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Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 112
Sysop
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Sysop
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 112 |
I apologize that the announcement/sale of UBB came as surprise to the UBB community and realize that such an announcement should have been held off for a while so I could get a grasp on the current state of the software and the community here.
The sale happened very quickly and while I did read though some recents threads during the sales negotiations and agreements process, things appeared to be stable and I figured there was plenty of time to get a grasp on things.
UBB Systems is a two person company with a team of 3-6 contract developers and designers depending on workload. I personally started developing websites while in college and graduate school as side jobs, eventually going outside my area of study (Viral Immunology) to pursue a career in technology. We do own other web properties, some of which were created from scratch using php/mysql and others that were acquired. While I personally have 8+ years of php/mysql programming experience, I have moved into managing the businesses and rely on our developers that have extensive experience.
That being said, it's quite a task to come into a software package as complicated as UBB as an outsider and it will take time to assess the current codebase as well as the v8. I have spoken to Sirdude and reached out to others here in the UBB community as recommended by Rick for assistance.
Sirdude has agreed to assist us with the development of a version 7.6 that will include bug fixes as well new features as requested by the users here in the UBB community. As stated by Sirdude in another thread v8 is need quiet a bit of work, and bringing new features and fixes to the current software is in the best interest of everyone at this point. Sirdude's final final work on UBB.threads was to version 7.5.8.
Let's start by replying to this thread with requests for new features and fixes, then we can organize them in terms of popularity and feasibility to complete quickly.
thanks!
Brooks
Last edited by id242; 02/15/2017 10:01 AM. Reason: Updated. Looking back from where things stand in Febuary 2017.
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addict
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addict
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First Thank You. This is more appreciated than you may realize. I don't have a needs/wants list but I know that Gizmo and many others have had great ideas of things we would like to see develop into later versions of UBB.
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member
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member
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Let's start by replying to this thread with requests for new features and fixes, then we can organize them in terms of popularity and feasibility to complete quickly. Here's my list of new features that I'd like to see sooner than later: - User profile revamp. The comments section in the user profiles can use a lot of improvement. For one, I don't think the user is notified of new comments there. They absolutely should be and also be given an opportunity to moderate/approve/remove comments there. Let's also add a "wall" like section to user profiles showing the user's recent activity (posts, shouts, profile comments, etc). Also let the user add more info about themselves and a larger pic. We really need to be making these profiles more Social like (think Facebook and Twitter profiles) and give them a custom URL like ubbcentral.com/forums/<user'sdisplayname> so users will have some ownership of it and be encouraged to share it.
- A new Custom Island for an additonal ad insertion before the last new post in a topic.
- UBB badly needs a Mobile theme (think Wordpress WPtouch) for iOS (iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch) and Android phones/tablets.
- Google +1
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 16,365 Likes: 126 |
I'd love to see the user profile revamped; and the blogs feature implemented; I have quite the wishlist in the feedback section lol...
I think a mobile theme that'd be able to "detect" a mobile browser (likely based on its user agent) then not show sidebars and show a very basic design to the browser.
I'd also love it if every displayed link was parsed through urlencode to ensure things don't "break" (such as using []'s in url tags).
I got your PT last night, things have been a little hectic this week with family visiting over the weekend and it being my son's last week in school, but I'll be sure to get to you asap.
Last edited by Gizmo; 06/08/2011 10:38 PM.
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journeyman
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journeyman
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Thanks for the information Brooks. I'd like to see something like this incorporated into the registration process: Stop Forum Spam I think I read that this has can added as a mod but it would be great to have it added as a feature. Don't know what it would mean if that was added and they went under and disappeared though. Perhaps it could be optional in the Admin section?
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veteran
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veteran
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Thanks for the information Brooks. I'd like to see something like this incorporated into the registration process: Stop Forum Spam I think I read that this has can added as a mod but it would be great to have it added as a feature. Don't know what it would mean if that was added and they went under and disappeared though. Perhaps it could be optional in the Admin section? I agree, this is a great mod and should be stock code with option to use.
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stranger
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stranger
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Ah were to start however I think most of my wants will have to wait till UBB8.
tapatalk or a mobile theme. There is a awesome mobile setup for wordpress that makes the web site act as a app.
A more robust shoutbox, like options in the admincp for bb codes. My community uses the hell out of it. One open source forum has a history button for it that will display the last X amount set in the admincp. I think the default on UBB is it holds 30 shouts then truncates them as they come in. Was planning on modding this as well so I could set it to a 1000 with a pop up page that will display them. I believe there was a mod called Naked Shoutbox or something by SirDude. I was planning on taken a look at it and seeing where I could improve it to fit our needs.
Multiquote
Ability to set nested quotes and how many. Never found a spot for this so modded the core code.
People check the forums at work. I also modded it so they can shut off images in posts. They are instead turned into links.
a WYSIWYG addon for the quick reply that can be turned on or off in the userCP.
This may be low on the list. But was building into the other software that we had picked. A way for them to change and tweak css. I could build themes all day every day and not make everyone happy. Give them the ability to change the color of links and they will toss pickles at my feet.
I have many more and will post later, just have a tenant walking towards my office. She has been trying like hell lately to clog her toilet so bad that I cant unclog it. And from the look on her face I think she may win soon.
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Posts: 6,628 Likes: 85
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 6,628 Likes: 85 |
Calendar enhancements. 1. Add a search feature for the calendar. 2. Enhance the Recurring field starting with accept weekly. daily. with end dates. You could take a tip from the calender feature in outlook. 3. Allow attachments directly to the calendar. 4. Add posting categories. That are also searchable.
Blue Man Group There is no such thing as stupid questions. Just stupid answers
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Joined: Dec 2003
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Import email discussion lists directly to a forum via email.
Blue Man Group There is no such thing as stupid questions. Just stupid answers
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And my all time favorite. Enhance the islands to allow to be placed in the header and footer. And to be specific to each individual forum with global islands as well.
Blue Man Group There is no such thing as stupid questions. Just stupid answers
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stranger
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stranger
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And my all time favorite. Enhance the islands to allow to be placed in the header and footer. And to be specific to each individual forum with global islands as well. Second this. Had to use the footer and header inserts to do this.
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Veteran
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Veteran
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The only thing I ask and ever asked is that before moving on and adding new stuff to bug fix and release fixes for the broken stuff over placing that on the way side. Bad business for a software company.
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Former Developer
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Former Developer
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The only thing I ask and ever asked is that before moving on and adding new stuff to bug fix and release fixes for the broken stuff over placing that on the way side. Bad business for a software company. i agree and my recommendation in that other thread was to fix the known bugs ( i know of at least 10 and would guess it's more like 20, if you call some bugs 'features' ) 1st..
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Joined: Dec 2003
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The only bugs I personally experience that bugs me with 7.5.6.
Has to do with one line quotes using IE8.
The text does not appear. The current work around is to select the quote reply button in the post to read it.
And the posts that scroll to the right unnecessarily. Makes you feel like a typewriter.
Blue Man Group There is no such thing as stupid questions. Just stupid answers
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 16,365 Likes: 126 |
I'd love to see some sort of email piping/pop3/imap posting; imagine, you get a PM and you can reply via email and have the ubb check one an hour (for pop3/imap) for new messages...
On a relatively sane note, i'd love to see a method of plugging in SMTP information and authentication information for it vs having to hack files...
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Joined: Apr 2007
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Former Developer
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Former Developer
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i'd suggest poring over Gizzy's massive list and cherry picking.
he's really been the UBB idea guy / aggregator over the years.
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member
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member
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The most important thing to me is the API.
After that would be the ability to select posts to be displayed on the portal page rather than just pulling all posts from a forum.
If the WYSIWYG editor from 8 is functional that could be a nice addition.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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I want a Ruben-bot for Ruben Anytime someone asks a question that has been answered over and over again the Ruben bot searches the database for similar questions and displays links for possible answers.
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Former Developer
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Former Developer
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veteran
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veteran
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I want a Ruben-bot for Ruben Anytime someone asks a question that has been answered over and over again the Ruben bot searches the database for similar questions and displays links for possible answers. +1 lol
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Member
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Member
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Would like to enable uploads for my users, but I first want to have a 'quota' system, so users can upload images, but they 1/ get resized to what I find decent and 2/ they have an upload limit for a max. # of MB for all files uploaded. That would include a file manager to delete old uploads (+ tie it to the pruning system). Ideally they would be able to buy extra MB's. And even more ideally, the upload server could be a different server than the one running the board.
Second, a rating system for users where you can 'like' someone but not 'dislike'. With the stars system we had users playing the fool with friends giving each other bad ratings. That affected other users in thinking the low-rated guys were indeed idiots, rather than he victil of 'jokes'. Getting only positive ratings + indication of the number of ratings would mean a lot.
Apart from all the above, we do keep our forum simple. As standard in the code you always have the option for the 'book' or 'blank' icon. For every new release / update I have to change the code so the users can't turn our forum into a christmas tree, so we always do the 'blank' thingy and disable that choice. Might sound boring, but hey...
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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Posts: 287 |
When it comes to the forum layout I personally hate the side bars. Unfortunately some of that information is needed especially the custom items I created. In my recent redesign of my website I restyled my forums and added the sidebar content I wanted into the bottom of the page. The look is sooo much cleaner! I manually added select island's code to the footer but perhaps a layout option to place stuff there from the control panel would be nice.
Ford diesel master technician by day... Webmaster by night! FordDoctorsDTS.com running UBB Threads 7.5.4.2p2
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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I would highly suggest redesigning the UBB website. This isn't a knock against Rick but you need your landing page/s to be more modern looking. It's 2011. Take a look at your competition. This forum could use a fresher look as well, and I think what you learn in that redesign you should add into 7.6 to enhance the look. I think UBB is really great for a clean layout and data presentation compared to the other forums, but it antiquated when it comes to feel and that is important.
Won't you take me to Funkytown?
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Joined: Jun 2006
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i'd suggest poring over Gizzy's massive list and cherry picking.
he's really been the UBB idea guy / aggregator over the years. Yeah, it's like my unofficial job :x...
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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It was Joe before Gizzy. Gizzy kind of siezed over the mantle and ran with it.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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I know that you guys think I'm kidding about a Ruben bot but consider a few things:
1) A recommendation engine is extremely useful and versatile as it can be used in so many ways for so many things. It's has been done before. It's not hard.
2) The most commonly used phrases on a message board are "Use the search, (newb|noob|lazy $ss)", "I used the search and couldn't find", "I think someone posted about this once but I can't remember who".
3) Part of UBB's DNA has always been that features, parts of code, or methods become named after a community member if it is appropriate. Consider Graemlins for example. Ruben deserves this in his honor for all the work that he does here answering all the mundane boring questions that the more "pro" of us (me included) can't/don't want to be bothered with. There is nobody better.
Last edited by David Dreezer; 06/09/2011 7:23 PM. Reason: edited because I can't count.... sigh
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Sysop
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Sysop
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this will be done as well... Rick sent this logo..... we have any designers that want to take a crack at a logo/look? I will have one of ours work up something as well....
Last edited by UBBSystems; 06/09/2011 9:05 PM.
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Former Developer
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Former Developer
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Posts: 3,940 Likes: 1 |
When it comes to the forum layout I personally hate the side bars. Unfortunately some of that information is needed especially the custom items I created. In my recent redesign of my website I restyled my forums and added the sidebar content I wanted into the bottom of the page. The look is sooo much cleaner! I manually added select island's code to the footer but perhaps a layout option to place stuff there from the control panel would be nice. widgetized header / footer like you did with your footer would be very nice much like wordpress does.. i like your site with the 3 footer widgets
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member
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member
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Overall I am really happy with UBB and look forward to the next chapter in the story. It can't be worse then the info pop years.
I do hope Rick stays around forever -- It wouldn't be the same if he wasn't involved in the project.
My main wishes are - some features/skins for mobile users - spam protection - Facebook integration
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Readable screen width, writeable screen width and what makes us comfortable:
We actually did a mini-survey on this and discovered a thing or two. As it turns out, a lot depends on the monitor each reader is using that defines the unconscious "Comfort" zone.
We also discovered that space to write was a bit different that the space to read.
On most 17" and 19" flat screens, it turns out that the most comfortable read/write windows are exactly as UBB has on their home page, right here, except that the ability to extend the write window down as we have it set on our forum, doesn't seem to be turned on here.
This means islands on the left and right of modest size.
That said, we have never been able to figure out how to compress the middle so it doesn't take up so much space left to right as to cause the right hand islands to disappear a bit on the right hand side. Oh well.
What makes us comfortable for reading is the average size of a hard back book page. What makes us comfortable for typing is the average size of an email window.
Just saying.
Larry
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old hand
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old hand
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- Mobile theme
One minor bug that I'd love to see fixed is the one where you can hit send on a PM, even if no recipient is selected. (The poor user thinks the intended recipient is ignoring him.)
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Jun 2006
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Readable screen width, writable screen width and what makes us comfortable:
We actually did a mini-survey on this and discovered a thing or two. As it turns out, a lot depends on the monitor each reader is using that defines the unconscious "Comfort" zone.
We also discovered that space to write was a bit different that the space to read.
On most 17" and 19" flat screens, it turns out that the most comfortable read/write windows are exactly as UBB has on their home page, right here, except that the ability to extend the write window down as we have it set on our forum, doesn't seem to be turned on here.
This means islands on the left and right of modest size.
That said, we have never been able to figure out how to compress the middle so it doesn't take up so much space left to right as to cause the right hand islands to disappear a bit on the right hand side. Oh well.
What makes us comfortable for reading is the average size of a hard back book page. What makes us comfortable for typing is the average size of an email window.
Just saying.
Larry I think where you are going here is more design related rather than feature related but it is an excellent point. YOU as a webmaster have absolute control over the layout of your site and your forum and the display width is no exception. In fact, it should be the first thing you consider and it places very high in your style sheet. Having your content width dynamically adjust to your visitors screen size and resolution leaves a lot of room for bad or un-intended things to happen especially if you are more advanced with your use of CSS and use "float" for example. A crowded or poorly organized web page is uncomfortable to view. I have noticed that a fixed width is a common design element and one that I have come to favor. Going by observation and looking at my own web stats that show my visitor's screen resolution, defining 1000 pixels for a site's width seems to be almost standard not to mention "safe." Often you can get away with dynamically sized web pages but sometimes it just looks bad... in MY opinion. Taking control of the width and defining how you utilize the space on the screen is the best solution. How does this tie into the UBB Forum and the side bars? They will dynamically size themselves. You can define and limit the width in the CP but using both side bars in a 1000px space is crowded. I chose to eliminate my side bars and place carefully chosen islands on the bottom. A few of my members even asked if wee really needed that crap. Gotta love thier frankness! EVERY forum/community will have different needs and some will have custom islands beyond what is provided with the UBB software. My users are not needy and in fact, half of the information I chose was for me (the webmaster) and the rest is ultimately of functional use for my community. Do you really need an island for the calendar AND a link to the calendar in the menu? Do you really need to show a featured member or the top posters? Do you need to show a random photo AND the latest photos? My users know where the gallery is. The use of a shout box escapes me. But to repeat, every forum is different and maybe I am just weird. Some wise decisions and planning could resolve these issues for you. The great thing is that the UBB forum software does give you a lot of flexibility. You just need to learn how to tame it to be most effective for you and your community. Someone reading over my shoulder just said "It's called finding balance stupid!" LOL!!!
Ford diesel master technician by day... Webmaster by night! FordDoctorsDTS.com running UBB Threads 7.5.4.2p2
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Hey Ford - all good points. Take a look at us: www.marriageadvocates.comWe are judicious in our use of islands. The Who's online is a must. Something approaching 40% of our members use it to see what their friends are reading or posting to. The mods use it all the time to pick up on invisible members who are lurking and where they are lurking. We have other islands that are in constant use. We use shout box for mods and admins as instant alerts to problems. And given the subject matter covered in our forum, we have problems. Some of the best content is not exposed until you join and have 25 posts. The deal with islands expanding in size because of something that appears in them is not confined to islands like shout box for example. It also happens in regular posts. If I type a long string, UBB may have the capability of parsing it, but we haven't really done a real search for where to turn it on. We probably should. One of our issues is our growth. It has been hectic. Even in the down time, we are averaging well over 600 posts a day open forum and PM count. Alexa first noticed us last October and a month or so ago, we transitioned to below 100K worldwide on a three month average. Larry
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Would like to enable uploads for my users, but I first want to have a 'quota' system, so users can upload images, but they 1/ get resized to what I find decent and 2/ they have an upload limit for a max. # of MB for all files uploaded. That would include a file manager to delete old uploads (+ tie it to the pruning system). Ideally they would be able to buy extra MB's. And even more ideally, the upload server could be a different server than the one running the board.
Second, a rating system for users where you can 'like' someone but not 'dislike'. With the stars system we had users playing the fool with friends giving each other bad ratings. That affected other users in thinking the low-rated guys were indeed idiots, rather than he victil of 'jokes'. Getting only positive ratings + indication of the number of ratings would mean a lot.
Apart from all the above, we do keep our forum simple. As standard in the code you always have the option for the 'book' or 'blank' icon. For every new release / update I have to change the code so the users can't turn our forum into a christmas tree, so we always do the 'blank' thingy and disable that choice. Might sound boring, but hey... +1. I even had to disable the user-ratings, because I almost started a board-war, because people did not like being rated only one star.... Also the mass-upload feature is a good one, since it would make creating a big gallery, much easier.
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Another thing that would help is way improved use-ability. A lot of new users on my board, start asking questions on how to do things, because the UI is not as self-explanatory as it would be. Too much buttons scattered all over the place without any clear logic. It is much better to put the buttons you use the most, on a logic place, and put the buttons that are used less-often in a menu/drop down that opens on hover, instead on clicking. Also I would like a better skinning/template engine to be implemented. E.g. the one from b2evolution is open-source and very easy to use: https://www.ubbcentral.com/forums/u...ter_default_UBB_Threads_.html#Post206087
Last edited by nims2; 06/11/2011 7:31 AM.
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addict
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I don't know nims..that looks so much like drupal it is scary.
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addict
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addict
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I fail to see why all the complaining about the sidebars, islands, etc. Don't want to use them, don't, but many sites use them quite a bit, some they have become a very much needed part of their site. Now, if they were not able to be disabled I could then see the arguments, but to say they shouldn't even be included is ridiculous.
Greg AKA Virgil Earp at the OK Corral Tombstone, AZ
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old hand
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old hand
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One nice feature Simple Machines offers is the ability for the user to "show new replies" to any threads he has participated in. It's a nice way to check-in each time you come on a forum you participate in.
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I fail to see why all the complaining about the sidebars, islands, etc. Don't want to use them, don't, but many sites use them quite a bit, some they have become a very much needed part of their site. Now, if they were not able to be disabled I could then see the arguments, but to say they shouldn't even be included is ridiculous. Completely agree
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1 members (Ruben),
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Key:
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