forum going to simple machines this weekend

2007-11-02 07:57:07 pm

alright, change of plans.

phpbb has recently convinced me that version 3.0 of their forum software will never be viable. i won't go into details here as most people won't care, but i can elaborate on request.

for this reason, and as part of a larger move toward upgrading all of the software behind both metroid 2002 and speed demos archive, this weekend (if all goes according to plan) we are moving to the superior simple machines forum software.

i've already converted an old version of the forum for everyone to test out:

http://forum.metroid2002.com/

please feel free to log in and spam it up. i'm interested in anything and everything you find wrong with it.

i'm especially interested in whether anyone has any ideas for a new default theme similar to this one.

unless any totally mission-critical deficiencies are brought to light, i will be shutting down this forum, converting it to smf, and reopening it tomorrow night at around 12:00 midnight central daylight time. please voice all concerns you have before then.

thank you, and long live the metroid 2002 forum!

Thread title:

alright, change of plans.

phpbb has recently convinced me that version 3.0 of their forum software will never be viable. i won't go into details here as most people won't care, but i can elaborate on request.

for this reason, and as part of a larger move toward upgrading all of the software behind both metroid 2002 and speed demos archive, this weekend (if all goes according to plan) we are moving to the superior [url=http://www.simplemachines.org/]simple machines[/url] forum software.

i've already converted an old version of the forum for everyone to test out:

[url]http://forum.metroid2002.com/[/url]

please feel free to log in and spam it up. i'm interested in anything and everything you find wrong with it.

i'm especially interested in whether anyone has any ideas for a new default theme similar to this one.

unless any totally mission-critical deficiencies are brought to light, i will be shutting down this forum, converting it to smf, and reopening it tomorrow night at around 12:00 midnight central daylight time. please voice all concerns you have before then.

thank you, and long live the metroid 2002 forum!

StarmanHaxor

2007-11-02 09:46:05 pm

Jesus nate, just make sure you have a

[i]Complete and total backup of everything related to this forum.[/i]

I know so many people who have been burned trying to move and didn't keep full backups, something glitched. UH OH WHERE'S OUR FORUM, etc.

I'm not saying that I don't trust you, I'm just saying, you know.

Dont risk it.

edit: Also, super extra bonus points if you can keep something similar to subred.

Yes, I realize I'm probably the only one who uses subRed, but still, I love subRed and hate the whole dark skin thing.

arkarian

2007-11-02 09:52:18 pm

red chamber dream

Man, this means I'll have to stay up late to try it out. Curse Texas.
I nearly require some kind of dark theme, and the more it looks like SmartDark, the happier I'll be. I'm too used to this (and like it far too much) to be willing to let it go.

Starman: are you flickerbatting retarded?

StarmanHaxor

Edit history:

StarmanHaxor: 2019-02-20 02:10:05 am

2007-11-02 09:52:51 pm

Gg

nate

2007-11-02 09:55:30 pm

probably thinks you're not giving me sufficient respect or something. it's fine.

the forum has been very close to me since the marie.

arkarian

2007-11-02 09:59:14 pm

red chamber dream

Nah, it was more just me thinking, "why the hell would any competent webmaster with over a decade of experience move to a new forum without first backing up, and why the hell would they need to be reminded to do so?".

EDIT: Wasn't referring to your theme preference. Opinions are opinions.

StarmanHaxor

2007-11-02 09:59:31 pm

The whole subRed thing is just because I dislike the darker theme with that particular font and layout is all. Probably just me, although I think trh uses subSilver.

SABERinBLUE

2007-11-02 10:02:09 pm

Cook of the Sea

Quote from StarmanHaxor:

Why are you flaming me? How am I retarded?

Did you not read the history? Did you not read about how nate and radix pieced a non-backed-up forum together painstakingly from a ruined harddrive? Do you think that he'd not take steps so he wouldn't have to go through that again?

Prime Hunter

2007-11-02 11:33:31 pm

It's weird seeing the information that's usually contained in spoiler tags free for everyone to see at the moment. Hopefully there's not something someone will stumble upon anytime soon.

kwinse

2007-11-03 12:07:42 am

I'm already disliking the placement of the select a page links EDIT: at the bottom of the page when viewing a thread, and am really disliking the lack of previous and next buttons.

arkarian

2007-11-03 02:01:40 am

red chamber dream

Quote from kwinse:

am really disliking the lack of previous and next buttons.

Weird, I never use them末 clicking on the numbers themselves helps me better keep track of where I am in the thread. But I agree they should be added. I'll bet that and the lack of a "Go to page" function can be modded in.

kwinse

2007-11-03 03:17:05 am

If it isn't already noted, announcements appear as regular threads and are therefore buried.

spineshark

2007-11-03 04:16:09 am

in the name of justice!

This isn't a complaint, but avatars that are full width on the current m2k2 (120 pixels) have scroll bars on the new forum. I think it's funny, personally, but I'm sure some people would be rather see it fixed.

Other things about avatars: the new forum doesn't seem to have a max size.
Uploading an avatar to the new forum's server botches png transparency, although it works fine if you're hosting the picture on another server.

Andrew Mills

2007-11-03 04:29:42 am

Strategy Guide Writer

Personal opinon of the new style: Not a big fan of it. Especially the solid block colour of the stickied topics. :( Of course one mans opinion means nowt in a sea of other opinions, but I'll probably miss the clean and easy on the eyes styling of this forum. /2 cents

Banjonator

2007-11-03 06:01:23 am

dito. the new style is ugly. I will miss this one.

P.JMan

2007-11-03 06:40:36 am

I like Big Butts and I can not lie

I like all the features of the SMF forum. Except my avatar has been stretched to 120x120 and all the topic names are squashed up. I like the announcements at the top of the boards though. hmm, now that I think about it, why are we even upgrading the forum?

Banjonator

2007-11-03 07:46:12 am

Quote from P.JMan:

hmm, now that I think about it, why are we even upgrading the forum?

good question

SABERinBLUE

2007-11-03 09:33:50 am

Cook of the Sea

Because the current software is a bloated pile of addons and crap, especially so when you consider how bad phpbb2.x is in the first place. A good example of this bloatedness is how you have to jump through hoops to do something as simple as post in chinese. Also the security is horrible. Well, it's a good deal better than it ought to be owing to the grenolawall, but still. We're riding a jalopy and everyone else is off having sex with girls in their convertibles.

Prime Hunter

2007-11-03 10:40:35 am

Everything seems so... small... once I came back here after testing out the new forum again. And I've noticed that some things seem to get cut off here and there, like on the Statistics page for example.

And I was able to solve the scrollbar in the avatar images by expanding my browser window to the full size of my monitor.

On a different note... is that TINY reply button the only way we can post now?

Anyway, I'm testing out several things on that forum's social topic right now, so you can look there for my findings if you want.

P.JMan

2007-11-03 11:22:46 am

I like Big Butts and I can not lie

Quote from SABERinBLUE:

you have to jump through hoops to do something as simple as post in chinese.

You mean check the disable html box?

Banjonator

2007-11-03 11:25:27 am

ありがと
works fine for me although it's not chinese...

but I know what you mean.
it definitely has a point.

nate

2007-11-03 12:45:37 pm

Quote from spineshark:

This isn't a complaint, but avatars that are full width on the current m2k2 (120 pixels) have scroll bars on the new forum. I think it's funny, personally, but I'm sure some people would be rather see it fixed.

Other things about avatars: the new forum doesn't seem to have a max size.
Uploading an avatar to the new forum's server botches png transparency, although it works fine if you're hosting the picture on another server.

the scroll bars problem sounds familiar but i'm not seeing that problem now. what browser are you using?

as for the png transparency, it's probably gd (graphics library) ... not sure i can do much about it. have to have it to replace the max avatar size mod for this forum (it will automatically resize avatars larger than 120x120 for you - pretty cool imo).

Quote from kwinse:

If it isn't already noted, announcements appear as regular threads and are therefore buried.

good catch. hopefully we don't have any announcements we still care about. if we do, then please point them out so i can sticky them tomorrow.

Quote from Andrew Mills:

Personal opinon of the new style: Not a big fan of it. Especially the solid block colour of the stickied topics. :( Of course one mans opinion means nowt in a sea of other opinions, but I'll probably miss the clean and easy on the eyes styling of this forum. /2 cents

Quote from Banjonator:

dito. the new style is ugly. I will miss this one.

need suggestions on themes. i agree that the styles available for smf is one of its major weaknesses but i welcome any efforts to correct the problem from yall.

[quote="spineshark"]This isn't a complaint, but avatars that are full width on the current m2k2 (120 pixels) have scroll bars on the new forum.  I think it's funny, personally, but I'm sure some people would be rather see it fixed.

Other things about avatars: the new forum doesn't seem to have a max size.
Uploading an avatar to the new forum's server botches png transparency, although it works fine if you're hosting the picture on another server.[/quote]
the scroll bars problem sounds familiar but i'm not seeing that problem now. what browser are you using?

as for the png transparency, it's probably gd (graphics library) ... not sure i can do much about it. have to have it to replace the max avatar size mod for this forum (it will automatically resize avatars larger than 120x120 for you - pretty cool imo).

[quote="kwinse"]If it isn't already noted, announcements appear as regular threads and are therefore buried.[/quote]
good catch. hopefully we don't have any announcements we still care about. if we do, then please point them out so i can sticky them tomorrow.

[quote="Andrew Mills"]Personal opinon of the new style: Not a big fan of it. Especially the solid block colour of the stickied topics.  :( Of course one mans opinion means nowt in a sea of other opinions, but I'll probably miss the clean  and easy on the eyes styling of this forum. /2 cents[/quote]
[quote="Banjonator"]dito. the new style is ugly. I will miss this one.[/quote]
need suggestions on [url=http://custom.simplemachines.org/themes/]themes[/url]. i agree that the styles available for smf is one of its major weaknesses but i welcome any efforts to correct the problem from yall.

SABERinBLUE

2007-11-03 12:53:22 pm

Cook of the Sea

Quote from P.JMan:

Quote from SABERinBLUE:

you have to jump through hoops to do something as simple as post in chinese.

You mean check the disable html box?

Yes. One shouldn't have to do that and it's a pain when chinese visitors come since it's difficult to tell them that's what they have to do.

P.JMan

2007-11-03 01:31:00 pm

I like Big Butts and I can not lie

Dark Theme 1/2/blue

Light Theme 1/2/red

Tonski

2007-11-03 01:44:09 pm

Tell me what's wrong with the forum the way it is? I like it the way it is, tell me why is it gonna change?