Proposed Update/Modernisation

[RussW]

Hi Folks, it's been a little while, I had some time and thought FPA might be due a bit of an overhaul.

This is purely a demo/visual representation, there ate no test/routines included yet, all data/content is hard-coded dummy data.

Although this now makes FPA an "online" (needs an internet connection) application now, this demo includes Bootstrap & jQuery from CDN to improve visual layout, responsiveness and functionality.

The download package includes a few dummy J! folders for testing only and there are temporary external/includes to separate functions for testing purposes only. It is still intentioned for this version of FPA to continue t be a single file script.

I'd be interested in your thoughts and comments before progressing any further.

Proposed FPA v2.0.0 Sample
https://github.com/hotmangoDevelopment/ForumPostAssistant-v2-2018

Cheers
RussW

[mandville]

ill play in the morning. and ping you the url for external testing

[mandville]

looking good, i have sent it out to a few trusted people for testing , mainly for people who use the fpa ll the time.
the current fpa is being translated, https://crowdin.com/project/miscelleanous how does that affect this release?

[sozzled]

As I indicated to @mandville, the most important facet of the FPA reporting tool (as far as we, who assist on the Joomla forum are concerned) is to guide people to where they can see the BBcode generated by the tool and how to copy that code ... and, perhaps more importantly, not to post "images" of the FPA report, attach the BBcode as a .TXT file, or embed the BBcode within forum [code] ... [/code] tags. If we could change people's behaviour, even just a little bit, then any improvement to the FPA tool will be a welcome one.

I've added this .git to my watch list.

[Webdongle]

Do we need to setup a database and install or just upload and unzip ?

[mandville]

on this alpha just upload and run it wont call your current instal.

i agree the Generate report text should be in 6ft high letters or infographic to say this is how to do it.

[Webdongle]

Looks good except for one thing. Where the bloody hell is the button to copy the formated info to paste in the forum ?

[Webdongle]

[fcoulter]

i agree the Generate report text should be in 6ft high letters or infographic to say this is how to do it.

Yes another vote for this, I did find it difficult to find. For someone who doesn't know what they are looking for it is going to be very difficult.

The rest of it looks good.

[sozzled]

(I hope that the design does not literally involve the use of signage with lettering that's 1.83 metres high)

While I'm not an advocate of dumbing things down too much or publicly embarrassing [seemingly incompetent] people who cannot follow a set of instructions, there are some other ways we can improve the workflow.

The FPA tool performs two functions: (1) to advise the site owner of potential problems and (2) to generate BBcode that's suitable for posting on a PHP forum. Some people, running the FPA, will use it for either or both purposes. It would therefore be pointless to concentrate all the signage around purpose (2) if the person running the FPA was using it for purpose (1).

There are other ways of attracting the user's attention in relation to purpose (2) above. One way would be to have a NEXT button at the top of the page (in much the same way as there's a similar feature used in the J! installation procedure) that guides the user to select/copy the BBcode.

But there's a further problem: because the "powers that be" (who impose the restrictions used at the J! forum site) have restricted posts to less than 20K characters, and most—even "moderately bloated"—J! sites will cause the FPA tool to generate more than 20K characters, chopping the BBcode around is a further hurdle that people have to overcome in order to get the information we need to help them.

As part of this FPA re-vamp project, it might be an idea to see what possibility exists to relax the 20K character limitation on forum posting? If that's not possible, then as part of this FPA re-vamp, consider the possibility of selecting parts of the FPA report so that they can be posted without breaking the BBcode? I dunno if it's worth it but, remember, we're mainly dealing with non-intuitive types who can't read English and (even if they do read and comprehend English) won't follow instructions (no matter what sized signage one places in front of them)!

[Webdongle]

@sozzled

The FPA tool performs two functions: (1) to advise the site owner of potential problems and (2) to generate BBcode that's suitable for posting on a PHP forum.

Sorry but you are incorrect ... the sole purpose of the FPA is to provide a method to post detailed info in the forum that it is why it is called the Forum Post Assistant not Diagnose Server Assistant.

Being able to copy the details to post formatted for the Forum is paramount and the sole purpose of the tool.

[sozzled]

@Webdongle: if your conjecture is the case, there is no need to present the information from the FPA in any human-readable form at all. Therefore, by the same reasoning, this FPA "repackaging excerise" is largely a waste of everyone's time.

Obviously—for as long as I've used the FPA tool—some thought went into the way that information is presented (with colour-coded warnings/advisories, etc.) so that it can be used "offline" from the forum: it does provide information that some people may be oblivious to (even if you don't use the FPA for that reason or if you think you know all there is to know about your websites). I disagree with your assessment: I am not incorrect even if you think I might be.