I've enjoyed seeing the various "Sticky" and "Poll" hacks come out over the past week or so.

I'll tell you what I'd really like to see; however. I'd like to see a comprehensive hack that does away with all of the post icons with the exception of 4. It would work in the following manner:

• All posts use a single standard icon such as the lightbulb (to carry the theme over from the front page). Users would not need to actually select this icon. It would be added to all posts unless the post satisfied one of the following criteria. This is how I have my board currently setup. I have removed all but three post icons that users can select. I changed the filename for the lightbulb.gif and modified it to be clear when the post/thread is old and yellow when the post/thread is new.
  
  
• Any thread that has been "pinned" has the lightbulb replaced by the "sticky" image when viewed in showflat mode.
  
  
• Any thread that has a poll has the lightbulb replaced by the "poll" image when viewed in showflat mode.

What I'm proposing is to have the Poll and Sticky icons operate in the same manner as the Locked icon (ie it replaces the post icon until unlocked, unstuck, etc.). I'd also like it to add the words Pinned:, Poll: or Closed: to the thread title. All of that would be removed if the thread was re-opened, un-pinned, etc.

If someone can explain to me how the code logic works for closed threads, I think I can workup a hack that will do this.

What I would ultimately like to get rid of is the Post Icons in their entirety. Having them replaced by a single default image which is modifed as I indicated above. Reason being is none of my users like the additional icons. They all prefer the single lightbulb since it makes it much easier to scan through a forum looking for "on" posts. Unfortunately; however, I often forget to change the post icon to the poll or stick image when I make a new post. Having it happen automatically would be a bonus for old forgetful guys like me.

Any ideas?

I've been thinking the same thing recently. I'm still really playing and learning at how to "write" the hacks myself. But I recently wondered about looking to how the locked thread thing worked and have it replace the polls, file attachments, and sticky polls with custom icons.

Adding the text to the subject line shouldn't be that difficut.

I had a user comment about the hacks for Sticky and Attachment etc... and say that those changes need to appear in the threaded view too. So I was going to look deeper into it this evening.

Probably by the time I do someone else smarter than me will have it solved. LOL

If you're interested, we could probably work on this one together. It just might qualify as the first true "collaborative hack".

I'm typically on ICQ in the evenings. I can be contacted at 115824750. If ICQ doesn't work, you can use MSN ([email protected]) or AIM (wraith00011).

I would surely use this hack if it is done. I don't like the ability for users to change the post icons at all, it makes the board look cluttered, and is not as easy to scan the posts as you say. I do like the Sticky/Attachment/Poll icon hacks that has been released, it really makes it easier for the users, but it makes the board look cluttered. So this hack would be perfect. I also hope it could be the standard way in threads, well, at least for boards that don't use the selectable post icons.

I agree, and that's why I got rid of it all with the exception of the three which I'll allow. All posts default to the lightbulb and since only Moderators or Administrators can create polls on my board, they're the only ones who can use the Poll icon. The sticky icon only gets used if they know a post they're creating is going to get pinned. Otherwise it ends up defaulting to the lightbulb as well (i.e. if they pin someone else's post). Not the perfect solution, but it's the best I can do for right now.

I really would like to get this functional though, so I'll start working on it. My custom image hack will have to take a back-burner.

Haven't had a chance to look at this yet either.
Being good and trying to complete some "real" work this evening, which isn't as much fun as hacking threads. LOL

But as soon as I'm clear to get into it, I'll contact you.