What the bleep just happened...

[Wayne]

Over the last week or two, I posted several notices/warnings/whathaveyou that we were reverting back to Xenforo (forums) that we previously ran for the last decade or so. The SocialEngine experiment is over.

To those who hung in there, thanks!

To those who created a new account on the previous site (after May 2015), you may need to create an all new account under the "new" software..

To our older friends, you should be able to use your old Whyzzat.com credentials to log in again. If you've forgotten your password, you can request a reset.

I promise that aside from little changes and upgrades, this will be the last major transition, even if it is a step back towards what used to be.

So... What's "new"?

1. Aside from the look and feel, the new Whyzzat was upgraded to the latest version of Xenforo. That includes all the associated modules and addons.
   
   
2. The theme is now "responsive", meaning it will adapt to cellphones and tablets (like the SocialEngine theme did)
   
   
3. Everything about the site, including the editor, message quoting, and replies is -- simply put -- better.
   
   
4. There are now about 80 different media types that can be linked properly, ranging from twitter to facebook, to youtube and beyond... Take, for example;
   
   
   
   To get a list of them, create a new message and click on the little film strip icon to bring up the "insert media" dialog..
   
   
5. All of the old posts, including (hopefully) images and videos have been restored, all the way back to the beginning (I think)...
   
   
6. The backgrounds are various video gaming screens, but if there's an image you'd like to add to the mix, let me know.
   • The stats are 1920x1080, JPG, compressed to 60% for size.

So... What's Next?

As I said, I don't plan any major changes from here on out. Backgrounds maybe? A new engine to handle media uploads like the old site (it's now a pay addon), and other things.

Hope you enjoy, but this is where you can kvetch about it if you don't...

Wayne

 

[JoBBo]

Well, that´s an unexpected but welcome surprise.

 

[Wayne]

Jobbo, I'm surprised -- but not -- to see you back so quickly..

Whabang just asked me offline, "why the change?". Here's the best I can come up with;

Several reasons... SocialEngine was just too slow and too buggy to use on a live production site (for hundreds of users anyway).

The reason I chose to migrate Whyzzat.com to it in the first place is that I had intended to use SocialEngine for larger projects and needed a viable testbed for learning/tweaking. Since Whyzzat is the only "non-production" (testbed) site I have with live users willing to help test, I spent the $1000 or so for all the assorted software, plugins, etc...

Then the problems showed up.. Problems in that there really was no good forum software for it -- even as a paid addon, and even basic text formatting in the editor was completely borked...

I think (at least I hope) we'll all enjoy Xenforo (the latest versions) much better, and thanks for checking in.

Wayne

 

[Wayne]

Notice as well that when another member is online, there's a little green "radar blip" to the top left of their avatar... Neat...

 

[the_leander]

Like a comfortable pair of slippers, no matter how much a new pair might be "better", the old ones just feel nice. That said I will miss the whole quickly dropping in with a status update on this that or the other and carry on.

But yes, I was deeply unimpressed by the forums within SocialEngine - they seemed disconnected from the rest of the site.

 

[Wayne]

But yes, I was deeply unimpressed by the forums within SocialEngine - they seemed disconnected from the rest of the site.

As was I, sadly. Fell far short of what I had hoped for (and tested with the demos)... Authors blamed it on theme authors. Theme authors blamed it on plugin authors who, in turn, blamed the SocialEngine staff. Every. Single. Time. It just got to be too much.

Hopefully, like has happened with Xenforo, it will mature enough in a few years to truly be useful. If not, I learned something and paid the price for the lesson..

"Welcome Home"..

Wayne

P.S. -- Wanna see something really neat? Highlight this sentence with your mouse and note the resulting popup...

 

[the_leander]

Wanna see something really neat? Highlight this sentence with your mouse and note the resulting popup...

Ooooh, now that is a nice little feature! I like it a lot

--edit--

Is there any possibility of upping the avatar filesize limit just a smidge?

 

[Wayne]

Two more neat features;

1. Message Drafts are saved every minute or two so if you lose connection or close the window by accident, it's not lost.
   
   
2. Notice this little thingamabob near the top right which can whisk you back and fro through a thread;

​

 

[Wayne]

Is there any possibility of upping the avatar filesize limit just a smidge?

To what dear sir? Bite size or HxW size?

 

[the_leander]

To what dear sir? Bite size or HxW size?

Bit size, was hoping to use the avatar I had on the SocialEngine, every time I try to drop it down to size the transparent border gets eaten by GIMP. It's probably me doing something stupid, but I really did like that avatar

The original was 155kb and some change.

 

[Wayne]

I can't seem to locate a byte size limitation, but what is the HxW size, and if you'd like to upload it to a reply, I'll see if I can shrinkydink it...

 

[the_leander]

Well, here's the original:

Every time I try to crop it, I lose the transparancy and get an ugly blue border... Damnedest thing.

 

[Wayne]

Yeah, it's 155k, which is kinda extreme to say the least. Let me see what I can do, but the display pretty much wants no more than 100x100 and square (which the system might be adding the border, not sure.

 

[Wayne]

Try this;

 

[Wayne]

I look at this site, then I look at Amiga.org and I just can't help but wonder what I could have accomplished by now if I hadn't sold it...

 

[the_leander]

Hmm, looks like it's the forum, as yours also shows the blue outline, however, I have a plan.

 

[Wayne]

Hmm, looks like it's the forum, as yours also shows the blue outline, however, I have a plan.

Ummm.. Dude? I'm not seeing a border. Looks right to me, so maybe a caching issue on your side?

Get the image info. Should be 16.67k, 17,069 bytes, and 96x96, though why it shrunk 4x4 I dunno...

 

[the_leander]

I look at this site, then I look at Amiga.org and I just can't help but wonder what I could have accomplished by now if I hadn't sold it...

I know it's wrong, but I never liked the current software, I always preferred the old system as a theme. I can't comment on it's limitations in terms of software support, but as a theme it was much more pleasing to the eye - the newer one seemed to waste a lot of screen real estate.

 

[the_leander]

Ummm.. Dude? I'm not seeing a border. Looks right to me, so maybe a caching issue on your side?

You're not seeing it because I changed the border from transparent (which even on your crack at it, still stuburnly remained blue when I uploaded it) to white. So, so long as I don't look too carefully it fits in nicely

 

[Wayne]

I changed the border from transparent

... and this, ladies and gentlemen, is why friends don't let friends GIMP...