The Smiley Smile Message Board

This forum has been an amazing place to find information on the Beach Boys, Recording, and Music in general.
With a (mostly) nice userbase and some very cool insiders and info, this is one of the most important musical websites I've visited.

However, for all it's glory, it isn't very... Stylish...
I'm not the most talented SMF programmers, but I have plenty of programming and overall forum experience.
I really like how the forum works now, but a few small features could be added... Like a "spoiler" feature and a warning system for posts that could result in a flame war.

Also, the moderation here has been generally good, but there's some situations I think could be moderated a bit tighter, so with that being said, I think a few new mods could be appointed.

This forum is a big part of the beach boys community. Let's keep it on top!

As I mentioned on the other thread, I would welcome it.

I say "yea" to your idea from that other thread of incorporating the TWGMTR album artwork into the theme. It would be good if you could design a few options for group review, with that being one.

As for the feel and functionality, here are my thoughts:

• I love the functionality the board currently has that allows you to jump straight to the posts that are "new" since your last visit.
• I love the little buttons that take you to the top and bottom of each thread.
• I would like to see a feature added where, when you mouse over a thread title, it shows you a text sample from the first post in that thread.
• I would like to be able to put attachments - e.g. an Excel doc - into a post (or can this be done already?).
• Obviously I'm all for the idea of "safe" and "spoiler" tags as it was my musing on that topic that birthed the idea.  :)

Excellent project idea. And I'd be happy to contribute whatever HTML/CSS/JavaScript/PHP manpower that might be needed.

Various things I'd like:

- Better text viewing on mobile devices.
- In the "Recent Posts" section on the front page, fix the issue where thread titles with special characters will delete the entire thread title.
- Have the header link to the board itself, and not the smileysmile.net main directory.
- Some assurance that someone is regularly backing up the database.

How do we get the ball rolling on this? Mods, would you be able to help us out?

I'm gonna draw up a mockup when I get home for a TWGMTR theme.

I'm not the best with SMF so I can't promise anything big, but most of that can be added pretty simply.

So whenever the mods say its okay, I'll get on it! 

A spoiler feature and warning system for posts that result in a flame war: People here love flame wars. Take that away and there goes half the fun of this place.

About the mods: I think they're doing fine....it's a tough job to moderate the social atmosphere of a online community (especially this one). When someone really snaps, they usually swift in dealing with it.
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As for style: you can actually change the skin of your page here (that greatly differ from the default bland green/black design). I forget how to do it, but from what I remember there are different colors, layouts that you can use. Someone else here would probably be more than happy to let you know how.

The mods here are all great people and do an excellent job moderating the forum. There's nothing I'd ask them to do anything different.

Board is fine as it is.

Wow. I run a forum for another pop act and I was just telling her yesterday how different Smiley Smile is from the average fan forum and how it's a breath of fresh air. So many fan sites (including mine) are about marketing themselves and fan hierarchies. I have 7 volunteer moderators and they spend all of their available time posting news pieces as soon as they hit the RSS feed and tending to social media, they don't participate in the discussions anymore. If I get an email to my iPhone from the artist's manager, my heart races until I can run to a computer and post whatever news  before a competing fan site. And then I can't express any even slightly controversial opinions about the artist (or my website will be pegged as anti- this or that) and I can't give members of my site any type of sass (or it will be perceived as bullying.) It sucks and it makes me not want to spend time on my own site.

So I really, really appreciate the lack of pretense on this board. It's just a bunch of people talking about their favorite music and that's it. To be honest, I had no idea who the moderators were until a couple weeks ago. That is absolutely a compliment because normally you get a lot of patronizing from mods who like to throw their weight around. I think the current staff is doing a great job in allowing the board to be largely self-moderating and then stepping in when need be.

I don't think creating a new theme is going to ruin the board or anything. I just think one of the best things Smiley Smile has going for it is how unaware of that kind of stuff it is and how the focus is so squarely on discussing the band.

That being said, if the owners want to make some changes, I would also volunteer my services with design and forum modification. I think the first thing to consider would be if Smiley Smile should stay on Simple Machines or be moved to more robust software. Of course, that's a money issue as well.

Agreed to the max. A few simple additions like spoiler tags etc. would be fine, but it's fairly annoying when people change formats every year or six months just because they can. Some data or information is always lost, some regulars always somehow fail to make it back, and sometimes a lot of folks are inconvenienced in some manner.

A board I joined in 2001 looks exactly the same as it used to and functions about the same, too, while adding a few simple things (adding the ability to view YouTube videos, spoiler tags) etc. and I like that. Same goes for here. It's simple and does its job very well. A lot of newer formats when it comes to messageboards just result in a lot more unnecessary clutter that no one really cares about, and I can't say the change in style is always a step up. A lot of newer boards are fuggerz as hell and indeed have a very cluttered look and feel to them.

So yeah. Nothin' wrong with keepin' it simple, d00dz ^_^ I will say the South Park banner, while cute, could be changed up from time to time, but that's a really simple thing and it's not especially important.

I'm fine with it being on Simple Machines; haven't had any issues and there certainly are a lot less outages than a lot of other forums I have been on.

I personally am for the idea, myself.

I love this community we have. Just wanted to get that out there :)

I'd like to be able to embed stuff, like YouTube clips or SoundCloud links...

I wouldn't change anything. This is one of the best messageboards I've ever seen. Why fix something that works well? The mods are doing a great job, the interface is simple, even the looks don't need any improvement in my opinion. I like the mostly black/dark green background, it's quite relaxing and easy on the eyes.

Yes.


True, too. White messageboards make my brain bleed if I use them for more than a minute or two.

Yeah, the board is fine - the community is more why I post than any aesthetic concern, so why fix what ain't broke?

MHO:

I love reading the board, I love the community (except for one person), and think the mods have been great - no problems there at all.

I'm just a bit meh about the overall theme. Mainly the banner. But that's just one man's opinion - I don't mean to offend anyone.

I think runners made a good point I didn't think of. Any fundamental change in software used/method of hosting/etc. (all stuff I don't really know much about) does tend to carry with it bugs and problems in the switchover.

I guess I would favor keeping it more or less the same, running on the same platform as it were, but change up the skin a bit, design a new banner, and throw in a few value-adds like spoiler tags.

I wouldn't mind an "ignore" feature (for that one person).  :p

How exactly would the "flame war" feature work? I've never heard of something like that - but I sure as f*ck would love to be able to steer clear of that stuff if I could!

But even if everything is kept the same, it's still one of my favorite places to go on the 'net.

That's for damn sure!!  Luckily it's not a problem on this board!

We aren't Shut Down. :)

I miss the ability to subscribe to a thread without having to either post a reply or getting email notification. Over at the Hoffman forum you can subscribe to a thread putting the topic in your own 'folder' - kinda like 'Updated Topics' here, only you don't actually have to participate in order to follow the thread.

Something that's possible here?

I hate that stupid South Park banner. It doesn't even make sense. Early 70s Al, mid-70s Dennis, 90s Brian, 70s Carl, 80s Mike? and Carl and Dennis with angel wings and halos is kind of weird.

OUCH OUCH OUCH

+1

Could we change just one small tiny thing, maybe, please?

The list of users viewing the general discussion forum doesn't always fit my screen resolution. When a lot of people are viewing the board the list goes on as a single line past the edge of my screen. Is there anyway it can be changed so that the list will adjust itself into multiple lines so that it always fits on one screen?

I really love this board as well, and generally don't want to see any major changes, just a few small tweaks might be nice though.

One thing that find a little bit annoying is that whenever you make a new post to a thread, it takes you to the main forum, as opposed to the actual thread you posted in. I would like to see that change :)

Wait, really?

Edit: I'll be damned, so it is. I prefer it this way, but can see why folks would want it the other way around. An option would be nice.

Also, am I the only one who, when trying to log in, gets the password recovery thing when clicking the "Log In" or "Submit" button (I forget what it says) after typing their username and password? I have to hit enter for it to actually work and not take me to the password recovery form. There was a while a few years back where I thought I couldn't log in at all, and after about three attempts was barred from logging in when I figured it out because it registered them as login attempts. I am usually logged in all the time now, but sometimes I'm seemingly logged out at random and occasionally still make the mistake.

Yeah, an option for it would be great.

Nope, you're not alone, that has happened to me too!

also, whenever I click on the "new post" button for a thread in the sandbox, it takes me to the first post! this is really annoying because some of the sandbox threads are like 10 pages long and I have to look through every single post to see which ones I haven't read yet. every single post, every single time.

If it ain't fix, don't broke it.

I think there is an option for this under look and layout preferences "return to topics after posting by default"

Ai! Thank you Fishmonk, very nice!

One thing I like about the All Pink Floyd Fan Network is that on the side there's a list of top 5 posters in the last 30 days, that feature should totally be included here!

Also, I would like the option to permanently delete threads you've made instead of locking them, and to permanently delete old comments you've made.
Sometimes, you can make the mistake of making a duplicate thread or writing a comment which you end up regretting for any reason.

Would that be possible?

I don't like the idea of being able to white-wash ones posting history.

Posters should think before posting. Not being able to delete a post sort of provides a deterrent to acting like an anonymous idiot and if you one does on occasion act like an anonymous idiot it's good for the reminder to stick around.

Just enable an "ignore this poster" and I'll be as happy as a porker hock deep in poop.

+1. Something like this would be great.

I'm not so sure about an Ignore the Poster idea. Say if you clicked that on someone who's usually a troll, but one day goes on to writing one of the best comments on this forum, you'd miss out.
I'd rather just have the option to delete comments or threads you made if you wanted to. Then I'll be happy as a "porker hock deep in poop"   :-D

Pretty sure everyone would let you know you'd missed out on the secret of Life, The Universe & Everything, but given that trolls rarely if ever arrive at such insights, I'd roll them bones.

Plus, an "ignore" option gives you control: granted it might result in some fractured threads but, to cite recent examples, if it gave me respite from OSD going "Myke Lhuv sukkz" every third post, or The Cohen Of Silence in full-on Eeyore mode then that's just dandy by me. More dandy than a dandy thing in the World Dandy Championship finals, actually.  ;D

I volunteer my time and my Beach Boys drawings for a new banner!  Yeah that South Park thing is just weird and what the heck does South Park have to do with the Beach Boys anyways.

(http://a1.s6img.com/cdn/0012/p/3646176_14329709_lz.jpg)

Good idea, but be sure to include all the members of the BB's, past and present. Not just the line-up from late-1963 to early 1965 and late 1974 to early 1979!


Agreed. And to those who are trolls such as Surfer, they should just be banned

Just because an ignore function is implemented doesn't mean you have to use it. You can still continue to read posts as much as you want.


If you're that worried, just don't use the function. People who use it will have to come to terms that they may miss out on something, and that's their decision whether to use it or not.


I agree with the others that we shouldn't be allowed to do this. It allows people an easy way out instead of actually requiring them to think about what they post.

Or maybe we can make it like we can actually have the option to delete your own posts, but it will never be permanently deleted, and the mods can still see it anytime like it wasn't deleted.

A lack of the option to delete posts just means you have to think before posting, which is something I support.

I just thought of an excellent idea which the forum lacks.

An entire section dedicated to tabs and instruction on how to play BB's songs. And not just official BB's songs, it can also be for unreleased BB's songs, and solo songs by all the members.  People can upload a tab in that section if they'd like and all that can really help teach people how to play different BB's songs, be it the big hits or the underrated album cuts.

I think it'll be a good idea. And we don't just have to do Guitar tabs, we could also do Bass tabs, as well as for Piano, Drums, etc.
It'll be perfect for this forum, and I've seen a lot of other music forums with something like this. And it'll be great to go to and use, instead of frustrating sites like Ultimate Guitar which doesn't have many BB's tabs and a lot that's there is wrong.

I hope this becomes a part of this forum. What do you guys think?

Well, there's this: http://www.surfermoon.com/tabs.shtml

While it's not necessarily tabs that you were hoping for, I assume (transcribed riffs, leads), there are chords for a great deal of songs - some unreleased.

Thanks for that! Something like this would be excellent for this forum, though I'd love to see more Bass and Piano tabs

When written out, guitar and piano are practically interchangeable.

I have no real stance on this, but I can see where people are coming from.
If someone wants the ability to ignore someone else, why not give them that feature?

The Polls should have their own section in the forum. It seems like a general agreement at this point.

There's already a thread dedicated to this, but I hope there's a hopefully better chance for the Mods to see this here.

Do you think Survivor counts just as much as the others? Because it seems to be a different format

I tell you what, a block feature is starting to look increasingly appealing to me...

Hal is right! ;)

Could you please implement a feature where you can follow a topic without receiving email notifications? Something in the effect of 'Watch Thread' at Hoffman.

Because of a certain user who wouldn't stop following my posts and harassing me...

Probably simply ignore all his posts. It'll be hard, but it'll be worth it.

Why not implement a feature where each member could block only one person? That's all I'd need  ;D ;D

that we wouldnt end up with a confusing web of everyone blocking everyone

Just FYI, I wasn't talking about you.

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I'm slowly starting to have second thoughts about all this again (After all, I did say increasingly appealing, not giving serious support. And that itself came out of sheer frustration. Plus, there's this one user who unabashedly hates me and said he wants only me blocked. Not having the ability to block is enough for me to F.U.C.K. with the arrogant hypocritical prick), but if we do go along with this, I propose:

1. The block to be one way, so the blocked person can still see the blocker's posts.
2. The blocker can still have an option to see the blocked person's posts, on a button either at the corner of the screen or on where the comment's supposed to be. Like "Show Ignored Post' or something.
3. The person blocked cannot block the blocker.
4. To have a maximum of 5 possible blocks, and no more than that.

I think these sound fair (although at least the third can be up for debate). Now it's up to the mods to decide whether to inplement the feature.
And a request to zachrwolfe: If you could, could you please use someone else as an example, like someone who hasn't been on for years or a person who's been perma-banned. Because this feels extremely uncomfortable for me.

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The link doesn't work  :(

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Cool, I'll try it out on Judd and let you know how it works.

*LSM runs to computer to block me and Hal*

Okay, Zach, I've noticed some things:

1. When looking at someone's profile and clicking on the "see last posts" link, the second post that's shown always has this:

(http://s27.postimg.org/d74m96hq9/proof_2.png)

Not sure if that was intentional or not, but it's something interesting that I noticed.



2. I also found an example of when it doesn't seem to work properly. I blocked both Judd and au bord de ma chère (nothing against you, au bord de ma chère) and found some problems:

(http://s15.postimg.org/5w3jstbpl/proof_1.png)

I'm not sure why it's not working. Maybe it doesn't work if you have two people blocked on the same page?

And now Google Chrome has disabled your extension..

Nah, there's only one person I really want to block, and surprise surprise, it isn't you.

I downloaded it and it won't enable me to use it. It also said that this website doesn't enable extensions  :(

"Apps, extensions and user scripts cannot be added from this website"

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Yeah, I did. But it doesn't let me enable it. It disables as soon as I drag it in.

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Uh, yeah. That's how I did it.

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I did several times, same thing happened.

And FYI, I use Chrome.

Alright, everything seems to work now. So long as Chrome doesn't disable it again...

It said one of the ways to prevent this was to put it in the Chrome App place. Any plans to do that?

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Hang on, this is the problem I'm having:

(http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj104/Rei_Fordham/SSBlock_zps50316ad4.jpg)

I have to admit, I'm not sure which folders to extract or something. I'm really bad at stuff like that  :-[

Chrome disabled it.

Delete it (click the garbage can to the right of it), go to the top of the page and click the "developer mode" box, and then drag the extension back into the page.

Okay, It's working now! Thanks!

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I think you've always been able to block PM's by a certain user. I've done that to one member.

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Go ahead. I'm fine with it.

Though I wonder what Billy, TRBB and SMiLE Holland think about all this?

I don't use chrome, but if it means I can block posts from certain people, I will GLADLY make the switch. I love the discussion here, but there are just one or two who drive me absolutely up the wall.

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I've noticed that whenever I get off Chrome and get back on, the app is disabled. It's not a big deal, and I can just re-install it easily. But it does get quite tedious.

Here's what you're gonna want to do:

• Delete the extension
• Download the .zip file that Zach offered
• Open the .zip file, highlight all the files, and drag and drop them into a new folder
• Put the folder where it's somewhere easy to find (like your desktop) and name it something recognizable (like unpacked extension)
• Go to the extensions page (chrome://extensions) and click the developer box at the top right of the page
• Click the "load unpacked extension" button
• Using the window that pops up, find the folder (on your desktop, perhaps?)
• Click that folder and hit okay (ignore _MACOSX if you're not a Mac user)
• It should now be in your list of apps - make sure it's enabled - and it won't go away or be disabled
• Chrome will occasionally advise you to disable the app for your safety, but just ignore that warning as it's obviously not going to harm your computer

And there it is.

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I've noticed both here and elsewhere on the board that Zach is very, very generous with his time, talent and expertise. Thank you, Zach.

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Today, I have blocked myself.

A feature where you can like people's posts would be wicked!

An added bonus would be that it would largely eliminate the need to post stuff like "Agreed", so it can save space on the forum.

I'd like a feature that lets you know what posts are new within the thread since last visited.

Can we have an option to embed videos in our posts?

Also, when I'm in the sandbox, and I click the little blue "new" box, it never takes me to the actual new message. The button just always takes me to the OP.

I wholeheartedly endorse BAmBU Dennis's argument for having a "like" feature and Bubbly Waves' video embedding option. :=)

I'd like a new section just for the discussion of equipment - sound systems, instruments, headphones, etc.

Is there a reason why the bricks don't always show up in the bg of the "bricks" theme? They seem to be coming and going these days... For all I know, it could be a browser extension on my end; but last night I saw a photo of an unknown person (repeated over and over) in place of the bricks while using an iPad with Safari, so I'm wondering if it's something else.

I use the bricks theme because it's light-colored. My aging eyes have problems reading light text on a dark background.

I don't use that brick theme, but I use Safari on my iPad as well, and recognise your problem. From time to time smileys, other icons, buttons, or avatars move to other places on the screen. As if they're randomly reshuffled.
No clue why it happens.

iPad Safari user here as well - can confirm the annoying emoticon/icon/avatar glitches. In the 4 years I've been using the iPad, Smiley Smile is the only website that I've had this problem with. Fortunately it's not a big deal for me; it's almost humorous given that AGD's avatar shows up as a laughing smiley face half the time!

Today, using Safari on the iPad, one of the icons on the bottom left is showing up as someone's Carl Wilson avatar instead.  8)

This is the creepy face that usually greets me when I log onto SS on my iPad (middle left), not to mention the hundreds of stars bannered across the homepage.

(http://i.imgur.com/Oq3PHkV.png)

I use Firefox on my laptop, and the same thing happens. Again, only ever here.

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iOS 8.1.3 on an iPad 4. Sometimes the site looks normal, sometimes it looks worse that the screenshot there. I don't think I've had this problem on my iphone though.

@Rangerover, next time I see it I'll screenshot it for you.

Here's another example of the nightmare that is SmileySmile.net on an iPad. Icons/images are scattered all over, the ISP icon is replaced by RangeRover's avatar, a waving emoticon is shown at the bottom of the page.

(http://i.imgur.com/rfs0Lqv.jpg)

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That could be it. I've noticed I don't have this problem when I restart the iPad, and (I think) when I close out of all my other tabs/programs. I'm so glad they finally updated the RAM with the Air 2....I'm looking forward to getting an Air one of these days. Though I think my next big purchase will be the Watch!

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:lol I would but I squandered all my extra funds on the SMiLE Surfboard ;D

I may wait for the 2nd iteration, but this first version looks like it does everything I want it to and more. So I'm still up in the air about it.