Discussion of vBulletin 3.0

[Wolfgang]

Administrator's Note: I split this thread from the What's New in vBulletin 3 and closed it so that we can keep that thread for quick reference info only. I will copy info from this thread as needed.

uppppss.. what a surprise! Is Xmas already there?


Well a new software shows everytime pro's and con's:

What I stumbled about first:

I dont like the layout of each post.

today:

• poster's information
• poster's text
• poster's information
• poster's text

This needs a lot of more vertical scrolling than before:

• poster's informatin | posters's text
• poster's informatin | posters's text

This old format is still visible when writing a new post. Would like to keep it for viewing, too.
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The 'shrink'ed status of the large "Additional Options" area when writing a post is stored by a cookie. So I will not see that again and again. That's good!
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when writing a new post / reply you can not see the attachments of the all the former posters. Did it change?

I tried to reply on http://www.cocreateusers.org/forum/showthread.php?t=5217
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There's a "bad post" icon . looks new for me. But I also do not know whether there have been a need for it the past.
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Do we need that 'New Logo Contest' logo?
a) it's out of date
b) some weeks ago we decided to change the forums name (omitting 'America')
--> would save some place on the screen,
-> proposal: replace it with a small (regarding height) CoCreate logo (because no one posted a better one)
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"Advanced Search" has a very clear UI, I like it.
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in "Members List" there have been Sort Orders like "Last joined". Where's that option gone?
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Members Page:
"Wolfgang is not a member of any public groups"
What does this mean?
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In the member's profile you have the OPTIONs button.

There is one more possibilty listed for "Threaded View Options"

• Linear - oldest first
• Linear - newest first

In the web UI there's only "Linear". I personal would prefer 'linear - newest first'. But: why is this one not offered in the WEB UI?

[Wolfgang]

It looks like I have access to the calendar even when I'm not logged in.

I logged out. Got a Message "All cookies cleared!". Then I tried to open the calendar:
http://www.cocreateusers.org/forum/calendar.php?
and I could see all Members birthdays.

I think this should be changed.
yes, the members profile editor says:

If you enter your birth date using the controls provided here, other forum visitors will be able to see your birthday.....

But I would assume that "forum MEMBERS" would be the right solution.
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WOW we now have scrollable

 sources code sections, if the source code line is much toooooooooooooooooooooooooooo long , tooo long, too long :-)   will we also get rid of unwanted smiles for words like :ok-action ?.....  YES..

[John Scheffel]

Thanks for posting Wolfgang. I have split your questions into a separate thread so that we can keep the What's New in vBulletin 3.0 thread as a quick reference to the new features. I will add the info posted in this thread as needed.

Lot's of questions. I will give the answers I know now, and investigate the others as I have time. There are a lot of admin configuration options in vBulletin, so it might be possible to change some of the things you don't like.

>when writing a new post / reply you can not see the attachments of the all the former posters. Did it change?

This is not a change. I tested a v2 forum on another site and it does not display the attachment links when you are in post/reply mode.

> There's a "bad post" icon . looks new for me. But I also do not know whether there have been a need for it the past.

I believe this replaces the "Report this post to a moderator" link which appeared at the bottom of each post in v2.

> Members Page:
"Wolfgang is not a member of any public groups"
What does this mean?

Version 3 includes a new feature that allows the administrator to define groups and place users into them. This can be used for more control over user priveleges and access. For example, you could create a Private forum that only particular groups could access. I don't see any use for it here at this time so don't plan to define any groups. Everyone who has registered automatically becomes a member of the "Registered User" group which provides the access most people need.

[John Scheffel]

Originally Posted by Wolfgang

Do we need that 'New Logo Contest' logo?
a) it's out of date
b) some weeks ago we decided to change the forums name (omitting 'America')
--> would save some place on the screen,
-> proposal: replace it with a small (regarding height) CoCreate logo (because no one posted a better one)

That's a good point. Most of the logos on the logo proposals page are probably obsolete now. I'm not sure if we could use the CoCreate logo since there might be legal/copyright/trademark issues. I would agree that it shouldn't be too tall or overwhelm the top of the web pages.

I also think the logo should indicate that the forum is independent and not officially sponsored by CoCreate. Sometimes people who find the forum think it is an official CoCreate support site and that CoCreate people are responsible for answering questions.

The logo is just a GIF file, so for now maybe a simple image with large color text that says something like:

CoCreate User Forum
This site is not sponsored or supported by CoCreate

Anyone have better ideas or suggestions?

[John Scheffel]

Originally Posted by Wolfgang

I dont like the layout of each post.

today:

• poster's information
• poster's text
• poster's information
• poster's text

This needs a lot of more vertical scrolling than before:

• poster's informatin | posters's text
• poster's informatin | posters's text

This old format is still visible when writing a new post. Would like to keep it for viewing, too.

There is a standard configuration option to set the post layout back to v2 but it changes it for everyone. I actually prefer the new layout and others may prefer it as well. I searched the vBulletin forums and found a hack that allows the user to select the layout. If you want the v2 layout with member info on the left instead of the top, do the following.

1. Click User CP at the top of any window.
2. Click Edit Options in the left frame
3. Scroll down to Thread Display options
4. Change the Member Info Position In Post setting to Left
5. Scroll down and click Save Changes

I left the default as Top since that is the new v3 default.

Originally Posted by Wolfgang

in "Members List" there have been Sort Orders like "Last joined". Where's that option gone?

If you open the Members List, you should now see Join Date and Last Visit columns in addition to the Posts column. You can sort on any column by clicking the column title (except the Avatar column). I found that these columns could be turned on from the admin configuration options, they were just turned off by default.

[John Scheffel]

Originally Posted by John Scheffel

The logo is just a GIF file, so for now maybe a simple image with large color text that says something like....

Just to make it more obvious what this forum is about, I created a quick and dirty GIF that says "CoCreate User Forum" and replaced the vBulletin logo. If some of the artistic types out there want to come up with something better (which wouldn't be hard), please post and attach them here. I can setup a poll so people can do a quick vote to pick the logo they like.

[John Scheffel]

Originally Posted by Wolfgang

It looks like I have access to the calendar even when I'm not logged in...

I changed the Calendar permissions so that you must be Registered and logged in to see items in the Calendar. Others can still open the Calendar, but won't see birthdays or other info, just a blank calendar.

[John Scheffel]

Originally Posted by Wolfgang

In the member's profile you have the OPTIONs button.

There is one more possibilty listed for "Threaded View Options"

• Linear - oldest first
• Linear - newest first

In the web UI there's only "Linear". I personal would prefer 'linear - newest first'. But: why is this one not offered in the WEB UI?

I think this is the only issue you raised that I haven't resolved. I agree that it's odd they don't also provide the choice while viewing a thread, but I cannot find a standard setting to add this option to the thread view window. There is probably a hack available, but is it worth the effort? If a user can set oldest/newest first as a user preference, is it of value to be able to change it on the fly while viewing a thread?

[Wolfgang]

Hi John,

WOW.. I'm missing some words... Thanks a lot!

I did not expect.. not even assume that I'll get an answer or solutions for all of my tiny (and bigger) questions and remarks I had. But you did it! Thank you.


One thing I would like to point to, because it might lead to a misunderstanding.

It's regarding posters's name at TOP / LEFT:

In What's New in vBulletin 3.0 thread you wrote that one have to use the "v2 layout" to display the user name at the left. This I mixed up a little bit with the "v2 style". Because top/left poster name does not depend on the style. It is just a setting for the current style.

But I'm not sure whether this understanding depends on my limited english knowledges . Any way. User can use most recent V3 style and display the posters name to the left! Fine.


Another (some like hidden) enhancement of V3 is the larger number of vB Codes, like "color" "indent" and some more.

It was worth to do the update! Thanks for the time you invested.

[John Scheffel]

Originally Posted by Wolfgang

It's regarding posters's name at TOP / LEFT:

In What's New in vBulletin 3.0 thread you wrote that one have to use the "v2 layout" to display the user name at the left. This I mixed up a little bit with the "v2 style". Because top/left poster name does not depend on the style. It is just a setting for the current style.

I have edited the Member Info Position When Viewing Threads post to try to make it more clear. Thanks for the feedback.

I will probably delete the old version 2 styles if no one asks to have them converted to v3. So far everyone seems happy with the default v3 style. For now I have turned them off, but can easily restore them if someone wants them.

[John Scheffel]

Just a quick note to let everyone know the forum has been upgraded from 3.0.3 to 3.0.4. This patch just came out and contains several security improvements.

[Wolfgang]

One more question related to the change to 3.0.

In former version I could use a bookmark 'show new posts' and it did what it said:
http://www.cocreateusers.org/forum/search.php?s=&action=getnew

this link does not work any more in 3.0 .. OK.

So:
in 'Quicklinks' there's a 'New Posts' link like this:
http://www.cocreateusers.org/forum/search.php?searchid=24

BUT: the search ID is every time another one. If I bookmark this one the next time I connect to the forum the ID is invalid(?) and does not show me any result.

Even in the same session a reload on the very first 'Quicklinks:New Posts' page does not resort the result.

Hope you understand what I wanted to say :-).

How can I do a bookmark on this as in the past?

I tried
http://www.cocreateusers.org/forum/search.php?searchid=0
http://www.cocreateusers.org/forum/search.php?searchid=
as a 'trick' but it does not work (enh search page is displayed).

Well, I'm using^Wused this bookmark as *the* quick entry point, just to see what's new. I do not have a fast connection to the Internet.

[John Scheffel]

I have posted a new tip in the What's New in vBulletin 3.0 which answers this question. The syntax for a direct link to new posts has changed slightly. The URL that you end up with after using the New Posts buttons is not the same as the one that generates the search page. You can see the URL run by the buttons if you hover over them and look at the bottom of your Internet Explorer window.

[Wolfgang]

One more time: thank you for your work!

[John Scheffel]

Just a quick note to let everyone know the forum has been upgraded from 3.0.4 to 3.0.5. I received an Email today indicating that 3.0.5 contains an urgent security patch, so thought it best to install ASAP.