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XF2 transition feedback

Reader mode
Just noticed that my emailed updates are essentially broken, not sure if that's intentional or not but thought I should bring it up. It's definitely something I'd prefer to not be a thing but if it's actually necessary…. Well I'll deal I guess.
 
I'm fairly sure the grey-on-grey is one of the base default themes for Xenforo 2, explaining why it's not very good. All the very nice and swanky color themes we had on Xenforo 1 were built later, so it should just take a little time for new ones to get put together here as well. Given the forum needed to moved over to Xenforo 2, and finally did so less than a day ago, I imagine that there are some other things more immediately relevant being looked at right now, but in time we should get something else that's superior.

I will be the first person to propose doing what Sufficient Velocity made and then fucked up by dumpstering; we need a Black & Orange halloween-esque theme. It looked gorgeous and worked really well for prolonged use when SV made it years ago, and it is a travesty that they've only broke it out 1 or 2 times since then, and only for a day.

Besides that, everything else I'd say is been said already by others.
 
PsylentFox said:
Where did you go to find that out? I haven't seen anything on it, though it's not like I've had a whole lot of time on it.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Right on the first page of a thread, like this:

Screenshot_372.png

If you already saw this in the time between your post and my reply, then I'm sorry for repeating something.
 
So, every time I access a new forum hyper category, I am logged out. I have no clue as for why or how.

Additionally, I am not receiving alerts of threads I follow, on site. My last alerts are from before the update.
 
It's not even the colors - it's the UI's appearance itself. It's utter garbage on mobile. Whereas just two days ago mobile looked perfect.

Hell, if someone posts a new message as you're typing your old one, the entire screen scrolls up, pushing your message you're typing off your phone screen just to let you know that someone posted something, do you wanna see it?

I feel like whoever's idea this change was actively hates this forum and is trying to ruin it.
 
20 years ago, when I was first getting into internet forums, I started on Gamefaqs. They always had their own forum system, but to this day they maintains both light and dark versions of their blue, red, green, orange, and purple themes, as well as a cloudy blue, sepia, grayscale (all light-only), and an eye-searing cotton candy theme (pink, white, magenta, and cyan) that I can only assume was implemented as a joke.

What I'm saying is that having more options is good.
 
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I do feel like I preferred the general style of the older forum. The user information following the view down as you scrolled down a post was an excellent feature, for one, and I hate to see it go. I'm not as big a fan of the new formatting in general either. The old one had less wasted space and was overall a lot cleaner than the new one.

I also agree that we really need a decent dark mode style. The current one is, quite frankly, atrocious - it's not even really a dark mode, more like a gray mode where everything kind of just blends together.
 
I don't think I like the coloration of the new dark style? I much prefer the old one. The shades of grey the dark theme uses now makes everything look like it's a window out of main focus, and something about the lighter shades of grey sorta tweaks my eye.
 
This new looks is so bad I don't think I can even use this site anymore with how it looks now. This new look has my skin crawling and is freaking me out (no this is not an exaggeration I'm being serious about this), is there at least anyway to make it not look like this PLEASE
 
Summary of complaints to-date
  • Threadmarks
    • So...
    (Since initial posting, this post has undergone three major edits for updates - one at ~12hrs after, one at ~24hr after, one at ~36 hrs after. I'm glad it seems to have come in handy.)


    Bugs/Optimisation Issues

    Logo     - needs resizing in Light & Dark modes, and the Xenforo logo switched out in the Default mode.
    ...ironically, each one gives a clue in how to fix the other. The Default has no 'Home' on the header-bar, instead just using the larger Xenforo logo (which still links to QQ home) which is mounted above the header-bar at the top of the page. Ape the same setup with the other skins, with the QQ logo taking the place of the Xenforo logo, and it'll probably be good enough. (Unless you're wedded to the big mostly-empty element at the head of every page like you get on SB/SV/etc. - personally I think its absence is an improvement.)​
    EDIT: Fixed, via return of big empty element. It seems the Xenforo Default theme is sacrosanct.​

    Margins - need dynamic adjusting to fit different-sized screens without stretching.
    EDIT: Toggle added next to Style Chooser.​

    Dice roller - broken/missing - which makes sense, given it's an add-on. One version (Hoffi's) is Unmaintained, the other version (Xon's) is paid. Looks like we're not getting it back for a while, unless QQ administration decide to prioritise it. [EDIT: Dice roller is restored.]
    Tabs - broken. [EDIT: Tabs now fixed.]
    (Not mentioned yet, but Voter Result - also broken. This is also still the case on SB, btw.)​
    IMG - vanilla bbcode appears broken.
    Embeds/URL - various posts have been corrupted, seemingly due to newly auto-applied URL true-unfurl not integrating well with it.
    [EDIT: Seems it requires direct correction via post-edit. Let a Mod know if you can't make heads or tails of it. Auto-embed has now been disabled, though the bbcode for it is still available for use.]​
    Lists & Indents - icon(s) missing from both Froala and TinyMCE. [EDIT: Restored in Froala.]
    ...Though note that the bbcodes for those at least still work.​
    LaTeX - bugged: no wordwrap & unbound by box/post boundaries.
    Rubytext - bugged: infinitely stackable, no wordwrap & unbound by post boundaries. This has potential to screw with the functionality of above posts - anything to the right of the 'stairway' cannot be interacted with, including Like and Reply functions.

    Old QQ links - broken.
    ...Specifically: the default link obtained by clicking the [post#] ('threads/[threadname].[thread#]/page-[page#]#post-[post#]') prior to the XF2 upgrade, now redirects to the top of [page#] while ignoring the [post#]. AKA, it'll take you to the right page, but to the top of the page instead of straight to the post you should've skipped to.
    The new default setup is 'threads/[threadname].[thread#]/post-[post#]', which of course works fine.    ​
    EDIT: Seems fixed, old threadlink works fine now - at least, provided that the post is still on the same page (which isn't actually a change from pre-XF2 behaviour).​

    Commenting on profile posts/status - bugged.
    ...Specifically: clicking the comment/status box to type in it duplicates the box (along with whatever text is inside it at the time). Subsequent clicks (but not typing) generate another duplicate box for each click. (Fortunately, actually hitting Post only posts the comment/status update you were just typing in; but that doesn't clear any of the boxes, which can only be cleared/removed by Refreshing the page.)​
    EDIT: Fixed.​

    Message Search - permissions bugged?
    ...Specifically, there's been one complaint that Searching another member's post-history can potentially include Private Messages in the list. Obviously you can't click them, but you apparently still get the message summary. More detail needed.​
    EDIT: Seems to be standard behaviour: under the correct parameters, Search is capable of finding posts within PM conversations in which you're already participating in.​

    Lag - so much lag. Still some significant lag, and rising again.
    ...Most noticeably concerning large images & gifs. Like, I'm seeing tenfold increases in loading time. This may or may not be tied to the new popup feature re. resized pics. Of late, lag has become more general and worse around times that seem to correspond with the site's daily backups.​


    Major XF1->XF2 Issues

    Email alerts    - changed.
    ...As in, 'entire content of post' has been cropped out in favour of a notification & link. Apparently there's a way to restore at least small summaries? I don't know that we can get that whole-post functionality back - or even if QQ legally should, considering the whole porn-straight-to-your-inbox aspect... (Another more recent complaint is that following the link requires you to log in, even if you're already logged in - more details needed.)​

    Header- there's a navbar header, and it's Sticky-er than you want your header.
    ...It never disappears (and it has the added effect of obscuring the Theadmarks post-header). Adding the Preference option of toggling it on or off is the obvious solution.​
    EDIT: Toggle added in Preferences. Still doesn't disappear when scrolling up, but seems that's actually standard behaviour for a navbar.​

    Auto-scrolling - especially to 'new messages' box on last page of a thread. [EDIT: Fixed.]
    ...But also common when scrolling down too soon from a link's landing point.​

    Similar Threads- it's there, you can't collapse it, and you should be able to.
    ...Also, being able to collapse the 'Users who are viewing this thread' section as well would also be nice - or at least adjust the list of users down to a smaller amount in the same vein as shrinking the number of Similar Threads shown.​
    EDIT: Similar Threads can now be collapsed. The 'Users viewing' element has also been shifted below the reply box, which is nice.​


    Style Chooser Issues

    XF1 skins    - lost.
    ...And honestly, I suspect it'll take a while to get any of them back. IIRC they need to be either built from the ground up or whole-hog edited from another skin, so...​
    EDIT: But they did dash out and grab 4 Blackened skins to tinker with, and converted one to a Lightend theme that's reasonably similar to the old Light Responsive. Tinkering ongoing, obviously.​

    Light/Dark skins- bloated.
    ...It's especially notable at the bottom of each page, with a huge element that's largely duplicate functions of other page-sections: What's New in the header, and Share This Page under the Similar Threads section. Frankly the Forum Statistics section is pretty useless outside of the main page too. Just cut the element if at all possible.​
    EDIT: Specific complaint now fixed - entire element cut.​

    Light/dark skins- also need at least some level of tinkering.
    ...Things like the grey-grey-grey of Dark Mode, at least shifting the in-thread text a lighter shade. And the unnecessarily shrunken default-sized text in Quotes & post-edit. And the dividing line between post-text/signatures and forum list-entries, which is set at 1 pixel. And more colours, for things like links etc.. And the lost Banners (Administrator, Gone For Good, etc.) etc. under the php's/names. [EDIT: partially fixed (Moderator banners (but not Administrator banners) restored).] And so forth.​


    There are a few other things. Some are minor QoL losses, that I can take or leave (and will mostly have to take)...
    - Loss of default pfp's; also loss of moving pfp's (such as those used by Plotvitalnpc or Arc-on-Fire). We might be able to get the former back, but probably not the latter.
    - Loss of XF1 click-on-portrait (in desktop). The main loss here is not being able to get a better look at a given user's pfp without visiting their profile. (This seems to be a mobile-friendliness functionality loss. I don't think we're getting it back.)
    - Date/time of post shifted to top from bottom. A minor added layer of annoyance when you need to check the last post's date to see if you're about to necro a thread with your reply. Admittedly looks less annoying in the Blackend skins.
    - Reader Mode shifted down from 30 to 10 [EDIT] 20 posts/page. I think that can be adjusted; in fact, I think the previous reader-mode number might've been a kludge. [EDIT: Comments/page adjuster added in Preferences - only affects standard view, though. Reader Mode now shifted upward.]
    - Loss of some old XF1-era bbcodes that aren't fully supported in XF2. Eg.: highlight bbcode, which is broken but at least has a place in the TinyMCE menus.

    ...while other things were a case of just...y'know, They Changed It Slightly, Now It Sucks And/Or I Can't Find It!.
    ...of which one does deserve special mention, just by the sheer number of times it's cropped up.

    Alerts - they've changed, and now--
    ...they do things slightly differently. One thing you can't do much about is that old Alerts no longer phase off the pop-up list a few hours after being looked at; instead, it scrolls back to the last 25 entries (not Alerts, entries - so for instance, a summarised packet of Likes for one snip will form one entry). Also, the 'Show all alerts' page only goes back ~300 Alerts; if you're routinely dropping posts that get those numbers of Likes, then you'll want to turn off Alerts received for Likes if you haven't done so already. But assuming you're not here about that...
    First: click on your name/pfp in the header navbar, and select Preferences from the dropdown.
    Next: check the list. (If you want the navbar gone/stuck at the top of the page, tick the 'Disable' button next to 'Sticky header navbar' entry. Also note the choice of Rich text editor - Froala is the default, TinyMCE is the other choice.) Scroll down to Alert Preferences.​
    - Alert pop-up options: If you want all your Alerts to stop being marked 'read' until you've actually 'read' them (ie., gone to the post attached to it), tick 'Never mark alerts as read'. If you want to restore the XF1 status quo, then tick 'Always mark alerts as read'.
    - 'Thread Starter replies always alerts' - until Alert Preferences get a dedicated 'threadmark' option, this is the best option to ensure you always get the heads-up for story posts.
    - 'Generate new alerts without reading threads' - means that you get a new Alert from that thread after having 'read' the previous Alert re. that thread. Apparently a bug was responsible for re-ticking that box if it was unticked. If you don't want it that way, untick it (and repeat as necessary).
    - 'Show tags in alerts' - untick it to get rid of the tags in Alerts.
    - 'Alerting preferences' - note the text under 'Use custom'? That's what pop-up auto-read does. In the subsequent list of Alert types to receive, untick the puar-boxes of the ones you don't want to have marked 'read' once you've looked at the drop-down Alert list.​
    Tailor how you want it, then click the Save button.​


    ...

    Ah well, we'll see what happens. In the meantime, at least we still have the troll-emoji. It could be worse. :V

    (...Also: gotta have a little giggle over the moxy of leaving the Angry reaction available while we're all bitching about the XF2 changeover. [EDIT: And gone, only a couple hours later.])
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • While I'm hoping that styles will be fixed as time moves on, there are two major things I've had trouble with -
    1. Stickied bar is annoying, and I'd love the option to un-sticky it.
    2. Forced scrolling. Is there any way to just remove all of that beyond maybe the arrow on the bottom right corner. It scrolls with new posts, with opening spoiler boxes, and feels like a barrier to actually reading.
    Finally, is it just me or is site performance down slightly? I don't usually watch that too closely, but it feels slower than the old version, as well as SB.
     
    The new Dark mode being Light gray text on Dark gray box made it uncomfortable to read. I prefer um, High contrast dark mode, I think, on the old version. White text on Black box is easier to read, IMO.

    Also, the Threads' Tags and Threadmark Title showing up on alerts felt like unnecessary clutter. The old Thread Title and OPs/Posters alerts was easier to skim through.
     
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    Facepalmist said:
    Similar Threads - it's there, you can't collapse it, and you should be able to.
    ...Also, being able to collapse the 'Users who are viewing this thread' section as well would also be nice - or at least adjust the list of users down to a smaller amount in the same vein as shrinking the number of Similar Threads shown.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    I also brought up two new things that an OP might want to do with Similar Threads: blacklisting a thread from the list that the OP doesn't want to endorse and favoring a thread that the OP does.
     
    Facepalmist said:
    Header - there's a header, and it's Sticky-er than you want your header.
    ...On mobile, it appears to at least work how you'd expect one to work - disappears when you scroll down the page, reappears when you scroll up, etc.. On desktop, it never disappears (and it has the added effect of obscuring the Theadmarks post-header). Adding the Preference option of toggling it on or off is the obvious solution.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    The biggest issue I've noticed. It makes the whole website look smaller than what it was compared before the X1 to X2 transition.
     
    I don't know if it's just me, dark mode reminds me more of gray mode (for a moment it made me wonder if I had night mode turned on on my phone)
    On my phone I have the impression that there are too many icons in the top bar, which I didn't notice on the old version (xf1).
    The way you search for all threads of another user and similar threads reminds me of SV system.


    BTW Does anyone know how to reduce the size of letters in post on phone? They are definitely too big for me
     
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    Facepalmist said:
    - Reader Mode shifted down from 30 to 10 posts/page. I think that can be adjusted; in fact, I think the previous reader-mode number might've been a kludge.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    This change has a cascade problem in that if you follow a link to reader mode from the old forum, and that link leads to more than a third of the page-set in, you just end up at the start of the thread because that reader mode page doesn't exist anymore. If it does exist, meanwhile, you most likely ended up on the wrong page anyway unless the link specifically led to the first reader-mode page. Either way it really wreaks a lot of havoc for anyone who happened to be in the middle of reading something when the transition happened.
     
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    Dark Abstraction said:
    I'm fairly sure the grey-on-grey is one of the base default themes for Xenforo 2, explaining why it's not very good. All the very nice and swanky color themes we had on Xenforo 1 were built later, so it should just take a little time for new ones to get put together here as well. Given the forum needed to moved over to Xenforo 2, and finally did so less than a day ago, I imagine that there are some other things more immediately relevant being looked at right now, but in time we should get something else that's superior.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    XF2 has been out for quite a while. The themes exist. Some are even free. We just don't have them.

    Moreover, @alethiophile has had a XF2 testbed up since March, and has been tinkering with it in the interim. What we're seeing is the forum after all of that.

    Honestly, I think it simply wasn't ready for prime-time yet. The rollout was premature... but it's done now, and I don't really see a (technical) way back. We just have to prioritize restoring lost features and basic QoL stuff.
     
    Is their anyway to browse an authors threads cause I can't find that option?
     
    Please make the posted text the same white as it is in the comment box - having it turn gray, especially on the Dark style makes it a little hard to read, even more so if you're in a brightly lit area squinting at a phone or computer screen

    Then make clickable links the slightly gray color instead

    *swaps to XenForo Default*
    Mmmm...the pain, it is a good pain
     
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    Ngl, I don't like getting shunted immediately to people's profile pages when I click their names in the viewing threads banner at the bottom. I've got a habit of doing that because it often leads me to threads that I wouldn't otherwise find on my own and jumping straight to their page, rather than having something like the old popup appear is… aggrivating.
     
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