NEW FORUM: Post your problems/issues here

[bradmagic]

Hey folks,

Please post BUGS or ISSUES here.

If you are having a problem logging in, please email [url]mailto:genii@geniimagazine.com[/url] with the subject-line "New Forum Issue," and we'll help.

From what we can see, there's just a handful of issues. All posts and user accounts have been ported. Passwords and the like should work, too---we did have some problems earlier today.

Thanks!
brad

[Chris Aguilar]

I would definitely implement a better form of captcha to cut back on spamming.

The one you've got isn't strong. I'd recommend "recapcha" or the "sortables" captcha. Some of the built in options are also better than what is currently set up.

[Richard Kaufman]

We were using recaptcha, but have just switched to a magic related question. That should put an end to it. If not, then we will switch to a harder question.

[Chris Aguilar]

Also, if you haven't already, you might want to acquaint yourself with the "load settings" to cut server load and speed the forums up.

I would also strongly suggest using the "fulltext mySQL" search backend as it is much more more efficient (Cuts the size of the search tables waaaay down). If you don't like the way it works, you can simply go back to the old system. (which will require a bit of downtime while it re-indexes for search)

@Richard

A fixed magic based question won't work too well. Some spam systems are fed by humans who simply enter the magic word and then it's off to the races.

Here's a really neat one called "sortables" (simple and effective) that I'll soon implement on my own forums. ReCaptcha is getting much too hard to solve for a human these days so I need something in between.

[Chris Aguilar]

For instance, here's how the registration Captcha works on my forums right now.

It allows you to set up multiple (I have two set up right now) iterations of the sortable lists that it randomly pulls up. So much clearer and easier to solve than recaptcha, while not being as insecure as a single question.

I actually have a two part check, with the first part asking them to verify they're not a spammer, then followed by this sortables test (which cycles between this and other similar tests)



Once the sortables plugin is added, it's super easy to change and create new tests right from the admin panel. It even works on phones and tablets.

This is also a sneaky way of testing whether image links are working properly (and they are!)

[Steve Hook]

"Today's Active Topics" not working properly.

[Dustin Stinett]

Brad,
I can see the buttons on all the posts (for reporting, editing, etc.), but not the text/icons on them.

Dustin

[Chas Nigh]

Roboform is redirected. I can sign in from web search.

[pduffie]

"Today's Active Topics" doesn't appear to be working.

[Richard Kaufman]

We are actively working on fixing the Active Topics list.

If you are having a problem logging in, the Genii office is closed due to snow, so please email me directly at moobooks@verizon.net and I will try to assist you.

Things will be better than ever in just a few days as we work out the kinks!

[Chris Aguilar]

Is the block above "Recent Posts" supposed to be a search field?

I ask because it's a common thing on other phpBB installations and is a real time saver to be able to do a general search right from the main page.

[Richard Kaufman]

Active Topics is now working!!!!!!

[Joe Pecore]

Seems to running a bit faster too.

[Tom Pilling]

The forum is really not working on iPhone(4S), how is it going with other smart phones?

[Chris Aguilar]

With a more stock style (phpBB 3 - this forum) generally works pretty well on mobile devices.

However, once columns (like recent posts) and other elements are added, it tends to break compatibility with smaller screens a bit.

One solution is have someone like Brad add support for "Tapatalk" a cross platform app, which is free for the forums admin to install/use and a small price to end users for the app.

http://www.tapatalk.com/

I use it myself and can attest that it works and works very well.

[luigimar]

We thank you Richard and all involved for your hard work, and take your time to fix all the problems we're having with the new forum...

(When I enter the forum, the log in information is not saved and I have to type it again and again, this didn't happen before. And yes I already clicked on the "log me on automatically..." bit and still it is not working. Cookies are on)

[Chris Aguilar]

Getting better, but search still seems kind of nonfunctional.

[Jim Maloney]

One solution is have someone like Brad add support for "Tapatalk" a cross platform app, which is free for the forums admin to install/use and a small price to end users for the app.

http://www.tapatalk.com/

I use it myself and can attest that it works and works very well.

Tapatalk is great, and I would definitely recommend that it be added in here. But for now, it's best to focus on ironing out any bugs with the current software, as-is, rather than adding in additional features.

[Chris Aguilar]

Agreed Jim. Issues like server load and basic functionality needs to come first. But after that...

Another equally simple option (and one that's completely free for the admins and the ends users) is to simply offer a mobile enhanced style. Then the user can choose that style if they primarily look at the forums on a mobile device. Also a quick (less than 10 minutes) install that doesn't mess with the rest of the forums.

Something like this.

[IrishMagicNews]

Perhaps it is just because it is all new and I cannot see it but the feature of having "new posts since last visit: was something I liked and used.

Is it a feature here I am missing somehow?

I love the new look. Nice and modern looking and congrats to all involved.

[Chris Aguilar]

Brendan,

"New Posts" is a feature of the forums software (phpBB 3) but for some reason they seem to have chosen the much more limited option of "active topic" with only a smattering of new posts on the side. At my forums, the logs show that the "New Posts" button/option is well used and the "Active topics" not as much.

[Chris Aguilar]

If one wants to manually try "new posts" which attempts to only show posts that are new since your last session, you could always try this:

search.php?search_id=newposts

No guarantees that it'll do what you want, but it's worth a try.

[Frank Yuen]

I agree, the new posts since last visit is much more valuable to me. Much easier to catch up on things when you've been away for awhile.

[Steve Bryant]

Hi, guys. I finally found the forum again. Had not seen it in awhile because my old Bookmark no longer worked. I kept getting the message

Too many redirects occurred trying to open http://www.geniimagazine.com/forums/ubbthreads.php etc.This might occur ...

It was my old link to the daily topics.

If you are seeing far too few members here, you might try a mass email to give everyone the proper url. (Except, of course, leave out that guy who didn't want unsolicited email from Kostya.)

[Marco Pusterla]

Don't know if somebody has already mentioned it, but when clicking a link in a post, the linked page opens in the same window. With the old software, a link would open a new tab...

Is it some setting I've missed?

[Tom Moore]

+1 for Steve's comments. Any attempt to access the old board address just produces error codes. You desperately need to get a redirect set up (even just a simple link to a screen saying that the forum has moved) as the only way you'd know the forums had moved is if you read the message on the forum on the day it happened - to anyone else it just looks like the old forum is broken.

[Steve Bryant]

The other thing that made it hard to find the new forum site is that the link on the Genii home page (simply geniimagazine.com) is broken (that is, points to the old forum address). Hence I kept getting an error.

Navigation seems generally not so good with the new site. I see no link to the Genii home page (the old one) from the new forum. Perhaps we aren't supposed to go there anymore. If, from the forum page, you link to the closest thing to that (the Genii subscribe page), you see no link to the forum from the new Genii subscribe page. It would be nice if there were links, at least a site map at the bottom of the page, to get to anywhere from anywhere in the Genii domain.

[Richard Kaufman]

Working on these things, thanks for the suggestions.

[Joe Naud]

Richard, Is there any chance of having a preview of each post as there was on the old version of the forum? I for one found that highly useful. Thanks for your consideration.
Peace, Joe

[Andrew Pinard]

Interesting how "Today's Active Topics" seems to lag well behind the "Recent Posts"... It looks like about a two hour lag...

[Andrew Pinard]

Or is it that some categories just don't show up at all? I.e., the announcement of the most recent loss to magic isn't showing up in my active topics but does under recent posts...

[Chris Aguilar]

I went ahead and changed my browser bookmark to:

search.php?search_id=newposts

That allows me to see only the newest posts every visit.

[Bob Farmer]

Is there any way to change the colors or is this a function of my browser?

I'm using Mozilla.

[pixsmith]

I'll second an earlier request for smaller headlines, and the one for a one or two line preview as well. In fact, for me, the "look" of the old forum was terrific. I could read stuff efficiently and quickly, and the colors and contrast were great. On this one, the fonts seem a bit light, and it's harder for me to read, with the exception of the headlines, which yield less than one post per screen, in many cases. Would love to see fewer bells and whistles and more real estate devoted to the content, but that's just my opinion. The info here is still some of the best on the interwebs!

Thanks for all the hard work, regardless.

[Chris Aguilar]

@Bob

You can't change colors unless they offer additional styles.

[Bob Farmer]

I find the colrs really hard to read. The blue theme at ConjureNation is perfect, for example. Way too much white here!

[Chris Aguilar]

Bob,

While the excess use of white does give a really clean, modern look, I've found that it's much more fatiguing to my eyes for any kind of long term viewing than a style that incorporates more neutral and darker tones.

It's possible with this forums software (the exact same one that I use for my forums) to offer alternate styles.

Hopefully, once the main functions are debugged a bit, they might offer at least one stle that isn't so blinding with the overuse of white space.

[Tom Frame]

I received a PM, but I wouldn't have known about it if I hadn't received an email notification. Where is the PM icon? Does it notify us that we have a PM? Can we directly respond to the PM via a "Reply" buttom on the PM that we receive? PLease advise.

Thanks,

Tom

[Chris Aguilar]

@ Tom

The forums system has a very nice way of handling PM's, which has been removed here.

On most phpBB forums (like mine) you normally get something like this, which visually shows you if you've got a PM, but also allows you to access it in one or two clicks.

User Control Panel (0 new messages) • View your posts

Currently to see your PM's here it takes four clicks "My Account->Private Messages -> Inbox -> The message you wish to view"

You might want to turn on a popup notification for your pm's.

My Account->Board Preferences -> Pop up window on new private messages

It's helpful, but not a substitute for having a dedicated PM button.

[Tom Frame]

Thanks Chris. Yes, the PM problems persist. This current iteration requires a silly amount of work to become aware of, and respond to a PM. It's clear that a dedicated PM buttom is needed and the software is readily available.

So, Richard......?