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Eric
December 10th, 2006, 01:00 AM
It was a long afternoon/evening spent implementing numerous upgrades. First it was complicated because I didn't check the supporting software versions on the server :rolleyes: but with Bill's help I was back in business in short order. The site may seem a little slower for the time being, we're currently operating off of a temporary server. This will be remedied asap, it was a necessary concession so that I could complete the software updates.

I updated the bulletin board, front page / sidebar Portal, and the Photo Gallery. The BB software has MANY new features which I'm too tired to list at this point. I'll update this post later with a list of changes / new features.

:beer: :flipoff2:

**************************
Edit:

OK, here are some new features worth mentioning:

Signature Enhancements
Content Restrictions
The new software is finally able to manage signature size on its own. Previously we've relied on the honor system and the "4 lines maximum" warning message in bold face font above the signature edit box to keep sigs in check. If you ignored the warning you got away with it until one of the moderators noticed you. Now the software can enforce some restrictions automatically. If it doesn't fit within the restrictions, it doesn't need to be there.
Additionally there are new signature permissions available, and as such Free members are now limited to plain text signatures. If you really need fonts and colors, they're now part of the Premium Membership (http://www.colorado4x4.org/vbb/announcement.php?f=9&a=23) subscription.
Signature Images

This is a new feature for Premium Members. To use it, upload your sig image first, then add it to your sig.
Click browse to find the image
Click Preview Sig to upload the image
Click "Insert Signature Image" to add it to your sig.
Sig images are limited to a maximum size of 200x50 pixels, and restricted to static images (no animated sig images).
Private Message Enhancements

Free members are still limited to one recipient per PM, thus the following additions are Premium enhancements only. These enhancements make it easier to send/reply to PM's with up to 10 recipients at a time.
A Recipients list is now included at the top of each Private Message that you receive.
A BCC field is available for those times when you want to include a recipient, but don't what the primary recipient to know (BCC users don't appear in the Recipients list). This field is only visible for Premium Members.
A "Reply to All" button has been added so you can quickly and easily respond to all recipients. This button is only visible for Premium Members.

Message Quoting Enhancements

By default, each quote header includes a link to the quoted post (click this button http://www.colorado4x4.org/vbb/images/buttons/viewpost.gif). With a single click you can see the origin of a quote. Previously you had to search through a thread to find the originating post.
Multi-quote at last! For those times where you want to quote more than one post in your reply, just click the multi-quote button (http://www.colorado4x4.org/vbb/images/buttons/multiquote_off.gif) for each post that you want to quote (works across multiple pages!). When you've selected all of them, click the "Post Reply" button at the bottom of the page and each of the multi-quoted posts is automatically inserted into your reply, ready for editing / response.
iTrader

If you're familiar with eBay this will be second nature to you. When buying or selling in the CO4x4 classifieds, you can provide feedback on the transaction to inform other users. This feedback history will prove useful when you're considering doing business with another user as you can review their iTrader rating and feedback comments at any time.
To view another user's iTrader history, click the iTrader link below their username in any of their posts. The number in the link is their current iTrader rating.
To view your own iTrader page, click the My iTrader option in the Quick Links menu (top of any page).
iTrader is the replacement for our current Buyer/Seller Feedback forum. This forum is now closed, but will remain accessible for one month to aid any ongoing transactions.More to come!
:beer:

CLYDE
December 10th, 2006, 01:15 AM
Wow, I was jonesin,, when I saw the message that said there had been complications had occured, I knew somebody was going to have a long night..
Thanks for keepin us going,, Good Job chief :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer:

Sound_Man
December 10th, 2006, 09:00 AM
The multi quote and iTrader functions are cool.

formatt
December 10th, 2006, 09:12 AM
heh... i see the iTrader stuff turning into a whole thing. People getting bent out of shape because random people are leaving bad feedback as a joke...

Will it say who left feedback (so you know who's ass to chew :cool: )? If it's not abused, i think it's a super slick little option!

OlBlueCJ7
December 10th, 2006, 09:47 AM
Will it say who left feedback (so you know who's ass to chew :cool: )?

Looks like it. ;)

Sound_Man
December 10th, 2006, 10:05 AM
When I am in private messages it shows the user CP as well as the left side menu. Is this intentional?

Eric
December 10th, 2006, 10:46 AM
When I am in private messages it shows the user CP as well as the left side menu. Is this intentional?

No, working on it:
Also you may find some new pages containing the sidebar which didn't used to, and as a result they're now a bit cluttered. I'm aware of these and I'm slowly sorting out which pages should and should not have the sidebar (the sidebar is what you see on the left, the navigation menu etc.).

Eric
December 10th, 2006, 10:48 AM
heh... i see the iTrader stuff turning into a whole thing. People getting bent out of shape because random people are leaving bad feedback as a joke...

Will it say who left feedback (so you know who's ass to chew :cool: )? If it's not abused, i think it's a super slick little option!

Those who abuse it will be booted. I'm hoping it can serve as a replacement for the feedback forum. :thumbsup:

Snotty
December 10th, 2006, 11:14 AM
Thanks Eric!

Steve
December 10th, 2006, 11:23 AM
Just noticed there's now a complete list of the site and forum mods if you click on 'View Forum Leaders' at the bottom under the Today's Birthdays list.

CLYDE
December 10th, 2006, 12:11 PM
yep there is:D but Im on the wrong list:evil: :evil: :evil:

formatt
December 10th, 2006, 04:56 PM
Nevermind about the iTrader thing... that's pretty slick! Mark (olbluecj7) left a comment regarding some tires I sold him a couple months ago... When you recieve feedback, it sends an email out to you and it leaves their name in the email and in the feedback.

PhantomD AKA Zach
December 11th, 2006, 12:45 AM
I see we can now have pictures in our signatures...

I am a member of another forum where they are VERY popular, as there are no avatars... I love the signatures!

BUT!!!

There needs to be STRICT image guidelines! like 50X200px...

here is a thread from the other forum I frequent that has strict guidelines, this particular thread is about WHY the guidelines are in place...

http://forums.macnn.com/89/macnn-lounge/316372/why-we-do-this/

here is a link to the forum rules, pay attention to the ones about the signatures...

http://forums.macnn.com/macnn-lounge/announcement/span-style-font-weight-bold-general/


I would almost vote for no avatars and only signatures... but I think we should stick to one or the other...

I HATE visiting forums that have HUGE pictures... it's like the whole "Check out my E-Penis" thing... keep it tastefull, and it can be awesome...


I love this forum, I visit it many times a day, I would HATE to see it turn into everyother motorsport forum out there...

Zach

Big Dave
December 11th, 2006, 01:31 AM
Why would you want pics in sigs instead of avatars? Avatars are outside of the bodies of posts, where ginormous sigs simply take up room in the body of the thread and can make it a PITA to read.

Eric
December 11th, 2006, 08:29 AM
There needs to be STRICT image guidelines! like 50X200px...


Only Premium Members have access to it, and there were size restrictions in place already but I changed it to 200x50. I'm willing to at least give it a try, if it gets out of hand I'll remove it.

ER

formatt
December 11th, 2006, 08:57 AM
Why would you want pics in sigs instead of avatars? Avatars are outside of the bodies of posts, where ginormous sigs simply take up room in the body of the thread and can make it a PITA to read.

I agree completely. I go crazy with the 48 line sigs around here as it is. I thought there was a 4 line max already? I can't imagine some of these sigs around PLUS images...

FWIW: Zach's image in his sig is the perfect size if I had to look at them all day.

... just my humble opinion. :beer:

Alpine Spirit
December 11th, 2006, 09:01 AM
Excellent!!! This iTrader thing is great!!

Eric
December 11th, 2006, 09:12 AM
I agree completely. I go crazy with the 48 line sigs around here as it is. I thought there was a 4 line max already? I can't imagine some of these sigs around PLUS images...

FWIW: Zach's image in his sig is the perfect size if I had to look at them all day.

... just my humble opinion. :beer:
Previously the 4-line limit wasn't enforced by the software. Even though I specified "4 lines Maximum" above the sig text box, we still relied on users to honor that. If you ignored it you got away with it until we spotted you. Even then it would have to be blatantly excessive before I'd take the time to go and edit a sig. Now the software can start offloading some of this and enforce some restrictions.

Zach's is 200x50 which is the current size limit. Some added pictures before I reduced the size limit, so they'll have to change them the next time they edit their sig.

formatt
December 11th, 2006, 10:18 AM
Previously the 4-line limit wasn't enforced by the software. Even though I specified "4 lines Maximum" above the sig text box, we still relied on users to honor that. If you ignored it you got away with it until we spotted you. Even then it would have to be blatantly excessive before I'd take the time to go and edit a sig. Now the software can start offloading some of this and enforce some restrictions.

Zach's is 200x50 which is the current size limit. Some added pictures before I reduced the size limit, so they'll have to change them the next time they edit their sig.

Real nice... love that. :thumbsup:

PhantomD AKA Zach
December 11th, 2006, 01:53 PM
Why would you want pics in sigs instead of avatars? Avatars are outside of the bodies of posts, where ginormous sigs simply take up room in the body of the thread and can make it a PITA to read.


if there are no ginormous sigs then the height of the individual posts does not get extended, if I were to post a one or two line response then the info on the left bar under my name (join date, location) would be taller then then post and signature combined... sounds simple, but reading through whole pages can get easier,

EDIT:here is an example
http://www.colorado4x4.org/vbb/showpost.php?p=634214&postcount=17

but then again, I just really like signatures and not avatars :flipoff2:

Zach

Eric
December 11th, 2006, 02:26 PM
Adding to Zach's comments, each user has the ability to "turn off" avatars and/or signatures if they're something you don't care to see. I just wanted to clarify that.

al24
December 11th, 2006, 05:40 PM
Zach's is 200x50 which is the current size limit. Some added pictures before I reduced the size limit, so they'll have to change them the next time they edit their sig.
So is mine too big?
I went by the kb limit not the pixel limit.
It was easier to resize that way.

formatt
December 11th, 2006, 11:02 PM
Chop off the top half of that 100px image to get it down to 50px and you'll be perfect! ;)

PhantomD AKA Zach
December 12th, 2006, 01:13 AM
I would be happy to crop it for you... let me know and I will do it if i have time...

Zach

Eric
December 13th, 2006, 09:30 AM
I just added a "Reply to All" function to PM's. This, along with BCC, is useful only for Premium Members. Free members will find this as useless as the BCC option since you can only send PM's to one recipient at a time. I'll see if I can make it visible only to those who can use it.

longboy
December 13th, 2006, 09:41 AM
Thanks for all the upgrades, Eric. It's nice to be on a forum where upgrades/updates are done pretty consistently. :thumbsup:

Jason
December 13th, 2006, 01:46 PM
Hey Eric I'm having issue with not being able to click smilies I click on them but they don't show up

Rex Ashton
December 13th, 2006, 02:50 PM
Thanks for the upgrades and all the work involved, Eric!:beer:

For some reason, I added a signature picture, but it doesn't show up..:confused: ...I can see it in the Edit Sig portion of user CP...I can see others' sig pics in threads, just not mine....any ideas?

It fits the requirements for size and pixel dimensions...

Eric
December 13th, 2006, 03:08 PM
Hey Eric I'm having issue with not being able to click smilies I click on them but they don't show up

Not sure what's up. They're working for me when I click on them :shrug: Are you using the WYSIWYG editor?


For some reason, I added a signature picture, but it doesn't show up..:confused: ...I can see it in the Edit Sig portion of user CP...I can see others' sig pics in threads, just not mine....any ideas?

It fits the requirements for size and pixel dimensions...

I'll look into it.

Eric
December 13th, 2006, 03:19 PM
For some reason, I added a signature picture, but it doesn't show up..:confused: ...I can see it in the Edit Sig portion of user CP...I can see others' sig pics in threads, just not mine....any ideas?


Be sure to click "insert signature image" to actually add the pic to your signature. The first step is uploading the pic, the second step is including it in the sig.


Click browse to find the image
Click Preview Sig to upload the image
Click "Insert Signature Image" to add it to your sig.

Rex Ashton
December 13th, 2006, 03:23 PM
Duh...Thanks Eric....I knew it had to be something stupid I wasn't doing :o

Jason
December 15th, 2006, 10:10 AM
Not sure what's up. They're working for me when I click on them :shrug: Are you using the WYSIWYG editor?



I'll look into it.

Yeah I'm using the full editor. I'm noticing NONE of the buttons work for me above in the editor either. No adding pic, no font,size or anything!

Eric
December 18th, 2006, 10:14 PM
Yeah I'm using the full editor. I'm noticing NONE of the buttons work for me above in the editor either. No adding pic, no font,size or anything!
Send me a PM and I'll see if I can help. Let's start with what browser and version you're using.

Eric
December 18th, 2006, 10:19 PM
Oops, I just realized I was missing the "download this thread" option so I fixed that (you guys are slacking :flipoff2: ). For those who weren't aware of it, this is found in the Thread Tools menu.

Still to do: hide the Reply button in the forums that don't permit it, and hide the Reply to All button and BCC field (PM stuff) from those who can't use it. Then I'll be caught up and I can start adding some new stuff :beer:

* First post has been updated describing the new board features!!

Jason
December 19th, 2006, 11:45 AM
will do

Eric
December 19th, 2006, 06:41 PM
Still to do: hide the Reply button in the forums that don't permit it, and hide the Reply to All button and BCC field (PM stuff) from those who can't use it.

Done, done, and done, which means I'm finally fawkin' DONE with the upgrade!
:flipoff2: :beer: :beer: :beer:

... which of course means a new version is probably right around the corner :silly: