New Folding Sigs - EVERYONE must update!

LincLinc OwnerDetroit Icrontian
edited March 2007 in Folding@Home
I'm scrapping our current signature system... finally. I've made a far better one, and everyone is going to need to redo their signatures using the new generator. Old ones will be disabled in the next 48 hours or so.


Where this came from

I've been working on this for (literally) three years off and on. It was my first major PHP project, and I started it over about 3 times. What you're seeing is about 1/5 my original goals because I was entirely too ambitious. The rest has been hacked out and put on a back burner for later. :) If it hadn't been for my ongoing tinkering on this I never could've tackled the front page last fall.

Lasse (lsevald) coded our original sig stats on Icrontic and the current sigs are heavily based off that with a quite a bit of his original code. This new system was dreamed up through conversations with him back in the day and plenty of advice as I was getting started - much appreciated :cool:


Why we're switching
  • So I can disable javascript on the forums - it's a huge security hole
  • To speed up the forums (I hope)
  • So I can enable AJAX (you'll see - it's really slick)
  • More flexibility in what we can do with signatures


How it works (I hope)

Make a signature with the new generator (take some time and check the instructions - don't be afraid to play in the code on this one!). Everyone gets two signature "slots". Save the sig in one of those slots, then put [folding_sig1] for slot 1 and [folding_sig2] for slot 2 in your signature. It won't appear on a preview - it only shows up in threads at the moment.

That's it! The system updates all the sigs automatically at 5am and 5pm EST.



And please... be patient if something goes screwy :o I've been fighting this thing every inch of the way for the last three days to make it finally work. It's complicated as hell (custom VB plugin, 2 scheduled tasks, custom hook, 8 custom VB database fields, 5 scripts, and a whole roll of duct tape).

Cheers! :cheers:
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Comments

  • KentigernKentigern Milton Keynes UK
    edited February 2007
    Hi
    Just tried to use the new sig generator and got this
    Short-Media Integrated Stats System
    Signature Generator
    You must be logged into the Short-Media forum to use the generator!

    SYSTEM DISABLED

    Please advise - Thanks :)
  • dragonV8dragonV8 not here much New
    edited February 2007
    Kentigern wrote:
    Hi
    Just tried to use the new sig generator and got this



    Please advise - Thanks :)

    I just tried it (without knowing what i'm doing) and got in/out without any probs. Maybe it was updating sigs when you tried??
  • KentigernKentigern Milton Keynes UK
    edited February 2007
    I tried it again and got the same screen - refreshed using F5 - still the same

    I can get a preview in the box but at the bottom of the form there are no save/submit buttons
  • QCHQCH Ancient Guru Chicago Area - USA Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    Second sig is not displaying...
  • KentigernKentigern Milton Keynes UK
    edited February 2007
    Oh dear - I'm still a non-person :sad2:
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    Nice new generator. I'm all over that!
  • CBCB Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Der Millionendorf- Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    Few things to note:
    • There are only two options for a person who wants to have their SMx rig in the same sig as their primary username. Even the 'plain text' option doesnt do it.
    • The 'plain text' option doesn't have a choice to make it one line instead of three.
    • None of the graphics that do show the SMx rig look right with a name that is longer than just the number of the rig.
    • As Q pointed out, Sig 2 seems to be invisible.
  • LincLinc Owner Detroit Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    Kentigern, you need to be cookied for it to work. Make sure when you login to the forum you click the "remember me" box or it won't work :) The system needs to be able to authenticate who's using it. Sorry that it's a little ambiguous, I forgot some people don't use the cookie.

    I probably b0rked sig 2 :( I'll have a look, sorry. :-/

    CB Droege wrote:
    There are only two options for a person who wants to have their SMx rig in the same sig as their primary username. Even the 'plain text' option doesnt do it.
    That's true, but you could make a new one if you're desperate for options.
    CB Droege wrote:
    The 'plain text' option doesn't have a choice to make it one line instead of three.
    That's true too, but all you need to do is delete the line breaks.
    CB Droege wrote:
    None of the graphics that do show the SMx rig look right with a name that is longer than just the number of the rig.
    Except the huge one where you could write a novel on the sig if you wanted.
  • KentigernKentigern Milton Keynes UK
    edited February 2007
    Thanks Matt :) Didn't realize about the remember me - thought it was for remembering password & log in.
  • Sledgehammer70Sledgehammer70 California Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    Sweet, good work Matt :)
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited February 2007
    Looks nice, Keebsie. :)

    At least, I'm sure it will once I go back and read the directions and see what I did wrong. :p
  • LincLinc Owner Detroit Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    OK, I fixed 3 bugs.
    • Sig 2 should work now.
    • SMx stats weren't going through right. You can either redo SMx sigs or wait (they'll fix themselves at 5pm).
    • Font sizes weren't being respected by the forum because of a difference in how the forum read it vs. how the generator read it. It should work fine now :)

    Let me know if you see any other issues!
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    Now I need to find the HTML for Dummies
    Good work Matt.
  • LincLinc Owner Detroit Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    edcentric wrote:
    Now I need to find the HTML for Dummies
    Good work Matt.

    Thanks :)

    I tried to make it so that you could still have a pretty sweet sig without needing to manipulate the code. If anyone needs some help customizing their signature, I'm more than happy to assist :)
  • GargGarg Purveyor of Lincoln Nightmares Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    I got the SMx sig to work by selecting it as the main user, and putting it in slot 2. After I set up my own in slot 1, that is.
  • LincLinc Owner Detroit Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    Gargoyle wrote:
    I got the SMx sig to work by selecting it as the main user, and putting it in slot 2. After I set up my own in slot 1, that is.
    Was this before or after I said I'd fixed it? That was a bit ambiguous as to whether it's currently working :o

    Putting it in as the main user is, of course, always an option just as before if you don't want it on an SMx background :)
  • GargGarg Purveyor of Lincoln Nightmares Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    General Keebler wrote:
    Was this before or after I said I'd fixed it? That was a bit ambiguous as to whether it's currently working :o

    Putting it in as the main user is, of course, always an option just as before if you don't want it on an SMx background :)

    Oh, actually I haven't tried the other way since you've fixed it. I'll give it a shot real quick.
  • GargGarg Purveyor of Lincoln Nightmares Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    Choosing IC_11 as my SMx rig didn't seem to affect anything. Am I supposed to add data tags manually to the Tweaking menu? If so, I'm thinking setting an SMx rig to slot 2 is easier.
  • LincLinc Owner Detroit Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    Gargoyle wrote:
    Choosing IC_11 as my SMx rig didn't seem to affect anything. Am I supposed to add data tags manually to the Tweaking menu? If so, I'm thinking setting an SMx rig to slot 2 is easier.
    Choosing an SMx rig only affects something if you choose a signature with "SMx" in the title - the others don't use SMx tags anywhere ;) Don't worry about it, I just wanted to make sure you hadn't discovered my fix to have failed.
  • GargGarg Purveyor of Lincoln Nightmares Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    General Keebler wrote:
    Choosing an SMx rig only affects something if you choose a signature with "SMx" in the title - the others don't use SMx tags anywhere ;) Don't worry about it, I just wanted to make sure you hadn't discovered my fix to have failed.

    Gotcha :D. I just realized the point of having both set at once was for sigs that have room for both. I'm a little slow on the uptake :buck:
  • witenoizwitenoiz 19,356 miles East of Kansas City, MO Member
    edited February 2007
    WOW!! :celebrate Mr. General came to my rescue. Thanks Matt ;) Jack
  • WingaWinga Mr South Africa Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    Aaahhhrrr a lot of us seems to have borked out sigs :eek:
    Is it SM or have we just screwed up a simple procedure :p
  • LincLinc Owner Detroit Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    Winga wrote:
    Aaahhhrrr a lot of us seems to have borked out sigs :eek:
    Is it SM or have we just screwed up a simple procedure :p

    Please see post 1 :p Old sigs are now broken - I'll killing any that I see. You need to get a new one using the new generator in post 1 :)
  • SPIKE09SPIKE09 Scatland
    edited February 2007
    been there done that now stats and sigless :bigggrin: :bigggrin: had them for a day so I am happy:cool2:
  • LincLinc Owner Detroit Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    SPIKE09 wrote:
    been there done that now stats and sigless :bigggrin: :bigggrin: had them for a day so I am happy:cool2:

    This is a whole different system mate - I just put it online today ;) Sorry about the timing :o
  • GargGarg Purveyor of Lincoln Nightmares Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    Keebs, you may be on top of this already, but I noticed my two sigs have different usernames (as they should), but are both reflecting the stats for SM11.

    [me]* Gargoyle cracks whip.[/me]
    SPIKE09 wrote:
    been there done that now stats and sigless :bigggrin: :bigggrin: had them for a day so I am happy:cool2:

    If it's any consolation, the new system is pretty sweet. We've got a lot more options now than before :thumbsup:
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited February 2007
    Gargoyle wrote:
    ...I noticed my two sigs have different usernames (as they should), but are both reflecting the stats for SM11...

    I had the same problem. For your personal sig, leave the SMx stuff blank. :)
  • nonstop301nonstop301 51° 27' 24.87" N // 0° 11' 38.91" W Member
    edited February 2007
    The instructions in the new signature generator are straightforward enough but I don't see the Submit Signature button and at the top it tells me System Disabled even though I have logged in to make the changes :)

    I must be missing something simple :)
  • KentigernKentigern Milton Keynes UK
    edited February 2007
    See page 1 post 9 re kentigern
  • LincLinc Owner Detroit Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    nonstop301 wrote:
    The instructions in the new signature generator are straightforward enough but I don't see the Submit Signature button and at the top it tells me System Disabled even though I have logged in to make the changes :)

    I must be missing something simple :)
    You need to have "Remember me" checked when you log in to the forums. That creates a cookie, which is what the generator needs to authenticate who you are :)
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