Just an early heads up:
If all goes well, I will soon be moving the map comment system to the forums. This means that each map will have its own topic under a new board on these forums. This will allow better moderation of the comments and also allow things like pictures to be attached, etc.
Sounds good! Will you implement a clickable field that links from the custom map page to the according forum topic, or should people search for it?
Directly the board whith the most topics. 8)
I hope you find an way to do this so it works well ,
so the forum does'nt get confusing with all the topics for each map .
I just noticed from a computer at work that forum guests are not able to see attachments to posts, like screenshots. Is this on purpose or just the default forum behaviour? It would mean that everybody has to create an account to be able to see the full topics (which could be considered a good thing).
In addition (and I know I asked for this somewhere else): would it be possible to allow the file size of attachments to be 300 or 320 KB? Most CW screenshots are 270-320 KB, so this would eliminate the need to compress every picture. I can imagine not everyone knows how to do this.
Guests can now see attachments.
The max attachment size has been raised to 512k.
As for the forum based map comments. I plan to create a new topic per map. The map page will have a link that will jump to the correct topic. So when you browse the maps you will be able to click on the comment link and go over to the forums in the right topic. The first post in the topic will contain the map name and a link back to the map. All subsequent replies on the topic will come from forum users that have some thing to say about the map.
Now, I may not create all of the topics for all of the maps up front. I may just code it so that the topic gets created the first time someone clicks the comment link on a map. I've not decided about this yet. There will be as many topics as there are maps, so this will be a lot.
I imagine that most people will still access the comments via the comment link on the map page. So I will try to still show how many comments ("replies") are available on each map. This will make it so that the system still works pretty much the same as it does now... except the comments page will be inside the forums.
Wow, that sounds advanced (and as a lot of work)! Looking forward to it....
And thanks for the modifications of the forum settings.
Def a step in the right direction for better implementation and making it easier for the community to share their thoughts. =)
I rember suggesting something like this :P, so is it Each map? Or might it be easyer just to link it to each Author first?
I plan on each map having a topic. That way I can keep the "comments" count on the map view page.
At least this is the system I have working right now. I have to do a few small things and make the old comments visible, but if all goes well this new system will launch today or tomorrow.
You're going to have to make 1500+ topics for maps, virgil! That's a lot.
_k
The topics will get created automatically in a new folder I've created. It's been a bit of a pain to integrate with smf, but the good news is that it is at least possible.
Yay 3 Cheers for Virgilw~
Virgil, I know it is more work, but do you think you could include the thumbnail image in the original post? SHould not be *too* much more work and I think it could be quite useful.
Thanks.
And ehm (I hardly dare to ask), could you make the author name link to all maps by that person?
From the test I saw, it listed the Map name, author, and a link to the map.
I didn't see a description(or maybe I just forgot)
_k
Ok, lets give the new system a little trial run....
It is up currently. If you pick a map from the map screen and click on it the next page will have a "View Comments" link. The scores will also be shown. If you click the View Comments link you will jump to the forum topic for the map. From there you can post a reply.
If there are old comments on a map you will also have a little "view old comment system" link. Click this an you will see the old comments (but you can't add to them anymore).
The comment count total shown on the main map page is the combination of the old comments and the new forums based comments. Note that the first post in the forum topic doesn't count as a comment. Only 'replies' to the topic count as comments.
All seems to work just as you said. Only trifling observation is that it is not clear, when on the maps page, what a user has to do to add their own comment. You may want to put some text on the comments page to say where and how one can comment on a map.
I think. Or maybe I'm hyper-thinking. That's also possible. I'll go lie down. Or have a cup of tea.
I'm sure there must be a reason for making this change, but I liked being able to make quick comments after a game, and to move between comments and scores. I am not interested in this sort of forum. Now I think I will stop making any comments as you have made it less user friendly.
Quote from: keithmalin on April 17, 2010, 01:55:44 PMas you have made it less user friendly.
It's actually more user-friendly, if you have a forum account. Allows a moderator to delete comments. The reason why the change was made was because people were abusing it.
_k
Yes, it now eliminates really casual comments by non-forum members. I had to surrender this so as to have a little better control over what gets posted and under what name it gets posted.
If you have a forum account, it is a pretty clean system that lets you click the link on a map page and then read and reply. Since it is in the forums, you can also now post screen shots, or look at the screen shots posted by others....
Quote from: keithmalin on April 17, 2010, 01:55:44 PM
I'm sure there must be a reason for making this change, but I liked being able to make quick comments after a game, and to move between comments and scores. I am not interested in this sort of forum. Now I think I will stop making any comments as you have made it less user friendly.
I understand your perspective and I sympathize. Unfortunately, the anti-spam measures only eliminate automated spamming, they did not eliminate gross and obscene comments by ill-meaning people. A few days ago someone got his knickers in a knot and got a bunch of his friends to come over and basically spam a few maps with bad comments. So now the new system where registration is required and it is easier to moderate comments.
Look at it this way. You already came here and made a comment. So you cleared all the hurdles for making further comments. :)
Virgil, I think your making a great step to keep knuckle cracker clean and thank you for that.
So I think that this system will work out much better then the old one.
I hope so....
I'm a little nervous since the comment rate has slowed up. I expected this since john doe can no longer leave an anonymous comment anymore. But I'm still hopeful that the comments won't dry up too much.
In any case, I've been hard at work on the bowels of the next game so a little break to get my database/php mojo charged up again is kinda refreshing.
Yea, that might be a bit of a problem if comments dry up. I suppose it might only be A Really Big Problem© if the rate of play of maps decline also.
"A Really Good Idea" and "A Really Big Problem" are copyrighted by Karsten75, Inc. and may not be reproduced or used without express written consent of the copyright owner.
I think the comments dryout is temp ,
it should be back after players get used to this and have clicked the : "mark all read button" .
There are alot of maps and players , so it might take some time ,
hopefully not to long .
Maybe it helps if someone start using this new comment thing =)
My #1 concern was clicking on unread messages and seeing 40 pages of unread junk messages... but I'm assuming in the future this will slow down to 10 posts a day or so?
Quote from: archn on April 17, 2010, 10:25:15 PM
My #1 concern was clicking on unread messages and seeing 40 pages of unread junk messages... but I'm assuming in the future this will slow down to 10 posts a day or so?
http://knucklecracker.com/forums/index.php?topic=1171.0
Yep noticed that right after I posted... I wish there was a way to ignore the child board from new posts function altogether though.
Quote from: archn on April 17, 2010, 10:31:08 PM
Yep noticed that right after I posted... I wish there was a way to ignore the child board from new posts function altogether though.
Virgil could consider installing a SMF mod that allows people to ignore specific boards. But the users still have to know about and customize it.
The custom map overview should have the old comments in ( ) ,
so its easyier to see what maps that have new comments .
( and later it would be easy to see what maps that have old comments )
Quote from: Karsten75 on April 17, 2010, 10:44:59 PM
Virgil could consider installing a SMF mod that allows people to ignore specific boards. But the users still have to know about and customize it.
This would be great, as I am not interested in reading all map comments every time I log in to the forums.
Quote from: virgilw on April 17, 2010, 08:31:56 PM
I hope so....
I'm a little nervous since the comment rate has slowed up. I expected this since john doe can no longer leave an anonymous comment anymore. But I'm still hopeful that the comments won't dry up too much.
We'll know pretty soon I guess, as we should see a growth in number of forum members next week.
Quote from: virgilw on April 17, 2010, 08:31:56 PM
In any case, I've been hard at work on the bowels of the next game so a little break to get my database/php mojo charged up again is kinda refreshing.
My respect for so much work done in so little time without any bugs showing up!
Mayby it's better when you click a map that under the scores directly the old comment system will be showed (you don't have to click the button).
Once the topic creation settles down, there will only be as many topics created per day as there are maps posted (perhaps less, if nobody clicks on some maps). This means there will be 10-20 topics per day created on average.
As for the old comment system, I guess I could show the old comments (for maps that have them) without having to click.
So I have just abused smf and hacked it so that the map comment board doesn't show up in recent posts... This should keep peoples' comments from flooding the forums if you use the "recent posts" functionality.... at least I hope it works.
Quote from: virgilw on April 18, 2010, 10:40:00 AM
So I have just abused smf and hacked it so that the map comment board doesn't show up in recent posts... This should keep peoples' comments from flooding the forums if you use the "recent posts" functionality.... at least I hope it works.
Props!
I see there are a few comments in the new system, though. http://knucklecracker.com/forums/index.php?board=9.0;sort=replies;desc
Maybe a (temporary) brief description on the main map page could explain what changed and why. Here at the forums we all know, but this might not be the case for people who never visited the forums. It's also good for people to realize that commenting/feedback is important to a map maker and (if positive) often a great stimulant to create more.
BTW: what happened to this map? http://knucklecracker.com/forums/index.php?topic=2221.0
Virgil, it broked! =o
_k
Uh, ah hem...
Nothing to see here, nothing at all... :)
Looks like a minor glitch. The topics weren't for any actual maps, they were just some extra topics that got created because of one extra error case I missed. I've nuked the empty topics that I saw. If anybody sees any more, send me the link. They were truly dead topics that had not map that pointed to them.
Quote from: virgilw on April 18, 2010, 10:40:00 AM
So I have just abused smf and hacked it so that the map comment board doesn't show up in recent posts... This should keep peoples' comments from flooding the forums if you use the "recent posts" functionality.... at least I hope it works.
Yea, I know it works and I gave you props. But now your hack is starting to become less useful. The flood of new threads have largely died down and now I'd like to see actual discussions and comments on maps showing up in my unread list.
You'll still see the 'new' button after every map topic that received new posts. I suggest keeping these map comments out of the unread posts, as most people probably don't want to go over every comment added. At least I don't, I just look up a map when I'm going to play it.
Quote from: UpperKEES on April 18, 2010, 06:04:24 AM
Quote from: virgilw on April 17, 2010, 08:31:56 PM
I hope so....
I'm a little nervous since the comment rate has slowed up. I expected this since john doe can no longer leave an anonymous comment anymore. But I'm still hopeful that the comments won't dry up too much.
We'll know pretty soon I guess, as we should see a growth in number of forum members next week.
Quote from: Forum Stats
2010-04-17 8 120 10
2010-04-18 4 74 9
2010-04-19 7 100 13
Above the forum stats for the past 3 days, with respectively the number of new posts, replies and new members. For a Monday that's a record I believe! (Bear in mind that autoposts are not included.)
Quote from: virgilw on April 18, 2010, 10:00:54 AM
Once the topic creation settles down, there will only be as many topics created per day as there are maps posted (perhaps less, if nobody clicks on some maps).
I always click on the new maps so no map should or can get left out.
If we missed any thing I can automate the process. ;D
_k