GardenStew Upgrade - What's New?

Discussion in 'Site News' started by Frank, Feb 5, 2015.

  1. Frank

    Frank GardenStew Founder Staff Member Administrator

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    @Netty I just got user titles set back up so now you are a 'Chaotic Gardener' again :)
     
  2. Netty

    Netty Chaotic Gardener Plants Contributor

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    Thanks Frank! You are the BEST! :kiss:
     
  3. Ronni

    Ronni Hardy Maple

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    Ok so I have a question. There used to be a little box next next to Forums (upper left corner of old site) that showed a number next to it, and that's the first thing I'd click on and it would take me to whatever forums had new postings in them. Is there an equivalent to that here? It may be obvious, but I'm doing most of my browsing before having worked my way through a full cup of coffee, so I'm still a bit fuzzy headed. :setc_075:
     
  4. Frank

    Frank GardenStew Founder Staff Member Administrator

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    Hi Ronni, the equivalent is now the Latest Posts link that you'll see just under the main menu. One great thing about the new software is that you it remembers for a longer time which threads you have viewed. So no more losing the list of new posts when you close your browser or if your browser crashes.
     



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  5. Ronni

    Ronni Hardy Maple

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    Oh. DOH! :frustrated: Yeah, there it is!

    OK, so next...................

    There is no way on God's Earth that I will be able to remember the password that was assigned to me as part of the password reset with the new forum! All those letters and numbers! So I went in to my account, and changed my password back to my OLD password as my first order of business upon arriving here.

    Just thought I'd mention that in case other members wanted to do the same thing. And you all may already have done so, but just in case.......;)
     
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  6. cherylad

    cherylad Countess of Cute-ification Plants Contributor

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    I think the site looks fantastic! I too will have to do some poking around to see what's all new and how things work. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon. If not, it's nice to know you're here to help out!
    Nice job! You deserve a nice break after all this work. :setf_016:
     
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  7. Jewell

    Jewell Incorrigible Gardener Plants Contributor

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    Thanks for all your work on upgrading the site. Uploading photos to a forum is very direct now.

    Just wondering....is there any way to view only new uploaded photos or is that now obsolete with the photos going directly to a post? Sometimes I am just a photo browser.

    Also for me I have difficulty finding a reason to have folders of photos if I am always posting direct. It has been fun having a wonderful online diary of my gardening during the years I have been an online member of the Stew and sometimes pulling directly from those folders to conversations in forums.

    Guess I am just trying to figure out how my habits will change. Thanks again for all your efforts in this upgrade.

    Just found photos under Extras:smt054
     
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  8. S-H

    S-H Hardy Maple

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    Generally speaking, the forum is looking better and better (the more I get used to it). It has a faster feel to it also, or maybe I am just imagining it. But overall, I think the update has been positive - Still a bit too bright, visually, which is very uncomfortable for my eyes. But I can still live with it until a new darker color theme is created... So in the meantime I am actually viewing it with my sunglasses on!
    :cool: :snicker:

    Anyway, my question is about uploading pictures. I can't seem to do it anymore... I tried to post something in the Member's Gallery section, but it only asks for a URL now - So I gave up on starting a new thread, (I just didn't see any point to it without pictures)... I was actually going to post something last week. However I held myself back when I heard the news that our forum will soon get an update - As I had an inkling that the 500 pixel width limit on picture size has become somewhat out of date... Yet now I don't see any way of uploading to the site.
    :shrug:

    I also can't seem to easily access the pictures which I had already uploaded in the past (my own unsorted photo album)... The first post of this thread shows a quick list of improvements, at the top of which is "Large photo size uploads", then "Multiple photo upload". But none of it is clickable. So I went to the pinned thread of "How do I use the Member's Gallery?", hoping that there would be some new information/instructions over there. However I again found nothing new mentioned...

    So, like, am I now suppose to get some other account (like on Picasa or PhotoBucket), and just give the link or post the embed code over here??? If yes then I can easily live with that too, really not a problem for me. But if the new site has any special photo uploading features, than I am clearly missing to spot where they are...
    :frustrated:

    === Edited ===

    OK, after reading Jewell's post above (which didn't exist while I was writing my post) - I too have now found the pictures under the extras tab! However I still am not seeing any easy way of getting into my own album of unsorted photos...
    :smt009

    === Editing again ===

    Just found the way into my old photo album, by clicking the blue "back to your garden" link above the photo uploading page. Now by clicking the picture (to expand it), I also get 3 links listed on the bottom right. the Forum code, the Direct link code, and the HTML code... So first I now have to go through all these pages, in order to get the link, which I will now have to paste in the thread I'll be making a post in? Something which in the past was easily accomplished by only a few clicks?

    This isn't feeling very friendly to me anymore... :smt012 As the only reason why I joined GardenStew was to see and share garden pictures.
     
    Last edited: Feb 7, 2015
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  9. Frank

    Frank GardenStew Founder Staff Member Administrator

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    Hi S-H, here something's I wrote to a member yesterday. I'll reword it slightly for your case:
    "Because the new software is drastically different to the older software there are very cross over links between the two. So if you ever need to find something that was in the older version it's best to venture to one of the older parts of the site i.e. any part that's not the forums. So in the case of the page you mentioned here is how you reach it: in the following order click Gardens -> My Garden -> Unsorted Photos."

    Sorry, I'm still updating older threads. Here is the new guide to uploading photos :)
    http://www.gardenstew.com/threads/how-to-post-images.34683/
     
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  10. Frank

    Frank GardenStew Founder Staff Member Administrator

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    Hi Jewell, you've touched upon one of the main issues that kept me awake planning this upgrade - how to allow direct image posting and album posting to co-exist. Direct posting is really easy but doesn't allow a member to maintain albums. However if a member visits their Garden and uploads photos to their albums first they can copy/paste the Forum Code provided on each photo's page to add to a Message on the forums. This way they maintain photo albums but also can post the photos they contain to the forums.

    Does it make sense? If required I can post an more detailed thread about how to do this.
     
  11. Jewell

    Jewell Incorrigible Gardener Plants Contributor

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  12. S-H

    S-H Hardy Maple

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    Thanks Frank! Guess I totally missed seeing the *Upload an Image* middle bottom on the lower right of the text box... I really seem to be squinting my eyes a lot now (as the site is way too bright) - Perhaps this is why I am failing to spot crucial details... :confused: :eek: o_O :D
     
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  13. Frank

    Frank GardenStew Founder Staff Member Administrator

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    @Jewell It's not the actual web address to the page that you posted but if you go to that very same page and look a bit lower down the page you will see a Share this Photo section. Within that you will see a Forum Code, copy/paste this into a forum message and it should work :smt023
     
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  14. Sydney Smith

    Sydney Smith In Flower

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    Hi Frank. A great deal of thought and effort etc gone into all that - Take five. Syd.
     
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  15. Ronni

    Ronni Hardy Maple

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    Y'all can ignore me. I'm trying to figure out the quote thing. This is what it looks like when I click Quick Quote.
     

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