While we have managed to create a single false flag, it happened when I changed a number of things at once.  We have been going through the elements one by one, but have not been able to recreate the false flag yet.

However, I have noticed that the front page count for total number of Posts on RPol appears to be static on the responsive interface.  I can only see it on a desktop  (win10, Firefox and Edge), and can't see the count on my mobile at all.  Using the old interface (win10, Firefox and Edge) the count is dynamic and changes on a refresh.

I'm not sure that is relevant, and is probably a minor change in the way the interface collects and presents data.  However, I thought I would report it, just in case it is indicative of a difference in the way post counts are handled.

I did make two small changes yesterday as well as a bugfix (yesterday and a few days ago).

First change yesterday was around how games track their most recent post.  Previously it was any post would update the games post recent post, however that information is only used for "informal lurkers" (i.e. those who haven't been added to the game in any capacity).  Players and lurkers use their own data from their stickylist which is updated according to the groups they have access to.  Anyway I changed the game's "last post" to only get updated for group 0, public and archive threads.  Pretty sure I'd intended it that way but hadn't enacted it.  Basically games will stop advertising "last post 11:00 am today" if that was to group 1-Z.

Second change was when using mark all as read (this was the fix done on Monday).  Previously it used to use the current date as the indicator to what you've read up until, the thing is there could be a thread you don't access to that's newer than the last thread you can currently see, but you've effectively said you've read it.  If the GM then goes and changes the thread group or your groups then the thread could appear at the top of your list.. but you've indicated you've read it.  You'll get a notification on the main menu 'cos that routine is separate but prior use of "mark all as read" means there's no thread with a new message indicator when you go in there.  Now "mark all as read" updates your "last read" date to be "date of the newest message I can currently see".

First bugfix relates to #1 in a small way.  When updating your stickylist it could erroneously clear out your "last message I've read" data, meaning it resorts to the data in #1 (which then was looking at the most recent post in the entire game, though now it'll be the most recent publicly visible post).  Fixed that issue so it won't happen again.

Second bugfix was for private messages, don't think it's relevant so I'll avoid making this even longer.

TLDR... uh... games will stop advertising threads you can't see and existing threads you're given access to will now appear as unread.

Yeah, tracking messages is complicated.

Total posts is cached on the main menu.  In database terms it uses a "full table scan" to get the data so it's only updated every ~hour.
This message was last edited by the user at 12:25, Thu 07 Dec 2023.

One question, jase.

How will that affect games, particularly Adult games that shouldn't be posting in Group 0, when it comes to displaying their activity for when they're listed in the GM's list (when advertising games), or when it comes to tracking whether or not a game will get relegated to the cleaning bin for inactivity?

Fair question.. and it's going to cause a problem.  Can't think of a work-around, guess we'll have to go back to being wrong about the last (visible) post.  I'll just have to make sure it's not ever used for people with the game in their stickylist.  Thanks for thinking of that issue!

Undid the "only publicly visible posts update the game's last post".  Thankfully all the other work I did will make this a non-issue for the most.

The only time it should be used is when you don't lurk in a game in any way shape or form.  So searches, wanted forums, places like that.  As soon as its on your stickykist it'll use the data from that.

So, this took me a bit to notice because, in the writing box, the text is using the same character style as before (Times New Roman, I believe? Whatever the most standard one is, anyway), but once the post is put up, it changes to a different character style. Is there a way to change this, in some menu that I've missed somewhere? I imagine there's a reason why the default was changed, but if there was a way to change it for myself only, that'd be great - I found the new style harder to read, it's too thin and certain letters like I and J are difficult to distinguish from the rest.

The message compose box uses a proportional font (looks like Courier New to me) where each character takes up the same amount of space. That makes it easy for users to get things to line up where they are a) drawing maps using keyboard characters or b) laying the text out in a column format (eg for a character sheet), without resorting to table formatting.

To maintain the proportional font when it's posted to the thread, you just wrap it in the pre or tt tags (highlight the text and click on the relevant setting in the Quick formatting options).

However, there should be a setting in your browser to override the website fonts.  In Firefox go to Tools | Settings | Fonts ... click on Advanced and you'll see a list of the fonts used, though you'll need to uncheck the 'Allow pages to choose their own fonts option'.  Actually looking at my settings, they seem to match what I see on screen, so it's possible that RPOL is using my settings anyway.  But don't quote me.  ;>

In reply to steelsmiter (msg # 4):

I had reservations initially, fearing a shift in navigation akin to vBulletin or E forums, making topic exploration cumbersome. Thankfully, you maintained the user-friendly structure, allowing easy access to discussions. No objections here; in fact, I appreciate the intuitive design.

This is mainly a cosmetic and consistency issue.

Top menu has 'Home' which resolves to the main landing page - I see it as a light grey with a darker grey shading. Bottom right corner has 'Main' which resolves to the same landing page but it's using a red font and isn't in the same shading style box. Furthermore, it only appears when you reach the bottom of the current page which makes it a bit jarring and unintuitive (Home vs. Main). Any reason it can't be added to the right side bar where the rest of the similar options are located and use the same word (Home or Main)?

The colors between the two are based on how you have your theme settings set up. If you want to have the links appear as the same color, you can do that - just don't ask me offhand which setting does that!

I actually find the bottom 'main' link to be quite useful on mobile, and wouldn't want to see it go away. Getting into any of the sidebar options on mobile is more of a PITA than just ticking the bottom link (and the upper link off the main menu, I tend to fat-finger into the wiki page, and I hate that...). I'm not sure how much value adding it to the sidebar would really provide, either, especially since jase recently tethered the nav bar to stay at the top of the page all the time now (so you don't need to wait/scroll to the bottom of the page to get to that Main link - it's always right there at the top.)

Changing the bottom link to say 'Home' seems legit, though, in case anyone's confused by the two different terms. (On mobile, the top nav bar changes to read 'Main Menu' and has a link in it for 'Home', so 'Home' seems like it should be the word of choice if we're picking one.)

Changed the "Main" to "Home".  I think it was to avoid confusion with the game "home" screen but I think home should be ubiquitous enough.

No idea where we'd add one to the side bar though, doesn't fit anywhere.

Also reordered the legend on the front screen as per a suggestion elsewhere, forgot to not down where and I'm far too lazy to hunt.

Plain text inputs always use a fixed-width font (unless you tell it otherwise, which I haven't), haven't changed anything there.  Intention is to improve the whole compose experience once responsive is out.

To set the colours for the Home menu items: in the Preferences | custom theme ... Header, footer, side/navigation bars section, you're looking at top menu, hyperlink text and footer hyperlink text settings.  :>

No, I can't really see where a Home option would fit in the side bar either.  I think you'd have to move ALL the current top bar options into the side bar as well to have it make sense, which would obviously make the sidebar longer (and depending on how many lines a user currently has on screen would probably lead to more scrolling not less).

I would second this request. If the navigation is on the right side, then all of the common links should be there.
I would add it above the other three boxes, at the very top of the column, on all page-types. You could then remove it from the top menu bar.

Respectfully, I disagree.  On mobile, the top left is easier to find and press on than the right menu (because the button is wider, it's less prone to fat-finger-syndrome).

In reply to patchwolf (msg # 748):

Interesting. I rarely use my iPad to use RPOL and I never use my phone. I assumed the right-side menu 'degrades' (is there a better term?) into a menu that would cover most of a phone's screen.

Still, the Home/Main link could be moved to the right-side menu and left on the top menu.

I assume by "common links" we mean the "Your account" section, which isn't really common links.  Could cram it in there but it won't really fit, we'd need some other cunning title.

Glad to see responsive is so finely tuned that we only have these minor niggles.  (c;

I really think that moving the Home link from the bottom or top of the page would be a mistake. I can't be the only person that uses the bottom link pretty much exclusively on mobile (because the top link risks fat-fingering to the wiki for me - I'm clumsy), and since people requested the top link in this recent spate of discussion post-launch announcement, that one's being utilized as well.

Sure, you could just add another link in the sidebar somewhere, but do we really need three links to the same thing all within a small flick of the mouse from each other? Or on mobile, where you'd have to open the sidebar menu and then go down to any 'Home' link? (While being basically right next to the drop-down link off the nav bar anyway.)

...and yes, I admit that my reticence to lose the lower Home link comes from years of getting used to using it. I could adapt to something else if I had to, but I really don't want to lose something that works easily in order to add something that feels less simple.

In reply to SunRuanEr (msg # 751):

Never was going to remove it.

I didn't think you would, I was just responding to what feels like several suggestions to do so! Thanks for the reassurance, though. :)

In reply to SunRuanEr (msg # 753):

I would like to see the Home/Main added to the right-side menu. Removing it from the top and/or bottom is not necessary.


I have tried to use the new site for the last few days (ironically not at the moment) and as far as functionality goes, it seems absolutely solid, no glitches or weirdness. So, kudos on coding like a boss! :-)

I do have some requests about "usability" which I will post in separate threads after the rollover takes place and I have a few weeks of use under my belt.

This might have been reported previously, but ...   I  have just tried to paste some Dice Roller values into a Private message.

The PM takes the very first ] symbol that it finds as the tag closing symbol for the PM.  Even when it is paired with a different  opening [ symbol.  This leaves the rest of the message publicly visible.  In this case, it was resolved by deleting the link back to the roll.  I also tried using Code tags around the Link -  but then the PM stopped at the  ]  of the opening code tag.

Also, the Dice Roller roll links that were posted in an open part of the post, reported that they can't find the appropriate roll, and don't link anywhere.

In reply to JohnB (msg # 755):

It'd been reported before but the wisdom was don't use them inside PLs.  But have popped in a quick hackery which should allow it now.

Have (should have) fixed the rolls not working properly.

Thanks  :)

I normally post dice rolls in 'open' posts -  but this was a secret roll, for an action that may, or may not, have been appropriate  :)

When I click "Reply" or "Post a Reply" button at the bottom of a thread, I am then taken to the very bottom of the page. While it works fine for RPol Forum threads (like this one), in games I have to manually scroll up to see the top of the reply screen and select a character. Ideally, clicking Reply should take me not to the bottom, but to the top of the reply area. From the look of it, the problem only occurs for smaller screens (it happened on my 15 inch laptop screen, but not on my 27 inch PC screen). Interestingly enough, it does not happen on my mobile.