DIGITAL_DEVIL_DATABASE Community Forum

Dunno if you noticed...but, the forums went pretty crazy glitchy right now.  Simply put, in a single post...everything is mixed up; post options, user stats, and the post itself...

It'd be super if this could be fixed soon.

Yeah, meet the new post layout  :biggrin:

I put the top horizontal rule back in, but it might have a bug in some versions of Firefox (which is why I removed it before)

I actually made a thread in the proper forum specifically asking you DON*T FREAK OUT!  :doh:

edited: If you think the layout isn't rendering correctly for you, then please post a screenshot.

http://i36.tinypic.com/2hfj33c.png

I'd say that looks weird...btw...  I think we'll need a slight forum reorganization...this is the second time I missed something important because it was placed at a random spot.  :face15:

I suggest you put Karma Palace and The Underground at the very top of the boards.  The bottom is traditionally for stuff like locked threads and other wacky thingies...

The boards are ordered based on who is likely to be interested in them, and how often. The final board is more of a meta board about the forums, so if you're interested in the forums in that sense, just make more of an effort to look down there. I recommend you use the "unread posts" link at the top of every page. Otherwise I don't think this software has a list of unread posts period (if someone finds out how to let me know)


As for the forum layout, I really like it, and it took me more than 2hrs I'm sure (no thanks to a couple bugs in browsers) so you'll just have to get used to it. If you have any suggestions about the layout, please deposite them in the development forum (The Underground)


The basic philosophy behind the layout won't be changing however -- that is the post text wraps around the avataar. If not for this, your current avataar for instance would generate nearly half a page of white space per post for many display resolutions  :tongue:



PS: Your screenshot appears exactly how it should thankfully. It should look nice regardless of the viewport dimensions (errr wait no.... you have the HR bug. Try upgrading your firefox and let me know if it goes away -- Firefox seems to have recently undergone a major release)


The rule only jumps out like that with Firefox. It isn't a programming bug, it's a Firefox software bug. The version of FF I'm using right now doesn't see it, but the one on my main machine does atm)

Well...I suppose you have a point...

But, this IS gonna take some getting used to...and it'll possibly confuse newcomers... 

(But there still isn't a way to make this look prettier.....it's way too....nirvana...)

EDIT:  Holy crap.  Dude...sorry, but there's NO way you can like the way the quote function looks now...
http://i38.tinypic.com/21625v.png

Quoting does that. And I'm happy with the way it looks, though I could look into it. It's set to clear the floating blocks on the left. It's in a square div so it can't wrap like normal text. I could break it out of the box or maybe try to find some other ways to hack the forum (which would have to mean smaller quote boxes that float off to the side.

I like it this way though. Don't worry about making white space cause of the quote. One good thing about this layout is short quips don't generate a lot of wasted space.


Basically if I didn't force it down there. the outline and purple colour inside the quote goes into the avataar region. The text doesn't however. But that is unacceptable.

Man...now I'm regretting opening my big mouth about "making it the way it was"...  :doh:

This is best for everyone. It's a compromise. You just have a natural fear of change it seems  :rainbow:



If the HR bug becomes a problem, I'll remove it period.

...I'm fairly certain Emilio would agree with me on this one...  :face15:  Along with practically everyone else...

This isn't the purview of moderators.

You don't have to abuse quotes so much either. If you're just responding to the post before you, why quote?  :razz:

I like the quotes anyhow. They pop out right undeneath your avataar. Which seems appropriate.

edited: Besides, posting just one line generates the same amount of white space!

Then I guess....I should change my avatar back to the wide ones, like back in the days.

I'm peeved though.  I really liked this new "long" style.  I mean...I certainly can't have a wide Machete avatar.  It's impossible.  :face15:

Which is why we're using this setup. We won't be discrimating against users' avataars this way  :rainbow:

And speaking of that...the avatar system is way fragged, dude...

For example...why is it stretched to high heaven...when it should be like this:
(http://i36.tinypic.com/2na2s6h.png)
...And I ain't seeing any settings to set up my own width and height...

I dunno. It shouldn't be that way if when you uploaded it the width was 192 pixels or less (the max size)

I'll look at it.

It shouldn't do that. The limits are 192x192 128KB. Let me know if you can't work it out. I had no problems myself with my avataar.

An alternative quoting approach occured to me. Well I realized I could do it with just the css file actually. The only problem is the quotes are embedded in a span, and spans have no concept of width it seems. So the quotes can't adjust to the width of your browser. They must be a fixed width. So I chose a width suitable for 800x600 viewers. If you want to read the rest of the quote click on the link. I could add scroll bars, but it's not worth it I think.

There is something funny going on with remote avatar pics. Just upload your avatar for now. I'll try to remember to look into it later.

Ok, I'm happy with this now  :biggrin:

The only real prob here, is in some of the legacy posts, users get their "quote" tags all out of order, and it makes the whole post get swallowed up into the truncated quote. Also legacy quotes no longer link back to their posts. I will worry about this stuff later I guess.

I don't like the aspect of the quotes, it looks as if it's a big mess of text @.@ I really liked how the bbs looked before the big change, but I guess if Administrator-sama wants it like this, let it be  :wink:

Omg....I just...

That does it.  You may be administrator, but you're not gonna get anywhere with this.  Change it back.

Immediately.

I will make one or two basic themes available to users. But I don't understand peoples complaints. It's just like a newspaper layout. Page is money, no reason to wait it.

Best damn layout I've ever seen honestly. I just wish I could make that HR bug go away somehow. I don't think I can get FF past 1.5 on my LInux portable without overeburdening it. Otherwise everything looks good.


If you think you're not seeing the right thing, then please post screens.

I think it's most clear to have all the user generated content between the two HR bars. But if that freaks you out too much whatever.

If anyone else likes it, please donate a little something to my self esteem!

http://i36.tinypic.com/i40lky.png

Change it back.  Immediately.   :face15:

The quotes are brilliant that way I think, and much easier to read around. It also keeps people from filling up the page with infinitely nested quotes.

Again, if you download/update to Firefox3 you won't have that bar sticking out up top. Same for Google Chrome and even IE.


I will probably raise the avataar sizes upto 256. This will be the default theme, but I will put the old themes back in your proifle options, so you can compare them at least P

I recommend you try this for a while, and see if it doesn't grow on you.

...Ugh.  For the love of all things mighty and Norse, change it back.  :face15:

I put in three new Themes (one is broken atm)

Legacy: this is the default SMF theme with the background and logo of the forum
Vertigo: this is the same though the vertical column is adjusted to the max avatar width
Horizon: broken -- this was supposed to be like the old forum, but I accidentally overwrote that file apparently, so it looks a lot like the default theme for now (I'll try to fix it asap)

Compact: this is the board default. (edited: name changed)

There won't be any imposition of avataar sizes, so you're advised to use the default theme if you're not a fan of big empty white space voids.

I might add a temporary version of the default theme with quotes returned to normal (though they'll get kicked down under the avataar)

I'll try to figure out how to add descriptions to the themes when I get a chance.

I made the quotes this way because QBasic complained about the way they were. Before they were the same as usual except they had to be under the avataar. I didn't think I had the tools off the top of my head to do the quotes this new way, but I realized I could just with the css file. So thank QBasic for the new quote style  :biggrin:

Honestly I really like it  :rainbow:

-- That is, he was complaining about the old quoting (which was really nothing) ...and I'm sure he has complaints for the new style (to the side) as well.

No complaints anymore.

I can now pick my own style.   :hearton:

Still though...I can't grasp why you liked that one so much... =_=  it was whack. 

I like it because it makes perfect sense. I could list 20 reasons why it's superior, and can't really think of any flaws in it other than the Firefox HR bug (which is a major problem admitedly)

I'd like to hear clearly articulated why you don't like it, other than it's unfamiliar to you, or you have difficulties discerning patterns which any reader of news print is quite comfortable with  :razz:

Bottom line it makes the best use of the space, which makes reading a forum as easy as possible for the heavy users (which is only fair)


My theory is everyone loves to complain. Humans are doomed to rigid authority structures that way  :doh:

Now you can choose your own style  :biggrin: I guess I'm returning to Legacy for a while! Thanks for the effort yksehtniycul.   :tongue:

I'm trying a new version of the compact, only with the avatar on the right. It's still rough, but you can try it via the "testing" theme. The reason I decided to try this, was I thought it would remove the jolt of having the starting line of the text change. Of course putting the avatar on the right is unusual perhaps, but I thought it would be worth a shot despite this.

The results so far are extremely promising however. Because it seems browsers (or more probably the current html specs) permit the divs to fit into floating layouts much more elegantly when coming from the left (this is because apparently browsers can't wrap text intelligently from the right side (without right alignment that is)

So as a result the quotes can be left alone, and they still fit themselves in correctly. I also have a suspicion the Firefox HR bug might go away, just because that is a very trivial parameterization.

I found a way to work around the Firefox HR bug :biggrin:

Basically I fake it with a div element, which some how avoids the bug. I'm sure the bug is caused by something deeper with the SMF code. Otherwise no way would it have existed so long in FF. I'm pretty sure the work around hack wouldn't work with the avatars on the left.

This is good, as the default theme shouldn't have any bugs for sure (especially not for legacy Firefox users)


I'm going to try to get this new theme tightened up over the next few days. Then I'm going to make a gmail account for the forum, and try to BCC the revival newsletter that way -- straight thru gmail. We'll see just how easy mail spamming is I guess :)

Honestly I'm kinda suprised you can just send bulk mail out with any return address you please. I think what is probably happening with the newsletter sent by the forum. Is it was sent out in my name, so each letter probably checks with gmail for permission to send, and eventually gmail no longer puts its rubber stamp on the mail (because it looks like someone is spamming in my name)


PS: You shouldn't really be using this board at this point (the Beta board) ...we're officially out of beta. Eventually I'll be removing the Reincarnation sub forum completely. Or hiding it at least if possible.

Here is a new default theme.

Since the post subject is so much more prominent. When I get around to it, I'm going to have the subject print the poster's name followed by the text of the "Message Icon".

If you look in the Message Icon drop down on the reply page you can see the current list of builtin expressions which will be used. Others can be added, and there is a Custom one which will use the text in the Subject field (I'll try to add a [name] bbcode so you can embed your "current" name in it)

I will add a test so that topics before a certain date won't read that way.

This theme is very solid I think. I've disabled user selectable themes for now for the sake of simplicity. If anyone objects feel free to vent your frustrations.

This one works well for me.  :razz:

I still like legacy.  :razz:

Enable then immediately.

Not good enough.

I don't remember stuttering or writing out a typo.  In fact, the only thing that comes to mind is that I DO believe I said "enable then immediately."

And I believe you didn't make a sufficient case for a multi-theme bbs.

I replaced the subject line of posts with emotes. I did this so the speaker is easier to follow reading down the left side. If "says" seems too dorky, I can just replace it with a colon for the default emote. Other emotes can be selected from the posting interface.

When I get a second, I'll stick in a time test, so that only newer posts will read this way. No one ever uses the post subject line anyways :smug:


PS: I've noticed it reads the old way after posting. I'll fix that bug when I get a chance (should be because Java overwrites the contents of the div to the "edited" subject)

I'm your case.  Multi-theme it, and I stay.  Keep it the way you want, and I'm gone.

I see a pattern developing here :rolleyes:

I think one thing is clear, "Keep your users happy and you will have a comfortable place"  :5innocent2:

This website isn't about me. I can't cater to every whim of every user, especially the squeaky variety.


If you want to file a serious grievance. Do it in the development forum. Make a poll. The poll language should be objective. The participation of the poll must represent a sizable constituency of the active forum user base (which doesn't exist yet)

And keep in mind, the executives (that is the people tasked with implementing your demands) get a 20% super majority vote on top of their normal vote.

Also bear in mind you can't overrule the fundamental rights of minorities.



That is just a preview. Bottom line you're making way too many spurious demands QBasic. If you wanna jet that's your call. This place isn't going to be run like a mad house as long as I'm responsible. Be respectful of the time and energy required to operate a website. Be realistic.



edited: Btw, this is the post layout that will be used. If I must repeat the merits of it again I will. It won't be changing in any noticeable fashion from this point on. It's better off a forum only have one theme. Making the decision to support more than one is a bigger deal than it might seem.

And you're making way too many spurious choices.  "For the better of our forums."

You're right, dude.  The site isn't about you.  But what you say and what you do contradict.  You keep making all these random, unnecessary decisions, yet you don't give a flying fuck what we think.

Last chance.  Enable it.

^Dude, chill the f out. If it is that big of a deal, then please, by all means leave. There are much more effective ways to convey constructive criticism than to whine and moan about your dissatisfaction. I wouldn't have bothered to say anything, but this seems to be a reoccurring trend -- I'm not too sure you are fit to be a mod.


Without yksehtniycul this board wouldn't even be up and running right now. Who cares if he wants to experiment a little? It isn't as if there is a high volume of traffic that this is interfering with. I am just grateful he resurrected this place and is showing an active interest in maintaining it -- which is a hell of a lot more than past admins here or at other Megaten boards have done.

^I'd still love to know about this interference that everyone is on about?

If you can articulate why you're being inconvenienced, I'd be happy to consider accommodating your needs.


The previous layout had some cons. This one however does not.

So it seems as though you are being facetious.


Which isn't an ideal example for a mod. But neither is it technically grounds for dismissal^


There isn't much harm mods can do. So unless they do something messed up. Their position won't be in question.

I assume that isn't directed towards me but Qbasic? I was defending your changes -- not sure what else you read into that.

I wasn't being facetious. I was being genuine. Not sure why you would make that assumption.......

The two lines with the carrots were at you... the first obviously at anyone casting doubt upon my technical judgment.

I just ask if someone lodges a complaint, bring a justifiable argument in tow.


PS: I apologize for any confusion about the direction of my arguments. In general however I try not to argue with people as much as ideas. You really shouldn't ever take me personally... seriously.

Justifying arguments? That is where I am confused. I wasn't arguing anything.......I was simply supporting your tinkering with the format.   :confused:

Goodness, your cool man, relax  :sweatdrop:

I guess I should stick to bullet points  :tongue:

Awesome.  So that we all now agree that it should be enabled...let us commence?

Six posts in a row without a clue who is addressing who  :doh:


Like I said before, it's not happening. Give it up. You're not helping.

Then I'm not happening either.

Toodaloo then -- this isn't the wild west :dazed:

Btw Kakizaki, I forgot to thank you for bringing a voice of reason to this discussion :sweatdrop:

I'd pass some good karma pts your way, but maybe arguments are a little too subjective to be bases for karma. We all have to interject ourselves when necessary / be positive role models if the community is to flourish in the positive direction. That is more important than karma credits.


For the record, QBasic tried to delete his account. I still would have to approve that, however I see no reason to delete once active accounts -- and I'm not sure what that would mean to the forum at large (I may look into not letting users delete their accounts if an option)

Regardless QBasic's intentions, if his best interest was for the forum, he wouldn't have abandoned it under such casual circumstances.

^That is fine. No need for the Karma points. Like you said, that could be a sticky situation regarding arguments.

I didn't mean to jump on anyone. I just felt it was a little silly to get so bent out of shape.

Casual?  Alright, fair enough.  If you prefer me staying here, and being a dick about it, fine by me.

I just didn't want to waste anyone's time...

Everyone is welcome here. But nobody likes to have their time wasted. So I suggest you'd not make a habit of being a dick about things :smug:

I won't as long as I get some reasoning in return.  :smug:

If you want reasoning, I suggest your posts be longer than one sentence of expletives and non-sequiturs.