Version 3.1 is alive!

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Version 3.1 is alive!

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As you probably noticed, the appearance of the forum has changed. The forum software has been upgraded to the new feature release of phpBB, v3.1. This version contains a number of new features, all of which we're sure you'll enjoy discovering.

Here are some of the highlights ...
  • The prosilver board style becomes a responsive design that provides a modern and unified experience across all your devices, including desktops, tablets and smart-phones. It also removes the need for the Artodia:Mobile workaround we've been using.
  • A live Notifications feature which lives in the header of every page and provides a centralized place to receive alerts about various events, such as when you are quoted in a post.
  • A number of navigational improvements. The Last post field on an index page now shows the topic title, rather than just who/when the last post was made. If there are unread posts, the topic icon now links to the first unread post.
  • Automatic daylight savings time changes. Set your time zone and the system automatically handles daylight savings time changes.
  • Improved functionality for the Forum rules.
Some functionality is lost, including ...
  • the subsilver2 board style is no longer supported. Unfortunately we don't have a supported equivalent style.
  • Notification pop-ups are gone, replaced by the live notifications feature.
  • IE6 and IE7 support has been dropped.
The Google search box isn't permanently lost, it is just not available yet. Stay tuned.

We've put together a Quick start guide for v3.1 to help to understand how to find some of the new features and the new locations of some existing functionality.

Please explore the new software. Report problems and ask questions if you're confused. We'll straighten most of the little foibles out as quickly as we can.
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Re: Version 3.1 is alive!

Post by kcowan »

The only thing I found not intuitive is that it showed 3 PMs when there was only one new one. There were two older ones that I had read showing as unread. No big deal. Just disappointment.
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Re: Version 3.1 is alive!

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

Thanks Keith. I haven't seen that behaviour during testing so I'll have to investigate. Anyone else seeing the same problem?
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Re: Version 3.1 is alive!

Post by gsp_ »

Do most of my browsing on iphone, like the new integrated design. :thumbsup:

When browsing by subforum each thread displays info on the last post, far preferable IMO to displaying the same info about the initial post in the thread. So far so good. When browsing by unread posts however this is reversed and not at all useful. Any way it can be changed?
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Re: Version 3.1 is alive!

Post by pmj »

It was a nice feature of the previous format that info about each poster was provided in a panel at the left side - which is where one's focus is after clicking an icon at the left side of the list - and also 'cos we start reading from the left! Indeed, I know many posters by their thumbnail photos 8). Now we have scan to the right side to see who it is ....
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Re: Version 3.1 is alive!

Post by patriot1 »

The forum used to fill my 16x9 monitor but for some reason it now only occupies the middle 4x3 with white margins. Like watching an old TV show. :P
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Re: Version 3.1 is alive!

Post by like_to_retire »

What do the ICONS at the left mean.

Some have stars in them, some of them are rolling, some are static?

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Re: Version 3.1 is alive!

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

Does this answer the question?

Two general points
- Red icons are unread items, blue/grey are read
- A star on any topic means you have posted in it

Image - Announcement
Image - Sticky topic
Image - Read topic
Image - Unread topic
Image - Read topic that you have posted in
Image - Unread topic that you have posted in
Image - Popular topic
Image - Locked topic
Image - Moved topic
Image - Forum with subforums (which have been read)
Image - Forum with subforums (which are unread)
Image - Link forum
Image - Attachment
Image - Go to last post in the topic
Image - Go to last unread post in the topic
Image - Subforum read
Image - Subforum unread
Last edited by Peculiar_Investor on 13 Feb 2015 10:23, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Changed Hot to Popular to more properly reflect forum software functionality.
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Re: Version 3.1 is alive!

Post by Chuck »

pmj wrote:It was a nice feature of the previous format that info about each poster was provided in a panel at the left side - which is where one's focus is after clicking an icon at the left side of the list - and also 'cos we start reading from the left! Indeed, I know many posters by their thumbnail photos 8). Now we have scan to the right side to see who it is ....
I find this somewhat annoying as well (left side avatar panes seem to be the universal format for every forum I have visited). One wonders if it is configurable?
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Re: Version 3.1 is alive!

Post by biker »

The ability to click on and get "unread posts ' is no longer on the page??
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Re: Version 3.1 is alive!

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

biker wrote:The ability to click on and get "unread posts ' is no longer on the page??
The phpBB 3.1 user designers move them, they can be found under the Quick links menu item.
quick links - 3.1.PNG
quick links - 3.1.PNG (15.27 KiB) Viewed 5407 times
If you had any of View unanswered postsView unread postsView new postsView active topics bookmarked, your bookmarks will still work.
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Re: Version 3.1 is alive!

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

gsp_ wrote:Do most of my browsing on iphone, like the new integrated design. :thumbsup:

When browsing by subforum each thread displays info on the last post, far preferable IMO to displaying the same info about the initial post in the thread. So far so good. When browsing by unread posts however this is reversed and not at all useful. Any way it can be changed?
It took me a while to figure out that the change is related to implementation of mobile browsing that we had been using (Artodia:Mobile) versus the new interface. The FWF mechanics are looking into this but I'd expect that consistency between desktop/tablet/smart phone was the critical design point so the only way to influence change is getting the phpBB software changed. FWIW, the designer of the Artodia:Mobile style that we had been using was heavily involved in the design on the new responsive style.
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Re: Version 3.1 is alive!

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

patriot1 wrote:The forum used to fill my 16x9 monitor but for some reason it now only occupies the middle 4x3 with white margins. Like watching an old TV show. :P
That was my first impressions also. When I first saw the new responsive design I wondered about the same thing. I did some research into the design philosophy behind the changes and why and how the phpBB development team set a maximum width. They indicate it is based on research about readability of long lines of text and appropriate use of whitespace. The details of the research are probably beyond the scope of this discussion, but if anyone wants more details, please PM me and I'll point you in the right direction. If there is enough demand, I'll start a seperate topic.

I must admit my views have changed the more I've used the new style and I've come around to their line of thinking.
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Re: Version 3.1 is alive!

Post by pmj »

Peculiar_Investor wrote:
patriot1 wrote:The forum used to fill my 16x9 monitor but for some reason it now only occupies the middle 4x3 with white margins. Like watching an old TV show. :P
That was my first impressions also. When I first saw the new responsive design I wondered about the same thing. I did some research into the design philosophy behind the changes and why and how the phpBB development team set a maximum width. They indicate it is based on research about readability of long lines of text and appropriate use of whitespace.
As an aside, I had to search for a few seconds to find the "quote" button :oops:.

I don't use widescreens - and the habit of webpages, etc, to fill the full width of the screen is one of the reasons I don't like them. Interesting to learn that developers are addressing this issue.

I like that the larger buttons in the lists of topics now function to access the first unread post. It was a pain on mobile devices to hit that small orange icon ...
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Re: Version 3.1 is alive!

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

It has been just over five years since we last upgraded the site so there will be some learning curve to get used to the new features and new locations of things, particularly for those who had been using the subsilver2 board style.

Please don't hesitate to ask questions if you cannot find things. If you find new things that you think others would appreciate knowing, please share those too. After all, we are about sharing information and educating others.
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Re: Version 3.1 is alive!

Post by apater »

Peculiar_Investor wrote: Image - Hot topic
Blinking tags are so 1994. How can one turn off the distracting animation?
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Re: Version 3.1 is alive!

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

Thanks for the feedback. This actually isn't something new in phpBB 3.1. In the previous version of the software, if you were using the subsilver2 board style you would also have had an animated gif, it just wasn't as large, it looked like:
topic_unread_hot.gif
topic_unread_hot.gif (1.84 KiB) Viewed 5283 times
There are some controls at our disposal to control what determines if a topic is 'popular', so it is possible to reduce the occurrence of the animated gif. We'll look into it. Our general mantra is to run unmodified forum software, so changing the icons goes against that philosophy.
Last edited by Peculiar_Investor on 14 Feb 2015 11:40, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: hot -> popular
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Re: Version 3.1 is alive!

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

Today's new feature ... drag-and-drop attachments. The new software allows you to attach files by dragging and dropping them in the message box. Give it a try.
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Re: Version 3.1 is alive!

Post by ig17 »

apater wrote:Blinking tags are so 1994. How can one turn off the distracting animation?
You can install browser extension to enable/disable animated GIFs.

Firefox
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... ated-gifs/

Chrome
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/deta ... balb?hl=en
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Re: Version 3.1 is alive!

Post by BRIAN5000 »

ig17 wrote:
apater wrote:Blinking tags are so 1994. How can one turn off the distracting animation?
You can install browser extension to enable/disable animated GIFs.

Firefox
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... ated-gifs/

Chrome
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/deta ... balb?hl=en
Thank you that almost makes the new format tollerable.
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Re: Version 3.1 is alive!

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

FWIW, your admins have bumped the threshold for a topic to be considered 'popular', which should reduce the occurrence.
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Re: Version 3.1 is alive!

Post by Jaunty »

FWIW, I don't even notice them (blinking tags). After reading the posts above, I made a point of looking for them & had sort of noticed them in passing yesterday. Guess it helps to have tunnel vision.
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Re: Version 3.1 is alive!

Post by apater »

Jaunty wrote:FWIW, I don't even notice them (blinking tags). After reading the posts above, I made a point of looking for them & had sort of noticed them in passing yesterday. Guess it helps to have tunnel vision.
:) I envy you! :D

For the rest, thanks for the animated gif blocker, that makes the web much more friendly!

Part of the difference between the old forum version and the new is that the irritating animations, as well as being bigger and more active, are on the left hand side. As I am trained to read from left-to-right, the old animations were less noticeable. Being on the right side, they were easy to ignore. Movement on my focus point is hard to ignore.

Another factor is that my start page is active topics. And everything active wanted to be to HOT as well!
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Re: Version 3.1 is alive!

Post by BRIAN5000 »

To put quick links in a drop down list that you have to click on for access makes them no longer Quick Links. Too bad some of those couldn't be broken out onto a Header somewhere.
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Re: Version 3.1 is alive!

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

I'm not sure why the phpBB developers made that change. I know they've received some pretty strong feedback about it.

The workaround that I've used for years, create a bookmark for your favorite way of 'Viewing' and keep it handy in your browser bookmarks toolbar.
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