Revamping the forum?

[Munair]

After installing and tweaking a forum for SBC using phpBB, I was wondering if this forum could actually use a face-lift? Personally I find and always found this forum a bit sober and not much attractive. With smileys disabled and no syntax highlighting for the code only adds to the grey-ish environment.

So I wondered, is it because the phpBB version used is old? Or is it a limitation of the server hosting the forum? I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one thinking the look of this forum is a bit out-dated.

[fxm]

I think I remember that the last makeover was in 2016:
'The new look forum'

[miilvyxg]

I'm kind of... like this forum. Please don't change it.

[Munair]

I think I remember that the last makeover was in 2016:
The new look forum

5 years is considered "old" in the world of data & technology. While that's not really my opinion (I like using old machines), comparing this forum to e.g. FreePascal, colors make a hell of a difference. At the very least, syntax highlighting would be something. A wall of green code isn't as inviting as being able to distinguish tags at first sight. Currently I copy code from this forum to Geany to be able to read it more easily.

[speedfixer]

If it works, what's the problem? We don't need a bright colorful screen to take our attention away form the topics. (Too many newer sites think the presentation is more important than the content. OK. That is out of the way.)

Old? Replace/change it just because it is old?
I AM OLD. So are many of the favorite contributors, here.
(Hmmmm. Maybe that is why my wife seems to be 'window shopping' ..... )

But - there ARE problems.

Smileys
Images (a matter of opinion)
Search
Your mention of syntax highlighting (only in quoted code, please.)

Oh. I guess not really that much.

david

[Munair]

If it works, what's the problem? We don't need a bright colorful screen to take our attention away form the topics.

It's not just for the sake of colors. What about sharing code in different languages for example/translation purposes? To illustrate this, have a look at this multilingual "hello world" example topic: https://sharpbasic.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=42#p42.

I find much clarity in syntax highlighting (if it's not too fancy). And of course, it should apply to code only.

[deltarho[1859]]

I find much clarity in syntax highlighting (if it's not too fancy).

So do I. I use syntax highlighting in WinFBE. I also prefer WinFBE's dark theme but found that the default colours with syntax highlighting no longer worked for me, so changed some colours.

Therein lies the problem with syntax highlighting in code sections in the forum – getting a consensus on the colours to use. Of course, if the forum software had a colour setting dialog we could then have a bespoke code section in our browser. However, I cannot see that happening.

I second the use of smileys – I see no reason to disallow them.

[BasicCoder2]

Although I like color highlighted code it is the code itself that matters. I would rather a forum filled with interesting projects and helpful participants rather than a forum full of gloss and dross.

[aurelVZAB]

he he ..
gloss and dross.

nice_b2

[dodicat]

All the interesting code, be it grey or coloured, is lost in the forum because the forum search only searches the text, comments e.t.c. and the code may as well be in oblivion.
Google can sometimes find things, but it is hit and miss.
Getting the search to work properly again would be revamp #1 IMHO.

[caseih]

Where ever the forum goes in the future, I hope it does not move to Discourse like a lot of my forums have done. I just am not a fan of Discourse at all. Not sure what it is, exactly. Maybe I dislike the mess that is tagging. Or maybe it's the endlessly-scrolling page that bugs me. Or the modern, spaced-out white (or dark) look everyone thinks is fashionable these days. In general forums suck, but I'm quite used to phpBB.

[Munair]

Where ever the forum goes in the future, I hope it does not move to Discourse like a lot of my forums have done. I just am not a fan of Discourse at all. Not sure what it is, exactly. Maybe I dislike the mess that is tagging. Or maybe it's the endlessly-scrolling page that bugs me. Or the modern, spaced-out white (or dark) look everyone thinks is fashionable these days. In general forums suck, but I'm quite used to phpBB.

There isn't all that much difference between forum software such as phpBB and Simple Machines. What makes the difference is the theme and extensions that can change the look completely. Most importantly, a forum should be easy to access and navigate. Too many bells and whistles won't help, but too sober won't inspire either. And that is exactly what this forum reflects IMO. Moving forward is also to inspire and not just maintain. The clear difference between the FreePascal forum and the FreeBASIC forum in one word is: enthusiasm. I miss that here.

[deltarho[1859]]

PowerBASIC does not have syntax highlighting, but there is plenty of enthusiasm there. Of course, that does not prove that syntax highlighting would not increase enthusiasm.

I suspect that syntax highlighting may induce some enthusiasm at FreeBASIC, but I very much doubt that it would be significant.

In my opinion, enthusiasm is a different subject altogether. I have pondered this for a while and concluded that enthusiasm is solely down to the personality profile of the membership. That in turn is down to the attraction of the language. PowerBASIC and FreeBASIC attracts different people. Perhaps I am an odd ball because I am still attracted to both. I have no experience with FreePascal so cannot comment on the enthusiasm there.

So, what is the attraction between different languages? Now there is a question. Having got a different attraction why should one membership be more enthusiastic? That's another question.

[speedfixer]

On reconsideration:

Code highlighting sounds great - until you have to implement it.
Especially if you want that code to apply to more than one language.

At the end, I think that search should indeed be the only place where any real effort should be spent.
For me, that has been the largest pain.

It is exciting to have an idea for code that might be unique, then frustrating to not find enough usages of a keyword.
Post your idea, then get referrals to five other old posts.

david

[Munair]

PowerBASIC does not have syntax highlighting, but there is plenty of enthusiasm there. Of course, that does not prove that syntax highlighting would not increase enthusiasm.

I suspect that syntax highlighting may induce some enthusiasm at FreeBASIC, but I very much doubt that it would be significant.

Of course it isn't highlighting alone. It's part of it, but with everything, the parts make up the whole.

So, what is the attraction between different languages? Now there is a question. Having got a different attraction why should one membership be more enthusiastic? That's another question.

The syntax of a programming language is significant. Is it easy to read and easy understand what the code is doing? Is it intuitive to use? Do the built-in identifiers/keywords make sense. Are they too long or too short? IMO QuickBASIC was one of the few languages that had a nice balance, despite its limitations. E.g. I like sub rather than verbose procedure. In this respect I find QuickBASIC/FreeBASIC more attractive and easier to use overall than Pascal/FreePascal.

Admittedly, this is me seeking beauty and elegance in a language, including spoken languages; when my children misspeak grammatically (often based on local slang) I correct them. Some say, it doesn't matter as long as the meaning is understood. But I disagree, because grammar matters and a firm skeleton should be in place. Syntax highlighting emphasizes the skeleton parts of a programming language and are discernible without having to actually read the identifiers from line 1. For me personally it's a big difference. The one exception where syntax highlighting hardly makes a difference is assembler because of the nice columned syntax.