Web Wiz Forums version 9 suggestions

i agree with scotty about particular mods... you shouldnt spend your time developing tools/funcionalities to a minor amout of members.

My recommendations, of someone who is using wwf for 3 years and now with a large community (thanks to you), and sticking to the every admin needs (or so i think)
- skinnable fórum
- possibility of administering the addition of extra fields to tblAuthor because we all have our special needs regarding each forum
- a stable chat system would be an enourmous addition
- enable groups on Personal Messager, so members can PM groups of members/friends
- option to "seach this topic" inside topic
- go back to the previous upload file system, because in my forum (14.000members) when someone wants to upload a file takes forever to retrieve the directory listing
- column "started at" on ACTIVE TOPICS and SEARCH
- favorite topics (i have a mod that works perfectly, could be added)
- testimonials/comments members leave on other members
- "rate this thread" - benefits every large community
- option on ACTIVE TOPICS to "show only new topics/show only topics where i left messages and better subforum integration (some tabulation)
- better and menu style top navigation bar
- gender field (i think this has been forgotten throughout the versions)
- more and editable member status (like MSN so users, even while online, can change their status to Out to lunch, hidding, be right back. Ok, maybe this is stupid)
- integrate the "where i participated" mod so you can see where you participated when browsing forum_topics.asp, active topics and search. I have this mod since the beggining and it really makes a difference
- Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread
- searchable memberlist by location or other fields (for someone who wants to know for example who lives nearby)
- option to maintain/remove aspect ratio on avatars (for forums who dont want to use square avatars, just with fixed width)
- easier to customize css. a more specific css styles, so you can control your forum aspect with more detail
- new members today on main page
- admin function to send a PM to everyone
- selectable rank image set (in profile) - not hard to do and it adds to more personalizing by the members
- let members ignore specific users
- different row color for our message in a topic (slightly lighter or darker)
- PM full warning icon (extremely simple to crate and useful)
- admin lock new registrations or block new topics and posts funcion - useful when you need to maintain/upgrade the forum without having to disable the entire forum
- separate topics from important topics (forum_topics.asp) - Maddog's great
- admin function to set the reply message box size (every new version i have to enlarge the new message iframe. I think its a bit to small)

These are, i think, the mods most commonly asked and that suit many admins.

PS - borg you could, for better filter, create a poll with the most wanted mods so you can sort out what best can be integrated in the next versions. Like developing a car, this forum is fully funcional, aestethicaly complete, and has lots of extras. Now its just a matter of developing new features, evolving funcionalities, and make it more admin friendly. Its already great (the best asp forum), but it can get even better, beating the ever growing php forums.


Edited by cbr600 - 14 October 2006 at 12:56am

Personally i reckon it should be closely tied into the forum and profile.
For example, a user can update their gallery via their profile and when this is done they have an option of an auto message being posted on the forum to say they have updated their gallery.

The other option would be to go about it the same way as the calendar, such as certain users can add to the gallery the same way they can add to the Calendar. They make a post with an option to 'add to gallery' (and a drop down to choose which category?) of course the post will be double checked that it does contain an image and then the image will be posted to the gallery with a snippet of the text from the post underneath. Also the post is posted as normal (same as the Calendar).

This way a user can view all images posted in the forum with ease without having to trawl through every post in the forum.

I hope you can see what I'm getting at lol

Scotty32 wrote: my suggestion: same as version 8. borg - remember to keep the forum the best for everyone, and dont add silly features people ask for, that would be better suited as mods. hopefully you know wot i mean, you did back in version 8

I'm sure you will -boRg- but keep the forum as dedicated to speed and stability as it always has been.


Edited by Mikey - 14 October 2006 at 11:15am

Cool so 2 ideas of how to implement the Gallery, anymore?

Also, if it where connected to the users profile, how would you display the Gallery, would you need to go through the users profile to view the Gallery, or have some special Gallery page listing all the user who have entered pictures in the Gallery?

Also, any thoughts of which system for the Gallery people would prefer to see?

Once I get what looks like all the possible ideas for a gallery I will start a new Poll Topic so users can vote which system they prefer for a gallery.


Edited by -boRg- - 14 October 2006 at 12:23pm

- go back to the previous upload file system, because in my forum (14.000members) when someone wants to upload a file takes forever to retrieve the directory listing

i personally would like it to show what that member has uploaded.

in V7 i modded it so instead of usernames it used the Author_ID, and built a little part in the CP so they could see what they've uploded and delete if they wanted to.
each member then had their own folders, so eg /upload/1/images/ and /upload/1/files/

i did this mostly because members seemed to upload multiple copies of an avatar

so id rather the current upload system had a way for members to see their OWN files. you could add a management area too.

also borg - for the Gallery, you could maybe use the gallery for attachments of images, maybe posts have thumbnails that link to the gallery page for that image.