Clone Post (Not: topic)

[warmweer]

In the meantime I've also had a look at the code and as a mod, I can follow the understand the procedures, but there are quite a few checks in there which I hadn't thought of and it's truly way beyond my capabilities to make that into an extension (certainly in any near future).
3Di's proposed method using built in phpBB features is a bit cumbersome but it is the safest (unfortunately doesn't cater to my "peculiar" needs).

[globetrotting]

Thank you for trying!

... way beyond my capabilities to make that into an extension (certainly in any near future).

Never underestimate evolution

[warmweer]

Never underestimate evolution

I never do, but evolution is a very slow process.
What I would need in this case is a mutation.

[globetrotting]

...
What I would need in this case is a mutation.

I had to laugh right away, but wanted to wait for kinerity's return to document it here. And the next day, I noticed your mutation to Junior EV, congrats!

Well, I kept fiddling with the clone topic feature, but it's a pain in the neck if you just want to clone a single post and have to copy-move a whole topic to a secret place, split that copy, move the desired posting again and delete all the others postings- several times a day.

Furthermore, as a forum is made of postings, it seems obvious that one needs this control over them on an individual level.

[globetrotting]

Well, I kept fiddling with the clone topic feature, but...

... no matter how much routine I get with this clumsy work around to simply clone a posting , it keeps to suck in a big way.

So I want to ask once more and put some hope in kinerty to maybe realize this basic board function.

Thank you


As a not so important side note, there is also an inconsistency of the inbuilt topic-tools in connection with the SEO Meta Description Ext. https://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/exte ... scription/ where a topic's description looses it's alignement with the 1st posting of a topic but only appears with a post further down in that topic. I only used the inbuilt board tools to copy, split, move & merge the topics for this to happen (no change of the posting's date i.e.).
Will also post this in the extension's topic, but wanted to mention it here, as this would be easier to avoid and repair if it was possible to clone a single post.

[3Di]

...where a topic's description looses it's alignement with the 1st posting of a topic but only appears with a posting further down in that topic.

One of its cause is that such old old extension (for 3.1.3) and many others do not use the related native events for the clone topic feature, that's not an inconsistency of the codebase. Those events were created the first in 3.1.11 and the second in 3.2.4.

[CarolC1]

We need this, too.

[globetrotting]

Hi all,

A (rough) year has gone, my board is on 3.3.2 now and there's still no way in sight to clone a single posting.
Additionally the fore mentioned Ext. is definetly outdated by now:

... However, once the changeposttime extension (by javiexin) becomes outdated (author died, RIP) and does not reliably take care of all depending instances anymore, there could be trouble ahead if changing dates, I guess?

If we need to clone a post, which happens several times daily, we are now forced to clone a whole topic of several pages into a hidden forum. Then we have to delete all it's posts except one to finally have a clone of the desired post. Which then has to be moved to it's final destination.

Some posts also need to be tripled or even quadrupled - imagine the waste of time and the potential of mismanagement!

Jeez, there are all bells and whistles available to extend phpBB's capabilities- and yet it's not even able to manage the most basic elements it consists of!?

[warmweer]

Jeez, there are all bells and whistles available to extend phpBB's capabilities- and yet it's not even able to manage the most basic elements it consists of!?

Cloning a post isn't exactly what I would call a absolutely necessary or basic feature (even though I do it regularly). Anyway, it isn't that hard to post the link of the post and make it open in a new window if it's that important.

Having said this - I do think it's a very useful feature

[CarolC1]

Some posts also need to be tripled or even quadrupled - imagine the waste of time and the potential of mismanagement!

This is a good point. I have copied about a thousand (whatever) of these since posting in this topic. Every few days I go through the moderator log and check every single action I did to be sure I didn't accidentally mess up an original topic. (So far so good, but you worry.) It is cumbersome cloning the whole topic when you only need part of it, splitting off the post(s) you want or deleting unwanted posts, and then it is cumbersome again to go back and check your work in the log to be sure you didn't make any mistakes, when you have pages of the log to go through. The job of checking the log is tedious, too, but it's the only way to be sure you didn't inadvertently louse something up in the middle of a long session of cloning and deleting. If you were not forced into a position of having to delete so many posts, you wouldn't have to worry.

Just sayin'.

[globetrotting]

... Cloning a post isn't exactly what I would call a absolutely necessary or basic feature (even though I do it regularly)...

It is absolutely necessary and was fully functional in our forum since 2003!
We often have to create new topics by taking parts from existing postings within large topics, i.e. a specific question in a posting and the following answers to it need to be cloned and merged into a new topic of their own, with author and posting dates (display order) staying unchanged.
In the same way, we also have to create new topics by merging corresponding parts from different posts in different topics.
Imagine the work and the chaos to accomplish that, as only whole topics can be cloned with the present phpBB software!
Therefore the absolute need to clone single posts and merge parts of them into new topics is essential if our forum wants to continue to exist.

... Anyway, it isn't that hard to post the link of the post and make it open in a new window if it's that important...

That does neither describe our cloning problem nor a solution for it, as described above.

Thank you, best wishes for the new year!

[david63]

It is absolutely necessary

If it is that necessary then I would suggest that you post in the wanted forum and pay someone to create it for you as there does not appear to be much of an uptake in this forum.

[warmweer]

... Cloning a post isn't exactly what I would call a absolutely necessary or basic feature (even though I do it regularly)...

It is absolutely necessary and was fully functional in our forum since 2003!

As david63 implied: necessity is a personal matter.
I need the feature, and my workaround does the job albeit in a slightly cumbersome way, but realistically: not many boards "need" this so it's probably a niche request.