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Would-be-nice-to-have phpBB extensions

Formerly "Lemon Fool - Improve the Recipe" repurposed as Room 102 (see above).
Gengulphus
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Would-be-nice-to-have phpBB extensions

#233807

Postby Gengulphus » July 3rd, 2019, 10:37 pm

One effect of a recent thread on this board was to identify an extension to the phpBB software these boards use that would be nice to have for moderators because it would speed up a tedious process for them. Starting at viewtopic.php?f=21&t=18224#p231842, csearle identified the problem, I said that it was clearly automatable by an extension but I hadn't managed to find one and Itsallaguess found one that looks suitable. It hasn't been implemented yet because (among other things) a phpBB version upgrade needs to be done first, but it has resulted in assessing and hopefully installing the extension being put 'on the list'.

I'm starting this thread to provide a place for similar co-operative suggestions between users. I would suggest the following guidelines for its use:

* It's primarily for identifying reasonably common tasks (either for moderators or for users more generally) that one is fairly certain necessarily involve a distinctly tedious course of action at present, but could be automated by a phpBB software extension, and for identifying phpBB extensions that are available and do the job (probably from those available from https://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/extensions-36, as I don't know of any other sensible source).

* It is also for providing alternative solutions - e.g. if someone has posted about such a task, but has managed to miss a quick-and-easy way of performing their task, by all means reply to say what that way is.

* However, this thread is not intended for "How do I do this?" questions. You should be fairly certain that your task cannot be performed quickly and easily as the system currently stands before posting it. This is in the interests of the thread being reasonably quickly skimmable to get a list of extensions people would like to see, and of any that have been found that seem to fit the bill.

* For the same reason, please don't start debates or discussions on this thread about whether it's actually desirable to be able to do a task someone wants to do more quickly, about how one might go about developing a particular extension, about the technical details of using a particular extension, etc. Instead, start a new thread for whatever debate or discussion you want and post just a link to it here. That way, this thread remains easily skimmable, and people can click on any such links for which they want to see the details, and skip past the rest.

To get the ball rolling, two tasks for users that I not infrequently find myself wanting to perform:

* Reply to a post quoting it, but as a PM to its author rather than as a post to the thread it's in.

* Reply to a post quoting it, but in a new thread rather than as a post to the thread it's in.

They're things I can actually do at present, but the process is tedious: start a quoted reply to the post by clicking the " button in it, start a PM or a new thread in another window, cut-and-paste the quote from the first window to the second, ideally add "In <link to original post>:" before the quote now in the second window to make it easy to locate where it's from, complete and submit the reply in the second window, remember not to submit the reply in the first window, or to convert it into an "I have replied at <link to new thread>" reply before submitting. It's also a bit error-prone, especially with regard to the last part!

With a good extension, the first could be as simple as clicking a PM button alongside the " button. The second could be similarly simple if the new thread is to go to the same board, but two bits of added functionality would probably be useful: first, the ability to put the new thread on a different board, and secondly, the ability to automatically generate the "I have replied at <link to new thread>" reply to the original post on its board.

Are there any such phpBB extensions in existence?

Gengulphus

XFool
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Re: Would-be-nice-to-have phpBB extensions

#233827

Postby XFool » July 4th, 2019, 12:17 am

I don't know if this comes under the purview of PHP extensions, but one thing that could be useful is a genuine 'Your Posts' option, à la TMF.

The current LMF version may point to threads in which one has posted. But that might be only one post in a long thread and AFAICS you still have to manually search for it. Then check the remainder of the long thread to ensure it was the only one. Or, more likely, don't bother!

I don't know how relevant this extension would be:

User Recent Activity

https://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/exte ... _activity/

Uh oh! I think the above extension may already be in use. Still feel a need for some way of finding own posts.

Itsallaguess
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Re: Would-be-nice-to-have phpBB extensions

#233830

Postby Itsallaguess » July 4th, 2019, 4:46 am

XFool wrote:
Still feel a need for some way of finding own posts.


Two existing methods -

Method 1 -

1a. Right-click your user-name in the top-right area of a Lemon Fool page, and select 'Open in new tab'.

1b. This should open your 'User Control Panel' on the 'Overview / Front Page' are.

1c. Roughly in the middle of your screen should be a 'Show your posts' option which will then list your posts in date and time order, with the newest at the top. There is likely to be a number of 'pages' that you can then select through (top-right) to work your way through your posts.

1d. Note that there is also a 'Search these results' box in the top-left area, which can be used to search your posts for particular words or phrases.

Method 2 -

2a. On any Lemon Fool page there should be a 'Search' box in the top-right area. To the right of this box is an 'Advanced Search' icon that look like a little gear-wheel.

2b. Selecting the 'Advanced Search' icon will take you to a search page with a lot of advanced options.

2c. In the upper 'Search Query' section, there is a box with a heading of 'Search for author'. Enter your user-name into that box (or the user-name of another poster if that's the type of search you're wanting to carry out...)

2d. Above the 'Search for author' section is a 'Search for keywords' box where you can enter words or phrases to look for within the posts of the user-name entered in 2c.

2e. In the lower 'Search options' section, you can select board-areas (Lemon Lounge / Investors round-table) to filter your search within if required ('Search in Forums' box). More granularity can also be used by filtering on a particular board-name itself if required (Biscuit Bar / Beerpig's Snug)

2f. At the bottom of the 'Advanced Search' page, you can stipulate where you're wanting to search (Posts subjects and text / Message only / Topic titles only), and also limit time-scales (Limit results to previous) to a number of time-scale options (1 day / 1 month / 1 year etc..)

I find Method 2 to be the most useful search method, given the improved granularity in search-options, but I probably use it more for seeking out posts from other users rather than my own. It can be very helpful for either case, however.

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

Itsallaguess
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Re: Would-be-nice-to-have phpBB extensions

#233831

Postby Itsallaguess » July 4th, 2019, 4:49 am

Gengulphus wrote:
One effect of a recent thread on this board was to identify an extension to the phpBB software these boards use that would be nice to have for moderators because it would speed up a tedious process for them.

Starting at viewtopic.php?f=21&t=18224#p231842, csearle identified the problem, I said that it was clearly automatable by an extension but I hadn't managed to find one and Itsallaguess found one that looks suitable.

It hasn't been implemented yet because (among other things) a phpBB version upgrade needs to be done first, but it has resulted in assessing and hopefully installing the extension being put 'on the list'.


Just for info - the above extension improvement has been installed now, and barring a couple of admin-tweaks to activate it for all the boards we want it to work on, it's performing as required and enables the process asked of it to be carried out really easily.

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

JohnB
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Re: Would-be-nice-to-have phpBB extensions

#233834

Postby JohnB » July 4th, 2019, 6:51 am

1) When I click on a thread in a new topic page, get taken to the latest contribution, rather than having to click in the subsequent page for it.

2) When I've blocked someone, I don't wish to see their opinions quoted in others posts. I'd rather see "contribution from X, who is currently on your block list, has been hidden"

I couldn't see this functionality on a very quick look through the addons.

mc2fool
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Re: Would-be-nice-to-have phpBB extensions

#233870

Postby mc2fool » July 4th, 2019, 9:52 am

JohnB wrote:1) When I click on a thread in a new topic page, get taken to the latest contribution, rather than having to click in the subsequent page for it.

The red icon to the left tells you there's unread posts in the thread and clicking on it takes you directly to the first one you haven't read. Or do you mean something else?

XFool
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Re: Would-be-nice-to-have phpBB extensions

#233888

Postby XFool » July 4th, 2019, 11:21 am

Itsallaguess wrote:Method 1 -

1a. Right-click your user-name in the top-right area of a Lemon Fool page, and select 'Open in new tab'.

1b. This should open your 'User Control Panel' on the 'Overview / Front Page' are.

1c. Roughly in the middle of your screen should be a 'Show your posts' option which will then list your posts in date and time order, with the newest at the top. There is likely to be a number of 'pages' that you can then select through (top-right) to work your way through your posts.

1d. Note that there is also a 'Search these results' box in the top-left area, which can be used to search your posts for particular words or phrases.

Thank you, Itsallaguess, for that useful information.

XFool

PinkDalek
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Re: Would-be-nice-to-have phpBB extensions

#233925

Postby PinkDalek » July 4th, 2019, 1:01 pm

... or simply click on Posts: 3661 to the right of one of your posts (I've used the number against your latest reply on this topic for illustration) which should get you directly here:

search.php?author_id=1253&sr=posts

XFool
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Re: Would-be-nice-to-have phpBB extensions

#233945

Postby XFool » July 4th, 2019, 1:32 pm

PinkDalek wrote:... or simply click on Posts: 3661 to the right of one of your posts

Thanks PinkDalek, even simpler.

I was distracted by that 'Your posts' option in 'Quick links' on the main site header.


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