PSA: Forum Tricks

Eric Chadwick

The following is a short public service announcement. 

Forum Tricks

The Polycount Forums run on the Vanilla platform. Here are some handy tools you might not know about:

• You can drag images from your desktop directly into your post. The post editor supports drag-and-drop!
• If you're on mobile, or don't like drag-n-drop, you can embed images using the Attach Image/File button, which looks like this:
  
• Youtube and Vimeo and SoundCloud can be embedded, just by pasting the web address in your post. For example: http: //vimeo.com/100147486 or http: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=_veq6Q51Zlg  (remove the space after the http: )
• Sketchfab can be embedded. Copy the full page URL, press the button at the far end of the editing bar, and paste the URL. 
• # symbol in front of any text will create a Hashtag. This makes a link which searches the forums for that word. For example: #mini-tuts. Use single words or hyphenated words, just like with Twitter.
• @ symbol in front of someone's username will create a Mention. It sends a notification to that user, and creates a link to their profile. For example: @r13.
• Want to link to a specific post? The time or date stamp right after each poster's name is a clickable link... copy/paste it into your own post.
• The latest posts: http://polycount.com/discussions
• Your bookmarks: http://polycount.com/discussions/bookmarked
  
• Your threads: http://polycount.com/discussions/mine
• Your drafts: http://polycount.com/drafts

This has also been added to the Sticky Information About Polycount & New Member Introductions in case people want to find it again later.

Happy Polycounting!

xvampire

nice, Didnt know i  can drag and drop, so bbcode no longer work.. *^^

Eric Chadwick

Nope, BBcode doesn't work. Though Vanilla says it does on their website, which is kind of weird. We'll add this bug to our list of fixits.

Magihat

Is there a way to access the desktop version on mobile platforms? The mobile layout is not doing it for me.

Eric Chadwick

I don't think there is. But I bet you could find an app that lets you force it use desktop.

BradMyers82

awesome, thanks for this!  I always wondered why they did away with the "threads" section of polycount.  Its cool you can access it via the url you gave us, but would be nice if you could simply navigate there in the ui somehow (or maybe I'm missing something).  The problem with looking at your threads in the list when you click on your icon at the top is that in this "threads" list it doesn't order by the most recently updated, just by when it was created.  This is annoying for me because I have a wip on an old thread I created and its harder to find in my list.  Anyway, the http://polycount.com/discussions/mine solves it so thanks again.

littleclaude

Could the threads you have read be highlighted some how?

RobeOmega

littleclaude said:

Could the threads you have read be highlighted some how?

We slightly have that with the amount of new posts since you viewed the thread (or all of the posts if you have not visited it yet) although it is not a full implementation of this I know.

@Eric Chadwick
As a random feature request is it possible to get an option to flag duplicate threads/comments, since this has been happening much more regularly recently.

Eric Chadwick

littleclaude said:

Could the threads you have read be highlighted some how?

The threads you have read should have the [new] highlight removed from them. This is shown on the left of each thread title in the list. Or are you asking for something different?

Robeomega said:

@Eric Chadwick
As a random feature request is it possible to get an option to flag duplicate threads/comments, since this has been happening much more regularly recently.

Thanks for the suggestion. This is in our bug list already. This occurs when people ignore the message "Your comment will appear after it is approved", and keep trying to submit their posts. Their posts were flagged by the Spam filter. It should be smart enough to prevent duplicate posts.

PyrZern

ERIC CHADWICK  This is pretty buggy. Especially when someone's name has a SPACE in it. Like yours :P  

@"Eric Chadwick"  Many times it turns into this (when you hit Enter when the dropdown menu shows up). Though still does the exact same thing. Nice.

Also, how does name tagging work if I edit a reply ? Say, I post something, didn't tag. Edit it, and add a Tag, will it work afterward ?  

Ps. Please tag my name in your reply to me.

Joopson

Eric Chadwick said:

Thanks for the suggestion. This is in our bug list already. This occurs when people ignore the message "Your comment will appear after it is approved", and keep trying to submit their posts. Their posts were flagged by the Spam filter. It should be smart enough to prevent duplicate posts.

I think the "Your Comment will appear after it is approved" message needs to be clearer. For instance, maybe it should go to a new page that says that, instead of just popping up on the screen, and leaving your post on screen in front of you, still editable and repostable.
For me, it was unclear whether it had actually been submitted, or whether it was a glitch.

Stinkhorse

Does anyone else have trouble with the notifications menu on the mobile site? It opens up, but it does it 90% off the screen. I might not be on the mobile site maybe?

thomasp

Stinkhorse said:

Does anyone else have trouble with the notifications menu on the mobile site? It opens up, but it does it 90% off the screen. I might not be on the mobile site maybe?

same here, opens so far out you cannot use it. firefox on android.

RobeOmega

PyrZern said:

ERIC CHADWICK  This is pretty buggy. Especially when someone's name has a SPACE in it. Like yours :P  

@"Eric Chadwick"  Many times it turns into this (when you hit Enter when the dropdown menu shows up). Though still does the exact same thing. Nice.

Also, how does name tagging work if I edit a reply ? Say, I post something, didn't tag. Edit it, and add a Tag, will it work afterward ?  

Ps. Please tag my name in your reply to me.

@PyrZern

Thanks! I could not get that working for the life of me especially as the drop down box for names was not coming up for some reason.

PyrZern

That didn't notify me either... My guess is because there's ; after my name.  

Test @Robeomega;

Eric Chadwick

http://polycount.com/profile/PyrZern&nbsp
Nope it seems to have been the space before the semicolon. Weird, OK well another bug to log.

And yes, the poor mobile formatting has been logged too. On mobile I use Edit Profile as a roundabout way to get to my Inbox. Hate it though.

@Joopson that's a good idea too, thank you.

RobeOmega

PyrZern said:

That didn't notify me either... My guess is because there's ; after my name.  

Test @Robeomega;

That worked to tag me at least. I am not sure why the ";" was added. At first I though I must have accidently pressed an extra button but when I go to edit it there is no ";" there.

Eric Chadwick

When you edit, click the html button. It looks like </>. It should show you the full source. I use it quite a bit to fix post errors.

RobeOmega

@Eric Chadwick 

Thanks that worked!

root

The old forums had a 'previous thread/next thread' navigation at the bottom of every page.  Can you bring those back? Or like make it a hotkey or something? I hardly ever browse the showcase forum anymore because flipping from one thread to the next used to take one click, now it takes several.

Eric Chadwick

root said:

The old forums had a 'previous thread/next thread' navigation at the bottom of every page.  Can you bring those back? Or like make it a hotkey or something? I hardly ever browse the showcase forum anymore because flipping from one thread to the next used to take one click, now it takes several.

Really? That stops you? Low threshold for pain I guess. I just use Back (alt left arrow) and click on the next one.

But I'll add it to the wishlist. The customer is always right.  

Gannon

Any chance we can change to automatically view posts in reverse chronological order like the old forum? or jump to a specific page without having to jump into the thread and then dig around?

Jeff Parrott

I keep getting a max character error for the gumroad thread. Is there any way to increase that (or a work around)?

Eric Chadwick

Jeff Parrott said:

I keep getting a max character error for the gumroad thread. Is there any way to increase that (or a work around)?

Please take a screenshot of the error and send it to me. 

Anytime you see an error like this, it's best to message the details to a moderator, so we can write up a bug report and get it fixed.

Eric Chadwick

Gannon said:

Any chance we can change to automatically view posts in reverse chronological order like the old forum? or jump to a specific page without having to jump into the thread and then dig around?

Added to the wishlist. Thanks for the suggestion!

Blaisoid

"The threads you have read should have the [new] highlight removed from them. This is shown on the left of each thread title in the list. Or are you asking for something different?"

well... this has been discussed 4 or 5 times already.
Did the stuff from old closed discussions actually make it to the wishlist?

There is just no reason to to have constantly gray titles, when you can just use a simple method of marking unread threads as green and read threads as gray.
That's how it used to be and it WORKED. I'm pretty sure there weren't any people who asked Polycount team to change it and use "new" tag instead. 
Same goes for removing the number of pages from thread titles and not showing the last poster's name.

Eric Chadwick

Blaisoid said:

"The threads you have read should have the [new] highlight removed from them. This is shown on the left of each thread title in the list. Or are you asking for something different?"

well... this has been discussed 4 or 5 times already.
Did the stuff from old closed discussions actually make it to the wishlist?

There is just no reason to to have constantly gray titles, when you can just use a simple method of marking unread threads as green and read threads as gray.
That's how it used to be and it WORKED. I'm pretty sure there weren't any people who asked Polycount team to change it and use "new" tag instead. 
Same goes for removing the number of pages from thread titles and not showing the last poster's name.

No need to get testy. Remember mods and admins are people too.

I know some things can be frustrating and decisions may seem opaque. We're trying to expose info in threads like these to rectify some of this. We're forum users too!

When we upgraded the forum software, we migrated to a completely new software system. We worked hard to migrate as much as possible of the old databases. But the front-end and back-end are entirely new. 

There are many new and excellent features now. I hope I don't need to point them all out. It's definitely an upgrade.

However like any other tech change, some of the cherished old features went away. And there are a few glitches to fix.

We are adding features to our wishlist, to eventually improve the site. The bug list has to take priority right now over new items, so the wishes won't get in right away. 

I would recommend you get used to the current state of things, just for your own peace of mind. I wish changes moved faster, but things are the way they are, for now.

If you can itemize wishlist items, it will be easier for us to add them to the wishlist.

By all means, keep the discussion going. But also keep an open mind. We want the same things you want.

Blaisoid

Thanks for explanation Eric - I try not to sound too jaded and negative but I guess often end up sounding like that anyway.

I certainly did get used to the new look, though I can't deny the fact that my activity has seriously dropped since the change.

I'm not sure if stuff that I wrote about can be even called features - it's just standard ways of handling basic forum things that have been around for many years.
Most people have been browsing internet for a long time and are used to forums that allow them to see date of last post, last poster, amount of pages and so on; links that turn different color after you click them once etc.
Repeating "you don't need that anymore, since we have this new thing instead" doesn't help much when someone remembers that the old, boring way of handling it just provided a better browsing experience.


Anyway, keep it up, I know there's lots of things on schedule and I'm looking forward the next, improved version - no matter when it gets done.

Eric Chadwick

Blaisoid said:

Repeating "you don't need that anymore, since we have this new thing instead" doesn't help much when someone remembers that the old, boring way of handling it just provided a better browsing experience.

Well to be clear, that's not what I said. I explained how it works, and was asking littleclaude for clarification. If you read a dismissal into that, I'm sorry but that's your problem.

S-S

Thanks for the tips - would there be any chance of getting more old fashioned skin available?
I've find it hard to read all the thin and grey text.
Came up with solution to use Stylish on Firefox, googled for this, someone had even done a slight modification for Polycount, so I decided to do own mod, that has bigger and bolder text, message bodies, and more compact rows:
https://db.tt/KQnpxGSO
Sorry for raping the new look. Maybe it's just me. EDIT: and tall header bar is just for being able watch all the art without clicking...

Eric Chadwick

Not a problem, I think user skins are a great idea. I'll put these ideas in the wishlist. Do you have a bigger clearer pic? That one's a bit fuzzy.

PyrZern

Would love 'Last Post By' feature to be back.

PolyHertz

Can we no longer use tags to quote scripts/code? I just tried in another thread and they didn't do anything...

Eric Chadwick

macroScript 
LockAllTransforms 
category: "HowTo"
(
setTransformLockFlags selection #all
)

If you select the code, then click the P button, and choose Code, you get this. Imperfect however, hmmm.

PolyHertz

Ah, yea that works. It didn't like it when I highlighted the code before applying it, had to add the code group to the post and then paste the script into that.

If you guys plan on updating it in the future, should probably change it so hash tags aren't treated like search buttons. And would be nice if it had a scroll feature like on CGTalk (ie. only allowing the script to be so long before a scroll bar is added instead of lengthening the post itself).

Eric Chadwick

Good suggestions. Added to the wishlist.

Code text is also too dark. And I wonder if it supports indents properly? Can't test properly on mobile (another wish!).

S-S

@Eric Chadwick

Sorry for late reply. Actually I don't have better image,  can you check out the actual stylish modification? If you have Firefox that is.
Here's the file,  if anyone else feels like re-using or using it, please do so:

Dropbox link:
https://db.tt/7H1qAsFD

Eric Chadwick

Ooh, nice. Thanks for sharing this. Personally I'm not a fan of green body text, at least that's what i get when I import your style into the Chrome version of Stylish. But the tighter thread list is nice, and the larger header too.

The only major disagreement I have is in killing the banner ads. The ads we use here pay for the site hosting and other fees, and are pretty non-intrusive at that. I understand the use of Adblock and the like, I personally use it, but I added an exception for Polycount. It's a small way to support the site, but it does make a difference.

S-S

@Eric Chadwick  - Yep, don't take it as anything too definitive, like I mentioned, it's just my personal hack to make it easier to see stuff, basically I just took some 30 minutes to change thing using Firefox F12 editor as help, I've no idea about web code... neither did I do anything more than "this could work for me" kind of 1 sec thinking
Green text: There is optional grey text too, I swap between it and green - but wasn't PC greener earlier - I think it was   ?
Disabled banner Ads - oops that must have been carried over from template I found earlier, didn't even notice! I don't mind Ads either, as long as they are at somehow gfx/industry related.

Brygelsmack

Is the mobile version still being worked on? It's pretty bad right now, honestly. Huge text, elements clipping through each other, no way to quote people, etc. I'm on Google Chrome/iPhone 6. 

Eric Chadwick

Brygelsmack said:

Is the mobile version still being worked on? It's pretty bad right now, honestly. Huge text, elements clipping through each other, no way to quote people, etc. I'm on Google Chrome/iPhone 6. 

Yep I agree mobile isn't the best. I'm using it right now to reply to you. We have some bugs logged, and we're pushing Vanilla for fixes.

There is a Quote button right above each post. Just used it. Is this missing on yours?

Eric Chadwick

Eric Chadwick said:

There is a Quote button right above each post. Just used it. Is this missing on yours?

There's also a Quote button below each post, interesting. Kind of a waste of valuable space to duplicate buttons.

Greg DAlessandro

Is there any way to add a function to create a gif of multiple images for WIP threads? It would be a fantastic feature to be able to update/add future images to the gif.

Eric Chadwick

Yourname942 said:

Is there any way to add a function to create a gif of multiple images for WIP threads? It would be a fantastic feature to be able to update/add future images to the gif.

Not likely we'll add this. There are many gif tools out there. Besides, gif is a pretty bad format for display since it's limited to 256 colors, and they get large in file size very quickly. If you have Photoshop, check out the Timeline feature.

PolyHertz

Is it possible to link directly to a specific post anymore? The old forum software used to have a number over each post that could be used for it.

Eric Chadwick

Yeah, the date right after the poster's name is a clickable link.

jStins

Sorry if I'm being dense, but is there any way to see a list of favorite threads other than the notification list on the profile page?

Eric Chadwick

Yeah. See the star icon at top right?

Brygelsmack

Eric Chadwick said:

Brygelsmack said:

Is the mobile version still being worked on? It's pretty bad right now, honestly. Huge text, elements clipping through each other, no way to quote people, etc. I'm on Google Chrome/iPhone 6. 

Yep I agree mobile isn't the best. I'm using it right now to reply to you. We have some bugs logged, and we're pushing Vanilla for fixes.

There is a Quote button right above each post. Just used it. Is this missing on yours?

Yeah. No quote icon anywhere. And each post is like 3 words per line, it looks pretty weird and isn't helping readability. 

Amsterdam Hilton Hotel

Is there a way to block users? Some account named "undoing" keeps PMing me the same message asking if I want to work for nothing on his weird project

Joopson

Amsterdam Hilton Hotel said:

Is there a way to block users? Some account named "undoing" keeps PMing me the same message asking if I want to work for nothing on his weird project

Don't worry about it. He'll be his own undoing.

....But I concur. That's a good question...