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Tips & Tricks for the new board - USEFUL!

Discussion in 'Ferrari Discussion (not model specific)' started by Doody, Nov 3, 2003.

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  1. Doody

    Doody F1 Veteran

    Nov 16, 2001
    6,099
    MA USA
    Full Name:
    Mr. Doody
    #1 Doody, Nov 3, 2003
    for those of you having problems/issues with seeing what's "unread" i feel your pain.

    the VBB system is not entirely as robust as the old system or other boards. as best i can tell, VBB has two mechanisms of deciding that you've "read" something. either (a) you click on it and read or (b) enough time goes by since you asked and were informed it was unread (if that parses).

    so here's what i'm doing, and it works really well for me.

    at the top right of your screen are five little checkboxy icons. these will at some point be replaced by real graphics and/or text-links.

    the 2nd and 3rd are your friends!

    the second one "View New Posts" will generate a list of stuff you haven't read (i've asked rob if it can be filtered to your subscribed forums). you can then zip through this list and open up the threads that you care to look at.

    once you're done, you hit the third button up there - "Mark All Forums Read" - and VBB knows the score.

    there's a slight timing issue to be aware of. if you spend a long time reading the threads and THEN say Mark All Forums Read you'll mark things created in the interim between your search and your finishing reading all those results. so you can do a right-click on Mark All Forums Read and open it in a new window immediately after the search is done. you'll still have your list to work from, and you shouldn't accidentally mark anything read that wasn't read.

    hope this is helpful. it's worked well for me.

    doody.
     
  2. bobafett

    bobafett F1 Veteran

    Sep 28, 2002
    9,193
    #2 bobafett, Nov 3, 2003
    Thanks ofr the pointers, Doody. This will help a lot of us, myself included.

    --Dan
     
  3. ralessi

    ralessi Formula 3

    May 26, 2002
    1,093
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Rikk
    #3 ralessi, Nov 3, 2003
    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!
     
  4. Eilig

    Eilig F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    Aug 31, 2001
    4,085
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    Tänzelndes Pferd
    #4 Eilig, Nov 3, 2003
    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...
     
  5. 308GTS

    308GTS Formula 3

    Dec 27, 2001
    2,223
    TN
    #5 308GTS, Nov 3, 2003
    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.
     
  6. MarkPDX

    MarkPDX F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa

    Apr 21, 2003
    15,111
    Gulf Coast
    #6 MarkPDX, Nov 3, 2003
    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
     
  7. Modificata

    Modificata F1 Rookie

    Apr 27, 2003
    2,654
    Hampton, England
    Full Name:
    Andy Rasool
    #7 Modificata, Nov 3, 2003
    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.
     
  8. Garretto

    Garretto F1 Veteran

    Sep 3, 2003
    5,068
    Bilbao, Spain
    Full Name:
    Rodolfo Di Pietro
    #8 Garretto, Nov 3, 2003
    Think of it like a Ferrari: everyone criticises the new model but will surely miss it when it is replaced :D
     
  9. Ferrari_co_uk

    Ferrari_co_uk Karting

    Apr 16, 2003
    245
    London, UK
    Full Name:
    Mark Langfield
    #9 Ferrari_co_uk, Nov 4, 2003
    Thanks Doody! That has greatly eased my navigating through the new posts.

    Best
    Mark
     
  10. Doody

    Doody F1 Veteran

    Nov 16, 2001
    6,099
    MA USA
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    Mr. Doody
    #10 Doody, Nov 4, 2003
    i'm not an HTML guru - i just know enough to be dangerous :).

    could someone write a simple HTML file that does the following:

    1. it opens this URL: "http://ferrarichat.com/forum/search.php?do=getnew" which does the search for new posts.

    2. it waits until that url is fully loaded into the browser (important).

    3. it opens this URL in a new window: "http://ferrarichat.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?do=markread" which marks all the posts in all the forums as read.

    4. it closes, or causes to be closed, that new mark-all-read window.

    we could then use this HTML in our link bar and one single click would get you a nice list of all your unread posts and mark everything read!

    doody.
     
  11. MPalilonis

    MPalilonis Karting

    Sep 30, 2003
    216
    Full Name:
    Mike
    #11 MPalilonis, Nov 4, 2003
    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.
     
  12. wax

    wax Five Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa

    Jul 20, 2003
    52,403
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    Dirty Harry
    #12 wax, Nov 4, 2003
    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...
     
  13. Brian C. Stradale

    Brian C. Stradale F1 Rookie
    Lifetime Rossa

    Mar 17, 2002
    3,615
    Dallas, TX, USA
    #13 Brian C. Stradale, Nov 4, 2003
    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.
     
  14. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner Social Subscribed

    Dec 1, 2000
    63,926
    Southlake, TX
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    Rob Lay
    #14 rob lay, Nov 4, 2003
    Brian, I set the messages per page really low at 15 to try and help the rendering problems. Did you notice a decrease in performance going higher?

    Right now the default is 15, what do you think it should be? Remmeber, many still on 56k.
     
  15. MPalilonis

    MPalilonis Karting

    Sep 30, 2003
    216
    Full Name:
    Mike
    #15 MPalilonis, Nov 4, 2003
    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. :)
     
  16. mw575

    mw575 F1 Rookie

    May 30, 2001
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    Martin J Weiner,M.D.
    #16 mw575, Nov 4, 2003
    Thanks Doody-the 5 "icon" tip is cool.
    (I still hate change!!)
     
  17. Brian C. Stradale

    Brian C. Stradale F1 Rookie
    Lifetime Rossa

    Mar 17, 2002
    3,615
    Dallas, TX, USA
    #17 Brian C. Stradale, Nov 4, 2003
    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.
     

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