Modern Vespa

Just finished off an improvement to the forum software that I've been working on for months as time allows. This one is a hand-rolled mod, entirely from scratch.

You can now link to topics much easier than before using simple BBCode, like this: Which, when displayed, will look like this:

What was your longest scooter ride?

The title and the link to the topic will be pulled out of the database and inserted into your post automatically. Thus, when someone new asks the same question again, you can direct them to the right place with a bit more ease:

ET/GT/LX: Hard Starting, Rough Idle, or Stalling
[Not authorized to view this topic]
[Not authorized to view this topic]
[Not authorized to view this topic]

Enjoy!

So if we link cupcake or pudding what happens? Will your horns finally grow together?

Seriously, u da man!

This is way cool!

So just to try this out if you don't mind GTS is now in YELLOW! is a link to the yellow GTS thread.

Very cool Jess, it worked and you didn't even need to explain to me how to use it.

That's useful.

Huh?

Ordinarily, linking to a topic is messy business. And there are multiple ways to do it, all of which require careful editing.

Form 1: Pasting the Link This results in something that looks just like the link, which tells you nothing about what the actual contents are until you click it:

http://www.modernvespa.com/forum/topic86.html

---

Form 2: BBCode Link This is more complex, but has the advantage of telling the reader what they're about to click on:

ET/GT/LX: Hard Starting, Rough Idle, or Stalling

---

Form 3: New and Improved This is the easiest of all, and requires only the topic ID, which can be easily copied from the web address of whatever page you happen to be on. This has the advantage of showing the title and providing a link, using only the topic ID.

ET/GT/LX: Hard Starting, Rough Idle, or Stalling

Jess, you young whippersnappers have all the brains.

Ok, I'm tryin' it:

[why a kevlar belt?]

One more time:

[http://www.modernvespa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=196248#196248]

I guess I don't get it yet.

You're making it harder than it needs to be. Just type: And you'll get:

why a kevlar belt?

The "topic14834" part between brackets can be composed by hand ("topic" plus the topic ID) or by copying part of the topic URL.

The example you gave is tricky, because it's actually a reference to a specific post, not the whole topic. Whole topics look slightly different, and typically end in "topicXXXX.html" (where XXXX is the topic ID).

Confused yet?

One, Two, Three:

why a kevlar belt?

I got it!!!!!!!!

Me likey. Very elegant. Maybe now we can point to previous links with less snarkiness.

ModernVespa gets all the cool stuff. ModernBuddy is jealous.

New Improved Topic Linking

BUMP.

I see a lot of people linking to previous posts and threads, without using this really cool feature in MV.

New Improved Topic Linking

vs.

http://www.modernvespa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14883&highlight=topic

It is such a great feature, I reccommend you all learn it.

Lemme see if I got this straight:
I like mp3 500+Girl

Rad! Is there a way to reference a specific post too?

Afraid not.

So.. it's not so much to help the people with the new people with repetitive questions as it is to help the smart asses with their terse response.

Interesting approach to the problem.

I suppose it could make a FAQ easier to produce....

Last edited by Solo, with others on Fri Jun 06, 2008 9:04 am; edited 1 time in total

Still pretty useful...i likey...nice job.

for a simple topic link this is great but if you want to start at a specific post or highlight a word you have to use the whole URI (as far as I know) but let's try it.

[topic 26922&start=1]

http://www.modernvespa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26922&start=1

That sounds like a pretty negative spin on what is generally regarded as a useful feature. Or am I missing your intent? Not sure.

JESS awesome i can even do it The old way was a bit frustrating at times SOLO what's up. It really seems like you don't want to be here. We have fun and the comments are in jest. Trust me you'll know when some one REALLY means it. I'm trying to figure out your comments like "go suck yourself" etc but i can't see it. Nobody just said anything to you yet you chime in with "the smart asses". If someone offended you just pm them and ask what's up Oh well.

Last edited by judy on Fri Jun 06, 2008 10:31 am; edited 1 time in total

I think it's about the right tool for the job. New Improved Topic Linking is great for pointing to projects and other threads where the thread stays on topic. If you have to point to a paticular post within a thread or want to help people to know what you searched for to find it or just want to highlight certain words, then a full uri is better. but even then you can wrap it in a URL tag to make it read better.

New Improved Topic Linking

vs

http://www.modernvespa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14883&start=21&highlight=smart+asses

vs

smart asses

I can see that depending on what problem you were intending to address with this solution.

Maybe I was missing your intent. I thought this was in response to the "Repeat Postings problem". I could be way off, sorry.

(it is kinda cool regardless)

As the OP was posted in August of 2007 I doubt it was in response to the "repetitive thread problem". The topic was "bumped" to re-show people an easier way to link to older topics. I for one am glad it was I didn't know of this function and had to do some creative cutting and pasting to link to old topics (I don't really link to old topics it was too burdensome)

Whenever I'm unsure of who means what and so forth, I generally refer back to the date & time stamp of the 1st post in a thread. For example, this thread was created 8/7/07, so it's not in response to the "repeat posts" situation - it just happens to be back on the front page at the same time!

Knowhattamean?

Yes... I indeed the original date of the thread would have been a good clue had I noticed it.

Being new.. when I am unsure.. I seek clarification. At some point I won't as new and easily confused.

No worries, man...

I did not bump it because of the “Repeat Postings” thread…well maybe it had an influence.

I just remembered this feature, and thought it could be very useful. No smart aleck intents, what so ever.

Once I figured out how to use it, I try to do so, so that the person being referred to the link can see the subject (assuming the subject has something to do with the answer).

Over the past few weeks, I have been seeing the links without this feature, and have been intending to bump this thread as reminder.

I finally figured out the search function enough to find the thread.

I just like the feature, and again, no mal intent what so ever.

And oopsclunkthud, you may have come up with the answer that dongoose was looking for.

I regularly change people's links to use the new feature. The system isn't doing it automatically, it's me in the background being anal retentive.

I don't get all of them, though.

Actually, i think there *IS* a way to do it.

You see the little page icon that's up at the top of your post ... to the right of your name, but to the left of the date? If you click on it, it takes you DIRECTLY TO A SPECIFIC POST in the thread, rather than to the beginning of the thread.

At least, it works for me. Correct me if i'm wrong.

As a newbie, this is helpful! I do try and research before asking, but I know there will be times of frustration when I will have to wave the white flag and ask a question asked a hundred times over.

Albeit it may be a redundant question, at times, it raises new discussion and alternative solutions. In my humble opinion, that is a good thing for everyone.

With that said, if I ever ask a repetitive question, accept my apologies now and know I did try looking for the answer first. I think this forum offers a wealth of information and seasoned riders who can share their experiences to help newbies not make the same mistake(s).

At one point, everyone here was a newbie and I'm sure most may have asked a repeated question one time or another. Please be patient with us until we graduate from kindergarten.

Not sure what your referencing to.

Attempting something here: http://www.modernvespa.com/forum/templates/zencss/images/icon_minipost.gif

Ha ha! It brought up the little page icon.[/url]

Last edited by salty dodd on Fri Jun 06, 2008 1:22 pm; edited 1 time in total

You're correct about that... there's just no shorthand for that the way there is for linking to a topic. You've got to embed the link manually, and provide a suitable title. With the shortcut, all that is done automatically.