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satay
15 March 2015, 11:52 PM
Namaste,

HDF software has been upgraded successfully. The whole process took about 2 hours but the actual time is close to 8 hours including planning, dev install and post upgrade process etc. Overall everything seem to have gone smoothly.

Over the next few days I will be making further changes. There are quite a few new features for users and mods which will take some time to learn.

The look is completely different. It will take some time to get used to it.

We will need a new logo as none of the current logos match the colour scheme. If you feel creative, please go ahead and create a new logo. For now, I placed the first ever logo created for HDF. This logo was on for many years yet it too does not match with the current theme.

The articles and blogs features are turned on.

Also note the 'Mobile Style' selection at the bottom of each page. That style is optimized for viewing via smart phone or a tablet.

While typing this post, I also noted that system is 'auto saving' my post. A very good feature.

Let me know by posting on this thread if you run into or notice any issues in the days to come.

Thanks again for your patience.

Ram11
16 March 2015, 01:05 AM
Namaste Satay Ji,

The new interface appears smooth but I think it will take us some time to adjust.The shade used previously was good.Also,can you add the quote(Na hi jnanena..) from BG we used to have as the forum quote.

The auto-saving feature is cool.
EDIT:
If we hover on the mail type icon to the right side of a thread it is showing how many posts we wrote in that thread.If this feature is new,its nice.:)

satay
16 March 2015, 01:12 AM
Namaste
yes, that's what I was saying in my last post. Don't forget that we had the old format for nine years. This will take some time to get used to. I will experiment putting other logos I have that have that quote on but they don't match with the color scheme so we will need to create a new logo. I am not good at creating pictures so hoping that someone else will take the lead on that.

Ram11
16 March 2015, 01:22 AM
Namaste Satay Ji,

There was one option called posts in last 24 hrs,48 hrs,7 days,is it available now?

Amrut
16 March 2015, 04:50 AM
Congrats Satay ji (and all of us :) ) for upgrading software of HDF. It will take to get used to the new layout, but it feels good and fresh.

Thanks a ton for your continuous effort to maintain HDF and giving us a platform to discuss on sanAtan dharma.

Just one thing, I do not remember the alternate domain names you have registered. If you have renewed them, please list them here. Do you require to add them in vbulletin?

Hari OM

Kind Regards

Amrut
16 March 2015, 04:52 AM
Namaste,

One thing I noticed

http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?13853-Article-How-to-Create-a-New-Article

If you visit the above link, it points to another link, which I cannot access due to permission issues.

If anyone else facing similar problem?

Hari OM

Aanandinii
16 March 2015, 07:33 AM
Namaste Satayji,

Wow, awesome to have a mobile optimized view! Fantastic upgrade, thank you and all who put in so much time and work.

The mobile view does still need some work. Forums, subforums and threads are not spaced well, so you can see the first few letters of the person who made a post, but not the whole name, and not the date or time. It's all squished up and truncated.

Avatars are missing entirely from mobile view. If this can be fixed it would be helpful.

Is there any way to tweak the color scheme just a bit? In mobile view the difference in colors between a read thread and an unread one is a bit subtle. At least at first look it seems so.

Thank you all again!

~Pranam

Believer
16 March 2015, 09:28 AM
Namaste,

Looking Good Satay!

Pranam.

Eastern Mind
16 March 2015, 09:38 AM
Vannakkam Satay:

I like it.

Aum Namasivaya

satay
16 March 2015, 12:32 PM
namaste,


Namaste Satay Ji,

There was one option called posts in last 24 hrs,48 hrs,7 days,is it available now?


This was not part of the software and is not a feature of the new version either. I had to create a custom query to make it work. I was able to figure out how to make it work in the new version too. Check it out at the nav bar on top, two new links for it.

Thanks,

satay
16 March 2015, 12:33 PM
namaste
Alternate domain names are:

www.hindudharmaforums.org
www.hindudharmaforums.net
www.vedichdarmaforums.org
www.vedicdharmaforums.net
www.vedicdharmaforums.com

satay
16 March 2015, 12:35 PM
namaste
Yes, there was a permission issue. However, I have turned off the Articles feature for now until I figure out how it works in the admin panel. The admin panel is completely changed and there is much to learn there.


Namaste,

One thing I noticed

http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?13853-Article-How-to-Create-a-New-Article

If you visit the above link, it points to another link, which I cannot access due to permission issues.

If anyone else facing similar problem?

Hari OM

satay
16 March 2015, 12:36 PM
namaste,
I wil be looking into the mobile style in the days to come. From what I can tell, the default mobile style is pretty minimalistic for obvious reasons.


Namaste Satayji,

Wow, awesome to have a mobile optimized view! Fantastic upgrade, thank you and all who put in so much time and work.

The mobile view does still need some work. Forums, subforums and threads are not spaced well, so you can see the first few letters of the person who made a post, but not the whole name, and not the date or time. It's all squished up and truncated.

Avatars are missing entirely from mobile view. If this can be fixed it would be helpful.

Is there any way to tweak the color scheme just a bit? In mobile view the difference in colors between a read thread and an unread one is a bit subtle. At least at first look it seems so.

Thank you all again!

~Pranam

satay
16 March 2015, 12:37 PM
namaste,
I am glad that you and Eastern Mind like it.

Thank you.


Namaste,

Looking Good Satay!

Pranam.

devotee
17 March 2015, 12:35 AM
Namaste Satay,

On first look, I find it with some new features. I like the look and design. In earlier version, there was a limitation of only 50 messages in inbox and outbox taken together. The same limitation appears now too. Can this be increased ?

OM

Amrut
17 March 2015, 12:58 AM
namaste
Yes, there was a permission issue. However, I have turned off the Articles feature for now until I figure out how it works in the admin panel. The admin panel is completely changed and there is much to learn there.

Namaste,

You will also have to find a way to put links on horizontal navbar like we had in older version of HDF (online library of shastras, etc), rules for HDF, etc

Hari OM

Avyaydya
17 March 2015, 10:10 PM
Namaste Satay.ji

Looks very nice, sophisticated.
I like the softer pastel colours.
Auto save feature is a welcome improvement.

Thanks

Amrut
18 March 2015, 12:49 AM
Namaste,

Sometimes when I try to log in, HDF says, invalid URL. Upon second attempt, I can successfully login. At times we are logged out before we finish typing response to a post. Hence we have to login again and the post is published. I dont know if I fail to login in first attempt, the un replied post gets published or vbulletin takes me to home page upon second attempt to login.

Initially I thought I must have made typing mistake while login in, but it's not the case.

If anyone facing the same issue.

Hari OM

satay
18 March 2015, 09:36 AM
namaste,
The logon issue has happened to me a couple of times and I thought I was typing my password wrong but now that you mentioned it too I will look into it more closely. Right now I am not sure why this is happening.

Soul of Light
21 March 2015, 04:32 AM
Hello satay ji,Come back on HDF after some days and you give me surprise by changing its looks, Its cool...Same question as devotee ji,What is recent storage capacity of messages it is till 50 as I don't see it...Pranam

Viraja
21 March 2015, 07:51 AM
I clicked on the 'Search' function and there were 2 messages on top of the search window:

Warning: Declaration of vBForum_Item_SocialGroupMessage::getLoadQuery() should be compatible with that of vB_Model::getLoadQuery() in ..../packages/vbforum/item/socialgroupmessage.php on line 261

Warning: Declaration of vBForum_Item_SocialGroupDiscussion::getLoadQuery() should be compatible with that of vB_Model::getLoadQuery() in ..../packages/vbforum/item/socialgroupdiscussion.php on line 337

Thanks.

IcyCosmic
21 March 2015, 09:01 AM
http://i.imgur.com/55RjPSz.png

Amrut
22 March 2015, 02:36 AM
Namaste,

I wanted to change the signature and it showed following error

The following errors occurred with your submission

Your signature cannot be longer than 500 characters including BB code markup.
Your signature contains too many lines and must be shortened. You may only have up to 1 line(s). Long text may have been implicitly wrapped, causing it to be counted as multiple lines.
BB code url is not allowed.
BB code font is not allowed.
BB code color is not allowed.



In short this is more or less a text only signature. This was not the case with earlier version. Please check.

Hari OM

Amrut
22 March 2015, 02:50 AM
namaste,

I think you must have used unicode font to type. Indic Unicode font is partially supported by CorelDraw, inkscape and GIMP. I have not tried Photoshop.

The title should look like

।। न हि ज्ञानेन सदृशं पवित्रमिह विद्यते ।। भ.गीता 4.37

In India, people use either Akruti or Shri Lipi. Akruti needs DVD to work. The fonts are temporarily installed on PC, but without Akruti you cannot view the fonts. Hence you can type in Corel Draw and convert them into curves or in GIMP or Inkscape you can directly send image as a jpg.

Note: Google Chrome Browser in Linux Mint 17 LTS is not showing Unicode fonts properly but Firefox does.

Visit Gita Super Site (http://www.gitasupersite.iitk.ac.in/) (now revamped, Beta site is down) and select any verses.

There is another way. We can type Sanskrit verses in Roman.

Since I am not an artist, I have not checked any of the programs. GIMP and Inkscape are free and Open Source cross platform softwares.

If someone is good at creating banner and headers, they can give HDF header with two options, with and without quotes i.e. only backgrounds with no quotes and later other users may give quotes which can be incorporated later on. In this way, we can also have custom headers for important festivals like Dipavali, etc.

One of my favourite quote is

।। ज्ञानाग्निः सर्वकर्माणि भस्मसात्कुरुते तथा ।। भ.गीता 4.37

।। सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज ।। भ.गीता 18.66

।। अहं त्वा सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः ।। भ.गीता 18.66

।। योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम् ।। भ.गीता 9.22

।। अहमात्मा गुडाकेश सर्वभूताशयस्थितः ।। भ.गीता 10.20

Any thoughts on this?

P.S. It's a good banner :) Thanks for sharing.

Hari OM

hinduism♥krishna
23 March 2015, 07:37 AM
Now the forum looks fantastic. It's fun to use it now. Thank You, admin.

satay
24 March 2015, 09:46 AM
namaste,
May I ask you to look at http://www.vbstyles.com/vbulletin-4x-skins-c1.html and see if you like a style. I will purchase the style that's most like by members. Please take a look.

satay
24 March 2015, 09:47 AM
namaste,
Let me look into this.


I clicked on the 'Search' function and there were 2 messages on top of the search window:

Warning: Declaration of vBForum_Item_SocialGroupMessage::getLoadQuery() should be compatible with that of vB_Model::getLoadQuery() in ..../packages/vbforum/item/socialgroupmessage.php on line 261

Warning: Declaration of vBForum_Item_SocialGroupDiscussion::getLoadQuery() should be compatible with that of vB_Model::getLoadQuery() in ..../packages/vbforum/item/socialgroupdiscussion.php on line 337

Thanks.

Amrut
24 March 2015, 10:57 AM
Namaste Satay ji,

If we have to stick to blue, I think BlueSaint 4.x vBulletin Theme (http://www.vbstyles.com/bluesaint-4x-vbulletin-theme-i15.html) might be suit (under light skin).

For different colour Aria Chocolate 4.x vBulletin Theme (http://www.vbstyles.com/aria-chocolate-4x-vbulletin-theme-i22.html)

Are you sure you want ot buy them? They cost $35. Not much for you, but in INR it's Rs. 2184.00 :)

Avyaydya
24 March 2015, 10:59 AM
namaste,
May I ask you to look at http://www.vbstyles.com/vbulletin-4x-skins-c1.html and see if you like a style. I will purchase the style that's most like by members. Please take a look.
Namaste Sataj.ji

I like present style better than any of those.

Believer
24 March 2015, 11:32 AM
Namaste,

Anyone with a basic knowledge of Physics (Optics) would know that black letters on white background is the best combination for eyes. Besides the letters should be as thick as possible. The youngsters have sharp eyesight and can handle a myriad of combinations, but as you get older you learn not to stress your eyes (or any other organ) more than you have to. Any contrasting colors used to highlight text, too should be of the hue that is dark and bold. These are mere suggestions and whatever pleases the majority of the members/site owner/Mods. may be implemented. In our youth, we do tend to admire the colorful neon signs more than in the later stages of life.

Pranam.

satay
24 March 2015, 01:03 PM
namaste
I personally prefer the Synapse style listed there due to the kesari color in it but that's only my choice. We have no rush to change the skin but was wondering anyway. No worries about the cost.

Amrut
25 March 2015, 12:37 AM
namaste
I personally prefer the Synapse style listed there due to the kesari color in it but that's only my choice. We have no rush to change the skin but was wondering anyway. No worries about the cost.

Namaste,

Synapse style is also good. I was about to mention, but it's a little catchy. It has bold blue tone. Hence I gave other options.

satay
25 March 2015, 09:54 AM
namaste,
a bunch of other choices...http://themeforest.net/category/forums/vbulletin
Check it out please.

IcyCosmic
25 March 2015, 06:53 PM
Namaste,
I'm surprised at the poor choice of themes available for vBulletin considering how popular of a forum software it is. A lot of these themes are extremely dated visually. Not that it matters or that HDF needs to fit the bill for web 2.0/3.0 design. Though in all fairness VB has always been like this...more focused on security.

In general the ones on themeforest seem a little better, but all the ones with lighter colours seem OK. This default theme you are currently using is actually better than a lot of the ''premium'' themes on offer.

Edit : By the way Satay is there a way to rep members currently?

hinduism♥krishna
26 March 2015, 12:10 AM
Hello, whichever theme you'd choose, as per my suggestion it'd be in ORANGE color .

Avyaydya
26 March 2015, 08:10 AM
Namaste,
I'm surprised at the poor choice of themes available for vBulletin considering how popular of a forum software it is. A lot of these themes are extremely dated visually. Not that it matters or that HDF needs to fit the bill for web 2.0/3.0 design. Though in all fairness VB has always been like this...more focused on security.

In general the ones on themeforest seem a little better, but all the ones with lighter colours seem OK. This default theme you are currently using is actually better than a lot of the ''premium'' themes on offer.

Edit : By the way Satay is there a way to rep members currently?
So did I. I found better ones, also free, here, but I still also like the present one:
http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=247&order=desc
http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=314966
(http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=314966)

Viraja
26 March 2015, 07:23 PM
I liked old HDF style so much... I miss it! :) :p

Aanandinii
27 March 2015, 07:35 AM
Namaste Ji,

Regarding skins... I guess my first question would be what is important to the Mods and Admin here? Are you simply looking for a nice new layout, something closer to the old, or do you also want more scripting capability to play with? Some of the themes available in the second link have CSS and XHTML capability... Of those I think Pristine is the nicest, but if the layout is really the priority then I think Primus is better.

From the first link, looking only at layout, I also like Synapse, but I think element is closer to the old look. I also quite like Premium Grey - it has some nice color contrasts - and Anamorph.

~Pranam

Mystical Soul
27 March 2015, 10:35 AM
Namaste is there any reason why the words are cut in half? It is as if a line were drawn half way through the words and only the top half can be read. Is there something I can do to fix this.

Mystical Soul
27 March 2015, 10:36 AM
Namaste sorry my last post did not have a proper ending.
AUM

Amrut
28 March 2015, 09:23 AM
Namaste,

I like Pristine http://themeforest.net/item/pristine-a-vbulletin-4-suite-theme/full_screen_preview/8519453

Primus is available in 5 colours. This may give a lot of choice if the price includes 5 colours, else Blue is good one.

I guess, Orange is for Hindutva ;)

Those who like default theme, may keep it. This will most probably an additional option. Default theme is a general theme. If you need to have your own identity, then having a custom / premium theme is a better choice.

Those with weak eye sight might reduce contrast and increase brightness, as old eyes need more light to 'see' clearly.

Abhishek Born Again
30 March 2015, 02:01 AM
Namaskar,
Few day away from HDF and here I come back to a nice surprise.This design or format (whatever it is :P) is nice and as Lord Krishna has said "Change is the only Truth".I like this change here.But Sir only one question did you do this with the help of MS Access software?

Dhanyavad

satay
30 March 2015, 08:58 AM
namaste,


Namaskar,
Few day away from HDF and here I come back to a nice surprise.This design or format (whatever it is :P) is nice and as Lord Krishna has said "Change is the only Truth".I like this change here.But Sir only one question did you do this with the help of MS Access software?

Dhanyavad

No. No MS Access here.

ShivaFan
30 March 2015, 04:26 PM
What a great surprise! The format looks very nice, the site seems to have a great feel to it. Sort of like a new set of shoes! Now I can have fun taking a stroll.

Abhishek Born Again
31 March 2015, 12:06 AM
namaste,



No. No MS Access here.

Ok I see :)

c.smith
31 March 2015, 04:21 PM
Hari Om!

SatayJi,

What a pleasant surprise to come back to and am especially grateful for the mobile version. Your seva never goes unappreciated and I for one would like to congratulate you on the fine update to the site. Kudos!

Om

satay
31 March 2015, 09:00 PM
Namaste,
Thank you. I also love the mobile version. You can choose that style from the drop down at the bottom of the page.


Hari Om!

SatayJi,

What a pleasant surprise to come back to and am especially grateful for the mobile version. Your seva never goes unappreciated and I for one would like to congratulate you on the fine update to the site. Kudos!

Om

satay
31 March 2015, 09:00 PM
Namaste,
The article and blog feature is now turned on. Let me know if you run into any issues using these.

Amrut
30 April 2015, 09:32 AM
Namaste Satay ji,

After few days, I logged in back. As always, I am not able to login in first attempt.

The message is

Invalid Redirect URL (http://hindudharmaforums.com/)

While the home page of HDF is

http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/

Notice the difference.

If I remember correctly, once I got an error in which url was vedicdharmaforums instead of hindudharmaforums

Is anybody else having facing this issue.

Hari OM

satay
30 April 2015, 02:12 PM
namaste,
Yes, I am having the same issue but it is random and hard to pin point the cause but your observation has given me a path to explore. I suspect it might be the setup on the server for multiple domains. I will start by looking there.
Thanks,

Namaste Satay ji,

After few days, I logged in back. As always, I am not able to login in first attempt.

The message is

Invalid Redirect URL (http://hindudharmaforums.com/)

While the home page of HDF is

http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/

Notice the difference.

If I remember correctly, once I got an error in which url was vedicdharmaforums instead of hindudharmaforums

Is anybody else having facing this issue.

Hari OM

deafAncient
30 April 2015, 03:33 PM
Namaste Satay,

There are several problems, not that bad, but you might want to look into it.

First of all, I cannot upload any images from my computer, even though they are valid JPG files so that I can show you each of three issues with the web site.

Problem one: several words on the right side of the image are run together with no room for separate displaying. That happens when text is zoomed upward (I have a later-stage cataract in the reading eye that is not yet operable).

Problem two: In Advanced Search, notice the two warning text above the HDF banner.

Problem three: Below that, you cannot enter text in the box directly below "User Name," and the layout appears broken up when zoomed upwards.

Otherwise, it's working well.

Oh, and when I try to do a search on threads I started, they do not come up. One I can think of is "What am I?" I end up having to search by my user name instead (and I have to type that in at the search box on the main page of the forum instead of advance search).

The member directory is missing entirely, or the link is not in a place where I can find it easily.

Praṇāma

satay
05 May 2015, 10:20 AM
namaste,
'MembersList' can be accessed by clicking on Community (on the top tool bar) then selecting Memberslist from the menu.
I have fixed the warning messages on the advanced search page and the random redirect webpage error.
Still working on Albums and picture upload issue. The funcationality is enabled but not sure yet why it's not working. Will keep you posted.

Thank you for your patience.

Amrut
05 May 2015, 10:33 AM
Namaste,

I have not faced login issues since yesterday. Thank you for solving it :)