Post Menu/Layout Changes

[viscousmemories]

In an effort to fulfill this request (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3144) and inspired by things I learned in the process, I've modified the post display in the following ways:

Removed the red/green online status button - It used to be to the right of the username and (like the "Who's Online" list) it didn't really function correctly anyway. Sorry about the avatar, ceptimus!

Changes to the username drop-down menu:

Added "Show only {username}'s posts" option - This will reload the current thread, but displaying only posts made by that user. Not to be confused with "Find all posts by {username}", which searches for that users posts in the entire forum.

Different options if it's your own username - Now if you click on your own username in a post, instead of having the option of sending yourself a PM or ignoring yourself, you can view your own profile, go to your user options, find all your own posts/threads, or show only your own posts in that thread.

Logged out users see nothing - It used to be the case that logged out users saw all the same options as active registered members, but when they selected them they'd get a login page. Now all they'll see is "You're not logged in" which they can click to go to the login page.

Dynamic Buddy/Ignore list options - This was the original request. You'll see "Add {username} to Buddies" and "Ignore {username}" unless they're already a buddy or ignored, in which case you'll have the option to remove them from your buddy/ignore list.

That's it for now. Let me know if you have any suggestions for ways to improve this. :slide:

[Crumb]

Wow. You kick ass, vm. :ffdance:

[viscousmemories]

Thanks! :)

[pescifish]

Good gosh, did you get any sleep last night?! :sleepy:
All great stuff, vm! :goldstar: :goldstar: :goldstar: :goldstar: :goldstar: :goldstar:

Oh what the hell, here's a whole bunch of gold stars! :seestars: :wink:

[viscousmemories]

Actually I was only up 'til 2ish working on the Buddy part. I made the rest of the changes today. :)

[Blake]

This is ... what's the phrase? Oh, yes--completely unacceptable.

[viscousmemories]

:cryhome:

[justaman]

Why are you saying the online status button was red/green when it was blue/green, what are you stupid?

It always worked fine for me. I hope you weren't paying any attention to mine because I'm liable to stay logged in on the background for a week at a time on the work computers, so if you noticed prolonged green periods it wasn't out of any screw ups on your behalf.

heh, that's a sentiment I'm rarely able to express! :bouncy:

In all seriousness uberkudos, vm, we can all thank the heavens you're still unemployed so you can do all this stuff for us. :D

[JoeP]

Different options if it's your own username - Now if you click on your own username in a post, instead of having the option of sending yourself a PM or ignoring yourself, you can view your own profile, go to your user options, find all your own posts/threads, or show only your own posts in that thread.
Damn. I found ignoring myself a useful option.

For once I'm with justy. In what way did the online status indicator not work?

[livius drusus]

It's your fault it didn't work, actually. No really. Entirely your fault. Since we had to lengthen the session timeouts to an hour, people look like they're online even when they're long gone.

Another way in which the status indicator failed (although this one is not your fault), is that it red flagged the invisible mode folks, which rather dramatically misses the entire point of invisible mode.

[viscousmemories]

In all seriousness uberkudos, vm, we can all thank the heavens you're still unemployed so you can do all this stuff for us. :D
Is that what they call "damning with faint praise"? :ffangry:

[JoeP]

Since we had to lengthen the session timeouts to an hour, people look like they're online even when they're long gone.
A small matter of programming. There's no compelling reason why the online status timeout should be the same as the stomp-all-over-user's-unread-status-and-ruin-his-board-experience timeouts.

[Ensign Steve]

Since we had to lengthen the session timeouts to an hour, people look like they're online even when they're long gone.
A small matter of programming. There's no compelling reason why the online status timeout should be the same as the stomp-all-over-user's-unread-status-and-ruin-his-board-experience timeouts.

Yeah, especially since that's going to be fixed in the upgrade anyway. I can't wait! :D

[justaman]

It's your fault it didn't work, actually. No really. Entirely your fault. Since we had to lengthen the session timeouts to an hour, people look like they're online even when they're long gone.
Really? :footmou: I'm sorry!!
:naughty:

[JoeP]

It's your fault it didn't work, actually. No really. Entirely your fault. Since we had to lengthen the session timeouts to an hour, people look like they're online even when they're long gone.
Really? :footmou: I'm sorry!!
:naughty:
I'm pretty sure liv was talking to me. Remove foot from mouth!

[livius drusus]

He'll do anything for a tongue-lashing, Joe. Even try to fool me into applying someone else's punishment to him.

[JoeP]

You're right. It was all justaroo's fault after all.

[justaman]

I don't give many apologies, so that one still counts even if its not really relevant. I need it for my quota or I'll never make it.

[Corona688]

So THAT'S where the green button went. I've been hunting for it ever since it vanished, and never noticed the bit about it being removed here. Any chance we could convince you to fix it? I found it a useful feature.

[viscousmemories]

It's not really broken, it's a stuck in a philosophical dilemma. :D

In one corner we have people who want the ability to hide their online status, and in the other corner we have people who want the ability to see when others are online. Thus far we can't think of a software solution to satisfy both groups, so we decided that a member's desire for privacy is more compelling than a member's desire to know who's online at any given time.

[Corona688]

How about having the online indicator not work on people who've set themselves hidden?

[viscousmemories]

How about having the online indicator not work on people who've set themselves hidden?
How do you mean not work? The default is that it remains non-green constantly for people who are hidden, so if you see that someone posted two seconds ago and their button is non-green, you know that they're hidden. If I make it disappear entirely for people who are hidden that will have the same effect: If someone posts and they don't have an indicator, you'll know they're hidden.

[Skep]

Same thing applies to the Currently Active Users list. Someone's posting up a storm and they don't show up in the list... you know they're hidden. Better scrap the list too.

[viscousmemories]

Same thing applies to the Currently Active Users list. Someone's posting up a storm and they don't show up in the list... you know they're hidden. Better scrap the list too.
True enough, and we've actually considered scrapping it. But we thought getting rid of the big button and leaving the list was a reasonable compromise. :)

[viscousmemories]

Okay, apparently I was confused. I thought the button previously showed green for people who were online and red for people who were offline and/or hidden. But I guess in reality it was green=online, red=hidden, blue/gray=offline. So it was like having a big red target on hidden people, which livius thought inappropriate.

So...

I'll put the button back, but change it so there will only be two states. Green=online, blue/gray=offline OR hidden. That way it won't be so obvious that a person is hidden.

Any objections?

[livius drusus]

I think making the offline blue button an offline/hidden button works well enough given the availability of who's online info. It beats the hell out of the red bullseye button. :yup:

[Corona688]

Sounds good to me. And please don't gut the forum monitoring features any further; Let's face it, no matter how ingenious the admins are and how many features are removed, the ONLY way to remain perfectly hidden is to not post at all :)

[Ymir's blood]

Were there any complaints from hidden users? I've been hidden since day one and it never bothered me.

[JoeP]

This is such a good compromise. I wish I had thought of it. In this thread.

[viscousmemories]

Were there any complaints from hidden users?
I can't answer that without revealing the identity of a hidden user. :D

[Corona688]

Were there any complaints from hidden users?
I can't answer that without revealing the identity of a hidden user. :D A simple 'yes' would suffice :P

[viscousmemories]

Yes. :)

[beyelzu]

Okay, apparently I was confused. I thought the button previously showed green for people who were online and red for people who were offline and/or hidden. But I guess in reality it was green=online, red=hidden, blue/gray=offline. So it was like having a big red target on hidden people, which livius thought inappropriate.

So...

I'll put the button back, but change it so there will only be two states. Green=online, blue/gray=offline OR hidden. That way it won't be so obvious that a person is hidden.

Any objections?
sounds like a good idea to me, vm

[justaman]

Yes. :)
So who was it?

[Blake]

You dumbass admins! livius, we went over this. The red button for hidden users only appears for the admins. For ordinary users, the button appears as just a regular offline button. For that aspect of the issue, you're trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist. :giggle:

[livius drusus]

Erm... well... it's better this way! :shifty:

[Crumb]

I could swear that I have seen it red before...

[justaman]

Ich habe nicht rot sehn.