RPC Update 2012, Part I - Kylin - 01-07-2012
Please be sure to refresh your browser (possibly more than once) in order for some changes to appear properly. Also please note that this is only part I of II in the update. The second part of the update will involve drastic physical appearance changes and database (users/posts) purging. This part focuses primarily on laying groundwork, cleaning up, and expanding/adding features in preparation for part 2.
In some ways, the forum may look a bit messier than it was originally (especially in the header and sidebar). This update was much bigger than I originally intended it to be. However, this is necessary groundwork for the next big update so please be patient in this transition. Feedback is much appreciated, whether it be ideas or constructive criticism.
Without further ado, here’s the list of changes!
 *Forum template files have been updated from version 3.0.1 to 3.0.10 (a total of nine version updates). The number of improvements and bug fixes for this are extremely extensive and it would be nigh impossible for me to list them all. So just know that this upgrade was a serious leap forward in almost all aspects >.>. If you're super into coding, here's a list of SOME of the fixes (though not all). Otherwise, skip ahead.
Bugs fixed
[PHPBB3-5506] - Deleting all items from last page results in empty list display
[PHPBB3-6458] - Width of Topics and Posts columns in Board Index is causing problems with language packs
[PHPBB3-7138] - Cannot display simple header/footer with trigger_error()
[PHPBB3-7291] - Broken links of char selection in memberlist
[PHPBB3-7932] - Fix font size in select boxes
[PHPBB3-8094] - Text in the forums.php and install.php not matching
[PHPBB3-8173] - Redundant BBCode helpline in JS
[PHPBB3-8177] - February 29th birthdays not shown in non-leap year
[PHPBB3-8571] - Users can make their age a negative number on memberlist
[PHPBB3-8691] - Error creating log_time index
[PHPBB3-8937] - Code tags - single space indent
[PHPBB3-9008] - Incorrect unread topic tracking for unapproved topics
[PHPBB3-9066] - Invalid Prefix Names Allowed
[PHPBB3-9416] - HTML entities in poll titles and options incorrectly re-encoded
[PHPBB3-9525] - Minimum characters per post/message should never be '0'
[PHPBB3-9645] - XHTML error on phpinfo page in ACP
[PHPBB3-9776] - When deleting and recreating a poll, old options aren't deleted and reappear with the new ones
[PHPBB3-9956] - No error message displayed when disapprove reason is invalid or empty
[PHPBB3-9976] - Direct post links open the wrong page of viewtopic when multiple posts are posted in the same second
[PHPBB3-9978] - Missing semicolons in // <![CDATA[ part of overall_header.html
[PHPBB3-10087] - Limited browser support for ban exclusion emphasis
[PHPBB3-10157] - Missing error handling when a custom profile field is not defined for current language
[PHPBB3-10166] - Post-admin activation email confusingly refers to username
[PHPBB3-10187] - XHTML error in ucp_groups_manage.html
[PHPBB3-10190] - Misleading information about permissions displayed after editing forum settings
[PHPBB3-10212] - Captcha not displayed when username not exists
[PHPBB3-10216] - Updater's failed query language grammatically incorrect
[PHPBB3-10226] - Mysqli dbal extension does not allow connection via pipes
[PHPBB3-10227] - Mysqli dbal extension does not allow persistent connection for PHP >= 5.3.0
[PHPBB3-10237] - Unwatching a forum/topic does not check for correct hash parameter
[PHPBB3-10240] - Word filter evasion
[PHPBB3-10253] - IE9 Quote problem
[PHPBB3-10255] - gitignore ignores too much
[PHPBB3-10257] - AAAA record parsing fails on older versions of Windows
[PHPBB3-10259] - Incorrect email on joining Open group
[PHPBB3-10265] - Unit test tests/random/mt_rand.php is not run because of missing _test suffix.
[PHPBB3-10266] - Poor navigation links after reporting a post
[PHPBB3-10267] - Missing strlen() on $table_prefix in db tools index name length check
[PHPBB3-10274] - Hardcoded module ID in "Re-check version" link on ACP front page
[PHPBB3-10275] - Wrong information about sent passwords in FAQ
[PHPBB3-10292] - Whitespace inconsistency in acp_ranks
[PHPBB3-10293] - Jumpbox allows jumping to invalid forums in prosilver
[PHPBB3-10294] - sqlsrv_rows_affected non-functional in MSSQLNative.php
[PHPBB3-10296] - incorrect cross join in SQL Server
[PHPBB3-10298] - EMBED Tag Not Closed Properly In subSilver2 attachment.html
[PHPBB3-10299] - Typo in comment about $max_store_length in truncate_string() (in functions_content.php)
[PHPBB3-10303] - send_status_line() doesn't validate user input
[PHPBB3-10304] - Bad url in U_ICQ on /ucp_mp_viewmessage.php
[PHPBB3-10307] - Return value of $db->sql_fetchrow() on empty tables is not consistent
[PHPBB3-10309] - Utf tests download data into temporary locations deep in source tree
[PHPBB3-10320] - "Most active topic" can leak topic title of topics in password-protected forums
[PHPBB3-10321] - Link to page 1 of the Memberlist has a useless question mark at the end
[PHPBB3-10324] - XHTML error in Prosilver - MCP - User Notes
[PHPBB3-10339] - Typo in prosilver's mcp_front.html
[PHPBB3-10341] - Topic title of "0" does not show as "Most active topic"
[PHPBB3-10351] - Invalid syntax for Oracle's sql_column_remove()
[PHPBB3-10352] - Missing break for Oracle's sql_table_drop()
[PHPBB3-10365] - Moderators can view forbidden information
[PHPBB3-10377] - All moderators can change topic type
[PHPBB3-10394] - Tests use call-time pass by reference which results in Fatal error on PHP 5.4
[PHPBB3-10397] - Pagination code inconsistency
[PHPBB3-10400] - '0' (zero) not allowed as forum name
[PHPBB3-10413] - Make create_schema_files usable
[PHPBB3-10416] - Use dbport in phpbb_database_test_connection_manager::connect()
[PHPBB3-10420] - Update startup to account for PHP 5.4
[PHPBB3-10421] - Interchanged parameters in includes/acp/acp_users.php
[PHPBB3-10422] - Unnecessary <!-- IF --> statement in viewtopic_body.html
[PHPBB3-10435] - Topic count mismatch on viewforum
[PHPBB3-10437] - Announcements on moderation queue are not hidden
[PHPBB3-10446] - Unencoded 8bit characters in email headers
[PHPBB3-10452] - XHTML error when printing a PM
[PHPBB3-10461] - MCP's recent actions list is empty
[PHPBB3-10479] - Remove PostgreSQL version numbers from driver's language string
[PHPBB3-10485] - XHTML error in Prosilver - index and viewforum
[PHPBB3-10488] - Database updater for 3.0.10-RC1 overwrites config variable email_max_chunk_size without checking for custom value
[PHPBB3-10497] - SQL error when guest visits forum with unread topic
[PHPBB3-10319] - Missing hidden fields in search form
[PHPBB3-10501] - Description of table prefix is wrong
[PHPBB3-10502] - ./../support/documents.php?mode=changelog&version=3 has a typo: 'red' should be 'read'.
[PHPBB3-10503] - Debug error when previewing edits
[PHPBB3-10504] - MCP Layout STILL broken in ProSilver when screen is resized to less 1200 pixels
[PHPBB3-10531] - Last remaining style can be uninstalled
Improvement
[PHPBB3-8616] - Add direct link to PM to notification message
[PHPBB3-9036] - Forums that can be listed but not read expose forum information
[PHPBB3-9297] - Add support for Extended Passive Mode (EPSV) in class ftp_fsock to better support IPv6 connections.
[PHPBB3-9307] - Mass email $max_chunk_size
[PHPBB3-9361] - Edit account settings - Improved clarification needed
[PHPBB3-9778] - Member Search from the Admin Control Panel is not Intuitive
[PHPBB3-9898] - Readme needs updating to reflect more opening for patches
[PHPBB3-9995] - Unnecessary coding in display_forums() in functions_display.php
[PHPBB3-10032] - BBCode Add List Item Control Name Contains Typo
[PHPBB3-10074] - Change default value of 'Set as special rank' to No for Add new rank
[PHPBB3-10185] - Board startdate not being set
[PHPBB3-10189] - Add "automatically generated" comment into schema-files.
[PHPBB3-10199] - Performance: viewtopic has a useless join
[PHPBB3-10222] - Also build language and styles changes in diff/patch format
[PHPBB3-10239] - Add "Are you sure" confirmation to backup restore in ACP
[PHPBB3-10243] - Add gmgetdate() wrapper for getdate() which returns dates in UTC.
[PHPBB3-10245] - Messenger uses output buffering for error collection, should use error collector instead
[PHPBB3-10246] - Remove VCS section from docs/coding-guidelines.html
[PHPBB3-10254] - Remove style names from themes and fix some information on it
[PHPBB3-10263] - Add phpbb_version_compare() wrapper for version_compare()
[PHPBB3-10278] - Improve timeout handling in get_remote_file()
[PHPBB3-10315] - Radio Buttons in ACP are clipped in Safari - Fix suggested
[PHPBB3-10327] - Use "ALTER TABLE ... ADD INDEX" instead of "CREATE INDEX"
[PHPBB3-10334] - Birthday List display not dependent on user privileges
[PHPBB3-10335] - Responses to bots should have extra header to be used by reverse proxies
[PHPBB3-10346] - Add drop_tables key for database updater
[PHPBB3-10354] - When template tests are skipped because cache is not writable, print cache directory path
[PHPBB3-10369] - Change error collector to always report errfile and errline
[PHPBB3-10370] - Various improvements for get_backtrace()
[PHPBB3-10402] - Displaying report texts with linebreaks and clickable links
[PHPBB3-10419] - Add mbstring PHP ini parameters checks to ACP
[PHPBB3-10430] - Some typos and the like in docs/coding-guidelines.html
New Feature
[PHPBB3-8240] - Request: db_tools to have two additional functions, table list and column list
Removed Journalists and Epic Committee user groups (done prior to update, but figured I’d announce it anyway!).
Deleted Scribe Chambers section (done prior to update). All future wiki related inquiries can simply be made in the Lounge.
Reinstated Archives section to act as a substitute for the wiki for those who prefer forum profile formatting (done prior to update).
A new classifieds feature has been added, along with a forum section that links to the page. This feature serves as an IC bazaar that can be used to put notices up regarding what characters may want to buy/sell/trade. This can include anything from artifacts to gear to items to services and more! In addition, a “recent ads†block has been added to the forum sidebar. This sidebar may be removed/drastically modified in part II. You may utilize the classifieds section at any time via the forum link in the Resources section.
*The wiki user database is now linked to the forum user database. Translation: You must now login to the wiki using the same username and password as you do on the forums. Those not registered on the forums can not edit the wiki. All usernames previously used on the wiki are no longer usable.
The Calendar tab has been renamed to “Events†and is now located neatly with the other tabs.
Reformatted forum layout into the following categories/sections:
Category 1: News
Forum sections: Headlines, Welcome Desk, and Guild Hall
Category 2: General
Forum sections: Assembly Room, The Pub, Artisan House, Hydaelyn Observatory, Lounge
Category 3: Resources
Forum sections: Archives, Directory, Classifieds
Category 4: Role-play
Forum sections: Bulletin Board, Town Square, Tonberry’s Lantern
RPC Facebook and Twitter links removed due to lack of use. The accounts themselves will likely be closed soon, though this will not be announced.
Statistics box has been relocated to the bottom of the forums instead of the sidebar.
Avatars have been added to the member list. Hovering over an avatar will display it in a larger size. In addition to this, the memberlist is now much easier to access due to permission changes and the user interface change.
Footer has been edited and cleaned up. Subscribing to topics, bookmarking, bumping a topic, and emailing a topic are all accessible there.
Forum will now instantly auto-direct after logging in, logging out, or posting a message. In the past, you would be forced to view a confirmation message and navigate manually back to the forums. This is no longer the case. Other operations may be altered in a similar way in the next update, though I prefer users request these on a case-by-case basis please.
The Gallery section has been updated for a slightly cleaner appearance and upgraded features/bug fixes. Please note that all guildleve box borders have been removed from all gallery blocks. This is intended to be this way since all borders will soon be removed in the next update. In addition, please note that other minor bugs may exist as a result of the update in regards to colors. Please report such bugs if you find them.
The linkshell section has been overhauled. The Linkshells tab will now lead directly to the sticky in the Guild Hall, which has also been drastically overhauled for easier editing and a cleaner look. Please note that this format is still not entirely finalized and may be edited (especially with regards to color and content) in the future. Also note that you may utilize a similar tab system in your Guild Hall post if you so wish via the tab button on the third line in the editing box.
[tab=30]--In addition to the above change, linkshell categorization has changed slightly. “Casual†has been renamed as “Light.†“Moderate†has been renamed as “Medium.â€Â
The home page’s music widget has been fused with the welcome box. Music has also been changed to the same music used once upon a time during with the old linkshell teaser flash site!
The text editing tool for posting has been cleaned up a bit for a more organized look (mostly done prior to update).
User interface has been altered drastically to allow access to private messages, the user control panel, and more from the banner (and thus, on any and all other pages). Please note that the entire banner area will be further modified to compliment this new interface in the next update. So please ignore the sloppy look of it for the time being. Also note that with this change, the user control panel and member list submenu items under the “Forums†tab are now gone.
[tab=30]--For the time being, the regular user panel on the sidebar still exists. This may be altered with the next update phase. As such, there will be more room for other side widgets.
[tab=30]--For the duration of this banner transition, the randomized banner system has been disabled. Random banners will ideally be enabled again in part II with the new banners.
Overall size (width) of the forum has increased slightly. This change will make the background not as lined up with the forums as it once was. This resize is merely a temporary state of being. The forum will increase in width yet again in part 2 and a new background will be implemented along with it.
Phase 1 of member list cleanup complete. 43 users have been deleted from the RPC database. Please see this thread for further details. All emails of these users have been preserved in the Admin Chambers of the forums for mass email campaigns near 2.0.
The User Control Panel has been slightly revised for a slightly cleaner look. It will be further modified in part II.
[tab=30]--“Edit friends†tab moved under profile tab. Adding foes has been removed entirely due to being unnecessary for a forum such as this.
[tab=30]--Editing events and event registration tab has been removed from control panel completely due to this already being a redundant feature (events and attendance can be edited directly from the calendar itself).
[tab=30]--Usergroups tab removed from control panel due to being unnecessary at this time.
Upcoming events placed on the calendar will now display at the top of the forums instead of the bottom. In part II of the update, this will hopefully be transferred neatly into the sidebar instead.
Lore tab changed to Wiki tab. The lore subsection and the direct link to the Tonberry’s Lantern have been removed.
Previously, users would be given an error message upon uploading avatars that are considered too big in size. This is no longer the case and avatars will auto-resize upon uploading.
Various new codes have been added to allow for Enjin code conversions. Please note that this does not impact Enjin based formatting prior to this update. Thus, one must update their former posts for this change to go into full effect on said posts (ie: remove former coding and add it back again). Also note that even though one can easily copy/paste anything from Enjin to the RPC forums and preserve format, this does not necessarily apply the other way around. In order to retain the forum’s more advanced capabilities, the default codes used in creating posts here will sill differ from the default way of creating posts on Enjin. However, copying/pasting posts from Enjin based boards will now mostly retain their formatting (including text sizing, originally thought to be impossible to fix!). The only exceptions are as follows, though I am looking into ways to fix these as well:
[tab=30]--Youtube videos without the full link.
[tab=30]--Quotes without an attached name.
[tab=30]--Spoiler tags.
Numerous other bug fixes implemented.
The following users have been granted moderator status: Eva, Oskar Helvig.
[tab=30]--Another user declined the position and two others have not yet responded. The team will likely expand further in Part II of the update.
Still to come in part II:
 All forum guildleve borders will be removed with the new color scheme.
Possible implementation of the Eorzean clock based around the Windows version. Thanks to Ocaelynth, I possess the basic code for this. However, I am still unsure exactly what to do with it and how to convert it into a proper widget.
The forum color scheme and overall appearance will undergo further changes. This includes links within posts standing out more.
Mouseover tooltip support for Zam database links.
Sidebar widgets will be made to display on all pages instead of just the home page and forum index.
New randomized banners and a different background will (hopefully) be added. Seeking graphic artists to make this more impressive than it would be with my lackluster graphic skills.
Possible overhaul to the forum title system to allow colored titles (much like Archavalon’s forums utilize).
A “Like†mod is being prepared and is scheduled to be implemented.
I am looking into means to integrate Lodestone character data into profiles, though I offer no promises on this one.
I am looking into ways to overhaul the front news page to allow a more compact news block with scrolling capabilities. This will, if successful, offer more room for other front page widgets (such as monthly polls, etc).
Users not active since a certain date will be deleted. This will likely equate to several hundred users to be deleted. In order to not accidentally delete users who are in fact still active, a “roll call†thread may be made soon for active users to make a single post in to indicate they are still “present.†Discussion on this topic will begin soon.
Several hundreds of old posts will be deleted entirely over the course of the next several months. These threads will be deemed either unnecessary to keep around and/or deemed as drama inducing pasts that should be buried once and for all. A separate thread and deletion process will soon be made so users may post threads they think should be deleted.
New stickies will be made to update some of the old ones (such as character names, etc.). Users are asked to take the initiative in this process.
Addition of a sidebar widget for random/recent images in the Gallery.
Addition of a sidebar widget for upcoming events.
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![[Image: LevelUp.jpg]](http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j110/Zarik_Sylvora/Misc/LevelUp.jpg)
![[Image: ClassifiedsFinal.png]](http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j110/Zarik_Sylvora/Misc/ClassifiedsFinal.png)
![[Image: linkshellsection.png]](http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j110/Zarik_Sylvora/Misc/linkshellsection.png)