Forum Upgrade

[vangogh]

Hey All,

I upgraded the forum tonight (Saturday). I've been clicking around a bit and so far everything seems to be working. There are probably some changes here or there. I'm noticing the box I'm typing in now to create this thread looks different and it also seems to be autosaving while I'm typing. I'm guessing there will be a few other changes as well that we'll notice over the next few days.

If you notice anything not working let me know. Unless it's critical I probably won't fix it right away, but let me know anyway.

I upgraded to the full vBulletin publishing suite, though I've turned off the extras for the moment until I can test them and get things set up. The full suite comes with a CMS, which will allow pages outside the forum to be created. It also comes with blogging functionality. It'll probably be awhile before I turn on either, since I want to test them first and decide how best to use them. In time though I expect to turn both on.

If you want to see how the CMS and Blog look you can check out the vBulletin.com site (https://www.vbulletin.com/forum/content.php). They have the CMS set as the main page on the domain and have some additional and sections we won't have.

Anyway let me know if there are any issues. I haven't noticed any, but other than clicking around I haven't done much yet. Hopefully nothing so drastic changed that we can't deal with it. This wasn't as major an upgrade as the last time around so there shouldn't be major changes. At least not until I turn some of the new things on.

[Spider]

Thank you.

[vangogh]

You're welcome.

[KristineS]

Looks very cool so far. I think it will add to the functionality and usefulness of the forum.

[vangogh]

Thanks Kristine. It'll be a little while before I turn on some of the new functionality. So far I've been spending time doing what I can to make sure the new stuff isn't visible or accessible to anyone. Just when I think I caught everything I notice a new link pointing to something no one can yet see.

There's a lot to learn with the new stuff as far as setting it up and also when it comes to deciding how best to use it.

[Business Attorney]

Keep up the good work! I think we should double your salary.

[vangogh]

That sounds really great and then I realize what my current salary is. :(

[jamestl2]

Good news to hear.

Perhaps a skin / theme upgrade as well?

[vangogh]

I would like to redesign the theme. vBulletin doesn't make it all the easy to do, at least not the way I prefer. Every change has to happen inside their interface instead of editing files directly. It's one of those things that's been on my to do list for awhile. It probably won't happen right away, but I still think it will happen.

[vangogh]

I take it no one is noticing anything that isn't working. I haven't noticed anything myself. I am noticing some small changes here and there. All these editing boxes are different, though I think all the same functionality is there.

One thing that seems new is the ability to Like a post. You won't see it on any of your own posts, but if you look in the lower right of anyone else's posts there's a link to Like the post. On our profiles we now have something that shows how many Likes we've given and how many we've received. I guess it's another form of the reputation system.

[billbenson]

I haven't noticed any problems, but its been kind of slow for me.

[vangogh]

I don't think that has anything to do with the upgrade. I've noticed the forum is slow at times and pretty quick at times. It seems to depend on when you're here. I'm not sure if it's a server issue or possibly has something to do with my other sites. It's something I keep looking into, but haven't figured out yet.

[Spider]

SBF has been so slow for me on occasion that I have given up, abandoned it and come back later. Mostly it's just slow, and I haven't noticed it as quick as other discussion forum for quite a few months. FYI.

[vangogh]

I'm not sure what the issue is. If I knew I'd fix it. I've researched and made changes based on that research, but none of it has significantly changed anything. I'm here more than most people and I've noticed that the speed of the site is inconsistent. Sometimes it's quicker and sometimes it is slower. That could partly be an indication of how much traffic all the sites on the server are getting at those particular moments and how much resources are being used.

In time I'll upgrade the servers. In the meantime I'll keep researching and tweaking things to see if it helps.

[seolman]

Loads fine for me. Slow performance could simply be some caching issues.

Did this upgrade include a 100,000 frequent flyer miles for all International members? I seem to recall that being mentioned somewhere...mumble mumble...

[vangogh]

The loading time is definitely inconsistent. There are times when it's very fast for me and other times when it's very slow. Because of the inconsistency I'm more inclined to think it's something with the server and traffic spikes either here, my other sites, or one of the other sites on the server. I was hoping the upgrade would help and actually think it did a little bit.

I'm still looking into possible causes and solutions. The money isn't there at the moment to upgrade us to a dedicated server, though eventually I will do that.

[jamestl2]

I've never encountered any speed issues before with the site being slow and everything. It's always loaded normally on my end.


I would like to redesign the theme. vBulletin doesn't make it all the easy to do, at least not the way I prefer. Every change has to happen inside their interface instead of editing files directly. It's one of those things that's been on my to do list for awhile. It probably won't happen right away, but I still think it will happen.

True, vB skins are a bit more difficult to complete and code every detail in, I remember spending a ton of hours on my skin, and that was before 4.0 was released.

Also, if time's an issue, there are a few pre-made skins out there, which you could pretty much tweak and customize after downloading / purchasing one. That is if any of them are attractive enough, of course.

[vangogh]

I spent a little time last night doing more research about the speed thing and found a few more things I might try. I'll work on it over the weekend. Hopefully some of them help.

I also downloaded some information about skinning the forum to get a better feel for how others do it. It's not so much that I don't know to do it as it is vBulletin makes it a pain to make all the changes and keep track of what you've changed. I'd rather not use a skin someone else designed since it's just duplicating the look of other sites and quite honestly I find the default skin nicer than most of the ones others have designed. Some nice ones out there, but most aren't any better than the default.

It'll probably take some time before you see a new skin here. There are other changes I want to make that I think more important so they come first. Also if I do work on a new skin it'll be in the background until it's done. It is something I want to do, just not at the top of the list of priorities.

[greenoak]

what i just noticed was on my profile, my business links to my site and etc are all gone....is that on purpose? what if a member wants to see my store? i dont choose to have my links on my sig..but i would like for new members to see what im talking about, my business and my facebook, if they want to... .....no biggie...but did i miss how to get the store back on in m my profile?...
and , when posting, i get whole phrases repeating ???? not sure how i do that....

[vangogh]

The links that displayed were your signature. You removed those awhile ago, which is why they no longer show on your profile page. You'll have to add back your signature if you want them on your profile page.

If you check under Edit Profile you can add one home page link though. It shows up in the list of links on the left hand side of your profile as home page.

[greenoak]

ok.like i explained whEn i took them off, i didnt want my links to be in my signature.... i didnt see the homepage option...thanks.

[vangogh]

Understandable. Just letting you know those were the links that had been showing. The home page option is at least a way to get one link in.

[billbenson]

I don't know if this has to do with the upgrade or the fact that I just rebuilt my pc, but some threads aren't being marked as read and others are????

[cbscreative]

I've been noticing the same thing, bill, so it's not just you.

[vangogh]

I'm not sure what you mean. Are they literally showing ???? I'm seeing everything the same as I always have. Mind grabbing a screenshot and letting me know the url it came from.

Bill I think you view the site in FF on Linux. Is that right? Steve I'm guessing your on Windows 7(?) What browser do you typically use?

[billbenson]

The "hard day" post won't show as being read on the "Forum" listing and if I read it when clicking on "new posts" it doesn't drop off the "new posts" list. It's not just that one there have been others.

[vangogh]

I clicked into that thread and it showed as read and then I left the new posts page and came back and it was gone. Is it possible the threads are just getting additional posts. A new post in a thread you've already read is going to mean it's a new and unread thread again.

[billbenson]

No, that thread had no posts from when I mentioned it here at 12:30 am or again when I looked at 11am or so.

Also, when I click on "new posts" read a post and click back no posts show they have been read. In the past they would show up because it wasn't a refresh but the color changed to the color of a read post.

[billbenson]

In fact steve, I just clicked on it again and it takes me to the first post on the page not the last post I read. Usually when you click on a post that has had new activity, it will take you to where you left off. That post has only had 9 posts the last one being 2 pm Wed and it always takes me back to the first post as if I had never read it. Again its not just the post "hard day", that’s just an example of one that is behaving this way.

In other words:

I sign in and click new posts in the upper left part of the screen.

I get a listing of posts I haven't read

I click on the "hard day" post.

scroll to the bottom of the page.

Go back to the top and click on new posts again

hard day is in the list of unread posts and has had no new posts in the thread.

[vangogh]

I'm not sure what the problem might be. It's working fine for me. I clicked the "hard day" thread earlier and it hasn't been on the new posts lists since. We probably need more people weighing in to know if it's more of a forum thing or more something that happens specifically for you.

I'm checking logged in now on Safari and not logged in on Firefox. It's working for me in both places.

[vangogh]

I'm not sure what the problem might be. It's working fine for me. I clicked the "hard day" thread earlier and it hasn't been on the new posts lists since. We probably need more people weighing in to know if it's more of a forum thing or more something that happens specifically for you.

I'm checking logged in now on Safari and not logged in on Firefox. It's working for me in both places.

[billbenson]

I made a test post on the "hard day" thread and it acted normally (didn't show up in the new posts listings). This thread whether I post or not acts normally (doesn't show up after being read).

[vangogh]

I assume you're automatically subscribed to threads you post to so it seems to be working normally for any thread you're subscribed to. Does it still persist in keeping threads marked as new and unread for any you're not subscribed to?

[billbenson]

I'm not sure what you mean by "subscribed to". I've never done anything manually to "subscribe to" a post. Someone just made a post to the "hard day" thread. That put it at the top of the "new posts" list. I read it and clicked new posts again and it dissapeared (the desired action). So now that I made that test post to that thread it is acting normally..

[billbenson]

I just went through and clicked on every post in a "new posts" listing and then clicked "new posts" I had zero results. So I guess its pretty intermittent. When I posted to "hard day" it somehow fixed the issue with that post? Dunno

If I click the back button it still doesn't mark the posts as read though (unread posts are darker in color than the read posts). This was working and is convenient.

I did rebuild my pc about the time you were working on the updaate. Who knows what impact that had. It is browser independent on my end though.

[vangogh]

You can subscribe to any thread so it shows in your control panel whenever some posts in it. I think most people set things so when they post in a thread they're automatically subscribed. It's an easy way to see if the threads you've been active in have new replies without having to remember the thread title.

You can set up it through the edit settings link I think.

[cbscreative]

Steve I'm guessing your on Windows 7(?) What browser do you typically use?

Yes, W7. Since my primary browser is Opera which has a small user base, I wouldn't worry about issues unless the reports of errors start stacking up. For me, it's just mostly some forum behavior which has changed. I've not tested specific threads like "hard day" like bill has, what I notice mostly is that when I click New Posts using the button after I leave and come back again, the list still goes back further than my previous visit. It used to only give a list since my last visit.

I wouldn't call this a big problem, it could even have a few advantages. It's just different and since bill brought it up, I thought I would mention similar issues. I haven't experienced anything that really bothers me. Well sort of...the Alt+S keyboard shortcut for posting has never worked in Opera, so it's something I put up with because the good outweighs the bad.

[vangogh]

Thanks for the info. I'm not sure if the upgrade did anything though it certainly could have. Maybe it was me playing around with different settings too or an addon I added. As long as it's not a big deal to you I won't worry too much about it, but do let me know if it becomes more of a deal. I don't mind looking, though I'm not really sure what might be causing the issue.