We have installed new releases of VBulletin, the TapaTalk interface, Forumrunner interface and the Chat interface. There are hundreds of changes – but most are simply bug fixes and very minor. The one noticeable change is the implementation of Activity Stream.
Activity Stream
In olden days, forums simply used browser links to see what threads had been read. There were two problems with this methodology. First, they were browser specific. So, if you used more than one browser, or had more than one PC at home, or had an office PC, a travel laptop, or used an I’Net café or hotel PC on the road, or used a tablet or smartphone, each would have its own idea of what threads you have read. The second problem is that older forum software didn’t have a list of new posts for all forums, so you had to check each forum one-by-one. As a site grows “vertically,” with more forums, this becomes more of a problem. What’s New greatly eased both of these problems.
But, there is now a third problem. Growing a site “horizontally”. What’s New is forum-centric. But, we now also have an AP News section, and a blogs section. I’ve also dabbled a bit with the Albums function, to add images of CSMs and RFID chips. I also have plans to use the Groups function later this year. So, we need something to bring it all together.
Activity Stream replaces What’s New. What’s New is simply a call to the forum Search function. Activity is new functionality that traces changes to all parts of VBulletin. So, it will list activity including new forum threads and posts, new News articles and comments, new blog entries and comments, new group discussions, new album images and comments, and new calendar events. (There is a filter at the far right to reduce this.) The events listed will depend what areas to which you have access. This function is dynamic. That is, if new activity occurs while Activity Stream is being read, it will either update the screen or a ber will appear at the top indicating new activity. Click to add new activity. The auto-update is suspended if your browser is idle (no mouse movement) for too long.
Note: As this is a new function, the history started this morning and you will not see activity before today.
Activity Stream also changes the front page of a member’s profile. Depending on the tab selected, you will see all of that member’s activity, or all of that member’s “friends” activities, all subscription activity or all of the above.
Many of us are resistant to change, or simply may prefer the functionality of the old style. Not to worry, the New Posts link under the Forums tab will work exactly the way What’s New used to work. To the right, a new “New Posts-ex” link will give the same results as New Posts, but will exclude Sports and Stuff.
Who has read a thread -- This functionality, added to the new release of VB, has been turned off due to the membership vote.
As always, comments are welcome. Please report any problems quickly.
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