UBB.Developers Forums General Discussion Suggestions and Feedback Control Panel Curious?

Yes, I would have it just as "Print", at any case you can have an alt tag explaining more. But everyone knows what happens when you click on a printer icon, thats one of those things you learn your first week on a computer. Just "Print", and make it automatically print (you can always hit cancel when you have the printer dialog pop up).

Mateo Byler
CruceDeCaminos.com

Would probably need the full "Email thread to a friend" in the hover text because I am kind of fighting for space as it is to try and keep it from looking to cluttered.

You will not need to scroll left and right. The only reason you need to do that with the screenshots is I took them full screen (1024 x 768).

Yep, that's what I code in. I've got several nxterm windows running at the same time so I can pop back and forth between them all[]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/].

I didn't know you could make it automatically print either[]/w3timages/icons/crazy.gif[/]

Yeah, I think I can put that in. If I forget, just give me another reminder[]/w3timages/icons/wink.gif[/].

I was thinking about getting that in, but at this point there are quite a few queries going on in the Control Panel and I don't want to overload it until we get some real testing out of it.

En respuesta a:

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Would probably need the full "Email thread to a friend" in the hover text because I am kind of fighting for space as it is to try and keep it from looking to cluttered.

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I think "Send to friend" would be sufficient. Anyway... come to think of it... I never see your text since I use the Spanish language files, haha! []/w3timages/icons/laugh.gif[/]

Mateo Byler
CruceDeCaminos.com

I love the idea of having the option to have replies to your important messages sent to the control panel, but this would have to be on a per message basis (like "Email relpies to my real address"), else you'd be overlwhelmed with replies.

Scream, To get around the problem of too many queries going on in the control panel, how about sending the reply to Private Messages for now ? It does a query for them on every page anyway so is no extra load. Maybe use a different coloured icon for "replies to forum messages".

BTW, great work so far. It's looking really good !

Bill.

Something I hadnt thought of before:
Whats the real difference between Thread Reminders and Favorite Threads? Dont they both act in the same way? Or is there a real difference in there (like as if when clicking on "Remind me!" it takes you to a screen where it asks you for the title of the reminder while with the "Favorite!" it just shows 3 seconds of a confirmation screen and takes you right back to where you were without the need of giving it a personal tittle).

Mateo Byler
CruceDeCaminos.com

A Reminder is a temporary thing, where as a favorite will probably be for something longer. When you set a reminder, it's basically just used to remind yourself to reply to a thread. As soon as you make a reply the reminder goes away, where as a favorite will remain until you actually remove it from your list.

I see... interesting... yes, it sounds very good. []/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/]
Maybe it should be explained in there in a one line roll. Something simple and small such as for the reminder something like "Listed here until you reply to the post."

By the way, after you add a reminder add a favorite or send to friend you are taken right back to the exact page you were at, right?

Mateo Byler
CruceDeCaminos.com

Speaking of the "email to thread to friend" option. How does everyone want to handle this? Do you want the actual thread messages to be emailed or do you want to send out a link to that thread instead?

You might become very unpopular if it's a long thread! Maybe the first message and then the rest listed underneath - the way it is in threaded view.

[]http://www.wopr.com/w3tuserpics/Eileen-sig.gif[/]

i like being able to read the message in my email. how about being able to show maybe 30-40 words or so...

[:red]--------------
http://extremeforums.org

I dont' see why someone would want to print an entire thread. Especially a popular thread with dozens of posts.

IMO.....I think the Send to Friend and Print stuff would be post specific. Just a little graphic or link to send that particular post to the printer or through the email to friend.

I also think the admin should be able to switch on or off having a link in the email or the whole post....or maybe even the whole thread.

Brew
CustomShowCars.com

i have been checking the perl versin almost daily now, hoping that i could see some of the new features implemented already! aaahhhhh, haha....i hate waiting for new features...

[:red]--------------
http://extremeforums.org

I agree with including a small portion of the text, but not the entire thread. I small tidbit to get the reader niterested and then a link. Sort of like this:

In reply to:

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"So-and-so has forwarded a link to a thread on [sitenamehere]! The thread starts out with...

"... a short paragraph, say 200-255 characters of tyhe body of the message."

To read the rest of the thread, please visit the site here (link embedded in the here text)!

To learn more about [sitenamehere]'s forums, you may visit us here (another link predefined by the admin to a help/info page).

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Jhariden (aka Strategist)
Stratics Forums

Scream--

I vote for the way Brew suggests: just e-mail this particular post in its entirety, and then possibly a link to find the rest of the thread.

People I think are interested in what is said in a particular post, and what they think is important might not be in the first 255 characters, unfortunately.

Will it say who mailed it to them? I think it should.

:-Doug.
[][email protected][/]
www.FootprintsintheWind.com

I was thinking of that, and I'm not real sure of a good way to handle individual posts. We could use icons but there wouldn't enough room for text to explain what they are for and I'm worried about clutter as well. For an entire thread it's only a link at the bottom and top of the page for each page instead of having icons for each post.

This will probably end up like some of the other features, I'll start with the entire thread stuff (because the code for that is pretty much done), and then as more people use the features there will be more feedback on how to make it better.

I would say there are two common sense options (to me, []/w3timages/icons/laugh.gif[/]) to choose from:
1. Send Page: Sends all posts currently being seen. All content in the current page will be sent. If I am viewing a multipage thread and am at page 3 when I send the page I expect it to send the content of the whole page, that is, all the posts, not the whole thread (that includes page 1 and 2 part=1,part=2). You send what you see. The only time when you send the whole thread is when you are viewing the whole thread (you clicked on "show all"). Makes sense to me.
2. Send Post. Needs a button for every post. You choose what post to send.

Any of these would be acceptable to me. I dont like the idea of sending the first post of a thread, part of a post, or anything other than what you see when you click on Send.


Same thing with the "Print" function. Print the page you are viewing, not the entire thread. Or have a print icon for every post. Whichever.

All that being said for when viewing in showflat. If you are in showthreaded only print/send the post you are viewing. There is no use in printing the reply tittles and authors to the post, not very usefull at all.

Mateo Byler
CruceDeCaminos.com

Personally, I always thought the idea of "send to a friend" was to get people to actually click on a link and visit your forums - to be used to allow one person to say "Hey, I really like this discussion, come her eand get involved in it." Not, "Hey, I like this discussion... read it in your mail box, we'll talk about tomorrow on the phone." The idea is to INCREASE traffic on your site. But then again, that's just how I personally see it.

Sending the entire thread is too much IMO. As far as sending the entire page being viewed, that too can become excessive if someone sets their default value to list 40 or so messages per page. Now, a single message, that is certainly acceptable. Although, I think the feature needs to be approached from the standpoint of it being a tool to increase use of your forums. Not send content on your site out to the world.

That is why I like the idea of sending partial information. It forces the reader to visit your site in order to finish the rest of the thread. I think the problem with a lot of these "wishes" and the varying points of view is that a number of us are running our sites in a completely different manner with differing ideas of what helps to build communities. []/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/]

So again, my vote is for either a partial message or the single message. Not the entire thread. I can see the feedback already, "Why are you sending this to me!! Stop spamming me!" If it is a single post, it does not appear as excessive to the ones receiving the messages. If they get a five page long email from 20-40 posts, then they get irate.

Now, MTO's point about the print option is a very good one. I like that idea of being able to print a single message. I also like the idea of being able toprint an entire thread. So I'm torn on that concept. A mini printer icon on each message and one at the top/bottom... those nicluded with each post print only the message, the ones at the top/bottom print the entire page.

Jhariden (aka Strategist)
Stratics Forums

In reply to:

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I like that idea of being able to print a single message. I also like the idea of being able toprint an entire thread. So I'm torn on that concept. A mini printer icon on each message and one at the top/bottom... those nicluded with each post print only the message, the ones at the top/bottom print the entire page.

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That's what I was trying to say..........

Brew
CustomShowCars.com

Sorry Brewskie, I missed it in the confusion... Let me rephrase my statement. I fully agree with what Brewskie was saying! []/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/]

Jhariden (aka Strategist)
Stratics Forums

Seems logical to me too...

As for the next post that says that the idea is to get them to came to the board: if what you sent them (even if it is the entire thread) is interesting they will come anyway, to add to the discussion or because they know now that your site hosts interesting discussions... i don't believe in the idea of "I'll show you something but you have to click for more" (I don't believe that it works as expected, that is).

My only concern about mailing the entire therad is the intimidating potential size of the mail. Another reason for doing it on a post by post basis is the fact that what gets your attention is ussually one post, even in the context of a discussion (but maybe that's just me...I always wished I could send posts rather than threads as a user). I also would be somewhat lazy if I got a huge email...even my friend does not know if that is actually interesting for me so I would like him/her to show me something interesting and let me decide if it is worth reading more...

You're right patagon, that's why after thinking about it more and more, I like the idea of sending an entire message. But I think sending the entire thread could get out of hand. It is a tough call. But to be honest, I'd settle for any of the above over no option at all.

Jhariden (aka Strategist)
Stratics Forums

Ok, here is another screenshot. This will give the user the option to print out an entire thread (The icon at the top of the thread), and also the option to mail an individual post, print an individual post, and notify a moderator of a post (not done with the script for this one). Also would like to have a unique icon for notifying a moderator of the post instead of what is used now.

That looks fantastic Scream! []/w3timages/icons/cool.gif[/] I think as a website owner I would like the option of disabling the e-mail function. I haven't made up my mind on whether it's a good thing or not. I love the other two, Print and Notify Moderator. Regarding Notify Moderator, does the admin get a copy also, for those boards not assigned a moderator (I have no moderators at this point)?

http://www.yourvacationdreams.com

If there are no moderators assigned to a forum then the notice would go to the admin.

I'll make config options to turn the email stuff off. Also, most of the stuff won't be available to users that aren't logged in so things won't be overly abused, so if a new user is browsing they won't get the links for favorites, reminders, email, notify. They will probably only get the link for printing the individual posts and threads.

Scream--

Uhh, could it be a little confusing that these new icons are in the post and the reply and edit ones are in the title bar for that post. In other words, do you click the one above the message you want to e-mail, or below it? []/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/]

:-Doug.
[][email protected][/]
www.FootprintsintheWind.com

PS: Would it improve traffic if visitors not logged in could e-mail the post to a friend?

In reply to:

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If there are no moderators assigned to a forum then the notice would go to the admin.

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I'd like to have an admin option to select whether all email should cc to admin no matter moderators was assigned or not. That will be a great feature for admin to tracking unanswered questions.

Also, a great job. Scream. Just can't wait to test the new functions.[]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/]

I would preffer the icons aligned to the right, and instead of the text being in the link, having it in the image alt tags so that on mouseover the text displays.

These are icons that should be used lot less than any others, and they dont need to be right in the middle taking space and calling your attention. Right now they are much easier to see than the "Reply" and "Edit" ones themselves... Therefore, I suggest moving them to the right and with the text in the alt tags.

Mateo Byler
CruceDeCaminos.com

I love it! There are a lot of options there, but honestly, they are great options. Looking good! []/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/]

Jhariden (aka Strategist)
Stratics Forums

I tried a few different places for the icons, and most everywhere ended up looking cluttered. I figured since the icons are in the same background color as the body of the post it would be ok, but it may take some more tweaking. Tried adding it next to the reply/edit buttons but it just didn't look good at all.

Forgot your P.S. If you allow anonymous users to send an email there is no way to show who the email is being sent from reliably. When a logged in user uses this function it sends the email from their actual email address so there is some accountability behind it.

I tried moving them over to the right, but it looked very cluttered. I have the Main thread options, Print, Favorite, Reminder, etc on the top and the bottom for ease of use, and when the icons for the individual post options are over to the right they are right next to the thread options on the last post. We can try different placements as things move along as I'd like to do whatever looks best.

Scream, how about this... add the icons to the right of the topic (similar to the UBB and many other products). Then ensure the ALT options are used so that mouse-overs indicate the purpose of the icons. Like the same attached to this post. Removing the text really eases on the clutter. Another option is to put the icons in a similar pattern, but just below the user image in the left hand cell.

Hmm.. where did the attachment go?

Jhariden (aka Strategist)
Stratics Forums

Edited by Jhariden on 03/30/01 12:03 AM.

Tries again...

Jhariden (aka Strategist)
Stratics Forums

Like Eileen suggested (or did) a flag on the database record for VIP posts and an easy check box for admin/moderators to set it. This would mean there would not be a need to copy "keepers" to another board. You could ad a item to search to display all these VIP messages for browsing.

How about a check box for admins to delete messages quickly in showflat mode. I can check 5,10,20 then hit a doit button at the bottom of the page and they all get zapped at once.


My only other grip is being able to see deleted messges, but I think that will be more complecated and I have my hack to tide me over.

Thanks!!!

[]http://www.wwwthreads.com/files/10-33266-notifymod.gif[/] Here is an icon for the Notify Moderator.

Mateo Byler
CruceDeCaminos.com

Why not a setup like this Scream?

icons at the bottom of posts

BTW....

Their "quote" link is a really good idea! It would save a bit of hassle instead of having to type [ quote] when you want to quote someone.

Brew
CustomShowCars.com