Extension talk:AWC's Forum

I have created/added this Mediawiki extension page of the behalf of AWC, after working with him to test and debug his latest version of this Forum extension for Mediawiki, and as he is very busy, I will endevour to document as much as possible for him, for the benefit of the community, due to my in depth knowledge of this extension as a result of using the current/previous v1.2, and helping debug and test v2.0

If you have any questions, please feel free follow the link on the extension page, under 'support', to AWC's forum pages. Alternatively, ask here, and he may choose to answer if he has the time, or I will try to do so myself.

--HTPCnz 01:28, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

Problem
Message just after installation :

Warning: fopen [function.fopen]: URL file-access is disabled in the server configuration in /xxxxxx/xx/xxxxxxx/htdocs/1.9-1.11_installer.php on line 273

Warning: fopen(http://anotherwebcom.com/app_count.php?app=WikiForum_UnInstall&url=anotherwebcom.com/1.9-1.11_installer.php) [function.fopen]: failed to open stream: no suitable wrapper could be found in /xxxxxx/xx/xxxxxxx/htdocs/1.9-1.11_installer.php on line 273

And when I try to write a new message :

Fatal error: Call to a member function getTitle on a non-object in /homepages/xx/xxxxxxxx/htdocs/includes/EditPage.php on line 92

AWC's Response
The installer is being worked on right now.

In the release of 2.3 (in a few days) that will be fixed. That fopen error will not have an effect on the forums operation, its just simple bug in the installer. Your forum installed fine.

As for the EditPage.php error, i will look into this, perhaps your using MediaWiki 1.12; if so, maybe this will help.

--AWC 19:00, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

After doing a little research the following error will be fixed in the 2.3 release.

Fatal error: Call to a member function getTitle on a non-object in /homepages/xx/xxxxxxxx/htdocs/includes/EditPage.php on line 92 There will be no need to edit any files, the 2.3 release will work "out of the box" on MediaWiki 1.12 fine. Testing it right now. --AWC 00:05, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Update v2.3
2.3 has been released, fully tested on 1.12, the error mentioned above has been fixed with out editing any of MediaWiki's files.

More Info and the Download --AWC 04:00, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Problem
Thanks for your response ! I have tested 2.3 with Mediawiki 1.12, and all work, but member options doesn't. So, I have edited EditPage.php, and all work fine now. 83.205.245.159 07:39, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

AWC's Response
Sorry about that, will fix it now. Forgot about that file. Will "post" back here when new upload will be ready. --AWC 07:53, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Ok... new download is ready. I did not change the version number being that 2.3 has only been released for a few hours and not many have downloaded it. If you download it again, you do not have to run the update-installer if you do not feel like it, if you do run it no harm will be done, it will do nothing. Sorry for the inconvenience. Editing Wiki files to fix an extension's error does not seam right to me and your going to have a broken extension again once you update your Wiki. Anyway, good luck and hope you enjoy the forum.

--AWC 08:09, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

OK. Works fine. Thanks ! 86.202.53.147 08:32, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Update v2.3.1
Has been released, Update

Full Install is in the Right menu.

Mail function
Hi AWC. Will you want to add E-mail function for this great extension in the future?--Roc michael 15:47, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

This might sound odd, but you are the first to ask :-)

Will add it to the suggestion page and we'll see what happens. Im pretty sure the next "big addition" will be a PM system, but when that will be i do not know.

--AWC 05:07, 24 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Oh yes a PM system would be appreciated. See my user page for ideas. --Subfader 21:08, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

I can't login the test wiki system
Hi AWC. When I try to create a account as"Roc_michael" in the system. I will go to the page. When I finish the register and get an e-mail. I still can't log into the wiki. Could you give me a hand?--Roc michael 15:24, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Log in Ok
I've loged in the wiki--Roc michael 15:35, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Just sent you a PM about this. --AWC 04:17, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Email, when a new thread be found
Could it be possible that when a new thread be found, the man who is in charge of the forum will get an email to notice him dealing with the thread? Then, we can manage a forum easily. On the other hand, if this extension can force the threads belonging to a specific forum use a specific template, we can use Todo Tasks Extension to Email the manager of the forum.

Not like a extension, It really likes a real forum software. It almost makes me give up using phpbb in the future if it have email function. I want to say it combine the functions of Miedaiwiki and forum perfectly and it's a great work! --Roc michael 23:16, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

AWC's Response
You can add your suggestions here. Like said above, a PM system will in in place soon, that is the next thing i will be working on. I will make a note of a forum Moderation that will approve threads when added.I will look into what you are saying about the 'Todo Tasks' Extension, ive never heard of it. Down the line... way down the line i would like to have little forum "mod's" which can intraget other MediaWiki extensions to work with the forum, but this is something which will not be working for a long time and is just an idea as of now.

Update v2.3.3
Has been released, Update

Full Install is in the Right menu.

Thread pages
On a thread with multiples pages, the navigation buttons (Jump to page 123 Next 5 Last) of pages is visible only at the bottom of the page. There should be one at the top of the thread page too. Great extension, keep the good work. Rhcastilhos 02:27, 29 April 2008 (UTC)


 * We originally had those page links/tabs available at both the top and bottom of the page, but the top page links/tabs were causing problems so they were removed.


 * Maybe AWC will come back to it if you add this as a request on the bugs/suggestions thread in the testing forums...but right now, he is busy working on the next big new features...Private Messaging, and Forum/Thread Subscriptions...as well as many other smaller changes and additions. --HTPCnz 11:37, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

AWC's Response
Hello Rhcastilhos.

I do not rember the reason why (i think it was design probelms) but the Page Jump Tabs where takin off the top. Alot of things have changed since then, i will look into adding them again on the forums thread listing page and also at the top of threads themselves.

AWC 15:48, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

Some change requirements about Chinese
Hi AWC. Please see here.--Roc michael 23:46, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

forum_info tag
What are the options for the  tag? I couldn't find anything in any of the documentation. I'm interested in (e.g.) transcluding posts (or listings of posts) from a specific thread into a wiki page, showing the latest forum activity... things like that. Thanks! --Woozle 22:01, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Hi Woozle the documentation is here: http://examples.anotherwebcom.com/wikis/MediaWiki/Forum_Tag you could look this feature request too: http://examples.anotherwebcom.com/wikis/MediaWiki/Special:AWCforum/?action=st%2Fid557%2FForum_tag_feature_request
 * Thanks for this "Latest Posts". --Subfader

Hide forum from latest posts?
Is it possible to hide a certain forum from the latest posts via the forum_info tag? I have a qwerty forum where you can test forum functions and it's quite useless to list these posts in a "Latest Posts" section. --Subfader 09:32, 24 July 2008 (UTC)


 * If you goto the Current Options page of the site, you will find a link to the forum tag page with all that info, you could also use the search on the site (the forum tag link at around result 19). I just added a link for the Forum Tag in the AdminCP of the user manual also. --AWC 16:38, 24 July 2008 (UTC)


 * I know where it is, my point is if it's possible to hide a certain forum, cos it looks like it's not possible. But it would be a nice feature. --Subfader 05:20, 25 July 2008 (UTC)

Side-note: The "forum tag" functions just like the forum as far as permissions go, if a user does not have permission to view a forum then threads from that forum will not be displayed for them with-in the "forum tag". Does that help you any ? --AWC 05:56, 25 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Its not possible to hide a forum but you can select what forums you want to display which will achieve the same results.


 * Ok defining which to display is ok too as long as permissions to view them per forum apply then as well. So, how do I define which forums to include to the forum_info tag? --Subfader 06:48, 25 July 2008 (UTC)


 * "If you goto the Current Options page of the site, you will find a link to the forum tag page with all that info...." or look through the manual --AWC 07:21, 25 July 2008 (UTC)


 * You don't get it. Sorry for asking. --Subfader 10:38, 25 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Originally you wanted to hide forums so they will not be listed in the forum tag (your "members testing" forum); now you see that there is not a "hide" options, but you can select which forums you want to be displayed which will archive the same. Im taking it as you want the forum-tag to display forums A,C,D but not B. You want the forum tag to only list off certon forums of your choice. If that is what you want to do, all of that information is in that link talked about here - have you read all the options (or atleast the first) for the forum tag, along with the admin settings ? If that is not what you want to do, can you explan a litle more and i will try and help you as much as i can.


 * That's how I ment it and I went through the tag page multiple times but I don't see any option to define certain forums to be included. I also read the rqeust page where it's "fromforum=Notícias" but using fromforum=Chat doesn't display Chat topics only. So I got a bit frustrated that you repeated pointing me to pages I already read multple times ;) --Subfader 19:32, 25 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Heres a direct quote form the forum tag page

What to display

showall=true (false by default) Will get the last ## posts, period; ignoring the Admin selected forums setting. It will retrieve the last ## threads from the forum as a whole.

 showall=true 

With showall=false (or not included in the tag) will display ## of threads from each forum the Admin has selected in the Admin CP. 

Admin Settings


 * "Forum Tag for Wiki: What Forums to get info from. Seperate forum ID's with a comma "
 * In the Admin CP you can select what forum(s) the recent threads will be retrieved form using the forums id. If you go to your Forum's Main Page and move your mouse over a forum's link, you will see the forums id at the end of the url. EG: action=sf/id_##. You can pick one forum or multipule forums. If selecting multipule forums each id has to be separated by a comma ','.

''Forum >> Admin >> Forum Config Settings >> Forum Tag Option's >> Forum Tag for Wiki: What Forums to get info from. Seperate forum ID's with a comma .''
 * So step one would be to not include showall=true/false in the forum tag and step two would be adding the forum ID's to the AdminCP.

The reason i keep pointing you to the documentation is that everything (past and present - except for the Adavatar bug) you have posted and asked about in this talk page has been documented. --AWC 05:05, 26 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Oh! Yes I see your point and got it working now. But the documentation is huge just like the extension is. Thanks a bunch! Will really try to seek info there before asking here from now on. --Subfader 10:34, 26 July 2008 (UTC)

Extensions conflicting with one another
I installed AWC and absolutely love it, the problem i am having is it conflicts with another extension already in use on my wiki and i've been told by the powers that be that if it comes down to choosing one or the other, we have to go with the one that was there first because our users are used to using it and to suddenly remove the functionality would be bad.

I know you aren't responsible for what other people have coded but if there is any way that a fix could be made so these two don't fight, i would be thrilled because i'd really prefer not to lose the AWC features.

The extension in question is [|LiquidThreads]. LQT continues to work when AWC is up and running. Most of the AWC interface shows up normally. The issues start to occur when you try to start a new thread or post a new article. You get a HTTP 500 Internal Server Error.

The following calls result in the error: http:// / /index.php/Special:AWCforum/?action=post/todo_add_thread http:// / /index.php/Special:AWCforum/?action=post/todo_new_t/id2

there may be other instances but those are the two i have encountered so far. Ok.. that being said, i just went in and checked something else. I turned off liquid threads, added a post to an awc forum and then turned liquid threads back on. I can no longer view the post.

Anyway, if there is anything that can be done to allow me to have both up and running on my wiki, that would be wonderful, but i also understand if you don't want to try to adapt your extension to others out there. Kayleigh

AWC's Response
I will look into this and have no problem adapting my code so that the Forum Extension works with other extensions. Will download and install LiquidThreads in a few days and see what can be done. Will post back more info when it comes. --AWC 18:35, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

Thank you!
Thanks so much! I've been using AWC a lot over the past couple days, learning the features and it is a really great extension.

AWC's Response
Good News This will be working the next release of the Forum Extension. The release date is not known but Beta should be released with-in a week. A news-letter will be sent out when the Beta is ready for testing.

Just wondering if there was any news on the beta?
The posting referenced above was made on the 22nd of May and said that it should be up within a week but i haven't been able to find out any other references to it so I just wanted to follow up.


 * There are a few things which need to be finished up, testing the extension on different versions of MediaWiki is one of them. Last night i tested out a fresh install on 1.6.x and things are looking good. Personal life just got a little hectic (adding an addition to my house) so an EST of the next release of the extension can not be said... Im really hoping it will be soon, sorry i can not give a definitive date.
 * --AWC 16:28, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Kay

Kay's Response
Thank you again!!!

Conflict with feedimport
Fatal error: Cannot redeclare error (previously declared in /var/www/web0/html/other/magpierss-0.72/rss_fetch.inc:228) in /var/www/web0/html/extensions/awc/forums/funcs.php on line 54

--DaSch 18:13, 7 July 2008 (UTC)


 * DaSch, could you post what version of the Forum which is causing the problem or the name of the function with is conflicting. I just checked 2.3.3 and 2.4 and theres no function on line 54. Version 2.4 is close, but not exact. As you probably know, this would be a quick fix. Thanks for any help.
 * I tried both versions, and had the same problem with both of them. --DaSch 22:09, 8 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Is this the extension which the forum is conflicting with ? I will test it out locally to find the problem.
 * Never mind, i see the problem, the error function (i should have known better and named it differently). I will fix this and post back here when its done, this fix will be in the 2.4 beta. --AWC 04:39, 9 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Ok, this should be fixed in the current 2.4 beta --AWC 05:08, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

i want to translate this extension
I am truly want to participate in this amazing extension and start translate it to Hebrew. I don't know how you choose the man who can participate but i am a proud owner of an israeli site - [www.guitarpedia.co.il Guitarpedia], and its a new site who works in wiki system and i want to get into it and develop the whole community to make contact with me if it possible.


 * To translate the forum, you dont need to be part of any beta team, all you need to do is install the forum and then go into the admin control panel - language section, and make the translation there.


 * Its all done in the forum web interface, so requires no coding ability, and from there you can upload other language packs, save your own, and make edits as required. You can also export the language pack so to share with others.


 * --HTPCnz 23:25, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

AWC's Response
Thanks for the help, HTPC. Goan, you can find more info about creating new language packs for the Forum Extension here Hope it helps --AWC 04:48, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

PostgreSQL support
Hi there! I wanted to test your - seemingly amazing - forum on my own wiki, so I downloaded and tried to install it. But when I run the installer, I get several errors, the first of which is:

Warning: pg_query [function.pg-query]: Query failed: ERROR: relation "awc_f_emotions" does not exist in (...)/w/includes/DatabasePostgres.php on line 553

I am using PostgreSQL. Is it possible, that PostgreSQL is not (yet) supportet by AWC's Forum? --Shape 18:21, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

AWC's Response
Ive never tested the Forum Extension with any dbase aside from MySQL and you are the first to bring up Postgre. Ive just downloaded 8.0.15 and will do a little testing when time is available. Will post back more info when available.
 * Thank you! I would very much like to use your forum. Again: thank you! --Shape 09:49, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Additionally, perhaps it would be good to let you know which versions I run exactly: MediaWiki 1.13alpha (r35767), PHP	5.2.0, PostgreSQL 8.1.11. --Shape 09:52, 4 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Shape, im sorry to say but i do not have the time to play with the Postgre database right now. I tried to install Postgre on my home server but it did not go smooth (its a Windows box). When i can, i will try again. If you want, get me your email and i will keep you updated on this.


 * --AWC 07:32, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

Kay's Reponse
Got it all installed and SQL tables updated and it looks great!! Thank you so much!!!

Kay

Email to all/pre-specified users on new posts
I'd like to add my call for e-mailing support.

I run a wiki with a small number (3) of users. I'm moving from a pure web-based forum (yabb) to this as the forum deals mostly with changes to the wiki. Makes sense to make it all one. We're used to having every user (except the actual poster) notified whenever anyone makes a post, including creating new topics. It would be great to see this implemented.

It would wonderful if you could give me a code snippet I could insert into the Post.php file to automatically e-mail the other users, to tide me over until you get around to coding something like this up into a proper feature for the broader community. Many thanks. 60.240.122.215 06:15, 4 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Didn't see the beta link there - looks like my wish has already been granted! Thanks for allowing forum subscription rather than just thread subscription.  Works great! 123.243.130.192 02:45, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

AWC's Response
That was an easy one :-)

Hope your happy with everything. --AWC 05:45, 6 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Looks great. A bit of colour optioning, some thread/forum icons, and it will be a polished product. I'm going to hack the Post.php to ignore users subscription flags, so that the forum e-mails everyone regardless of whether they're subscribed or not - coz we want to know everytime anyone says anything.  A possible MemCP option could be whether threads are subscribed to by default, even new ones that haven't been visited yet.  60.240.122.215 23:52, 6 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Hrm, my PHP/MySQL is not up to scratch for the task. Any chance you could do a quick code snippet that will get a userlist, and then with a while loop insert the subscribe flags for each user for the current thread?  I'll put the code into Post.php's add_t function just before the subscribe check.  Many thanks if you can. 60.240.122.215 01:01, 7 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Never mind, worked it out. 60.240.122.215 04:17, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Database error
When I try to "Install Forum" on teh first run I get this error:

I tried on localhost and on my server. Help is appreciated ;) --Subfader 15:24, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

AWC's Response
What version of the extension are you trying ?

What type of data-base are you using ? MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, etc.

Did you edit the installer file by chance ? this make no sense. Only install problem known is for non-MySQL database, which is posted above. The awc_f_emotions table is the first table to be installed so its a problem right at the beginning. When you first installed your wiki, did you have to do anything special to install the data-base tables, anything with data-base permissions ? I do not know the answer, thats why im asking all these questions :-) --AWC 17:43, 11 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Oh I just downloaded the package again and it worked now. Thanks for your time! --Subfader 19:12, 11 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Whoa! Awesome work! If just MW itself was so easy to handle :) --Subfader 19:37, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

Little mistake
After installation there's a default forum in the "Test Catagory. --Subfader 19:37, 11 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Where can I change the typos like "Advatar" in the DB table? Why not use MW messages (Special:Allmessages)? I changed text in the table directly and now nothing is displayed.
 * Notice: unserialize [function.unserialize]: Error at offset 3465 of 4134 bytes in ...\extensions\awc\forums\lang.php on line 44
 * Notice: unserialize [function.unserialize]: Error at offset 887 of 1432 bytes in ...\extensions\awc\forums\funcs.php on line 307 --Subfader 20:54, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

As for as those errors, you might have to uninstall and then re-install the data-base tables or you can try and Import the lang file from the /extensions/awc/forums/update/ folder. HTPCnz did quit a good job with the User Instruction Manual, its worth checking out. And i did not use Special:Allmessages cause i thought it would be easier for people who have more then one language running on their board to edit the text and add new language's. --AWC 03:10, 12 July 2008 (UTC)
 * General text typos Change text through out the forum and for categories and forum sections Editing Category or Forum Section


 * Yes thanks, didn't noptice the drop down :D --Subfader 18:36, 19 July 2008 (UTC)

Avatar dimensions
I uploaded an avatar 100px width and 64px height but it's displayed stretched in 64px width and 100px height :( --Subfader 21:00, 11 July 2008 (UTC)
 * lol... opps, sorry, will fix and post in the 2.4 beta. Will post back once the 2.4 has been updated. --AWC 03:12, 12 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Ok, fixed, its in the 2.4 Beta download, thanks for posting the bug.

Stable 2.4 Release
--AWC 05:31, 19 July 2008 (UTC)

$m_pmautosave
How can set this to auto true for all users? Till I found the option I thought it's a bug that sent messages don't appear in the sent folder. --Subfader 18:27, 19 July 2008 (UTC)

AWC's Responce
Theres an option in the MemCP -> PM Options -> "Automatically save sent PM's in Sent folder". If your asking how to over-ride the users setting and want to hard-code it you will have to edit the members.php file. Find $savetosent == 'on' ? $savetosent = true : $savetosent = false; and change that to #$savetosent == 'on' ? $savetosent = true : $savetosent = false; $savetosent = true; Note: there will never be an option which will let the Admins control this over the users. If you want control like this you will have to edit files. Its a user option which the user has control over, not Admin.

If you want to make it so that user option is defaulted to 'checked' (true) when the they send a PM, but once they make a change to the "Automatically save sent PM's in Sent folder" option they have control, you need to edit the skin.php. Find $savetosent = isset($extra['m_pmoptions']['m_pmautosave'])? $extra['m_pmoptions']['m_pmautosave']: '0'; and change the to $savetosent = isset($extra['m_pmoptions']['m_pmautosave'])? $extra['m_pmoptions']['m_pmautosave']: '1'; Hope this answered your queation. --AWC 23:57, 19 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Yep thanks, but I only found (and changed) in skin_mem.php

isset($extra['m_pmoptions']['m_pmautosave'])? $savetosent = $extra['m_pmoptions']['m_pmautosave']: $savetosent='0'; --Subfader 11:08, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

=Locking threads= Doesn't work. --Subfader 00:41, 23 July 2008 (UTC)

AWC's Responce
Not sure what you mean... This feature has been working since the 2.0 release, just tested it again and its working fine. Mods and Admins can post in locked threads; guests, "normal" members or any other group can not. Does that info help any ?
 * Yay. Yep that's it. Reason for my misunderstanding is that there's no info about the thraed being locked inside the thread. --Subfader 13:49, 23 July 2008 (UTC)


 * There should be - at the top of the thread (the sub-title/sub-header) it should say: "Locked: Viewed ## times, With a total of # Posts". If you have changed the word 'locked' to a picture then that picture should be displayed. --AWC 16:36, 23 July 2008 (UTC)

Headlines in post
I think the posts are not well rendered. When you add a heading a br tag is aaded behind the h tag inthe output. so atm it reads

Heading Text instead of Heading Text instead of and it looks like this: Heading Text. Instead of Heading Text So it would be nice if this was fixed. It looks even more wrong when it suddenly looks correct e.g. when you start with * right after the heading or if you include some. --Subfader 18:32, 26 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Same for quoted text: Text . Wasted space imo --Subfader 20:39, 26 July 2008 (UTC)

is so a single carriage return (when you hit the enter button once) will make the text jump down a line to function like a standard forum as opposed to how wiki's work, when you have to hit the enter button twice to jump down a single line (being the extension is a forum and not a wiki). The forum does this by "automated" code and does not pick and choose which line breaks it wants to do. Wiki code generates the headlines and they add a line-break, then when the user hits the enter button to start their text just under the heading the forum will add another line-break because the forum code detects a carriage return... I will look into this, but being its not a real problem and as my site "says" i do not have alot of time right now to spend on computer related projects i can not prommis any thing, you can add it to the todo list as a "want/wish" being its a personal preference if you want. As with the quote, that might be a css thing or how the user is using the quote tag, im pretty sure there are no line breaks added to that via code ((just too a quick peek at some quotes on my forum and didn't notice it) could be wrong, don't have the time to check it out right now, but it might be a padding setting the css for the quotes which your noticing) --AWC 04:19, 27 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Something to keep in mind; this extension is a forum and not a wiki so it will hold more forum characteristics then wiki characteristics. The reason behind the


 * Thanks for clearing it up. Headings in article: It works using Heading Followed by text (not ==). So there's no br being added after h2 but outpus is fine. About the quote: It's the code. When you hit quote, it will add it like this:
 * [QUOTE=Subfader [..URL.. Sat, 15:25]]
 * my quoted text[/quote]
 * That's where the break is created. Would look better if it was [QUOTE=Subfader [..URL.. Sat, 15:25]]my quoted text[/quote]. --Subfader 11:07, 27 July 2008 (UTC)