curious about the boards appearance

[Meathead]

just wondering if having the site look virtually identical to that run by the official canes site is intentional

it really confused me at first when i was signing up because i couldnt tell one from the other and initially thought they were the same board. i registered at one (cant remember which) then came to the other by mistake when i got the notice i was approved. so for a few minutes i was like wth lol

[Meathead]

im also curious what software the board uses. im used to the vbulliten stuff which is pretty good with a few minor annoyances

a couple of things that i find less that convenient with this software (not being critical just thinking maybe im doing it wrong):

- member list: i cant seem to find a way to easily get to a members name in that list. its not categorized alphabetically so if you are say looking for someone with a username starting with 'p' you have to go thru every page to get to that one. and with 50+ pages of users that would take like an hour

- searching: when you search to find a particular users posts i cant seem to find a way to go to that particular post in the thread. i often use search to find my own posts and to see which ones somebody may have responded to since i was last on. all i seem to be able to do is bring up the thread the post is in, but it starts at the top of the thread and i have to go look for that post i saw in the search listing. even worse if there are multiple pages to a post i now have to scan through every page. i think i musta missed something here because that doesnt seem right but i clicked on everything i could on that search results page with no luck

[Caniac]

This site was actually first. Back when I started this up, the official Canes board was extremely crap-tastic. Since then, seeing the success we had here, they emulated it and used the same forum software. But we were first.

It's phpBB, btw, and if you look at the bottom of any page, where it says "Powered by phpBB" the phpBB is a link to their website.

About the memberlist, up in the top right corner, there is a drop down box where you can change the sort method. Put it to sort by username, and it will list them alphabetically.

For the search, if you select the radio box that says display as "posts" instead of topics, it will show you your actual post and not the thread.

[puck_it]

well this board used phpBB long before the CH.com boards.

the CH.com boards look the way they do because it uses only the official colors of the team.

[Meathead]

Originally Posted by Caniac

This site was actually first. Back when I started this up, the official Canes board was extremely crap-tastic. Since then, seeing the success we had here, they emulated it and used the same forum software.

well thats pretty cool. i havent looked but is there a different skin i can apply so i have an easier time distinguishing the two when im online?

Originally Posted by Caniac

About the memberlist, up in the top right corner, there is a drop down box where you can change the sort method. Put it to sort by username, and it will list them alphabetically.

correct, i did that

and then what do you do if you want to get to a username that starts with say 'n'?

the only way i saw to get to that username is to click next every time until you get to it, meaning that with 50+ pages youd have to load about 25 pages to get to the one you want

i also looked for a goto page feature to try to at least go directly to page 25 so you can see if ‘n’ is before or after the page your on but no luck there

on vbulliten there is a series on links at the top of the member list page for every letter of the alphabet so you can go to the page with all the ‘n’ members, for example. i couldnt find anything like that here, or anything that offered comparable feature. that makes searching for members extremely tedious and time consuming which is why i felt i must have missed something

Originally Posted by Caniac

For the search, if you select the radio box that says display as "posts" instead of topics, it will show you your actual post and not the thread.

correct, i did that

but i was unable to go directly to that post that is displayed (partially for longer posts) in the search results

on vbulliten it has a link embedded in the search results that will take you directly to your post within that thread but i couldnt find that here, meaning you have to click on the link for the thread (on the search results page) and then scan for your own post. of course thats extremely inconvenient, especially if its a multi-page thread, which again is why i thought i just overlooked it

[Meathead]

hey puck_it are you banned on ch.com? if so thats pretty funny. it was actually you i was looking for in the member list to see if its the same guy lol

[puck_it]

um... no.... i do the banning over there...

[Caniac]

Originally Posted by Meathead

well thats pretty cool. i havent looked but is there a different skin i can apply so i have an easier time distinguishing the two when im online?

Not really. I mean even if you change a skin, it still generally looks the same. Out of 800 users, you're the first to mention this too... LOL

Originally Posted by Meathead

and then what do you do if you want to get to a username that starts with say 'n'?

You just have to keep hitting next. That's a part of phpBB I would shudder to try to change.

Originally Posted by Meathead

but i was unable to go directly to that post that is displayed (partially for longer posts) in the search results

If you click the subject for that post, it takes you directly to the post in the thread.

[Meathead]

Originally Posted by Caniac

If you click the subject for that post, it takes you directly to the post in the thread.

ahh subject all the way to the right, missed that before. i think i clicked on every other link on that page

so it looks like i was 1-1 on my whining lol

[puck_it]

the way to tell the difference for me is the bacground color.. LGC is gray CH.com is white. the red here is slightly darker. and well the header too.

the boarder on the page at ch.com is black too.

[HF]

I can tell the difference, because when I load in at CH.com, I for some reason start to grit my teeth. Dunno why...

[puck_it]

best. suggestion box. post. ever.

[Guyute]

you really need to stop comparing vbulletin with phpbb. hehe

they're basically the same engine... but, vbulletin is made to have those nice features. know why? last time I looked it was about a $500 license. plus a yearly renewal fee. phpbb is free.

I used vbulletin as a mod on a site with over 80,000 members. it was a MUST on a monster that big. but also, even if only 10% of your members kick in $10 a year, that's plenty to cover the cost.

there's not quite that much fundage here. and really, vbul is nice, but it's really not Needed here. a lot of the features of it can be added manually to phpbb through modifications. although, they are a pain.. especially since they need to be redone with every upgrade of the board. /roll.

yeah, I have gripes about phpbb- I think most who have adminned them do. money's a big factor though.

[Alicia]

Originally Posted by Meathead

ahh subject all the way to the right, missed that before. i think i clicked on every other link on that page

so it looks like i was 1-1 on my whining lol

Refrain from whining...that is my job.

[SouthernHockeyChick]

When you do a memberlist sorted by username and you're looking for someone in the "p"s there will be a list of page numbers down at the bottom you can click. If you know it's later in the alphabet just click a higher number and keep going up or down until you hit it. That'll certainly keep you from loading 25 pages. Might still have to load maybe 5 or something but it usually doesn't take too many tries. At least not for me.

Personally, I find this way more navigatable, for me, than vBulletin.

I did notice how similar CH.com is, though, just the other day. I had gotten a message that I'd been added to a usergroup there (no idea why....haven't logged in there in literally years....just registered to keep past acquaintances over there from using my name) but didn't notice it was from CH.com...just thought it was a PM from here. Clicked the link and could not figure out what the hell had happened to LGC for a minute!!

[Meathead]

Originally Posted by Guyute

they're basically the same engine... but, vbulletin is made to have those nice features. know why? last time I looked it was about a $500 license. plus a yearly renewal fee. phpbb is free.

hmm i could have sworn somebody told me vbulletin was free but i must be mistaken

Originally Posted by SouthernHockeyChick

When you do a memberlist sorted by username and you're looking for someone in the "p"s there will be a list of page numbers down at the bottom you can click. If you know it's later in the alphabet just click a higher number and keep going up or down until you hit it.

thank you for your suggestion but that doesnt work for me either. i dont know what it looks like on your screen but on mine that page listing on the bottom looks like 1, 2, 3 ... 15, 16, 17 (it musta been ch.com that had the 50+ pages) so the best i can do is keep clicking on 3 then 6 then 9 etc until i get to the page. still very cumbersome but what the heck its free lol

Originally Posted by Caniac

Out of 800 users, you're the first to mention this too... LOL

Originally Posted by SouthernHockeyChick

I did notice how similar CH.com is, though, just the other day. I had gotten a message that I'd been added to a usergroup there (no idea why....haven't logged in there in literally years....just registered to keep past acquaintances over there from using my name) but didn't notice it was from CH.com...just thought it was a PM from here. Clicked the link and could not figure out what the hell had happened to LGC for a minute!!

thats two! lol

lol i do notice now the colors are slightly different. ch.com has a blood red look to me while its more candy apple red here. guess i hadnt been around enough before to notice the diff

[Meathead]

im starting to notice another big difference btwn here and ch.com - less trollage. im assuming that has to be because you crack down on it more but perhaps it because your smaller and have a more mature membership here. or maybe it just hasnt hit the fan yet here lol

man they are letting it fly over there. typical we're great/you suck/your city is a loser/yada yada. man what the hell is it about sports that brings out the twelve-year-old-ishness in people? and im surprised that the alleged official site would allow that kind of thing to such a degree

[Guyute]

Originally Posted by Meathead

im starting to notice another big difference btwn here and ch.com - less trollage. im assuming that has to be because you crack down on it more but perhaps it because your smaller and have a more mature membership here. or maybe it just hasnt hit the fan yet here lol

man they are letting it fly over there. typical we're great/you suck/your city is a loser/yada yada. man what the hell is it about sports that brings out the twelve-year-old-ishness in people? and im surprised that the alleged official site would allow that kind of thing to such a degree

I think it's a combo of things. Yes, we are generally speaking more mature here. Yes, (IMO) we police harder, particularly as of late. And since ch.com is the "official" board, most of the idiots find that place, go there, and stay there. Which is more than fine for us-- the non-official, but officially Better board.

ch.com has always had the problems you cited above. always. that's why you'll never see most of us over there. (no offense meant to puck_it. lol)

[Caniac]

puck_it is the (pretty much) lone Federale over there who is overwhelmed with banditos.

[puck_it]

no, none offense taken... those of you who know me well enough know my thoughts.

[HF]

Yes, we do. Hence the teeth gritting
However, puck_it is slowly but surely corrupting all the right people, and if he sticks around long enough, might actually feel comfortable enough to say something about it

[StormChaserBH]

Originally Posted by Guyute

And since ch.com is the "official" board, most of the idiots find that place, go there, and stay there.

Well that's the biggest factor right there.... if you just want to get online and make an ass of yourself, there's enough "audience" for that on official boards to satisfy those folks. Same goes for any major media boards - ESPN, TSN.CA... Someone looking for "community" will look a little harder to find the right place, recruit friends, etc... and end up here, or fanhome/scout (esp. for the multi-team boards), certain blogs, etc.. Course it's no coincidence that these are moderated by people that have a rooting interest in keeping things civil, as opposed to just one more checkmark on the job to-do list.

[Guyute]

yep. goes back to that whole "Home" thing.

[HF]

Originally Posted by StormChaserBH

Course it's no coincidence that these are moderated by people that have a rooting interest in keeping things civil, as opposed to just one more checkmark on the job to-do list.

Ouch... couldn't have said that better myself.

[StormChaserBH]

Originally Posted by HF

Ouch... couldn't have said that better myself.

...that reminds me I forgot to mention no offense on that to puck_it or whoever else helps mod ch.com board ... but like I said, the "public" nature of those is the biggest factor and can overwhelm the mod's good intentions... I was really referring to the policy in many places (where boards aren't really why they're there, just something they feel they need to have) which is, if anything, "slap a naughty word filter on it and leave it alone".