Simple Machines Community Forum

Simple Machines => SMF Developers' Blog => Topic started by: Arantor on January 09, 2014, 09:43:57 PM

Title: January 2014 Update
Post by: Arantor on January 09, 2014, 09:43:57 PM
It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new year foooooooooor me... (sorry, I'll turn off the karaoke machine)

Well, it's been a few weeks since I last pontificated on where things are going, and thought it would be nice to get on with this again :) Since then it's been busy, but mostly lots of little improvements rather than huge things...

* Bug fixes, lots of squishes.

* Various things we're not using any more but that are still lurking in the code got cleaned out.

* Copyright year - we know this is a problem with people wanting the footer to be updated every year even when the software doesn't update, and then when we do do an update it doesn't always get pushed out to the footer because of languages. So finally we fixed that nonsense :P

* Closing/unignoring/reopening reported posts now gets logged in the moderation log.

* The memberlist now says 'name' instead of 'username'. It's the little touches.

* When viewing the list of topics in a board, let's use that board's description for a meta description.

* When adding/removing people on your buddy list or ignore list, show a nice message to indicate changes have been saved.

* The board index code got overhauled; it's now easier for mods to add things to the info centre.

* When making thumbnails, SMF now uses a slightly higher quality than before - not significantly larger files but visibly improved.

* Integration functions have stronger support for classes.

* Group requests are now logged; before, closing a request (either by accepting or refusing) would delete the request, now all the request history is logged, including who approved/refused a request and if it was refused, for what reason.

* After posting from quick reply, the default is now to go back to the topic instead of to the board listing. (This will be applicable for new installs; upgrades will not touch the settings applied)

* For folks still using WAP2/imode, the unread/unread replies links are now up top rather than at the bottom on the board listing.

* When deleting an account, the option for deleting an account or deleting all the user's posts are made clearer.

* Quick reply is no longer configurable as an option, it's just always on. Keep it simple :)

* The default theme now uses HTML5 rather than XHTML. This will require us to go through and do a thorough review of the theme, but this isn't a bad thing.

* We don't have the 'hot topics' functionality any more - we did experiment with making it more visible but in the end it just worked out better just to remove it entirely.

* The default date format is now shorter - for English, for example, instead of 'January 10, 2014, 02:30:00 AM', it now uses 'Jan 10, 2014, 02:30 AM'

* The 'resize avatars with JavaScript' and 'resize avatars with HTML' option is gone. If you don't allow external avatars, or that you set it to download and resize external avatars, nothing has changed. But if you previously told it to use HTML or JavaScript, the option is now replaced with a 'resize in the user's browser', i.e. CSS. A simple tweak but worth doing.
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: PhuriousGeorge on January 09, 2014, 09:47:43 PM
Awesome list & progress, thanks for the updates!
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: gevv on January 10, 2014, 03:53:37 AM
Thanks to all the Developers.
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: Motahhari on January 10, 2014, 05:31:43 AM
What about more social tools? more social profiles with text status instead of signature and profile comment. Also like/dislike option for posts ...
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: Irisado on January 10, 2014, 06:32:19 AM
Take a look at some of the other update threads for mention of things such as likes, one example is this update (http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=513789.0).

Great work Developers.  Thank you for all your efforts and ongoing updates.
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: Arantor on January 10, 2014, 07:57:37 AM
Quote from: Motahhari on January 10, 2014, 05:31:43 AM
What about more social tools? more social profiles with text status instead of signature and profile comment. Also like/dislike option for posts ...

Likes for posts is already a core feature, the other stuff we're not actually that interested in (and judging by conversations in the past, it's not actually something that too many other people are in, so it would be a lot of effort for fairly low return)
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: TwitchisMental on January 10, 2014, 11:43:32 PM
I am a bit excited to see whats to come from the move to HTML5 :).
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: Arantor on January 10, 2014, 11:45:20 PM
Honestly, not so much. It's more about having compatibility in the base theme for themers and the like, though some of the more minor HTML5 features are usable. I don't, for example, particularly want to enforce the use of a shim for IE8 (which 2.1 is supporting as the minimum base IE version)

The push was almost more of a kick up the backside for me to make me review all the templates, in a bug hunting/consistency kind of way.
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: TwitchisMental on January 10, 2014, 11:52:10 PM
Quote from: Sir Cumber-Patcher on January 10, 2014, 11:45:20 PM
Honestly, not so much. It's more about having compatibility in the base theme for themers and the like, though some of the more minor HTML5 features are usable. I don't, for example, particularly want to enforce the use of a shim for IE8 (which 2.1 is supporting as the minimum base IE version)

The push was almost more of a kick up the backside for me to make me review all the templates, in a bug hunting/consistency kind of way.
*sigh* Curse you IE... 

Is IE8 really used by that many people today? I would suspect since Windows XP is losing support this year, that would drop its usuage even more.


Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: Arantor on January 10, 2014, 11:57:31 PM
IE8 is the highest version XP will support, and XP is far from dead at this point. (Technically, XP Home and XP Premium are losing official support in April, while XP Embedded which, as I understand it is basically XP Premium with some tweaks, will continue until 2016)

Depending on who you listen to, IE8 still has a surprising market share. Certainly enough that we still have to consider it right now, put it that way. But once April comes and goes and XP support drops off - hopefully so too will the demand for IE < 9, and maybe we can sneak some tweaks in during the late beta stage, but we have to see how it goes. Realistically at this point I'm expecting 2.1 to support IE8 because I don't expect the drop-off to be as huge as people hope.

3.0 on the other hand... HTML5 thoroughly good and proper.
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: Alpay on January 11, 2014, 04:47:43 AM
Awesome ^^
Thank.. looking forward very closely^^
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: Lexi P on January 11, 2014, 11:44:57 AM
I use chrome more than anything. Is it safe to assume that smf 2.1 will function properly with the chrome browser?
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: NanoSector on January 11, 2014, 11:54:30 AM
Quote from: Lexi P on January 11, 2014, 11:44:57 AM
I use chrome more than anything. Is it safe to assume that smf 2.1 will function properly with the chrome browser?
Of course it will :)

Thanks to the devvers! :)
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: Arantor on January 11, 2014, 12:34:13 PM
Quote from: Lexi P on January 11, 2014, 11:44:57 AM
I use chrome more than anything. Is it safe to assume that smf 2.1 will function properly with the chrome browser?

I use Chrome myself ;)
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: GravuTrad on January 13, 2014, 08:44:42 AM
I don't like few updates that are more removes than progressions.

Changes on the copyright date: Are they ok with the bsd licence?  (nb: http://www.simplemachines.org/about/smf/license.php (http://www.simplemachines.org/about/smf/license.php), this page is not up to date)

No longer quick reply as an option, thanks for those who don't like quick reply system....not a progress, only a remove...(and disliked for me)

hot topics, it's a little damage (but i don't use it)

and small dates, i hope we can switch back too normal dates in the admin lol...(sure we can lol), and it will be funny for foreign languages to translate it.
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: Arantor on January 13, 2014, 10:35:41 AM
Changes with the copyright date are fine with BSD. The BSD doesn't care about anything other than those in the source.

Changes on quick reply, you must not use any other forum software. Also, fewer options usually works out better for the user.

Hot topics have long since been mostly useless, being just a change of icon that most people never notice and for months that icon wasn't even shown anyway meaning that people really don't care.

Small dates, sure you can change it in the admin or profile. Translation should be easy, you drop the %S and switch from %B to %b, every language I looked at on LE could be translated by these changes.
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: AllanD on January 13, 2014, 01:18:20 PM
I like the quick reply always on, now to have it with the editor so you add smileys and configure posts with bbc it would be awesome.
Once again great update team.
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: Arantor on January 13, 2014, 01:21:19 PM
You mean that thing you can already do if you want to because it's already an option in 2.1? :P
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: Illori on January 13, 2014, 01:23:01 PM
profile -> look and layout Use full editor in quick reply
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: AllanD on January 13, 2014, 01:23:15 PM
Yes that, lol. I knew it was a option in 2.1, but having in 2.0 would be nice. Since 2.1 isn't too far away it would make sense having it in 2.0 right now.
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: Arantor on January 13, 2014, 01:28:54 PM
The reality is that 2.0 is only receiving minor maintenance from us - and there are mods for it for 2.0 anyway.
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: AllanD on January 13, 2014, 01:34:58 PM
Completely understandable.  /like :P
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: PhuriousGeorge on January 13, 2014, 01:36:16 PM
Quote from: AllanD on January 13, 2014, 01:23:15 PM
it would make sense having it in 2.0 right now.

There's a mod for that ;)
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: Kindred on January 14, 2014, 08:08:01 PM
wait... 2.0 does have a wysiwyg editor.  It's not as nice as the new one in 2.1, but it is present.

(and there is a mod to replace it with the same one as 2.1)
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: JBlaze on January 14, 2014, 08:43:37 PM
Every time there is an update post like this, I get more and more stoked for 2.1 and 3.0!

Obligatory "when will it be released"? 8)
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: Arantor on January 14, 2014, 08:54:39 PM
Obligatory smack down because *you* should know better than to ask :P
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: AllanD on January 15, 2014, 08:53:08 AM
He only asked what all are thinking :P
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: Arantor on January 15, 2014, 10:59:46 AM
Yes but he's an ex team member, he should know better :P

Everyone else can have the obligatory answer: when it's done.
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: JBlaze on January 15, 2014, 02:39:11 PM
'tis a running joke :)
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: TomW on January 16, 2014, 02:53:53 PM
So far, so good !  I like the clean-up, and the keep it simple approach.  I've been downloading the alpha a few times to play with, and it's looking very good.   Great work !
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: Arantor on January 17, 2014, 07:33:25 PM
Also, in case anyone's been wondering what's going on, I give you http://www.inktank-studios.com/comics/comic/debugging/

This is how I feel about our current bug situation. There is a limit to what can be fixed in 2.0 at this point in time, but I'm hoping to make 2.1 something special.
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: tfs on January 20, 2014, 02:26:34 PM
Quote from: Sir Cumber-Patcher on January 17, 2014, 07:33:25 PM
There is a limit to what can be fixed in 2.0 at this point in time, but I'm hoping to make 2.1 something special.

Looking forward to it a great deal.

Let me ask something from left field here... how does it look so far for SimpleDesk working with SMF 2.1?
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: Arantor on January 20, 2014, 02:32:41 PM
Well, emanuele did some work on it, and I'm fairly sure one bug that was fixed in SD 2.0 was broken by those other changes. I also know that there's some *major* changes needed as a result of the work I've done since in SMF 2.1 itself... namely the Core Features page has gone away completely so need to rework how SD gets activated.
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: tfs on January 22, 2014, 12:21:10 PM
Thanks for the feedback.  I'm still using SD daily, with about 2300 tickets and 19000 replies.  Still working great, with a few tweaks that you've helped me add over the years.  I run in help-desk-only mode, and so all I'm really concerned about is security.
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: Arantor on January 22, 2014, 12:30:26 PM
In which case, 2.0.7 once it gets reissued is about all you should really be needing. 2.1 doesn't bring *that* much new security wise and SD does need some serious work to be properly compatible especially going forward but we'll see about that nearer the time.
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: maxg on January 24, 2014, 02:42:32 PM
Well, I'm happy with the the 2.1 alpha so far and keeps me busy, fun to work with and I already see some great stuff in there, so I'm a happy camper and say it's best to concentrate on getting it right before jumping and let the Dev's do their thing, If they ask me a question, I shall try to answer, if not, I will ask them are we there yet! Again Thanks for joining up Pete and good stuff so far! that's what counts to me!
If I find some thing possibly wrong I will post it, sometime here others times at the mods site, like portals and stuff! Let's see mow what was I doing! ohm, that's right!

I check at to source for change about monthly and try them out, just for my theme ideas!

regards,
Maxx

Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: 4Kstore on January 25, 2014, 11:28:35 PM
"chrissy" color is very masculine!
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: Arantor on January 25, 2014, 11:33:10 PM
That's a bit random... yes it's an easter egg, congrats for finding it.
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: 4Kstore on January 25, 2014, 11:36:28 PM
I'm testing the future, You are doing an excellent job. Kudos to you!
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: Arantor on January 25, 2014, 11:37:33 PM
Eh, the chrissy easter egg has been in SMF as long as I can remember.
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: 4Kstore on January 25, 2014, 11:39:17 PM
HELLOOOOO :-*
[chrissy]HELLOOOOO[/chrissy]

Hehe, you're right!
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: Arantor on January 25, 2014, 11:40:26 PM
If you look hard enough on Github you will find a branch where I removed all the easter eggs I knew about but I wasn't allowed to merge it for reasons I won't get into at this time.
Title: Re: January 2014 Update
Post by: ApplianceJunk on January 25, 2014, 11:46:11 PM
Keep up the good work, thanks