Site Upgrade Continues

Fix Your Site With The Right DOCTYPE
Then Please Validate, Why ?

I thought 12 hours seemed optimistic

Looking good though, not sure what I'm doing yet.

It's a hell of a mamouth task you have undertaken here Tony, knowing a little about drupal now makes me realise how complicated this must have been to get to this stage.

Hmm, how do I submit this edit? ok you have to preview the comment first.

Feel free to point out all the issues you notice, I will continue to work through them as I have time.

It seems counter-intuitive to click on "view previous post" when I want to see the next newer post, and "view next post" means view the next older.

And, a small thing that might not matter once familiarity is gained; how about a more obvious break between posts? Something as simple as an hr would help.

Are the posts from the last two or three weeks lost, or just MIA for a while?

cheers,

gary
--
Anyone can create a usable website. It takes a graphic designer to make it slow, confusing, and painful to use.
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

Now let me see if this works, (old smiley)

First off, who's nicked my avitar? I need it back please, didn't have it saved locally as it came from the previous forums set.

(editted, just found what I was asking about)

Confused as others have said atm, I understand there is more still to be done. No doubt it will all fall into place eventually, I just need a F.G.P.S. (Forum Global Posting System) ATM.

What smell? that wasn't me roll
http//www.lordofchaos.co.uk , http//www.about-gravesend.co.uk

Will there be a 'Watch This Topic' option like the old forum?

What smell? that wasn't me :roll:
http//www.about-gravesend.co.uk ,
http//www.lordofchaos.co.uk

I like the direction of the site, but it will take a little time getting use to. I like the right hand sections "New forum topics" and "Active forum topics" but do miss the "view unaswered posts".

I would like to see more contrast on the site. The three columns, posts, etc all seem to run together.

-r

Validate often.
http//validator.w3.org
http//jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator

I agree about the lack of clear demarcation between columns and posts and realise you may still be working on all of this, but

Can I suggest using the following for the "layout values".

#pagewidth	{min-width:700px; max-width:1200px; margin:0 2%; text-align:left; } 


#twocols	{width:78%; } /* contains #main and #sidebar-right */

PS. Note the html that has infiltrated itself within the code tags.

I am sure in time this will prove to be a major improvement and no doubt the friendly folks at Drupal will be pleased to know their product is being used for a site with this reach. I'll supply my remaining comments in a few weeks when the most pressing issues have been resolved.

My only point is that with this many users and the angle they're coming towards this site, this will prove to be a great test case for the CMS.

Hi Guy's
Thanks for the comments, I will work through and address issues as I can.
Chris, I was very tempted to go with a fixed width site which would allow for plenty of whit space down the sides. In the end this fluid design one out and I have kept a little white space.
I have added more margin between the around the main column to help clarify the columns.

Tony.

Hugo you will be happy to hear the spell checker is now working.
It took a little while to work out that openssl wasn't enabled for php.

I noticed!.. however naturally it was just curiosity that prompted me explore it's functions as I.. erm.. seldom have need of such help, but I threw some dilliborate mistakes just to satisfy myself that we did indeed have a functioning module. It's much simpler than the PHPBB version, and seems to pick up errors along with much better correction selections; however doesn't seem to allow adding words to a user dict which is a pity.

Now just need those little emoticons back.

FYI -

I have noticed that when I click on a link that a member posts, it does not open in a new window/tab.

- r

Validate often.
http//validator.w3.org
http//jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator

I have noticed that when I click on a link that a member posts, it does not open in a new window/tab.

Yeah, this may turn out to be a Good Thing®. We'll get into the habit of using right-click to tell the browser where to open the page. ☺

(that little round thingie at the end of the above is a text smiley, ☺. The font size is just too small.)

cheers,

gary

This is a test post.

gary
--
Anyone can create a usable website. It takes a graphic designer to make it slow, confusing, and painful to use.
Gary Turner's html & css playpen

Tony,

I'm getting more comfortable using blog methods as a forum. It appears be as usable as the conventional forum and may have advantages that I'll learn as we go along.

I have found some bugs, or maybe they're features I haven't yet come to appreciate.

• The code box has spurious html markup—Hugo has already mentioned this.

The code box seems to be {overflow: hidden;}. Longer lines of code are lost unless you have an amazingly wide window open.

When replying with quote, the sig line is not applied. Nor, is it applied when starting a new thread. The sig line is there for the 'add a comment' and the reply methods.

Since the sig line is not auto-appended to a post, and is the default content of the textarea, it should have a couple of blank lines prepended and the cursor set to the top, if feasible.

The first paragraph following a code, list or quote box is a smaller font size. Since the base font size isn't all that large to begin with, it has implications beyond just looking odd.

The quote box is not delimited. A border would be nice.

The reduced font size in lists is not helpful. The bullets and indention are sufficient.

While improved over the initial rendering, the posts could still stand for a more positive demarcation one to another.

cheers,

gary
--
Anyone can create a usable website. It takes a graphic designer to make it slow, confusing, and painful to use.
Gary Turner's html & css playpen

I thought that the sig line was auto-appended?
when replying I am backspacing the default content out of my text boxes, and seem to be getting a sig line or am I... has something changed as I did notice posts missing the sig lines earlier.
I have just cut the default entered text from this reply; oh lo and behold no sig line :? so has the behavior changed as before I was definitely able to remove it and have my sig line appear. I'm confused :?
Hugo.

And, your signature is where?

cheers,

gary
--
Anyone can create a usable website. It takes a graphic designer to make it slow, confusing, and painful to use.
Gary Turner's html & css playpen

I crossed with your edit. I'm guessing the sig was held in a hidden field at one time, or was appended by script, which would explain (maybe) the double sigs we had for a while. It is now apparently dependent on being in the textarea.

cheers,

gary
--
Anyone can create a usable website. It takes a graphic designer to make it slow, confusing, and painful to use.
Gary Turner's html & css playpen

yeah yeah ok I wus wrong but I wus right at some point, I'm sure I wus , I'm so confused, maybe i ought to keep quite.
sig line appear!!!

Fix Your Site With The Right Doctype
Then Please Validate, Why ?
Thank you!

These last posts have got seriously out of sync

Your explanation sounds about right, and the double sig lines supports that.

So do we think ccscr is in command of things? or just checking/unchecking boxes with fury

Fix Your Site With The Right Doctype
Then Please Validate, Why ?

Offering a possible fix for my feature request, "8. While improved over the initial rendering, the posts could still stand for a more positive demarcation one to another."

Suggested patch for style.css:

.comment { 
    width:100%;/*560px;*/ 
    position:relative; 
    overflow:hidden;
    margin-top: 1.5em;
    padding-bottom: 5px;
    border-bottom: 1px solid black;
    }

.comment:before {
    content: "*********";
    color: lightblue;
    background-color: white;
    letter-spacing: 1.5em;
    font-size: 1.5em;
    display: block;
    margin-bottom: -.5em;
    text-align: center;
    } 

cheers,

gary
--
Anyone can create a usable website. It takes a graphic designer to make it slow, confusing, and painful to use.
Gary Turner's html & css playpen

Clearly out of control, totally bonkers, stark ravi… .

Let us pray the meds work.

I've got the patch for the post separation; if you'll solve the arrant html tags in the code block, perhaps that and a cool cloth to the forehead will calm him.

cheers,

gary

NB I notice that using two linefeeds after a quote undoes the small font thing.
--
Anyone can create a usable website. It takes a graphic designer to make it slow, confusing, and painful to use.
Gary Turner's html & css playpen

"The code box seems to be {overflow: hidden;}. Longer lines of code are lost unless you have an amazingly wide window open."

Suggested patch to style.css:

code, .code, pre {
    color:#069; 
    background-color:#FCFCFC; 
    border:solid 1px #CCC; 
    font-size:1.3em; 
    display:block;/*width:565px;*/ 
    margin:5px 0 5px 5px;  
    padding:5px 0 5px 5px; 
    overflow: auto;
    }

"The reduced font size in lists is not helpful. The bullets and indention are sufficient." I have no clue where the font size for the ol is reduced. This patch does not seem to break anything, but does bring the list's font size back to normal.

.comment li {
    font-size: 1.1em;
    } 

"The quote box is not delimited. A border would be nice." Patching style.css

.comment div.quote-msg {
    border: 1px solid #ccc;
    background-color: #fcfcfc;
    color: #000;
    padding: 5px;    
    } 

.comment div.quote-author {
    font-weight: bold;
    }

cheers,

gary
--
Anyone can create a usable website. It takes a graphic designer to make it slow, confusing, and painful to use.
Gary Turner's html & css playpen

I'm afraid I'm not. I just can't get used to the new layout at all.

Sadly my suggested workaround for BB code tag problems , using html code tags, now seems not to work, only including half the wrapped code in a styled box, is that the overflow problem?

Have no answer to the BB code tag problem. Enabling the forum module in one of my drupal installs wasn't any help.

The sig block is a known problem, it seems that the sig block in comments mode annoys many, but that also in quote mode the sig block is retrieved from the user profile which while a preferred behaviour is not the default one that drupal is supposed to work to. So really drupal shouldn't be adding the sig block to the comments text but retrieving it from profile each time a comment is displayed. This may be a behaviour we're stuck with although it seems people are working on custom modules to overcome this.

I haven't tried this but it appears that unless drupal does retrieve the block from user profile per page/node/comment view any changes to ones sig info will only be reflected as of new posts i.e posts post change, all previous posts would remain unchanged, which makes sense but is a little irritating.

Hugo.

See Hugo's remarks above.

The code box seems to be {overflow: hidden;}. Longer lines of code are lost unless you have an amazingly wide window open.

Patch suggested

When replying with quote, the sig line is not applied. Nor, is it applied when starting a new thread. The sig line is there for the 'add a comment' and the reply methods.

See Hugo's remarks

Since the sig line is not auto-appended to a post, and is the default content of the textarea, it should have a couple of blank lines prepended and the cursor set to the top, if feasible.

Open

The first paragraph following a code, list or quote box is a smaller font size. Since the base font size isn't all that large to begin with, it has implications beyond just looking odd.

Work around is to use two linefeeds after the code/quote/list block

The quote box is not delimited. A border would be nice.

Patch offered

The reduced font size in lists is not helpful. The bullets and indention are sufficient.

Patch offered

While improved over the initial rendering, the posts could still stand for a more positive demarcation one to another.

Patch offered

cheers,

gary
--
Anyone can create a usable website. It takes a graphic designer to make it slow, confusing, and painful to use.
Gary Turner's html & css playpen

OK, sometime between Hugo's post and my last, something broke this page. !!!

Are you playing with it, Tony?

cheers,

gary
--
Anyone can create a usable website. It takes a graphic designer to make it slow, confusing, and painful to use.
Gary Turner's html & css playpen

You'll get the hang of it, it does make some sort of peverse sense. It helps to stop thinking in terms of threads and more in terms of blog entries and comments, a forum section just being a user blog in some senses that is common to all users that all can create blog entries in and add comments to.

Now this was a quoted comment so should call up the sig block from my user profile as it wasn't included in the text reply.

Oddly when I opened this blog entry the last post had floated out of the centre content to the top right and when page refreshed layout broke , maybe someone is playing with things.

Hmm, help it's all going wrong.

So no sig block in quote mode then :?

I think that CSSCR must be weaving his majick

Fix Your Site With The Right Doctype
Then Please Validate, Why ?

What have you guy's done to my site
Seems to be a misplaced closing div somewhere.
If only I could find the little monster.

As if I am not stressed out enough I have a Dentist appointment in half an hour.
On the good side, I found the extra closing div it was a closing bbcode quote tag.
maybe I should be using p instead of div.

Thanks for all the suggestions I will get to them ASAP, as long as I survive the dentist

I have survived the Dentist
Many of the suggested style changes and changed how signatures are implemented.
There will be many double signatures for posts since the upgrade but from now on signatures should be automatically added to the end of comments.

I love the last three comment titles:

"HELP!" "STRESS!" "SURVIVED!"

So you're ready for the next round of problems then!

It was Gary! I was.. erm.. somewhere else doing absolutely nothing like playing with php code at all, It just broke while I was looking at it I didn't touch anything

It's important that you validate your code first things like missing divs are very easily picked up if you have FF with the htmlTidy extension installed which will allow these sorts of errors to be highlighted it would be immediately apparent where the problem was....oops sorry thought I was in 'beginners CSS'

Actually even your dentist could have probably fixed this one for you!

Perhaps we could uncheck 'Required field' for title field in quoted posts/comments, unless there is a reason for it that escapes me.

Indeed, sig block now gone from text input.

So sig block now being drawn from user profile?

Changes in user profile sigs will be global?

Was this a new module or did you work this out as it sounded as though it was far from easy to get around.

Quoted comments look better and nested!

Little bit of styling that helps me disearn seperate comments (although I am working on a box/tft that won't display any color as light as #eee at all)

.comment{border-bottom:3px double #000;}
.comment .links {margin-bottom:8px;}

Gary probably covered this in his more detailed snippets and I realise there is already a certain styling in place.

Hugo.

The signature fix was a module and very simple to install.
I have removed the required subject for quoted comments.
I have also been playing around with different filters removing the line breaks, so expect to see some changes.

We are getting pounded by Google as it tries to re-index the site.

We are getting pounded by Google as it tries to re-index the site.

Great stuff!

One thing that definitely still bugs me at the moment is that when posting comments one can only reference the original entry, naturally for a blog style setup, it would be great if there was some means of setting a flat form layout to the comment form layout so that all comments were visible if that makes sense, although whether this is at all possible is another story and not an essential requirement.

Hugo.

If you click the "reply" link under the comment you wish to reference that comment shows in the post comment form.
If you click the "add new comment" then the original posting shows.
I think it would be a nasty hack to get all comments showing but I will have a look into it.

Small problem in forum/5 'site checks' #forum table seems to have assumed fixed width causing right column to slide over top when browser reduced, as opposed to the other forum nodes that appear to have table td.topics with fluid width allowing table to re-size.

Hi Hugo,

Yes it just a long url in the subject of a post throwing it out.
I might take the easy way out on this one and split the url as it isn't a link.

Tables, the bane of my life at the moment in Drupal - well one of them - no sooner do I think I've accounted for all eventualities I find another little problem!

Splitting sounds like the sensible approach even if it's the easy way out; I've reached the point where I'm very happy taking 'the easy way out' it's that or a nervous breakdown

Hi Hugo,
You will get over the drupal hump and fall in love shortly.
That humping word is really hard to resist making jokes about.
I should have used hill instead of hump, but then we don't want you getting over the hill too soon.
OK enough at the corny jokes I will go and leave you to climb the hill or do some humping.
p.s. It's Sunday evening and I have had a couple of quiet beers and might just go and have another.

ms drupal and I have got the over the lustful hump stage and I am over the hill sadly i then looked up and before me lay K2, but I accepted that as I never expected an easy journey, the path of true love...etc. I scaled the heights of K2 manfully and thought I'd triumphed and finally conquered all but again I looked up and lo Everest lay before me; question is am I to take the south face or north.

Sadly I see a pattern emerging and the truth does slowly dawn about the true events of that fateful day last Sunday when you did undertake to dump your databases and perform other technically advanced and intricate procedures, and I feel that I have to pass on this information that has been passed to me as it, I think, tells the true story of that day and the consequences of relaxing on the job too much when one feels overconfident.

Tony realising the enormity of the task ahead of him desided that it would be prudent to get some technical support from some trusted friends. being all experienced technical systems admins they knew full well the importance of careful and detailed planning before attempting this project so sat down to review their action plan over a few beers.....
12 hours later Tony awoke in a panic realising the forum had been off line for so long he quickly set about uploading his database of best brewing recipes!