GWJ bugs, feature requests, and updates

Malor wrote:

VBulletin is PHP, which is a strike against it, in my book. It's just too easy to get things wrong, security-wise, in PHP.

Drupal is too, which the current site is based off of.

trueheart78 wrote:
Malor wrote:

VBulletin is PHP, which is a strike against it, in my book. It's just too easy to get things wrong, security-wise, in PHP.

Drupal is too, which the current site is based off of.

AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!

Huh, for some reason, I thought Drupal was in Python. I must be confusing it with something else.

Malor wrote:

Huh, for some reason, I thought Drupal was in Python. I must be confusing it with something else.

That'd be Django.

Soooo, anyone gonna chime in on that Tapatalk integration? Possible?

Bonus_Eruptus wrote:
trueheart78 wrote:
Malor wrote:

VBulletin is PHP, which is a strike against it, in my book. It's just too easy to get things wrong, security-wise, in PHP.

Drupal is too, which the current site is based off of.

AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!

Bad code, or good code, can be written in any language. It'd be just as easy for me to make bad or (more commonly) uneducated decisions that lead to a web app that's susceptible to XSS or SQL injection in Python or Java as it is in PHP. Drupal has a pretty solid security track record, and hasn't had what I would consider a serious vulnerability in quite a while.

That said, one of my goals is to shepherd the process of getting GWJ on a newer mainline branch of Drupal. From a security standpoint, that won't mean a whole lot (unless you're writing code for the site, in which case Drupal 7.x has some really nice API changes), but it'll mean quite a few very nice user experience changes.

doogiemac wrote:
Bonus_Eruptus wrote:
trueheart78 wrote:
Malor wrote:

VBulletin is PHP, which is a strike against it, in my book. It's just too easy to get things wrong, security-wise, in PHP.

Drupal is too, which the current site is based off of.

AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!

Bad code, or good code, can be written in any language. It'd be just as easy for me to make bad or (more commonly) uneducated decisions that lead to a web app that's susceptible to XSS or SQL injection in Python or Java as it is in PHP. Drupal has a pretty solid security track record, and hasn't had what I would consider a serious vulnerability in quite a while.

That said, one of my goals is to shepherd the process of getting GWJ on a newer mainline branch of Drupal. From a security standpoint, that won't mean a whole lot (unless you're writing code for the site, in which case Drupal 7.x has some really nice API changes), but it'll mean quite a few very nice user experience changes.

B-b-but PHP!!!

I was kidding, BTW. It's the artist, not the tools.

Bad code, or good code, can be written in any language

Sure, but PHP makes dumb stuff easier. The language itself has had repeated problems over the years, and it seems like an awful lot of programs built on that architecture have had way more than their share of security issues.

But, since you've got a big investment in PHP already, it would be very silly to change. I probably wouldn't pick it for a new project, but it'd be dumb to try to port to Django or something like that. I thought you were in Python already, and was horrified at the thought of switching to a PHP-based system. I'm still horrified at the thought of switching the other way, just not as much.

Malor wrote:
Bad code, or good code, can be written in any language

Sure, but PHP makes dumb stuff easier. The language itself has had repeated problems over the years, and it seems like an awful lot of programs built on that architecture have had way more than their share of security issues.

But, since you've got a big investment in PHP already, it would be very silly to change. I probably wouldn't pick it for a new project, but it'd be dumb to try to port to Django or something like that. I thought you were in Python already, and was horrified at the thought of switching to a PHP-based system. I'm still horrified at the thought of switching the other way, just not as much.

Django is really nice, and Python is my shell scripting language of choice, but when it comes right down to it, I still go back to Drupal any time I need a social web application framework. It's solved a great range of problems with a really flexible, modular API. The form API and module/hook system are incredibly powerful. Couple those features with an out-of-the-box UI that works well and Drupal's best feature, its community, and I have a hard time turning to another system any more. I'm obviously a bit biased in the matter, but I really don't believe there's a better content management framework out there.

Am I talking to myself here?

Happy Dave,
You're not... sorry. I had looked into Tapatalk when you first posted it and I thought I had replied already, but obviously I didn't!

That module actually looks pretty interesting and fairly comprehensive. Only issues with it are that it's still in development and being written for Drupal 6, where we're running Drupal 5. I definitely think it could be backported, but it'd take quite a bit of effort. If we get a truly mobile-friendly version of the site up and running, would that cover most of what you're looking for out of Tapatalk? Or, does it have additional functionality I'm not familiar with? e.g. off-line reading and reply queuing, etc.

doogiemac wrote:

We're running Drupal 5.

I think I just threw up in my mouth a bit. Says the guy with a list of sites that need to be upgraded to 6, possibly 7.

doogiemac wrote:

Happy Dave,
You're not... sorry. I had looked into Tapatalk when you first posted it and I thought I had replied already, but obviously I didn't!

That module actually looks pretty interesting and fairly comprehensive. Only issues with it are that it's still in development and being written for Drupal 6, where we're running Drupal 5. I definitely think it could be backported, but it'd take quite a bit of effort. If we get a truly mobile-friendly version of the site up and running, would that cover most of what you're looking for out of Tapatalk? Or, does it have additional functionality I'm not familiar with? e.g. off-line reading and reply queuing, etc.

Heh, no worries. If we had a true mobile stylesheet (not just the simplified 90's one we have now) then that would probably get it 90% of the way there. Tapatalk is an iPhone only paid app, but it has a really good, simple interface, remembers your place in threads, and let's you easily mark things as read. No offline/queuing functionality as far as I'm aware, but it's seriously slick.

McChuck wrote:
doogiemac wrote:

We're running Drupal 5.

I think I just threw up in my mouth a bit. Says the guy with a list of sites that need to be upgraded to 6, possibly 7.

Yeah, I know... but all things considered our infrastructure right now is super-stable and, honestly, not in desperate need of an upgrade for any reason other than wanting to take advantage of all the great new stuff in the newer versions. My goal is to just port us straight to 7, bypassing 6 altogether. It'll require a bit of a custom-scripted process, but should be fairly painless since the underlying architecture of GWJ is just Drupal nodes w/ taxonomy and the forum module. Most of the work for the site is in the theme.

Happy Dave wrote:
doogiemac wrote:

Happy Dave,
You're not... sorry. I had looked into Tapatalk when you first posted it and I thought I had replied already, but obviously I didn't!

That module actually looks pretty interesting and fairly comprehensive. Only issues with it are that it's still in development and being written for Drupal 6, where we're running Drupal 5. I definitely think it could be backported, but it'd take quite a bit of effort. If we get a truly mobile-friendly version of the site up and running, would that cover most of what you're looking for out of Tapatalk? Or, does it have additional functionality I'm not familiar with? e.g. off-line reading and reply queuing, etc.

Heh, no worries. If we had a true mobile stylesheet (not just the simplified 90's one we have now) then that would probably get it 90% of the way there. Tapatalk is an iPhone only paid app, but it has a really good, simple interface, remembers your place in threads, and let's you easily mark things as read. No offline/queuing functionality as far as I'm aware, but it's seriously slick.

There's an android and I also think a Blackberry version too.

I'd just like to say thanks for all the work you're putting in, Doogiemac.

The 90's mobile site could use one minor tweak - change the font. I don't know what the main site uses, either Verdana or Arial, but please, change it to match.

doogiemac wrote:
McChuck wrote:
doogiemac wrote:

We're running Drupal 5.

I think I just threw up in my mouth a bit. Says the guy with a list of sites that need to be upgraded to 6, possibly 7.

Yeah, I know... but all things considered our infrastructure right now is super-stable and, honestly, not in desperate need of an upgrade for any reason other than wanting to take advantage of all the great new stuff in the newer versions. My goal is to just port us straight to 7, bypassing 6 altogether. It'll require a bit of a custom-scripted process, but should be fairly painless since the underlying architecture of GWJ is just Drupal nodes w/ taxonomy and the forum module. Most of the work for the site is in the theme.

Doesn't sound too bad. Updating to Views 2 and theming are what take up most of my time migrating from 5 to 6.

Found this thread and thought I'd drop in one of my biggest requests: being able to "un-follow" a thread so that it doesn't perpetually come up to the "recent posts" in my personal thread tracker. That would be the bee's knees. I've seen it mentioned before but figured I'd mention it again just to keep the interest up!

I would love that feature too. Thanks.

I would love that feature too. Thanks.

I'd like a feature that automatically detects double-posts, and replaces the second post with a self-deprecating insult or embarrassing confession.

I would love that feature too. Thanks.

I just wanted to tell you both good luck. And we're all counting on you.

(And I would love that feature, too.)

Can we get Nintendo 3DS ID added to the list of Gaming IDs on people's account pages? Unlike the Wii and DS, it actually uses the system code across all games so it will be much more useful going forward.

Hey, I just got a pop-over in-page 'tell us about your online usage' survey thing appear when I reloaded a page.

Is that legit?

Happy Dave wrote:

Hey, I just got a pop-over in-page 'tell us about your online usage' survey thing appear when I reloaded a page.

Is that legit?

I doubt it, never happened to me. Will you win an iPad?

Gravey wrote:
Happy Dave wrote:

Hey, I just got a pop-over in-page 'tell us about your online usage' survey thing appear when I reloaded a page.

Is that legit?

I doubt it, never happened to me. Will you win an iPad?

Maybe it's from the Impulse ad by way of their new corporate overlords.

Happy Dave wrote:

Hey, I just got a pop-over in-page 'tell us about your online usage' survey thing appear when I reloaded a page.

Is that legit?

Probably not legit. If you see it again, please record the page and post back the URL here.

Will do!