GateWorld Forum Software Upgrade! (Questions & Requests)

[Darren]

We're always taking feedback on the level and type of ads. There's a balance (no doubt subjective) between giving members a workable experience and paying the server bills.

Some ad blockers do work. But when enough people have them enabled, the more likely it is that your favorite indie sites will have to shut down, lock content behind a paywall, etc. Please think of it as a way to support the sites you love -- especially when they aren't owned by a big conglomerate.

[Falcon Horus]

We're always taking feedback on the level and type of ads. There's a balance (no doubt subjective) between giving members a workable experience and paying the server bills.

Some ad blockers do work. But when enough people have them enabled, the more likely it is that your favorite indie sites will have to shut down, lock content behind a paywall, etc. Please think of it as a way to support the sites you love -- especially when they aren't owned by a big conglomerate.

Ads are a necessary evil... However, I have noticed they learned to circumvent the blockage.

As long as they don't flash (gives me headaches), they can hang around.

[DarkenLycht]

We're always taking feedback on the level and type of ads. There's a balance (no doubt subjective) between giving members a workable experience and paying the server bills.

Some ad blockers do work. But when enough people have them enabled, the more likely it is that your favorite indie sites will have to shut down, lock content behind a paywall, etc. Please think of it as a way to support the sites you love -- especially when they aren't owned by a big conglomerate.

I'm OK with ads, knowing they support the sites I visit. Just if they are like flashing and pop ups with sound, I tend to think twice if I want to use and ad blocker on them or come back to the site at all, depending on how important it is to me

And a question about signature pics, are there going to be any size changes to them or will that be unaffected by the upgrade?

[GateWorld]

And a question about signature pics, are there going to be any size changes to them or will that be unaffected by the upgrade?

At this point the size limits are all the same.

[GateWorld]

New ETA for our vBulletin 5 rollout: Monday, February 1.

The forum will show a message telling you it is temporarily closed for maintenance. Hopefully it shouldn't take too long to complete the back-end update, and then we will open things up for you and begin the steady work of tweaks and fixes.

After Greg and I have made it through our respective lists of To Do items, I'll invite you to post questions or fix requests here in this thread!

[Darren]

And HUZZAH! Welcome everyone to vBulletin 5.

Thank you for your patience during the update. We are still working on some tweaks and fixes, but you can resume using the forum as normal. Look around, check out your profile page, and see if you can spot what is new.

Meanwhile you can post in this thread:

• Questions about the new forum software
• Bugs or issues you see (include a URL or a screencap
• Suggestions or requests for things that aren't broken, but could be better

We'll accommodate what we can, noting that some things are just coded into the software and can't be changed. Others might be feasible with some research, and can go on our long-term wishlist.

Thanks for your help in troubleshooting the new forum!


Things you can do right now:

1. Edit your signature. Due to a fault in vB5's upgrade tool sig pics couldn't be imported, so if you were using an uploaded picture in your sig you'll see it's been replaced by "sigpic."
   
   To edit: Click your username in the stripe at the very tippy top of the forum and go to User Settings > Account > Edit Post Signature (about halfway down the page).
2. Upload a custom avatar. Everyone now has access to this feature, which was previously restricted to Enlisted Personnel and Officer's Class. The new standard size is 160x160, so even if you want to retain your current custom avatar I recommend that you re-upload a 160x160 copy to improve the resolution. (In the coming days we'll have a bunch of new Stargate avatars you can choose from.)

vBulletin 5 Changes:

As previously noted earlier in this thread, you'll quickly notice a number of changes that vBulletin has made over the previous version. A lot of the new and fancy bells and whistles are behind the scenes, for mods and site owners. But you'll also notice:

• There is no stand-alone editor page for new posts. What used to be the "Quick Reply" at the bottom of a thread page is now the only place to post -- so it has the full editor toolbar.
• Your profile page now uses your avatar. vB has removed the profile picture as a separate upload.
• Additional language support! You can change your defaut language to Spanish, German, or French. Look for the selector in the footer below. Note that this applies only to the built-in vBulletin interface, not to member posts, or things the mods have written (Rules, FAQ, etc.).
• Mobile is more streamlined and in keeping with the GateWorld site look. (I'll hopefully be implementing this on non-forum pages in the future, too.)

A word on Social Groups:

Unfortunately we've found that the larger discussion topics inside Groups did not survive the upgrade. This was, again, due to a bug in vBulletin's upgrade tool, and in our weeks of testing last month we were not able to resolve the problem. (Under your Group, click on the "Topics" tab to find the discussions. Group view currently defaults to "Latest Activity," which for most groups will be blank.)

In the days ahead we will be doing further housekeeping to tidy up the forum. Disused Groups will be deleted ... so if there is an existing Group you love that hasn't received any posts in the last few months (or years), go post there and invite your friends to bring it back to life.

[Darren]

TO DO:

• Restore the Stargate icons for forum listings (Read and Unread)
• Re-add the Spoilers button to the post editor
• Add a new page of downloadable Stargate member avatars
• Move the Rules and Community Vision statements to stand-alone article pages
• Revise and update the FAQ for 2021
• Attempt to restore the "Forum Jump" quick navigation menu at the bottom of pages

[ScifigirlSG]

Getting used to the new design.

[JT-2]

Is there still a way to see if there are subscribed threads with new posts? I had that as my landing page so I could see what had been updated, but it doesn't seem to work now. Or else it's something obvious and I'm being dense.... it wouldn't be surprising.

[DarkenLycht]

So I have been meaning to answer a message...but I can't find it...all I see in my inbox are much older ones...

[Darren]

Is there still a way to see if there are subscribed threads with new posts? I had that as my landing page so I could see what had been updated, but it doesn't seem to work now. Or else it's something obvious and I'm being dense.... it wouldn't be surprising.

Hmm ... under your profile you can view your subscriptions and then sort them by those with newest posts:

https://forum.gateworld.net/member/4...ort=mostactive

Did the old software show a new posts flag?

Edit: I think as new posts are added to threads you are subscribed to, you should also receive new notifications on the strip at the top of every page. You might keep an eye on this and see what turns up under "Notifications."

Edit 2: You can also find the "Subscribed" tab under your profile, which I think only displays threads if there have been new posts since you last viewed it.

[Darren]

So I have been meaning to answer a message...but I can't find it...all I see in my inbox are much older ones...

Az'ryel, are you looking at the Message Center > Inbox?

I don't have any access to review or trouble-shoot private messages. We did lose some Group topics, so it is not outside the realm of possibility that some PMs were lost as well. I hope that isn't the case. vB5 has integrated a new instant messenging system with PMs, and the Inbox is supposed to show both together.

You can also try the Search Messages box there in the Message Center, and see if you can dig up any of the messages you think may be lost. Let me know how it turns out.

[Princess Awinita]

My Controls panel is missing; instead the link redirects to user settings, it does not show subscribed items. Also I do not like the new profile look, custom backgrounds and all are gone

Guess I am gonna have to get used to it.

[Falcon Horus]

Just a thing that probably can't be changed, but I'm not a fan of the FB and Twitter share buttons. I don't need my forum posts freely shared outside the realm of Gateworld (not that they would be out of anyone's line but my forum-speak is not aimed at random FB or Twitter users).

[Princess Awinita]

Editing posts throws a error warning; I tried to add the following to my last post

"I do not like the new setup regarding profiles and no more profile picture or custom background. There was a forum software called Invisoion or some such that Fantasy Flight Games used to use for their forums that worked much easier. I miss the custom profiles"