Proposal: ZXDB marking in posts?

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Einar Saukas
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Re: Proposal: ZXDB marking in posts?

Post by Einar Saukas »

PeterJ wrote: Sat Dec 01, 2018 2:57 pm
Einar Saukas wrote: Sat Dec 01, 2018 12:31 pm Since you will take a look into this... We already have a like/love button in every post, and this like/love icon can be customized in phpBB. I wouldn't want to sacrifice this functionality here, but perhaps there could be a second similar button, customized for ZXDB? And considering that new users would probably misunderstanding its purpose and may click everywhere, using it could be restricted to a group of users.

However I don't know if that's even possible, or how much work it would require. But if it worked this way, it would avoid the need to edit posts thus solve most of the concerns mentioned here.
Hi @Einar Saukas

The Like/Love button is a plugin. I will look to see if there is something similar for our purpose.
Thank you!
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Rorthron
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Re: Proposal: ZXDB marking in posts?

Post by Rorthron »

1024MAK wrote: Sat Dec 01, 2018 12:00 pmExpanding on what Juan said:

In terms of ease of updating, creating one or more new sub-forum looks the best way to go from my point of view. Each issue should be posted individually (with a meaningful title). Then it is easy for whoever is doing the updates to see if they have read the report (new post flag).

When they commence work on the issue, they can post a reply saying so. They can also use the bookmarks system to remember which issues they are working on.

When the issue is sorted, or a problem stops progress, they can reply giving the details.
To me this seems like the simplest solution, if you want to go down the path of tracking and recording changes that have been implemented. But it doesn't need a new subforum; the existing ZXDB section can be used.
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druellan
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Re: Proposal: ZXDB marking in posts?

Post by druellan »

R-Tape wrote: Sat Dec 01, 2018 9:12 am @druellan, please say when things are missed, or announced as done but not. Sometimes they have been missed, sometimes they have been done, but a bug stops it showing on the site. This happened with Vallation128 for example: I uploaded inlays twice, as I couldn't see them, but it turned out a permissions flag stopped them appearing
Oh, it is already solved. Wasn't a compain, you guys are doing an awesome job, but just to point out that even when we follow the procedures, things can get messy, and everything that improves the communication is welcome.
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R-Tape
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Re: Proposal: ZXDB marking in posts?

Post by R-Tape »

Einar Saukas wrote: Sat Dec 01, 2018 3:11 am Everyone should have noticed that ZXDB updates have not been happening as often lately, because both @R-Tape and myself have been extremely busy
As often as what? The last update was just over a week ago! More often than many previous months. Not all the logged changes were completed, but we won't have to wait long.
but when it's a long thread, posting replies to posts from several pages before, can be very confusing.
I don't agree—If you quote, the person gets flagged already. I struggle to imagine that most would bother to search back through a long thread looking for a 'done' flag.
1024MAK wrote: Sat Dec 01, 2018 12:00 pm In terms of ease of updating, creating one or more new sub-forum looks the best way to go from my point of view.
Why do we need to change anything? What is currently not working?

From my point of view, collating updates should go like this:

-Brand new games: announce in the Brand New Software thread (Ralf is the stalwart there :-)) and make publicly available so everyone can enjoy it immediately.*
-MIA, uMIA. Use the upload form, and announce so people can enjoy it. Include as much info as possible (preferably including screenshots), and a comment to make it clear why this should be added.
-Small fixes: use an active 'small bugs' thread in the ZXDB Discussion part of the forum. Be as concise as possible, and include as much relevant info as possible. That's what Ale, dru, 8bitAG, Juan and others are already doing.
-Bigger fixes, or fixes that need discussion: should have their own thread in ZXDB Discussion. Like that idiot that started the 'Maze Genre thread :D

Some of the above may appear via a sideways route, like email, something discovered in the 'Games' part of the forum, a news item from Andre, or a game author starts their own thread for their game (as I hope they will), or anywhere on the forum from a newcomer that doesn't know the ropes.

A list of details is announced at the same time as the update.

At the moment, I 'like' a post if I want the author to know I've seen it (unless I comment). I kind of like the idea of a 'ZXDB flag' similar to the 'like' button, but my concern is that it ends up like a booking-out form for a shed key—never, rarely, sometimes, or always used, depending on the phase of the moon.

I don't think we need to lock threads when the action is completed either. Something new may crop up and be relevant.

Basically—IMO don't change anything!

* If you want to be especially helpful then use the upload form for files and screenshots, but bear in mind that they may have already been done, or already uploaded (don't let that discourage you, but it may not be 'your' screenshot that you see.. The important part is reporting the news though.
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Einar Saukas
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Re: Proposal: ZXDB marking in posts?

Post by Einar Saukas »

R-Tape wrote: Sun Dec 02, 2018 12:01 amI kind of like the idea of a 'ZXDB flag' similar to the 'like' button, but my concern is that it ends up like a booking-out form for a shed key—never, rarely, sometimes, or always used, depending on the phase of the moon.
I understand your point, and I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the current process. It's just that this flag would help a lot to ensure we didn't miss anything, especially in threads like this and this.
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Vampyre
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Re: Proposal: ZXDB marking in posts?

Post by Vampyre »

Don't know if I'm missing something here but wouldn't a ZXDB Trello board be an ideal solution? It's free, can limit access if you wish (or just make it publicly accessible to everyone) and it's simply a case of each change request gets its own card. Once the request is complete move it from a Request List into a Completed List.
ZX Spectrum Reviews REST API: http://zxspectrumreviews.co.uk/
hikoki
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Re: Proposal: ZXDB marking in posts?

Post by hikoki »

Another option could be to host a bug tracker like mantisbt.org
Dunno if mantis can be integrated into phpbb, otherwise updates could be managed in a separate site.

slightly off-topic, this simple tool is practical and free, you just need a google sheet and follow these steps
https://support.awesome-table.com/hc/en ... es-Cabinet
make a subfolder for every title and every time you add files, changes are reflected automatically
permissions to a number of people can be assigned so they access this folder
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Einar Saukas
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Re: Proposal: ZXDB marking in posts?

Post by Einar Saukas »

Vampyre wrote: Mon Dec 03, 2018 10:18 amDon't know if I'm missing something here but wouldn't a ZXDB Trello board be an ideal solution? It's free, can limit access if you wish (or just make it publicly accessible to everyone) and it's simply a case of each change request gets its own card. Once the request is complete move it from a Request List into a Completed List.
Technically that's a good solution. However in practice, if we required users to create a new Trello account and figure out how to use it properly, before they can post a bug report, I bet many people would give up reporting anything.

I agree with R-Tape that there's nothing really wrong with the current system. We shouldn't try to fix something that's not broken. Therefore we should only try to improve it as long as it doesn't impact users.

Taking into account everyone's feedback, I'm now convinced the only reasonable option would be a new like/love button for ZXDB. If that's not viable, then let's just keep the current process...
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4thRock
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Re: Proposal: ZXDB marking in posts?

Post by 4thRock »

For me the simple solution would be use human readable marking and edit posts.

For example:
[updated ]
[duplicate of post #xxx ]

Might even work with forum searches, and no code change required.

I see no problem with having a moderator that's only active in certain topics / sub-topics, and only adds those tags.
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