Private Topic Pruning

This feature was in older versions but never appeared in the 7.x series will now be available again. You will be able to prune/delete private topics that haven't been replied to in a certain amount of time.

Updated Database Info Page

Couple of changes to the database info page as you'll see in the screenshot below. First one, you'll be able to see a list of running mysql processes (how long they've been running, etc.)

The next change is the Optimization link. Previously there was no real way to know if a table needed optimizing in the first place. We've added a new column, that designates how much of the space in use is actually free space. That way you can see which tables need to be optimized to improve performance.

When the optimization is finished, the row for that table is updated so you can see the amount of space being used after optimization.

Also, when a table is being optimized it will automatically close the forum first and then reopen when finished, to prevent any problems during the procedure.

Executing SQL Commands

We've cleaned this up quite a bit. Previously if you typed an incorrect query it would result in an actual database error, now it will just show you the error in the results section.

If there are many fields where it would normally cause the whole browser window to need to scroll horizontally, the scrolling will now be confined to the results section. If there are many results, then the fields will be repeated every 25 rows, so you won't need to scroll all the way back to the top to find out which field a result goes with.

Saved queries are still there, just in a better location, and the results screen will show the original query you ran as well.

Logs

We've made a few changes to the logging features. There is an auto prune now available for both the admin and referer logs, and each night it will delete logs older than the designated date.

We've also added some filtering abilites to the admin log screen, so you can not only filter by date, but you can filter by username, ip address, group and action that was performed.

There is also a new ability to download the log entries to a .txt file with the filters applied.

Database Backup / Restore

We've overhauled the Database Backup routines. Again, no need for the entire screen to refresh, which will help speed up the process. You can still backup a single table or all tables. There is also an indicator that will show when the last backup was made for each table.

We've also added a Restore ability. This will allow you to restore a single table or all tables from a backup.

Permission Checks

A handy new feature on the permission check screen is the ability to update permissions via FTP. If there are files/folders that are not writable, you'll get the option to fill in your FTP information. If your server has access to the chmod command from FTP the script will update all of your permissions for you.

Groups and Subscriptions

Previously Groups and Subscriptions were each on their own screen. It was somewhat confusing in that you had to go to 2 different screens to configure each, setting up custom images for the groups, etc.

For version 8 we've consolidated this, so you can create/edit a group and setup a subscription for it on the same page.

Languages - Part 1

The first part of the new language editor is finished. Since all language strings will be stored in the database now we have a few new tools available.

You'll be able to add a new language file from within this page, either starting with a copy of all default language strings, or attaching an exported language file.

There are also 4 tools available noted by the small images in the screenshot below:

Resync: If the number of rows for a language is red, that means it doesn't match the number there should be. Resync will add any missing language strings, and also remove any duplicates or ones no longer used.

Import: Allows you to attach an exported language file and use that to update the language strings for that language.

Export: Allows you to export a language file to share with others.

Delete: Deletes the given language:

Languages - Part 2

We've finished up the rest of the language editor and this part should make life easier for everyone that modifies language strings.

Several things of note. You can now apply a few more filters to the list of language strings that will be displayed for edits. Along with the standards of strings used by a certain script, or that contain a certain phrase, you can also specify to only show strings that have been added in a certain version, and specify to only show strings that have or have not been modified. These last 2 settings will be very useful for those that do language translations as they can easily see what's been added in the latest version and what has yet to be translated.

You will also see in the screenshot that the default language string will always be available and will never be changed. So if you need to revert back to the default you can easily do so.

Also, to make it easier to flip through pages without losing any edits, as soon as you make a change to a string and remove focus from the textarea, it will be saved automatically.

Managing Images & Icons

This is pretty much the same as in version 7.x, however there are a few new things in this area to make things easier. You are no longer required to upload graemlins strictly from the control panel. You can FTP them into the proper directory if you want and then assign the markup code afterward.

The other notable change is the ability to upload multiple files through the control panel. Using swfupload, you'll be able to upload multiple files at the same time. This requires flash player to be installed, and will fallback to a regular file upload if it is not.