What's Coming in Physics Forums 4.0?

[Overflowing]

I was using VB4.2, whatever the latest service release was around Sep-Nov 2013.

I never looked closely at the database structure for VB but I had to dig pretty deep into how DNN7.0 was set up, and compare it to XF1.3.x and those were somewhat similar from a table structure perspective (and on the UI as well - PMs were "threaded" rather than all individual messages)

I doubt I have a backup of my VB hanging around but I might.

XF's structure is across multiple tables as well but when you figure it out, it makes perfect sense.

The conversation master which defines/tracks quite a few things, mainly the conversation ID, title, user ID that started it, etc.

The message table holds all the individual messages and who generated them & when

the recipient table tracks who is part of the conversation (and who has left it, in XF)

The User table seems to track most of the same info as the Recipient table plus a few other things

They are all sort of intertwined in an odd way but I'm sure there is some logical reason for it.

We had gConverter do it for us and they nailed it for super cheap. And that was for 2 generations of PMs, we had an older database that didn't convert on an upgrade and was barely still accessible.

 

[chroot]

I haven't stopped in here for a while now, but I'm very excited to see the new PF! I hope you all are well, and I hope to be around more in the future. :)

- Warren

 

[Monique]

Exciting!

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I haven't stopped in here for a while now, but I'm very excited to see the new PF! I hope you all are well, and I hope to be around more in the future. :)

- Warren

Good to see you Warren! Don't be a stranger :)

 

[Nathanael]

- Like system (replacing Thanks)

So the thanks-badge will no longer exist?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

So the thanks-badge will no longer exist?

In its current form that is correct.

 

[Psinter]

Oh boy, oh boy. I'll be waiting for this... You know what, I can't wait. I'll try that forum myself now. I want to see how it works.

EDIT: Just tried it. I like it.

 

[DataGG]

Oh boy, oh boy. I'll be waiting for this... You know what, I can't wait. I'll try that forum myself now. I want to see how it works.

EDIT: Just tried it. I like it.

What?

What forum are you talking about?

 

[adjacent]

I'll try that forum myself now. I want to see how it works.
EDIT: Just tried it. I like it.

I thought it was visible only to staff. :p

 

[CAF123]

I thought it was visible only to staff. :p

Me too, I guess that is why DataGG is confused by Psinter's comment (I am too).

 

[drizzle]

Hey Greg,

Please allow PMs in PF chat room. Thank you.

Gad

 

[Psinter]

Me too, I guess that is why DataGG is confused by Psinter's comment (I am too).

Hihi! No no. There's a trial. You can see the dashboard, create users, be admin, post stuff, change templates, ban yourself... no wait, that last one is not possible.

 

[CAF123]

Hihi! No no. There's a trial. You can see the dashboard, create users, be admin, post stuff, change templates, ban yourself... no wait, that last one is not possible.

Apologies if that is indeed the case, but I see no such trial.

Edit: Ah, you meant the free demo on the Xenforo community website.

 

[Evo]

He probably went here https://xenforo.com/demo/

 

[Psinter]

That is what I meant. I was a moderator at a forum which no longer exists in the past (it doesn't exist in the present either). The tools from this one are way better than what we had. Specially when it comes to slaying spambots.

It was then that I learned that there exist huge communities out there that dedicate themselves to creating spambots and in creating spamming forum techniques. They even have forums themselves to help others spam other forums with tools and advises. I was so raging when I learned it, but such is life. For fighting bots properly, you need bots. Specially when they lock-target your forum and come in thousands. This one posses very good tools to make bot-slaying easier. That's something I liked.

 

[Ben Niehoff]

I'm excited about these things!:

- Alert System (if you've been tagged/quoted, if your thread has been moved etc etc)
- Highlight text to quote
- User tagging
- Multi user PM conversations
- LaTeX preview
- Like system (replacing Thanks)
- New LaTeX enabled chat
- Improved search (no more using Google)

Although I hope alerts do not go through to email, that would be seriously annoying.

 

[micromass]

Although I hope alerts do not go through to email, that would be seriously annoying.

You can configure it.

 

[dlgoff]

Will the Library items be integrated into 4.0? I'm getting 404 - Page Not Found currently.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Will the Library items be integrated into 4.0? I'm getting 404 - Page Not Found currently.

The library is not compatible and was removed about two months ago. All the entries were moved to the few FAQ sub forums we have.

 

[dlgoff]

... was removed about two months ago

Thanks. Must be loosing my memory.

 

[LCKurtz]

Thanks. Must be loosing my memory.

Your memory is loose?? Better bolt it down. Wouldn't want you to lose it.

 

[Rocket50]

I like XenForo, but I've been using a lot of it lately so I'm getting tired of its layout.

I have a question though. For the reputation you can give to a post, did you pick the version with only "Like" or with "Like, Agree, Dislike, Disagree, Funny, Dumb, Information etc"?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I like XenForo, but I've been using a lot of it lately so I'm getting tired of its layout.

I have a question though. For the reputation you can give to a post, did you pick the version with only "Like" or with "Like, Agree, Dislike, Disagree, Funny, Dumb, Information etc"?

We have a custom style. Just the like. I'm not fond of the addon that gives you the other options.

 

[Rocket50]

We have a custom style. Just the like. I'm not fond of the addon that gives you the other options.

OK.

Hope everything goes smoothly with the update.

 

[Overflowing]

I like XenForo, but I've been using a lot of it lately so I'm getting tired of its layout.

Gonna be a bit of this with every forum software

I can't tell you how "bored" I am of the VB layout. Most forums run without a custon style and just tweak the colors a bit.

There are always, of course, certain basic functionality that you cannot really change without a highly customized style.

Here are a couple examples of some highly customized styles:

www.xenadmins.com
www.3reef.com
www.crazyengineers.com

 

[Evo]

Gonna be a bit of this with every forum software

I can't tell you how "bored" I am of the VB layout. Most forums run without a custon style and just tweak the colors a bit.

There are always, of course, certain basic functionality that you cannot really change without a highly customized style.

Here are a couple examples of some highly customized styles:

www.xenadmins.com
www.3reef.com
www.crazyengineers.com

Those are horrible! They don't even look like forums where people are able to participate! I participate at a number of forums. I would be put off.

What a mess!

And that first forum, WTH are all of those numbers?

I tend to gravitate to forums that are very simple and straight forward, see a comment, see a reply option, make reply. Done. I guess if I was a registered member they might make more sense.

The forums I belong to make sense even without being registered.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Those are horrible! They don't even look like forums where people are able to participate! I participate at a number of forums. I would be put off.

What a mess!

And that first forum, WTH are all of those numbers?

I tend to gravitate to forums that are very simple and straight forward, see a comment, see a reply option, make reply. Done.

www.crazyengineers.com has some nice things. In fact I think we're using the same framework.

 

[Evo]

They look more like a news source instead of a forum. Are they a forum? They remind me of Yahoo News where they report a story then people comment below. That's not what we will be like, right?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

They look more like a news source instead of a forum. Are they a forum? They remind me of Yahoo News where they report a story then people comment below. That's not what we will be like, right?

They use one of their forums for news/article type content and then display it from the homepage. I am testing something similar with a featured threads function.

 

[Overflowing]

Eco, I was giving those as examples of the flexibility of the software. And yes, they are forums, with a summary type home page or other front-end type of addon acting as a home page. Then you just click the 'forum' or 'community' link in the nav bar to see what you would consider the traditional forum layout (category, sub forum, etc) it's all there just a bit different.

The first one is highly specialized, specifically for people who are Forum admins of only Xenforo forums. So there are a lot of things being used to show off a bit. It's not a site anyone who is not an XF admin would ever use so forget about it.

All I got to say is don't fear change. XF is taking over the forum world more and more every day.