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online user list at bottom of board pages

Started by RFD, April 07, 2018, 08:50:13 AM

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RFD

this would be helpful with active large forums that wish to show a day's worth of users, which will be in the hundreds if not many hundreds.  currently that list is at the bottom of the category page (which is great) but shows up at the top of every board page (not great at all!). 

thanx for your consideration.

Illori

no it does not by default show up at the top of every board unless you have turned it on. it is under current theme "Show who is viewing the board index and posts: " by default this set to dont show.

RFD

yes, of course i know there's an on/off switch for showing online users.  i want it on and i want it set for 1440 minutes.  what i don't want is to see the resulting online user list at the top of board pages, i want it at the bottom of those pages, just as is with the main category forum page.  this should be an easy mod, no?

Kindred

Well, 1440 minutes?  that's your problem right there. Every forum I have ever dealt with has it set to 15 minutes... 60 at a max.


So, you believe we need a special setting for people who are purposefully breaking the system?

Nope.., this is definitely a mod (and even that would likely be a special mod just for you)
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RFD

whoa, kindred dude - 'breaking the system'?  breaking it in what way?  if there is a ceiling for listing online users that will 'break the system' maybe don't allow any number and make it selectable.  showing a lotta activity on a forum is a positive thing, not negative.
     


Kindred

It's deceptive activity, not real, though....  because those people are not actually viewing that board or topic.  Maybe they looked at it 20hours ago...

I am oppose to any deceptive activity on a site...
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Please do not PM, IM or Email me with support questions.  You will get better and faster responses in the support boards.  Thank you.

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Steve

Same here. It's intentionally deceiving visitors that the site is currently more active than it is. Just my opinion.
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RFD

deceptive?  yes and no, depends on one's perspective.  if yes, don't add it as customized forum setting who's results the world can see - if not, let it be. 

personally, i don't see it as deceptive.  it's a log of who's been online within a specific time period.  an additional mod is to add the existing time range setting to the list title, then it's no longer deceptive at all.  i think seeing how many users have been to a forum within a 24hr period is a good thing for any forum and is value added.  nothing deceptive at all if 500+ users have logged on within a day and the world sees that kinda activity and traffic. 

yes, of course, the real value of a forum is not about logging on, its about what occurs after that happens.  but it sure doesn't hurt to let the world know just how active a forum is.  i doubt there are many public forum admins who would not want that kinda "advertising". 

Steve

I'll agree as long as it's made clear the list is a list of visitors in the last 60 days. :)
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RFD

Quote from: Steve on April 07, 2018, 03:08:48 PM
I'll agree as long as it's made clear the list is a list of visitors in the last 60 days. :)

and i'll completely agree with you about being up front and not deceptive, because ....

... right now that online users list is TOTALLY DECEPTIVE no matter what time frame is INTERNALLY used.

which is why the time frame should have been externally added to the list in the first place, because NO ONE but admin understands what the heck that list really represents. 

and after making that fix, give the big forums a break and stick the list out of the way at the bottom of all appropriate pages.

Kindred

See...  I disagree with you on almost every point...

It is not currently deceptive, if you leave it at the default 15 mins...
And, having run several big boards, with 600 people online at once in some cases, I still have not seen the issue that you are complaining about.  No single thread has ever had such a large viewing at once to cause that much of a list...   which, once again, brings me to the point that setting the online time to that long is problematic, for a lot of reasons.

That being said..  I don't think this would ever be a feature/setting. It is definitely mod material... or just edit your files for your own case. Messageindex.template and display.template.
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Please do not PM, IM or Email me with support questions.  You will get better and faster responses in the support boards.  Thank you.

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RFD

Quote from: Kindred on April 07, 2018, 03:42:14 PM
See...  I disagree with you on almost every point...

It is not currently deceptive, if you leave it at the default 15 mins...
And, having run several big boards, with 600 people online at once in some cases, I still have not seen the issue that you are complaining about.  No single thread has ever had such a large viewing at once to cause that much of a list...   which, once again, brings me to the point that setting the online time to that long is problematic, for a lot of reasons.

That being said..  I don't think this would ever be a feature/setting. It is definitely mod material... or just edit your files for your own case. Messageindex.template and display.template.

you must have blinders on, or maybe it's just yer crusty negative attitude.  clearly you can't see that the average forum user has no clue what the online list truly represents.  why even bother with it, it's useless as is unless you give it a time frame to allow it have some meaningful perspective?

RFD

now that it has a time frame, it just needs to be added to the bottom of the pages.

Kindred

Quote from: Kindred on April 07, 2018, 03:42:14 PM
That being said..  I don't think this would ever be a feature/setting. It is definitely mod material... or just edit your files for your own case. Messageindex.template and display.template.
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Украинi

Please do not PM, IM or Email me with support questions.  You will get better and faster responses in the support boards.  Thank you.

"Loki is not evil, although he is certainly not a force for good. Loki is... complicated."

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