vBulletin 3.5 Upgrade

Just a quick note to let you know the forums have been updated to the latest version of vBulletin while you were tucked up in bed. I'm still tinkering, but you should find the majority of things functioning as usual. If you come across any issues, please let me know.

If you experience any Javascript errors, try a forced refresh (Ctrl+F5) to ensure your browser has downloaded the updated JS files - again, if they persist, please let me know.

Most of the changes are behind the scenes, the main change you'll notice being implementation of AJAX. (Asynchronous Javascript and XML) allows the browser to send/recieve data from the server without reloading the page, vastly improving the loading times after certain functions, such as opening a thread from within the forum display listing, editing a post or adding a relpy.

Most of the AJAX features are also behind the scenes but you'll certainly notice some.

You can now edit the title of a thread inline, within the forum display listing - double click within the cell displaying the title and a text field will appear for you to make your changes.

Quick reply from within the thread display will now create your changes almost instantly, only waiting the time it takes to send and recieve the individual post, rather than reloading the entire page.

Post editing can be completed inline from within the thread display, offering the same speed advantages of the AJAX quick reply.

When composing a PM and manually entering a username, the forum will offer a suggested completion of the username.

You may also notice the rewritten WYSIWYG message editor, which should be more pleasant to use.

 

"AJAX is the bomb" as Tim Westwood once said. We use it a lot now and it really is excellent. A bit tricky to debug sometimes but it can "totally transform the browser as client paradigm" as Tim Westwood also once said.

Anyone into web dev who hasnt looked at it I highly recommend it.

 

:beer:

Good job that man. I was wondering why I'd had to log in again this morning.

I vote for a Telkman's beer tokens fund!

 

And one more from me

:beer:

Seems to be running super slick. Top banana

 

Well it seems significantly slower on dial up, and around 3 times slower than pink fish.

I don't think it sall down to peoples avaters.

ONe thing whilst we are here there has beem a significant increase in various adverts at the bottom of peoples posts, this looks quite tacky.

Either this forum is independent or it is not. Which is it?

 

I think a couple of pages from https://www.audio-forums.com/as-rediect/showthread.php?t=11419&page=6 have gone missing as I appeneded a couple of entries yesterday morning 18Jan and trhey seem to gone missing without a trace.

 

Good job Mark.

 

Are you sure you're not thinking of this thread?

https://www.audio-forums.com/as-rediect/showthread.php?t=11584

 

Gary - it's a requirement that if people have a professional involvement in the industry that they declare it in their sig so that people can decide for themselves how many pinches of salt to take with the posts. How does this affect the independance of the forum?

 

Hey no problem, but an Advert is an Advert and now there are ones appearing in boxes, looking like banners etc.

I would suggest with the amount of traffic this place gets you could get a proper advertising banner at the top for some manufacturers and ask posters to leave there's as text.

Just an idea. Because yes the forum is lovely and snappy on broadband, but dial up for some reason is a real dog. A forum is essentially text so there is no need for it to be so slow, plus I would imagine who ever owns the forum has to pay more for the bandwidth of adverts.

 

Gary, edit your options in the UserCP. I see neither avatars no signatures and the forum looks very clean.

 

Is this anything to do with why I'm unable to get on pfm?

 

No. Completely unrelated. PFM is running a much older version of the software.

Michael.

 

btw, I had to clear all my ZG cookies and then re-login otherwise it wouldn't remember me between sessions.

Michael.

 

Question for Mark: are all the button and icon .gif files called the same in v3.5.x as they were in v3.0.x? I'm just curious as to how much of a PITA it is to upgrade as I'll no doubt have to do it over at pfm some time - I'll let you guys beta test v3.5 for me for a while first though

Tony.

 

Whilst it's practically dead, I've been running enscape with a live version of 3.5 since Beta 1 and another board since a week or so after it went gold - not had any major problems to speak of.

Whilst there's a fair few changes in the templates with the changes in the code for the AJAX and various hooks, there's no changed icons/buttons as the styling hasn't changed from 3.x to 3.5, just a couple of new icons for moderated users, a paperclip for the new editor and attachment filetype icons.

It now lets you know which templates may require a revert for full functionality, and it even lets you compare them to the default - unless you've got some seriously hacked about templates, it's relatively painless.

I backed up at four this morning, shut the forums at five and opened them again at six.

 

Thanks Mark, that’s great to know. pfm has no template hacks to speak of, just one very minor one IIRC. The major annoyance for me when changing from vB 2.x to 3.0.x was that they had moved and renamed almost every bloody button and I hate the default ones so much I waited until I had made a whole new set from scratch in Photoshop! It is great to know that is not necessary this time.

I just need to do a bit of research on AJAX now… I assume it means that the punters need to be using a pretty recent browser. Have you noticed any difference in bandwidth between 3.0.x and 3.5.x when you upgraded your other sites? Just wondering if it is bloating at all – I like to keep pfm as lean and agile as I can. I’ll have a good read round the vB forums.

Tony.

 

Tony, see here for lots of info on AJAX (including supported browsers). AJAX features should fail 'gracefully' though (ie, people on older browsers won't have a problem and things will just work the old way).

I would imagine a fair bandwidth saving since many actions (such as posting a quick reply) don't require the whole page to reload, just the new post.

Michael.

 

btw, just wanted to add: AJAX rocks!!! As greg said, any web developer needs to seriously look into it. It's going to change everything.

Michael.

 

Bandwidth varies on the others as the forums accompany sites, but I'll keep you posted with details from here - I wouldn't expect any huge drops, as there's always going to be a great deal more thread views than there are thread replies.