PICAXE Forum Maintenance/Upgrade

Technical

Technical

Technical Support
Staff member
On Monday 10th September the forum will be offline for a couple of hours as we migrate to a new more powerful server and simultaneously upgrade the forum software, to provide enhanced https security, more features and better compliance with new regulations such as GDPR.

It is necessary for us to upgrade the forum software as the (very dated) vbulletin 4 version currently in use is no longer supported. We will be migrating to the latest version of Xenforo, which was developed by the same team as the vBulletin 4 we currently use, so ‘looks and feels’ very similar whilst also having far better features such as enhanced support for uploading images etc.

Naturally any update always brings a few visual/layout changes but we have tried to keep the forum layout as similar as possible. All existing forum posts and passwords etc will remain unchanged.

The new forum will be responsive to screen size and should therefore work well on any screen size from mobile phone to computer, so no separate ‘app’ is required.
 
techElder

techElder

Well-known member
I know this forum is here because it is self-serving as far as it is REV-ED, but I've never been on a forum that is so rich in the user experience and support. Thank you ALL!

I'm sure the new forum software will have problems, but we'll not let anyone have to "walk-the-plank" while the bugs get sorted out! :D
 
newplumber

newplumber

Senior Member
Texasclodhopper said:
I know this forum is here because it is self-serving as far as it is REV-ED, but I've never been on a forum that is so rich in the user experience and support. Thank you ALL!

I'm sure the new forum software will have problems, but we'll not let anyone have to "walk-the-plank" while the bugs get sorted out! :D
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i second what "texas" wrote and have a feeling allycat is going to find a few of them(bugs) since I think he found a few with PE6
I also found a few bugs with PE6 (patting my back) but it turned out to be the "USER" not the editor :)
 
newplumber

newplumber

Senior Member
One thing I forgot to ask when you(picaxe forum) do switch over ...it would be really awesome to be able to control what size code box we want to see when ever someone else puts program code in the forum
like having the same control in this box as I type ...basically stretching the size of the box up and down to what ever length...its just a thought from across the pond in the middle of nowhere and usually lost:cool:
 
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inglewoodpete

Senior Member
newplumber said:
One thing I forgot to ask when you(picaxe forum) do switch over ...it would be really awesome to be able to control what size code box we want to see when ever someone else puts program code in the forum
like having the same control in this box as I type ...basically stretching the size of the box up and down to what ever length...
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Great idea but I suspect that the software upgrade has gone through weeks, if not months, of development and testing and is queued ready to go into production in the next server load. We'll have to wait and see what surprises are in store for us next week.
 
hippy

hippy

Ex-Staff (retired)
Also, as is typical for most others who host forums, the software to do that is developed by a third-party company, and we get the functionality they deliver, can only alter things as far as the software allows things to be altered.

Where things are wanted which the forum software does not provide for itself; it may be possible to create GreaseMonkey scripts, Add-Ons, and the like, which allows additional formatting and control client-side, in the browser.

If anyone wants to develop such things, share them, we would likely have no problem with that and that has been done in the past.
 
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newplumber

newplumber

Senior Member
I kinda figured it would be too late and it makes sense to use third party, but thought to throw it out there anyway.

Texasclodhopper said:
“GreaseMonkey scripts” !!!

No doubt designed by newplumber! :D
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lol i never heard of the name till now... and I leave all my web sever/pages for my bro to headache about :)
 
administrator

administrator

Technical Support
Staff member
We're back online. It's a new forum system so will look a bit different, but we hope you will soon get used to it and find it easier to use.
 
kranenborg

kranenborg

Senior Member
... but a small remaining question: is there a Help/FAQ list regarding the new forum features, for example on max number / size of pictures etc. ?

/Jurjen
 
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inglewoodpete

Senior Member
An early forum bug, perhaps... After logging into the new forum (with "stay logged in" ticked), I have found myself logged out within minutes and without notice. I only noticed that I had been logged out when I was viewing this thread and saw a note at the bottom saying (something like) "You have to have to be logged in to post a comment to the thread". I logged in again and was then able to post this feedback.

Microsoft Edge, Windows 10 Home (64 bit)
 
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cpedw

Senior Member
I like the new look but I've encountered 2 snags:

Links to the forum in old posts don't work any more

and

Google searches return old forum addresses that don't work either.

I guess the Google problem will be self-solving in time?
Can the old links problem be easily resolved?
Derek
 
Pongo

Pongo

Senior Member
cpedw said:
I like the new look but I've encountered 2 snags:

Links to the forum in old posts don't work any more

and

Google searches return old forum addresses that don't work either.

I guess the Google problem will be self-solving in time?
Can the old links problem be easily resolved?
Derek
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Oooh, just found the same issues :( Please fix the links if possible...
 
Technical

Technical

Technical Support
Staff member
Thanks for the feedback, the old links should be fixed soon via redirects, they take a while to sort out but eventually all old links should automatically permanently redirect.

Blogs were rarely used on the old system and are not supported by Xenforo. However all the actual blog content is still available - you will find it in the Archives section - 'Blogs Archive' forum instead. The blog content is not lost!

https://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/index.php?forums/blogs-archive.47/
 
Buzby

Buzby

Senior Member
Technical said:
.... Blogs were rarely used on the old system and are not supported by Xenforo. However all the actual blog content is still available - you will find it in the Archives section - 'Blogs Archive' forum instead. The blog content is not lost! ...
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Well, the content is there, but not the ratings.

I rather liked having the 'most popular' blog, it was the only time I got 86,500 views !
 
newplumber

newplumber

Senior Member
Buzby said:
Well, the content is there, but not the ratings.

I rather liked having the 'most popular' blog, it was the only time I got 86,500 views !
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wow thats alot of views ...or alot of refreshing :)

hey good job on the new forum and i'm just happy you still accept my user name .... the forum is cool
I havent found any bugs...of course you need to be smart to find some but absolutely love the bigger
code box
Code: 
test
and
test
perfect and thanks to all who inhaled all the Tylenol getting this forum upgraded
 
techElder

techElder

Well-known member
Is there a way to change the number of posts that are considered a “page”?

What if I wanted 100 posts / page?
 
Technical

Technical

Technical Support
Staff member
- Old forum http: links should be working now, redirecting to the new secure https: site correctly
- Passwords do not need to be reset, but if you want to reset it Captcha is required as it is an anti-hacking mechanism. Nobody really likes Captcha in any of it's variations, but unfortunately it is necessary.
- Profile posts were a legacy import section left over from vbulletin, sorry about that. Now not visible. Xenforo uses a different conversation system instead.
- Posts per page is fixed in xenforo for a number of reasons, set to 40 messages per page.
 
hippy

hippy

Ex-Staff (retired)
Spell checking is usually done by the browser and is usually catered for by an add-on if not in-built.

Most forum software will rely on the browser providing the spell checking or it can quickly become a nightmare with different spell checkers fighting over whether a word exists or is spelled correctly or not.

If you can let us know which browser(s) you are using we may be able to help further with installing a spell checker or enabling that. The browser developer's home page or a Google search might be able to provide additional information and help as well.
 
techElder

techElder

Well-known member
FYI. Under "What's new" / "New posts" ...
There's a bar that goes across that is "grey" and is titled with "Threads below have not been updated since your last visit."
The words are almost invisible on the "grey" background.
 
techElder

techElder

Well-known member
I got that sinking feeling when I noticed there isn't a "Subscribed Threads" section. I had so many references to old threads that I was saving just for reference. I'm sure I have most of that backed up, but I'm not sure how to replicate it on this version of the forum.
 
Technical

Technical

Technical Support
Staff member
techElder said:
I got that sinking feeling when I noticed there isn't a "Subscribed Threads" section. I had so many references to old threads that I was saving just for reference. I'm sure I have most of that backed up, but I'm not sure how to replicate it on this version of the forum.
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Watch a thread (top right) then under the top Forum tab there is a 'watched' menu.
 
Pongo

Pongo

Senior Member
hippy said:
Spell checking is usually done by the browser and is usually catered for by an add-on if not in-built.

Most forum software will rely on the browser providing the spell checking or it can quickly become a nightmare with different spell checkers fighting over whether a word exists or is spelled correctly or not.

If you can let us know which browser(s) you are using we may be able to help further with installing a spell checker or enabling that. The browser developer's home page or a Google search might be able to provide additional information and help as well.
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I'm using Chrome and spell checking is working for me on this forum :)

I'm a mod on an smf forum and that has a spell checker function installed. It also has a profanity filter, I didn't check this one beyond the post preview stage but it doesn't appear to have any profanity filtering function.
 
D

Dartmoor

Member
Pongo said:
I'm using Chrome and spell checking is working for me on this forum :)

I'm a mod on an smf forum and that has a spell checker function installed. It also has a profanity filter, I didn't check this one beyond the post preview stage but it doesn't appear to have any profanity filtering function.
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I can post "arduino" - so yes, we have no profanity filter? ;)
 
hippy

hippy

Ex-Staff (retired)
Dartmoor said:
I can post ...
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But Mods and Admins can do so much worse in return :devilish:o_O:cry:

The issue has been noted and it may simply be a case of having not ticked a checkbox somewhere. In the meantime; please let's keep it civil and polite, as members normally do, and not test the limits just because one can.

We will continue to edit or remove offensive or unacceptable postings and may take other action we deem necessary in such cases. If anyone does see a problem post please do report it as previously.
 
erco

erco

Senior Member
Daddy like! New format looks great. Funny, this is my first visit in a while, I didn't know the change was coming, and I'm using a zippy new computer. For a second, I thought the new look was from the new computer. Silly me.

I'm about to teach a few Picaxe classes here in LA for noobs. Nice to know the students can look forward to a shiny new forum with all the helpful folks here. Related, I'm building some powerbank-powered breadboard modules for the class which turned out quite nice. I'll share some pics of those in a new thread soon.

Excellent work, all!
 
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