NOTICE: Software Upgrades (Wednesday April 23 @ Night)

[Andy R]

I just wanted to let you all know that on this Wednesday, April 23, 2008 after 10:00 pm CST I will be shutting down our site to upgrade the forum software. We will be upgrading to vBulletin 3.7 which has some new features. I will basically get the site upgraded and then we can work on how to configure some of the new features. The one that I think you all will think have the most value is ability to have thread prefixes so we can tag threads as insurance, mortgage, annuity, etc and then you can either search for all those threads or I can build a feature to filter them from your interface if you don't want to see them. This upgrade is just the foundation for developing some of those ideas we have tossed around.

Other new features are mostly in the member profile page where you can have some more social networking type features and a thing called Social Groups which allows members to setup little groups so all the Vanguard, Berkshire members can group up. This can also be used for other things like creating a space for members by profession. We could have different groups for various military personnel to group up (wither by branch or at a more granular level).

Some of these new features might be useful and some might not. Some might not have any relevance now but later we will find a constructive use for them. Thanks for your patience and constructive feedback during this process. It will be nice to have this upgrade behind us and ability to move forward with many of the suggestions you all have made.

 

[TromboneAl]

Then let me be the first to complain that it worked better before.

 

[REWahoo]

Then let me be the first to complain that it worked better before.

 

[HFWR]

Then let me be the first to complain that it worked better before.

Is this "extreme sarcasm"?

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Is this "extreme sarcasm"?

This might be an example.

 

[retire@40]

I found this example of what we may expect in the new update...

vBulletin 3.7 First Look! - vBulletin Community Forum

 

[Andy R]

I just wanted to let you know the upgrade is still on schedule for tonight. Get your fix before 10:00 pm. I'll be turning off the site to do the upgrade at that point.

 

[Andy R]

Alright, we are now running on the latest version of the forums software. I will be working behind the scenes to make sure all the templates are "re-edited" so things look exactly the same. 99% of the functionality should be working fine now though so I wanted to reopen the site as quick as possible.

 

[retire@40]

...The one that I think you all will think have the most value is ability to have thread prefixes so we can tag threads as insurance, mortgage, annuity, etc and then you can either search for all those threads or I can build a feature to filter them from your interface if you don't want to see them...

Is this how we will be able to make certain threads invisible?

I found the "tags" but I don't see how to use them to make a thread invisible.

Could you explain this feature.

Thanks.

 

[astro]

This is a nice change. I'll enjoy fiddling with the new features.

Thanks

 

[Andy R]

Is this how we will be able to make certain threads invisible?

This upgrade was needed so we can have the infrastructure in place to hide content by type (insurance, mortgage, annuities, etc). This feature is not developed yet but it's on the list. I have Jeff (programmer) helping on another project right now. In the mean time I will be working with the mods on the best way to setup our system for this. It might be through using the tags or using a new feature called Thread Prefixes. We need to discuss the best way to manage the data to keep it clean so things work.

 

[clifp]

Ok I appreciate keeping the site software update.

The thanks feature maybe useful. The equivalent is Recommendations on the Motley Fool. However, automatically posting a message say that
ClifP says thank you to Andy R... is just lame.

I think in order to make that thanks feature useful there should be an option to show the most thanked posts.

 

[Andy R]

I think we can certainly make some reports to show the most thanked posts. I actually think we need to look at the system and make sure it's setup how we want it. I think it looks a bit rough just sitting under the post like that. I think there could be a more elegant way to incorporate it into the interface.

Keep the feedback coming, we need it to dial things in...

 

[chinaco]

I see the thanks button that showed up.

I am sure many would prefer a "No Thanks" button considering the level of debate this political season.

 

[ERD50]

Or an 'avocado' button?

I haven't checked out the features yet, but some of these 'thanks' and ' I'll be your friend if you be my friend' features are way too far on the touchy-feely scale for me!

I'm sure I'll find some good stuff in here too, though. So THANKS!

The feature I really want is one we used to have - just a button for 'subscribe to this thread'. The last update buried this in a menu item, with a pull down, that is followed by a confirmation dialog box. Two steps backwards - no thanks

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

Hey, I can't thank Al for thanking me. Is this a bug?

Man, I was so excited to see I was thanked, then this brought me down to reality:

Your friends list is empty

I'm going to shoot myself - right after I enjoy a 100% SWR!

-ERD50

 

[retire@40]

Andy,

Is this a hack you can download for use on this forum?

Ignore Thread - vBulletin.org Forum

 

[retire@40]

Andy,

In another thread you said "I will look into an ignore thread feature. Also in the next version of the software there is a new feature for tagging posts. So we can create some standards for tags and then we can look at a feature to ignore by tags. That way if you don't want to see any mortgage threads you can have it your way and hide them."

So if you can't install the above hack, how can we utilize the "ignore tag" you mentioned?

 

[Gotadimple]

Why does this display this way?

Since the upgrade, some graphics on the forum list show up as a small box with an X in it. Meaning it can't be displayed. Is it my ISP or the board?

Rita

 

[Andy R]

Since the upgrade, some graphics on the forum list show up as a small box with an X in it. Meaning it can't be displayed. Is it my ISP or the board?

Rita

Strange, I don't see this (tested with IE & Firefox). Can you right click on the X and "Copy Image Location" and then post that path to this thread? That way I can look into the issue further.

 

[Janet H]

Andy - I am seeing this in "view profile" in IE, even after refreshing, dumping cache, etc. I don't see it in Firefox

see below

 

[Janet H]

Since the upgrade, some graphics on the forum list show up as a small box with an X in it. Meaning it can't be displayed. Is it my ISP or the board?

Rita

This should be fixed now.

 

[Gotadimple]

Andy,
It's gone now. The 'X" was the display of the "Tag" icon. I see the icon now instead of the tag. Thanks, Janet.