Just curious, I just back on the forums, and I noticed that my post count suddenly went from over 220 down to 90! What happened during the transfer of the forum? I'm not terribly upset about this, I just wanted to find out if this was standard or something with my account?
We did a clean-up of the forum during the downtime. Several posts and topics were removed as a result.
Are those "stars" related to your postcount? If not, what are they then?
They are related to post count
Well, the yellow and blue ones are related to post count, anyway. Mods and admins have red stars, which correspond to the level of access they have. DOT Employees have a green star.
None of the stars are working for me... just displaying the ***** that shows up in place of the images if there isn't one set to the membergroup.
And I take it we aren't using the old numbered ones?
I see a single blue star under your profile D2P.
Hmmm... now I see a single *
You think clearing the cache would help?
Yes, try doing that.
The old numbered ones were always too difficult for me to read, and the difference between a "16" and an "18" wasn't dramatic enough. And besides, someone decided it'd be a wonderful idea to upload them as friggin' BITMAPS...
Cleared cache... No effect on either iPod (safari) or PC (firefox).
And yeah... That makes sense. ;)
Okay, then: What do you see in the brackets?
[ (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/Themes/default/images/staradmin.gif)(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/Themes/default/images/stargmod.gif)(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/Themes/default/images/starmod.gif) ]
Quote from: Scott5114 on May 25, 2009, 04:57:16 AM
Okay, then: What do you see in the brackets?
[ (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/Themes/default/images/staradmin.gif)(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/Themes/default/images/stargmod.gif)(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/Themes/default/images/starmod.gif) ]
:pan:<-- just in case you don't see the right thing :P
I see the red green and blue stars...
EDIT: I think I've figured it out. I'm still using the old highway theme, which must not have the images set for it. It works on the SMF Core theme.
Quote from: deathtopumpkins on May 25, 2009, 12:24:36 PM
I'm still using the old highway theme, which must not have the images set for it.
Well, then no stars for me. The highway-theme is my favorite.
Yeah, the stars don't work for highway. Just a bunch of red x's.
Okay, here is the problem with the HighWay theme: the admin configuration for the stars and what not allows you to select a file for each rank and a number of times for that image to appear. The catch is the files must be stored in a subdirectory of the files that make up each theme.
On the default theme, an admin has a red star and this image is repeated 5 times. The HighWay theme's admin rank consists of a red bar that says "admin" and this is shown once. And of course this file is named completely different from what the default theme's file is named. Thus, the problem: if one fixes HighWay, then the default theme is broken, and if one fixes the default theme, the HighWay theme is broken.
As of right now, 409 people are using the default theme and 8 are using HighWay.
Speaking of which, the reason we are using the SMF default theme as the forum default theme is because we had to remove the old theme that we had up before due to the insistence of the former admin whose name began with a "V" who felt that it belonged to him. Feel free to write him email telling him thanks.
We will have a custom, probably road-related theme up at some point.
You can't have both files?
Incidentally, I never understood why said former admin changed the theme from HighWay (which looks nice) to different themes which I think didn't look that great.
Well, we could copy the applicable files over into the HighWay directory, and that's what I'd do, except I lack FTP access.
Check again... you should have them there now :sombrero:
They look great. Thanks!
Quote from: Scott5114 on May 26, 2009, 04:28:33 AMAs of right now, 409 people are using the default theme and 8 are using HighWay.
Is the HighWay theme advertised anywhere? When this forum returned I've been using the default blue theme because I didn't know HighWay existed which might explain why only 8 people are using it. I much prefer HighWay with it's US and Interstate shields to differentiate threads with new posts :colorful:
Well, the option's in your profile... I don't see the point of advertising that there are different themes...
I actually prefer the current (default) theme--back when HighWay was the default, I was actually looking for ways to change the theme because I really dislike white-on-black text, and I found the use of Interstate and US route shields as read flags unintuitive. As far as I am concerned, there is no need to change from the system default, but if this is done, I would request that the new default theme have text in negative contrast. Light background is also no worse for viewing continuous-tone images and works better with images captured from documents, e.g. extracts from maps and construction plans.
Where post count is concerned, I see that V**r is listed as having a post count of 1 even though all of his posts (which I guess number in the hundreds) are still here. This means that, at least in his case, the post count is misleading. If the system will allow it, it would promote transparency to have his post count listed as "undefined" or "suppressed" rather than quoting a fictitious number.
I've read that white on black has less glare than black on white.
I have seen advice for web design which advocates light backgrounds for readability, but there are plenty of advocates on both sides and it is something of a religious debate, similar to gas versus electric. This synopsis (by a dark-background advocate) has some interesting links:
http://xpt.sourceforge.net/techdocs/misc/ce01-DarkBackgroundIsGoodForYou/ (http://xpt.sourceforge.net/techdocs/misc/ce01-DarkBackgroundIsGoodForYou/)
It has to be noted, though, that some of the arguments against light backgrounds are misconceived.
* With LCD screens, power consumption is approximately the same whether backgrounds are light or not.
* Staring at a light screen is not the same as staring at a light bulb. The net effect on the eyes depends on ambient lighting (which should not be much weaker than task lighting).
In business and professional contexts light backgrounds predominate. The vast majority of computer applications have light backgrounds as their default (CAD programs are the main exception). The websites of most government agencies and Fortune 500 companies use light backgrounds. When highway construction plans are scanned, the background is set to white in the vast majority of cases. Screen readers generally rely on negative contrast.
But it's not white-on-black in the first place, it's white-on-grey.
And speaking of v'ger, yes in SMF you can override a user's post count to display any number you want.
When an account is deleted from the module, it erases any memory of post count.
The post counts for several members had to be tabulated directly from the database and manually added.