Recent upgrade to 5.2.6

[Eliteus]

Forum Suggestions

With the latest upgrade of our forums, myself as well as various other members have been disappointed from some of the features that have been long lost alongside our old forums. So I am here to suggest some features that should be brought back for this forums, I will try my best to make sure the changes are feasible in vBulletin 5.2.6. but some may not be possible in which case please state them and make clear that it's not possible.

1) Increase the size of the avatar:

Has been discussed on vB forums quite a lot by many VB5 users because many find it too small, and even many GXers find it quite too small. So if this can be done it can be very nice for those who want to show off their images or whatever it is that they want to set as their profile pictures. I think the small size limits our choice of images. So increasing the size will make your profile or posts look "better" if that makes sense. (This is viable)

2) Signatures need to be enabled via AdminCP:

Signatures are really nice features we used to have where we could put on anything. Some players even had really nice custom designed signatures and I feel this needs to be brought back as soon as possible for players to share their cool designs, jokes etc. (This is viable)

3) Able to view users started threads

Now I am aware that you can use Advanced Search on a profile and search for started posts only, but it shows Visitor messages too, in the old forums Visitor messages were so much easier to look through as it had it's own section on everyone's user profiles. Along with that, the old forums also provided a way to look at the threads started by the user, as well as ALL their posts. I know this may not be possible in this forums update but if it takes add-ons, extra stuff please try to implement this, it makes much more sense and the usability would be so much more easier else if not possible at all, we're going to have to adjust to going through advanced settings. (This isn't guaranteed viable but if there is a loophole to do this, please do)

4) Last 10/20 visitors in the profile

At the moment this feature is not possible for VB5, this is what the developers have commented about this:

There is no Profile Visitors feature in vB5. In vB4 this feature tracks users that visited others' user profiles and displays them in the Recent Visitors profile block.

When this feature is implemented, the admin cp options related to it should be taken into account (Settings -> Options -> User Profile Options -> Enabled User Profile Features -> Visitor Tracking, and Maximum Visitors to Show on Profile Page).

So this is being worked on and should be released sooner or later (I think because the last update was quite a few months ago). I would suggest this to be implemented on our forums if this add-on is released. GamerX has almost always had this feature and it's just a shame that this version does not support it. (This is viable once the plugin/add-on is released)

5) Thanks

VB5 uses a like system which adds onto the reputation. I'd like the phrase for likes to be changed to thanks. (This is viable)

Perhaps also a total like counter which could be calculated from the reputation table. (Partially viable - not too sure to be honest)

6) User rank

1) I would like the user ranks (User, Trusted Player, Admin Level 3...etc) to be shown on the users profiles and not only be visible when they post something. This goes for donator tag too, it should be added alongside the usual ranks.

2) User rank sizes need to be increased too! It seems that as soon as we got the upgrade everything has almost shrunk at the side. If it is possible, please make the side where the user information is shown to a bigger width. Even if that is not possible, increase the user rank size. The old forums made ranks stand out and it made the posts look cooler as well as the profile too. I was more proud of my "bright, stood out" Admin Level 6 tag when it was larger, this forum makes it look like nothing.

Extras (Not sure if it's viable): Who visited forums today (Resets at midnight), Admins could view the latest people who viewed a thread at the bottom of the page, bring this back if possible, When clicking on Online Users, I could view which users were viewing which thread, now it appears that it is blank or doesn't show anything (IT ONLY SHOWS IT SOMETIMES FOR SOME THREADS).

Overall

I wasn't too keen on the new forum version...no offense. For a "gaming" server, our old forum version was perfectly suitable, and had relevant features and addons/hacks that made it perfect. While it is true that "not everyone can be happy", it is best that we try to bring back some of our old features that made GamerX forums unique from other SA-MP server forums..if not other gaming forums.

[Rick]

We didn't switch to this new forum to annoy you. There were a lot of security issues on the old forum, and some antivirus were blocking GX Website.

[Eliteus]

We didn't switch to this new forum to annoy you. There were a lot of security issues on the old forum, and some antivirus were blocking GX Website.

As long as we get some features back (some suggested ones), it's all good. I wasn't annoyed however there were things that I couldn't get over with the new forums and I think I speak for many when I say that.

[Robo]

Forum Suggestions

With the latest upgrade of our forums, myself as well as various other members have been disappointed from some of the features that have been long lost alongside our old forums. So I am here to suggest some features that should be brought back for this forums, I will try my best to make sure the changes are feasible in vBulletin 5.2.6. but some may not be possible in which case please state them and make clear that it's not possible.

Half of your suggestion already in place, it's just that some people doesn't recognizes them yet since they are moved somewhere else or didn't enable it as of their preferences.
The rest issues are just caused by server internal error either after forum upgrade, migration, or web server software faulty, and the forum default that cannot be configured anymore as of vB5. (remember that we also got issues after moving to new host)

1) Increase the size of the avatar:

Has been discussed on vB forums quite a lot by many VB5 users because many find it too small, and even many GXers find it quite too small. So if this can be done it can be very nice for those who want to show off their images or whatever it is that they want to set as their profile pictures. I think the small size limits our choice of images. So increasing the size will make your profile or posts look "better" if that makes sense. (This is viable)

It's never been small, there is problem with the software processing (ImageGD), this caused problem with image uploading for large pics, or rendering pictures on albums and video, anything that uses thumbnail. however since the error existed, it will disallow any picture that require changes from server to be done. It's like the image editor in the web server, it's broken and then your image can't be edited. Some of them even are bugs with the new vB 5. For the post-bit size itself, see my next answer about user rank.

2) Signatures need to be enabled via AdminCP:

Signatures are really nice features we used to have where we could put on anything. Some players even had really nice custom designed signatures and I feel this needs to be brought back as soon as possible for players to share their cool designs, jokes etc. (This is viable)

They are never been removed nor disabled on Admin CP, it's just your preference that is set to not show signatures, you can set your preference to show signature and set your own signature in your user settings.
http://forum.gamerxserver.com/help#a..._signature_new

3) Able to view users started threads

Now I am aware that you can use Advanced Search on a profile and search for started posts only, but it shows Visitor messages too, in the old forums Visitor messages were so much easier to look through as it had it's own section on everyone's user profiles. Along with that, the old forums also provided a way to look at the threads started by the user, as well as ALL their posts. I know this may not be possible in this forums update but if it takes add-ons, extra stuff please try to implement this, it makes much more sense and the usability would be so much more easier else if not possible at all, we're going to have to adjust to going through advanced settings. (This isn't guaranteed viable but if there is a loophole to do this, please do)

• Advanced Search > Sources = Forum, View = Topics
• Profile > Activities > Filter = Visitor Messages Only
• Messages > Go to Message Center > Subscriptions > Users > Filter what you want or click "View"
• Forum Index > My Subscriptions > Filter what you want
• Profile > About > Links > Find all started topics
• Profile > About > Links > Find all posts

5) Thanks

VB5 uses a like system which adds onto the reputation. I'd like the phrase for likes to be changed to thanks. (This is viable)

Perhaps also a total like counter which could be calculated from the reputation table. (Partially viable - not too sure to be honest)

Like and reputation is different and separate thing.
Your reputation level is shown below your user title.
Their phrases and wordings are indeed can be changed.
We could use both, but i don't know the owner decision since first time (even in old forum) did never use reputation system and prefer to use a non native add-on made by 3rd party instead.

6) User rank

1) I would like the user ranks (User, Trusted Player, Admin Level 3...etc) to be shown on the users profiles and not only be visible when they post something. This goes for donator tag too, it should be added alongside the usual ranks.

Not default anymore for vBulletin 5, however the templates can be edited, however i have not find the variable or correct way to do it yet instead of messing up everyone's profile page.

2) User rank sizes need to be increased too! It seems that as soon as we got the upgrade everything has almost shrunk at the side. If it is possible, please make the side where the user information is shown to a bigger width. Even if that is not possible, increase the user rank size. The old forums made ranks stand out and it made the posts look cooler as well as the profile too. I was more proud of my "bright, stood out" Admin Level 6 tag when it was larger, this forum makes it look like nothing.

Image was never shrunk, the layout template design now is much wider on post content than the post-bit, i don't think it's annoying much, since it is comfort for eyes and readability.

Extras (Not sure if it's viable): Who visited forums today (Resets at midnight), Admins could view the latest people who viewed a thread at the bottom of the page, bring this back if possible, When clicking on Online Users, I could view which users were viewing which thread, now it appears that it is blank or doesn't show anything (IT ONLY SHOWS IT SOMETIMES FOR SOME THREADS).

Not available anymore on vBulletin 5, but i guess a custom search criteria module can be made like that however it wont be efficient since it will be processed every time user visits home page. And for temporary list of people who reads the topic was just admin-only feature, that does not come with vBulletin anymore. To view online users, you can simply click the link on forum navigation: http://forum.gamerxserver.com/online

Overall

I wasn't too keen on the new forum version...no offense. For a "gaming" server, our old forum version was perfectly suitable, and had relevant features and addons/hacks that made it perfect. While it is true that "not everyone can be happy", it is best that we try to bring back some of our old features that made GamerX forums unique from other SA-MP server forums..if not other gaming forums.

The add-ons are like game modification, they make it look good, but also makes the game not stable... Plugins and add-ons was disabled on old forum since issues with viruses, exploit, and possible password stealing. Remember that this site is not secured with SSL encryption (or https that people commonly know).

Overall, this vBulletin 5 version is still a fresh product and the developers of vBulletin are still looking for more addition in the next updates based on the member votes, like in 5.3.0 they've just added back Calendars. Check the help section if you need to know what are features are exist now and how to use it.


I and some other admins have fixed some forum issues since upgrade, and are currently fixing something else, there are problems with settings that can't be solved yet:
Image and thumbnail processing (avatar, video thumbnail, album images)
Sub-forum moderator permissions
Group moderator/manager permissions

Other than that, i can see the forum seems fine to use now than before, it does not really bother me how big or large my admin rank image and how much reputation/thanks i have anyway, as long the forum can still be used for forum discussion.

[Eliteus]

It's never been small, there is problem with the software processing (ImageGD), this caused problem with image uploading for large pics, or rendering pictures on albums and video, anything that uses thumbnail. however since the error existed, it will disallow any picture that require changes from server to be done. It's like the image editor in the web server, it's broken and then your image can't be edited. Some of them even are bugs with the new vB 5. For the post-bit size itself, see my next answer about user rank.

It is small, in thread view actually - it needs changes in "css_additional.css" where the thread view requires the PXs to be changed according to the likings of the developers.

NOTE: I am not talking about avatar in general, like the one seen in profiles - the thread view. Here is what I mean:
This is what it currently looks like. It's too small and people have complained about it in the past. Avatar in the profile is of a good size, but the thread view is a shrinked version. Regardless of the image we upload, limits will exist regardless, but the ratio can be changed to something like this:
I made these changes by playing around with the CSS, the default size of thread-view avatar can be tweaked around with according to the likings of the developer. I'm on about the physical template in thread-view for the avatar. This is just a heads up for Rick, it's so much cooler as you can see by the images. After all this is a gaming forum, not a serious discussion forums, we need more picture space man to make stuff look more cheerful!

Image was never shrunk, the layout template design now is much wider on post content than the post-bit, i don't think it's annoying much, since it is comfort for eyes and readability.

I am talking about the template, not the physical img.

Other than that, i can see the forum seems fine to use now than before, it does not really bother me how big or large my admin rank image and how much reputation/thanks i have anyway, as long the forum can still be used for forum discussion.

Nice to know some features already exist, at the moment though - usability of forums is extremely tough. Some of these features are hidden and none of it's clear. I'd like to see some of the stuff that you said were possible to be added in. Other than that, from all the people I've asked, mostly admins and friends, current forums is so overwhelming, some stuff isn't made clear. I know you consider forums to just be for discussion, but it's also for better interaction between players to socialize. Visitor message system isn't really good in this version as it shows only the VM and the response you gave (if you gave any at all), it doesn't show all VMs sent by one user as well as your responses like in the old forums. Additionally, although you don't really care about the rep/thanks, quite a lot of players in the community do care about it, basically all the rep/thanks gained from the previous forums was for nothing and now there isn't such a system. Hell we can't even see who liked our own posts let alone others posts. As for size of avatar/user rank - I'm quite an OCD person, I also care a lot about presentation - I'm quite sure I'm alone in this (From GX) but I feel it would be better if they were larger, it looks better, presentation wise. Overall,

PS. Let's not forget that now donators colours look exactly like normal users of forums (both are blue).

[Robo]

That one is called post-bit as i already said, and ofcourse i'm talking about the physical image... since if you resize the physical image that is not even that large, I've done that trick once to make the wrong thumbnail that was appearing too big on old forum, but i wont do the same to make small image to big. it will just look ugly. css_additional.css is in vB4, it has different way in vB5 since it comes with site builder (which then it can be just loaded in place of post-bit, not in all forums).

[Eliteus]

That one is called post-bit as i already said, and ofcourse i'm talking about the physical image... since if you resize the physical image that is not even that large, I've done that trick once to make the wrong thumbnail that was appearing too big on old forum, but i wont do the same to make small image to big. it will just look ugly. css_additional.css is in vB4, it has different way in vB5 since it comes with site builder (which then it can be just loaded in place of post-bit, not in all forums).

But what if the image is big in the first place? Besides the PXs were only changed to 100x100 which shouldn't make the image look "ugly" unless the image itself is of very low resolution. What I mean is, if you click on a profile, the avatar template itself is large and the images seem fine there because the physical ratio is large to begin with. The physical image should be chosen appropriately, choosing ones with really low resolution will obviously be ugly in enlarged templates, but most avatars (or at least my old one), looks fine in the thread-view as well as in the larger version found in our profiles. So all I am asking is for the small thread-view avatar to have it's template changed to at least even half the size of the profile-view avatar. It's just too small.

Also as far as I am aware css_additional.css is also available in VB5, via AdminCP > Styles and Templates > Style Manager > [Expand the "Default Size"] > CSS Templates > Find the css_additional.css. Not too sure if it was removed or something as I haven't updated myself on it - but even if it is removed, I hope it is enlarged through other means if there is no css_additional.css in VB5.2.6.

[Robo]

But what if the image is big in the first place? Besides the PXs were only changed to 100x100 which shouldn't make the image look "ugly" unless the image itself is of very low resolution. What I mean is, if you click on a profile, the avatar template itself is large and the images seem fine there because the physical ratio is large to begin with. The physical image should be chosen appropriately, choosing ones with really low resolution will obviously be ugly in enlarged templates, but most avatars (or at least my old one), looks fine in the thread-view as well as in the larger version found in our profiles. So all I am asking is for the small thread-view avatar to have it's template changed to at least even half the size of the profile-view avatar. It's just too small.

The default avatar you are having is large, it's already built in so not comes with error. You can even see it comes with different links used in post-bit and profile (it does not really depend on css size, it's already the physical image size itself):





It's the post-bit width that makes it small, the same with rank. I'm looking for variable to change the size of the post body and the post-bit. Also as i could inspect, there comes many rules within blocks that need to be changed (so it's not just the image). Apparently with trend of bootstrap div block sizing like 3-cols, 4-cols, etc... It makes me a bit confused which to override because if i override the wrong one, it could also change the style of other block with the same rule but different use. (Read my EDIT at bottom)
You might have just tested it on your browser, but you never know if it also changed in other part (like for comments also uses "post-bit" which are not forum topics).
Please tell me if you know the style variable name that i could replace safely and exactly just for the post-bit and images also ranks on itself. However vBulletin 4 and vBulletin 5 has different style rule name, didn't you notice why the [COLLAPSIBLE] looks ugly? Because that was having additional_css rule of vBulletin 4, i haven't fixed it yet, since i'm also in need of block style that is same like the modules on forum index (like "What is new on the server?").

This is a collapsible

↵

---

block

(No you just can't copy paste the html code to fix it)

Basically it can be done in many way, just i think that Style Variable replacement is best since it's native configuration for the forum before rendering its page:
Via Forum Setting of Style Variable (i don't know the name?) = safest
Via Template and adding style="" = safer, since it's just specific block
Via JavaScript (additional javascript loads on all page in forum) = safe & complicated, since javascript can be toggled and placed externally (might also break something, but can be disabled)
Via Template and adding <style> overriding a style "class" or "id" = might be safe or not (just for the specific template page)
Via CSS (additional css loads on all page in forum) = not safe & easier, and might break every page (like things wont be visible/work)
Via HTML Code (not work anymore, since it's now using HTML 5, all styling depends on css) = worse (like things would get deleted and not exist anymore)

Even if you have found it, i will still wait for the image upload to be fixed first (by Bloodcell), since nobody would care with the small images as that is not the image they wanted.

Also as far as I am aware css_additional.css is also available in VB5, via AdminCP > Styles and Templates > Style Manager > [Expand the "Default Size"] > CSS Templates > Find the css_additional.css. Not too sure if it was removed or something as I haven't updated myself on it - but even if it is removed, I hope it is enlarged through other means if there is no css_additional.css in VB5.2.6.

That's not what i'm talking about, vB5 comes with site builder and has additional css for just specific pages which i already know.. The steps that you are mentioning is actually in place of Edit Site > Styles > CSS Editor. I'm just telling you that it's now different, than adding style rules for all pages in forum than just adding style rules for specific pages, so that the style wont load on other page that the rule is not being used or names and ids of the style wont be used wrongly in the non post-bit place. Maybe when you were searching for that steps, you notice "StyleVar", that's what i'm need right now.

EDIT: I was panicked, i tried to do css and html replacement on my post here just equivalent to what you suggested (to show you how it is, not just in my own browser), and i did it wrong.. (whoever was online that time witnessed the weird behavior of this topic, moderators can see what i did in the "Last Edited" lnk of this post)
The reply, edit, delete button on this topic page was not visible and does not work, topic was stuck, i have to go disable html from admin cp, does not work, i have to delete topic but it just delete the first post... Luckily i managed to edit it from my profile activity section... Imagine if i was trying it on additional css which loads on all forum page, will i be able to manage & delete the broken style when the buttons are bugged? Which is why i don't want to mess up with it anymore so, i need to be careful finding the variable. Even so Rick said to not worry since he has database backup, but it's silly to keep trying and rolling back to old database whence it's broken.

[Eliteus]

Basically it can be done in many way

Whatever way it is, I hope it is enlarged, many forums have also increased their thread-view avatar size, it's one of the biggest disappointments that many forum owners faced after upgrading.

That's not what i'm talking about, vB5 comes with site builder and has additional css for just specific pages which i already know.. The steps that you are mentioning is actually in place of Edit Site > Styles > CSS Editor. I'm just telling you that it's now different, than adding style rules for all pages in forum than just adding style rules for specific pages, so that the style wont load on other page that the rule is not being used or names and ids of the style wont be used wrongly in the non post-bit place. Maybe when you were searching for that steps, you notice "StyleVar", that's what i'm need right now.

EDIT: I was panicked, i tried to do css and html replacement on my post here just equivalent to what you suggested (to show you how it is, not just in my own browser), and i did it wrong.. (whoever was online that time witnessed the weird behavior of this topic, moderators can see what i did in the "Last Edited" lnk of this post)
The reply, edit, delete button on this topic page was not visible and does not work, topic was stuck, i have to go disable html from admin cp, does not work, i have to delete topic but it just delete the first post... Luckily i managed to edit it from my profile activity section... Imagine if i was trying it on additional css which loads on all forum page, will i be able to manage & delete the broken style when the buttons are bugged? Which is why i don't want to mess up with it anymore so, i need to be careful finding the variable. Even so Rick said to not worry since he has database backup, but it's silly to keep trying and rolling back to old database whence it's broken.

It's nice that you tried, now we know that the method shouldn't be used as it's too risky. However I did some research on the StyleVars which you mentioned, it seems like the better option for this version of the forums.

Thread View Avatar Border

thread_view_avatar_border

Controls the border width, style, and color for avatars in thread view.

Posts Replies And Comments

Border

[MaxSafy]

Sorry for disturbing the conversation, but could we get the 'Activity Stream' back?

[Robo]

Whatever way it is, I hope it is enlarged, many forums have also increased their thread-view avatar size, it's one of the biggest disappointments that many forum owners faced after upgrading.



It's nice that you tried, now we know that the method shouldn't be used as it's too risky. However I did some research on the StyleVars which you mentioned, it seems like the better option for this version of the forums.

Thread View Avatar Border

thread_view_avatar_border

Controls the border width, style, and color for avatars in thread view.

Posts Replies And Comments

Border

Will check it as soon as possible, when i have time thanks, i'm hoping the other issues get fixed too by Bloodcell/Stefan/Rick (some of admin control panel pages are not working properly)

Sorry for disturbing the conversation, but could we get the 'Activity Stream' back?

Forum > Latest Activity tab
http://forum.gamerxserver.com/#activity-stream-tab