PEEL v3

[on:]

PEEL has been moved to a new server.  That also happens to host The Infosphere.  WikiPEELia has not been moved yet, but its data have been saved, and it is our intention to restore that as well.

PEEL is now running SMF 2.0.17 (as you can see in the footer), thus being on a more modern version of SMF (the previous version was from 2006, this one is from this year), and thus PEEL is now running on PHP 7.x as well.  So upgrades all around.

Additionally, PEEL now runs on HTTPS, so you can be browsing without your local dictator getting a peek.

Now, of course, an upgrade of a 14 year old car to newest top of the line equipment might lead to some quirks.  I've already noticed a few myself.  So if you note some quirks, please report them here.

[Reply #1 on:]

Quotes from other posts look a bit odd, but perhaps I just need to adjust to a different format. Haven't noticed anything major, but I've just had a quick look around to check that I still have access.

[Reply #2 on:]

I concur on the quote formatting—I imagine I’ll miss the white boxes of yore. The post preview function (at least on mobile) also looks a wee bit different, and I suspect it’ll take me a while to get used to the PM box’s new location. But, all in all, smooth sailing so far. Glad to be back—thanks to Svip and the admins for doing all this work to keep PEEL alive and kickin’!

ETA: One quirk I’ve noticed—on the full reply/edit screen, the “Post” button actually says “Start new topic,” which is somewhat disconcerting.

[Reply #3 on:]

Nothing major but the box at the bottom of pages to jump to other parts of the forum doesn't work. Also admins and ubermods aren't listed at the top of sections; mod tools are visible though so it isn't much of a problem.

[Reply #4 on:]

Ah, question: Is it still possible to embed YouTube videos in posts? It appears the tags no longer work. Ditto the tags. Are these just functionalities newer versions of SMF no longer support, or is there some other code I should be using? (I know this thread is not called "Teach Me How2SMF," and am willing to allow that I am just a big ol' dummy, but I'm wondering if there's something really simple here that I'm missing.)

[Reply #5 on:]

On a related note, spoiler tags don't seem to work. Not really a high priority, just reporting a change as requested.

[Reply #6 on:]

ETA: One quirk I’ve noticed—on the full reply/edit screen, the “Post” button actually says “Start new topic,” which is somewhat disconcerting.

Hahaha, silly Tachy is such an unquestioning conformist that he assumed that the button label accurately described its function, and that the "Post" button was simply missing Thx for the detail, Gorks!

[Reply #7 on:]

It looks exactly the same as it did before.

Can you change it back?

[Reply #8 on:]

The old tags should now be working again.  Quotes should be looking normal again.  And some of the texts should properly be returned.  It seems between version 1.x and 2.x, SMF changed from using just numeric 'names' for labels to now use actual descriptive names.  So what was before just 33, may now be 'post_reply' or some such.

[Reply #9 on:]

Quotes look like they used to look, and small text is back, but now spoiler text has disappeared completely, which I suppose means that it's working even better than before, since it's impossible for one to be spoiled by text that one can't ever read.

[Reply #10 on:]

Ha, now that the tag problem has been fixed my prior post looks really wonky—but I’ll take it. Thanks, Svip!

Oh, and one new thing: In the quick reply box, the “Post” button is not labeled as such: it just appears as a smallish circle like you’d see for a poll option. (I believe it’s still functional, but the appearance is off.)

[Reply #11 on:]

Thanks for the updates, Ducky! I didn't even realize that admins had a choice of quoting styles in SMF. Not that I would know, as the bulk of my message board activity took place at a time when accessing one involved a cacophony of buzzing and frequency-shift modulation tones

[Reply #12 on:]

Oh, we can change anything!  Want all posts translated to Swahili?  You got it!

[Reply #13 on:]

Even Klingon?

Very much appreciate the effort...please don't work yourself to death over it.

[Reply #14 on:]

Ah, you've redecorated!

I don't like it.

[Reply #15 on:]

I don't like things that are different.

[Reply #16 on:]

Unless they are far more safe and secure and maintainable?

And I have not yet encountered any stability issues, or anything beyond the occasional unlabelled button, which I'll begin making note of so I can list them in this thread.

[Reply #17 on:]

There are a lot of unlabelled buttons, but that does seem to be the main issue.  But indeed, the site seems remarkable stable.  I have to admit, I was surprised that the theme mostly worked without me having to do anything.  Doing our trial run way back in January, I could not get the old theme to work, but this time I just plugged it in and it worked... for some reason.

But to answer your question; I think it's more a case of when it is necessary.  SMF 1.x is definitely too old at this point, and if we had done nothing, there would be no PEEL.  The other side of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' is that; if it is broke, do fix it.

[Reply #18 on:]

Indeed. And that includes security. Now I have some assurance that hax0rs won't be able to easily determine that my password is 12345.

...but this time I just plugged it in and it worked... for some reason.

As someone who's been troubleshooting, professionally, since the late '70s, stuff like that infuriates me.

[Reply #19 on:]

* I noticed that both superscript and subscript tags seem to be working normally, thx.

Partial list of minor issues

Missing button and field labels
- Advanced Search: From field, Search button
- Search for members: Search button
- Topic pages: label for the page selectors (top left, bottom left)
- Thread pages: label for the page selectors (top left, bottom left)
- New topic: Title label, icon type drop-down label, labels for the checkboxes under Attachments and other options
- Quick reply: label for Post button
- Post preview: Icon type drop-down label, labels for the checkboxes under Attachments and other options

Non-functional tags that were enabled in PEEL v2
- [u]
- [spoiler]
- [youtube]

- The tag selector bar does not appear when composing posts.


This is all trivial stuff for PEEL veterans. Please let us know if there are any particular functions or features or areas of PEEL that you'd like people to look over or experiment with.

[Reply #20 on:]

Just to add to Tachy's list, the smileys are no longer listed for one's clicking convenience on the post preview page, though most of them do still appear to work if you can remember the shorthand (which I do for about 75% of them, but there are still some that remain elusive).

[Reply #21 on:]

Oh, that's what I meant by the awkward "tag selector bar" reference. I couldn't think of a better description :-/

[Reply #22 on:]

Svip, thank you for getting PEEL running again, and as normally as possible!

By the way, and this is no big deal, but is the little part that was near the bottom of the PEEL homepage linking to the latest post on the board gone for good? I find that I keep scrolling down to glance there out of habit, and being thrown off that I've reached the bottom of the page already and not seen it there.

[Reply #23 on:]

It will return when I fix the labels.  There are some links that are straight up missing because of missing labels.  And I'll confess I am a bit lazy these days.  Corona fear isn't making me super productive.

[Reply #24 on:]

Most understandable, sir! I hope you fail all of your tests

And as for the link Tedward mentioned, I confess that I hadn't noticed, because I keep a PEEL window open perpetually, refreshing the "unread posts since last visit" tab from time to time.

For Ted and others, you might try this link: https://www.peelified.com/index.php?action=unread;start=0;sort=last_post

IDK jack schist about html or web pages or servers, else I'd gladly donate any of my circuits or gears my time to assist with the missing labels.

[Reply #25 on:]

I can't access my account settings to change any of my profile details. It's unable to load the template.

I'm able to access a list of PM titles. But I can't actually get the text of any of my PM's.

And from another thread:

Over the next few days I'll keep noodling around. Thanks again to Svip and/or others. The changes to the way quoted text is presented is slightly different and I'm casually contemplating ways to more unambiguously delineate quote from response, and I'm sure I'll come up with something suited to me.

P.S. I'm seeing one issue which may or may not be due to my environment, but once I preview a message the "Post" button seems to disappear. I'll keep noodling!

The post button itself is absent for me. I have preview only. I must preview in order to be given a post button.

The quote button doesn't show up for me next to posts when in preview mode. This is mildly distressing, as longposting in response to multiple snippets is now much more effort.

It looks like there is a laundry list of sundry items that are broken, but the main functions of PEEL do still exist and we can still post. So there's a PEEL and it exists, it's just a little bit broken, and I'm guessing that this might be forever since none of the broken items are that essential.

[Reply #26 on:]

The post button is there, it's just unlabelled.  Depending on your browser and desktop environment, it may be drawn differently, but it should be the weird blank stuff left of the Preview button.

As for the profile settings, that's a more pressing one, since it doesn't work.  And so with the PMs.  I am still feeling super lazy though.  Does the fear of COVID after testing negative twice make people lazy?  I mean, I am generally lazy, but I cannot remember when I have felt this lazy in a long while.

[Reply #27 on:]

The post button is there, it's just unlabelled.  Depending on your browser and desktop environment, it may be drawn differently, but it should be the weird blank stuff left of the Preview button.

Now that I know what to look for, I've found it. If this post appears, consider it a successful test.

[Reply #28 on:]

Svip, is there somewhere you'd prefer us to report issues other than in this thread? If not, non-working functions from the user profile page:

https://www.peelified.com/index.php?action=profile;u=11531;sa=showPosts

https://www.peelified.com/index.php?action=profile;u=11531;sa=statPanel

This is with Firefox 84.0. Which reminds me that I ought to try noodling around with a different browser. I'll see if I can logon with chromium later and will make note of anything I find with it that is not in common with FF.

[Reply #29 on:]

I mean, if for whatever reason you don't like it public for all to see, you are welcome to PM me.  Again, it is not because it is reported in this thread that I haven't fixed it, it's mostly because we have been a little busy at work, and so I feel lazy afterwards.  But maybe in the next few days, I should be able to.  Hopefully.

[Reply #30 on:]

Believe me, I was not in any way suggesting that you hadn't seen the posted issues, and certainly not suggesting that I'm anything but greatly appreciative that you've gotten PEEL up and running, or that you should or must address anything in particular. I was just wondering whether you'd like reported issues collected in a more consolidated fashion, so that you don't have to hunt for them later.

* * And on that note, I'll scoot off and stop cluttering up the thread * * 

[Reply #31 on:]

I was just wondering whether you'd like reported issues collected in a more consolidated fashion, so that you don't have to hunt for them later.

I thought that was what this thread was. 

Advanced search still seems to be inaccessible, at least on my Android phone.  I don't know about other browsers.

Show spoiler

Spoiler text is still completely hidden, which means that you probably won't be able to read this.

[Reply #32 on:]

Advanced search is working in my FF browser (on Linux), but I'm using a saved bookmark for it:

http://www.peelified.com/index.php?action=search;advanced;search=

[Reply #33 on:]

It seems to be working properly, I just didn't have any way to access it before you provided a direct link to it.

[Reply #34 on:]

Once again, I thank my packrat genes

[Reply #35 on:]

you are welcome to PM me.

That'd be great, if I could actually send a PM. All I can get is a list of the titles of the PM's in my inbox. Nothing else comes up. So I'm a little skeptical that you're even able to view your PMs unless you've discovered a workaround that you've not announced.

[Reply #36 on:]

Thank you for all the hard work you've done to get PEEL up and running! Bugs aside, you did an excellent job of transferring everything over to the new servers.

With that said, I found another bug. Not sure if anyone else gets this whenever replying to a topic, but it's missing the helpful shortcuts for posting images, quotes, hotlinks, etc.:

I had to go back and quote somebody because I couldn't remember the code for posting an image. In the grand scheme of things, they're not as essential as other features and the tags do work, but it would be great to have the codes available.

[Reply #37 on:]

OK, had a bit of a strange incident this morning where the site was not working properly.  Turns out it was still using the old temporary domain I had set up.  Not sure why it was only a bug now and not for the past few months.

Again, my apologies for not following up on all the other issues you've been highlighting, it is my intend to move forward with those, but January (and December for that matter) have been quite busy for me, so for now I am mostly focusing on putting out fires.

[Reply #38 on:]

Your work is appreciated, Svip, and we'd feel bad if it became a chore to you. Balance in all things, eh?

[Reply #39 on:]

Indeed; your work is appreciated. I was impressed at how quickly PEEL was up and running again after the problem a couple of days ago