Geek Articles - Codename: Shorthorn

[The Geek]

HowdA All,

I thought I would start a new thread here instead of watering down the current release of Geek Articles 2.0 (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=72825)

Basically, I released Geek Articles as a cheap and cheerful way to give explicit forums an 'Article system' feel without all the hullabaloo with adding a major addition and hacking your vB code within an inch of its life.

I was aslo desperate for an Article System that actually integrated with vB in the sense that it would be searchable (with the other threads), use vBs user permissions, Attachment system, wysiwyg, etc...

Well, Geek Articles 2.0 does that. However I quickly learned that as soon as you release a hack, about 502.3 people start asking it to do things it wasnt designed to do (anyone know what I mean?).
I dont mean that to sound like a drag as I thought most of the ideas were actually quite good - however they were out of the scope for Geek Articles 2.0

In to your life walks Geek Articles codename: Shorthorn.

This is a project aimed at merging the best of Geek Articles 2.0 (the simplicity, searching, permissions, etc...) with a heavier duty article system (adding a byline option, multiple pages, etc...).

I have my first milestone in beta and has the following features:

Everything Geek Articles 2.0 (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=72825) has
Byline addition
Multiple page support
Once I have finalised these features (I want to give them a test over the next few days on my site) I will then release it for private Beata testing and then finally on this thread for open beta testing.

What I would like to do is to get feedback on the direction that it is taking. Does it look sucky? Is the functionality crappy? Are you really just after a really neat Hangman system for vB? (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=63391)

Here is a live version of a multi page article (http://www.thenailgeek.com/showthread.php?t=11287)

So please, come one, come all and let me know if I am wasting my freaking time.

Toodles

[yinyang]

all i can say nailgeek, is well done! i would like to request a reply button where you can order a pizza anytime you read an article. cool? i prefer it to link to pizza hut takeout delivery than dominos.

kudos to all your hard work!!!

[Ghostsuit]

Looking excellent, I currently use the Geek articles on my site and find them easy and excellent to use. So will be keeping an eye on this.

[Erwin]

You can't post in Beta Hacks until there is something to download. :) I'll leave this here to give you a chance to upload something - otherwise I or another mod will move it to another forum.

[TCB]

Great to see you keep on working this mod. You have no idea how much I appreciate your (and other hackers/modders) time and work :D

My ideas/requests:

1. Attachments are uploaded with a description and are shown in the v3articles way on the bottom of the article:
http://img43.exs.cx/img43/4427/media5uh.th.gif (http://img43.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img43&image=media5uh.gif)

2. A more visual way of rating an article. On the bottom of the article a v3articles style of 'please rate this article/you have rated this article' display:
http://img147.exs.cx/img147/4113/pleasrate2ht.th.gif (http://img147.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img147&image=pleasrate2ht.gif)

3. The first thumbnail of attached images will also be used for the featured article option (v3articles style):
http://img147.exs.cx/img147/5989/attachfeatured2ov.gif

4. Option to enter the name of the original writer/publisher (instead of the poster of the article), like with Cinq's article mod.

5. Option to enter an article summary (like with Cinq's article mod). This summary (plus the thumbnail of request 3) will be displayed for the random/featured article mod.

6. Multiple pages when a [pagebreak] command is been given. A visual display of the number of available pages directly on the bottom of the article (like Cinq's mod):
http://img144.exs.cx/img144/6586/multiplepage0am.gif

7. Currently the article mods are using the whole width of the messageboards table. This makes very long lines and less pleasant to read for people than shorter lines. Cinq's article mod makes the table where the articles are in less width, because he's added a column to the right where 'print this article' and 'sent this article' are displayed. Since this column is further empty, it would be a great place to add two new lists there: 'simular articles' and 'more articles of [username]':
http://img142.exs.cx/img142/5088/printversion4vx.th.gif (http://img142.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img142&image=printversion4vx.gif)


Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting (http://www.imageshack.us)

[The Geek]

Sorry Erwin - I tried to put together an intial Beta release to keep this thread here, however I have decided to wait until I am confident that there wont be any known issues when it goes out.

TCB - Hey King. Some of these are pretty do-able. Ill break them down here:

1 - The images are not hard to display like that, however the descriptions raise a slight problem.
I can easily alter the table to accept a description field (easy enough) but I really hate altering default tables (its always been my practice to make as little disruption as possible to existing systems which makes upgrades and things much easier).
I guess my question is - how critical is the description? Would you be happy with attachments displayed as you requested for a Phase 1 or Phase 2 and have the descriptions as a phase 3 or 4?

2- More visual way of rating article. Don't think this is too much of a problem. I looked into this originally when Geek Articles only changed the postbit and it wouldnt work there. Now that it is changing Showthread, it should be a bit o cake (Is there a better way that you can think of doing it than simply copying vBarticles?)

3- Think that shouldnt be a big deal. What if it isnt an image ;) ? What if the attached media is a zip file?

4- I already have the byline function running on the demo I linked to in the first post. If a byline is included, the 'written by username' is omitted and the byline is used. I will most likely add a 'posted by username' when this happens and I am still debating to remove the avatar or not (maybe replace it with the thumbnail if applicable?)

5- The summary will be a phase 2 kind of thing. I have it in place, but I am still juggling how to have users enter it.
My Q to you would be: Does it need BB code ability? Whats the character count looking like (a simple 255 or does it need to be a BLOB field?)? Does it need to be searchable? Does it need to appear on the first page of the article?

6- As per the demo I linked to - I have sorted the multipage option... however:
I could do the page break option instead. Which is more intuitive? One long butt honkin article that gets truncated between page breaks or entering a new post for each page?
Each has pros and cons - The page break is certainly a much easier option than the multi page=multi post option I have done.

7. Thats a good point though it really really depends on the users design. I can look into making something like an optional sidebar for a phase 2 or phase 3 as it wouldnt be difficult to do.

Glad to get your feedback, I look forward to hearing more.

Both vBarticles and (as far as I can see) Cinqs systems seem pretty comprehensive and cool. I dont mind borrowing and trying to improve on some of their ideas, but I dont want to just recreate something that has already been done well. If there are any fresh and new ideas, Im am game to hear them ;)

Thanks guys.

[TCB]

TCB - Hey King. Some of these are pretty do-able. Ill break them down here:

1 - The images are not hard to display like that, however the descriptions raise a slight problem.
I can easily alter the table to accept a description field (easy enough) but I really hate altering default tables (its always been my practice to make as little disruption as possible to existing systems which makes upgrades and things much easier).
I guess my question is - how critical is the description? Would you be happy with attachments displayed as you requested for a Phase 1 or Phase 2 and have the descriptions as a phase 3 or 4?It's a feature I can totally live without. It was just a fun request, but really not essential

2- More visual way of rating article. Don't think this is too much of a problem. I looked into this originally when Geek Articles only changed the postbit and it wouldnt work there. Now that it is changing Showthread, it should be a bit o cake (Is there a better way that you can think of doing it than simply copying vBarticles?)I like the v3articles way, but it depends of the template/skin the messageboard is using I guess.

3- Think that shouldnt be a big deal. What if it isnt an image ;) ? What if the attached media is a zip file?Perhaps a check that will take the first attached image?

4- I already have the byline function running on the demo I linked to in the first post. If a byline is included, the 'written by username' is omitted and the byline is used. I will most likely add a 'posted by username' when this happens and I am still debating to remove the avatar or not (maybe replace it with the thumbnail if applicable?)Well, that's simply fantastic :D

5- The summary will be a phase 2 kind of thing. I have it in place, but I am still juggling how to have users enter it.
My Q to you would be: Does it need BB code ability? Whats the character count looking like (a simple 255 or does it need to be a BLOB field?)? Does it need to be searchable? Does it need to appear on the first page of the article?I think that codes like bold and cursive are more needed than smilies. But since it's only a 'featured article' display (using the summary?), plain text will do (along with the thumbnail).

6- As per the demo I linked to - I have sorted the multipage option... however:
I could do the page break option instead. Which is more intuitive? One long butt honkin article that gets truncated between page breaks or entering a new post for each page?I don't really like the breaking article into posts option (don't see the benefit for it). Breaking it in multiple pages will give it a more professional look (with the comments only visible on the last page?).

7. Thats a good point though it really really depends on the users design. I can look into making something like an optional sidebar for a phase 2 or phase 3 as it wouldnt be difficult to do.Great news. I have checked many vbulletin boards and many are quite width. Compared with websites with articles the current layout (using the whole width of the forum) is a bit too much for most of the boards that I've visited.

Both vBarticles and (as far as I can see) Cinqs systems seem pretty comprehensive and cool. I dont mind borrowing and trying to improve on some of their ideas, but I dont want to just recreate something that has already been done well. If there are any fresh and new ideas, Im am game to hear them ;)

Thanks guys.No thank YOU :D

The biggest advantage of your mod is that articles are archived, searchable, clearly part of the messageboard and all permissions and other forum setups still work.... Looking forward to future updates and plans

[The Geek]

mmmkay.

Ill look at image descriptions after a stable release
Ill look toward moving ratings for the initial release
Ill Look to doing first attached thumbnail as article image for first release
Byline is done and dusted :)
Summary will be a second phase release
I have almost finished changing from multiple posts making up the article to page break option. In all reality; this was a far easier option anyway (I will post a demo when I finish it most likely tonight)

So, here is where I am at:

First phase beta features:
Obviously, complete integration into vB (permissions, searching, etc... as per Geek Articles 2.0)
Multiple pages via a page break BB code option
Article layout, phrasing etc...

I should be able to have a private beta for those interested by maybe tomorrow? If not, then it will take until next week as I am away on business all weekend again :(

[limey]

Nice job NailGeek, this is looking good, but more importantly the name is great.

[tormodg]

Nice job NailGeek, this is looking good, but more importantly the name is great.
I'm in for this one as soon as it's out!

[The Geek]

Cheers guys.

Well, I finished up most of the beta coding for first release.

This includes:

Multiple page options via a pagebreak BB code tag
Rate thread down at the bottom
Article shows first 4 (dont ask why 4... it was just a random number I pulled out) comments with a link to view all comments.

Here are 2 live examples:
http://www.thenailgeek.com/showthread.php?t=8801 (http://www.thenailgeek.com/showthread.php?t=8801) - shows 2 page article with 3 pages of comments
http://www.thenailgeek.com/showthread.php?t=11287 (http://www.thenailgeek.com/showthread.php?t=11287) - shows 2 page article with 3 comments and byline addition

Hope to hell it does OK as its live on my site ;)

I expect to finalize beta code by Friday.

nJoy

[Paul M]

Installs: 3
I'm just a bit curious as to how three people have "installed" this ...... :)

[Link14716]

You can't post in Beta Hacks until there is something to download. :) I'll leave this here to give you a chance to upload something - otherwise I or another mod will move it to another forum.
I don't recall that rule ever being enforced. :p

[TCB]

Cheers guys.

Well, I finished up most of the beta coding for first release.

This includes:

Multiple page options via a pagebreak BB code tag
Rate thread down at the bottom
Article shows first 4 (dont ask why 4... it was just a random number I pulled out) comments with a link to view all comments.

Here are 2 live examples:
http://www.thenailgeek.com/showthread.php?t=8801 (http://www.thenailgeek.com/showthread.php?t=8801) - shows 2 page article with 3 pages of comments
http://www.thenailgeek.com/showthread.php?t=11287 (http://www.thenailgeek.com/showthread.php?t=11287) - shows 2 page article with 3 comments and byline addition

Hope to hell it does OK as its live on my site ;)

I expect to finalize beta code by Friday.

nJoy


Looking great http://smile.smilies.nl/382.gif

I noticed so far (after a quick look and registration at your messageboard), that even after voting/rating, you keep getting the 'rate this article' question with the ratingoptions, instead of the 'you've rated this article http://www.thenailgeek.com/images/rating/rating_4.gif

By the way, I'd be more than happy to betatest your work http://smile.smilies.nl/1896.gif

[The Geek]

Yea, the article rating needs to be finalized. It wont let you vote multiple times but it doesnt show your rating at the bottom - shouldnt be hard to fix.


I'm just a bit curious as to how three people have "installed" this ......
Most likely time travelers. That or this hack opens some freaky worm hole in that time/space contuthing. ;)

Fingers croseed I can have a private beta install by tomorrow at the latest (just want to try to get the attachments/artilce image done and other tidbits finalized).

[rlamego]

Yesterday I was going to post a few thoughts but your demo was a bit warped =) You were probably working on it.

I think it looks great so far and I totally agree with your "I dont want to just recreate something that has already been done well" motto.
There are a few minor issues (on a personal taste level) that I'll save for another occasion but I must ask why did you put the comments on all article pages?
Is it just me or doesn't it makes much more sense to have them only in the last page? =)

[The Geek]

Yesterday I was going to post a few thoughts but your demo was a bit warped =) You were probably working on it.

I think it looks great so far and I totally agree with your "I dont want to just recreate something that has already been done well" motto.
There are a few minor issues (on a personal taste level) that I'll save for another occasion but I must ask why did you put the comments on all article pages?
Is it just me or doesn't it makes much more sense to have them only in the last page? =)
Hey rlamego,

Share away... only way to make it the best way...

The comments were put on as a 'review' of the recent comments... kind of like 'similar links' or something.

I had it on the last page only... but it made the comments seem disjointed. I think of it more as an Amazon product page where it displays the article, the overall rating, then a preview of some reviews with the option of seeing and reading all the reviews.

Is there another way that you feel would be better?

[peterska2]

Ooooh I must watch this thread.

* peterska2 remembers that replying makes me subscribed to it.

Keep up the good work Geek :D

[rlamego]

Is there another way that you feel would be better?
I don't think there is any problem in letting readers know that there are comments made to the article.
But I don't think they should be full displayed in every page, because they may relate to something written a couple of pages ahead or to nothing at all, thus breaking the reader's concentration and giving away the rest of your article.

People should start by commenting the article and then discuss the issue among themselves, whatever route that discussion takes.
But since most people act on impulse, it shouldn't be difficult to imagine someone replying to a troll comment or a flame bait he read on page 1 of 9.

For someone who writes, comments the best feedback you can have. You spent an entire day writing an article that you believe it will be useful for everyone in your community, either a detailed point of view, a thorough explanation of something complex, an easy step-by-step procedure of a very difficult task, etc, the worst thing it can happen to you is getting comments from people that didn't take the time to read your entire article and are just firing away questions and remarks you address in the last pages of your article.

Derek Powazek of Fray.org fame wrote a book called Design for Community. There's a chapter called "Bury the post button" where he describes how comments got a gazillion times better after he put the post button in the last page of the story.
He's take is: the more clicks it takes, the better the posts will be. The distance puts away readers that are not really interested or engaged in the content.
I've applied this "philosophy" in several sites with remarkable results.

Comments are easy, articles are not!
My quick stats say that in every 100 members, all are capable of making comments, 2 can actually write articles, but only 1 doesn't suck.
Although comments should be encouraged, I believe that the priority should be protecting and nurturing writers.

Well, this is getting awfully long and personal although I intended to be totally unbiased =)
In this matter, I can write about my personal experience as a webmaster/developer and first hand contacts as a user.
There are hundreds of other applications for your article system I can't even think of, so don't forget to take that into consideration.

[The Geek]

Huh. Excellent point. So wouldnt the better approach have nothing to do with the display of the commnets, but rather the placement of the comment button?

Maybe providing the option of putting the comment button at the end of the article?

[Snow]

I agree with rlamego about the comments and the placement of the comment button.

With the comments showing on all pages of the article I can just see members missing the rest of the article because they've been distracted by a comment or they just didn't realise there was more pages to the article. I know it sounds a bit silly that people would not realise it's not the end of the article but, at least on my forum where some members are not very fluent in english, I can see it happening. Maybe, in place of displaying the actual comments, you could place a discrete link e.g. "View comments" on all pages and only on the last page the actual comments. What would be even more useful is providing an option for the administrator to display X comments (X being a value that the admin could choose) and then members would be required to click on "View all comments" to see the rest.

As for the placement of the comment button, I would definately like to see it at the end of the article only. If someone is adding a comment, it's usually to criticise or add info to the article/tutorial and quite frankly, I want those members to read ALL of the article before bashing the author that spent all that time writing the article/tutorial. Of course you can't force someone to read the article in full and they could just click on last page to get to the comment button but at least you're making it more difficult for them.

[The Geek]

Mkay. Cool. I will put in options for:

x amount of comments to show at the bottom of an article
Show the above amount ONLY on the last page of the article
Display comment button ONLY on the last page of the article
Display rating ONLY on the last page of the article

Sound good? Anything else?

[rlamego]

Huh. Excellent point. So wouldnt the better approach have nothing to do with the display of the commnets, but rather the placement of the comment button?
I don't know if I understood this question. If you are stating that the placement of the comment button is the core issue, I don't agree. But I wouldn't also agree that the placement of the comments is the core issue =)
The most important thing, that I think it escaped me in my last reply, is how you approach the system.

You started this mod from an excellent angle: "Lets fake it! vB already does everything needed, there's no need to reinvent the wheel, we'll just display this a little better".
From your point of view, which isn't far from the truth, an article is nothing more than an extremely big post. Like every other post in your forum, the comments and comment form (quick reply) come after it.
Breaking the text into several pages shouldn't be the starting point to reinvent the wheel.
Personally I think it's pretty confusing to have comments in the middle of the article. If I question myself "is this the end of the article or are there more pages?", I know some of my members will be sure that if there are comments there, then the article is over.
And why shouldn't they? If every other page in the site is like that, why should it be different there?

Bottomline is: if you can provide a way for the admin to select if the comment button (and/or the quick reply form) and the comments are displayed in the last page or everywhere, great! I sure appreciate it as I'm sure everyone else will appreciate having the option instead of being forced to "hack the hack" =)
However, like I've tried to explain, it doesn't make much sense.

Edit: while I was typing this, you (NG) and Snow posted your replies. I second Snow's post. Next time I'll wait a while before replying =)
And yes, that looks fine to me =)

[TCB]

Derek Powazek of Fray.org fame wrote a book called Design for Community. There's a chapter called "Bury the post button" where he describes how comments got a gazillion times better after he put the post button in the last page of the story.
He's take is: the more clicks it takes, the better the posts will be. The distance puts away readers that are not really interested or engaged in the content. I've applied this "philosophy" in several sites with remarkable results.

Comments are easy, articles are not!

What a fantastic (and logical) view on the comments issue! I think many webmasters/board owners have a mixed feeling about comments: on the one hand it brings life to the site, while on the other hand it takes away the focus of the article when the quality of comments look like slow chatting.

So putting the 'place comment' on the last page of an article is a great first step. Perhaps optional?

[The Geek]

OK guys... I have implimented what I think your suggestions were.


Take a look and tell me if that is what you had in mind -> http://www.thenailgeek.com/showthread.php?t=8801&conly=0

Changes:
No comments link/button on article pages (except for last page)
Moved rating to last page (makes sense with the comment move).
Last page previews first 5 comments with a link to read the rest of the comments. In a way... I like this a lot better. I feel that with only a 5 post preview of comments, you will get people that will keep their comments related to the article instead of the other comments. If there are no comments previewed, they may be more apt to read all the comments before posting.

Actually... who knows? there are pros and cons.

Just tell me what you think.

[Symbian.info]

OK guys... I have implimented what I think your suggestions were.


Take a look and tell me if that is what you had in mind -> http://www.thenailgeek.com/showthread.php?t=8801&conly=0

Changes:
No comments link/button on article pages (except for last page)
Moved rating to last page (makes sense with the comment move).
Last page previews first 5 comments with a link to read the rest of the comments. In a way... I like this a lot better. I feel that with only a 5 post preview of comments, you will get people that will keep their comments related to the article instead of the other comments. If there are no comments previewed, they may be more apt to read all the comments before posting.

Actually... who knows? there are pros and cons.

Just tell me what you think.
I love it! So really like to do the private beata test;-)
Bud keep up the good work, Really want to use this (like I do the Geek Article system)

[Nick0r]

How about an add on for http://www.daniweb.com/tutorials/tutorial12725.html to make url's like article-title-name-here.html

[The Geek]

How about an add on for http://www.daniweb.com/tutorials/tutorial12725.html to make url's like article-title-name-here.html
ACK! Out of the scope for me mate!

[Nick0r]

darn, none of the article systems will encorporate this, if anyone did, I'm sure many others (including me) would pick that system over the rest.

[Snow]

OK guys... I have implimented what I think your suggestions were.


Take a look and tell me if that is what you had in mind -> http://www.thenailgeek.com/showthread.php?t=8801&conly=0

Changes:
No comments link/button on article pages (except for last page)
Moved rating to last page (makes sense with the comment move).
Last page previews first 5 comments with a link to read the rest of the comments. In a way... I like this a lot better. I feel that with only a 5 post preview of comments, you will get people that will keep their comments related to the article instead of the other comments. If there are no comments previewed, they may be more apt to read all the comments before posting.

Actually... who knows? there are pros and cons.

Just tell me what you think.
:D I like it better this way (although I'm counting more than 5 comments trailing the article) and yes, I think the rate this article does belong at the end of the article. :D I look forward to installing this on my forum.

[Snow]

How about an add on for http://www.daniweb.com/tutorials/tutorial12725.html to make url's like article-title-name-here.html
Have you seen Dani's mod-rewrite tutorial that will do just that?

[hockyfan]

Is it still an option to have the add comment and rating on the first page with the article?

h

[The Geek]

Is it still an option to have the add comment and rating on the first page with the article?


h
h- I hard coded it to try and get a green light from everyone on the layout however I plan on it being optional. :)

[rlamego]

NG, looks great!
The only thing now that needs some improvement now is the page links. Are you using the "regular" vB pagination thingy?

[TCB]

OK guys... I have implimented what I think your suggestions were.


Take a look and tell me if that is what you had in mind -> http://www.thenailgeek.com/showthread.php?t=8801&conly=0

Changes:
No comments link/button on article pages (except for last page)
Moved rating to last page (makes sense with the comment move).
Last page previews first 5 comments with a link to read the rest of the comments. In a way... I like this a lot better. I feel that with only a 5 post preview of comments, you will get people that will keep their comments related to the article instead of the other comments. If there are no comments previewed, they may be more apt to read all the comments before posting.

Actually... who knows? there are pros and cons.

Just tell me what you think.


You nailed it :D

At first I was hesitant towards having no comments on page 1, but looking at your preview it gives so much more focus to the article (and the fact that there's more than 1 page).

To notify people that the article contains more pages, it might be an improvement when the 'page x of y' info IN the article table (see attachment).

[rlamego]

TCB's thumb shows very well another aspect that might create some confusion (although it's just a visual matter), page links vs article links.
There must be a good visual distinction between both.

One neat thing would be a user definable "next page link". This would allow article writers to entice the reader to follow that link by asking a question or other literary teaser.
Alternatively, one could also "name" each page with a title and instead of:
Page 2 of 3 < 1 2 3 >
one could have:
And then she took her panties off >

Just thinking out loud =)

[eva01_]

don't know if this has been addressed but you may want to make it work in Safari :/ takes up about 1/5th of the width of the window. and replies on it take up even less

[The Geek]

don't know if this has been addressed but you may want to make it work in Safari :/ takes up about 1/5th of the width of the window. and replies on it take up even less
Eva - I was working on the live version around the time you posted this... can you just double check that it is working OK? Firefix is a-ok so is IE... cant seem to find a safari emulator :(

rlamego- I was using a custom one in the first inception, however I now use the standard vb pagination thingee ;)
I WAS also doing the named links... however page breaking the way I have decided to go for has negated the real ability for me to do that in the way I wanted to. The only other way I can think of off the top of my head is to make the bbcode something like [BREAK=Go to the next freaking page] and then extract it out of there.
The problem there is 2 fold: 1- the exploding of the page breaks becomes more difficult and time consuming and 2- it will only give you 1 side without a lot more logic to extract the info needed.
Any ideas on how to do it SIMPLY is more than welcomed.

TCB - check now... is that what you were thinking of?

[The Geek]

hmmm. on thinking about it... maybe bb code for pagebreaks should look like this:

[BACK="Reverse order"][FORWARD="Next Page"]

Then I can explode the post with a regular expression (which I suck at so if someone want to throw out the expression... I would kiss them).
Actually, I would need to expolde it into an array of back and next, then an array of pages.

If anyone wants to put forth some suggestions... I am more than open.

I am now running a bit low on time as I am at a conference all weekend and I need to get ready!

[hockyfan]

h- I hard coded it to try and get a green light from everyone on the layout however I plan on it being optional. :) Well I'd probably try out both, but I definately would go for it being optional, just in case. :)


h

[rlamego]

NG, Safari displays the page fine. Eva must have seen a work-in-progress page.

As for the rest, I believe you are entering the "reinvent the wheel" realm again =)
If you make it too much complicated to create a custom text "next page" link, then most people won't probably use it and worse than that, is more prone to problems.
Can you imagine this?
[FORWARD="Yup, a link with more "quotes""]
I can =)

Let's return to basics again. What about a nice plain $nextpage var?
We could still use the vB pagination thingy and provide the writer a simple way of making a eye-catching link to the next page, using just a simple link.

Then, you could work some magic for version 2.0 =)

[The Geek]

I agree. Problem is, I could store 1 $nextpage var, but what about multiple pages? Use the same text? On that note, what about going backward?
Doesnt seem overly intuitive.

I agree about the next/back bb code... it was just an inspired moment of pure oddity ;) - however it could work IF a decent regexp was thrown out.

Saying that though... I think ill have to pass no that one until I get a stable first release at least.

I am currently working on the thumbnailing... however it is going to require a bit more work to make it prettier and more functional (as well as substituting the avatar with the first thumbnail).

Sadly, I am supposed to be preparing for the weekend so I doubt I will get much more done until next week at which time I think I should have a private beta ready :)

[rlamego]

In my simple non-coder way of seeing things, I was thinking about $nextpage = $currentpage +1 and $previouspage = $currentpage - 1.
The writer could just type [ url=$nextpage ] my witty next page link [ /url ], no?
I don't know how the thing is built right now so maybe I'm just suggesting something that means a total rewrite =)

What about this:
- The writer knows how many pages his article has because he is the one with the finger on the button, right? (Haven't seen it but I'm guessing from your earlier comments that you are breaking pages using bbcode so everything is written on the same textarea, right?)
- If he knows, then the thing doesn't need to be so automatic than we have been discussing, it just needs to be simple, right?
- So why not going bbcode all the way and create a new one like [ page=x ] [ /page ] that will link to the article URL location + "&page=x"?
This way he could make links back and forth without effort and without messing with complicated code.

Anyway, I think this question is secondary. Please do concentrate on the important things you want for this release and leave this to another date. Maybe in the meanwhile some genius stroke hit you =)

[Guy G]

When is this expected to come out...? any date aprox.?

[TCB]

In my simple non-coder way of seeing things, I was thinking about $nextpage = $currentpage +1 and $previouspage = $currentpage - 1.
The writer could just type [ url=$nextpage ] my witty next page link [ /url ], no?

For a noncoder like me it seems like something like that could work. That way you can easily make your own contentlist on the top (or bottom) of the page. Great thinking :D

[rlamego]

TCB, for linear navigation the $nextpage/$previouspage is great, although it needs some safeguards like if $currentpage = 1 then there isn't a $previouspage.

For non-linear navigation, like a content list, it doesn't work because you can't jump from page 1 to page 3.
My second suggestion ( [ page=x ] [ /page ] ) is way much better for that and it also works fine for linear navigation, not to mention that it must be 10x easier to implement.

[H2k]

TCB, for linear navigation the $nextpage/$previouspage is great, although it needs some safeguards like if $currentpage = 1 then there isn't a $previouspage.

For non-linear navigation, like a content list, it doesn't work because you can't jump from page 1 to page 3.
My second suggestion ( [ page=x ] [ /page ] ) is way much better for that and it also works fine for linear navigation, not to mention that it must be 10x easier to implement.
Hello

This is really nice MOd and i like to have it .. when i t going to be Released.

Thankyou

[The Geek]

Hey Guys...

Just got back in and have been doing some cleaning up.

I have the first thumbnail working as a substitute for the avatar as seen here-> http://www.thenailgeek.com/showthread.php?t=11287

If a thumbnail is included as an attachment - the very first one uploaded is used as the pic. Otherwise, the posters avatar is used (though maybe this should be toggle-able)

Fixed Jump to new post and go to last post (I think)

I tweaked the header and comments slightly

I had to take the pagenav out of the bottom of the post in order to accomidate attachments (sorry TCB)

I put in the basic code to show your thread rating - though this isnt finished yet as it doesnt pull guest ratings and it only pulls member ratings if the article was done (or edited) with the new system. Should have this sorted tonight.

The pagination issue: I can look into turning it off (like with smilies). That would POSSIBLY enable you to do custom BB code - though this is harder to do than you might think. Personally, I like the way it is now so I think I will initially run with it.

Stuff to do:
Finish up the rating stuff
Finalize newthread/editpost
Clean up some code
Set up the private beta test

Stuff I will do later
finish phrasing templates (there are only a couple hard coded ones)
Complete installer (dont expect one of my ass kicking installers - well - at least not a new one for beta testing ;) )
Look into integrating forumdisplay so it can reflect article pages in the pagination.

Think thats about it for now. If all goes well... I could have something for private testers tonight or tomorrow at the latest.

nJoy

[The Geek]

Mkay kiddies -

The Private Corpral Beta Test Program is now open for the first few people that PM me their email address (So I can email the package to you). I have finalised things as much as I am going to at this stage and I am pretty sure the install package should be pretty OK.

Remember that its a Beta, please do not PM me to participate if you do not know diddly squat about PHP as you may be required to do a little (though in honesty... I doubt you really will do).

Thanks all... Im heading to bed in a minute so I may not get it to you until tomorrow.

Couple of examples: http://www.thenailgeek.com/showthread.php?t=11287
http://www.thenailgeek.com/showthread.php?t=8801

Known issues:
Tweak the rating a touch (want to include overall rating as well)
Complete phrasing (though most are done)
Integrate forumdisplay a little better
integrate printthread.

[hockyfan]

Sorry, I might have missed the answer for this one, but will there be an option to turn on/off having the "comment" button and the comments visable on the first page?

h

[peterska2]

Mkay kiddies -

The Private Corpral Beta Test Program is now open for the first few people that PM me their email address (So I can email the package to you). I have finalised things as much as I am going to at this stage and I am pretty sure the install package should be pretty OK.

Consider yourself PM'd :)

[rlamego]

Damn you vb.org!! Where are my email notifications!!??
Sent you also a pm if you still need help, NG.

[The Geek]

Sorry, I might have missed the answer for this one, but will there be an option to turn on/off having the "comment" button and the comments visable on the first page?


h
Hey H. Not currently... But I will put it back in for you.

Private Beta testing is now closed! I have sent out the packages and those who get it will help get the mod to the public beta release stage (shouldnt take too long now).

Thanks everyone.

[hockyfan]

Hey H. Not currently... But I will put it back in for you.Thanks! :)


h

[H2k]

Hey H. Not currently... But I will put it back in for you.

Private Beta testing is now closed! I have sent out the packages and those who get it will help get the mod to the public beta release stage (shouldnt take too long now).

Thanks everyone.
hello

i really like this MOD i know that u realsed other v.. know i dont no when u are going to relesed this one ..

but i want to know that are you going to Relesed it soon

and if i install the other MOd are your going to explain how to upgrade from the other one ?

thankyou very much. :)

[Stormwolf]

Looks great cant wait to try it.

[H2k]

Looks great cant wait to try it.
if u dont mind u can send me the bata i will test it for u .. :)

[The Geek]

if u dont mind u can send me the bata i will test it for u .. :)
Just an update for those curious.

I am just finishing the final touches on the final Beta. I basically have about 3 minor items on my todo list and then rebuild the install package.

For those curious how it is looking, here are a couple of links:
http://www.thenailgeek.com/showthread.php?t=11287
http://www.thenailgeek.com/showthread.php?t=2641
http://www.thenailgeek.com/showthread.php?t=8801&page=2&pp=15&conly=0
http://www.thenailgeek.com/showthread.php?t=8801&conly=1

nJoy!

[Kesomir]

perhaps a release today? ;)

[The Geek]

perhaps a release today? ;)
Very good chance ;)

I have just finished the install/unintaller, cleaned up a couple of bugs (right now there is 1 very minor known issue) and now I am working on the readme whith the file edits.
Once that is done - the private beta testers will run the installation on a few different systems and if all is OK - then I will release.

When this does go live - it should really be as a completed hack. I may release as beta in kind of a 'RC-1' ... but like I said... pretty much all known issues are taken care of and the feature set is closed.

Watch this space :)

[H2k]

Very good chance ;)

I have just finished the install/unintaller, cleaned up a couple of bugs (right now there is 1 very minor known issue) and now I am working on the readme whith the file edits.
Once that is done - the private beta testers will run the installation on a few different systems and if all is OK - then I will release.

When this does go live - it should really be as a completed hack. I may release as beta in kind of a 'RC-1' ... but like I said... pretty much all known issues are taken care of and the feature set is closed.

Watch this space :)
yeahhhhhhh that is very good i will wait till it finiesh :)

[The Geek]

I have opened a new thread here https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=75795

with the RC. Get it while its hot!

Cheers (I am closing this thread now)