Discussion of Board post icons, split as O/T from elsewhere

[Sophira]

(Split as O/T to sticky post, Site-Specific-Permission Questions? PLEASE READ THIS FIRST! -- Tom t.)


Hmm. It wasn't stickied when I saw it earlier today, actually - it was fourth in the list, not at the top, and didn't have the sticky symbol that it does now. Still, it's sticky now, so yay

[Tom T.]

Hmm. It wasn't stickied when I saw it earlier today, actually - it was fourth in the list, not at the top, and didn't have the sticky symbol that it does now. Still, it's sticky now, so yay

I might have been thinking of a different sticky -- seems I have a number of them in this forum lol -- and they say that as you get older, your memory is the second thing to go.

(I can't remember the first. )

And yes, yay!

[Sophira]

Never mind - it may indeed have been stickied. I didn't realise that topics with unread replies will still show up above sticky topics, and I mistook the red symbol for meaning 'sticky' when it meant 'unread'. So it's quite possible it was sticky before now and I just never noticed. Sorry for the confusion!

[Tom T.]

.... I didn't realise that topics with unread replies will still show up above sticky topics,

They shouldn't. That's the exact meaning of "sticky". It stays in that exact position in the listings (wherever the Admin sets it), regardless of how many new topics are started, or how many existing ones are bumped by a reply. Else, they'd fade off the page eventually.

All of the stickies should stay at the top of their (sub-)forum.

No worries -- it's all good!

ETA: I stand corrected. Apparently, new replies to stickies will bump them *within the group of stickies", although that group as a whole remains always on top of the non-sticky posts.

The reason this was never apparent before (to moi, at least) is that most stickies are *locked*, not intended to receive replies, and therefore, don't bump themselves. Examples: NoScript Quick Start Guide, Forum Rules.

I don't have a problem with leaving these other popular stickies unlocked, as the discussions have often shed further illumination on the topic in question.

The good news: There's nothing wrong with either of our memories! (at least, not in *this* regard ) Yes, the sticky that is on the very top now may be 3rd tomorrow. And neither of us was hallucinating.

[Sophira]

You know, I never considered that all of the threads I was seeing might be stickies. For some reason I thought the little asterisk on the top-right of the thread icon indicated a sticky post, but it's actually the exclamation point in the icon. I've never seen so many stickies in a forum before! And like you, when I have seen them, they're almost always locked.

Anyway, thanks for clearing it up. That makes total sense.

[GµårÐïåñ]

You know, I never considered that all of the threads I was seeing might be stickies. For some reason I thought the little asterisk on the top-right of the thread icon indicated a sticky post, but it's actually the exclamation point in the icon. I've never seen so many stickies in a forum before! And like you, when I have seen them, they're almost always locked.

Anyway, thanks for clearing it up. That makes total sense.

Different forum software, such as phpBB or vBulletin or say Lithium all have a bit of quirks that are different, so it takes some getting used to, glad you got it worked out.

[Tom T.]

Different forum software, such as phpBB or vBulletin or say Lithium all have a bit of quirks that are different, so it takes some getting used to, glad you got it worked out.

What *does* the asterisk mean? At a quick glance, I always thought like Sophira - stickied. But most of the topics, at least in NS Support, have *. regardless of stickiness. But a few don't.

IDK it was the ! either. Learn something new every day ...

@ Sophira:

I've never seen so many stickies in a forum before!

Many users ask the same questions; many don't read the FAQ, search the forum first, etc., as requested in Forum Rules. Also, NS is a complex tool, as the Internet is also complex. So, some "in your face" (so to speak) when users visit here, and also, some tips and tricks that wouldn't be in the FAQ, because they don't belong there. LIke, say, SOME SITES YOU MIGHT NOT WANT TO ALLOW.

The view numbers show that these stickies are quite popular.

The FAQ could be expanded, although it will change a good bit when NoScript 3.x for the desktop arrives, and perhaps Giorgio's time is better spent on the actual product, letting the team handle as much of the support as possible. The degree of step-by-step given in, say, Why must I "Temporarily allow all this page" REPEATEDLY?, especially starting around here, is far more detailed than just about any FAQ anywhere, but I was glad to do it. Same with some others -- power-users may be able to figure things out on their own, or from FAQ, etc., but average home users might need extra detail.

Cheers,
Tom

[GµårÐïåñ]

Two general points
- Red icons are unread items, blue/grey are read
- A star on any topic means you have posted in it

- Announcement
- Sticky topic
- Read topic
- Unread topic
- Read topic that you have posted in
- Unread topic that you have posted in
- Hot topic
- Locked topic
- Moved topic
- Forum with subforums (which have been read)
- Forum with subforums (which are unread)
- Link forum
- Attachment
- Go to last post in the topic
- Go to last unread post in the topic
- Subforum read
- Subforum unread

Hope that helps.

[Tom T.]

Very much so, thanks. I'm bookmarking that post.

I'm sure there's a legend somewhere on the board, but couldn't find it at a quick glance. Could you please point us to it? Thanks.

Edit: It's either the laptop screen or my eyes , but i don't see a clear difference between "unread topic" and "hot topic".

[dhouwn]

i don't see a clear difference between "unread topic" and "hot topic"

Latter is animating, the other not. You got the about:config setting for disabling image animations set?

[GµårÐïåñ]

@Tom, one is fixed, the other is animated scrolling, dhouwn might be right, you might have some animation blocking or something going on your end that is preventing it, but I am not sure and can't say with absolute certainty why you don't see the animation. Try what he said and see how it goes?

[Tom T.]

i don't see a clear difference between "unread topic" and "hot topic"

Latter is animating, the other not. You got the about:config setting for disabling image animations set?

Yes.

@ GµårÐïåñ: I don't like animations. Too distracting. But I don't pay attention to "hot topics" markings or lists anyway; I check out all to which I'm subscribed, think I can contribute something, or am curious about the issue or topic, regardless of whether they're hot, lukewarm, or one single post with two views.

Thanks both for explaining the difference.

Either of you know where to find the Board Icon Legend, other than G's very helpful post? It *must* be available somewhere on site. Surely don't need to visit phpBB?

[GµårÐïåñ]

@ GµårÐïåñ: I don't like animations. Too distracting. But I don't pay attention to "hot topics" markings or lists anyway; I check out all to which I'm subscribed, think I can contribute something, or am curious about the issue or topic, regardless of whether they're hot, lukewarm, or one single post with two views.

I know brother, that's cool, I don't normally either. Just that in this case prevented the difference from being noticed, no big loss, no worries.

Either of you know where to find the Board Icon Legend, other than G's very helpful post? It *must* be available somewhere on site. Surely don't need to visit phpBB?

Unfortunately I am not sure if there is one, I have actually never seen one on phpBB site either and I tried looking. I knew this off hand because I do a lot of theme support (specially Pro Silver) and so I knew the icons list and had the XML handy for it, so I just did a quick find/replace with Giorgio's site address and sprinkled in IMG tags and voila, what you see now.

Maybe we can have Giorgio add it under some section or the about or help section or something, it should be a simple copy and paste, not sure. It might even be available under options, not sure, haven't had a chance to look lately. He can also just add it as code to the forum's footer include file and that will do it too. Not sure how he wants to handle it.

[Tom T.]

.... Maybe we can have Giorgio add it under some section or the about or help section or something, it should be a simple copy and paste, not sure. It might even be available under options, not sure, haven't had a chance to look lately. He can also just add it as code to the forum's footer include file and that will do it too. Not sure how he wants to handle it.

Agree that it should be handled in *some* way. That many icons cannot possibly be intuitive to everyone (or anyone, lol) - observe the confusion in this thread.

Can't believe that the phpBB forum sw doesn't include a legend by default, but will make an RFE for it.

And I'll probably split this off, since it's OT to the sticky itself.

Giorgio could take the essence of your post and make it a Board Sticky.