Large Site Update - 4.5

[GazzaGarratt 11,049]

Hi All, just a heads up to mention that the site has been updated significantly overnight and furthermore this morning so you will see some things a little out of place until I can fix it all correctly.

 

This update significantly makes changes across the entire site, whilst we have had the long outstanding security fixed (massive thanks to @Shucker ) and also Commerce has been purchased and installed.

 

Anything you notice looks slightly, feel free to mention it here - obviously i'll be already aware of certain things such as colours, text and alignment of menus/logos already.

 

Busy day ahead - GGFG!

[GazzaGarratt 11,049]

All, you can now set how you want to read comments on FG, whether its first post, last post or to first unread within your own profile.

 

 

• Click on 'Settings'
• Click on 'Content View Behavior' in the left hand menu
• Select your own Preference

 

I know this matters to alot of people, including me! 😄

[J4MES OX4D 10,034]

My homepage is giant windows for each subforum and I was wondering is this was part of the update Lee? 

 

Cheers! 

 

Edit - actually I just realised it had defaulted to Grid mode instead. All normal now! 

[GazzaGarratt 11,049]

40 minutes ago, J4MES OX4D said:

My homepage is giant windows for each subforum and I was wondering is this was part of the update Lee? 

 

Cheers! 

 

Edit - actually I just realised it had defaulted to Grid mode instead. All normal now! 

 

Yep, thats one of them. We could've had Grid mode last time but they've updated it so its cleaner and works far better now. Grid mode is the default, however i've opened up the option for everyone to select how they want to view the Forum section specifically:

 

 

So now everyone can select their favourite way of seeing the forum pages. The options are:

 

• Table: A tradional forum index table view
• Grid: Displays forums as cards in a grid
• Fluid: A simpler dynamic listing topics with a forum filter box

 

Everyone is free to use what they like. The default i'm pressing ahead with for now because the forums in this card format (and eventually added pics) definitely adds a colour to the forum page and gets us one step nearer to when we can look at a Homepage highlighting all other aspects of FG. The great thing about most things at FG is that we can give choice still even if the default is not exactly how you like it (although, i'd love it if it was).

[GazzaGarratt 11,049]

As you can probably imagine, works are continuing. Its doing some strange things which now include setting it back to the standard view with no logo, colours, etc. I'll try and keep posting up in here so you know things are still ongoing.

 

Not a bad way to go alongside my first day back at work today! 🙈

[Plumbers Crack 4,062]

Is there a way to get the black background again Lee? I think it used to be a theme IIRC. The white background is a bit of an eyestrain, especially at night

[GazzaGarratt 11,049]

1 hour ago, Plumbers Crack said:

Is there a way to get the black background again Lee? I think it used to be a theme IIRC. The white background is a bit of an eyestrain, especially at night

 

Thats why I put the post up earlier - this shouldn't look like this at all right now but it won't allow anyone to see the default best theme (not even me). I've been on work calls most of the day so going to have another stab at it shortly.

[Plumbers Crack 4,062]

don't worry Lee...do it when you have a chance - appreciate what you're doing for us ❤️

[BO7H B4RRELS 2,453]

This is bullshit.  Things have changed.  I don't like change!  Who's with me... let's leave this site and start a new one!!!  

[GazzaGarratt 11,049]

4 minutes ago, BO7H B4RRELS said:

This is bullshit.  Things have changed.  I don't like change!  Who's with me... let's leave this site and start a new one!!!  

 

Fuck me, we don't need another Diddums. One is enough thanks 😅

[Plumbers Crack 4,062]

5 minutes ago, BO7H B4RRELS said:

This is bullshit.  Things have changed.  I don't like change!  

This statement is the preserve of grumpy old men aged 60+...go get your own slogan! #GetOffMyLawn!

[GazzaGarratt 11,049]

So FYI - Why the site might change from its original colours to a bland default one with no logos, colours, etc is because that is recovery mode for us.

 

I've managed to get our theme back for the time being however I now can't access Admin elements so it stops me from updating / fixing the site. It really is a PITA but i'm waiting on a support ticket to be answered. Hopefully they'll resolve it quickly.

[Plumbers Crack 4,062]

20 hours ago, Plumbers Crack said:

Is there a way to get the black background again Lee? I think it used to be a theme IIRC. The white background is a bit of an eyestrain, especially at night

I figured it out Lee...Black is the night time theme...you toggle it by clicking the moon symbol on the top bar 😊 👍

[GazzaGarratt 11,049]

Yeah, this theme is a pretty good one as most places now expect a standard Light/Dark theme at the click of a button, hence the Moon option for everyone at the top menu.

 

Slowly getting there with other things now, have to integrate each feature one by one in case something gets knocked out because of it. You'll also see graphics coming along as we're getting there. As said before, anything that jumps out at you please say here.

[BO7H B4RRELS 2,453]

20 hours ago, GazzaGarratt said:

So FYI - Why the site might change from its original colours to a bland default one with no logos, colours, etc is because that is recovery mode for us.

 

I've managed to get our theme back for the time being however I now can't access Admin elements so it stops me from updating / fixing the site. It really is a PITA but i'm waiting on a support ticket to be answered. Hopefully they'll resolve it quickly.

Don't stress over it.  We appreciate all you do.  You got this.  

[GazzaGarratt 11,049]

UPDATE

 

So, we have quite a few things not 'active' or working at present unfortunately and we have to wait for the relevant updates to those applications before I can make them live - i've tried to do it beforehand and thats why you might be seeing some generic forum with no logos or colours, etc. To try and give you a flavour of what is and isn't working so far i'll detail it below:

 

Not working

• Tapatalk and the FG App - the plugin they provide must be updated for it to work with the site. Also, much to my frustration, our FG App is not showing in the Play Store either. However, this has been for sometime now and we are stuck in the middle of why Tapatalk (who provide our own branded app) have had the App rejected by the Google Play Store.
• Videos, including the Videos Slider we had on the front page
• Discord integration - None of the push notifications for all of discord channels, such as new topics posted, new events created, videos and quizzes posted, etc.
• FG Photos - whilst not many people have seen this, it requires an update. A place where we can post pictures in one location and vote on our favourite ones of the month.
• Visuals for Articles - Mini pictures require investigating as to why they aren't working as expected
• Who was online last 24 hours - utilising a whos online 'now' feature instead. This may be kept to minimise plugins
• All page templates - Many separate pages had templates which need investigation
• Minimize quotes - if you quote something, it will quote correctly but won't minimize to 4 or 5 lines, as it has done for recent months.
• External link embeds - requires update
• Calendar Event Topics - new topics would auto create on the back of events for people viewing via just forums to help everyone realise theres a new event up. This is disabled requiring a new update but may need to view how these work going forward

 

Is working and updated

• Quizzes - Good to go so if anyone wants to make one, feel free!

• Online indicators now look different if the user is online

 

• Events and Calendar works as expected - also on the current homepage there are new countdowns, alongside all of you should receive notifications of the event happening soon if you signed up a few days earlier

 

 

Some new or not much used features to quickly note

• Light/Dark Mode can be changed at the top menu by just clicking the Moon sign 

                

 

• Forums top level pages have a grid format, with each section having a visual aid. This is the default view moving forward as discussed previously to bring this place to more visual aids - however - you can still access the old way of viewing the forum sections by clicking the left of the 3 ways to view forums. You can also have the right fluid view which is a long list of all the latest forums. This is a new option for you all as I've decided to open up the choice, as I know some may not like the visual aspects - be good to get feedback though.

 

• Twitter timeline from FG can also be shown on different pages
• You'll also see there is a Store option. There isn't anything there yet, but this sets the first steps up for the Merch we talked about previously

 

 

There is a lot more, probably more stuff I care about than likely anyone else here but we'll carry on updating and fixing each bit as we go along. For Appy people, theres a few things that seem to be moving forward to. One might be alternative to Tapatalk and another one could be closer to this place as an app but thats extremely early days.

 

I'll leave you to chew the fat whilst I crack on with other stuff on here.

[Diddums 4,346]

Your mum is a large site update.

[BO7H B4RRELS 2,453]

Thanks for the heads up, Lee.  I wish your mother the best with her update.  

[Plumbers Crack 4,062]

Yeah, mum updates can be the worst..good luck with that 👍

[GazzaGarratt 11,049]

Just a heads up - Now that we have a secure site we can get Facebook login to work as its not worked for a few years (i'm sure theres many back in the day that have this connection but can't get in because of it) so i'm planning to fix that as soon as i can. Also just found out the Google one has a fault so going to pick that up too.

 

On the plus side, i've updated the Videos section so now need to see if its working as expected. Should also have new features which i'll try and highlight when i get chance

[GazzaGarratt 11,049]

Facebook login authentication now works again after all those years. You can reathorise existing accounts by signing out the Facebook login connected to it and re-linking it.

 

You link different accounts via the 'Account Settings' menu option, seen in your profile menu bar

 

 

Thanks @craftofboredom for pointing this one out. Onto the Google one now!

 

 

[Plumbers Crack 4,062]

Just out of interest, do many people use FB to log in here.. or any of the other login options? Just curious

[GazzaGarratt 11,049]

1 hour ago, Plumbers Crack said:

Just out of interest, do many people use FB to log in here.. or any of the other login options? Just curious

 

Back in the day, I think it was a given because of ease, then it hasn't worked for a few years so most new people couldn't link it anyway. I know some older FGers when they tried to come back couldn't, mainly because they didn't realise their FB accounts were linked so it screwed up. A few new people recently, including Anna, tried to use it. We could only fix it when we managed to make the site fully https - something that we've struggled to do for the past 2/3 years.

 

I have all mine linked. The discord one, when up and running again soon, will hopefully integrate with our discord channel.

[craftofboredom 58]

On 9/2/2020 at 8:17 PM, GazzaGarratt said:

Facebook login authentication now works again after all those years. You can reathorise existing accounts by signing out the Facebook login connected to it and re-linking it.

 

You link different accounts via the 'Account Settings' menu option, seen in your profile menu bar

 

 

Thanks @craftofboredom for pointing this one out. Onto the Google one now!

 

 

Good luck with that! hopefully you get it sorted soon.

I tend to login with whichever one works. I typically prefer google and then use facebook.

If that doesn't work, I will manually register. Technology is making people lazy as things become a bit more convenient. hehe.

[GazzaGarratt 11,049]

12 hours ago, craftofboredom said:

Technology is making people lazy as things become a bit more convenient. hehe.

 

This right here, is life in a nutshell. And we all thought Wall-E was just a cartoon movie...