Forum update, June 24 2015

[Administrator]

I'm sure you've noticed things look different around here. Don't panic, citizen! It is just a result of updating the forum software to the latest version; unfortunately the old themes are incompatible, and therefor this new theme must suffice for the time being.

If you have any complaints, suggestions, or bugs to report, do so here.

[lisa]

I had to double check I clicked the right favourite link lol

[rock5]

On the surface I would say I don't like the default theme. Is it similar to the old default theme (which I didn't use either)?

I'm trying the other theme, Pro something.

It's obviously very different and I suspect has more functionality but I think I'll have to get used to it before I decide I like it or not. It would be nice if you could add a couple more themes to choose from.

[noobbotter]

When I connected on my phone this morning, it looks exactly the same as this desktop browser version. I definitely like the old mobile version for sue on my phone. Butyeah, I do kind of like how this one (for the desktop version) is more compact. I like it. Maybe I'll play around with the themes a little and see what's available. Good job.

[Administrator]

When I connected on my phone this morning, it looks exactly the same as this desktop browser version. I definitely like the old mobile version for sue on my phone. Butyeah, I do kind of like how this one (for the desktop version) is more compact. I like it. Maybe I'll play around with the themes a little and see what's available. Good job.

It was about 1:30AM when I finished the update and had copied over this theme, which should have worked with the mobile theme out of the box since I had already modified it on another site that uses it. Guess something didn't take, so I'll have to go through and work the mobile stuff back in.

On the surface I would say I don't like the default theme. Is it similar to the old default theme (which I didn't use either)?

I'm trying the other theme, Pro something.

It's obviously very different and I suspect has more functionality but I think I'll have to get used to it before I decide I like it or not. It would be nice if you could add a couple more themes to choose from.

Well, this default theme and the old default theme aren't exactly default. It is the prosilver that is actually the normal default. These two are what I installed and modified.

There's not much available for PHPBB3.1 yet (and 3.1 is incompatible with older version themes). The other choices are pretty ugly if you ask me but maybe guys would find them appealing. Feel free to browse around here: https://www.phpbb.com/community/viewforum.php?f=471
Let me know if you find something that catches your eye and I can install it.

[Administrator]

The automatic mobile theme is now working again. If your mobile device has a "large" screen (for example, my tablet is full 1080p) it may still default to the desktop theme, but you can switch to the mobile at any time using the "Mobile version" button at the top right corner, or switch back to desktop theme using the "Full version" link at the bottom of pages.

[rock5]

A couple of comments about the way code is displayed.

I noticed the code is green now. That made me have the idea, is it possible to have syntax highlighting when it displays the code? Not necessary of course but it would be cool.

I noticed the "Select All" option. Sometimes when I'm copying other peoples code I click the edit post button so I can copy their original code which includes tab indents. Of course other people can't do this because they can't edit other peoples posts so they have to copy the code normally which has all the tabs replaced with spaces. I'm assuming you can't have the code displayed with tabs. Maybe it's a html limitation. But I had an idea. How about another option next to the "Select All" called "Copy to clipboard". This option would fetch the original code and copy it to the clipboard. That way people can copy the original code with tab indents even though it's displayed with spaces. What do you think? Is that possible?

[Administrator]

I can look into syntax highlighting, sure. No promises, though.

As for the copy-to-clipboard feature, I'm not sure what the limitations are off-hand. Many browsers will not support a copy from Javascript like that. It might still be possible to have a 'raw' sample of the original code that preserves formatting somehow but I would need to play with it a bit.


I have also added a few more themes. I'm considering making the 'Bootlike' theme the default. Let me know what you guys think.

[beanybabe]

mobile/desktop

I clicked the mobile and thought oh no!, now its stuck in mobile. With a little searching about and moving to the far bottom of the page was discovered the swap back to desktop.

It may be less confusing if the mobile/desktop toggle is located in the same position in the pages.

[rock5]

I really love the aero styles. Nice and compact. And finding things is easier. And I'm happy it uses different icons.

The one thing I liked about the 'BootLike' theme is that, with pinned topics, the whole line is highlighted. Makes it easy to find the first non-pinned topic.

[rock5]

Well that's disappointing. With the aero style when you are at the index page and there is an unread post in the rom forum the icon doesn't change. It looks exactly the same.

Edit: Actually on my LCD monitor the icons do look a little bluer but on my projector, that doesn't have as vivid colors, the icons look exactly the same.

[lisa]

Well it has been a few days now and I have decided I don't like any of the themes =(

--=== Added ===--
Checked and a lot more themes now, trying "bootlike" atm lol

[Administrator]

Just thought I'd give an update while I have the time.

I checked out a few syntax highlight extensions, but found nothing of interest. Most are too old (like, 8 years old) to even bother with. I was only able to find 2 that were more recent. One of them was incompatible with the current version, and didn't support much. The other was compatible, and had a ton of features, but didn't fully work yet (it's still new and in development). Under testing, it lead to errors and inability to post at all so I think it is definitely best to avoid it for the time being. Perhaps it'll be functional soon.

I investigated having the tab characters remain instead of converting them to spaces in the code boxes. For some reason (which absolutely nobody can seem to actually explain), it seems highly discouraged to do so. I think it has something to do with it eating whitespace even though it is inside of a pre tag. I'm not sure what to do about that.

I have, however, included an additional link to switch back to the full version from the mobile theme.

[beanybabe]

I have some problem were the new code to a function is not at top of a topic and I miss it since I keep the forums sorted in reverse order.

I checked the Phbb developer forum and you need to change the admin account so it has full access then you can pin topics to the top.
Alternitely there is another way the add-on for phbb that lets some people set topics called topic cement
https://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/mod/topic_cement/

[rock5]

I investigated having the tab characters remain instead of converting them to spaces in the code boxes. For some reason (which absolutely nobody can seem to actually explain), it seems highly discouraged to do so. I think it has something to do with it eating whitespace even though it is inside of a pre tag. I'm not sure what to do about that.

How about the idea of having a button that copies the raw code to clipboard? That way you can still display it with spaces.

[rock5]

I've been using prosilver for a while now mainly because I think the layout makes it easy to find things and I don't like themes that waste a lot of space at the top.

There are a couple of things I really miss.

1. The unmissable big line that appears at the top of the page saying "You have unread messages". The numbers that appear at the top right are easily missed.

2. At the bottom of topics it has a link that says "Board Index". I'm pretty sure the old theme had the full current path, something like this

• Board Index / Games / Runes of Magic

I used to often click the "Runes of Magic" part of the link when I finished reading that post. Now I have to go all the way back up to the top of the topic to click the link there. Actually I see now that there is a < Return to 'Runes of Magic'. I must have missed that.

I just discovered the Allan_Style_SUBSILVER. I love it! It's similar to prosilver but with some obvious benefits such as using the full width of the window, user info on the left (that's another thing I didn't like about prosilver, the infos on the right). The one thing I don't like about it are the icons, they are not very clear.

[Administrator]

I just discovered the Allan_Style_SUBSILVER. I love it! It's similar to prosilver but with some obvious benefits such as using the full width of the window, user info on the left (that's another thing I didn't like about prosilver, the infos on the right). The one thing I don't like about it are the icons, they are not very clear.

I made it the default awhile ago. I was under the impression that you hated it as you had said the default was terrible. It is also the style I've been putting most of the custom work into. Sorry if I haven't been working hard enough towards that goal, but I'm still kept rather busy between working on multiple projects, quick deadlines, and various other happenings in my life.

But I agree, the icons aren't great. I'll see what I can do about it if/when I remember to and have the time.

[rock5]

No need to apologize, I'm just giving feedback. I don't remember now which one I meant when I said default. Maybe you just made enough changes that I like it now. Maybe I just like it in comparison with the prosilver which I've been using a while.

In regards to the icons, what I don't like is;

• 1. they are a bit too small,
  2. the indicator of unread messages is a little bit off yellow in the middle of the icon. I'd like something more obvious that stands out.
  3. I don't like the animated icons for the multipage topics. It looks like it's trying to get my attention but what do I care if the topic has multiple pages? All I'm interested in is unread messages.

I just remembered something. Didn't unread messages used to also have different colored titles?

[beanybabe]

I have a medium monitor 1920 res and use the allen sub silver it fill the screen. The logo on the screen by solarstrike is far to large though so
I had to use Ad-block to remove it from the page. The prosilver is about 2/3 of my screen it looks do be designed for a 1280 monitor.