# Site Update Notice - Jan 10-11 2009 - COMPLETED



## Bob Hubbard

Just a notice that I'm planning on upgrading the forum software this coming weekend, provided vBulletin releases the new version on schedule.

Here's a list of what they say is new/improved/etc in 3.8.  Right now, I'm still reading up on it, so can't comment much.  Some of this doesn't apply to how we have things set up, some is back end stuff, some looks cool.






> *Social Group Discussion Threads*
> 
> 
> Messages in Social Groups are now threaded into 'Social Group Discussions'.
> Discussion are sortable by creator, replies and last post.
> Discussions can be filtered with a simple full text search on titles.
> Discussions can be managed with Inline Moderation to soft delete, physically remove, approve and unnapprove them.
> Discussions are Read Marked using both database and cookie methods, with a jump to go to first new post.
> Users can subscribe to discussions and receive email notifications on new messages.
> Subscribed discussions with new posts are aggregated in the User CP.
> Individual Discussions have social bookmarking links (user defined, such as Digg, StumbleUpon etc).
> New 'Can Always' permissions to create and view both discussions and messages, simplifying access.
> Fallbacks implemented for non javascript users.
> Moderators can Quick Edit social group messages using AJAX.
> Posts are now ascending, which is more intuitive in threaded discussions.
> Users can configure their groups so that only the group owner can create new discussion threads.
> Moderated and Deleted discussions are aggregated in the User CP where the user has moderator permissions.
> Moderation permissions are seperated for discussions and threads, including deletion.
> Some extra database cleanup is performed with discussion related data when a user is merged or deleted.
> On upgrade from < 3.8, existing messages are moved to an initial discussion with the same name as the group.
> Social Group info is hidden when entering a discussion or viewing pages of results to move focus to discussions.
> 
> *Social Group Changes*
> 
> 
> Social Groups are Read Marked using both database and cookie methods, based on new messages or discussions.
> Mark All will read mark all discussions in a group via AJAX.
> Social Groups can be subscribed to, adding group aggregation to the User CP.
> Social Groups now belong to a category.
> A group's category is displayed in the navigation breadcrumb, group lists and group info.
> A new overview page displays a random group, your groups, new groups and groups that you created.
> Groups that you created are navigatable via AJAX and display further information about the group, including pending members and moderated items.
> A category cloud is displayed in the group overview with popularity weighting based on the number of groups.
> Categories can be created and deleted and merged in the Admin CP.
> On upgrade from < 3.8, existing groups are moved to an initial 'Uncategorized' category, which can be renamed.
> Groups can be filtered by category, via the category cloud or advanced search.
> Social Groups can now have a group icon. The icon is displayed in the group info, and a thumbnail version is used in group listings.
> Icons are displayed on the User Profile page for groups that the user is a member of.
> Permissions control user abilities to upload icons for their groups, including file size and the ability to upload animated icons.
> Icons can be stored in the database or filesystem.
> A new permission can limit the amount of Social Groups an individual user can create.
> Social Groups can now be transferred between users.  The group will only be transferred if the recipient accepts the transfer.
> Moderators with the appropriate permission can transfer any group.  This is useful when a group owner becomes inactive.
> 
> *Private Message Changes*
> 
> 
> Read receipts are automatically accepted when a PM is replied to.
> A new Quick Reply can be used to reply to PM's.
> A new user option is available to set the default value for 'Save Copy' which is also used with Quick Reply.
> PM's can be ordered by Title, Date and Sender.
> When ordered, PM's are grouped by:
> Title - Alphabetical ranges (A-H, I-P, Q-Z, 0-9 and other) - Non ASCII chars are grouped based on transliteration where possible
> Date - Today, Yesterday, individual day names, Last Week, 2 Weeks, Last Month, Older, etc.
> Sender - Grouped by Sender
> 
> Private Messages can be filtered by Sender, Title, a given date period, and whether the message has been read or not.
> Message Throttling. Admins can define a time period and the maximum amount of message each usergroup can send within that period.
> Message selections are remembered over multiple pages for bulk actions (Move, delete, mark as read etc).
> 
> *Profile Privacy*
> 
> 
> With the appropriate permission, users can now configure which parts of their profile is visible, and to who. The configurable components are:
> Profile Picture
> Visitor Messages
> Contact Info
> Albums
> About Me
> Friends
> Recent Visitors
> Group Memberships
> Custom Field Blocks where the admin has allowed it
> 
> The components can be configured to be visible to:
> Everyone
> Registered Members
> Contacts
> Friends
> 
> 
> 
> Generally information is only hidden/displayed within the user profile page with the exception of Albums which also affects the ability to view the albums.
> Also, custom field blocks can be configured by the admin as to whether they will be included in users' privacy settings.
> 
> *Albums*
> 
> 
> Pictures can now be moved from one album to another.
> Album covers are regenerated when moving images if the cover is moved, or the destination album has no cover.
> The default albums view now displays recently updated public albums.
> 
> *Lightbox*
> 
> 
> Lightboxes can now be used to view all images in a post.
> Next and Previous buttons can be used to navigate the attachments, and wrap when the first/last image has been reached
> 
> *Other Changes and Additions*
> 
> 
> Options and permissions for Human Verification checks have been streamlined. There is now a single bitfield option to select which HV checks are used, and a single permission to select who must pass the HV checks.
> Thread tags can now be merged and renamed, and threads are updated to reflect the changes.
> Tag selection in the Admin CP is remembered over multiple pages for bulk actions (Delete or Merge).
> A new Terms and Conditions link is configurable and displayed in the footer by default.
> A new Community link replaces the Members List link with a submenu for Social Groups; Pictures & Albums; Contacts & Friends; and the Members List.
> Deleted and Moderated items in the User CP menu have been collapsed into submenus to reduce clutter.
> A New Items submenu is also available with the newest Visitor Messages; Group Messages; Group Discussions; Picture Comments and Album Pictures.
> Some cleanup has been done on the User CP menu to ensure only links that the user has permission to are displayed.
> A new permission to view thumbnails in posts has been added. This allows users to see thumbnails even when they do not have access to view the full image.
> Improved RSS filtering for RSS Feed Forums. Terms can now be quoted into phrases, and a new 'match all' option is available.
> Templates can now be compared with 'inline diff', reducing the screen space used to find differences while displaying line numbers. Diffs are wrapped in an optional number of lines for context.
> Thread Prefix Permissions - Thread prefixes can now be configured so that only certain usergroups may use them.
> Support for TypePad Anti-Spam
> Username availability now checked via AJAX during registration
> Notices can now be configured to be dismissible, allowing users to close notices that they have read.
> Post edit histories can be pruned in Admin CP.
> Forum rules can be viewed outside of the registration process, which is useful for logged in users when multiple registrations are disabled.
> PM Reporting.
> Subscription folders can be emptied with one click.
> Quick Edit is available for Visitor Messages and Picture Comments, as well as Social Group Messages.
> New UTC and user date and time criteria for Notices.
> Improvements to Contact List editing.  Show Avatars option is now preserved.


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## Bob Hubbard

In addition, the Blogs will also be updated.



> Some of the new features in Blog 2 include:
> 
> Blog Customization - users may customize their blogs in the same manner that they can customize their user profiles (introduced in 3.7).
> Group Blogs - users may allow other users to post to their blog.
> Sidebar Blocks - users may create custom blocks to display in their sidebar. These blocks can be rearranged by drag and drop.
> Custom Pages - users may create custom pages to be displayed in their blog.
> Tags - tag support has been included.
> Featured Entry Manager - multiple entries can be featured on the blog home page now.
> Private Entries - users may set specific entries to be private while leaving their blog open.
> Admin Categories - admins may define categories now.



Blogs are a Supporting Member feature.  Remember, only $19.95/ year.  
We're cheaper than Back Belt Magazine, have more readers, and are a whole lot more fun!


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## Bob Hubbard

I'll be tackling this on Sunday the 11th, during the afternoon.


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## Bob Hubbard

Site and Blog Updated.

New Arcade Setup installed

Lots of other bits, but ya'll can hunt for em. 
Look around, things are a little bit different.


I've got some cosmetic tweaking to do still, but everything big is in.

Enjoy!


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## Brian R. VanCise

New cool stuff.

Though the new ad banners are pretty big. 
(I will say I enjoyed Captain Chris's page it was
very enlightening from the world leader in self 
defense  )


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## terryl965

Thanks for everything Do we not have the Casino anymore?


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## Bob Hubbard

Brian R. VanCise said:


> New cool stuff.
> 
> Though the new ad banners are pretty big.
> (I will say I enjoyed Captain Chris's page it was
> very enlightening from the world leader in self
> defense  )


I'm trying a new ad layout.  See how it works, and I'll adjust later.  Eventually, I'll be hiding the Google ads for staff and supporting members.  Guests see the most ads.


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## JadecloudAlchemist

Bob did this get smaller?



> Join Date: Aug 2001
> Location: Dark Vengeance Quadrant
> Age: 38
> Posts: 29,933
> Thanks: 1,242
> Thanked 1,442 Times in 752 Posts
> Blog Entries: 19
> Rep Power: 38


 

I used yours as an example. I thought the Thanks and things were bigger.

Or do I need to go online with glasses?


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## MBuzzy

Ack!  Thanks, Quote, and Quick Quote buttons are out of order.  That will take a while.

I don't remember what all of my arcade high scores were!  I do like the new arcade though!

So are we posting the changes as we find them here?


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## Bob Hubbard

Bigger font, or the numbers were higher?


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## jks9199

Brian R. VanCise said:


> New cool stuff.
> 
> Though the new ad banners are pretty big.
> (I will say I enjoyed Captain Chris's page it was
> very enlightening from the world leader in self
> defense  )


Yes...  I really do wonder what I've been doing wrong all these years, that it takes me hundreds or thousands of repetitions to learn something -- but he can teach it all in a single run through!

But... back on topic -- still figuring out the tweaks and updates.  One small kvetch, though... In Firefox, things that used to go to new tabs or new windows (like PMs or links from threads) are opening in the current window.


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## Bob Hubbard

If you notice things that need to be moved around, lemme know here.  I'm patching templates fast as I can.


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## JadecloudAlchemist

I meant the Font Bob.

I thought the Thanks text was larger and things were larger.

It might just be me though..:idunno:


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## Sukerkin

MBuzzy said:


> Ack! Thanks, Quote, and Quick Quote buttons are out of order. That will take a while.


 
I'd second this tangential request to restore order to the applet buttons .   I know, I'm old, Taurean and set in my ways ... :lol:.


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## Bob Hubbard

What was the old order again?  I'll try and move the buttons around, right now some of the templates are giving me a headache, LOL


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## MBuzzy

Bob Hubbard said:


> What was the old order again?  I'll try and move the buttons around, right now some of the templates are giving me a headache, LOL



I THINK it was Edit, Thanks, Quote, Multi-quote, Quick Quote

Although I'm not 100% sure if edit was before or after the rest.


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## Bob Hubbard

ok, edit moved to top of the post, other bits moved around, some font tweaks.
I'm working on the other button order.


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## Bob Hubbard

ok, I think that's it.  Lemme know what else ya find.


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## arnisador

Bob Hubbard said:


> ok, edit moved to top of the post, other bits moved around, some font tweaks.
> I'm working on the other button order.



Can we have these in the same order on all the fora you manage (here, DPT, FMAT,...)?


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## Bob Hubbard

Working on it


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## Bob Hubbard

Bob Hubbard said:


> Working on it


MT & FMAT are now using the same postbit.
It's different at the DP due to different features.
KT will probably be synced when I update it.


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## JadecloudAlchemist

Hey Thanks Bob for fixing it!!

I can see without squinting.


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## Bob Hubbard

terryl965 said:


> Thanks for everything Do we not have the Casino anymore?


Sorry, missed this.
I'll look into the casino shortly.  It's there, just not showing at the moment.


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## terryl965

Bob I know you are busy but my edit button is on top of everything see here. I know it is suppose to be on the bottom. Thank you in advance.



 







*15,000 Post Club*
Rep Power: 24


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## Bob Hubbard

Bob Hubbard said:


> Sorry, missed this.
> I'll look into the casino shortly.  It's there, just not showing at the moment.


Ok, fixed.


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## Bob Hubbard

jks9199 said:


> One small kvetch, though... In Firefox, things that used to go to new tabs or new windows (like PMs or links from threads) are opening in the current window.



I'm not having this happen on my end.  Anyone else?


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## MBuzzy

No problem with Firefox here....


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## Bob Hubbard

terryl965 said:


> Bob I know you are busy but my edit button is on top of everything see here. I know it is suppose to be on the bottom. Thank you in advance.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *15,000 Post Club*
> Rep Power: 24



I moved it to the top for now while I tweak the rest.   Figured, out of the way is good. LOL!


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## Bob Hubbard

ok, I'm taking a break for a short bit.  Anything else looks out of place, keep posting here and I'll tackle it soon as I rest my eyes a bit.


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## Sukerkin

You're doing good, my friend.  Take a well deserved break.


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## jks9199

Yeah... out of the way is good!  I've accidentally clicked edit more than a few times when I meant one of the reply options.  Don't ask me why...


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## 14 Kempo

Bob Hubbard said:


> Ok, fixed.


 
Very good, now all us fake gamblers can finally get a fix!

Thanks!!!


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## Jade Tigress

Bob Hubbard said:


> I'm not having this happen on my end.  Anyone else?



It's working fine for me on Firefox.


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## MA-Caver

Works fine here too on firefox. 
You've done a great job Bob. As always.


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## Brian R. VanCise

Yes Bob good work as always!


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## jks9199

Problem seems to have resolved for me, too.  Maybe it was just a quirk at the time?  I'll know for sure if someone sends a PM; I was trying to let it open into a new window, and it kept going to the already open window.


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