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Bleys
03-01-2006, 06:46 PM
Now that you have so many SPF people coming over, Chris, I think you might want to consider implementing some of the little things we've grown so comfortable with over at SPF. ;)

Things like [ot] and [edit] tags (really easy to put those in), the Advanced WYSIWYG editor, and cooler smilies. ;)

ses5909
03-01-2006, 06:51 PM
or letting me post more than once every 30 seconds. I type fast. what can i say!

stymiee
03-01-2006, 06:53 PM
You're just trying to catch Josh again. :rolleyes:

Bleys
03-01-2006, 06:57 PM
Yeah, she is dangerously close to me here. ;)

KLB
03-01-2006, 09:09 PM
or letting me post more than once every 30 seconds. I type fast. what can i say!

You must have some of Vinnie's Lego robots. :p

Vinnie
03-01-2006, 09:15 PM
You must have some of Vinnie's Lego robots. :p
What can I say, they're good for fighting lo0ol and posting quickly :D

Chris
03-02-2006, 07:51 AM
My smile list certainly isn't nearly as comprehensive.

Although... there are copyright issues involved with some of those.

So does anyone know where I could get what is truly a free library?

KLB
03-02-2006, 07:55 AM
Ask FrozenToast for permission to use his old smilies. He granted us permission to use them in exchange for a link to his site down in our footer.

Bleys
03-02-2006, 11:06 AM
Yeah, just be sure he remembers to send you the :shifty: one ;)

(For now I am using the original text: ¬.¬ )

Michael
03-03-2006, 01:37 AM
http://www.mazeguy.net/ ??

Mr.M
03-03-2006, 02:04 AM
I'd love see the theme change to something better. Maybe give us multiple themes to choose from?

I'd love to use the default VB theme instead of this half-skinned one. Will you put it back there as an option please?

Chris
03-03-2006, 07:30 AM
Better?

Whats wrong with it? It's simple... its red (not blue like every other webmaster site). Its certainly not fancy, I'll give you that.

r2d2
03-03-2006, 07:34 AM
Sometimes the forum seems to load without the redness briefly - it looks pretty cool like that.

KLB
03-03-2006, 07:35 AM
I'm indifferent to the skin. It works, it's easy on the eyes and like Chris said it isn't blue. I tend to simplicty over fancy. Maybe over time we'll get a few frills like more smillies but I don't see a need to create extra work for Chris.

Chris
03-03-2006, 07:38 AM
What I'd like is like a "package" of smilies. Easy install. I mean, you go to these smilie sites and there are thousands, so I have a hard time choosing which ones.

You know... what'd be really nice.....

If someone could come up with a package for me? Then also do a mysql dump type thing with them so I can just upload the smilies then run the sql statements through my system and we'll be good to go. Perhaps if someone runs a forum and wouldn't mind sharing their smilies?

KLB
03-03-2006, 08:03 AM
Like I said, ask FrozenToast if you can use his old smilies he had created for SPF. If he did, I can provide them to you as a zip. You would need to tweak a few codes once you have installed them but it isn't too big of a deal. I could provide you a screen capture of my codes to help you out.

dc dalton
03-03-2006, 09:27 AM
Folks Folks Folks ..... yesh, I'm sure Chris's head is swimming already from the influx of people (and problems that go with them) .. how about we give the chance for things to level out before asking for all sorts of changes?

And by the by ......... lets not forget to click on an ad once in a while to help finance the place too hmmm??

To be honest Im just happy to find another place with the great people I knew without the attitude!

jelena
03-03-2006, 09:54 AM
Folks Folks Folks ..... yesh, I'm sure Chris's head is swimming already from the influx of people (and problems that go with them) .. how about we give the chance for things to level out before asking for all sorts of changes?

I agree, let's cool thing off first. Who cares about the smiles, when such a great group of people is coming along this forums.


And by the by ......... lets not forget to click on an ad once in a while to help finance the place too hmmm??

I already did that accidantly :o

Mr.M
03-03-2006, 10:00 AM
And by the by ......... lets not forget to click on an ad once in a while to help finance the place too hmmm??So you're saying we should let advertisers pay for clicks from people who weren't interested in their ad? no thanks..

KLB
03-03-2006, 10:08 AM
So you're saying we should let advertisers pay for clicks from people who weren't interested in their ad? no thanks..

Agreed, Dave I think you should edit your comment. As web publishers we have a greater responsiblity than anyone to only click on ads that REALLY interest us. We do not want to steal from advertisers and we do not want any backlash against Chris because of our actions. :mad:

dc dalton
03-03-2006, 10:37 AM
NO Im saying we should click a link once in a while that DOES interest us!

Ive seen one or two I wanted to check out already. I'm not saying we should create click fraud, not at all .... just not ignore them 100% like most people do TV commericals.

I was personally quite interested in that lookquick thingy and have bookmarked it for future use.... from a quick look it looks like something I can use to make money for my sites down the road so why shouldn't I give Chris the click while trying to expand my possibilities for making money!

Chris
03-03-2006, 10:54 AM
Yes... but all means do not ignore the ads, but don't click on them just to make me money.

Erin
03-03-2006, 02:04 PM
I agree--the technical stuff is secondary to content. Just post in the other sections to get things going.

Erin
03-03-2006, 04:24 PM
I'd be happy to zip up my set of smilies--I use mostly the IPB nomicon smilies, which are, according to Invision themselves, not copyrighted by them.

Peter T Davis
03-03-2006, 06:41 PM
My smile list certainly isn't nearly as comprehensive.

Although... there are copyright issues involved with some of those.

So does anyone know where I could get what is truly a free library?
If you haven't already, have a look around vbulletin.org, I've seen a few decent packages of smilies there, can't quote them off the top of my head and what I think is decent may differ with your opinion, but it's worth a browse.

Ben
03-03-2006, 06:44 PM
Why do we want to be like SP? I love the skin, that is why I joined. Everyone is getting huge customized things, that I utterly loathed. Anyway, just leave it as it is. It is fine

KLB
03-03-2006, 06:53 PM
Why do we want to be like SP? I love the skin, that is why I joined. Everyone is getting huge customized things, that I utterly loathed. Anyway, just leave it as it is. It is fine

Although more smilies would be fun, I do mostly agree with you. The more customization that is done to these forums, the harder it becomes to upgrade them to the latest version of vBulletin. Look how long it always takes SP to update their forum.

Ben
03-03-2006, 07:01 PM
Although more smilies would be fun, I do mostly agree with you. The more customization that is done to these forums, the harder it becomes to upgrade them to the latest version of vBulletin. Look how long it always takes SP to update their forum.
Yeah, I would rather some more smilies. That would be pretty cool, but this forum is geared towards publishing not graphic desigining ;)

Frozentoast
03-04-2006, 05:55 PM
Like I said, ask Frozentoast if you can use his old smilies he had created for SPF. If he did, I can provide them to you as a zip. You would need to tweak a few codes once you have installed them but it isn't too big of a deal. I could provide you a screen capture of my codes to help you out.
Chris has contacted me regarding this, and I have given him the nod. :)

dc dalton
03-04-2006, 06:38 PM
Chris has contacted me regarding this, and I have given him the nod. :)

Yeah! Toast comes to the rescue again! What a guy!

Bleys
03-04-2006, 07:11 PM
Why do we want to be like SP? I love the skin, that is why I joined. Everyone is getting huge customized things, that I utterly loathed. Anyway, just leave it as it is. It is fine

Well, the two things I suggested besides smilies (which it looks like we'll have covered now :)) were the advanced WYSIWYG editor and a couple of simple bbcode additions. Both are already part of vB (no hacking required) and should only take a few minutes, at most, to turn on. ;)

KLB
03-04-2006, 07:30 PM
Okay Bleys easy boy. The only way to get a decent advanced WYSIWYG like gfxcontests.com is to upgrade to vBulletin 3.5x. Depending on how many mods Chris did to these forums, it may or may not be that easy to upgrade. When I upgraded my SimCity forum, I ended up having to buy a new skin as my skin was broken beyond repair by the ugrade.

Lord Brar
03-04-2006, 07:33 PM
What I'd like is like a "package" of smilies. Easy install. I mean, you go to these smilie sites and there are thousands, so I have a hard time choosing which ones.

You know... what'd be really nice.....

If someone could come up with a package for me? Then also do a mysql dump type thing with them so I can just upload the smilies then run the sql statements through my system and we'll be good to go. Perhaps if someone runs a forum and wouldn't mind sharing their smilies?
How about this Chris? http://www.big-boards.com/smileys.php

You can even download .zip files of those smilie sets there, load em to your server and install em all in one go. :)

Bleys
03-04-2006, 08:32 PM
Okay Bleys easy boy. The only way to get a decent advanced WYSIWYG like gfxcontests.com is to upgrade to vBulletin 3.5x. Depending on how many mods Chris did to these forums, it may or may not be that easy to upgrade. When I upgraded my SimCity forum, I ended up having to buy a new skin as my skin was broken beyond repair by the ugrade.

For some reason I was thinking this forum already used 3.5. I use too many forums. ;)

That said, Tom told me the Advanced WYSIWYG Editor used at SitePoint (vB 3.0.3) came from Jelsoft. So there must be an official package for it.

KLB
03-04-2006, 09:13 PM
Josh, you evil hacking fiend. it would be much better to simply upgrade the forum's than install a hack to an outdated version of vBulletin. I'm sure if we start to really make these forums active and they become really viable for Chris he will spend some time on updating vBulletin. It just means we have to make sure these forums become really active.

MaxS
03-04-2006, 09:18 PM
[ot] tags would be nice. We definitely need more smilies :).

Chris
03-04-2006, 09:27 PM
I'll look into adding those custom tags, and the smilies are on my list.

As for the upgrade. There is one custom hack on this forum that they haven't upgraded (atleast last I checked) for 3.5 compatibility. Once it is upgraded I'll upgrade the software.

Bleys
03-04-2006, 09:59 PM
Josh, you evil hacking fiend. it would be much better to simply upgrade the forum's than install a hack to an outdated version of vBulletin. I'm sure if we start to really make these forums active and they become really viable for Chris he will spend some time on updating vBulletin. It just means we have to make sure these forums become really active.

Well, if it comes from Jelsoft officially, which it did according to what Tom told me, I doubt it makes the upgrade much more difficult. It is probably a standard patch. *shrug*

Excite
03-04-2006, 10:07 PM
There are ads on this forum?

Edit: I see 'em now ... to tell you the truth I never noticed them since they had the same formatting and color as the rest of the place.

KLB
03-04-2006, 10:43 PM
Well, if it comes from Jelsoft officially, which it did according to what Tom told me, I doubt it makes the upgrade much more difficult. It is probably a standard patch. *shrug*

You would be suprised. Most mods require changes to the skins and going from v3.0.x to 3.5.x requires reviewing and fixing every customized template that vBulletin can not automatically update on its own because it has been customized. This can impact hundreds of templates with big and small changes that can be very hard to detect. If Chris were to implement that mod or upgrade to v3.5 I'd recommend to save himself some headaches and upgrade to v3.5.

Mods can make upgrading a very nasty messy business even if they are "official" mods.

Bleys
03-04-2006, 10:58 PM
Well, upgrading to vB 3.5 will get me the Advanced WYSIWYG editor as well. So, you know, that'll work. ;)

KLB
03-04-2006, 11:10 PM
Bleys, I think you need to use Lynx for at least one week. That should readjust your prospective an you will be completely happy with the current state of things at the end of that week. ;)

Ben
03-04-2006, 11:11 PM
Well, upgrading to vB 3.5 will get me the Advanced WYSIWYG editor as well. So, you know, that'll work.
You really want that Advanced WYSIWYG editor, don't you?

Bleys
03-04-2006, 11:24 PM
Yep, I like it. It makes posting links, images, bulleted lists, bolding, underlining, etc. far quicker and easier (it can get confusing when you have a large post filled with bbcode).

KLB
03-04-2006, 11:48 PM
Yep, I like it. It makes posting links, images, bulleted lists, bolding, underlining, etc. far quicker and easier (it can get confusing when you have a large post filled with bbcode).

Oh come on. I spend days on end looking and hundreds if not thousands of lines of PHP code with JavaScript and HTML thrown in and your worried about a little bb code. Geez.

Lord Brar
03-04-2006, 11:54 PM
I'll look into adding those custom tags, and the smilies are on my list.

As for the upgrade. There is one custom hack on this forum that they haven't upgraded (atleast last I checked) for 3.5 compatibility. Once it is upgraded I'll upgrade the software.
Which hack is it Chris? :)

Bleys
03-04-2006, 11:56 PM
I spend days on end looking and hundreds if not thousands of lines of PHP code with JavaScript and HTML thrown in

That sounds like a personal problem to me. :D ;)

KLB
03-05-2006, 12:09 AM
That sounds like a personal problem to me. :D ;)
You want those other mods for GFXC when?

Chris
03-05-2006, 07:35 AM
Which hack is it Chris? :)
There are two actually. One is text replacements, it allows me to turn words into links

like adsense

the other isn't so much a hack as it is a template edit... but I know of one person who upgraded to 3.5 and couldn't reinstall it. Its the user encouragement one listed in my VB optimization article.

Frozentoast
03-05-2006, 08:07 AM
One is text replacements, it allows me to turn words into links

like Adsense
That is a great hack. :)

MarkB
03-05-2006, 08:09 AM
Chris do you mean the one where it asks non-registered visitors to visit, etc? I'm sure that's out now for 3.5.*

Young Twig
03-05-2006, 08:12 AM
Better?

Whats wrong with it? It's simple... its red (not blue like every other webmaster site). Its certainly not fancy, I'll give you that.
It's kind of ugly, to be honest. The grey to red gradient is not-so-cool, and the header looks like something from 1997. Not to mention the blue buttons in the red template. :p

I kind of like the color scheme. I just don't like the implementation.

dc dalton
03-05-2006, 08:15 AM
There are two actually. One is text replacements, it allows me to turn words into links

like adsense

the other isn't so much a hack as it is a template edit... but I know of one person who upgraded to 3.5 and couldn't reinstall it. Its the user encouragement one listed in my VB optimization article.

Yeah that is a great hack ..... personally I want to get that one for my (our) board. Someone (wont mention any names) was supposed to ask you what that was BTW....

Hey Ken .... I think we should set Josh up so he has to work in VI all day ....

Young Twig
03-05-2006, 08:16 AM
I like Adsense and Fastclick.

That's nifty. :)

Chris
03-05-2006, 09:16 AM
It's kind of ugly, to be honest. The grey to red gradient is not-so-cool, and the header looks like something from 1997. Not to mention the blue buttons in the red template. :p

I kind of like the color scheme. I just don't like the implementation.
I purposely want a simple design. I think it lends itself to the atmosphere of the site. This isn't a graphic tutorial site afterall.

The New Guy
03-05-2006, 09:19 AM
I purposely want a simple design. I think it lends itself to the atmosphere of the site. This isn't a graphic tutorial site afterall.

I agree. Its not fancy but its fine for what we need. The only thing that really bothers me is the main pages left navigation. The links are way to small in font size. I don't like to read font that small unless it is pointless.

Chris
03-05-2006, 09:24 AM
They are small, but it is necessary.

If they were larger two things would happen.

1. They'd end up being 2 line links, the link text would word wrap. or

2. I'd need to make the left menu bigger, thus either disallowing me to use a 728 leaderboard OR meaning I'd push beyong 1024 as minimum width.

Most of the links are duplicated at the top anyways.

Young Twig
03-05-2006, 10:47 AM
I purposely want a simple design. I think it lends itself to the atmosphere of the site. This isn't a graphic tutorial site afterall.
Ugly and simple are not the same thing. I love simplicity. I don't so much care for ugliness.

Frozentoast
03-05-2006, 11:46 AM
Ugly and simple are not the same thing. I love simplicity. I don't so much care for ugliness.
Yes there is nothing simple about the current design. :rolleyes:

Erin
03-05-2006, 12:18 PM
There are two actually. One is text replacements, it allows me to turn words into links

like adsenseI'm using the Geek Auto-Linker (http://www.thevbgeek.com/forumdisplay.php?f=6) plugin on my forum for this. It works pretty well. My only complaint is that it will multiply-link a term (http://www.thevbgeek.com/showthread.php?t=600) when a shorter term is contained in a longer term (e.g., bat, baseball bat, aluminum baseball bat, used aluminum baseball bat, etc.).


the other isn't so much a hack as it is a template edit... but I know of one person who upgraded to 3.5 and couldn't reinstall it. Its the user encouragement one listed in my VB optimization article.And this one, if I understand you correctly, is available as a simple plugin: Turning lurkers into members (http://www.theadminzone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3560). I'm also using this one, and it really is a great hack.

Chris
03-07-2006, 08:34 AM
As a quick fix I just copied over from my literature site for smilies. This way I didn't have to do any data entry type stuff adding the new ones. I just took an SQL dump.

Blue Cat Buxton
03-07-2006, 09:05 AM
Excellent :banana:

Blue Cat Buxton
03-07-2006, 09:05 AM
Oh, it doesnt work!

How about this one? :crash:

KLB
03-07-2006, 09:18 AM
:brickwall:

Do'h! So much for the SQL import. Chris you still need to go into the admin pannel and tweak something.

Chris
03-07-2006, 09:46 AM
there we go. I just needed to edit & then save. Probably akin to reinitializing or something.

KLB
03-07-2006, 09:51 AM
Very :cool:

Bleys
03-07-2006, 04:53 PM
:brow: Nice.

dc dalton
03-07-2006, 05:09 PM
Excellent :banana:

oh NO, not nannaman! :eek:

jelena
03-07-2006, 05:17 PM
oh NO, not nannaman! :eek:
:nod:

Chris
03-07-2006, 05:54 PM
Its peanut butter jelly time.

KLB
03-07-2006, 06:02 PM
Chris,

Where did you get these smilies from? There are some very common ones you have that I would like to add to our forum, but want to avoid copyright issues.

Chris
03-07-2006, 06:51 PM
These I got from my literature site, where I got them from originally (2001ish) I don't recall.

Michael
03-08-2006, 01:08 AM
Yay! :banana:

Lord Brar
03-08-2006, 07:12 AM
There are two actually. One is text replacements, it allows me to turn words into links

like adsense

the other isn't so much a hack as it is a template edit... but I know of one person who upgraded to 3.5 and couldn't reinstall it. Its the user encouragement one listed in my VB optimization article.
Actually, have you ever tried Geek Auto-linker? BTW text replacement works well in 3.5 even after upgrade (I did it on all my forums).

And, the other hack you are talking about (which I also use on all my sites) is here : http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=99579

Guess what? It's no longer a template edit but a plugin so gone are the days of search and replace!