mandatory width) of the user details to the left. On a big monitor the width is about three times larger than it need to be.

Have to say love the "new" look!
"angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress"
     
reader50  (op)
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Dec 15, 2012, 04:41 AM
 
A few more bugs have been fixed. I think we're in diminishing returns, but it's worth hunting up anything particularly stupid looking.

Also, I won't have time to do a full migration during the day, so that means 2-3 evenings. ie - a full weekend. So we've got about a week to fiddle before the earliest window.

It's very close. I found an unconverted tag .. in 4 Infraction PMs, which few people keep anyway. And an unconverted bbcode tag used in one PM and one post. Actual code blocks are not safe to convert since the contents may be intentional code. Neither is worth the code to fix.
     
Ω
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Dec 15, 2012, 05:52 AM
 
You may want to make it so we cant see the private stuff in this forum before you invite too many people in. Namely this one

http://forumsdev.macnn.com/forumdisplay.php?f=67
"angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress"
     
subego
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Dec 15, 2012, 12:07 PM
 
Test
     
subego
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Dec 15, 2012, 12:08 PM
 
Sig images are appearing in previews, which I think isn't how it used to be.
     
subego
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Dec 15, 2012, 12:09 PM
 
I need a new sig image too. This one feels like it's from a different life or something.
     
reader50  (op)
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Dec 15, 2012, 02:42 PM
 
Originally Posted by Ω View Post
You may want to make it so we cant see the private stuff in this forum before you invite too many people in. Namely this one

http://forumsdev.macnn.com/forumdisplay.php?f=67
Thank you. I'm using a new user group to give early access, and hadn't locked down the forum permissions for it. Fixed.
     
subego
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Dec 15, 2012, 03:18 PM
 
Shit! I missed the dirt!
     
Ω
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Dec 15, 2012, 04:31 PM
 
You should have read the stuff they wrote about you.

Posting from my iPad is is nice that when I click on a link it actually does something instead of the double tap.
"angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress"
     
Ω
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Dec 15, 2012, 04:32 PM
 
Would be nice if it would fix my grammar though. is is

And the OS incorrect spelling works now as well.
"angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress"
     
Spheric Harlot
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Dec 15, 2012, 04:52 PM
 
Originally Posted by Ω View Post
You should have read the stuff they wrote about you.

Posting from my iPad is is nice that when I click on a link it actually does something instead of the double tap.
I want the tooltips back. At least as a (default ) option.
It made perusing the forums SO much faster on an iPad.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Dec 15, 2012, 05:01 PM
 
— tooltips showing content of post on mouseover (single-tap on iPad) are missing. This works for original post and latest post on Huddler.

— is there a way to bookmark
http://forumsdev.macnn.com/search.php?do=getnew without context-clicking and copying the link? This view, equivalent to /newposts under Huddler, should be easily made the default by users.
I know how, but no newb will.
This, of course ONLY makes sense if

— Huddler-style read/unread flagging for "new" posts is kept. I REALLY like the /newposts view, and the way Huddler maintains read/unread status for threads has grown absolutely essential to the way I browse the forums.
     
reader50  (op)
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Dec 15, 2012, 05:24 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
— is there a way to bookmark
http://forumsdev.macnn.com/search.php?do=getnew without context-clicking and copying the link? This view, equivalent to /newposts under Huddler, should be easily made the default by users.
I know how, but no newb will.
This, of course ONLY makes sense if

— Huddler-style read/unread flagging for "new" posts is kept...
In the header bar, prominent link "new posts". Or do you think they really need a bookmark link?

The tooltips and flagging rules will take more work. If vB offered the feature, then it's fairly easy to implement. Otherwise, custom code. And those features should be an individual pref, which makes it harder.

We're considering a migration to vB4 shortly after getting back. If that happened, we might get a boatload of new features. ATM, I don't want to hack new features in until we know if we'll stay on vB3.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Dec 15, 2012, 06:14 PM
 
I don't think it's necessary to make the read/unread flagging a personal preference.

It's completely obvious that the Huddler method is VASTLY superior.

Provided vB allows for threads to actually be marked unread or read, it should be trivial to implement a "threads modified since last visit" view that is functionally identical to the current vB view (by comparing last visited date cookie and showing only threads since then).
     
reader50  (op)
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Dec 16, 2012, 12:46 AM
 
Regarding seanc's new-members-without-stars, they were set to Awaiting Email Verification because that's what the Huddler dump said they were. They appear to be banned spammers (the example is), but missing a Banned group entry. I don't dare ban everyone Huddler mislabels, so the import script makes a better guess now. They won't be flagged as Awaiting Verification unless they have no posts. Or unless their email address is blank. This may unban a few spammers, but that's better than banning newbs.

Tooltips - hated these at first, but I've been using them. Turns out vB has them, so they're on now. First 100 characters of a post. The number is adjustable. It works for first post, but not for latest post. I'll poke into this some more, might be a custom template issue.

The persistent Read/Unread across sessions does have to be a personal pref, because I can't stand it. Staff routinely use the All New Posts search, and check the ones that look interesting or problematic. Then on next session, all the ones you skipped ... are still there. Cluttering up the results. You have to manually mark forums read at the end of *every* session.

For most mobile users, persistent status is more convenient. Especially if you're surfing when the boss isn't looking er, in spare moments.

vB used the cookie timeout through v3.5, but added DB-driven options to later versions. Which we never noticed. It looks like I can turn on persistent Unread markings, but only globally. This will need further investigation. Either hacking, or see if vB 4 can set it individually. Or if a plugin can add that functionality.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Dec 16, 2012, 04:51 AM
 
Originally Posted by reader50 View Post
Tooltips - hated these at first, but I've been using them. Turns out vB has them, so they're on now. First 100 characters of a post. The number is adjustable. It works for first post, but not for latest post. I'll poke into this some more, might be a custom template issue.
No, they're not working on iOS. The biggest point was that a single tap on iOS would show the tooltip with the post content, without the need to load it over a mobile connection.

Originally Posted by reader50 View Post
The persistent Read/Unread across sessions does have to be a personal pref, because I can't stand it. Staff routinely use the All New Posts search, and check the ones that look interesting or problematic. Then on next session, all the ones you skipped ... are still there. Cluttering up the results. You have to manually mark forums read at the end of *every* session.
I don't care about threads still being there.

Also, realize that you've described a workflow.

NONE of us non-moderators are here for work. Even when the content of this board was still work-related for me, I'd always browse across multiple devices, in my spare time.
     
subego
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Dec 16, 2012, 02:05 PM
 
I'm guessing if you polled users about this you'd have 95%+ of them liking the new system.

Not having it that way isn't a huge deal (for me, at least) but if it's possible to have it the new way, I think that effort would be appreciated.

It's a small enough issue however, if it can be only one way, I'm fine with that way being the old one.
     
subego
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Dec 16, 2012, 02:13 PM
 
Here's a pie-in-the-sky request.

It's nice (as an iPhone user) to have the distance between the quote button and the edit button the Huddler design has.

Would skating the edit button to be next to the post time be a realistic or desired feature?

It's not just hitting the wrong button that's the issue, it's hitting it immediately after a post. I've trained myself not to hit the back button in these situations lest the hampster goes all double postal.
     
reader50  (op)
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Dec 16, 2012, 02:26 PM
 
We'll need a poll about the persistent unread. If it's just the staff with workflow needs, I can hack an individual list in. The hard part is adding a UI, but a small group could be fixed up without that.

It seems like I moved a button once before, when experimenting with the new-posts dot. That will turn into another poll - this being a Mac board, everyone reacts to UI changes. I kinda pity the PC boards, where people just live with unhappy designs.

Is anyone else not seeing the tooltip text? It comes up fine in Firefox and Safari - maybe mobile Safari needs different code? Note - I see them in thread lists, not in multi-forum listings like the root page.
     
reader50  (op)
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Dec 16, 2012, 02:30 PM
 
Huh. I turned on Guest tracking in the online page, along with spider detection. Besides a few guests snopping URLs, the Google adsense spider is trying to modify it's signature. Which would be the signature for the Guest usergroup .. ? Weird.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Dec 16, 2012, 02:40 PM
 
Originally Posted by reader50 View Post
We'll need a poll about the persistent unread. If it's just the staff with workflow needs, I can hack an individual list in. The hard part is adding a UI, but a small group could be fixed up without that.

It seems like I moved a button once before, when experimenting with the new-posts dot. That will turn into another poll - this being a Mac board, everyone reacts to UI changes. I kinda pity the PC boards, where people just live with unhappy designs.
Honestly, you're switching platforms and giving the whole thing a complete makeover. Nobody remembers what it was like before Huddler, just that it was less annoying.

I'd completely forgotten and was shocked how annoying the lack of the forum's read/unread status tracking is. Like, massively annoying.

The mouseover/single-tap preview text is something I miss on all other forums.
The lack of read tracking is something I don't *miss*; I actually find it really annoying.

Originally Posted by reader50 View Post
Is anyone else not seeing the tooltip text? It comes up fine in Firefox and Safari - maybe mobile Safari needs different code? Note - I see them in thread lists, not in multi-forum listings like the root page.
There is no mouseover event on mobile Safari. It needs an actual TAP there, which just opens the link for me on vB.

As you say, they're only working for the first post, even on desktop Safari, and not for the last post (where they're arguably more important, especially combined with the read/unread tracking).
     
reader50  (op)
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Dec 16, 2012, 02:52 PM
 
I'll look into the tooltips tonight. If they work for last-post in the vanilla vB theme, they'll be easy to add to our templates. Likewise for latest-thread in multiforum listings. The no-work in mobile Safari is weirder, since I don't have a smartphone to test with. I'll compare HTML with Huddler, see if I can spot the cause.

If you guys can spot the needed code tags, let me know. Hacking vB is the easy part.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Dec 16, 2012, 04:36 PM
 
Also, while I'm on my huffy self-entitlement spree, fix my goddamn sig image.

...I kid, I kid.
     
reader50  (op)
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Dec 17, 2012, 04:06 AM
 
In vanilla vB, tooltips only appear on thread titles. I think I know why they don't show in mobile Safari. vB does them through the table element title, while Huddler uses CSS tags in the link code. Technically a Safari bug - the title attribute remains valid even in HTML5.

Full tooltips will require hacking or a plugin to fix up. It looks doable.

I can force session-timeout-unread using a cron script and a list of people who want that behavior. This will allow persistent-unread for everyone, then I'll study the DB entries and write the script for the privileged few.

And your sucky iDisk sig image can fix itself. So there.
Though fixing up Rob with the rotating sig was fun. Less fun the longer he snoozed without noticing.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Dec 17, 2012, 08:30 AM
 
Would that cron job still mean that searching for "new posts" would only show unread threads?

I've just noticed that what I actually like about Huddler's /newposts view is that it's actually a "Recent posts" view.

THAT's what I want, with a clear indication of what's read and what isn't.

Bizarre, but: I'd like it to work exactly the way it does under Huddler. Urgh. There I've said it.
     
Demonhood
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Dec 17, 2012, 03:00 PM
 
This thing on?
     
Thorzdad
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Dec 17, 2012, 04:08 PM
 
Works for me.
     
imitchellg5
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Dec 18, 2012, 03:24 AM
 
This is beautiful This version of MacNN was too beautiful to leave behind.
     
P
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Dec 19, 2012, 11:18 AM
 
Originally Posted by reader50 View Post
We'll need a poll about the persistent unread. If it's just the staff with workflow needs, I can hack an individual list in. The hard part is adding a UI, but a small group could be fixed up without that.
I prefer the persistent unread for modding. If I get an alert about a reported post, I can now drop in and just act on that one without feeling the need to check the entire forum new posts I would otherwise have missed. Then, when I have time to skim the forum and is satisfied that I have seen what there is to see, I just click the button to mark everything unread. It's two mouseclicks.

There is also the issue with the Safari and the hot page screen or whatever it's called - the default start screen. If the forums (or one of the subforums) is one of those hot pages, the entire forum gets marked "read" as soon as I open Safari.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
reader50  (op)
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Dec 19, 2012, 01:57 PM
 
It's set to persistent-unread at the moment. I plan to hack an exception for those who want it - after we're back for real. I'll need to study how the system works in practice before the hack can be coded.

I reread the Good News thread, and it looks like a majority like it persistent. With only a few staff exceptions.

In other news, this thread will survive the return after all. I coded a save-thread script last night for the fun of it. Should anyone want to discuss the Big Heist plan further, it would be best done in a different thread ...
     
reader50  (op)
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Dec 22, 2012, 10:24 PM
 
I'm not sure what the holdup is on returning to vB - I sent word we were ready on Dec 19. And recommended we start the return on a Friday, so I can do it over weekend evenings. It's too late to start it this weekend (forums would be down through Monday) so next weekend is now the earliest window.
     
reader50  (op)
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Jan 1, 2013, 02:10 PM
 
Guys, we have a return date. The forums are scheduled to go down this Friday for a weekend conversion.

Beta access will stop Friday morning probably, when we close vB for maintenance. This thread will survive, but all other test content will get overwritten.
     
Thorzdad
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Jan 1, 2013, 02:18 PM
 
     
besson3c
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Jan 1, 2013, 06:32 PM
 
Great work guys! I'll try to help test stuff, although I probably won't have time to give it a thorough scouring between now and the re-launch. Thanks for including me though!

I've love to be part of discussions pertaining to future features, such as a responsive design and image lazy loading (which would be a great feature for the responsive design).
     
besson3c
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Jan 1, 2013, 06:33 PM
 
I have to test one thing though, you knew it was coming:

poop
     
   
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