Post-Upgrade Status of the Site

[admin]

Hey guys,

So a little info on what has been happening with the site:

There has recently been a new version made available for the software distribution of the server (Linux Debian). Last monday I made the upgrade to the new distribution. I wasn't expecting it to have any influence on the forum software, however it turned out that I was wrong. A significant number of things broke as a result of the upgrade and needed to be fixed (which is why we were down for about 10 hours. One of the things was the forum software, where some of the customizations stopeed working and others simply broke the forum.

At that point, I realised that the update had made changes to the forum sql database, meaning that it wouldn't be possible to revert to the previous version of the forum software, which had been heavily customized. Since it was obvious I needed to start from scratch, I simply decided to download and install the latest version of phpbb (we are using version 3.14 instead of 3.011 which was the old one). I further updated the database for the new version and came to terms with the fact that we would need to restart the customizations from scratch. This coming at a rather busy schedule for me.

So basically this is where we stand now. This update was totally unplanned, and lets be honest, the site kinda sucks now. It will get better eventually, but its going to take a long while to recover our functionalities. The current status can be summarized as follows:

THE PROS:

- We made an important forum upgrade, which means we won't have to do it in the future
- The site is now much better on mobile phones
- Registration now uses google captcha, and there is no longer a spm blacklist. This means that we are blocking all the spambots, but legit people should not have trouble registering anylonger just because someone else abused their IP in the past
- There are some cool new features in this new verson like soft deleting, meaning that people will no longer be able to go full Alex/retard on the forums

THE CONS:

- Skins are much worse, unless you were already a fan of prosilver
- no minichat
- no trophies
- deck tags are broken
- a lot of annoying little things that had been fixed are back
- etc...

So yeah, I really apologise for this, but you guys will need to have a lot of patience in the upcoming weeks. I'll try to get most things back, but some mods are still not ported on this forum software version, so be warned that some of the stuff may be a long time coming...

Feel free to peruse this thread to complain about the stuff that needs to be fixed on the forum, or even to mention what cool new feature we might have now (I know a few things changed for the better, but people might not have noticed), lets see how much we can fix in the near future, right now I'm really giving the priority to getting the card and deck tags fixed.

That is all, again my apologies for all this inconvenience.

[admin]

Oh well, seems like the deck tags *magically* fixed themselves?

whatever, as long as it works.

[admin]

Also, features that still do not exist in this forum version:

- Custom ranks. Everyone wanting a custom tag should ask one of or over 9000 admins for a custom one. There is no mod for allowing users to set it in their control panel yet
- Trophies: We need to wait for the mod to be ported to the new version
- mini-chat: There is an alpha version ported to the new software version and I tried to install it, however it is not compatible with the current database. Either we erase all our mini-chat history with no guarantees of it working, or we wait for a new version to be released.

[iamabadman]

NOT THE MINI CHAT!

[Manders]

Also, features that still do not exist in this forum version:

- Custom ranks. Everyone wanting a custom tag should ask one of or over 9000 admins for a custom one. There is no mod for allowing users to set it in their control panel yet
- Trophies: We need to wait for the mod to be ported to the new version
- mini-chat: There is an alpha version ported to the new software version and I tried to install it, however it is not compatible with the current database. Either we erase all our mini-chat history with no guarantees of it working, or we wait for a new version to be released.

Should I just tell you here what I want?

"oozes fabulousness!!!"

Without the quotations, of course, so that when you look at it, it appears to say "Manders oozes fabulousness!!!"

And make sure there's 3 exclamation marks, please and thank you!!

[rianalnn]

Done. Anyone else want a custom tag just post here and ill do it.

[admin]

Allright, I've added the [deck*] tags to the prosilver_se skin, if I have time I will do itfor the remaining skins today

[Manders]

Done. Anyone else want a custom tag just post here and ill do it.

Excuse me! That is NOT what I asked for!!

[Stardust]

Allright, I've added the [deck*] tags to the prosilver_se skin, if I have time I will do itfor the remaining skins today

Is that why the site keeps going down?

[admin]

No, the site keeps going down because I have other production tools which are related to my main job which need fixing, and they keep messing up with the forum software once in a while, so I have to re-get my backups and put it all the way it was.

It sucks, but expect some more instability for the next days, I hope I can get the server in a stable configuration by the end of next week.

In other news, another thing the new forum software should be better is that you should no longer be randomly logged off, I know Kait used to complain a lot about this but hopefully it should be a thing of the past (well except whenever I flush the site cache in the next days whenever I'm working on improving the site).

[Kaitscralt]

fortunately I have a lot of new things to complain about

[Manders]

Ok I'd rather have Anatomically Correct Token Female than the CT kPAIN gave me!!

[admin]

fortunately I have a lot of new things to complain about

Like __________ ?

[Stardust]

Huh, that's a cool new feature. Highlight a portion of someone else's post and it'll give you the option of quoting just that part, right into the quick reply window, complete with post link. Super useful for Mafia.

QR_BBPOSTAnatomically Correct Token Female

[Jamie]

I hate that feature. I highlight as I read and then the stupid dialogue box pops up and blocks the words

[Manders]

Huh, that's a cool new feature. Highlight a portion of someone else's post and it'll give you the option of quoting just that part, right into the quick reply window, complete with post link. Super useful for Mafia.

QR_BBPOSTAnatomically Correct Token Female

Doesn't work on tablets...but still cool!

[Manders]

Ok I'd rather have Anatomically Correct Token Female than the CT kPAIN gave me!!

Reposting ftw!!!

[admin]

I have edited the skins, all should have the correct logo now and the [*card] and [*deck] tags are functional

notable exceptions:

1) Black skin still has the default logo, I cannot understand how the source code displays it
2) [*deck] tags seem not to be working in the mobile skin

[admin]

So... what more needs fixing besides:

- mini-chat and trophies (waiting for a new release of the packages)
- isolate function (I will redo the tweak when I have some time).

What is pissing you guys off and needs fixing?

[Bhikku]

A button for new/unread posts on the forum index page, like the last version would be great. that extra step clicking quick links just kills a lazy person like me.

[admin]

Funny you asked for this, I just installed a mod for active topics like 5min ago.

On the bottom of your topic you have three boxes below the quickreply box you have two or three buttons (post reply, and a wrench icon). Click on the wrench iocon, you now have an active topics link

[Bhikku]

lol nice! hows that for service lol

[admin]

efective now, you guys can collapse the subforums you don't care about (there is a minus icon you can click in the forum header). These settings are reminded in your account, so everyone has the option of a more trimmed forum list, with just the subforums you are active in.

[admin]

Well, medals are back, so the only thing* people may complain now is about the skins.

I will be redoing the isolate function when I have some time. We'll be back to all the old features we had before the upgrade, plus the new

EDIT: * Well, there's the user-defined custom tag missing too.

[Manders]

efective now, you guys can collapse the subforums you don't care about (there is a minus icon you can click in the forum header). These settings are reminded in your account, so everyone has the option of a more trimmed forum list, with just the subforums you are active in.

Wait, seriously?

I don't have to scroll through all the MtG stuff anymore?!

[( G_R )]

If your quest for better skins can find a way to turn prosilver from this gay purple-ish to the more cool blue some of us are used too, it would be wonderful.

[admin]

OK new feature: you have the tinypic icon below of the reply box, you can attach pictures using it

[admin]

If your quest for better skins can find a way to turn prosilver from this gay purple-ish to the more cool blue some of us are used too, it would be wonderful.

So what you are saying is you like the default blue color for prosilver better? I can bring it back, I just colorized the theme in wine color to better fit our logo but ªI can give the option to use the default skin.

[admin]

BTW since skins are now the main gripe about the forum, you can suggest new ones from the list of available ones in version 3.1 of phpbb3, and I'll install them:

https://www.phpbb.com/community/viewforum.php?f=471

If this is what we need to calm down the masses

[Manders]

If your quest for better skins can find a way to turn prosilver from this gay purple-ish to the more cool blue some of us are used too, it would be wonderful.

So what you are saying is you like the default blue color for prosilver better? I can bring it back, I just colorized the theme in wine color to better fit our logo but ªI can give the option to use the default skin.

The default skin?

That color is TERRIBAD Scumbag!

[Stardust]

It is pretty bad, yeah. The red DTR logo works best when it's contrasting the rest of the colour scheme. Now instead of a splash of blood on your nice tile floor we've got a clot stuck in the menstrual cycle.

[iamabadman]

just use your diva cup, you diva

[admin]

Jeez, I always thought the contrast between the caribean blue and the site logo red was a true eyesore, but fair enough, if most people are happy with the default prosilver blue, I'll bring it back

[admin]

Following popular request, I've put back the default skin, I've kept the red one as an option

[( G_R )]

[Stardust]

DTR, gettin' things done.

[RedNihilist]

Everytime time I enter a new page, my view goes automatically on the reply form rather than letting me read new posts

[Manders]

just use your diva cup, you diva

Disgusting.

[Stardust]

Diva cups are pretty great.

Everytime time I enter a new page, my view goes automatically on the reply form rather than letting me read new posts

This happens to me too. Click the new replies button, and I get dragged to the bottom of the page instead of to the oldest unread post. Minor annoyance.

Also, when I hit post reply, my reply doesn't show up until I refresh the page. That might be due to my extremely outdated version of IE.

[Stardust]

Also, what can I do to make the forums fill my screen? It does for some skins, but not for others.

Huh. Can I not attach images anymore? That tinypic thing you were talking about just shows up as a red X image for me (work filter issues).