Moving To The Next Version of XenForo

[Shaddock]

I'm almost surprised, though pleased, that someone hadn't hacked it and ruined it for everyone.

I thought admins usually save a copy of the forum, so they can recreate it always? but too be honest, I have no knowledge about this topic : D

the profile banner and the longer profile messages are nice. you can even post pictures in profile pages.

 

[Judge]

Security vulnerabilities? This sounds like a pretty big problem, so we should all probably be happy about the update.

Sadly it always is a big problem. Most "upgrades" whether applications or entire operating systems must inevitably address security issues.

After all, hackers don't take a hiatus in searching for exploits. Neither can software developers.

@Satal is probably right that we dodged a bullet with the forum not being perpetually updated.

 

[SRSAutistic]

Sadly it always is a big problem. Most "upgrades" whether applications or entire operating systems must inevitably address security issues.

After all, hackers don't take a hiatus in searching for exploits. Neither can software developers.

@Satal is probably right that we dodged a bullet with the forum not being perpetually updated.

Hi @Judge and @Satal,

Yes, security vulnerabilities are always a problem. Hackers and software developers do not take breaks. Hackers are always searching for exploits and vulnerabilities. Software developers are always trying to fix bugs. It’s great that this forum did not get hacked.

Regards,

SRSAutistic

 

[Aspychata]

We are moving and updating, but Satal kept it pretty smooth. I wouldn't volunteer knowing how we handle changes. He boldly marched in and did it. Maybe we didn't want to be all pretty and shiny and safe but Satal knows updating us will bring us fresh autistic peeps and bring our message to the collective whole and this is the ultimate goal to be more accessible.

 

[Satal]

I thought admins usually save a copy of the forum, so they can recreate it always? but too be honest, I have no knowledge about this topic : D

I have nightly backups of the database and all the files in "the cloud" and a second copy downloaded nightly to my house, so it definitely should be safe.

However, prevention is better than a cure Also, given how stressful trying to upgrade the site was, I would hate to have to restore the site and then try doing the upgrade (to prevent an attacker repeating themselves) without having prepared or bought the many addons that this site uses.

 

[maycontainthunder]

One thing that is a little annoying is the alerts. Previously it was very obvious which had hadn't been viewed because they had a yellow background. It is now such a pale grey that it is hard to distinguish which is which. Is this a setting that can be changed?

 

[Misery]

The biggest issue I'm seeing so far is that it's way more irritating/difficult to track what is going on here.

Previously that side bar on the right made it very easy to keep track of all of the actual new topics, even if you were in the middle of interacting with the forum (since it was always present and would change as soon as a new topic was posted).

Now though you have to scroll all the way to the bottom of the front page every single time (and ONLY the front page, if you're already interacting you're not gonna see anything new pop up) and there are only 5 entries shown... a shorter list that's likely to get some new topics lost in the shuffle, which aint exactly good for a support forum.

And trying to click on "new posts" brings up an incomprehensible mess that absolutely can fill with 8 year old topics depending on who is posting in what ancient thing... trying to see what's REALLY new in there aint happening. Trying to click on "new threads" (which is hard to even notice that there's a clickable link there) brings up that exact same mess (a bug? It doesnt actually bring up a longer new thread list, just the new post list, which is... not helpful).

Definitely not the only problem I spot, but it's the one that's sure gonna lower my drive to interact. Posting and actually doing forum stuff is fun. Spending too much time trying to FIND the forum stuff (or just navigate at all) is definitely not.

 

[Homulilly]

First of all, thank you for your hard work!

I agree with Misery on the new posts/new threads issue. Also, I can't find the "trending" tab, is it gone now?

The front page layout looks a bit awkward on PC, but it works great on mobile. However, with mobile, it heats up my phone very fast and drains 5% of the battery in 5 minutes. Is there a way around this?

Other minor issues:
If you click into someone's recent activities, it looks like the icons for each of the reactions are wrong or awkwardly cropped. I mean, an X over an alarm clock for "friendly"? Woah, lol.

The checks for the preferences sections are so hard to see. Also, I wish there is a function that allows you to select/deselect entire sections.

 

[Sherlock77]

I will also mention that under New Threads tab (I know I'm not the first to say that), it is very difficult to figure out which ones are the newly created threads... And when there is a response to any particular thread every five minutes, it just simply gets very confusing on that page... I did work through the filters on that and can't find anything to address that

 

[Satal]

If you click into someone's recent activities, it looks like the icons for each of the reactions are wrong or awkwardly cropped. I mean, an X over an alarm clock for "friendly"? Woah, lol.

Good spot, I'll see what I can do about that. It's weird as that is using the same images as the liking functionality on posts which appears to be working fine.

Regarding the 'Forum Games' - Some of us are only receiving a minimal amount of alerts/ notifications. I just calculated that I am receiving, approximately, 1 alert for every 10 or so posts. With regard to some of the word games, it can be imperative that the players receive each and every alert. I have become reliant on them, for the past 4 years. It becomes quite inefficient to keep checking to see if someone has posted after me, or, I wouldn't be making this complaint. Would it be possible to fix something like this?

Can you check that you are watching the forum/thread that you're interested in, please? Additionally, you will only receive an email for the first post after the last time you viewed a thread. If there are subsequent posts you won't be notified until you have visited that thread again. I don't think there is anything I can do about that.

Now though you have to scroll all the way to the bottom of the front page every single time (and ONLY the front page, if you're already interacting you're not gonna see anything new pop up) and there are only 5 entries shown... a shorter list that's likely to get some new topics lost in the shuffle, which aint exactly good for a support forum.

I'm going to look into getting the sidebar back on the thread view, however, this will take a bit of time as I don't want to start changing templates now the site is live.

As far as only 5 entries being shown, that's how it looked previously (screenshot below) but I have increased the number to 10

Please note, that I am trying to keep up with people's requests but not everything will be possible. I am trying to prioritise the areas where things are broken but I will try to address as many things as I can.

 

[Shaddock]

an X over an alarm clock for "friendly"?

sure. what else? : D

posts here are very

. I will now use this as a smiley : D another alarm clock smiley

(this is the funny smiley). or

for friendly.

sry, my autism is breaking through : P

 

[tree]

Regarding the 'Forum Games' - Some of us are only receiving a minimal amount of alerts/ notifications. I just calculated that I am receiving, approximately, 1 alert for every 10 or so posts. With regard to some of the word games, it can be imperative that players receive each alert. I have become reliant on them, for the past 4 years. It becomes inefficient to keep checking to see if someone has posted after me, or, I wouldn't be making this request. Would it be possible to fix something like this? Thank's very much for all your time and efforts, Satal !

@Satal

Does @Loren's question have anything to do with the line at the bottom of the page?
QUOTE
Asperger's & Autism Forum would like your permission to enable push notifications.
END QUOTE

 

[Satal]

@Satal

Does @Loren's question have anything to do with the line at the bottom of the page?
QUOTE
Asperger's & Autism Forum would like your permission to enable push notifications.
END QUOTE

Nah, that's to do with push notifications which would be for either the browser or the app (which I have to admit I'm kind of liking).

I'm not sure why @Loren isn't receiving notifications at this point

 

[Sherlock77]

Alright... So I now see that there is a date that indicates when the discussion thread was first started, so I could look for anything on the current date... I still think it would be worth trying to figure out how to easily look up what the newest threads are, not just where recent replies are...

 

[Misery]

Alright... So I now see that there is a date that indicates when the discussion thread was first started, so I could look for anything on the current date... I still think it would be worth trying to figure out how to easily look up what the newest threads are, not just where recent replies are...

Scroll down to the very bottom of the front page.

 

[Loren]

Nah, that's to do with push notifications which would be for either the browser or the app (which I have to admit I'm kind of liking).

I'm not sure why @Loren isn't receiving notifications at this point

Thank you! And, forgive me, as I deleted my previous post, as it seemed extensive and, perhaps, unclear. To clarify, I choose not to receive email notifications, so, that hasn't been an issue. I, simply, am not receiving the red alerts that appear over the bell/ at the top of the page, when someone has posted after me, in the games. Which could seem insignificant, but, when we are actively engaging in some of the word games, in particular - receiving alerts can be integral.

I am, indeed, watching the threads I post in, and I'm aware that not every, single post, beyond the one, directly after mine, will appear in the alerts. I, merely, am not receiving ANY alerts with regard to the games, apart from on occasion. I apologize if I seem to be repeating myself. It appeared that you may have misunderstood a portion of what I mentioned, so, I thought I would clarify.

Most importantly, I don't want to put any unnecessary pressure on you. I realize this is a minor issue, compared to others, and you are doing so much, as it is. I just thought I'd mention it, in case there could be an easy fix. If not, no worries. (-:

Thank you very much for everything, Satal !

 

[Satal]

I will also mention that under New Threads tab (I know I'm not the first to say that), it is very difficult to figure out which ones are the newly created threads... And when there is a response to any particular thread every five minutes, it just simply gets very confusing on that page... I did work through the filters on that and can't find anything to address that

So I've been looking into this and it looks like XenForo has removed the ability to show a page with the Latest Threads, though it does have the ability to provide the Latest Threads as a Widget (the type of component I can put on the home page or sidebar). I'm not sure why they would have it in one place but not the other. I could put the widget on the "What's New" page but it will just be the same as is on the home page so not much use.

I'll continue to look at this, along with trying to get a Sidebar in the threads view to show the New Threads there.

You suggested that I physically view the threads, which is what I have been doing, however, previously, I would not need to, because I would receive an alert, once the next person posted.

No worries about deleting the post. Just so I can try and understand the old behaviour, you used to get a notification for each new post even without having to go to the thread to look at it? I'm just trying to get my head around what isn't working.

Most importantly, I do not want to put any unnecessary pressure on you. I know this is a minor issue, compared to others, and you are doing so much, as it is. I just thought I'd mention it, in case there could be an easy fix. If not, no worries. (-:

I'll still see what I can do

 

[Aspychata]

This is tough. It was a new post yesterday. This person does get responses, today l can't find the post. Kinda of sad.....

 

[tree]

The way I remember the red notice about new posts was
that there'd be one notice for the first post that followed
yours.

So sometimes people were surprised that there were
several more after that and they had to change their
game entry because what they made up pertained to
the item noted by the alert, not by what had accumulated
in the meantime.

@Loren
@Satal

Maybe this isn't what Loren is talking about.
I don't know.
This is how I remember the red post alert notice working.

 

[Magna]

We used to be able to post images from the internet. For example. I used to be able to right click on an image and then select: "copy image address". Then I could pick the image icon from the toolbar in this forum (the one that looks like a little landscape) and paste that image address, et voila. Now I can't see a way to do that. If you click on the image icon it only offers two options: 1) Drag and drop an image (can't do that from the internet apparently). 2) Click in the drag and drop box and then your own computer's drive folder options come up.

Is there a way to post images from the internet like before?