Member Since: 5/11/2010
Posts: 19,489
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Originally posted by Torturo
also hope text box won't lag like in other forums
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There wasn't any lag. It was super smooth.
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Originally posted by MANUELF
Any new info about the beta? Is already two weeks late
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Originally posted by Athens
Sorry about the wait. The forum runs smoothly on the local installation I've been building on, but it's putting up errors on the beta server. It looks like it's related to a new method we're using to make layout changes, so we'll be reverting to a stable albeit less efficient method for launch. There's 0 difference for you guys in the end.
Reverting to the old method may take a few days, but we'll be up this weekend at the latest. I have some good ideas on how we'll compensate the extra days of wait, but that's something we'll work on detailing after the beta returns.
 Some more details for those interested
Often times upgrading the IPB software (e.g 4.1.2 to 4.1.4) involves updated html files. By default, IPB will not touch html files that have been modified by the admin, so when you upgrade, you may end up with files that get updated and others that don't. This can lead to errors and break a forum's layout if all files aren't sharing the same version, so the next step for the admin is to rebuild the whole theme on the latest version of the forum and that can be a painfully slow process the more the html is customized.
For this reason, most forums will either use a theme they bought from a professional who will make those updates and release them periodically or they just style their forum's css and call it a day (That's also why many forums that use the same software look similar - they're being practical, not lazy). ATRL has a lot of html edits; possibly more than any other forum out there currently. Instead of editing the html directly, we made a plugin that makes those changes to the html without actually modifying any files and only while the plugin is active. When we need to update the software, all the files get updated because we haven't modified them.
That's the plan, but unfortunately it's a system that's not yet ready for prime time. Because it works on my local install, I'm not sure if it's a problem in the code or just something with the software or with the server configuration. We'll work it out later, but for now we'll do it the old way to make sure we can still hit our main deadline. Both methods provide the same experience to the end user, but as I've mentioned before, it's just a very slow and tedious process that we probably won't want to take on every time there's a new update.
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Originally posted by Athens
Ran the first test earlier today after the extra work and it's back to running smoothly so far. We'll be starting as soon as I'm done with my own run-through. As mentioned by some of the members, primary testers will be first in for a quick feedback session. The smaller the pool of testers, the easier it is for me to manage and respond.
In the meantime, I'll show a few things periodically, until we open it up for ATRL+ and friends. Starting with the header and a couple examples of how we may handle major events in pop culture.
These are two rough examples of major event awareness. One thing I'll note is they will now work across all themes.
The activity ticker will now give more information in full desktop view, like the prefix type. You'll also see icons next to the time info that indicate featured threads, threads you follow, etc.
There are a lot more changes to the header that I'll leave for you all to see when we're live.  |
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Originally posted by Athens
ATRL's hovercard:
Note: These screenshots are from staff view which has an extra button for moderation, but you guys will see the first 3 icons centered appropriately.
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One of the ATRL+ features on our current forum is the ability to customize your user profile. It's a bit clunky to use and in some cases, it doesn't quite work with the site's theme. In the new forum I've been working on customization options for the hovercard instead as it's a self contained element that works better regardless of the forum's theme.
The examples I'm posting are really just for test reasons, they're not meant to be announcements of official events we'll be putting up.  |
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I feel like I've nearly mastered BB Codes during my time here and that's the main thing I'm nervous about with this switch. My countdown and games will be significantly harder to format + host otherwise.
i made my YTT and games Beta friendly but still my flashback post that is not really important but I like having it there is gonna look bad Dx bc im so used to the table format Dx
