spell checker

[cumminsturbo95]

Hay STEVE can we add spell checker to the post. As you know the SETDR + GLTDR have em , why not the TDR? Darn am i the only EGNO-NO -RAM-US on the TDR? THANKS MIKE

 

[Archive]

<font color=blue>Just like if they wanted they could turn on the option to show how many views a certain thread has had etc, etc. Also the newest version has a handy feature that displays the thread "page numbers" next to the thread title so you can jump to whichever page you want instead of starting at page 1 all the time. To see an example of how this works hop on over to the Ford site and you'll see what I mean. So that if a thread spans more then one page each page can be jumped to individually.


There have been a few releases of "newer" versions :

• Version 5. 46 - August 28, 2000
• Version 5. 46a - September 27, 2000
• Version 5. 47 - October 9, 2000
• Version 5. 47a - October 26, 2000
• Version 5. 47b - November 28, 2000

We run Version 5. 45c - April 17, 2000 Two of the above updates have some "speedup" fixes in it to make it a lil faster. I haven't checked in a couple of weeks if there are any newer releases or not.

I was just pointing out some other features that are not being used. The jumping directly to the Page from the thread listing is real handy. Here is an example :

#ad


See the numbers? you just simple click on the "4", boom... you go straight to page 4! I think this option is wonderful and every single dial up user will benifit from it! Faster surfing times, less time waiting for the first page to load!!!!!<font size=-2>




[This message has been edited by KatDiesel (edited 12-15-2000). ]

 

[_Bill]

i voet fer ah spale chekre
#ad


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2001. 5 2500 QC 4x4
Cummins ETH 6speed
RAMPAGE!

 

[Archive]

<font color=blue>I just added the newest release version to the list up above.

Version 5. 47b - November 28, 2000

While there are no new functions in 5. 47b, there are many code optimizations and some bug fixes.

The most important update is the 5. 47 one which is where the features mentioned above are added. <font size=-2>


[This message has been edited by KatDiesel (edited 12-15-2000). ]

 

[yogibear]

Bill, you've just caused us to have a RE-COUNT!!!!!

 

[kpayne]

There will not upgrade at TDR to the newest Ultimate BB. Ultimate BB lags behind its competitors in features, efficiency, etc. Check out any one of the many sites that discuss UBB, the admins aren't happy with the way UBB development has been in the past year.

Instead of a UBB upgrade, we're going to replace it with a competitor's product that simply blows UBB away yet has a nearly identical interface (and yeah, it has spell check). #ad


More on this in the upcoming week.

Ken

 

[Archive]

<font color=blue>Whats the name of it then? I would like to research it so I am knowledgable of how it works. Is there going to be another whole weekend of downtime to go along with this upgrade as well??????????

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

There are plans to upgrade to the latest release. As I understand it there were higher priorities than the upgrade. Mainly the server move and getting the TDR staff up to speed on administering the site. Ken should be upgrading to the latest release fairly soon, he's also going to look into popular hacks. He was working on the server move for a while because he was testing the new server as much as possible. The problem with moving a site with the number of messages we have is it takes time to physically transfer the files, and in order to not lose messages you have to shut down the old forum, move it to the new server and then restart it. I've been in the industry for 18 years and work on networks day in and day out. When I had to move the GLTDR site I copied the entire site over to the new server first, tested it, etc. Then I moved the remaining messages over. The problem I ran into was getting the DNS changed over in a timely manner as it seems Ken did as well. There were also some messages lost in the move so obviously it didn't go over completely smooth. When moving a site this large you always seem to run into little snags. Sorry I didn't see this earlier, I thought it was an old thread that had been brought back up top and I've been really busy this week with all the snow up here so I hadn't checked it. Now that the server move and most of the behind the scenes stuff is done you should start seeing more visible changes on the site. As to the GLTDR and SETDR sites having spell check CT95 it's because the software we are running (boardmaster) came with that support.

-Steve

UPDATE: Oops, looks like I was working off of some old information! Ken posted his follow up while I was typing my message.


[This message has been edited by Steve St. Laurent (edited 12-15-2000). ]

 

[K_Arts]

I have to agree with Kat. This new version is pretty slick. Not only does it have some cool new features that I really believe the TDR members would enjoy. But it is much quicker (pending on what type of server you run it on), and seems to be far more stable. I would be glad to offer any assistance if needed.

After thinking about it for a couple of minutes. . I don't know if turning on spellcheck would be all that good or not. If people put any type of HTML tag into their post, spell check will want to go through everything that it doesn't recognize. So this could be a battle on either side. Yes it could be good, but Yes it could be unfriendly at times. Just my $. 02

Kev

[This message has been edited by K_Arts (edited 12-15-2000). ]

 

[kpayne]

UBB is a dead-end. Info-pop is really pushing their hosted (read: more expensive on-going lease) solution "Open-Topic" and they've really turned off a lot of UBB admins. The UBB code is bloated, hacked up, difficult to read and generally junior programmer class. Its enormously inefficient too. Even with the new versions of UBB, there is still a limiting factor to UBB: you can't polish a turd.

There are two packages being looked at: DCForum and VBulletin. In either case, there will be no downtime. The new board will simply be enabled and the old board turned off.

Don't worry, we understand the concerns some of the users may have when it comes to switching software. The issues are being identified and addressed:

1. Importing user data.
2. Importing number of posts a user has.
3. Importing existing threads.
4. Not importing users who haven't renewed their TDR membership.
5. User interface (VBulletin is exactly like UBB and DCForum has a UBB mode that is very close)

Concerning the spell check, there will be no revenue generated from it.

Ken
aka Mr. Suspicious

 

[Archive]

<font color=blue> I actually don't care about the spell checker #ad
I just want that other feature of going directly to a particular page put in. It would be nice for when I am on my laptop at 48k dial up. On my cable modem I fly around the net anyhow. I'll test your theory tho Kevin and see what happens.

It would just make sense to me to have the latest version of the software available. As we all know in the PC industry usually bug fixes are incorporated into new releases.

 

[B.G. Smith]

They always told me a man is limited if he can't spell a word more than one way. bg

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White 99 3500, QC, 3:55, auto. most options except leather, Line-X bed liner, fiberglass running boards Rancho 9000s, bug shield and window vents, black vented 5th wheel tailgate, 100 gal. aux. fuel tank.

 

[Archive]

<font color=blue>I just tested the spell check feature used in the newest version of UBB. It will skip over HTML tags and check the words in between the tags, it worked great actually.

 

[K_Arts]

Kat - Good point... but being in the Computer Industry you also have to realize that normally version increases don't cover all of the bug fixes... instead the known bugs are now called "Features. "

Again. . just my opinion. Also, with how many people use the TDR, and if the staff decides to ugrade to the latest version, I truly believe that it would be a good idea to put the new version on a Development / Test server and let users log onto it for a month or so... to test it. Instead of bringing the system down like the last upgrade when they went to a new server.

Now watcha gotta say Kat??? LOL

Kev

 

[Archive]

<font color=blue>All I can say is my truck is faster!

Didn't see that one coming did ya? #ad
Hehe

#ad


<font size=-2>

[This message has been edited by KatDiesel (edited 12-15-2000). ]

 

[Archive]

<font color=blue> Well I realize you will never cover all the bugs with newer releases because with each release you usually find a new bug #ad
I guess its job security!
It has always amazed me at how bugs are suddenlt "Features" a few releases down the road.

On bringing down the forum, you would think it would be done at an off peak time such as 3am Wed morning or something rather then on a Friday Evening and All day Saturday. Less impact on the users.

 

[K_Arts]

Originally posted by KatDiesel:
<font color=blue> On bringing down the forum, you would think it would be done at an off peak time such as 3am Wed morning or something rather then on a Friday Evening and All day Saturday. Less impact on the users.

I disagree, put it on another server and make sure it is working properly before you implement it. Then transfer the DNS to the new server... Whoola Done. If they don't want the Development server to become the primary, then you use Redundant servers. Just like Clustering. If Server A goes down then Server B kicks. In. There are a lot of users on the TDR so keeping a Replica copy of the data on a backup server would be a smart thing to do. No I don't know what type of setup the TDR has, but I acually build Networks for a living, I know how it "Should" be done.

Kev

 

[K_Arts]

Ken,

I do have to make a suggestion. I too Like Steve, work on Networks day in and day out. Not only am I a Systems Engineer by Title, but I have ran a couple of Web businesses. I truly believe that if you want a reliable, fast Forum Board, get away from Perl and use SQL. SQL is unbelievably powerful. From doing queries, to archiving... etc.

I am not too familiar with the way that you have the board setup on the back end, but if you export all of the messages, and keep everything at the database level you don't have to worry about losing messages. Of course I am just giving you my opinion. . and If I can be of any assistance, Please feel free to let me know. Of course I live in Colorado, but I can probably offer you some good suggestions.

Thanks

Kevin

 

[kpayne]

VBulletin is written in PHP and uses MySQL. DCForum is written in Perl and uses flat files. The language and data retrieval, however, weigh in very little in the final decision.

I don't believe Perl is a poor choice for data intensive applications. Poorly implemented Perl is (UBB) a poor choice. 90% of application bottlenecks can usually be traced to poor code. Perl can interface quite nicely to SQL databases (though SQL is not a cure all). SQL queries can be written poorly, enough so that flat files are faster. SQL also does not insure against data loss.

DCForum is wonderfully done (in Perl) and on the FTE site, which has more CGI traffic than TDR, CPU usuage by DCForum is under 2%. I'm sure with mod_perl it would use even less. I'm evaluating VBulletin right now to see how it compares.

I do not base any of this on guesswork but experience. I've been a professional programmer since 1986. I have 6502, 6809, 68000, 8080, Z80, 80x86 assembler skills. I've programmed in C, C++, Visual C++, Perl, Pascal, Java, Javascript, Visual BASIC and in the process of learning PHP. I've used several databases, most notibly Oracle, Sybase and MySQL. Recent OS experience on Linux, NT/95/98 and Solaris. I've done everything from fault tolerant network coding to accounting.

While some languages are better suited for certain tasks than others, no language will do the trick if the code is poor done. UBB lumps all its code in about 4 modules. Each of these has to be loaded and tokenized every single time a page is clicked on the boards. DCForum splits its code in about 115 small files, each of which accomplishes only one or two tasks and is loaded on as needed. VBulletin uses PHP. Not sure how fast it is compared to Perl, but the backend is MySQL. VBulletin is supposed to be able to import UBB data but I've heard that there are some problems with the import.

Our primary concerns are features, efficiency, ease of maintenance (read: coding additional features), support and active development by the development company. Being able to manage TDR's need (ie, handling membership in an efficient manner) is also a big concern. UBB does not work well when it comes to managing membership.

-Ken

[This message has been edited by ken (edited 12-17-2000). ]