Need Your Help!

[Derwin]

Hello! In order for this site to be used at its MAXIMUM potential, I will be needing the help of all you enthusiasts out there. If you have ANY ideas or suggestions, PLEASE tell me about them. I want this site to be the very BEST it can be, and I can only do that with YOUR help.

So, please feel free to contribute your thoughts and ideas no matter how crazy they may seem. We all want this site to be a new and enjoyable experience for everyone. So, please help out and be a part of the team. Thanks!:)

[AZEqualizer]

In my free time I will start compiling the wish list. After the initial compilation from the original post I started "Options or Features I would like to have" on FlyTheRoad I will need some assistance looking up the things that were added to other posts.

[Derwin]

Thanks, AZ, I appreciate any help you can give in making this site as good as it can possibly be. Your suggestions are welcome and they are valued. Thanks again.

[AZEqualizer]

By the way ... I don't have an option to add an Avatar .. maybe I'm missing something to activate it ... but I'm pretty sure I looked in all the user set up.
In the edit Avatar section I have a radio button that can't be unchecked "Do not use an avatar"

[Derwin]

Thanks for pointing that out. I am new to using this software, and maybe I set this up wrong! In any event, I will have this corrected. Thanks again.

[MikeB]

We need a custom user profile field for which V1 model we own (want).
We need custom user titles for people with Moderator/Admin roles.
We need a custom user group/title for Venture Vehicle employees, like Ian and Howard (so we can tell when an announcement is 'official'.
We need a private forum for Moderators to discuss issues, like abusive members and spammers.
We need an icon to show 'new' posts in a thread since our last visit.
Something I've seen at another forum: the thread list includes the date when the thread was started, so you can tell how old a discussion is.

[MikeB]

I'd also like to enable RSS subscriptions for the forum, so I can keep track of all new messages using my RSS reader.

[MikeB]

Signatures and Avatars are nice, but I think we need to impose some limits. I've seen forums where they get entirely out of hand, and it's hard to even find the post.

I'd say we need a size limit on avatars, and no animations!

Signatures should be text only, and no more than 2-3 lines.

[Derwin]

MikeB,

How do I go about activating RSS? Let me know, and I will be glad to do it.

[MikeB]

MikeB,

How do I go about activating RSS? Let me know, and I will be glad to do it.

I'm not sure exactly, but there is something in the vBB FAQ (http://flytheroadclub.com/forums/faq.php?s=&do=search&q=RSS&match=all&titlesonly=0).

[AZEqualizer]

There are a couple of references in the manual about RSS activation.
One is under
External Data Provider
The other is under
RSS Feed Posting Robot

[Mark Tomlinson]

This RSS stuff is frustrating me too.

From everything I can tell, vBulletin is great about accepting RSS feeds and turing them into announcements for comment. But there seems to be no documentation or option to subscribe to a thread via RSS. You can subscribe and receive e-mail summeries, but no RSS.

I'll see if there is an extension.

[Mark Tomlinson]

We need a custom user profile field for which V1 model we own (want).
We need custom user titles for people with Moderator/Admin roles.
We need a custom user group/title for Venture Vehicle employees, like Ian and Howard (so we can tell when an announcement is 'official'.
We need a private forum for Moderators to discuss issues, like abusive members and spammers.
We need an icon to show 'new' posts in a thread since our last visit.
Something I've seen at another forum: the thread list includes the date when the thread was started, so you can tell how old a discussion is.


A couple of things you may consider for locking things down.

Change the name of the /admincp and /modcp directories. Then update /includes/config.php to reflect the new directory names.
If you are using your ID or 'root' to access the database, create a new user in MySQL and give him full privileges to the vBulletin schema. Then update /includes/config.php with this user and password.

[Derwin]

I notice that they allow me to activate RSS, but they ask me for other information. I am really NOT familiar with this at all. If anybody know what I need to do, just let me know. I will activate and turn on ANYTHING that you want or need.

[Mark Tomlinson]

That's were it gets confusing. That is in reference to RSS Feeds. vBulletin can pick up RSS feeds and make announcements or threads out of them. But it doesn't seem to be able to send RSS.

[Derwin]

I checked. You are correct. The only option is to "add" RSS feeds. What is an RSS feed anyway??? I am new to this.

[AZEqualizer]

RSS is Really Simple Syndication. A RSS Feed is like a broadcast directly to a Feed engine kind of like a IM or web type streaming news. (often it goes directly to your mail or a feed engine on your desktop or handheld)
I have done RSS but not from a BBS program I use a special server that makes the feed and publishes it.
I will see what I can dig up... one of us will surely bump into something.

[MikeB]

I think the best way to understand RSS is to experience it.

Go to http://reader.google.com

Tell it who you are (login with your gmail account), and then subscribe to a RSS feed such as: http://flytheroad.com/blog/forums/rss.php

Google Reader will then poll the site and keep track of new posts as they appear, and will keep track of which ones you've read and which ones you haven't. Oh, and you should probably turn the display order to show Oldest first, so you can follow conversations in order.

Internally, the forum software is generating a list of 'news' items, each one in a simplified XML format. It's got a date, a title, an author, and some text. The RSS reader is responsible for providing formatting, not the forum.

I've got about 100 news sites in my RSS subscription list, and it allows me to keep track of lots of news with very little effort.

Oh, and you can leave Google Reader open all day, and it'll update itself as new items are published.

[MikeB]

Ok, a soft request for some changes in the page format:

First, the Flash graphic at the top of the page seems to be limiting the overall width of the forum. I've got a widescreen monitor, but the forum itself is only filling about 1/3 of the width of the page.

Second, you can change how each post is displayed, in terms of layout. On most of the vbb forums I use, they have a block on the left side that shows the poster's name and some profile information, and then a wide block on the right with the text of the post. I like this layout because there is less of an interruption between postings, the text of one flows easily into the next.

Your preferences may differ, but I thought I'd offer this as a suggestion.

[Derwin]

MikeB,

Thanks for the information. Would an RSS feed be good for this forum? If so, how can we implement this? Also, as to your layout suggestion......I too have a wide screen, and the forum comes up fine. There is about 2" on each side left unused. This space on each side is going to be filled eventually with other graphics and such.

The format can be made any way that you think is best. AZEqualizer has SUPER MODERATOR permission, so maybe he can talk to you about your layout idea. Anything is fine with me, as long as it makes this forum better!

[Mark Tomlinson]

Still looking for that RSS extension for vBulletin.

Meantime, should we start breaking this up into separate threads, or even forums? Some thoughts are getting lost. I was thinking -
* Style
* Organization
* RSS Subscriptions
* Security
* Moderators
* Wish list (or just post wish list items in the appropriate thread)

[AZEqualizer]

I agree Mark T...
BTW
I tried to add new sub categories under this one and I get the following errorl
A required field called pagetext is missing or has an invalid value.

[rogwild]

I've got a question; where did you get the photo for; "Our Club of VV Enthusiasts", from a 'promo' for the "Apprentice" TV show? Could that be 'false advertising' or are they really VV Enthusiasts, and club members?

[Hardtime11]

This is a link to another Forum that I belong to and it uses vBulletin also: http://www.a5og.net/ maybe it will give some more ideas. I do like how FlytheRoadClub.com is already looking but it is for ideas as asked.

[Derwin]

Hardtime,

Thanks for that link. I like the way they have that forum organized. I also like the way they put the graphics on top. This has given me a few ideas. Thanks again for your help.

Derwin