Forum Updated

[Ashley Cawley]

Sorry folks, just had to do an urgent upgrade of the forum.

Every time I upgrade the forum software I have to shut the forum down first (or it'll likely break it if users are on it whilst it's being upgraded)... it does concern me each time I do it because just as I'm shutting the forum down I imagine someone who's just typed a really long post and is about to click to post it and I've shut it down and killed their post! lol :( .. So sorry if I ever have but you should know that these upgrades are unavoidable and urgent, if the system is not kept up to date it can be exploited by crackers and taken over and potentially destroyed forever.

As always if you notice anything out of the ordinary or broken as a result of the upgrade please let me know.

No major visual changes should have happened during this update.


​Cheers One & All!

[Fletching]

evetS

.ffuts emosewa etirw ot yrt I nehw gnineppah eb ot smees gnihtemos sa etadpu rehtona od ot deen yam uoy kniht I

[Ben Casey]

Whats that LOL

[Ashley Cawley]

lmao - you'd better be kidding!

[Ben Casey]

Hi Mate I notice when you click a link at the top like Forum and go to whats New for example the old one is sort of a funny shade I dunno if it is the same with you?

[happybonzo]

At least your upgrade has worked. Another forum I use has been down for over 36 hours now

[Martin]

Bloody hell, I'd just written a really long post when....

[Fletching]

Bloody hell, I'd just written a really long post when....

phew!

[luresalive]

Second line where I normally click new posts is all muddled up for me??

[Martin]

phew!

:p

[Tony1948]

Language Martin...you'll have a Moderator on you:tongue:

[Martin]

Language Martin...you'll have a Moderator on you:tongue:

You spelled that right!! :p

Martin

[Tony1948]

HaHa I'v bought a Collins English Dictionary:tongue:still cant read thow.I can Drive a Truck and make quite good knives:happy-clapping:

[Martin]

HaHa I'v bought a Collins English Dictionary:tongue:still cant read thow.I can Drive a Truck and make quite good knives:happy-clapping:

Good enough for me mate. ;)

Martin

[jus_young]

I have got two lines of options overlapping as well. 'Latest posts' also has 'support us' overwritten etc etc.

[Tony1948]

Ya I'v just notice a problem with mine also the box with Forum and whats new? when i click on them they go light:confused2:

[Silverback]

Second line where I normally click new posts is all muddled up for me??

me too. using Firefox 11.0

[Ashley Cawley]

Thanks for reporting the over-lapping glitch - does it now look ok your end? (it looks ok mine), let me know.
Ya I'v just notice a problem with mine also the box with Forum and whats new? when i click on them they go light:confused2:I *think* it's supposed to be like that in this new version, not sure, I'll look into it because I think it looks pants.

[Bambii]

Yeah, it stopped doing it with mine now :) Cheers Ash

[luresalive]

Looks OK now..

[jus_young]

:happy-clapping:

All is well

[Ashley Cawley]

:happy-clapping:

All is wellMaybe spoke to soon! lol... I think I've noticed another glitch... some of the sub-menus at the top are showing blank (white text on white background) like this in the pic below...

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/218966/glitch.PNG

Curious to see if anyone else is experiencing this or just me?

[Fletching]

Mmm, yes, but basic accessibility rule for navs is if you lighten the background of an active nav section, you should darken the text. Tut!

;)

<style type="text/css">
#navtabs .selected a {color: #7192A8;}
</style>

[jus_young]

Well Steve I would love to agree with you on that one but basically I haven't got a clue what your on about! :confused:

Contrary to my previous statement, all is not well :(

[Marvell]

Mmm, yes, but basic accessibility rule for navs is if you lighten the background of an active nav section, you should darken the text. Tut!

<style type="text/css">
#navtabs .selected a {color: #7192A8;}
</style>

That would also work. This is the priority rule in your css which needs changing:

.navtabs li.selected li a {
color:rgb(255, 255, 255);
padding:2px 5px;
}

[jus_young]

Now this is just showing off, stop it you two

[Fletching]

Sorry Steve, but you've gone down one level too many. :)




That would also work. This is the priority rule in your css which needs changing:

.navtabs li.selected li a {
color:rgb(255, 255, 255);
padding:2px 5px;
}

[Bambii]

Curious to see if anyone else is experiencing this or just me?

Yeah i'm getting that too :o

[Silverback]

Yeah i'm getting that too :o

And me

[Marvell]

Sorry Steve, but you've gone down one level too many. :)

That's the one that Chrome says it's using. If you add your ID based one, it will take priority, but that's just making the problem worse in my not so humble opinion ;)

EDIT

Actually, isn't the rule you suggest going to affect the menu item "Community" in Ash's photo?

[Fletching]

That's the one that Chrome says it's using...

Methinks we should start charging from this moment on...;)

BTW, I'm a PM not a techie.

Ooh, we need a PM on this project - you be the techie, I'll be the PM. Let's do this on an Agile basis, which means we could use Paired programming. We need another techie. And a meeting. Lots of meetings.

:)

[Marvell]

Chortle chortle :)

[AdrianRose]

Would it work if you took it outdoors, cooked it a Venison burger, let it have a go in your hammock then gave it a shiny new knife as a pressie?

It's only a suggestion tho'. I'm no techie but it's worth looking at.

:)

Ade.

[Fletching]

Methinks we should start charging from this moment on...;)

BTW, I'm a PM not a techie.

Ooh, we need a PM on this project - you be the techie, I'll be the PM. Let's do this on an Agile basis, which means we could use Paired programming. We need another techie. And a meeting. Lots of meetings.

:)

...Just adding the color on the selected nav item - which already exists in the stylesheet - will sort it. Won't affect anything else. The secondary nav doesn't use the class '.selected' so you could even drop the class '.navtab' if you wanted to write a new class (not that you should).

.navtabs li.selected a.navtab {
color: #2F4456;
}

[rossbird]

.navtabs li.selected a.navtab {
color: #2F4456;
}
Don't you just hate it when the keyboard plays up Steve:confused2:

Tony

[Fletching]

Don't you just hate it when the keyboard plays up Steve:confused2:

Tony

Indeedy do!

This is what it does to the menu though:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7200/6854028630_7c24bd4c19_b.jpg

[Marvell]

4001

Well, that didn't work either!

It strikes me as being set up rather badly.

[Marvell]

There is also a chance we're trying to solve two different problems :)

[Ashley Cawley]

lol - :zombie-fighting:

I tried poking it with a stick and then got carried away...

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/218966/Forums/NBC/images/Server-Axed.png


Well, I appreciate your time and efforts Steve and Steve, but I must admit I don't know off the top of my head where to look! I realise it looks like a CSS problem now and one I can hopefully take on, I'm sure it'll take more more time faffing in the backend trying to find the right CSS file to edit than it will for me to fix it.

A couple of forum upgrades ago I started getting a few minor warnings in the backend about template changes, which is strange because I wasn't aware that I'd deviated away from the original template that much at all, just obvious/simple changes like background and custom icons etc.

I'll delve deeper when I get a chance :confused2: Thanks again all!

[rossbird]

Backend...always a tricky area:rolleye:

[Marvell]

I'll do it if you want Ash, I have some methods less blunt than yours :)

[Martin]

If you're having trouble with the back end, you could try this:

Linky (http://www.pilesadvice.co.uk/)

Martin

[Fletching]

If you're having trouble with the back end, you could try this:

Linky (http://www.pilesadvice.co.uk/)

Martin

...or if it's really troubling you and you need special support then try:

Linky (http://www.stonewall.org.uk/at_home/coming_out/default.asp)

Steve :)

[Fletching]

I'm sure it'll take more more time faffing in the backend trying to find the right CSS file to edit than it will for me to fix it...

...I believe the first file you're looking for is :

http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/forum/css.php?styleid=2&langid=1&d=1331839999&td=ltr&sheet=bbcode.css,editor.css,popupmenu.css,reset-fonts.css,vbulletin.css,vbulletin-chrome.css,vbulletin-formcontrols.css,

=around line 2899 (according to my Firebug rendition of the front end).

Steve :)

[ChrisP]

Hi Ashley, I've not been here for long so don't know what you normally do but could not post an announcement on the front page with a day and date for a scheduled update. This could avoid lengthy posts being lost? Just a suggestion.

[Bambii]

The forum is an hour behind, clocks went forward :O

[Martin]

It's the right time on my pc.

Martin

[jus_young]

The forum is an hour behind, clocks went forward :O

I had this one last year. You have to go in to the settings and change something. Can't remember what though, sorry.

[Bambii]

I had this one last year. You have to go in to the settings and change something. Can't remember what though, sorry.

Ahh okay haha i'll go have a look. Coz the forum is an hour behind and the chat is an hour ahead lol

[Ashley Cawley]

The forum software has been updated again this evening - I was hoping this might have by chance fixed the other bug that the previous update introduced, however I don't think it has! .. I'll take a look at that soon when I get the chance (and probably take-up the offers of help in here!)

Keep me posted folks if you see anything out of the ordinary with the forum - Cheers!

[Ashley Cawley]

Ok, Steve or Steve, any chance you could summarise the URL of the CSS file in question and the line number involved, I've tried following the thread but looking at different areas and not sure which is right :confused2:

[Marvell]

css.php is pulling in various files including popupmenu.css. That clearly affects the line numbering. I'm not sure how it works or what you've changed so far. Can you identify all of the things you'd like to change and I'll let you know which rules are being used to generate them.

[Fletching]

Looks like Steve's on the case here. :)

[paulthefish2009]

ARGHH!! computer nerds,almost as bad as bobble hats and anoraks but thankfully no where near as bad as plane spotters.............:happy-clapping:

[Ashley Cawley]

css.php is pulling in various files including popupmenu.css. That clearly affects the line numbering. I'm not sure how it works or what you've changed so far. Can you identify all of the things you'd like to change and I'll let you know which rules are being used to generate them.As far as I was aware I hadn't changed any of the CSS styling from the original template, obviously there have been other visual changes like the header, logo, background and icons but not CSS tweaks. That's why I'm surprised just standard vBulletin updates/upgrades have broken the style.

The bit I'm after fixing is the white background that is appearing and obscuring the text behind whichever button is selected on the top bar (so 'Forum' button currently for me). Also below the main toolbar you have a sub-toolbar with things like "Private Messages" and "Community" on, the dropdown menu produced by these also has a white background on which obscures the white text.

Apologies if you were looking for a more technical direction to what CSS files I wanted to change - but that is the part I'm not sure of and was hoping one of you Steve's might be able to point me to. I was thinking you might be able to point me in the direction of the .CSS file that controls that colour attribute then I don't mind going looking myself, if I struggled to find the corresponding colour I thought I might be able to pop back and ask if either of you were able to point me to the right line-number.

Appreciate your time & help Steve & Steve.

[Fletching]

Hi Ash,

As t'other Steve pointed out, the CSS files are pulled in using PHP, so they're all aggregated.

It's not a problem, you just need to open each of the following files:

bbcode.css,
editor.css,
popupmenu.css,
reset-fonts.css,
vbulletin.css,
vbulletin-chrome.css,
vbulletin-formcontrols.css

...and do search for the styles in question (extended across all if you have suitable IDE).

The styles in question are:

1)

.navtabs li.selected a.navtab - which should give you the following - I've added the style you need to fix your problem:

.navtabs li.selected a.navtab {
****background:*url("images/gradients/selected-tab-gradient-with-top-alpha.png") repeat-x scroll 0 0 #7192A8;
****position:*relative;
****z-index:*10;
****color:*#2F4456;
}

2)

.navtabs li.selected li a - which should give you the following - I've changed the style you need to fix your problem:

.navtabs li.selected li a {
****padding:*2px 5px;
****color:*#2F4456;
}

vBulletin is adding the stars here, so ignore ALL OF THE STARS.

:)

[Roadkillphil]

Wait till Matt sees these last few posts!!! :D

[Martin]

Wait till Matt sees these last few posts!!! :D

He'll be sure to put them all straight!

Martin

[Ashley Cawley]

Hi Ash,

As t'other Steve pointed out, the CSS files are pulled in using PHP, so they're all aggregated.

It's not a problem, you just need to open each of the following files:

bbcode.css,
editor.css,
popupmenu.css,
reset-fonts.css,
vbulletin.css,
vbulletin-chrome.css,
vbulletin-formcontrols.css

...and do search for the styles in question (extended across all if you have suitable IDE).

The styles in question are:

1)

.navtabs li.selected a.navtab - which should give you the following - I've added the style you need to fix your problem:

.navtabs li.selected a.navtab {
****background:*url("images/gradients/selected-tab-gradient-with-top-alpha.png") repeat-x scroll 0 0 #7192A8;
****position:*relative;
****z-index:*10;
****color:*#2F4456;
}

2)

.navtabs li.selected li a - which should give you the following - I've changed the style you need to fix your problem:

.navtabs li.selected li a {
****padding:*2px 5px;
****color:*#2F4456;
}

vBulletin is adding the stars here, so ignore ALL OF THE STARS.

:)Thanks for your input Steve - much appreciated.

I couldn't really go round searching a manually modifying the CSS files myself as it'd like break when performing future upgrades on the forum, so I had to faff about trying to perform the same task but using the backend vBulletin style editors, annoyingly there is obsolete stuff in there that caused much confusion but I got there in the end.

At first I was sure it should have been the "navbar_popupmenu_link_background" setting, but it appeared to be the: "popupmenu_link_background" setting, which I changed from white to #7192a8 in the end as I found #2F4456 a little dark, I might change it again at some point.

EDIT: "navbar_linkhover_color" & "navbar_popupmenu_link_background" was changed also so the text was easier to see when hovered over.

I've made that sub-menu bold now so it's easier to see, once I get my head round this epic style editor on the backend I might get some confidence to make more style changes I'd like to make but having said that I'd rather be out in the woods rubbing two sticks together :(

Thanks again one and all,

[Marvell]

One option would be to add a further css file with all the changes is with !important as their modifier.

eg.

.navtabs li.selected li a {
color:#2F4456 !important;
}

[jus_young]

Her is another one for you techies. Tried logging off the family computer today (avoiding the wife and kids messing about) and had this error message come up

Fatal error: Class 'JParameter' not found in /home/naturalb/public_html/administrator/components/com_jfusion/models/model.factory.php on line 30

[paulthefish2009]

I get that as well if i try to log out while on the forum pages,if I then go back to the home page it shows me as still logged in?logging out from the home page does log me out if you see what i mean. Paul

[Martin]

Just tried it, same here.

Martin

[Fletching]

Fatal error: Class 'JParameter' not found in /home/naturalb/public_html/administrator/components/com_jfusion/models/model.factory.php on line 30

You'll have to use a backed-up copy of 'model.factory.php' to get the class back - I have no access and cannot see what the class does/why it's missing. Here's hoping you have a back up plan. ;)

Steve

[paulthefish2009]

One other thing I've noticed is that everyones posts seem to have a post time at least 1 hour behind what the true time actually is? All this doesn't bother me but I thought as someone else had brought it up I would speak up. paul

[m0txr]

I think they are timed at GMT and not in BST which is plus one hour.

[Martin]

The time thing is your computers chaps. You have to go into the forum settings and change the time to Daylight Saving I believe. In fact, if you do a search you'll find instructions somewhere. :)

Martin

[Ashley Cawley]

Just to let folks know that the forum software has been upgraded this evening - apologies for the downtime it was only very brief.

The new upgrade brought with it something called "Activity Stream" which at a glanced looked a little like Facebook's stream to me, very annoyingly it set this as the first thing that displayed when you came to the forum so it kinda hid the forum a little and changed what brand new visitors saw :( ... didn't like this so I've changed a setting to make the default landing page the same; the forum showing all the categories. But if you click on the "What's New?" button you'll see this new "Activity Stream" ... bloody witchcraft!

[paulthefish2009]

Ash,got to say it mate,I hate the new look to the forum,sorry but can we have it as it was please? paul

[GwersyllaCnau]

Ash,got to say it mate,I hate the new look to the forum,sorry but can we have it as it was please? paul

Me too! Sorry Ash

[Martin]

There's a new look? I hadn't noticed. :(

Martin

[jus_young]

I just tried logging on through the forum page and had this error come up

Fatal error: Class 'JParameter' not found in /home/naturalb/public_html/administrator/components/com_jfusion/models/model.factory.php on line 30

I had to go back to the website, log in from there and then link back to the forum.

[Ben Casey]

It has all gone wierd :(

[Ashley Cawley]

LOL :( ... Sorry folks, this is news to me, the forum looks fine (and normal) to myself and to Martin, I think the forum might be displaying a different Style to you peasants and the old/normal style to the Admins & Mods, could someone post a screenshot please of a screen that looks different to normal?

Thanks!!

[Ashley Cawley]

Paul / Ichneumon has just reported to me that everything seems to look as normal for him?

[Ashley Cawley]

Oh! I should mention... The "What's New" page has changed! - This we know about, it is now referred to as the "Activity Stream". Is this the change that you're noticing folks? Or are there visual changes you're seeing other than this New What's New page?

[Ben Casey]

The feedback has gone mate and when I first sent you a message it took me to some page saying there was an overload so I wnet back and tried again then it worked and at the top the whats new and the forum have changed round places thats what I have sen till now Oh and the whats new is really naff I think sorry :)

[Martin]

Still looks perfectly normal to me. I'm browsing the Chrome.

Martin

[Ashley Cawley]

... Oh and the whats new is really naff I think sorry :)No worries, I never coded it so I won't take offence ;) ... there's nothing that can be done about it unfortunately.

[jus_young]

If your on 'whats new' then the 'activity stream' option appears. This links with a new layout which might take a little getting used to but then you don't have to use it :)

When you are on a thread the layout seems the same unless I am missing something. Its just the logging in problem that I have had.

[Ben Casey]

Maybe I was just shocked LOL I will come back and try again in the morning :)

[Silverback]

I cant log on using the shortcut to the forum top right in the header, I get the same error message.

[Ashley Cawley]

Ahar! Right, I've seen this login problem for the first time this morning, I'll try and fix that as soon as I can.


As a temporary work-around I'd recommend going back to the main website at http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/ Login there and then click through to the forum, that should work.

[Adam Savage]

I must admit, I didn't even notice the update this time, until today when the "what's New" list had a different layout to usual lol.

[Silverback]

I cant log on using the shortcut to the forum top right in the header, I get the same error message.


That was my 1,000th post too !!! yikes

[Adam Savage]

That was my 1,000th post too !!! yikes

Ahhhh, I remember the days :rolleyes:

[Ben Casey]

Ahhhh, I remember the days :rolleyes:

Me to LOL But Im still not as far as you :(

Ash is there any chance the whats new could be changed back as I can't get used to it the old one was a lot easier? :D

I know I'm a whinger sorry :D

[Adam Savage]

Ash is there any chance the whats new could be changed back as I can't get used to it the old one was a lot easier? :D


I'm not 100%, but I'm pretty sure that sort of thing is out of Ash's hands :(

[Ben Casey]

I think so to mate but if you dont ask :)

[Tony1948]

I dont like it

[Realearner]

Got to say don't like the whats new, so will probably use it less :guns:

[Martin]

From what I can see, nothing has really changed. The 'What's New' is the same but there is an extra option called 'Recent Activity' which is in the same place as 'What's New' used to be.

I suspect that people are clicking that by mistake and not liking what they are seeing. From my point of view, nothing has changed.

Martin

[Ben Casey]

I havent got that one Martin I just had a look :(

[Tony1948]

Im aveing all sorts of trouble with is formate:confused2:

[Adam Savage]

I havent got that one Martin I just had a look :(

Same here. No "Recent Activity" option anywhere, just the "What's New" option, where it used to be, but it has the following format.

http://i1024.photobucket.com/albums/y304/crazysaint22/bushcraft%20locations/oddballs/WhatsNew.png

[Adam Savage]

I see where it has moved to now. There is an extra option of "New Posts" in the second row of options :)

http://i1024.photobucket.com/albums/y304/crazysaint22/bushcraft%20locations/oddballs/newposts.png

[Ben Casey]

Cheers Adam found it :D

[Adam Savage]

No worries buddy :)

[Realearner]

Likewise, thanks and I am glad it was not only me, must be us technophobe types and I could not tune it with me knife :zombie-fighting:

[Adam Savage]

I think us "outdoorsy" types, are like animals. We don't like change :D

[Realearner]

Well not for change sake

[Ashley Cawley]

I'm not 100%, but I'm pretty sure that sort of thing is out of Ash's hands :(
Ok, to make this clear; the new "Activity Stream" is here to stay & there's nothing I can do about that as it is built into the forum system which has to without question be updated regularly or it will be hacked in under a week.

But having said that; I have spent time hacking the menu system to make the buttons redirect to places they weren't intended to, so that it more suits the older layout...

I've managed to make the "What's New?" button link to the old layout showing new posts. And for those of you that do like the new "Activity Steam" I've addred a new button beside the 'What's New?' one which is called "Activity Steam".

:( Man I need to hire a sysadmin I can pay with Rabbit & Pheasant meat!

[Realearner]

Got to say Ash that your expertise in these matters is fantastic and I think I might have to put my hand in pocket again to donate, well next pay day :o

[Ben Casey]

Cheers Ash xx LOL



Ok, to make this clear; the new "Activity Stream" is here to stay & there's nothing I can do about that as it is built into the forum system which has to without question be updated regularly or it will be hacked in under a week.

But having said that; I have spent time hacking the menu system to make the buttons redirect to places they weren't intended to, so that it more suits the older layout...

I've managed to make the "What's New?" button link to the old layout showing new posts. And for those of you that do like the new "Activity Steam" I've addred a new button beside the 'What's New?' one which is called "Activity Steam".

:( Man I need to hire a sysadmin I can pay with Rabbit & Pheasant meat!