Important - Redesigning Styles and Templates

[Kiros]

Yep, it's that time again... Not spring cleaning, but it might as well be. :)

For the next couple of days (which may even be stretched to a week), I'll be redesigning the styles and templates for the forums. The reason behind this is because most of our templates had to be reverted when upgrading to new versions of vBulletin. This caused incompatibilities and slight bugs in the forum design. I've managed to create a few workarounds, but workarounds shouldn't be necessary. With that said, I'll explain how this will affect you, the community.

Throughout the duration of the upgrading (I suppose one could call it that), the three popular skins (Forever Blue, Silver Blue, and Visual Depth) will be unavailable. The only skin that will be available is the Default Style. To ensure no bugs happen, the Default Style will be the new default and will be forced starting today - don't worry, as this will not be permanent.

After redesigning the templates to include style updates and several hacks, the skins will become available once more and no skin will be forced (there will, however, be a default skin, but that's always been true ;)).

Thank you,
//KiroS

[Hyper]

I loved forever blue.. And I hate all the damn default skins for any forum script.. But yes I wish you the best of luck and as less annoyence as possible

[Bobby]

Will these hacks go into the default skin?

[schrei jess]

This is terrible, I cant stand it, Ill have to like stay away from here until we get that skin back - This is just wrong.

[Maverick]

We'll live Kiros with just this style. it's really not that big of a deal.

[Dante]

im just relieved that it isnt only me, i thought i accidently changed something.

[itswhatever_yep]

I loved forever blue..

haha me too im so sad its gone:cry2:

[Kiros]

Please remember everyone, this is only temporary. They will be back with internal updates and hacks.

[Bobby]

Will these hacks go into the default skin?

....

[Maverick]

When you install hacks they need to be on all the skins... so yeah it will.

[Kiros]

Well technically, template hacks can be skin-specific, but it's bad practice to do it like that, so yes.

Here's an update:
I've gotten all the new theme files uploaded and I've fixed them up the way they need to be in order for us to keep using DotServant.

Either later tonight or tomorrow, I will be installing the Chat menu buttons into the templates.

Tomorrow, I will also be working on installing the template hacks into each skin. If I wake up early enough - and if I'm not disturbed by my family - I might be able to have the skins ready for tomorrow evening.

In a realistic view, I'm only 1/3 the way done, so tomorrow might not be the day, but let's hope it is ;)

[advent_child]

This possibly could be a product of my lack of common sense but I tried to edit my signature and had problems changing the pictures... I felt it was neccessary to upgrade my apple logo. In the end, I couldn't change it. Could this possibly be a product of this default skin? Or could it just be that it's so bloody hideous that it reduced my IQ causing me to forget how to operate a computer?

[Kiros]

This is not an effect of the default vBulletin skin. I'm betting that you wanted a bigger picture in your signature. Unfortunately, there is an image size limit. I'm not sure if it affects images within IMG tags, however. Also, there is also a limit of 8 lines for each signature.

[advent_child]

THX kiros! (been on vacation for a while, lots of stuff im not farmiliar with)

edit: spoke too soon. nope: the pic is 150*150, 4446 bytes and uploaded successfully, but it won't display. I'll just host on photobucket or imageshack and IMG tag it... well i'll get a higer res pic to.

[Underage_Thinker]

It dosn't bother me the default skin, but ya whish ya the best of luck:) .

[Kiros]

Ok, another little update:

Finished Chat button integration.
Conformed templates to GTUserCP.

The GTUserCP is basically the most time-consuming hack to install, yet, now that I've gotten that installed, I'm realizing that Quick Links basically carried the same effect as this hack. However, now that this UserCP hack is nicely in place, we can use the Quick Links for some better things. I'm going to be exploring the possibilities tomorrow. In short, this hack took some time to install, and is leading to more time-consuming operations, but we'll get some nice things out of this :)

Unless I can't sleep, I'm going to try to save the next immediate duties for tomorrow. Peace :D

[Glasgow]

Goodnight Kiros. Im anxious to see what you do to it.

[Bobby]

When you finish could you give us a final list fo everything you've done, because I'm kinda confused :P

[DouggyO.o]

just dont get rid of the default skin, i like the default one best

[Sapphire]

im just relieved that it isnt only me, i thought i accidently changed something.

Haha! Yea, same with me too!
Hope all goes well

[Aηdy]

Is it possile to have a black & yellow skin like we had on the old forums? I still love that =]

Good work Kiros =]

[Ethannnnnn]

yeah i dont like this skin either but ill live with it if its only Temporary

[Kiros]

Andy, I could look for a yellow-black skin later, but right now, my priority is upgrading the current skins. Also, if I do find a yellow-black skin, I'll try to install it, but no guarantees on how similar it might be to the subBlack that phpBB had.

[Maverick]

How about this? http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=124439

Here's a demo of it: http://www.epicdesignz.com/testvb36/index.php?styleid=5

[DouggyO.o]

How about this? http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=124439

Here's a demo of it: http://www.epicdesignz.com/testvb36/index.php?styleid=5

dude i love this....get this one!

[Kiros]

Downloaded...

I'll get on it when I've finished with current hacks.

[Aηdy]

Thanks soo much Kiros! You are really putting some hard work into this and a lot of your own time, I'm sure all of us here are really greatful of what you've done!

[Maverick]

Yeah that's Kiros for all your hard work.

[Kiros]

Ok, I think I'm nearing completion...

A couple more hours should be all that it takes.

[Aηdy]

AWESOME :D Shame i have to go in 30 mins.. but i couls stay on later =]

[Kiros]

Here's an important notice:

I've found a new version of vBShout. While I have the time, I'd like to go ahead and install it, so for the rest of the time that I'm working on the templates, the vBShout box will be unavailable. Sorry for this inconvenience.

[Kiros]

And so, I suppose it's now apparent that I've completed most of what I set out to do.

I'll list the hacked jazz in a later post. For now, all you need to know is that the skins, styles, and templates have been updated ;)

Though I ran into a slight problem:
I've changed up the UserCP and the Quick Links significantly. An addition to the Quick Links is the Logout feature. This did not work well with a certain style class, and so, it still exists but it looks slightly off. I believe this can be fixed, however, it will be a time-consuming task, so I will not put you, the community, through a longer wait for the skins :)

Thank you for your patience and support!
//KiroS

[Glasgow]

Looks good Kiros. I like it, cleaner looking now.

[Maverick]

Here's an important notice:

I've found a new version of vBShout. While I have the time, I'd like to go ahead and install it, so for the rest of the time that I'm working on the templates, the vBShout box will be unavailable. Sorry for this inconvenience.
Is there a way you can get it to show the date/time the shout was posted?

[Aηdy]

A few weeks back when the Chat button was placed at the top, the Home button dissapeared... Is it possible to have this back?

And 'New Posts' has gone too.

[Kiros]

Is there a way you can get it to show the date/time the shout was posted?

Sorry, but no. The new version of vBShout uses the FlatFile system - which is an enormous performance boost, but throws out the timestamp feature.

A few weeks back when the Chat button was placed at the top, the Home button dissapeared... Is it possible to have this back?

And 'New Posts' has gone too.

Well all the styles (besides the default vBulletin one) have some strict standards. If I added a button (the Chat button), I'd have to take one away - the Home button. I chose to switch with the Home button because one can get the same effect by clicking the VirtualTeen Forums (the root link) breadcumb. The "New Posts" was never in any other style besides the vBulletin style - if I remember correctly. Though now that you have mentioned it, I'll add it to the Quick Links ;)

Anything else? :)

[DouggyO.o]

are you going to install the yellow and black skin?

[Aηdy]

are you going to install the yellow and black skin?
Yeah... please =]


Edit 1: I cant see the new posts thing either =]

Edit 2: Is there any way of making the link to the chat open in a new window? Or is that too difficult? No worries if it is =]

Edit 3: Anything else? :smile: Give yourself a cookie :D

[Kiros]

As I said before, the "New Posts" feature was never shown in the additional skins - you may have just noticed it since I forced the vBulletin skin while upgrading the other ones.

Though also as I said before, I'll create a link in the Quick Links for "New Posts" to add convenience.

Yes, I can make the Chat button open a new window. I'm not sure if it use to be like that or not, but it's a good idea, nonetheless.

About the "Yellow and Black" style: I will install it once I've finished the template hacks. If you'll notice, I still need to fix the Logout feature in the Quick Links and I need to add what I previously stated in this post. With that said, do not expect the new style to be installed tonight - sorry about this inconvenience. :|

[Aηdy]

How's it going now Kiros?

Edit: Is there any way of getting dates and times in the shoutbox? What so good about the new version?

[Glasgow]

How's it going now Kiros?

Edit: Is there any way of getting dates and times in the shoutbox? What so good about the new version?

Andy stole my question about the times in the shoutbox, so i second it :D

[Kiros]

I've actually already answered this O_o

1. Sorry, but no, timestamps cannot be restored. The "Flat File" system the new vBShout uses does not support that feature.

2. The advantage to using this newer version of vBShout is that it is actually compatible with version 3.6.* whereas the previous version had some bugs - even with vBulletin 3.5.*. Numerous bug fixes and internal additions are included in this new version, which makes it even more appealing. The greatest advantage to using this new version is that it has an enormous performance boost after the first time it is used.

About the current status: I've been busy the past week with catching up on school. I apologize for my lack of productivity. Tomorrow (actually, in about 8 hours this morning), I have orientation for my new job. I'm not sure how long it will last, but if it's over within a somewhat average time, I might be able to get some things done.

Unfortunately, I have run into a problem with that new black and yellow style you guys requested. Its XML is not set to be installed in a images/style/skin folder. Normally, I would still be able to install this, however, I don't want to mix new style images with stock-images. Therefore, I'm going to recode some of the XML to use it's own images/style/skin folder.

Sorry, again, for the hold up. :|

[Aηdy]

Don't worry kiros your doing an awesome job!

[Bobby]

Kiros..don't worry. Don't be sorry. You have a talent that most people don't have. I'd prob shut down the site trying to do what you do :P

[Aηdy]

I just thought... wouldn't be a good idea to have a users' gender at the side of their post? (Where post count rep power etc. is)

[Kiros]

Agh! I wanted to put that in and I even remember downloading it... Just never marked it as an installed hack so I didn't remember to actually install it :|

I'll get on it :)

Edit:

Ok, so now gender options are available in the profile options inside each user's UserCP.

Right now, the gender shows up in a weird spot in the postbit divisions, however, I'll add it's own little boxed section under Age when I have time tomorrow. In the mean time, spread the word that this option exists! :P

[Aηdy]

Thanks Kiros =] Good Job :D

[DouggyO.o]

this is looking good! good job! im dieing for the new skin, but what ever, take your time, your doing a fantastic job!

[-Silence]

Looks good Kiros!
Just don't overload yourself.

:hug:

[Kiros]

Thanks Heather!

Overloading? .. I'm trying not to - hence the overall laziness :P But actually, I'm hoping for an opening tonight after I get my work done. I have to update the GTUserCP templates anyway, so I might as well make room for some final changes to the templates (until another idea comes up).

Thanks again, guys. I appreciate your support and patience with these tweaks :)

[DouggyO.o]

outa curiosity, are we going to be getting that new style soon?

[Kiros]

Not anytime soon, unfortunately. I've gone through the XML design and there's plenty of places where it makes the wrong reference (where it calls for the default images directory instead of the images/styles/stylename directory). I've got some of it changed, but there's still more to be done. Then after all of that, I'm not 100% sure it will be bug proof, so I'll have to run it privately for a day and see if there's any kinks - if not, then I can make it public. But anyway, I have to say a minimum estimate is about a week. A maximum estimate is 3 weeks. I apologize for the long wait and I thank you for your patience.

[DouggyO.o]

Thanks! take your time, i was just a bit curious.

[Aηdy]

Thanks Kiros, we all really appreciate all the work you are putting into this, your the man :)

[Maverick]

I was reading about that style and it had compatibility issues with IE so I wouldn't suggest using it.

The only other dark skin i could find is this (http://www.forum-lance.com/index.php) and can be downloaded here (http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=123074).

Also it uses the images/styles directory.

[DouggyO.o]

I was reading about that style and it had compatibility issues with IE so I wouldn't suggest using it.

The only other dark skin i could find is this (http://www.forum-lance.com/index.php) and can be downloaded here (http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=123074).

Also it uses the images/styles directory.


so what if its not compatible with IE, you dont to use it if it doesnt work properly, after all this forum does have quite a few different styles.

[Everglow]

i'm actually quite satisfied with all the stuff the way it is....just my opinion though

[DouggyO.o]

Bumpity bump bump. haha. ok, is this style coming or not. i dont need and excuse or a reason why its hasnt i just want to know if it is coming or not.

[Kiros]

Well, as time has exceeded the maximum estimate, I'm afraid it's not coming. I've tried and tried to get it to work, but it seems it's not compatible for some reason. I'm stumped, and I have no idea where I might have messed up...

Sorry :|

[DouggyO.o]

oh, ok :-\

[Aηdy]

Are there any other black skins available?

[Maverick]

There's this one http://www.govgaming.com/forums/index.php?styleid=13

That can be downloaded here http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=134875

[-Silence]

There's this one http://www.govgaming.com/forums/index.php?styleid=13

That can be downloaded here http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=134875

Whoa, I like that one! ^_^

[The Mage]

I preffer its teal version :
http://www.govgaming.com/forums/index.php?styleid=12
The purple is nice too :
http://www.govgaming.com/forums/index.php?styleid=15
-----------
apart from that design, there is a also a nice one , Blak-Ice :
http://www.govgaming.com/forums/index.php?styleid=6
You can download it here :
http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=134676

[Whisper]

I preffer its teal version :
http://www.govgaming.com/forums/index.php?styleid=12



sweeeeeet i love that one

[Bobby]

The one anthony posted was a little better because it had the black and yellow.

[Whisper]

I know we want something close to this: (ignore the f thing its the only pic i have really)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/Iluminati/d70fc0b8.jpg

I just really like blue....-stares at toes-


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kiros I want to tell you how proud I am that you tried to make this skin compatible
I have no idea how to do any of this
very few of us do really
You do ALLOT for VT
I mean ALLOT
I don't want you to think were not grateful

I know I am
Thank you
:hug:

[Bobby]

I agree with Dante.

Now that I think about it, I don't think we need another skin.

[Whisper]

i'd still like a dark one..

and i'm not dante

[DouggyO.o]

yes, all of our skins now are mostly light...if we had one that was black with like red or yello or blue it would be satisfied

[Whisper]

satisfied? doug dont be mean

he does allot
i dont want kiros to think were not grateful
I am
I really am

Just a dark one
any dark one would be nice
WHEN he has the time
He has allot going on
and he puts ALLOT of energy into the site as is

[Bobby]

i'd still like a dark one..

and i'm not dante


Why do I keep doing that???? :P

I agree with Cody.