Forum Update!

[Glenn]

I've just upgraded the forums containing many new features.  Here's the list:

 

New: Reactions

The BassResource forums has long had a reputation system; first we had a simple up/down system, later updated to a Likes system. It tied in with our reputation system. We're pleased to introduce the latest updates to the reputation system, and it's something that has been requested for quite some time: Reactions.

 

Quite simply, reactions allow members to offer more fine-grained sentiments towards content than a simple 'like'. They are now in common usage on social networks, and so members expect to be able to be more nuanced in their response to something they see.

 

Each reaction adjusts the original author's reputation count - a reaction can be positive (i.e. award a reputation point), negative (i.e. subtract a reputation point), or neutral (i.e. leave the reputation count unchanged). As you'd expect, you can click individual reaction counts (or the overall reputation score, if you enable that setting) to view who reacted to the content. A user's total reputation count is still shown alongside their content and in their profile, of course.

 

Reactions play well with all areas of the forums, including Recommended Replies, activity streams, and more.

New: Editor Uploading

BassResource has supported drag and drop uploading to the attachments area at the bottom of the editor for several years. With this update, we're pleased to add the ability to drag and drop right into the editor, so you can drop your attachment exactly where you want it to show without having to add it afterwards.  And if your browser and OS supports it you can also copy and paste, either from the desktop or from other content on the web.

 

New: Leaderboard Enhancements

For this update we made some improvements to the Top Members section of the Leaderboard. A new overview page tab shows a selection of the top members across an enhanced list of different criteria. The filter menu allows you to view more members in any chosen category.  So now it’s easy to see who is posting the most and what.

New: Richer Embeds

You are probably already familiar with our content embedding feature in posts. When a link to content in the community is pasted into the editor (e.g. a topic, or a post, or a gallery image, etc.) it is automatically expanded into a preview of the content, usually with an accompanying image, allowing users to click through to that content if they are interested.

 

While it has proved a useful feature to members, each embed used essentially the same structure - a small thumbnail on the left, a title, and a few lines of text. This works fine for topics, but isn't ideal for other kinds of rich content that might be posted.

 

In this update, we greatly improved upon our embedding handling, giving every type of content within every application its own customized embed style, allowing that content to be displayed however works best. This means larger high-res previews of Gallery images, for example. We worked to keep a consistent overall style between apps, but allow each to display its own relevant information.

 

For you, things will work exactly as they do now - you simply paste a link to content, and it will continue to expand automatically. The changes are also backwards compatible. Any existing embeds on the forums will automatically show the new styling.

 

So with that in mind, let's take a look what the new embeds look like! I won't show every single embed here because there's a huge number, but I'll try and give you a feel for how we approached the embed styles for each app.

 

 

 

 

 

New: Fluid Forum View

When you have a diverse range of topics within our community, it makes good sense to separate topics within forums and categories, such as we have now. This will ensure that you can find relevant content by scanning the list of forums first.

However, this method of grouping doesn’t always work for everyone. This is especially true for visitors raised on social media.

Fluid forum view allows visitors to get right to the meat of your community; the topics.

 

The BassResource forums is a good example of a community that will benefit with fluid view. There are forums for rod and reels, boats, general discussion and so on. Even though there are many forums, the common topic is bass fishing. This makes fluid view ideal as members can see all those related topics in one view. If you wanted more specific topics, you could select a single forum to view.

 

It is easy to change the topic list by changing the selected forums. You can replace the traditional list of categories and forums. Of course, you can change the view to better suit you way of working. You will notice a "grid" option you can choose as well.

  

You may notice the removal of the forum breadcrumb in fluid view mode. Fluid view remembers your last forum selection so you don't lose your place when you go back to the listing.

 

The benefit of this feature is easy to see. It puts the spotlight on topics themselves, and not the hierarchical forum structure. You will enjoy viewing many forums at once and switching between them without leaving the page.

 

New: Gallery improvements

We are happy to introduce several changes to our Gallery application to both refine the existing capabilities and to introduce new useful functionality; particularly for Albums.

 

We have clarified how to submit images directly to a category on the first step of the upload form in Gallery.

 

When submitting images to the Gallery, a simple "Add more images" button has been added to the wizard. While it has always been possible to add more images by dragging and dropping them on to the upload area, or by clicking the "Choose files" button again, the addition of this button should help add some clarity for users who overlooked these capabilities.

 

Applying the same details to all of the images you are submitting has been made much simpler. When you begin entering the details for the first image, you can specify a template to use for the caption name leveraging a special replacement "%n". A small help icon next to the caption field label explains how to use this capability. When you are done supplying the details, you can click "Copy details to all images" and your submission will start instantly, using all of the details supplied for the image you are editing. You can quickly set tags, an image description and a caption name template (for instance "Aquarium %n") to all images using this new capability, useful when submitting 50+ images at once. Of course, you can still supply the details for each individual image as well, if you wish.

 

In addition to improvements for submitting images, albums have been updated to include many new features, including:

• Commenting

• Reviews

• Reactions

• Messages

• Featuring

• Hiding

• Locking

• Reporting

• Searching

Going along with these changes, we've improved how groups of images that are submitted to an album are handled in searches. If you submit multiple images to an album, you will only see the album listed in activity streams, and similarly if you follow a bunch of images in an album these are grouped as well, making activity streams more useful and easier to follow.

  

The changes to albums and image submissions will simplify your interaction with Gallery in the new design, and make submitting images and new albums, and working with those albums more useful and robust.

 

New: Gallery Lightbox Navigation

One area that was identified early on for improvement was the Gallery image view page and specifically how the lightbox feature available on this page behaved.

 

We adjusted the buttons that overlay the main Gallery image to use icons instead of text. If you click to view an alternative image size, we improved the header styling of this page as well for clarity and to allow easier downloading of the image you are viewing.

 

When viewing an image, you can open the image in a lightbox by clicking the icon at the very top far right corner. When doing so, there was previously a button at the bottom left hand corner of the lightbox if you wanted to download the image. We modernized this experience by implementing an overlay that you can click on in order to download the full size image instead.

 

You will notice there are now left/right arrows in the lightbox view. You can click left/right to scroll through the images in the container, just as if you clicked through the images in the photostrip immediately below the image on the main page. You can also use the left/right arrow keys on your keyboard. While this would navigate through the photostrip previously, it will now also navigate through the images in the lightbox as well.

 

When viewing on your mobile device, the lightbox has been cleaned up allowing more image to display which is a welcome change for you mobile users.

 

New: Letter Profile Photos

Your profile comes with a default profile photo which is used when you have not set a profile photo for your account. While this model has served the software well for years, we felt it was time for an update to the software to keep pace with current internet trends. This has led to one of the latest changes you can expect to see with the update: letter profile photos.

 

The colors are not set for each letter. They are chosen randomly when generated.  

 

We hope that this change helps bring our community to life with a little more style, flair, and uniqueness for each new member.

New: Security Enhancements

Notification of a new device sign in

You can receive an email notification when a new device is used to log into your account. The notification email does not trigger on a new IP address, which would be annoying when travelling or if using a network where the IP address changes regularly. Instead, the notification is only triggered if someone signs into your account from a new physical device or web browser.

 

UserCP Device Management

A new page will show in your settings page showing all the devices which have been used to log into your account within the last 90 days (which is recent enough that could still be logged in if "Remember Me" was checked).

 

You can see the device, browser, physical location (obtained by a GeoIP lookup) and if applicable, how the login was processed (for example, if the sign in was with Facebook or Twitter, this will show). If you chose "Remember Me" when logging in, you can undo that (handy if you realize you accidentally left yourself signed in on a public computer).

 

If you see anything you don't recognize, a page to walk you through the necessary steps to re-secure your account is available.

 

 

I hope you enjoy these new features!

[A-Jay]

I like It ! 

A-Jay

[12poundbass]

I was scratching my head wondering what happened. I like it too!

[Lil fat guy]

I'm not really a computer whiz, so I don't know exactly what all I just read...but hey that big L looks a lot better than that silhouette guy that used to be my picture ???

 

Seriously though it sounds like you're really working hard to keep us up with the times...makes the forum look a lot better. ?

 

 

[Sword of the Lord]

I don't understand why it required me to have a signature before I could do anything.

[38 Super Fan]

Ugh, I'm required to have a signature now?

[NHBull]

Lookin' good

[XpressJeff]

14 minutes ago, NHBull said:

Lookin' good

 

I think, where can I find an explanation of each Reaction's symbology?

 

I'm not very smart.

[MichaelCopeland]

Yeah I was trippin' for a few when I had to sign in again because I have remember me checked. Was also confusing that I got an email after signing back in that a new device was used and this is the only device I've ever used on here. Anyways thanks for the heads up @Glenn. I like it so far. It will take a little getting used to and experimenting with it. I can handle it though. ?

[Glenn]

26 minutes ago, MichaelCopeland said:

Yeah I was trippin' for a few when I had to sign in again because I have remember me checked. Was also confusing that I got an email after signing back in that a new device was used and this is the only device I've ever used on here. Anyways thanks for the heads up @Glenn. I like it so far. It will take a little getting used to and experimenting with it. I can handle it though. ?

Yep, with the new security features, everything is "new", meaning your device is "new" to the security system. So you'll have to go through that once to "reset" everything.  You should be good to go now.

 

[Darren.]

Looks good overall, text a tad better, some lines and

boxes have thicker padding, etc. Good changes.

 

As for all the detailed nuances, I personally prefer

simplicity, but I predict it will grow on me!

 

One thing that I would like to see @Glenn, but not sure

it is possible, is when a convo gets locked, if the black

dialog graphic to the left of said convo became that of a

lock, indicating thread closed to further comments.

Edited September 2, 2017 by Darren.
Grammar correction

[MichaelCopeland]

26 minutes ago, Glenn said:

Yep, with the new security features, everything is "new", meaning your device is "new" to the security system. So you'll have to go through that once to "reset" everything.  You should be good to go now.

 

Right on. Thanks again and have a great Labor Day Weekend!

[Smokinal]

Very nice Glenn!

A "top" buttom would be nice to have at the bottom of a thread to take you back to the top of the page in a click.

[PNW LipRipper]

I've not been here in awhile I knew something looked different. ????

[islandbass]

Thanks, Glen. This forum was already awesome ? 

[tander]

Thanks for the work, I guess I will figure it out over time.

[Oregon Native]

Like a couple said above it's new....I'm old....so will see how it works.  Ya haven't done anything bad yet...I enjoy this site every morning with my breakfast.  Will have to look closer to see if I can put in a pic or two easier.  

Thank you for this site and it's info

[Falkus]

Nice ---- I thought that someone deleted my account

 

 

[Dwight Hottle]

Is anyone having problems not seeing some posted images this morning including Glenn's new gallery improvements?

[Darren.]

17 minutes ago, Dwight Hottle said:

Is anyone having problems not seeing some posted images this morning including Glenn's new gallery improvements?

 

Yes. Mentioned it in another post where there are 3 pix, none

of which I can see. Was fine yesterday, but can't see any today.

[Glenn]

Guys, I'm moving some files around today.  It's temporary.

[JustJames]

As long as it fast to load, I don't mind the new look. I will still use file attachments here for one quick photo here and there but will start using more of Facebook link.

[Team9nine]

Overall, I like the new look - good color scheme. Only thing I miss so far are the visible post counts for members. Looks like you have to go to each persons profile individually to see those. 

[A-Jay]

43 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

Overall, I like the new look - good color scheme. Only thing I miss so far are the visible post counts for members. Looks like you have to go to each persons profile individually to see those. 

I'm seeing post counts under each profile picture ~ 

A-Jay

[Team9nine]

Only have access via iPhone, but no post counts under avatars for me. Can only see 'reaction count' or whatever it is termed in center right corner. Glad they're still there - sort of. Thx