PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

[TheCotMan]

4) Evaluation of funky datestamp kludging to enforce ordering of sticky/redirection notices, with the side effect of "Rules" always being listed as having unread posts, and the modified threads/posts appeaing in every search for new posts (nav bar option.) It appears there are dangers in sending posts from the future back in time. Before you ask, we take turns using the DeLorean.

It seems that I've found a method to make the Moved/Redirected Rules and Chri's thread in community talk stay on top-- even when other stickies have newer dates, and all of this while having the linked posts appear to have their original datestamp, and not showing up in the "New Posts" link or being listed under "Rules" as containing unviewed thread content.

I'm not sure how reliable this "fix" will be, but it works for now.

Also, the Yellow and Red for the Moved/Redirections and "Sticky" have been muted. I think the new colors still attract attention but are darker and more inline with the other forum colors.

[astcell]

New color is good for the stickies.

[TheCotMan]

New color is good for the stickies.

I should mention, the idea for the color-coded stickies was astcell's. (Thanks astcell! :-)

I really should go back and attribute citations for each well-liked change to the person that suggested them.

[converge]

meh.. we're all a team. after all, making the boss look good is part of the job, eh?

[astcell]

I'm just happy to help out. My ideas are not always gonna be good, hehe.

But if you insist, you can buy me TWO beers. :>

[converge]

oh .. wait.. I didn't know there was alcohol involved.. I'll retract my statement then.

[TheCotMan]

meh.. we're all a team. after all, making the boss look good is part of the job, eh?

Yeah, it is fun making Nulltone (The Forum Admin) and Dark Tangent (well, you know what he does) look good.

if you insist, you can buy me TWO beers. :>

There we have it! Everyone who likes the color coding of stickies is encouraged to buy astcell beer at the next DefCon-- oh, and if he is not there this year, you have to pay up at the next con he attends. ]:>

oh .. wait.. I didn't know there was alcohol involved.. I'll retract my statement then.

(In voice of Zap Brannigan)
Wait-wait-wait. No take-see-back-sees!

[astcell]

I already think that "Get astcell to phone a goon" is going to be on next Con's Scavenger Hunt list. :>

[TheCotMan]

I already think that "Get astcell to phone a goon" is going to be on next Con's Scavenger Hunt list. :>

You should submit that in some variation to the Scavenger Hunt suggestions space (if/when it is available.)

Forums Update:
/dev/null has been flattened. However, all of the work that converge put into organizing the /dev/null threads has not been lost; A raw dump of statistics on posts that were moved to /dev/null was saved before the /dev/null subforum threads were re-integrated back into /dev/null.

Fucktard Hall is the only subforum that had enough support to survive on its own at the top level of the forums.

We'll probably have another update in 2 days on another change.

[TheCotMan]

Octalpus has a great idea--> Add a search form that does not require clicking to activate. She had a good argument for it too.

We are testing the Search Box at the top right corner for logged-in users. Users who are not logged in will see a form in the same space for username/password to log in.

Suggestions and feedback welcome.

[Tacitus]

We are testing the Search Box at the top right corner for logged-in users. Users who are not logged in will see a form in the same space for username/password to log in.
.

I am seeing the new search box below the Welcome/PM text area, I think it would look better if it was in horizontal alignment (to the left) with this box so the height overall main box at the top does not change

[Voltage Spike]

Octalpus has a great idea--> Add a search form that does not require clicking to activate. She had a good argument for it too.

So ... what was the argument? Support for older web browsers? It might explain why we also need yet another "Advanced Search" link. (And what's with the period after advanced search in the new area?)

Why do we still have the 30-second delay between searches? It can make things very frustrating if you don't get the search correct the first time. I usually switch to a site-specific Google in such cases, but still...

Thanks in advance.

[TheCotMan]

I am seeing the new search box below the Welcome/PM text area, I think it would look better if it was in horizontal alignment (to the left) with this box so the height overall main box at the top does not change

We're trying to avoid changes to the source code and templates, since these tend to complicate future upgrades and patches. This means we're limited to modifications to serverside substituion variable values being overloaded to add new content.

I'll look to see if there is something I can do to flatten out the search\ horizontally.

So ... what was the argument?

I'll let her offer it if she wants. :-)

[snip] [W]hat's with the period after advanced search in the new area?

Yeah. Well, in order to add the code you see without modifying the source code, I had to alter other stuff, and insert text before a period, and then come up with a reason to use the period that is added in the source code. Yes, this is a kludge, but it works, and survives upgrades and patches without extra effort.

Why do we still have the 30-second delay between searches? It can make things very frustrating if you don't get the search correct the first time. I usually switch to a site-specific Google in such cases, but still...

30 seconds is still imposed for all users. It is something that mods may revisit and change.

[TheCotMan]

30 seconds is still imposed for all users. It is something that mods may revisit and change.

We're testing out 10 seconds for minimum delay between searches. 10 Seconds should be ebough time to look over the resulting hits before deciding that you need another search.

Comments and feedback are welcome for this change too.

[Voltage Spike]

We're testing out 10 seconds for minimum delay between searhes. 10 Seconds should be ebough time to look over the resulting hits before deciding that you need another search.

Unless there were no results, but, even then, I would say my average "time until next search" was 22 seconds ... so 10 seconds should work.