Forum sort order by Topic Time

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Kiweed
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Forum sort order by Topic Time

Post by Kiweed »

I hope this is the correct place to discuss this?

We use a 3.0 modification written by the great Tumba called "Forum Sort Order"
Mods database link ---> https://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/mod/ ... ort_order/
Description
Adds topic time in UCP > Board preferences and viewtopic > Sort by.
Also adds Forum default to UCP > Board preferences and makes this default for all users.
Adds "Default topic list order:" to ACP > Forums > Edit forum, this might be overridden by the settings in UCP.
Adds possibility to override user sort settings in some forums.
We require the feature to sort topics in forums by "Topic Time" so no mater how many people post in a topic it wont get bumped to the top of the list. We list the topics by date order to make it very easy to see which topics are new in a chronological order.

Topic Time sort order is used in forums where the topic information needs to be in a date sensitive order
Post Time sort order is used n normal discussion type forums where each new reply bumps the topic to the top of the page.

We set time sensitive topic forums as default "topic time" sort order in the ACP but give the users the option to sort however they please.
We set discussion type forums as default "post time" sort order like all forums here are now but give the user the option to sort however the please.

eg: Image

I don't think they would ever make this core functionality but 7177 downloaders cant be wrong that this function is needed.

Anyone who would like to give this extension a go or any comments on the subject would be GREATLY appreciated as it would be the only thing stopping me upgrading to phpBB 3.1

Thank you very much in advance!

Scott

*edit*
[RFC] Forum sort order by Topic Time @ area51 3.1 Development (thx PayBas)
http://area51.phpbb.com/phpBB/viewtopic ... 08&t=45825
*edit*
Last edited by Kiweed on Tue Jun 24, 2014 11:17 am, edited 2 times in total.
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PayBas
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Re: Forum sort order by Topic Time

Post by PayBas »

I actually like this idea. Perhaps create a RFC thread here: http://area51.phpbb.com/phpBB/viewforum.php?f=108
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Kiweed
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Re: Forum sort order by Topic Time

Post by Kiweed »

Thank you so much PayBas!
I now know what [RFC] means hehe
Topic posted and awaiting approval .... I hope I got it right

I was so grateful to Tumba (and Oddfish) for doing it for us originally as the forum I administer of 150 schools rugby games listed by date the topic was posted (Listing the venue,scores etc) turned into a real mess when people replied to the topics bumping them into all sorts of an order.

Thanks again to anyone who comments or takes part

Ka kite ano
Scott
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PayBas
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Re: Forum sort order by Topic Time

Post by PayBas »

Don't get your hopes up too much though ;). They will most likely say: "should be an extension".

But judging from the code, it should be possible. Not sure if all the required events are in place though.
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MattF
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Re: Forum sort order by Topic Time

Post by MattF »

Have you considered asking the authors of that MOD if they plan to make it an extension?
Formerly known as VSEMy ExtensionsPlease do not PM me for support.
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Kiweed
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Re: Forum sort order by Topic Time

Post by Kiweed »

Topic for forum sort order update 1.01

As mentioned by VSE (you are SO right) I have PM'd the mod author Tumba (The Great) re this discussion and is he going to pursue it in 3.1.

This is a better graphical update I did to my [RFC]Forum Sort Order post on Area51

Here are images to better show the power of forum sort order by Topic Time (Click for bigger pic)


Here is a forum with a default listing of Topic Time

Image


Here is the same forum with a default list of Post Time we are all used to. It is a real mess compared to Topic Time.

Image

The other places it needs to appear are ModCP. We found the moderators could not find topics to delete if the forum was default Topic Time

Topic Time ModCP
Image

Post Time ModCP
Image

And last but not least Advanced Search (Thanks for reminding me keith10456 :) )

Topic Time
Image

Post Time
Image

*edit*
And last last but not least UCP + ACP Topic Time setting ... letting the User/Admin choose their own default (thanks Pony99CA)
UCP
Image

ACP - Forum
Image
*edit*

I hope that shows the visual impact to a forum of having everything ordered by when the topic was posted without replies making a real mess of things. Most blogs list this way .... why not phpBB???

ps: I was surfing an unrelated forum to mine and found this in their "comments and suggestions". The same thing my users complained about.
ursusagalmatophile wrote:I noticed that if I reply to an older post it automatically gets bumped.
This can be annoying to a poster with a new topic watching it get knocked
down the forum index by recently replied to older posts.
Maybe this is not a fault,if not sorry to bring it up.
Again many thanks for everyone's comments
Scott
Last edited by Kiweed on Fri Jun 27, 2014 9:31 am, edited 2 times in total.
Pony99CA
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Re: Forum sort order by Topic Time

Post by Pony99CA »

Kiweed wrote:ps: I was surfing an unrelated forum to mine and found this in their "comments and suggestions". The same thing my users complained about.
ursusagalmatophile wrote:I noticed that if I reply to an older post it automatically gets bumped.
This can be annoying to a poster with a new topic watching it get knocked
down the forum index by recently replied to older posts.
Maybe this is not a fault,if not sorry to bring it up.
I posted my comments on the feature on Area 51 (I do think that the options are useful), but I wanted to rebut that quote. The current design is not a "fault" -- it's a feature. it keeps the most active topics at the top of the list.

Imagine it the other way around. How would posters to very active, long running topics feel if those topics kept getting bumped down by new topics that nobody cared about and never posted to?

By the way, there is a work-around. Announcements are always sorted by topic creation time, so make your "time sensitive" topics Announcements. You can see an example on my Test Board (which also allows the user to choose sorting by Create Time in the UCP).

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Kiweed
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Re: Forum sort order by Topic Time

Post by Kiweed »

Pony99CA wrote:I posted my comments on the feature on Area 51 (I do think that the options are useful), but I wanted to rebut that quote. The current design is not a "fault" -- it's a feature. it keeps the most active topics at the top of the list.
Imagine it the other way around. How would posters to very active, long running topics feel if those topics kept getting bumped down by new topics that nobody cared about and never posted to?
yup you are 120% correct ... defiantly not a fault
phpBB is discussion software ..... that is its primary role and Post Time should always be the default action of most sections
In the case of poor old ursusagalmatophile ... people on that forum only want to read the topic as it was very "blog" like and with 500+ replies a day he could not follow anything that was going on.
It was just a coincidence finding his topic while writing that post and was something our fathers and students complained about without knowing how a discussion forum worked.

Pony99CA wrote:By the way, there is a work-around. Announcements are always sorted by topic creation time, so make your "time sensitive" topics Announcements. You can see an example on my Test Board
Niiiiiice ..... I for one never thought of doing it that way and it sure as hell works. In my case I dont want to be giving students who are writing the topics we want sorted by default access to writing announcements.
Pony99CA wrote:(which also allows the user to choose sorting by Create Time in the UCP).
Thanks .... I forgot the little picture for the UCP setting of Topic Time which the mod does (click 4 big pic)
Image <---- for those that dont know what we mean

There is also the ACP - Forum setting for Admin to choose /per forum/
ACP - Forum
Image

I am not sure why the word Topic Time was used in the first place .... i think it was the way we described it to Tumba when requesting the mod and he just went with that. Create Time still makes sense to me.

Thanks so much for ya thoughts and input Pony99CA
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