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Messages - dwx
1
Off-topic / Re: Nexus 7
« on August 11th, 2012, 01:01 PM »
Quote from Nao on August 10th, 2012, 10:39 PM
Not available in France...
It's probably the tablet I'll be buying if I ever buy an iPhone 5. If I settle for an Android phone, I'll probably pass on a tablet altogether, or watch out for the iPad Mini.
If you're of the mind that 1 device is better. then the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note II (http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_note_2-4854.php) would probably suit you.


I've got the original Galaxy Note and have loved using the device for the past 9 month. The Note II is supposed to be official announced in a few days.


-dwx
2
Features / Re: Very cool Thumbnail generation...
« on July 9th, 2012, 12:18 PM »
Quote from Nao on July 9th, 2012, 10:12 AM
Secondly, and I think it's more important, the main reason I didn't implement that is because I was never sure about the upload process being too long already. I wanted to make it simpler, not more complicated, and adding an extra step like this, while certainly helpful in most situations, is not always going to be desired especially when you're trying to turn AeMe into a "perfect gallery", something that could be used stand-alone...
 So, my plans were to use it only when requested -- i.e. keep the main file around, generate thumbnails and previews, and then if the user wanted, they could go to the item page, click a "Edit picture" button or something, and have the choice to (1) rotate the picture (and related thumbnail and preview), (2) resize and/or crop the picture, (3) crop the thumbnail or preview based on the stored picture.
 I'm NOT very good at implementing good UI (it always takes me weeks to do that when others could do it in days), so at that point it became a low-priority item, even though it was officially high-priority. It's mainly because of UX (user experience), which I wanted to be 'perfect'.
Facebook does a good job of this when upload using the "create photo album" feature.


I've attached a screen shot, but you can see it shows a large-ish preview that can name, add a description, add geotagging, add individual photo descriptions, add tags, and set the read access permissions. This would be a great place to add Jcrop style selection of the thumbnails, it would be especially easy if the thumbnail size was selected at the top along with the album name. Then thumbnailing would be as quick as dragging open a box on each preview (as seen in the 150x150 fixed ratio thumbnail selection in the Jcrop demo).  There's a real benefit to adopting a UI that's similar to facebook's UI, not only do you get the benefit from their design refinements, but the users are already know how to use it!
Quote from Nao on July 9th, 2012, 10:12 AM
Now, I'm still considering dropping attachments altogether from Wedge, and using AeMe instead. But first of all I'll need to fix some bugs (and even before that, try to spot them all), then work on a parallel implement of attachments vs uploads, and finally get rid of the attachment system and have someone develop a converter (or do it myself within Wedge...)
I'm not sure exactly how that would work, but AeMe is integrated into wedge, and I can see where its a bit redundant to have both. Why not make the attachment button in the post editor pop up a "create photo album" dialog to create a new AeMe album?
Quote from Nao on July 9th, 2012, 10:12 AM
It's not an easy task, let me tell you. And it's not helpful that none of us is being paid for it...
I've got some thoughts on this, but maybe it would be best to take this part of the discussion offline. Send me a PM if you'd like to talk about this.
Quote from Nao on July 9th, 2012, 10:12 AM
Quote
The other thing I've been thinking Jcrop would be useful for is an intermediate sized "preview" image. A smaller subsection of the full image that could be used for an inline preview within the text of a post.
That is already 'done' in my mind.
 As a reminder, AeMe has pictures (limited size but usually large), previews (usually 600x400 or something, for use on item pages) and thumbnails (usually 150x100 or something, for use on album pages). Depending on the type of preview (site homepage or blog), I'd automatically attach the thumbnail (on the left of the text preview) or preview (on top of the text preview, or in a carousel for instance).
 
 Don't believe that just because it isn't in Wedge yet, I haven't thought about it a lot already ;)
 Just check out http://nao.noisen.com for an example of how I want Wedge blogs to look like. And ideally I want to simply take the first graphic element in each post, get their thumbnail and offer this as post preview in smaller post lists. (eg site homepage, of which I currently have no example for you, except on sites I'm not related to.)
I really think the blog view you've implemented for noisen.com is beautiful. I'll leave it in your capable hands! ;)
3
Features / Re: Very cool Thumbnail generation...
« on July 8th, 2012, 06:06 AM »
Quote from live627 on July 8th, 2012, 05:23 AM
Quote
I figured that Jcrop code would be more useful as an inspiration than anything else, and by the time you were through rewriting it, it would be 4 lines of code and compress down to 12 bytes!  :D
What kind of damn script can get that small other than paper? :lol:
Just a joke, since both Nao and Arantor are both quite skilled at optimization.  :P
4
Features / Re: Like types?
« on July 8th, 2012, 06:02 AM »
I'm coming from vbulletin, so I'm not familiar with which features are core to SMF. In the vbulletin (and vanilla) world, there are some addons that are included by default, but are not core.

I have a specific use in mind, and DESPERATELY want a reputation system that displays PDA and allows users to advance into different user groups (with additional powers and privileges), and the "like" system is how the community awards reputation and recognition. The usergroup and user access restrictions to photo albums that's already built into wedge feed right into this, since attaining a higher rank would get a user access to more exclusive content, etc.

This is a LOT different than the category defining "like" system that Nao suggested as a thread starter.

I wasn't actually suggesting that there be NO reputation system, but more like a choice of the one that fits your application.

dwx
5
Features / Re: Like types?
« on July 8th, 2012, 05:11 AM »
Quote from Arantor on July 7th, 2012, 03:19 PM
I do not want a full-on reputation system in the core, which is what you're proposing. I'm not against the idea in principle, and there are certainly merits for it for some kinds of communities - but as I see it, more communities would benefit from keeping it leaner rather than more thorough, and I'd much rather see something as thorough as what amounts to a full on rep system be a plugin.

There is also a secondary consideration here, my gut is telling me that anyone who wants a rep system as complex as this is also going to want to seriously customise it, and to me that also says it's going to be a support issue. Putting it into a plugin keeps is more self contained.
I agree. I think the whole "like" system should be a plug in. And what I described was definitely functionality that keys off a reputation system.

You bring up a very interesting point, the purpose of the forum will heavily influence the form of any "like" systems. It would probably be best to have the hooks for the activation button and the Public Display of Like Comments, and let the specific "like" pluggin chosen do the work. This way, the forum owner can chose a "mood" based like system (which Nao started the discussion with), or a reputation based like system (like I proposed) or a simple Digg style "thumbs up/down" system, or something completely different and not imagined before.

I do think that the admin should pick ONE "like" systems to install, and that the interfaces are well defined, but don't assume much about the "like" functionality.

dwx
6
Features / Re: Very cool Thumbnail generation...
« on July 8th, 2012, 04:57 AM »
Quote from Nao on July 7th, 2012, 07:00 PM
A ruby equivalent was around at the time I worked on AeMe and I actually had a to do entry to implement a Js+Php clone. Jcrop I found out about after I ended work on AeMe though. I think. Or an equivalent.
It is true that I haven't reevaluated this when including AeMe into wedge. Perhaps I should.
Uniform thumbnail size is a feature that really improves the "look" of a gallery, or even an embedded "gallery" attached to a post. Their are a lot of ways to do this, but when I found Jcrop, I realized it was a good way to make relevant thumbnails quickly and simply, and a better alternative to overcropping the center of the image to the minor axis to create a thumbnail.

I figured that Jcrop code would be more useful as an inspiration than anything else, and by the time you were through rewriting it, it would be 4 lines of code and compress down to 12 bytes!  :D

The other thing I've been thinking Jcrop would be useful for is an intermediate sized "preview" image. A smaller subsection of the full image that could be used for an inline preview within the text of a post. Or even with the post text wrapped around the preview image.  :cool:This would allow posts to look more like full-on blog entries.

dwx
7
Features / Re: Like types?
« on July 7th, 2012, 02:35 PM »

I'm not sure about using the Like button for playlists, it would only work for a limited case of very structured content (i.e. photo albums, music library, media cache, etc.)

But for generally conveying mood, maybe there's a simpler way. Have the "like" button pop open a dialog box that lets the reader Like/Dislike the post, leave a comment, and also award karma/respect (for user ranking).

The "like with comment" would let people say why they liked the post, or could be used to convey a "short" response when they didn't want to write a full reply. Forum user's LOVE the PDA (Public Display of Affection), since it's clear to the entire community who's contributing content, who's been thanked for it.


I attached a few screen shots of something similar to this to convey the idea.


dwx
8
Features / Very cool Thumbnail generation...
« on July 7th, 2012, 02:25 PM »
While I've been waiting for you guys to finish Wedge, I've been struggling along with vbulletin 4.2. One of the many things they don't handle well is thumbnail generation, and I found a cool library called "Jcrop" that combines some jquery and php code to intuitively allow users to select an area of a photo to generate a thumbnail.


The code could also be used to resize and select an area of a photo to use as an avatar. Or for any other purpose where there is a size restriction and the user must decide what part of the image to show.


It's released under MIT's open source license, so I think it's free for you to use. Or at the very least, you maybe you'll find inspiration here.  :P


Here's a link to "Deep Liquid's" website with the Jcrop code and demo: http://deepliquid.com/projects/Jcrop/demos.php?demo=live_crop


I know that the same effect can be achieved by uploading a custom thumbnail at the same time the photo is being uploaded, but Jcrop is a LOT easier, and would allow the wedge admin to specify the size and shape of the thumbnails.


dwx

9
Features / Re: New WYSIWYG editor..?
« on May 24th, 2012, 06:06 PM »
Haha. I've been around for a while too. The footnote BBC reminds me of page layout used in Tex and LaTex.


I'd been ignoring the security issues, in favor of functionality, it just seemed like it would be flexible to actually allow users to post messages with embedded javascript to increase functionality... well, at least SOME trusted users.


I guess it's really irrelevant what formatting language is as long as the editor is rich enough to accept pasted in Rich Text and generate the correct formatting to get a close proximity of what was pasted.


This really isn't a debate worth rehashing.
10
Features / Re: New WYSIWYG editor..?
« on May 24th, 2012, 01:31 PM »
Quote from Arantor on May 23rd, 2012, 07:53 PM
Funny, I was thinking a lot about it.

The biggest battle is not using their user interface and retaining the current code, and I still think we'll have to deal with the HTML-BBC transition that we already have.

It could also be made smaller by using jQuery (since they're not)
Is BBcode support a priority? I'd be happy without it at all. It seems like the modern way forward would be to have afull WYSIWYG editor that fell back to simple HTML. WSYIWG editing would be the default with a fall back to "view/edit" the source as HTML. Not only would the content be richer, but it would make it easier to cut and paste web clips or content from a full HTML editing application into the editing window. If users need help with HTML, you can put a link to the HTML Cheat Sheet below the edit window!  ;)


Maybe the best thing to do would be to convert any existing BBcode posts to HTML as part of a migration process say strict HTML in the future.


b.t.w. Off Topic: I'm floored by the work you're doing here. I can't wait until wedge is ready for general use!


-dw



11
Features: Miscellaneous / Re: Gravatar support
« on April 24th, 2012, 05:38 PM »
I just created a gravatar account to test this feature, and it ate the animation from the animated GIF that I uploaded to them. Aside from that, it was a big hassle to find a "good" username on the gravatar site because they merged their namespace with wordpress. Nearly everything I tried was already take.

Overall, I'm pretty sure I'll stick to just uploading the GIF file I've already got for an avatar.

-dw