Was:Forum Upgrade? by @Remy Lebeau|Now: Off-Topic but possibly useful stuff

[Aruna]

Hello everyone, the original post by @Remy Lebeau raised legitimate concerns. The original question was if SMF would ever be upgraded and if not how about the possibility of having a mod that gives us the @user functionality.

There was a considerable amount of discussion and differing opinions ( at times heated) and sadly finally @Remy LeBeau decided to pull out and lock the thread ( I do not blame anyone, I sincerely believe every person has a right to voice their opinions and be heard. ) Some folks asked legit questions and some did not want to effect change they were happy with the way things are.

This is an attempt to answer some of the questions raised by other members and hopefully, we can all have a peaceful civilized dialogue like adults. ( We are all grown up right? It is extremely frustrating when someone is sincerely and genuinely trying their best to help but the other person is unwilling to 'listen' nor 'follow clear instructions' or 'provide feedback that can help resolve their problem'.

It does not have to be this way, Think about this:
Strong people don't put others down, they lift them up. A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it. 

So at the very high risk of being told to eff off or p*ss off I am starting this thread by trying to answer a question raised by @MarkMLI and @rvk.
@MarkMLl wanted to know the browser version & screen size?

Well, SMF has a built-in functionalty that provides 'OS & Browser Detection' but you need an admin to set it up ( Martin_fr? Yes/NO/Definitely a maybe?)

So to keep things transparent and productive let me say I have no issues with any differing opinions or heat. So please do participate if you so wish. Direct any and all heat towards me as I have grown a very thick outer layer of dermis and am now immune to that sort of thing ( and one learns to live with bruised ego's with time )

Let's have FUN people! ( it would be really nice if someone gave @Remy Lebeau that @user functionality) 


 

[Curt Carpenter]

A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it.

That is interesting but I suspect profoundly dangerous advice    Some problems have a tendency to grow if we avoid them  (believe me, as a procrastinator of the first rank I know).

[440bx]

Let's have FUN people! ( it would be really nice if someone gave @Remy Lebeau that @user functionality) 

I read @Remy's reason to ask about the upgrade where he sort of described the @user functionality.

In spite of that, I am still quite unclear what the @user functionality entails.  If someone could describe what it consists of, that would be great.

TIA.

@Curt,

I believe the intention is not so much as to "avoid" but, prevent creating the situation where the problem may occur.  Just my guess.

You're right, procrastinating only makes problems worse.  Not a wise thing to do.

[Aruna]

A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it.

That is interesting but I suspect profoundly dangerous advice    Some problems have a tendency to grow if we avoid them  (believe me, as a procrastinator of the first rank I know).

It wasn't meant as advice my dear friend it was 'ze bot' simply making an observation. Entirely up to the reader how he/she interprets things :-)

Finding a balance is key. Addressing problems when they first appear can prevent them from becoming more complex, while also knowing when to step back and let things unfold naturally is important too. Each situation may call for a different approach, and being able to discern when to act and when to observe is a skill in itself.

And since we are being transparent I want to ask you if you remember that time when you thought I was a 'bot'? You were not far off you know, and I was quite frankly highly impressed with your analytical and observational skills. The 'bot' feeling was due to my compiling the original text like how my mother taught me but then running it through AI and if I felt the generated output had more accuracy, brevity, and clarity then why not? So this was why I did not accept your apology it was unnecessary and you were not entirely wrong  

Pray tell me one thing and no offense to anyone but how do you help someone who stubbornly refuses all helping hands?

[Aruna]

Let's have FUN people! ( it would be really nice if someone gave @Remy Lebeau that @user functionality) 

I read @Remy's reason to ask about the upgrade where he sort of described the @user functionality.

In spite of that, I am still quite unclear what the @user functionality entails.  If someone could describe what it consists of, that would be great.

I belive what he wants is when we use and mention @some_user that specific user is informed? I may be wrong. ( Let's go ask him? )

TIA.

@Curt,

I believe the intention is not so much as to "avoid" but, prevent creating the situation where the problem may occur.  Just my guess.

You're right, procrastinating only makes problems worse.  Not a wise thing to do.

English not being my first language is such a curse at times @440bx I say something meaning onething and it is interpreted in so many different ways by folks. Your guess is correct btw I was simply saying prevention is always better than any cure :-)

[Remy Lebeau]

... sadly finally @Remy LeBeau decided to pull out and lock the thread

I didn't lock the thread (I don't even know how).  I just stopped looking at replies to it.

I belive what he wants is when we use and mention @some_user that specific user is informed?

Yes, exactly.  When you post a message, you can mention specific users to get their attention.  Lots of other forums have this feature.

[440bx]

Thank you Remy and Aruna for clarifying what the feature is all about.

[Aruna]

... sadly finally @Remy LeBeau decided to pull out and lock the thread

I didn't lock the thread (I don't even know how).  I just stopped looking at replies to it.

Maybe an admin did? After you said peace and am out :-) At the top left corner of the attached screenshot, you will see a button that says 'lock topic' it will turn a goldish yellow when you mouse over. It is at the very bottom of the forum so scroll all the way down to see it. If 'you' initiated the post that button will be avaialbe to you. So if sh!t happens and it turns into a thread straight from hell you can lock it up :-)

I belive what he wants is when we use and mention @some_user that specific user is informed?

Yes, exactly.  When you post a message, you can mention specific users to get their attention.  Lots of other forums have this feature.

Thank you for clarifying this for everyone @Remy LeBeau ( I am really happy you are with us again )   

[Curt Carpenter]

Finding a balance is key. Addressing problems when they first appear can prevent them from becoming more complex, while also knowing when to step back and let things unfold naturally is important too.

Ah -- there is an ancient Chinese maxim that goes "By doing nothing, things get done".   I have personally tested this on many occasions and found it to have significant practical merit 

[Joanna]

The forum still does not need upgrading. 

If someone wants to contact someone on forum they can send a private message!!
 If they don’t have pm privileges yet for this, they can thank all the spammers that made it necessary to prevent someone from making a new account and sending an advertisement via pm to everyone in the forums.
Things are the way they are for a reason 

I seriously doubt that most people here want to be pinged with email informing them that some new spammer account has mentioned them somewhere. This feature would circumvent the restrictions on brand new accounts bothering people by sending private messages.

Who would benefit from any spammer account being bestowed this power? My first guess would be people who want to wreck the forums for people who actually use fpc and Lazarus.

[MarkMLl]

@MarkMLl wanted to know the browser version & screen size?

Well, SMF has a built-in functionalty that provides 'OS & Browser Detection' but you need an admin to set it up ( Martin_fr? Yes/NO/Definitely a maybe?)

In fairness, that was related to one particular user's insistence on introducing Gitlabs' bug-reporter problems: it wasn't directly relevant to SMF.

Since Gitlab and SMF run (I presume) on completely different systems and are under the control of different people, I'd suggest that that discussion is off-topic here.

MarkMLl

[Marc]

In fairness, that was related to one particular user's insistence on introducing Gitlabs' bug-reporter problems: it wasn't directly relevant to SMF.

Since Gitlab and SMF run (I presume) on completely different systems and are under the control of different people, I'd suggest that that discussion is off-topic here.

Correct. This forum and the Lazarus website is hosted on a rented VM, while Gitlab is using an opensource license, hosted by Gitlab themselves

Marc

[rvk]

The forum still does not need upgrading. 

If someone wants to contact someone on forum they can send a private message!!

And how about mobile view (responsive site)? Tagging someone with @ isn't the only reason to upgrade.
I often access the site via my phone and the layout is horrible then.

There are also a lot of other useful changes and additions to the newer 2.1.x (over the older 2.0.x) versions.

BTW. with that reasoning you could also say that everyone still needs to be on Lazarus 0.9.26.2
But ok... eventually the new forum software will come... (when 2.0.x isn't supported anymore)

O... and another thing... newer software often has better security and bot-protection to guard against slowness of the site. Something you will probably like 

[dbannon]

Skipping over J's paranoid assertions about the motive behind the request for @user (because they are offensive and just plain ludicrous, Joanna that last sentence needs an apology), I do agree that being able to send a PM is much of what is necessary.

But a better delivery on mobile devices would present a more modern feel, many people today believe a phone can do everything, while I personally disagree, they are probably the majority !  It would mean we'd see more posts "try this code, I have not tested it 'cos I am mobile" but so be it. 

Davo

[rvk]

The forum still does not need upgrading. 

O, and to ease your mind Joanna... can you access https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php without problems?
They are running their latest version themselves.