Some changes -- December 9, 2010
12-09-2010, 12:29 AM
#1
Administrator
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 459
Virtual Sections
The Virtual Sections feature has been renamed to Topic Lists. The functionality stays exactly the same. I renamed this feature to make its purpose more obvious to new users.
It became apparent to me that the choice of a name "Virtual Sections" was rather poor as it confused a lot of people into thinking they could post inside those virtual sections. Hopefully, there will be less confusion now.
Please let me remind you that Topic Lists are used to collect relevant topics and make keeping up with specific discussions (and group activities) easier.
Custom Sections
I completely changed the way sections of the board are handled. In the past, it was possible to exclude some sections from your view of Recent Topics and Unread Topics. I removed that functionality. Instead, now you can subscribe and unsubscribe from any section on the board.
You can do so from a link on My Profile page.
If you unsubscribe from a section, you will no longer see it on Home, Recent Topics, Unread Topics pages, which somewhat mimics the old functionality. As a matter of fact, current subscription settings have been imported from the "excluded sections" list of each user.
What's important about this change is that it allows me to add more sections without imposing them on all users. In other words, I can create a new section and only the people who are specifically interested in it can subscribe.
Contrary to the Virtual Sections (now Topic Lists), you will be able to create topics in new custom sections, just like in any other section on the board.
In the past, I was reluctant to add more sections because they would dilute the board or shift it off-topic. Now, if enough people express interest in some new section, I can add it without forcing it onto the entire user base.
P.S. Please let me know if you see any errors. I made some changes to the database schema, so it's possible that some things got broken in the process.
The Virtual Sections feature has been renamed to Topic Lists. The functionality stays exactly the same. I renamed this feature to make its purpose more obvious to new users.
It became apparent to me that the choice of a name "Virtual Sections" was rather poor as it confused a lot of people into thinking they could post inside those virtual sections. Hopefully, there will be less confusion now.
Please let me remind you that Topic Lists are used to collect relevant topics and make keeping up with specific discussions (and group activities) easier.
Custom Sections
I completely changed the way sections of the board are handled. In the past, it was possible to exclude some sections from your view of Recent Topics and Unread Topics. I removed that functionality. Instead, now you can subscribe and unsubscribe from any section on the board.
You can do so from a link on My Profile page.
If you unsubscribe from a section, you will no longer see it on Home, Recent Topics, Unread Topics pages, which somewhat mimics the old functionality. As a matter of fact, current subscription settings have been imported from the "excluded sections" list of each user.
What's important about this change is that it allows me to add more sections without imposing them on all users. In other words, I can create a new section and only the people who are specifically interested in it can subscribe.
Contrary to the Virtual Sections (now Topic Lists), you will be able to create topics in new custom sections, just like in any other section on the board.
In the past, I was reluctant to add more sections because they would dilute the board or shift it off-topic. Now, if enough people express interest in some new section, I can add it without forcing it onto the entire user base.
P.S. Please let me know if you see any errors. I made some changes to the database schema, so it's possible that some things got broken in the process.
12-09-2010, 09:10 AM
#10
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Michigan's Upper Peninsula
Posts: 857
Originally Posted by greensleeves
Originally Posted by missgigglewings
Thanks for explaining the "hows" and "whys" to us. We appreciate your leadership, your guidance, and your hardwork!
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