NEW FORUM TEST

Mystara

As part of ongoing changes to Knightmare.com, the underlying forum software is due to be upgraded.

I have spent a while importing a snapshot of the forum (taken last night) in order to test that the transfer of data was correct and that nothing was lost. I'd appreciate it if people could take a few moments to look at the new forum test installation at: http://www.knightmare.com/phpbb/index.php

You should be able to look around and log in, but the forums have been marked as read-only to non-moderators so as to eliminate any confusion of people posting to the wrong forum (THIS is the current forum, post HERE).

I have tried my best to replicate the look-and-feel of the current forums. I am aware of a couple of glitches with respect to these, but please report all that you find.

Permissions, posts, PMs, personal information, users, passwords, moderators, admins and avatars should all be unchanged.

Ranks (level x dungeoneer) might be tinkered with a teensy bit. I have already added an additional rank of "Fright Knight" to the bunch.

Known issues:

The tag lines (mine is "KMV Guy") do not show up on posts. I'm not sure how easy they are to add. If they're hard, we might look at awarding special titles as incentive for various things
I have no idea what's up with the "current date" shown on the front page. Despite playing with every setting I can find, it shows the time as GMT.
The black/grey alternating colours are disgusting. Consider them a temporary measure to make posts easier to read.

Current intentions....

In a couple of weeks, these forums will be switched off. The data will then be imported to the new forum software and the new forum will be brought online. The process will take several hours. During this time, the forums will be unavailable. Once the process is complete, the new forum software will be switched on and the forums will once again become available using the new software.

frakilk

Hi mystara,

Let me first say thanks for volunteering to update the forums. I'm sure it will help a lot.

I had a look through the new setup and it's looking good. A few notes:

The styles on the User Control Panel page are making things illegible (but I'm sure you already knew that )
I always thought the forum pages could use a visual kick. I'm imagining a header graphic that appears to the right of the "Knightmare Discussion Forum" text in the header. For example a collage of Smirkenoff, Treguard and Lord Fear in dramatic poses and stylish black and white for effect . I run websites myself so it's possible that I could have a crack at creating this if others agree.
Something else that could also appear near the header is a graphic promoting Sunday night chats in the Knightmare chat room. Nothing extravagant, just a small graphic.
Also on the subject of graphics I notice the forum uses the default phpbb3 icons for topics, hot topics, new topics etc... A Knightmare themed set would be great. Again if I found time I may be able to make a stab at these also.
A Treguard smiley and a Lord Fear smiley. We definitely need those!

Let me know what you think. Again thanks for stepping up. Let's get this place rocking again

Mystara

Hi mystara,

Let me first say thanks for volunteering to update the forums. I'm sure it will help a lot.

The forum is just the first of several planned changes

I had a look through the new setup and it's looking good. A few notes:

Thanks for your comments! I'll respond to each point below:

The styles on the User Control Panel page are making things illegible (but I'm sure you already knew that )

I missed this. However, it should hopefully now be fixed.

I always thought the forum pages could use a visual kick. I'm imagining a header graphic that appears to the right of the "Knightmare Discussion Forum" text in the header. For example a collage of Smirkenoff, Treguard and Lord Fear in dramatic poses and stylish black and white for effect . I run websites myself so it's possible that I could have a crack at creating this if others agree.

I'm hoping to put the forum and site under a common design/layout so it would need to be usable on the main site too. But if you feel like it, go for it.

Something else that could also appear near the header is a graphic promoting Sunday night chats in the Knightmare chat room. Nothing extravagant, just a small graphic.

This doesn't seem appropriate to the forum.

Also on the subject of graphics I notice the forum uses the default phpbb3 icons for topics, hot topics, new topics etc... A Knightmare themed set would be great. Again if I found time I may be able to make a stab at these also.

I would love this!

A Treguard smiley and a Lord Fear smiley. We definitely need those!

Similarly, but I think it'd be hard to do this, given the tiny size of the icons.

Let me know what you think. Again thanks for stepping up. Let's get this place rocking again

Game on!

Fidjit

I like that boss. Those No New/New Post Icons are changing aren't they? Perhaps a lit torch icon for a "new message" and a burnt out torch for a "no new message"

Nevertheless, the update will play a significant role into getting the forum back on track. I know its not been long in the hot seat but is the website in for changes too?

Once again boss, nice work

Mystara

I like that boss. Those No New/New Post Icons are changing aren't they? Perhaps a lit torch icon for a "new message" and a burnt out torch for a "no new message"

Oooooh, I like that.

Nevertheless, the update will play a significant role into getting the forum back on track. I know its not been long in the hot seat but is the website in for changes too?

Yes.

But the first priority is to get the forum software updated.

Glad you like

Pooka

Very plush! Been looking around, getting my profile sorted out. Evidently the colours will have to be sorted out - you can't see the text in people's signatures - but you said you'd be sorting that stuff out anyway - so yes! Good all around!

Quote from: frakilk on 28 April 2009 19:11

Something else that could also appear near the header is a graphic promoting Sunday night chats in the Knightmare chat room. Nothing extravagant, just a small graphic.

This doesn't seem appropriate to the forum.

You're right, except we're trying to plug #knightmare as much as possible (or at least, I am) so perhaps if there's a news fader that could be a topic. Or at least a very small link with all the others at the top of the page. A separate graphic is a bit much, but why not link to it, in some ways it can't hurt, right?

Mystara

Very plush! Been looking around, getting my profile sorted out.

hrm, I may not have been very clear before. Ahem.

Any changes made to the new forum will be lost.

Sorry, but there's no way to import new posts from the old forum. That's why I tried to lock it all down. On the plus side, the profile editing capabilities work, I take it?

Evidently the colours will have to be sorted out - you can't see the text in people's signatures - but you said you'd be sorting that stuff out anyway - so yes! Good all around!

Yes, annoyingly it's not quite as simply as setting a colour scheme. I need to go and modify the entire CSS.

I'll see if I can improve the signature colour somewhat. Although the entire thing might be easier if I simply look for a better phpBB theme.

You're right, except we're trying to plug #knightmare as much as possible (or at least, I am) so perhaps if there's a news fader that could be a topic. Or at least a very small link with all the others at the top of the page. A separate graphic is a bit much, but why not link to it, in some ways it can't hurt, right?

Let's wait and see on this. I'm certainly not averse to publicising the chatroom at much as possible. That said, the forum is only one aspect of the site and the ultimate ambition is to combine them. Once we migrate to the new forum, we can see if there's some way to link to chat. Adding HTML directly is a big job because of the number of template files that would need modifying (over 50).

frakilk

Adding HTML directly is a big job because of the number of template files that would need modifying (over 50).

I am familiar with PHPBB. All you would have to modify is page_header.tpl

Mystara

There is no page_header.tpl

At least, none that I can see. Although I suppose it's possible that there is some other included file for the header of each page.

Amorya

There is no page_header.tpl

At least, none that I can see. Although I suppose it's possible that there is some other included file for the header of each page.

It's actually called overall_header.html. (There's also overall_footer).

Mystara

Well, that would certainly make things easier.

frakilk

Apologies, that's what I meant (should have looked at the file name before guessing it's name )

Mystara

I have had a very quick go of using torches to mark whether a forum is read or unread. The lit/animated torch indicates that a forum is unread.

If anyone can do better, please feel free

frakilk

That looks great mystara, more Knightmare-looking already

Mystara

I've just finished making a whole batch of changes to the theme. In particular:

Got rid of the disgusting black and grey alternations. I hope.
Some hovering glitches were removed
Improved readability of signature text (thanks Pooka!) and also one or two other bits of text that I had missed
User control panel should be fixed (thanks Frak)
More torches have been added. Given the number of permutations of icon, I'm afraid I might need to use something other than lit/unlit such as greyscale/colour. I might use unlit torches for locked topics. I haven't fully thought it all through yet.
One user had a problem logging in for unknown reasons. If you haven't already logged in, please try it.
I notice that some special characters (£ for example) have not translated properly. Bugger. That might require a fair bit of hassle to get it moved properly

If your user profile is out of date - specifically the email address - make sure you update it! If the passwords are not being transferred correctly all the time, you run the risk of being locked out of your account when we transfer

Mystara

Howdy,

I have made hopefully the last test import of data to phpbb. The encoding problem seems to have resolved itself and the knightmare forum theme should now be complete (I hope). Although there is obviously room for improvement at a later date.

I propose to make the final move to phpbb on Friday 15th May. The hope is that the transition will go smoothly, there should be no loss of data. When the update begins, this forum will be locked, switched off and archived. The new forum will then be brought online and data from the old forum will be imported. The process will take several hours.

If you haven't done so already, please update your user profile. Should things go wrong and your password requires resetting, it will be very hard to do anything if your email address is out of date.