Forum software upgrade

evmo

As you've probably noticed, I just pushed a rather substantial update of the Forum software.

On the front-end, there's a new site theme/style that hopefully looks & feels a bit more modern, and integrates better with the main MSF site. The site is now fully responsive to screen size so it works on all devices. The banner image will change every once in a while to keep things fresh.

On the back-end, there have been a number of important upgrades, the most important of which is IPv6 compatibility. Some of you may have gotten errors when trying to post new comments, along the lines of "InsertIPAddress is 24 characters too long." This was due to the previous software not being compatible with IPv6. The issue should now be fixed.

@loneswimmer and I have tested the new software, but there will likely still be some kinks. Please post to this thread (or contact me via private message) if you encounter any problems or strange site behavior.

Thanks, and we hope you like it.

evmo

Issue #1: The "like" feature on the previous desktop version of the site is, for the time being, not available on the new site. This was an add-on feature that is not compatible with the new software.

Don't worry, all your previous "likes" are saved in the database until I can find a way to add back this feature. We felt it was more important to fix the IPv6 issue before tackling some of these other issues. Thanks for your patience.

IronMike

Looks good @evmo and @loneswimmer!

evmo

Thanks Mike.

All -- if you have any problems with the new Forum software, please include details in your bug reports. Were you accessing the Forum on your PC, or your phone? Browser type? Etc.

Thanks.

evmo

Issue #2: I'm aware of the weird quoting behavior, where the member being quoted doesn't appear in the quote.

I'm working on it...

loneswimmer

Thanks to @evmo for all the work & testing he's had to do on this in the past few months.

evmo

evmo wrote: »

Issue #2: I'm aware of the weird quoting behavior, where the member being quoted doesn't appear in the quote.

I'm working on it...

Quoting problem fixed!

loneswimmer

email updates to subscribed comments aren't including the content, only the thread link.

evmo

I'll check it out - thanks.

jkormanik

Thanks for the hard work and taking your time to make the site friendly to all of us @evmo and @loneswimmer!

jkormanik

@evmo Is it possible to add a button to mark all the threads as "read"? The previous platform had such a button... Once again, I appreciate your work on this.

evmo

jkormanik wrote: »

@evmo Is it possible to add a button to mark all the threads as "read"?

It's still there, just more hidden than it used to be.

Click the little 'gear' icon in the top right, then click 'Mark All Viewed.'

mjstaples

@evmo thanks for all your hard work!

jkormanik

Thanks, @evmo. Found it...Great stuff!

JenA

My comments (posted in PST) are being timestamped six hours earlier. IE: I am posting this at 9:20pm, and yet the timestamp I see is 3:20pm.

Also, on threads I've started, I see a gear icon beside the title on the main forum page. When I click on the gear, the only option is to edit, but when I click on edit, I'm told I don't have permission.

And cheers to @evmo for the efforts! It looks great!

evmo

Thanks @mjstaples, @jkormanik, and @JenA.

@JenA, I think the timestamp issue is now fixed.

Re: the gear / editing / permissions, I'll check it out.

ttriven

Thanks @evmo for doing this. My provider only allows me to use IPv6, I've got some drafts of posts I never posted. I will start posting them, unless they are all moot now...

evmo

ttriven wrote: »

Thanks @evmo for doing this. My provider only allows me to use IPv6, I've got some drafts of posts I never posted. I will start posting them, unless they are all moot now...

You're welcome, and please do feel free to post the drafts-in-limbo!<hr/>
In other news... I just added "infinite scrolling" to the Forum. This is similar to the scrolling behavior you may be used to at other social networking sites such as twitter or fb. You no longer have to click to another page to view more than 30 thread topics, or more than 50 comments. Just scroll to the bottom of the page and it automatically loads new stuff.

Let me know if you have any trouble with it. If you prefer the old style of pagination, you can disable infinite scrolling in your profile:

http://www.marathonswimmers.org/forum/profile/edit

evmo

"Likes" are back!

Hover your mouse/trackpad over the post. A "like" button with a little thumbs-up icon will pop up. Click it.
Congratulations: you have liked a post!

Even better, you can now like posts on your smartphone (previously this was only possible on the full/non-mobile site).

Still need to import all your pre-upgrade "likes" ... so Sarah's post in the DN thread (the most-liked post in the history of this Forum) is appropriately recognized

It's on my to-do list ...

Dredpiraterobts

Nice format! Clean, clear, crisp and refreshing as a mountain stream.

Edited... The edit button works!
It worked for me. Hope it works for you.

evmo

Dredpiraterobts wrote: »

Nice format! Clean, clear, crisp and refreshing as a mountain stream.

Thanks DPR! Glad you like it.

Dredpiraterobts wrote: »

As far as the IPv6 thing. Loneswimmer had a fix in the New Members forum:
...
It worked for me. Hope it works for you.

OK, but that "fix" is no longer necessary because the Forum now plays nice with IPv6. It was a temporary stop-gap at best: expecting members to disable IPv6 just to use the Forum was not a sustainable solution.

Again for emphasis: don't disable IPv6, it's no longer necessary.

IronMike

@evmo, continuing thanks. Some notes:

-Love the #/out of # thing on the top right.
-I noticed in my profile that all my previously entered info (name, swims, website, etc) were blank, so I refilled them in.
-Love the location that is next to our name (that's what dragged me to my profile, seeing others with cities listed next to their name).
-I noticed on my "about" page under "Activity" there were a bunch of comments from other MSF members that I'd never known were there. Is there some way to get an indication when someone writes on your "about" page? Sadly, I've missed a lot of comments/questions from others. If you're reading this and I owe you a response, sorry!
-I still get the same issue as @Niek mentions above. I don't get notifications of all threads, especially brand new ones.
-On the main forum page there used to be a place to search for members. Is that still possible?
-Finally, love the continuous scrolling thing.

Thanks again!

evmo

Thanks to @IronMike for the bug reports! Much appreciated.

IronMike wrote: »

I noticed in my profile that all my previously entered info (name, swims, website, etc) were blank, so I refilled them in.

Basically: the profile data are not lost, but in the upgrade, the connection between the underlying data and the front-end profile was broken.

Maybe this is a good opportunity to remind Forum members of their profiles. Click here:

http://www.marathonswimmers.org/forum/profile/edit

Feel free to update your information (it will only take a few seconds). For those members who don't re-fill their profiles, we'll eventually replace them with the old data.... but it may be a while, there are quite a few more high-priority issues on my list.

IronMike wrote: »

I noticed on my "about" page under "Activity" there were a bunch of comments from other MSF members that I'd never known were there. Is there some way to get an indication when someone writes on your "about" page?

This was definitely a bug in the old software... I think it's fixed in the new version. I'm going to write on your "wall" now Mike, will you let me know if you were notified?

IronMike wrote: »

I still get the same issue as @Niek mentions above. I don't get notifications of all threads, especially brand new ones.

This one has been baffling me. It seems to me, it only happens when the thread hasn't been updated *since* the upgrade. If the thread has been updated post-upgrade, the notifications happen. If that's the case, this problem should gradually disappear.

But Mike, you think it happens for brand-new threads?

IronMike wrote: »

On the main forum page there used to be a place to search for members. Is that still possible?

This is another feature that was backwards-incompatible with the new software... I am working on a solution.

Again, thanks very much for the feedback, @IronMike!

IronMike

Got the notice on my "world" icon, @evmo.

WRT the new posts, yes, it still happens. I'll take more notice on exactly the context. I know at least once when I didn't get any notice of "new" threads, it was a thread with only the initial posting, and no follow on comments. Perhaps it is only when someone comments on a new post that @Niek and I get the "new" icon?

IronMike

Latest:

-When @ned asked for more help finding some old OW swimmers (title: Forum friends, can you please help...), it was at the top of my forum page, but no indication of a new post.

-When I clicked on "Search this site" it opened a new tab in Chrome. That tab was Google with "site:marathon..." pre-filled in. I entered my search terms ("Cork distance") and it came up with results. I clicked on the one I wanted on Google, and it took me to the thread. But I wasn't signed in (even though I was signed in to the site on the original tab). So I signed in (dialogue box opened for me to sign into) and after I clicked SIGN IN, it took me back to the main MSForum page. Gone were my search results. So I searched again (new tab came up yet again), got the same results again, but this time was signed in! I clicked on the thread I wanted, and this time it took me to the thread.

evmo

On the main discussions page, go to the right sidebar and click 'My Drafts.' This will bring up a list of your unpublished drafts. To delete one, click the 'X' in the top right corner of the draft.

loneswimmer

I think the erase a draft option is now easier to find. Since it's something that's only used occasionally, I used to always forget where it was, and find it much better now.

A month after release, I personally am extremely happy with how everything is working after all @evmo's work & testing. The increased options on mobile are especially useful from an Admin and logged-in user POV.

MikeH

I have had multiple issues in the past, but it seems to be working for me now : )

evmo

In celebration of the Forum's 15000th post today, I installed a new Forum search engine. I think you'll find it works much better than the last one, which was just a hacked re-direct to Google.

Instructions

- Type a search term into the box at the top of the main discussions page.
- Press the "enter" key on your keyboard (or equivalent button on a mobile keyboard).

Give it a try, let me know if you have any issues.

IronMike

@evmo, haven't even used it yet and already like it better than the Google hack. Thank you!

evmo

A couple of you have asked about "likes" of comments by a username with just a single dash '-'. You were wondering who member '-' is, or perhaps whether this was a Forum member who had been deleted.

A dash '-' represents someone who is not logged into the Forum "liking" a comment (most likely, a non-Forum member). Because it is a non-member, the member name shows up as '-'.

This was a bug in the liking software, which has now been fixed. Um, sorry... you have to be a Forum member to "like" comments. All likes by non-members have been deleted.

IronMike

@evmo, weird today:

I tried to search for windermere and got no results. So I thought maybe I spelled it wrong, so I searched for windemere and nothing.

So to test the search bar, I tried ocean, seeing a few lines below it a thread with the word ocean in it. Got nothing.

Also, when I got the nil results from the search, one of the options was Adv Search. But that's not "clickable"

evmo

Search is fixed now. Thanks for the heads-up.

evmo

I've been doing some long-deferred maintenance and upgrades to the Forum's back-end infrastructure, which need to be done regardless of this site's future status. Please bear with me in the meantime, and send me a PM if you notice any bugs.

Thanks.