Thread: Major Forum Changes Ahead

Update (Version 1.6.4)

I came across another issue resulting from the language update from PHP 8.0 to 8.1. The sent items section of the private messages feature was showing a deprecation in the code used to display the BCC recipients. I've taken care of that just now.

This is code I wrote, so per usual, it took seconds to address. If only this were true for the chat feature.

Update (Version 1.6.5)

I finally got around to deleting a handful of unused, abandoned, hacked accounts. I also deleted a spam thread I wasn't able to a while back now that obliterating users is fixed.
This had me viewing, or attempting to view, a perma-deleted thread which surfaced 3-4 errors in the thread view page under that circumstance. I've fixed those issues.
Here is an example link to a non-existent thread if you'd like to see the result: Nonexistent Thread

Update (Version 1.6.6)

It was pointed out that viewing a member's list of forum posts was not working for non-staff accounts. This has been fixed. This bug has probably existed for a while. It's unfortunate it was not addressed sooner, but at least it is fixed now.
Now when visiting a user's profile page, the "View Forum Posts" link found in the left pane should work properly.

Update (Version 1.6.7)

I was futzing around the forum not logged in again and noticed a couple issues with the member profile display page. When not logged in, the page would display errors related to the links for editing user profile information. Those errors have been fixed.

I also noticed that if trying to view a member that doesn't exist, many errors would show, which was solved in a similar manner as to threads that don't exist. Things fail gracefully in these cases now, with a descriptive message displayed to the user.
Here is an example link to a non-existent member if you'd like to see the result: Nonexistent Member

I also found a minor issue where the login failure page was displaying an error. I've fixed that as well.

Update (Version 1.6.8)

There are extremely rare situations where a perma-banned/deleted user from long ago in the past has a post or two remaining on the forum that only staff can see (since the post is "deleted"). Those posts may not have an actual user ID attached to them since some of these users never made the transition to the new forum setup in 2017. In this case, the user ID is typically 0 (zero) which ultimately doesn't display the user information properly. This situation has been fixed.

Again, this is pretty meaningless for regular forum members, but staff can see an example of this situation working properly now after post #20 in this thread: How to Photograph Your Car

The forum was down (returning 500 and 503 errors) for ~24 hours due to an issue with the host. Once I noticed, I reported the issue and they resolved it quickly. Sorry for the trouble!

Note to self: http s : // members. nearlyfreespeech. net/forums/viewtopic?p=57490

Note to self: opt the forum out of Google's new bullshit.
Google's iOS App Now Injects Links On Third-Party Websites That Go Back To Search - Slashdot
Opt out from Page Annotation in Google App browser for iOS

Edit: I've completed the form. We'll see how it goes.

It's a bit premature to disclose this, but I've been working on re-implementing the chat feature. I spent all day yesterday until I ran into a configuration issue with the host provider. I expect it should be easy to solve.
Note to self: http s : // members. nearlyfreespeech. net/forums/viewtopic?p=57741

Regardless, this whole situation has me rethinking the style of chat feature I want to implement. Instead of following this tutorial and using websockets, I'm starting to think I should just write things entirely from scratch (and not rely on the Racthet package which has already shown to be lagging behind PHP 8.2) which I much prefer anyway, since code I write myself historically "just works" even through major PHP version updates.

Okay, writing the chat feature from scratch is going extremely well*. So yah, chat is coming. Stay tuned.

*Not sure why I have to relearn this over and over again but writing-stuff/doing-things myself is almost always the better plan. And of course I also learn more useful things this way, aside from all the other benefits.

And so this doesn't get lost in the shuffle. Maybe the chat feature can upgrade to this CSS scrolling technique in the future:
https://forum.palemoon.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=32056

Update (Version 1.7.0)

After 1.5 years the chat feature is back!





The solution is completely my own creation and thus should not really need updates in the future as our host upgrades us to newer versions of PHP, etc.
If it does end up needing work after software updates, they should be very quick and easy to implement.

Right now these are the main things implemented:
1) Send and receiving messages (of course).
2) Chat window auto-scrolls to the bottom at page load and after new messages (if not scrolled up higher).
3) The chat message entry field is focused on page load.
4) Pressing [Enter] sends messages. (In addition to the "Send" button.)
5) Chat messages with URLs will auto-link the URL just like in forum posts.
6) Usernames are colored and linked properly.
7) Message timestamps can be displayed (hover the username for that message).

These are the new features I plan to add very soon (the first 3 all rely on similar new back-end features):
1) Chat room member display. (Who is currently "in" the room?)
2) System messages when a user enters/leaves the room.
3) Possibly some meaningful per-user rate-limiting.
4) Maybe display new-message-count in the title of the page if new messages arrive while the chat tab isn't currently visible/active.
5) Maybe play a chime sound if new messages arrive while the chat tab isn't currently visible/active.


Notes:
Special characters don't work, but they don't work in forum posts either. I may need to look into that when I have time.
Currently a max of 450 chat messages are displayed at once, and anything older is perma-deleted. This will be tweaked if needed for the best user experience.
Individual messages are limited to 1,500 characters or fewer. This seems plenty.