Random Non-Glitch Suggested Features/Improvements

[connorhawke]

After my en masse bug reports, I still have some non-glitch suggestions I would like to add.



NEW FEATURES

Allow multiple categories within a forum/category, not just on the board index.

In the Admin CP where editing a Redirect Forum, add an ability to redirect directly to another forum via a drop-down menu (thereby redirecting regardless of the other forum's URL).

In the Admin CP, have the option to create a new forum using a "Base new forum on..." feature, like the "Base new group on..." feature in Manage Member Groups.

Have the option to have a category/forum be collapsed by default.

Have a "thread preview" pop-up when hovering over a thread by default (not just as an add-on), like the existing "user preview" pop-up when hovering over a user.

There should be the option to restrict super mods from hard deleting.

In Admin CP > Manage Forums, add the ability to check all checkboxes like what is already possible on the front-end topic listings.

Anywhere where there is an in-line checkbox selection (e.g. topic listing, post listing, Admin CP forum listing), add the ability to use Shift to select or de-select a range of checkboxes (see Gmail for an example).



IMPROVEMENTS TO EXISTING FEATURES

Make the "pinned" badge background color different from the "poll" badge background color; e.g. blue instead of green. Also add the ability to display both badges simultaneously, not just have the "pinned" badge override the "poll" badge.

In polls: Change the "(x member(s) have cast votes)" format to "(x member(s) have cast y votes)" (note the new y variable).

Anywhere in the Admin CP where there is a field for specifying which file types are allowed (e.g. Profile Photos), note any file types that are NOT allowed in the IPS suite for the component specified (e.g. BMPs are not allowed for Profile Photo images even if I add bmp in the field), but that are usually associated with the type of content (e.g. BMPs are usually associated with images).

Admin CP > Editing Forum > Postable Settings > Disable Tagging: note that the Admin can still tag.

Admin CP > Editing Forum > Permission Settings: Make a "Custom 'Permission Denied' Message" compatible with a Yes value for "Allow members who can see the forum but cannot read topics to see the topic list".

Admin CP > Editing Forum > Postable Settings: Add a "Minimum posts to enter" feature, in which any user without the required post count may be able to see the forum but cannot enter it, and "Protected Forum" will be displayed in place of the title of the last thread that was updated.



If you have a list of suggestions that is long enough such that it might seem more impractical to make a thread for each suggestion rather than contain them all in a post or some posts, then feel free to add that list here or in another thread.

[bfarber]

Anywhere where there is an in-line checkbox selection (e.g. topic listing, post listing, Admin CP forum listing), add the ability to use Shift to select or de-select a range of checkboxes (see Gmail for an example).

While "cool", and potentially useful if you know about it, features like this tend to be a waste of time because the majority of our user base (note, not just our customers, but members of our customers' forums) will never know about it.

[connorhawke]

While "cool", and potentially useful if you know about it, features like this tend to be a waste of time because the majority of our user base (note, not just our customers, but members of our customers' forums) will never know about it.

It can be useful; it could save a lot of time in massive moderation operations. If an announcement is made about a feature after adding it I'm sure some people will know about it and use it if it's useful.

Then again, the only time I thought about this feature was when I was cleaning up and reorganizing the forums after a massive migration process, so if its usefulness is not found much elsewhere then maybe it's not useful often enough to warrant adding.

I still think many of the other features/improvements I suggested should be considered though.