GeneralAstatalk FAQ and supportThings we would like to see implemented

08 May 2009, 21:30

I made this list about things that definitely should be here. These are the functions that I call essential functions of the old Asta. I'm sure I forgot something, so if anyone wants to add something, feel free to do so :)

1. View posts since last visit
2. View your posts
3. Images next to forums/threads/requests/releases (new posts, locked, etc.)
4. Board statistics (number of registered users, who is online, etc.)
5. Signature under a post/comment (can be chosen to show or not show) you have your SIG shown in profile. sigs prevent from reading threads and are a good instrument for spammers if it is shown in every post. your personal profile is the best place to present your SIG
6. Code tag and selection of smilies astacut implemented. smiles implemented
7. Quote button next to a users post
8. Edit button
9. Report post button it is this mark : !
10. Thanks button you have +/- that allows you to express yourself much wider than a usual thank. thank = "+"
11. Quicker access for sending a PM it is the mark just right side of the users name
12. Post count and thanks count these are your Karmas, read FAQ how it is calculated. it is more complicated than a usual post counter and tells much more about yor behaviour on the forum
13. Show 1, 2, 3 on the bottom of a thread/request/release if more than 1 page (when viewing the forum sections, not the thread/request/release itself).
14. Thread/Release/Request that receives a new reply moves to the top
15. Always accessible Home button It is Board link
16. Selection of Auto-Login
17. Possibility to see who made the last post in a thread/release/request
18. Sentbox and Savebox PM folders
19. Selection of font sizes and colors in the Reply box
20. Preview button
21. Link on the main menu to User CP - you can click on your avatar on top-right corner to enter UserCP
22. When clicking on a + / - the page should automatically refresh // Not necessary
23. When I already gave a + / - they should disappear from that Thread/Request/Release/Comment that will overload the server. very difficult feature technically. as soon as we tune the project and it becomes very fast you will not find it a problem
24. Astapower and Karma should be seen better (e.g next to user name)
- added -
25. Possibility to edit topic's title
26. Add the "hidden block" to the post, so we can post mirrors Astacut operator forver :e
27. Search results should be listed according to subforum or category (e.g books, music, videos)
28. Show more threads/releases/requests on one page (vertically - so that we can scroll down to see more) set to 20
29. PNG,GIF support for profile images we use automatic resize system that allows you not to care about upload image sizes so it doesn`t accept gifs and png, sorry
30. It should be easier to distinguish between Astapower and Karma icons
31. Show who created a release/request/thread under the topic name
32. Removal of the GFX Request section - not needed as we have the Request bits within the main sections
33. Delete Post button
34. Fixing of the "Upload your photo"(/avatar) feature // Probably a user's issue
35. Instead of having spaces in the URL (which appear as %20) use dashes, underscore or use topic numbers like on the old forum. done. spaces are replaced automatically to underscores
36. + / - should be bigger (Or make them clickable buttons)
37. Clickable navigation path should be given on top to return back to where you want to be
38. Member status bar under a member's name
39. Star Counter you got karma - stars are not planned at the moment, it is a feature of phpBB
40. Organize the Text section by book categories (Fiction, Non Fiction, Other Text) no need for a PDF section.
41. Have a password recovery option for those who have forgotten the e-mail they registered with.
42. Possibility to edit signature done
43. See who gave you a + / - no need at all. it may prevent some members to express a fair opinion. and the second - will load server too much to store and to show it
44. An Introduction Forum in the General (NOT General Talks) section
45. Change the "Anime/Hentai" section to just "Anime" changed
46. Some way of showing that there is a new post in your Team sections. E.g, show a little icon next to the "teams" button if there is a new post in a thread/release
47. When creating a new release, it is automatically tagged with the section you clicked "New release" from. E.g, if I clicked "New release" in "Other graphics" the tag "Other graphics" would already be ticked
48. If message body is restricted to 1000 characters then there should be automatic counting at the time of writing (which is displayed to the user) and if the user clicks the submit button with more characters than the limit warn them and allow them to edit the full text. character counter enabled and restriction increased to 10,000.
49. A login box visible on every page
50. Bring back the keyboard shortcuts! (e.g Alt+B would make the bold tag)
51. Bring back stickies and announcements combined in one sticky - done
52. Show a users total number of thanks/+'s like the old Asta had. it`s your Karma ;)
53. Change "community" to "members list" old styled
54. Remove the 4000 character restriction or lift it higher (e.g 8000 chars) was increased to 10000
55. Remove automatic logout this problem is connected with no.16
56. Tags (e.g bold, italic) should appear where the cursor is flashing and not at the end.
57. Tags should also appear around highlighted text and not at the end.
58. Edit and Delete buttons should not disappear from comments (otherwise, double posts are inevitable)
59. Add tags and smilies to Edit comment button
60. Display the group (e.g FOFF Team, Special Member) where the user belongs under user's name
61. Give each team its own colour: On old forum Admins were Blue, Mods were Red etc
62. A more advanced post box (e.g: http://photoserver.ws/files/xcozice2o2ro2s0ojcm4.png) the current post box is more of a quick reply.
63. More noticeable access to the User CP your avatar on top left is quite noticable - usually done in this way on most of community sites
64. Brackets (And maybe other symbols) in the topic title add a %28, %29 etc to the URL link when being posted. yes, we cant go without URL encoding, we replaced already %20 to _
65. Add a section for "Humor/Jokes" in General Talks
66. Add the ability to right-click "edit", "quote"(when added) etc and open it in a new tab.
67. Be able to sort the Members List (community) by: Join Date, Total Posts, Team, Top Ten Posters - In Ascending and Descending order. these features are used mainly by spammers to get targeted lists of recipients - will not be implemented. morover you can view top1000 posters
68. Remove the underline of topic titles (http://photoserver.ws/files/6ec13dqh7bjy9lolrcx.png) and/or make topic titles and the username of those who posted the topic have better distinguishable colours.
69. Goto page: 1, 2, 3, 4 at the top of the page aswell as at the bottom (when viewing a thread/release/request)
70. Ability to change the time of when threads/releases/requests are made to a different timezone.
71. Add the "Mark all forums read" feature (Will be more useful when No. 3 is added)
72. Add a GFX Chat & Contests section
73. Make "www.astatalk.com" redirect to just "astatalk.com"
74. When you post a thread you are taken to view a list of all threads you have made, add a way to take you back to the section you posted the thread in.
75. Add small descriptions under each of the sections like on the old forum (Example under Downloads for other OS's put "Downloads for other OS platforms: Linux, Macintosh, ~ETC~") just to make it clearer what should be posted there.
76. Add a Goto Page selection at the bottom/top of a topic (If the user wants to go to a specific page without scrolling through the page numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 etc they can type in what page they wish to go to.)
77. Polls so people can vote on things
78. When clicking on a tag, the text is automatically scrolled at the beginning, this should not happen (this will explain it better:


79. See members in a closed team
80. Increase hidden block allowed characters length Increased to 20,000 characters
81. Bold text should be bolder
82. Possibility to un-rate and re-rate previously rated posts and comments

Rating 24 Comments 365
bodmas
1
bodmas 09 May 2009, 17:29 #
Why not this type of message/reply box should be created?

Saduff
1
Saduff 09 May 2009, 17:45 #
What the? Who added these? I didn't add them:
40. Organize the Text section by book categories (Fiction, Non Fiction, Other Text) no need for a PDF section.
41. Have a password recovery option for those who have forgotten the e-mail they registered with.
Deleted comment
machackr
1
machackr 09 May 2009, 18:22 #
can't seem to find button to change sig in user CP
Saduff
1
Saduff 09 May 2009, 18:26 #
I can't find it too. I'll add it to the list. :)
Deleted comment
machackr
1
machackr 09 May 2009, 18:30 #
also any hide code implementation here or will all users and guests be able to view posts?
machackr
1
machackr 09 May 2009, 18:37 #
just found something else when i was looking a my user cp it says user image maximum size is 3000x3000 preaty sure this is a mistake but should be fixed
machackr
1
machackr 09 May 2009, 18:56 #
sorry for multiple posts seems to be no edit button

but any chance for page customization like on old asta hard to read white on black.

What exactly is the spade and club in user cp
Ambrya
2
Ambrya 09 May 2009, 18:59 #
Regarding point 10: Thanks button. It had - from my point of view - another very useful feature: Sometimes I download stuff and misplace it. When I pressed 'Thanks' I appeared at the bottom. So, with only one look I could see, that I already downloaded a file in the past (means, I have to search my stuff). So I could often avoid a double - download. The + does not show, who gave it (same with the - which would probably be helpful to reduce the negativity). So either, we should have a list of people who downloaded or gave a + or plain add the feature (again) to the missing thanks button...
machackr
1
machackr 09 May 2009, 19:04 #
smily drop down for add comment area would also be great.

Quick Smiley test see how many from old asta work and how many i can remember
:D ;D :DD :DDD =D :)) :e ;p :m o) 8) :h :( ;( :) ^_^ :| :b ;) :o
roguy
1
roguy 10 May 2009, 10:44 #
The New Site is probably under "beta" stages still... sooner or later, some additions might take place...
Crack on Request is still gone (probably to avoid stacking up new requests and finish the requests from the old forum)... still my eyes can't get used to the new forum...(very much ANSCII forum)
Deleted comment
tobyb121
1
tobyb121 10 May 2009, 12:52 #
#15 home button, already exists, it's the BOARD link at the top right, though I think it could be made a bit more obvious
Saduff
1
Saduff 10 May 2009, 13:22 #
I know about the board link, but it's not always visible. For example, if you go here, the whole main menu disappears: http://www.astatalk.com/subforum/2/1/Astatalk%20FAQ%20and%20support/
bodmas
1
bodmas 10 May 2009, 15:08 #
If message body is restricted to 4000 characters then there should be automatic counting at the time of writing and it should not let to write above the 4000 characters.

or "error" message of more than 4000 characters should be only shown with no change in the page and works so that we can edit it easily.

at present whats happening, the message body lets you put any amount of characters and when you click on create/submit button then it gives you "error" message and it does not let you to resubmit the stuffs with correction and when you will try to go back but here once again the page gets refreshed and your whole works are gone in vain.
bodmas
2
bodmas 10 May 2009, 15:22 #
I think negative rating is not a good idea, positive rating is ok. If there is something wrong with any post then users must post the reasons as it was done earlier or the best way is implementing the "report" button.

positive rating shows that it was liked by users but behind negative ratings(with anonymous status) have many reasons behind it. I have just realized it now with an instance. some one posted at my thread with comments " i Wait you Bodmas..
I always every day wait you.." and I responded it with " You will always find me near you dear, always."

both posts have nothing to make unhappy others but some jealous user hit the negative rating.
iPoded Junkie
0
iPoded Junkie 10 May 2009, 19:11 #
I am absolutely with no. 19. The black background and white text is giving me MIGRAINES! Not to mention all the edit functions. Those definitely need to be implemented too . . .
Alabaster Verve
0
Alabaster Verve 10 May 2009, 19:25 #
A quicker way to post multiple releases. Whether that's an option to post multiple releases at once or at the very least you should be taken to the sub-forum you just posted to instead of being "stuck" on your post--you're not directed back to any point or forum section that's useful.

Step 1: Click Discussion Board
Step 2: Go under Books
Step 3: Click New Releases

It took me over an hour to post a large book request because the site is so slow and I had to repeat steps 1 & 2 over and over instead of being able to create each release back to back. Site navagation is frustrating and time consuming.
minkette
1
minkette 10 May 2009, 19:36 #
Alabaster, when you're in your post, click on the "Books" tag to go back to the Books forum. For that matter, click on any tag to go to its forum. :)
Maybe that's not exactly what you're looking for, but it's one less step from your list.
Deleted comment
Alabaster Verve
1
Alabaster Verve 10 May 2009, 19:46 #
Gawd! That would have been really useful to know a couple of hours ago. Thanks a ton minkette and Dackstar. :D

I still think site navigation is horrendous though. ;)
Saduff
0
Saduff 10 May 2009, 21:31 #
What? Who's editing my post? I didn't add 48 and 49. It's good actually that they're automatically added (I don't have to keep track of this thread everyday :D). I just want to know who's adding them.
banksiaman
0
banksiaman 10 May 2009, 22:50 #
I found "Watch this topic" very handy can we get it back.
Sunfire
0
Sunfire 11 May 2009, 00:03 #
Very nice list of feature requests. I was going to add a lot of these but hadn't had the time yet. 45 is a good idea too. Only thing I can think of adding to the list off the top of my head is:
- a forum for team recruitment/collaboration
Sunfire
0
Sunfire 11 May 2009, 00:05 #
*misses edit button*
I also think that it would be nice to show the users total number of thanks/+'s like the old php asta had.
caetra
0
caetra 11 May 2009, 00:59 #
"48. If message body is restricted to 4000 characters then there should be automatic counting at the time of writing and it should not let to write above the 4000 characters"

I agree that it should display your current character count and should warn you if you click the submit button with more than 4000 characters. But I've used sites that stop you typing when you reach the limit, it drives me crazy!

Another thing I HATE is when you write a long post then the website cuts off the stuff that didn't fit.

The solution is simple:

Count the characters that a person types and allow them to type as much as they like. When the person clicks the submit button, check to see if the characters are more than the limit. If they are then warn the user and allow them to edit the full text.

[I am in no way saying that there should be a limit, that's another discussion]
bodmas
0
bodmas 11 May 2009, 04:28 #
I think the restriction of 4000 characters to Description body should be lifted off or should be doubled.
today I wanted to post a tutorial on security under the category "software and hardware discussion" and the complete tutorial with viable meaning did not fit the 4000 restriction.

some topic does not fit to this restriction, so what is the solution?
.:hybrid:.
0
.:hybrid:. 11 May 2009, 05:50 #
Also kill the automatic logout, I made a tut, finally completed it, clicked submit... turned out I had been logged out, clicked the back button but it was to late, I lost everything :(

Same with 4000 words, spend heaps of effort on something and then you lose everything :(
minkette
0
minkette 11 May 2009, 06:12 #
Character restrictions? For now you could always double post... or triple post. Quadruple post. Post infinitely. Make a game out of it and go for the goal. See how many posts you can make in a row before getting banned.

I am of course not in any way promoting anarchy. The mods are lurking.
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Saduff
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