Ringing in the new year with some new bells and whistles. Check it out!

[Cain Highwind]

So I've finally added and tweaked a few things I've been meaning to do for a while.

First:

REPUTATION NO LONGER ANONYMOUS!

Yep, it seems over this past year certain people liked to give negative rep to people using the system's anonymity to crack insults while avoiding the blame. I also get PMs from people who generally just want to know who repped them as a way to work things out. Well, the cats out of the bag now. If you go to your User CP, you should be able to see who has been repping you.

Keep in mind, JUST because you can see who reps you know, I do NOT want to see "Revenge Reps" (well you neg repped me for this post, I'm going to Neg rep you for no reason, HA!). If someone insulted or flamed you via Reputation. LET ME KNOW.


IMG CODE RETURNS!

It's been a long time, but I've decided to try enabling IMG code in most forums again. We originally disabled it a long time ago because many users were abusing it. Posting huge images (when we like to keep things as 56k friendly as possible) or simply spamming images. But these days on the internet with Image macros as popular as ever, and plentiful image hosting websites offering thumbnail options. I've decided to give it a try.

The gaming forums are the only ones not turned on! Why? Consider this a trial basis. We had IMG code abuse worst in the Gaming forums. If things go good, I'll enable it there as well.


NEW BB CODES AND TAGS!

I've added a handful of new BB Codes. Let me give you the lowdown.

Youtube Embedding

By using [youtube] simply enclose the Video ID within the tags

DO NOT POST THE ENTIRE URL!

For example, let's look at the famous Dramatic Chipmunk/Prairie Dog video.

The link is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Y73sPHKxw

The text in red is the stuff you want. Basically everything after the "v="

So it's basically

[php][/php]

And thus:



I've added an alternate code that let's you add a text header to the top of the video. Perfect for those who like to add them to their sigs.

Basically for the same vid above:

[php]

Put your title text here

[/php]

and thus:

Put your title text here

Blinking Text

Bascially just

[php]Any text[/php]

Any text


Strike through

If you read my journal, you'll know this already. I added this a few months ago.

Simply:

[php]DO NOT WANT[/php]

DO NOT WANT

Image Wrap

Here's an interesting code I found that I thought might be useful in some forums like RPing, Reviews, and Literature. It lets you text around a linked image. Let's use the TFF logo on the top of the page.

[php] All your text afterword[/php]

And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.And here it is, I'm just going to copy a lot of dummy text, hopefully you'll get the idea.


Supscript and Superscript

For any math or science freaks just use Sub or Sup in brackets.


LED

For those using TFF Dark, I figured this code would be useful.

[php]This gives an LED effect to text[/php]

This gives an LED effect to text




And finally,
New, Alternative, Space saving Spoiler tag

Don't worry the old one is still there. Instead of using "spoil" use "spoiler". Also, you can actually label your spoiler.

[PHP]

What's this:

Ahhh!

[/PHP]

What's this:

Ahhh!

You can hide long lengths of text or images. Good for those who want to post long poems or Family lists in their sigs!

QUICK EDIT: I tweaked it slightly, so you can just use [spoiler], if you're in a hurry to add a Spoiler tag and don't need a label.

So, questions? Comments?

[Victoria]

Very nice, Cain. ^_^
The spoiler tag and the image wrap tag will come in handy, I'm sure.

[Omega Weapon]

Image Wrap

Here's an interesting code I found that I thought might be useful in some forums like RPing, Reviews, and Literature. It lets you text around a linked image. Let's use the TFF logo on the top of the page.

GREAT!! I totally agree with Toph Not to mention the new, Alternative, Space saving Spoiler tag!

These new features will serve us well! Excellent!!

[ekimeinna]

yeah i agree with cain!! hehehe that's cool to see who repped me.. but don't worry for those who gave me neg reps i will forgave you... but next time if you gave me another negative reps, then pm me (no i'm just kidding) well thanks for that cain for that announcement!!

[Fuzz]

Looks great Cain. Good work. New BB codes look cool and I'm sure revealing the reputation will be beneficial. I can't even count how many requests I have had from members over the years wondering on who gave them a particular reputation.

Thanks again!

[Merlin]

I'm glad someone is finally taking the initiative and doing something around here. I figured nobody gave a damn anymore. That being said, there are things I like and things I don't. The new spoiler tag and strike-through are noteworthy additions that are long overdue.

On the other hand, anything that adds to page-weight is always a huge negative in my book. Most noticeable is IMG and YouTube. Both of these add substantial page-weight that is simply not needed. For some reason, many designers seem to go with the thought that "more is better". Well it isn't.

Its called information overload. I've been saying that about the TFF Homepage since before Fuzz released it. Its too much stuff crammed onto one page. Nobody wants to sit there and sift through it(For the love of whatever deity you believe in Fuzz, limit the number of news items on the main page... you know how to do that... you have FOUR PAGES LENGTH OF NEWS). Same thing here. Its a Bulletin Board. I am here to read what you have to say. If I have to sift through tons of crap to get to the actual text, why bother? If my scrollbar becomes a sliver that is smaller than my cursor yet there is only 10 posts WHY would I want to visit your site? These are things you have to consider.

Thank God that the forums allow you to disable Sigs and shit finally. Even so, most people have no idea it can... and by the time they do, they are already so fed up with the obscene loading times and/or visual trash, they give up. Speaking of the words 'obscene' and 'visual trash', have fun with that. Wake up your mods... I can't wait for porn bots people to start spamming X-rated material... you're going to have a mess on your hands. xD

EDIT: The Edit/Delete Message button is not a button on some of my posts... its just a hyperlink. Thanks!

[Cain Highwind]

On the other hand, anything that adds to page-weight is always a huge negative in my book. Most noticeable is IMG and YouTube. Both of these add substantial page-weight that is simply not needed. For some reason, many designers seem to go with the thought that "more is better". Well it isn't.

Its called information overload. I've been saying that about the TFF Homepage since before Fuzz released it.

I've seen the kind of forums you're talking about. Namely after seeing the huge mess called finalfantasyforums.net (nice people, but absolutely HATE their bloated forum structure) I have no intention to try and go overboard. The IMG and Youtube tags are just an experiment to see how well they'll be used by members. I've been to enough places to know what works and what doesn't. There's some VBulletin pages that try to add visual decoration to every nook and cranny on the page, but I find it too distracting, opting for the simple look we have here (as well as many other places)

[Merlin]

Here's a few questions:

1. How many YouTube objects can a person embed in a post/sig? I hope there is a cap... and not a simple verbal one. There should be a physical cap. Same for IMG.
2. Have you tested having a topic with 15+ YouTube objects on a single page for server load, page weight, loading times? A typical topic shows 15 posts, so one object per post on a given page.
3. Are there any safeguards to prevent people from freely posting porn other than word-of-mouth? You think the bots posting links to porn sites are a nuisance, think again. Its bad enough Google AdSense is farked up.
4. Can I filter out YouTube objects like I can IMG, Sigs, etc?

My main concerns are twofold: First, the lack of moderating that is already taking place coupled with the now large possibility of triple-X attacks is going to be a mess. Secondly, the page weight issue. HTML objects take up unnecessary space whether or not you have them set to automatically play. The player itself must be loaded into memory on people's computer, whether they want to view it or not. The more players on a page, the more being loaded into memory. While it might seem minuscule at first, not everyone wants to waste CPU cycles and volatile memory on things that we didn't even ask for.

I'm not saying you should remove the stuff, but those are definitely things that need to be investigated, not simply thrown under the rug. When it bites you in the ass, its already too late.

EDIT: I went ahead and decided to test my theory out and my results were quite appalling. While not scientific fact by any means, the numbers speak for themselves. I let each page load completely and then scrolled through the entire page.

The following is various RAM Memory Usages for FireFox based on listed settings. I used this topic(copied as to protect the original) to conduct the test, adding YouTube objects one-by-one and checking the memory usage based on a fresh load of the page including the browser itself. I had only one browser open and only one tab at any given time. I included the base number for observation sake since every computer could be slightly different on how much base memory is being used.

• 0 YouTube objects in a topic: 57,680 K
• 1 YouTube objects in a topic: 60,776 K
• 2 YouTube objects in a topic: 65,200 K
• 15 YouTube objects in a topic: 101,540 K

Yes... 101 megabytes of RAM being ate up for one topic. And no, you have no caps on how many I can put in one post. Notice also, none of the movies were actively running... thats just the OBJECT ITSELF. I find that rather troublesome.

[Cain Highwind]

Here's a few questions:

1. How many YouTube objects can a person embed in a post/sig? I hope there is a cap... and not a simple verbal one. There should be a physical cap. Same for IMG.
2. Have you tested having a topic with 15+ YouTube objects on a single page for server load, page weight, loading times? A typical topic shows 15 posts, so one object per post on a given page.
3. Are there any safeguards to prevent people from freely posting porn other than word-of-mouth? You think the bots posting links to porn sites are a nuisance, think again. Its bad enough Google AdSense is farked up.
4. Can I filter out YouTube objects like I can IMG, Sigs, etc?

My main concerns are twofold: First, the lack of moderating that is already taking place coupled with the now large possibility of triple-X attacks is going to be a mess. Secondly, the page weight issue. HTML objects take up unnecessary space whether or not you have them set to automatically play. The player itself must be loaded into memory on people's computer, whether they want to view it or not. The more players on a page, the more being loaded into memory. While it might seem minuscule at first, not everyone wants to waste CPU cycles and volatile memory on things that we didn't even ask for.

I'm not saying you should remove the stuff, but those are definitely things that need to be investigated, not simply thrown under the rug. When it bites you in the ass, its already too late.

EDIT: I went ahead and decided to test my theory out and my results were quite appalling. While not scientific fact by any means, the numbers speak for themselves. I let each page load completely and then scrolled through the entire page.

The following is various RAM Memory Usages for FireFox based on listed settings. I used this topic(copied as to protect the original) to conduct the test, adding YouTube objects one-by-one and checking the memory usage based on a fresh load of the page including the browser itself. I had only one browser open and only one tab at any given time. I included the base number for observation sake since every computer could be slightly different on how much base memory is being used.

• 0 YouTube objects in a topic: 57,680 K
• 1 YouTube objects in a topic: 60,776 K
• 2 YouTube objects in a topic: 65,200 K
• 15 YouTube objects in a topic: 101,540 K

Yes... 101 megabytes of RAM being ate up for one topic. And no, you have no caps on how many I can put in one post. Notice also, none of the movies were actively running... thats just the OBJECT ITSELF. I find that rather troublesome.

Wow, Merlin! So right, it hurts.

You're right about the possible "Page load". While I laughed off the thought of 15 embedded YT videos on a page at first, I thought back to that mariobros incident a few years back, thinking someone COULD do that with YT vids.

I personally think you're being WAY too pessimistic about it though. I would say "what are the chances?" but then I'd jinx myself.... aww crap.

I mean couldn't someone THEORETICALLY post several embedded YT vids in their sig and just multipost too? And about the porn. How is posting it in a topic and actual post different than registering it and posting it in a sig? We've allowed img code and even html in sigs for quite some time now, and have had very little problems (I can't actually remember the last time we had an all out porn problem, mostly stuff that's very risque). Plus with the way our forums are arranged, bots go STRAIGHT to General Gaming where IMG code is still turned off. It was one of the things I had considered and anticipated.

And in case you're curious, while yes we are lacking any kind of BB Code limit, there is an Image Code limit of up to three per post, and then there's a LIMIT to the kind of characters used. So I'm quite sure we're safe there (again, unless there's someone who comes along and starts posting as many bloated posts as possible).

Oh and for those savvy Net surfers like you, who like to keep tabs on their memory and stuff they don't want, that's what Grease Monkey is for, otherwise I don't think most people here are that finicky.

[Merlin]

Well memory hogging aside, lets look at the other issue: Have you ever received a Cease and Desist order because of these forums? I have a few times. Idiots posting links to illegal material in inconspicuous place(such as dead topics) but the suits found it anyway. Mods sure as shit never saw it. I can't blame them, they are human and infallible. But those were just links... not whole videos.

Point I'm making is this: Its all fun and games till someone posts say, the latest episode of Bleach... It doesn't matter that the video isn't stored here. Linking to copyright infringement material is just as guilty as hosting it. And since it is embedded, you are technically 'serving' the material as well. It is a violation of US law and guess where this site is? Bingo.

This is about the time that you use Star Trek logic and go "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or one" or something and claim that such things are just anomalies of petty criminals to be squashed under the mighty glove of TFF Mods... that your YouTube vids serve the greater good of TFF humanity... but really... I'm the one laughing now. I have a +300% resistance to political BS. I've said what I needed to say. If you take my advice or not, in the end its your problem not mine. Have a blast.

[Rocky]

Sweet now I just had a tellah moment where I remembered all of my sekrit TFF board magicks. Good find and thank you much. I've always liked how simple and effective PHP is and yet you can do a lot of different stuff with it.