GRcade - The Next Generation

PostGRcade - The Next Generation by **Winckle** » Wed Jan 17, 2024 5:35 pm

The recent downtime with GR's database has pushed me to make more progress on the migration to Flarum.

Six months of work on the process and late last week we were finally able to clone the database of GR into a more modern forum software.

We then cleaned it up a bit, added some tags and colours, and copied over avatars where possible.

So I present this - https://testing.grcade.co.uk the future of GR.

Your current login should just work. So please log in and play around with the features, it will be wiped away in the future.

I plan to run another migration (each one takes about 12 hours and has to be done from scratch) and make this the default GR experience.

I will try to pick a time where downtime will be least disruptive, so certainly after any forum games that are currently running have finished.

This is not a finished product. We can add more tags, change colours, add extensions for more functionality if needed, and more.

PostRe: GRcade - The Next Generation by **Moggy** » Wed Jan 17, 2024 6:07 pm

It's new, I hate it.

I've not looked at it yet.

PostRe: GRcade - The Next Generation by **False** » Wed Jan 17, 2024 6:28 pm

any options to translate the bbcode into something that flarum can understand so all the old post formatting, pics, videos, rich media etc arent lost?

You don't have the post count to pull this off.

PostRe: GRcade - The Next Generation by **Winckle** » Wed Jan 17, 2024 6:47 pm

falsemas wrote:any options to translate the bbcode into something that flarum can understand so all the old post formatting, pics, videos, rich media etc arent lost?

Old style BBcode actually does work, but the post essentially needs to be "edited" (i.e. add a space character or something) and then resaved so that flarum will interpret it and format it.

As a test I used Rinks's bargain thread - https://testing.grcade.co.uk/d/45162-45162/2

PostRe: GRcade - The Next Generation by **jawa_** » Wed Jan 17, 2024 7:24 pm

jawa, posting on Discord, wrote:I am just trying out the new system again! I like the improved Games/Stuff headings and the addition of the GR logo :-).

I had a go at entering a post, too. Seems okay... different, of course, but fine. It'll take a wee while to get used to it. I discovered that there *is* a post preview function; click on the eyeball icon!

It's cool seeing that our GR avatar images can be used (albeit they are slightly stretched at present?). Looks like tags have been added as well!

I'm not so keen on not seeing the last entry time for a topic; but if that's just how it is, I'm sure I'll cope.

I think a big part of any move to a new format will be getting used to it. I like the current forum appearance but, hey, if the tech has become too old to support than I'm up for something new.

^ Just copied here for visibility. I'm looking forward to seeing if this new system could be the way forward :-).

PostRe: GRcade - The Next Generation by **Imrahil** » Wed Jan 17, 2024 7:35 pm

One thing I've noticed there's a lot of empty space on the left and right of the screen, like it's not filling all the space it could.

EDIT: Actually Ctrl-zooming sort of fixes it.

PostRe: GRcade - The Next Generation by **Winckle** » Wed Jan 17, 2024 7:38 pm

Imrahil wrote:One thing I've noticed there's a lot of empty space on the left and right of the screen, like it's not filling all the space it could.

EDIT: Actually Ctrl-zooming sort of fixes it.

If you're in a thread you can mouse over to the left and then pin the topic list to the left side.

Posted this constructive feedback elsewhere but the logo needs to be at least 200 times bigger.

PostRe: GRcade - The Next Generation by **Imrahil** » Wed Jan 17, 2024 7:46 pm

Winckle wrote:
Imrahil wrote:One thing I've noticed there's a lot of empty space on the left and right of the screen, like it's not filling all the space it could.

EDIT: Actually Ctrl-zooming sort of fixes it.

If you're in a thread you can mouse over to the left and then pin the topic list to the left side.

Cool.

It's no major rush obviously, but any chance of an optional darker theme in the future?

PostRe: GRcade - The Next Generation by **Ribeye17** » Wed Jan 17, 2024 8:07 pm

I don't really like it, but I can't explain why exactly.

But if everyone else thinks it's a good idea, I'm happy to go along with the crowd.

The lack of pages is always going to be a bit of a hurdle for some people to get over, self included. I just really like how they break up a topic. It's an easy stop on what can otherwise be a bit 'too much information', and a big plus of fora over the likes of Discord IMO.

That aside, seems to work doesn't it.

PostRe: GRcade - The Next Generation by **kerr9000** » Wed Jan 17, 2024 8:27 pm

If it lowers the cost of the forum and thereby lowers the stress for those who run it then I am happy to see this go ahead.

PostRe: GRcade - The Next Generation by **Winckle** » Wed Jan 17, 2024 8:32 pm

Imrahil wrote:
Winckle wrote:
Imrahil wrote:One thing I've noticed there's a lot of empty space on the left and right of the screen, like it's not filling all the space it could.

EDIT: Actually Ctrl-zooming sort of fixes it.

If you're in a thread you can mouse over to the left and then pin the topic list to the left side.

Cool.

It's no major rush obviously, but any chance of an optional darker theme in the future?

I'm eyeing up an extension that adds a dark mode toggle for the users. Built in, the only dark mode feature turns it on or off forum wide for all users. I've got some free time over the weekend so I'll try and get it installed.

PostRe: GRcade - The Next Generation by **rinks** » Wed Jan 17, 2024 8:33 pm

It always goes to the first post of the thread - am I missing something? (I’m logged in.)

EDIT: Maybe just on pinned threads?

PostRe: GRcade - The Next Generation by **dmin** » Wed Jan 17, 2024 10:47 pm

Going to take a little while to get used to it, but good job so far.

One thing I noticed though... can you search within a thread or is it just the main search? Had a couple of searches but seemed to be only the thread titles getting searched.

It's different for sure, but there will need to be some refinements.

For a start, the issue of not having pages could potentially be a pain. Not having signatures is disappointing, and there needs to be the various buttons (as there are on here) for embedding things from different sources (tried to post an image but i didn't understand how as the button didn't generate bb code).

There's also the main elephant in the room...

PostRe: GRcade - The Next Generation by **Knoyleo** » Thu Jan 18, 2024 8:07 am

Vermilion wrote:It's different for sure, but there will need to be some refinements.

For a start, the issue of not having pages could potentially be a pain. Not having signatures is disappointing, and there needs to be the various buttons (as there are on here) for embedding things from different sources (tried to post an image but i didn't understand how as the button didn't generate bb code).

There's also the main elephant in the room...

The embed image button gives you the below in the message field:

Code: Select all

![](https://)

You just put the url of the image after the https:// and it will appear in your post.

My work are not blocking the "new" site, so that's the main thing.

Knoyleo wrote:
Vermilion wrote:It's different for sure, but there will need to be some refinements.

For a start, the issue of not having pages could potentially be a pain. Not having signatures is disappointing, and there needs to be the various buttons (as there are on here) for embedding things from different sources (tried to post an image but i didn't understand how as the button didn't generate bb code).

There's also the main elephant in the room...

The embed image button gives you the below in the message field:

Code: Select all
![](https://)

You just put the url of the image after the https:// and it will appear in your post.

Ok, cheers.

GRcade - The Next Generation

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