3.11 Changes and Additions
Logout Security Enhanced
The
logout procedure was modified to effectively complete the procedure. When a user
logs out now, the necessary client variables are modified. The cookie is also
expired. This change has been tested on several installations and proven to be a
much better solution.
Admin Section Security
We reworked sections of the admin section to help eliminate access issues that
some were having. Certain security restrictions are placed on an admin to
compensate for Forums being used in a hosting environment. These processes
were modified somewhat and should function better.
Message Censoring
Censorship function improved to include the removal of all words in the message. The second word was not removed when the same word was used twice.
_MessageEdit_Form.cfm
This form did not show up well when using Netscape. I changed the formatting of the table. All better now.
_Options_Form.cfm
This form did not display well when using Netscape. I modified the table settings. All better now.
HTMLCode.cfm
A title bar was added to the window to specify what was displayed.
Main.cfm
Moved the toolbar below the Announcement. This gives a better appearance and places the toolbar closer to the messages on the main page.
New order of presentation
Button Background Colors
We changed the code for the button background colors. The new version allows an admin to
change the choice to "Other" and zero out the button background color in the Layout section. This will allow them to choose no color in case they want to show the buttons on a textured background. It is a small thing, I know. But someone somewhere will ask for it.
Profiles Buttons and Toolbars
We created Profiles buttons to match the current button designs. This new button was added to the toolbar for the main page. The button leads to the Profiles page, which will ultimately include a complete private messaging section.
To keep the toolbar from stretching too far across the screen for administrators, we added a <br> and centered the buttons. Esthetically pleasing and functional. The average user does not see the admin buttons and the new toolbar fits fine.
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3.1 Changes and Additions
Netscape Users are now happier!
We went
through the entire program and made changes that will allow proper formatting
for Netscape browsers (until they change it again) Stereotypically,
Netscape has been the WORST browser to design for. Tables, borders,
images, etc do not display the same as they do for Internet Explorer. We
added the necessary code to satisfy Netscape without damaging formatting for
Internet Explorer. Things are much better now.
Options
Form Width
Set the width on
the Options form to 500 pixels if not optGlobal_Frames. It was filling the width of the
page.
RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE:
When a user
responds to a message, the program automatically enters 'RE:' in front of the
subject line to show that the message is a response. When too many RE:
references were added, the subject line was too long. The program now
detects three 'RE:' references and reduces it to two.
EmailToFriend Toggle
Added toggle
Yes/No in application.cfm for AllowEmail2Friend option. Now, this
can be set in the application.cfm
AllowEmailToAll Toggle
Added toggle
Yes/No in application.cfm for AllowEmailToAll. This allows the admin to keep posters from sending their
message to all other thread participants. Some people consider this SPAM (unwanted
email)
AllowPreformatterMsg Toggle
Added toggle
Yes/No in application.cfm for
AllowPreformattedMsg. This allows the admin to remove the option to post a
preformatted message. This is when the admin is barraged with alot of people who
do not understand the option.
Profile
Icons
Profile Icons only show when the author has entered a
profile. This cleans up the message areas and eliminates frustration for
the visitor looking for a users profile where they may not be one.
No
Duplicate Account Descriptions
Modified Options_Action.cfm to disallow duplicate 'names' or
actually Descriptions. This stops a user from changing his description to
someone else's name and posting a message. Although the User_Id is
different, the appearance of the message author would be deceiving.
Modified RegisterUsername.cfm and RegisterUsernameAction.cfm to keep people from creating new accounts with duplicate 'names' for reasons listed above.
User
Profiles Page
Added a new page that shows a list of users who have profiles.
This is the beginning of a new Users section. Eventually, this
section will house a complete private messaging area as well as other features. A user must be registered and create a
profile before they can enter this area. System Admins do not
show in the list of users who have logged in. This is by
design.
Retrieve
Password Feature
If a user has lost or forgotten
their password, Forums will send it to the email address registered with their
account. If they do not have a valid email address, they will not be able
to use this option. Additionally, if there are two accounts with the same
email address, this feature will not work. This restriction is by
design. Modified security/_Login.cfm and
security/_RegisterUserName.cfm. Also created GetPass directory and
associated files.
Fixes
Rewrote main.cfm
Rewrote Main.cfm to
compensate for looped code left over from version 2.x. This rewrite also
took care of some of the strange justification noticed
Netscape Users
Many changes were made to
Forums' pages to compensate for Netscape browsers. Most of these deal with
topmargin, leftmargin, and table settings.
Subject
Censuring
If "Message Censuring" is chosen by the forums admin,
the program now censures the subject line as well as the
message.
Keyword
Search Highlighting
When a user searches the forum for a keyword, the program
establishes a variable that the user carries from search results page to search
results page. This is necessary to allow highlighting of the search criteria.
That variable was not being cleared. If the user then went on to read new
messages, their search criteria variable would highlight those keywords on the
NewMessages page. That variable is now cleared when they hit that page.
DB Admin Fix
#1
Message IDs could
be edited in the message table in the DB admin section. This ability has
been removed.
DB Admin Fix #2
Message IDs could
be edited in the message_archive table in the DB admin section. This
ability has been removed.
DB Admin Fix #3
Modified
Admin/DbMan/Conferences.cfm to allow editing of the Header1, Header2, Footer1
and Footer2 fields.
While the DB admin section is included with no warranty or support, we added a very small level of security to keep the admin from completely destroying their system.
Messages
Waiting - NoVerity
Modified
Messages_Waiting.cfm (Released with SP1)
When trying to approve
messages with Verity turned off causes an error because it tries to rebuild
verity.
Modified /forms/ThreadDelete_Action.cfm
(Released witn SP1)
When
deleting a thread that has no messages causes an error because message delete
code still executed even if there were no messages in the messagelist variable
Modified /queries/_Messages.cfm
(Released witn SP1)
If you are logged in as admin and in frames mode and
you delete the only message in a thread, a error would be presented on the final
page stating that the message could not be found. This is an old 'bug'
left over from the original code. It is actually not a bug, but rather the
way that the page is presented. The page code is reused for other routines
making the error code confusing to the admin.
Modified /queries/_message.cfm
(Released witn SP1)
If
someone deletes the single message from the thread and the thread list is not
refreshed, and they click on the thread again, an error occurs. I think
this is a remote occurance, but one that needed some attention.
Modified Thread_Delete.cfm (Released
witn SP1)
When the
admin is in frames mode and chose to delete a thread, the page would show with
the header and footer. This was difficult to use.
Modified
Users.cfm and and UserProfiles.cfm
in the Admin/Stats directory to reflect the accurate
logins by date.
Was set to query for login count greater than 1.
Should have been set to query for login count greater than 0
Modified the Users.cfm and UserProfiles.cfm to display users who are not System administrators.