[chris (OP)]

Hello David; I'm not aware of any information depletion being done, certainly not intentionally. Can you point me towards a specific example of what is missing and I'll investigate. As far as I know everything that was there before has been carried over into the new template.

[chris (OP)]

UPDATE 2 - 18/9/17

Hi folks

A minor tweak to tell you about, which I finished ahead of time so I thought I'd make it active.

This is really just for interest sake, but I've altered the "info centre" which you can find at the bottom of the main board index (aka the forum front page - https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum) so that a) the formatting and text are a bit nicer and b) alongside the number of guests and logged-in users active in the last 15 minutes, it now also logs the total number of visitors who have come by during the day, so we can see who has dropped by to see us in the last 24 hours. Those names on the list are also linked to your profile.

As I say, mainly for interest, but it does mean that if you log on you'll see your name there and achieve a modicum of fame!

Thanks

Chris

[David Cooper]

Hello David; I'm not aware of any information depletion being done, certainly not intentionally. Can you point me towards a specific example of what is missing and I'll investigate. As far as I know everything that was there before has been carried over into the new template.

So it wasn't intentional! At the right-hand side of each sub-forum entry on the main index page, the only information now provided is "(55 viewing)", "(3 viewing)", etc. where previously it would have given details of the last post to that sub-forum including the date, time and the name of the person who made the most recent post there. If you are still seeing such details on the index page, then it may be another case of moderators seeing the site displayed differently from the hoi polloi.

The whole look of the forum changed shortly after I made post #36 to this thread, and ever since then all the text in people's posts has appeared in bold print for no obvious reason. That is when the data on the right in the index page disappeared (although such information still appears in the Updated Topics page, so it clearly wasn't someone flicking a universal kill switch), and the wording "New Topic" and "Reply" also vanished form the controls when looking at a sub-forum or a thread, leaving only an icon in a blue box which people might not recognise as the thing they want to click on.

[chris (OP)]

Thanks David.

The behaviour you are describing is definitely not right and should not be happening. It may be to do with what settings existing users are pegged to.  It might be necessary to reset all the users to the correct defaults.

I've tested the login with Amelia's login (newbie user) and it's behaving as it should and showing the latest post and poster data etc, exactly as you describe. The new topic and the reply buttons are also correctly displaying. Therefore I think it's a specific user setting that is doing this.

But, first things first, can you please post a screenshot of what you are seeing so I can investigate?

[David Cooper]

Solved!

The problem was that I'd accidentally zoomed the browser, probably by using ctrl with the "+" key instead of using a shift key, and I failed to notice that this had happened. It's stayed with that zoomed in setting ever since, despite multiple full reboots. With other sites and forums it makes no difference to the amount of information displayed, so I never suspected that this could have been the problem, but it was. Here, uniquely it simplifies the entire look of the forum and jettisons lots of information: the text in posts turns bold (except in quoted sections), the text on buttons like "new topic" and "reply" disappears, and the info about who last posted to a sub-forum and when vanishes too, as does the post count column, but on typing ctrl with "0" everything is immediately restored to normal. I only found this out because you asked to see a screen-grab, and I zoomed out to try to fit more into the picture. I might have suspected this sooner if yor_on hadn't confirmed some of the same behaviour, which leads me to wonder if the same cause is behind it for him too. It's an extraordinary coincidence that I must have accidentally zoomed in immediately after making reply #36 to this thread.

[Incidentally, I'm using XP and Chrome on a netbook with 600x1024 resolution.]

[chris (OP)]

Yes, it's built to be fully responsive so that people with restricted-view devices, or disabilities can use it easily. I'm glad that the problem has been solved all the same.

[chris (OP)]

Incidentally, I'm using XP and Chrome on a netbook with 600x1024 resolution.

PS - I think it might be time for an upgrade...

[chris (OP)]

This URL will generate an RSS feed for the latest new posts on the forum:
https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?type=rss;limit=50;action=.xml

If you want just new TOPICS (rather than posts) then use this URL instead:
https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?type=rss;sa=news;limit=50;action=.xml

Update to the above:

This URL will extract into an RSS feed the latest topics posted into just the mainstream science boards:
https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?type=rss2;action=.xml;sa=news;limit=50;boards=1,2,5,12,13,14,15,17,31,32,33,34,38;

[chris (OP)]

UPDATE - 19th November 2017

Hi everyone. This is a brief update note detailing just a minor improvement to the site function.

TAGS - The tag system has been updated. If you look at the tags page: https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?action=tags - you will see that the list of the most-recently tagged topics is now much longer (previously only the most recent 20 tags were listed); the formatting of the tag list has been changed to make the tags stand out more.

May I emphasise how helpful these tags are to increasing the visibility of your posts.

1) If you tag a new thread when you create on, using a comma separated list of a few key words or short phrases that best describe your thread, these words and phrases will be presented in the tag list on the tags page (https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?action=tags). This draws many more visits to your thread.

2) The tags are cross-referenced with each other. So if you enter a tag - let's say "gravity" for one of your posts - then it joins a list of other posts tagged similarly. Then, if someone searches for "gravity" tagged topics, they'll find your thread on the list.

Since we brought up gravity, here's a link to the gravity tag list to show you how this can work: https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?action=tags;tagid=129

So do please remember to add tags to your threads when you post them, and also to add tags to currently untagged topics that people have missed, or older threads that pre-date the present tagging era!

That's it for now. Hope you enjoy using the forum 

Chris

[chris (OP)]

UPDATE - 26/11/17

Hi folks!

Just a minor update to make you aware of this week. The core forum software has been upgraded following the release today of a security upgrade and a small bug-fix.

You should not notice any changes to your user experience, but if you do spot something that is misbehaving, please report it here and I'll take a look.

Many thanks 

Chris

[chris (OP)]

FIRST UPDATE OF 2018!

Happy New Year everyone!

This is more of a "how-to" tip than an update; there is a useful feature written into the forum which you may not have come across.

"Mentions" allow you to flag up replies or references to other users. You place an @ in front of the member's username and it becomes a link to their profile in your post.

But, more importantly, it also is added to a "mentions list" on that user's profile, so each of us can see who has mentioned us elsewhere on the forum during the last week or two.

This list is located in your profile under the members drop-down:

profile_snap.PNG (16.78 kB . 540x506 - viewed 12874 times)

Click on profile:

profile_menu_snap.PNG (10.77 kB . 431x337 - viewed 12874 times)

And then on the blue "profile" button:

profile_menu__clicked_snap.PNG (18.55 kB . 360x515 - viewed 12862 times)

...and then on "mentions", and you'll see a list of the latest mentions people have made of you!

profile_menu__list.PNG (19.13 kB . 1249x355 - viewed 12902 times)

[syhprum]

My discussion of TURP,s PAE et al seems to have disappeared perhaps because I made some sexist remarks as I thought a little humour was permitted in JUST CHAT , I offer my sincere apologies to the hard working and skilled ladies who operate the Ultrasound scan system whom I may have offended.

[Colin2B]

My discussion of TURP,s PAE et al seems to have disappeared perhaps because I made some sexist remarks as I thought a little humour was permitted in JUST CHAT , I offer my sincere apologies to the hard working and skilled ladies who operate the Ultrasound scan system whom I may have offended.

It’s still were you posted it in Geek Speak.
Perhaps you are also reaching an age where you forget where you put things 

I did consider moving it to the physiology area, would you like me to do that?

[syhprum]

Indeed I have reached such and age
Please move it into Physiology & Medicine and I will remove my flippant comments about Ultra scan operators. 

[chris (OP)]

JULY 2018 UPDATE

  Hello campers! Hi-de-Hi! 

Sorry, forgive the lame 1980s comedic opening. (Some people may remember the TV series I am referencing here)...

A couple of changes to update you about.

1) ANTI-SPAM
Our friends from Korea believe that we need more advertising for their online casinos and other mechanisms to separate your from your money. Unfortunately they've become so over-excited about their ventures that they are accidentally getting carried away and posting hundreds of duplicate threads linking to their nefarious ventures. How nice of them.

Because this sad abuse jeopardises the user experience for everyone else, and the moderators are sick and tired of deleting their pathetic attempts to promote gambling scams, we've adjusted our anti-spam system to employ a re-captcha system instead.

Some users will see this now appearing beneath the reply / posting box. Trusted, senior members will not be troubled, and once a member achieves sufficient seniority or good standing on the forum, this privilege will be awarded so the captcha challenge goes away.

This shouldn't be burdensome for you, and we apologise to newcomers for subjecting them to this additional tick-box, but we hope it will help to keep down our workload so that we have more time to devote to contributing to posts and answering questions rather than deleting rubbish.

If anyone notices that it is causing problems or affecting your user experience, please report this here, preferably accompanied by a screenshot so we can see - and investigate - the problem.


2) GDPR / Data protection / Privacy
In May 2018 the EU rolled out a new set of rules concerning personal data. This is called the GDPR and probably generated the world's largest tide of spam as operators everywhere fired off increasingly desperate email salvos assuring the people they have been spamming for over a decade that their data is safe.

Here are the Naked Scientists we have always been very careful about this sort of thing, and we were largely ahead of the rule changes anyway; nevertheless, we have made some minor alterations to the systems here to ensure that we are compliant with the requirements of the GDPR.

The alerations include:

a) - A clearly-published privacy policy, which you can review here:
https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?action=gpdr;sa=privacypolic

This is in addition to the more general information we provide about privacy and copyright:
https://www.thenakedscientists.com/privacy-and-copyright-policies

...and in addition to the Acceptable User Policy (AUP) that forms part of the registration process and to which everyone signs up to in order to post here:
https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=8535.0

b) - The ability for users to review the data held by the forum about you

c) - The ability to export your data from the forum.

To do either of b or c above, click on the MEMBERS link in the menu at the screen top, and select PROFILE from the drop-down menu

PROFILE.PNG (25.84 kB . 901x370 - viewed 13347 times)

Under the MODIFY PROFILE section, you'll see there's an option to "EXPORT YOUR DATA"

PROFILE-DATA-EXPORT.PNG (20.97 kB . 1178x406 - viewed 13319 times)

This actually provides you with two options: one is to "Export User Data Information" - which you do by clicking the link; the other is to "Export Posts".

d) - Deletion of your user has also been changed slightly.

Previously, a deleted username would remain visible against posts made by that user, although the personal data associated with that user were removed. Now, if you elect to delete your account, as well as the removal of all personally-identifiable data, the username against the posts that you have made will revert to an anonymous "guest" user. This step is irreversible: if you delete your account, we cannot re-associate your earlier posts with a new user that you may create subsequently, so please think carefully before choosing this course.

Thanks, everyone, for making this forum such a splendid place to hang out, and a special thanks to the moderators who work so hard to keep the place looking tidy!!

[guest39538]

Thanks, everyone, for making this forum such a splendid place to hang out, and a special thanks to the moderators who work so hard to keep the place looking tidy!!

I have a question regarding

NAKED SCIENTISTS COPYRIGHT POLICY

All content published on this website including any contributions you make, except if stated otherwise, will be regarded as owned by the Naked Scientists.

That means the Naked scientist owns everything and any ideas I have ever posted?


If so that's great....

[chris (OP)]

Thanks for highlighting the above. Actually that section refers to the main site content (radio shows, podcasts etc, which contain listener / audience-generated content, such as email questions) and we're saying that we own the resulting product.

You'll note it says "except if stated otherwise", and indeed, for the forum, the rules are slightly different. Under the AUP, and also under the registration agreement, is a section on copyright as it pertains to the forum which confirms that you own the material but, by using this forum, you allow us to show the content.

I hope that clears things up for you?

Chris

[chris (OP)]

NOVEMBER 2018 UPDATE

Hello everyone; great to see so many fantastic questions coming through and quite a few new members getting involved! My favourite question this month was the one by @davidk on fridge magnets - I learned a lot from the answers to that thread, so thanks to all involved.

This month's update is more of an explainer / feature update. We're going to add support for personal avatars to the main forum posts shortly; this means you can add an image of your choice to accompany your name / user in threads.

So far this is working for the "profile summary" view, so if you click Members > Profile > Forum Profile, at the top of the screen is a section labelled "Personalized Picture"; choose the radio button corresponding to uploading a picture and then choose a graphic file / photo. When you save this profile page it will upload and incorporate your picture. When you click Members > Profile > Summary you will see your image displayed.

Once people have got their images loaded we can activate the display of the avatars in the threads.

[chris (OP)]

DECEMBER 2018 UPDATE

Hello everyone  thanks for your continued support and participation in this forum; and an especially large vote of thanks to the moderators who do a sterling job of helping so many people and protecting you from the nuisances who want to push VPN subscriptions, viagra, online casinos and cures for herpes.

This is a brief update about two things:

1) Performance upgrade
- We have made some minor changes to the server configs; the site was not slow previously, but this should see things run even faster for you. But, like all these things, there can sometimes be unexpected side effects. So if you encounter any strange behaviour by the forum software, please report it here or in the error reporting section and we will take a look.

2) Naked Scientists Fundraiser
- This is a humble request, if you enjoy using this forum, to consider supporting the Naked Scientists with a modest donation to our annual fundraiser. The running costs of an operation on the scale of the Naked Scientists are considerable and it helps us enormously if users are able to make a contribution to help us to meet those costs.

Apart from the on-going maintenance and provision of this forum and the rest of our website, and the support of our staff who make the programmes we broadcast and give away for free, we have some exciting projects planned for 2019 including some new podcast channels (sneaky preview coming up soon). It's for all of these pursuits that we are seeking support now.

The donate page contains more information as well as a simple, secure donation system. If nothing else, the comments other people are leaving make for some nice reading.

Thanks everyone, and Merry Christmas! 

Chris

[chris (OP)]

HAPPY NEW YEAR - First Update of 2019

Hello everyone; I hope you all had a very pleasant Christmas and New Year. This year I managed to avoid breaking the website over the holidays, which turned my holiday last year into a week of hell, which some of you might remember!

This is a brief note about a couple of updates and upgrades that we have made over December and the first part of this month:

1) Cookie consent opt-in

We've always been very clear in our privacy policy page regarding how we operate on this website, but to make this even more transparent we introduced an opt-in pop-up.

You'll see this appear at the bottom of the page as a black bar with a green button. This contains a link to the privacy page so that you can review how we operate, in case you need to refresh your knowledge.

You will only be required to opt-in once. As soon as you do so, the system remembers you (unless you clear your browser data or switch computers or to another browser platform) and will not pester you again.

2) Notifications of new Naked Scientists programmes and articles

We implemented a notification system that you may choose to sign up to; this will pop-up a small window in the bottom right of your screen when the Naked Scientists publish specific types of content including new radio programmes or podcasts and science feature articles.

The first time you visit the site in your browser you will see a small red bell icon at the bottom right of the screen. Clicking on this produces a menu that enables you to elect to sign up to our notifications, or block them.

If you do sign up, we promise that you will not be pestered by this system. We have purposefully set it up to flag up only a small amount of our best content. We anticipate that we will produce only one or two such pieces every day or two.

You may opt out of the system by selecting "block" at the time of sign-up, or by visiting your browser settings and applying a block against our notifications from there.

3) "Tags" has been fixed.

We have fixed a long-term bug in the tagging system. The box inviting you to "add some tags to your post" at the time when you first create a new thread was failing to create the tags that were entered.

This has now been resolved. We tracked down the error and have resolved it, so do please resume using this system.

Adding tags to your posts makes them far more visible on the site and via the tags menu, meaning that they will most likely garner greater visitor engagement.


Lastly, thanks everyone for your energy and contributions to the forum, especially the moderators, and helping us to create what is an amazing place to learn.

Best wishes for 2019!

Chris