Feature: Gallery - lightbox ( prettyPhoto ) enhancement

Clicking on thumbnails has always been an archaic kind of process when multiple images are involved.



The new method for single and multiple images uses a lightbox effect



You can see there are multiple ways to navigate the thumbs to see full size representations by the above image.

You can also just click the slideshow button and it will cycle thru all the thumbs. Pause at will.

This is standard fare for most gallery interfaces nowadays and this is why it has been brought into 7.6

Go Here for a live demo - Click on "Image Gallery" - Demo, but it is pretty standard

Feature: User selectable topic Tooltip preference



Tooltips have long been a bone of contention with UBB, because it was either an all or nothing setting that the admin decided upon. Invariably, there is enough grumbling against it to warrant the feature being switched off for the entire forum.

Users never had a choice in the matter to enable it, if so.

Enter, the user selectable option


Now, it makes logical sense for the Admin to enable it in the control panel as before:



.. and then allow users to turn it off, if they don't want the feature.

This is now added to 7.6 ( thanks Ruben for advocating it ) and was inspired by a MOD that I did awhile ago for just this case. Shown here

Note: this is a new user profile field and NOT a hijaack of one of the five extra fields that the mod did :2c:

Feature: Mark all posts read, Mark forum read

The 'Mark all Read' has been brought into the new 'My Stuff' menu for starters. No longer in the footer.

It is also a dialog box shown below:


When the user presses the "Submit" button, all posts are marked read ( as before ), but it is done in a more AJAX'ie way than before.



The message informs the user of activity then fades away when done. The dialog box also fades out of view.

Also, there were multiple scripts involved ( markread.inc.php, markallread.inc.php and domarkallread.inc.php )

These have all been brought into one file now ( markread.inc.php ) which handles all three entry points for the code.

There is only 1 language file and only 1 template too.

This is the general case where, if possible I'm combining disparate functionality into 1 file with conditional branching, setting the stage for easier modifications in the future.

Note: this is a preview of the general direction of the UI. namely modal / dialog boxes that are AJAX driven when possible to not force full screen refreshes for mundane tasks

Example of another one to follow will be the Login process

Feature: jQuery 1.7 via google cdn, with local fallback

The main foundation of the javascript will be via jQuery. This is the defacto most popular / robust library going to date ( imho )

To save time and speed things up, the footer.tpl ( note: javascript is loaded at the bottom for speed now ) 1st tries to load jquery from Google's CDN ( fast ), if not possible, a local copy is loaded.


Much, if not all of the current ubb javascript will be eclipsed and thrown away as we subsume it with jQuery plugins and raw code.

It just makes sense to be using cross browser compatible javascript going forward.

Bugfix: Inline moderation ( gallery ) - Select / Deselect all

I don't know if this EVER worked right since 7.3, but I have now fixed inline moderation for Gallery forums to do what it was advertising in the 1st place.

Feature: Cookies

Fixed numerous issues with cookie handling. One example is that the Collapsed forum category cookie was blatantly disregarding the board "Cookie Prefix" setting. Many other small issues as well.

Selecting Cookies is still located in the "My Stuff" menu ( note: the My Stuff will be redesigned and posted about later ) as before:


Now, instead of painting a full screen with header / footer, the Cookie clearing template loads as a dialog box ( much like mark all read does ), as shown below:



Cookies are listed and when the form is submitted, the status message appears and fades out. The user is then redirected back to the forum default listing and is logged out.

One additional cosmetic issue ( bug ) has also been fixed. The cookie value, in the past had a tendency to overflow their container and make the display whacked out horizontally. With the proper use of CSS ( word-wrap:break-word; ), this is no longer an issue

FAQ ( phase 1 for 7.6 ) redone

The FAQ has long been a source of useful information for new users of UBB Threads, however it has been a nightmare for novice board owners to both modify and add to.

Step one for 7.6 has been to make the faq.tpl file much more readable and easy to understand. You now have the option of editing right in the template and adding new FAQ entries, since the template is simple.

Example of a FAQ entry in faq.tpl is:



( compare it to how ugly the code was before and you will appreciate the simplicity )

the only thing to do is to modify the 'Question' and it's 'Answer'.

Gone are the id="expandy-0" etc and having to know to add it to the initialization script. As a board admin, you had to know javascript to do anything meaninful in the FAQ section, but not anymore.

If you simply copy/paste the template, the jQuery will automatically pick up on a new FAQ entry and hook it into the system.

Additionally, I've added quite a few CSS classes that can enhance the look and feel of each FAQ entry. Before, we were relegated to 'tdheader' and 'alt-1' with no flexibility.

new CSS classes are: faq-hdr, faq-body. If you don't use them, the FAQ will look as it has always looked.

I've also added the toggle_open.gif and toggle_closed.gif images, instead of the [+] and [-] hardwired text.

Additionally, you aren't forced to click on the image, but instead you can click anywhere on the Question row to toggle open/closed the Answer content.

Example of my dark red theme below:

Cursor is a pointer anywhere along the row


When clicked, a jQuery .slide() effect is used to smoothly slide out the hidden content



--- Phase 2: for 7.7+ --

I intend to suck all these language strings into the DB and have an Admin Cpanel FAQ editor to make it even easier...

Feature: Show members adds dynamic ( AJAX ) search

The original input text that searches for names containing has been replaced with one that fetches member names as you type ( autosuggest ):


As you type, the list grows / shrinks with the available matches


Selecting a member from the drop down, reveals 4 quick links as shown below:



View Profile, Send a PM, View Posts and View Topics

This idea will also be applied to the Add member to PM search as well and I will post when it is complete.

Feature: Cleaner login system

In addition to cleaning up the cookie handling ( usually affects IE more than others ), the login process involves much less screen refreshes and replaces it with AJAX.

if you log out


there is a tab in the upper right ( is also an obvious nag to register ) that when clicked on


slides down a login / register overlay. upon logging, in the tab disappears and you are directed to a normal forum experience


you can also start the registration process by picking a username or email address and 'Register' to fill out the other items a normal registration process entails.


additionally, the login process takes your email address ( real email address in profile ) or username.

so only 1 refresh after login is required, instead of 2 or even 3 as it was before.

Reduced screen refreshes, using more AJAX
( note: i previewed this 2 posts above, but refined the interaction a bit, hence the rehash / new screenies )

I'll give you one example, the just list the areas where AJAX is now used.

The pictorial example is 'Mark all read'


When clicked a dialog box fades in with the familiar verbiage


Upon clicking, the AJAX kicks in and does the marking all read


And a graceful fading out return ( ala Facebook style, where you don't have to wait, but can click to speed up the return ) to exactly where you were before the operation.

In the past, you were forced to 3 refreshes: 1. initial screen 2. click, then see status screen 3. redirect to main forum list, regardless of where you were

This idea now also applies to:

• My Cookies
• Adding / Removing watched Users
• Adding / Removing watched Forums
• Adding / Removing watched Topics
• .... and much more