Enhancing Forum Interactions: Multi-Quoting and Eliminating Minimum Post Length

[Sane]

A newer build of vBulletin supports "multi-quoting", where you toggle which posts you wish to quote, then click "quote" and find all of the posts you toggled inside the post you're going to write.

I liked this feature because it's useful when you find yourself replying to more than one poster. You want it to be clear what you're replying to (as well as whom), and it helps to not have to click quote, copy, click quote, paste, repeat...

I was mildly disappointed to see it not on this forum. Could you consider it as a part of the next update?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Indeed, a major upgrade is in the works. Currently the only thing holding us back is an update for the journals.

 

[ZapperZ]

Indeed, a major upgrade is in the works. Currently the only thing holding us back is an update for the journals.

Oh dear!

I remember what happened last time when we had a "major upgrade"... EVO! We need to set up that support group NOW!



Zz.

 

[Sane]

Fantastic! I hope the upgrade goes smoothly. For a site of this magnitude, I can't even imagine the number of problems you likely encounter. Hopefully you have some sort of imaged server you're able to work on an upgrade, then make a direct transfer of the code. Minimizing down time to the time it takes to transfer data, and bugs to those that you never spotted first-hand.

Good luck with whatever system for updating you've got planned!

 

[robphy]

Any chance that $$\LaTeX$$ previewing will work again?

 

[Sane]

Oh, an additional suggestion: There is an external add-on you can apply to vBulletin called the "URL Mod". It turns all of the URLs into search-engine friendly pages relative to the title of the thread/forum/post. It also makes the search result page contain the search arguments, rather than the current "searchid" parameter.

This greatly helps your rankings on sites like Google. Are you considering including it in the "big update"?

 

[Moonbear]

Fantastic! I hope the upgrade goes smoothly. For a site of this magnitude, I can't even imagine the number of problems you likely encounter.

Yeah, it's terrible. First, your fingers start hurting from pressing the refresh button repeatedly, then the tremors start, and you start to have trouble catching your breath, and then the real panic sets in, "What if it's really, really broken and never comes back?!"

:uhh: Oh, wait a minute, you meant the technical problems.

 

[loseyourname]

That's good to hear. I've been waiting for vBulletin to add the multi-quote function; Invision has had it for some time now.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Oh, an additional suggestion: There is an external add-on you can apply to vBulletin called the "URL Mod". It turns all of the URLs into search-engine friendly pages relative to the title of the thread/forum/post. It also makes the search result page contain the search arguments, rather than the current "searchid" parameter.

This greatly helps your rankings on sites like Google. Are you considering including it in the "big update"?

Changing link structures on a mass scale can trip google and we can end up with various penalties. Also if we ever have to disabled the mod and go back google will not be happy. Currently we don't have any trouble with indexing, so I'd rather not mess with it.

 

[Evo]

That's good to hear. I've been waiting for vBulletin to add the multi-quote function; Invision has had it for some time now.

Actually, we had a multi-quote function, but lost it several updates ago, it's been at least a year, maybe longer.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Actually, we had a multi-quote function, but lost it several updates ago, it's been at least a year, maybe longer.

hmmm I don't think so, it's a new feature on the next upgrade

 

[Moonbear]

I think Evo is recalling when quoting a post included all the embedded quotes. Will that be included again? I wouldn't mind it as an option (i.e., something you have to actively choose rather than the default). As the default, it created some huge posts when people didn't edit out all the extraneous embedded quotes, but in some cases, especially in very active threads where one can easily lose the context of previous posts, it would be nice to check a box to include the embedded quotes.

Getting to include multiple quotes will be a lot nicer too.

 

[Evo]

I think Evo is recalling when quoting a post included all the embedded quotes. Will that be included again? I wouldn't mind it as an option (i.e., something you have to actively choose rather than the default). As the default, it created some huge posts when people didn't edit out all the extraneous embedded quotes, but in some cases, especially in very active threads where one can easily lose the context of previous posts, it would be nice to check a box to include the embedded quotes.

Getting to include multiple quotes will be a lot nicer too.

Yep, I was thinking of the embedded quotes. It's a nuisance to have to go back and cut and paste the missing quotes. This is the function I would use much more than quoting from multiple posts.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

FYI We will be ready to upgrade within the next couple days.

 

[Hootenanny]

FYI We will be ready to upgrade within the next couple days.

Just let me know when the outage is coming so I can have my stress ball ready...

 

[neutrino]

It'll just be a couple of days...
It'll just be a couple of days...
It'll just be a couple of days...
...

 

[Evo]

It'll just be a couple of days...
It'll just be a couple of days...
It'll just be a couple of days...
...

...as Dorothy taps the heels of her Ruby Slippers together...

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Sorry for the delay, let's try for tonight

 

[Evo]

Sorry for the delay, let's try for tonight

Noooo, you mean it's not over? I thought I'd slept through it and it went off without a hitch.

 

[Moonbear]

Noooo, you mean it's not over? I thought I'd slept through it and it went off without a hitch.

I was hoping that too, but realized none of the new features we're supposed to have are here yet.

As long as it's done before Wednesday...I'll have lots of free time for the long holiday weekend.

 

[Evo]

Can we get rid of the "minimum post length"? Please?