Tips & Tricks for the new board - USEFUL!

Thanks ofr the pointers, Doody. This will help a lot of us, myself included.

--Dan

 

Maybe we can make this the DEFINITIVE features thread to explain things. Here I go...

FIRST - THREAD PREVIEW

Mouseover a thread title on the main forum page, and a box will pop up with the first words of a post - helpful in determining whether you want to read it or not.

SECOND - View latest post

While browsing the forum, new threads, and threads that you have accessed previously but have new posts in them will have an ARROW POINTING DOWN to the LEFT of the thread title. Click on this and it will take you to the newest post. VERY USEFUL!

 

Am I the only one who misses (and actually prefers) the layout of the "old" board? All due respect to Rob, as he is "the man" and we all owe him a tremendous debt of grattitude for all he does, and I know this new software has TONS of functionality that the old didn't have.... but I still like the "look" and "feel" of the old interface better, in spite of some of it's limitations...

 

I am trying to get used to it but the old board was much more lively. This board seems slower on my computer. Maybe with some time I will grow more accustomed to it.

 

Are you using Internet Explorer? Try Netscape, it's much faster.

It's free if you don't have it already, it is available for download here

 

I actually prefer the old style. The new software contains a whole load of functionality that just gets in the way. The old was simple to use.

Think of it like a ferrari. Does not have the bells or whistles of most cars, but does the job it was designed to do very well.

 

Think of it like a Ferrari: everyone criticises the new model but will surely miss it when it is replaced

 

Thanks Doody! That has greatly eased my navigating through the new posts.

Best
Mark

 

THANKS SOOOO MUCH MR. DOODY!! That really help me a ton. Now I feel better about navigating this site.

I do agree that the one simple click would be a good way to go in loading the unread threads.

Also, I'm not sure if it is a user option or not, but is there some way to click on a thread and General Discussion and view all the pages instead of viewing it page by page.

Once again THANKS for all your help.

~Mike P.

 

Nice touch - Without full implementation of your proposal, here's what I'd do in that scenario:

Right click the "View New Posts" Button in the upper right "Hackson 5" corner you're aware of - select "Open in New Window"

In your original window, in the aforementioned "Hackson 5" corner "Mark All Forums Read"

Read the New Stuff.

Or is that what you've already done, thereby reaching your conclusion? (Sherlock: Elementary, my dear waxson)

I suppose the only possible downside is if you clear cookies, cache, temporary files as often as I do. Though the site is database-driven, it might be partly dependent on the user end. Or not. ie - no matter which of 3 browsers I use, after I sign-in, everything appears as it should. That which I've commented on has it's own little cyclops-envelope icon...

Regardless, methinks from the php-to-html parsing end - this might fall under "option value."

Grand Theft Quote: i'm not an HTML guru - i just know enough to be dangerous...

 

In User CP->Options you can specify the number of posts per page... specify the largest number and you will almost never see multiple pages (except in the rare case where you probably want to see a page break due to speed of loading). That was one of the first options I changed from default!

HTH.

 

Rob,
The best idea would be to place a "view all" at the place where you have parentases (sp?) at the end of the threads eg. (1,2,3....All) or something like. Also maybe there could be one at the bottom of the General Discussion folder, if its at all possible. That way those that are still using 56k modems can view it page by page and the others with high bands could just view all of the post on one page. Thanks for listening to the little people man!!!

Keep up the wonderful work Rob!


~Mike P.


PS. The avater gives your post a nice look and the size is perfect! Just slip your name in there so I know who's car I am looking at...tehehe.

 

Thanks Doody-the 5 "icon" tip is cool.
(I still hate change!!)

 

I think a default of 15 is fine... you definitely want the default to be tailored for the low bandwidth people. Why? Because it doesn't hurt the high bandwidth people bad at all to have too many pages... but dump a giant page on a low bandwidth person and you kill them. Given we are allowing inline pics, I wouldn't go above 25 as a default. But as long as people are complaining about speed, I'd err on the conservative side... 15 seems good.

The view all button is not uncommon and can be useful. But, you already have the even more valuable capability... to set your default to a much higher number. Very nice. And given that, I'd make a view all button pretty low priority. JMHO.