Upgrade from 4.x good BUT...

[spring]

I'm testing Vb5 on a clone of my DB before migrating from 4.22, and aside from some quirks after the upgrade (number of attachment views universally now set to "1 views") i'm struggling with content parsing and attachments.

Previously Youtube links were parsed (using passivevid plugin) automatically, and the video would appear as a playable embed, there does not seem to be any way to get this to work now. I understand a new post can be made show a thumbnail of a video using the POST A LINK button, but this is no use for the legacy posts. I also feel that the POST A LINK method is adding process steps and complication to something that should be a simple 'copy & paste' action when making a post, reducing the user experience and adding steps to content creation. Using EMBED code is not an option, as i don't want HTML enabled.

Also, allowing attachments like .mp3 to be playable in a post does not seem possible anymore - again, previously there were plugins to allow this.

Also(2), attached .jpg (etc.) files do not appear as thumbnails anymore, and there is no lightbox feature as per 4.22. The instruction to use the maintainence function 'rebuild attchment thumbnails' in the admin CP's attachments section cannot be used, as that option does not exist.

Any hints as to how i can restore some of this functionality, and allow it going forward with vb5?

[TLMD]

YouTube embedding:
I think this is a bug (VBV-14609) that will be resolved in vB 5.1.8.

MP3 attachments:
They are not playable in a post and as far as I know this was never possible with the default vB installation. Maybe there is an addon available that allowes this (vbulletin.org).

Image thumbnails:
Have you tried to attach them via the paperclip icon at the top right? If you attach images to posts, you can select the size of the image. For example, this is the thumbnail version:



However, when you click on it, there is no lightbox. If you want to get a lightbox, you need to add the images as a gallery by using the top left camera icon.

[Wayne Luke]

I'm testing Vb5 on a clone of my DB before migrating from 4.22, and aside from some quirks after the upgrade (number of attachment views universally now set to "1 views") i'm struggling with content parsing and attachments.

Attachments are stored differently so the counters could be reset.

Previously Youtube links were parsed (using passivevid plugin) automatically, and the video would appear as a playable embed, there does not seem to be any way to get this to work now. I understand a new post can be made show a thumbnail of a video using the POST A LINK button, but this is no use for the legacy posts. I also feel that the POST A LINK method is adding process steps and complication to something that should be a simple 'copy & paste' action when making a post, reducing the user experience and adding steps to content creation. Using EMBED code is not an option, as i don't want HTML enabled.

We don't support Passivevid, which I am guessing is an addon. Using the default YouTube links from vBulletin 4.X would display properly. We can't migrate content the system doesn't understand. Unfortunately, these would have to be manually converted to the default [video] bbcode or a third-party developer would have to write a script to do this for you. Depending on the format of the code used by Passivevid, you might be able to create a custom BBCode that converts it to a standard Youtube iframe.

Also, allowing attachments like .mp3 to be playable in a post does not seem possible anymore - again, previously there were plugins to allow this.

We've never supported MP3 as playable in a post in a default installation. Though it shouldn't be hard to create a custom BBCode to do this with the new HTML5 <audio> tag.

Also(2), attached .jpg (etc.) files do not appear as thumbnails anymore, and there is no lightbox feature as per 4.22. The instruction to use the maintainence function 'rebuild attchment thumbnails' in the admin CP's attachments section cannot be used, as that option does not exist.

Lightbox is currently limited to Gallery Style posts. There is a JIRA to expand this.

You can tell the system to rebuild image sizes (there are more than just thumbnails now) under Settings -> Options -> Image Settings. When the image is used, the system should trigger the rebuild of all the sizes.

[spring]

Thanks for the replies Guys..

OK on the counters, although i expected attachement hit counts to be a table/value, and therefore be available for migration to the new DB. No big deal really, but You are aware that hit-counts are a badge of approval for a contribution, so if resetting them is something avoidable, it should be addressed.

On the 'passivevid' thing - i had thought that VB was now supporting Video URL--&gt;embed automatically, hense the lack of any mention of a mod or plugin to support this anywhere, good to know it's included (but broken!) - mabe the custodian of this feature at VB could have a quick look at what passivevid supported, and how simple it's implimentation was? The concept is far simpler and easier then using BB code or whatnot, and is backward compatible, which is more important for us legacy customers, also, C/P a link into a post is a couple of seconds work. I am guessing using a thumbnail of a video, rather then the embed is aimed at mobile device users who might not have flash in their browser? Seems to me like the thumbnail feature could be an automated function as part of the mobile version of VB5, instead of forcing an experience downgrade, and extra processes upon the desktop interface users. My 5c.

On the mp3 (media) as an attachment issue - this has always been a 3rd party plugin or addon, usually using a serverside flash player and some JS, and it has *never* worked properly for a long period of time for me (been using VB since ver 2.x) but it is an important function, and something that needs to be properly addressed. Attaching functioning original content in ANY form to a post is a basic element. It seems the community is being quite slow to work out things like this, and i suspect that is because of the high proce point for vb5, so, i think it's fair to as that VB themselves take this on, since they have done such a great job of legitimising and integrating so many other 3rd party addons for previous VB incarnations into VB5. Am i out of line suggesting this?

On the images/lightbox thing - i see nothing in 'Settings - Options - Image Settings' apart from a 3-way choice for image processing library and a path setting.. Not clear on where this issue stands currently - i find this http://tracker.vbulletin.com/browse/VBV-9684 when looking for JIRA on lightbox (etc.) - is this the issue You mean Wayne? It says resolved, but i don't see it as resolved here.

I'm not familiar with 'Gallery' posts as attachments, but i understand why things have moved in this direction (the spektre of inferior mobile devices once again..)

Will there be a fix to restore thumbnails/lightbox to attached images? or a tool to convert image attachements to 'Gallery' content? How about a tool to convert ALL legacy attachments to whatever device >=VB5 decides is best? I think this is important, and given the poor takeup by 3rd party devs (vbulletin.org etc.) and the high price point for VB5, i think it's (again) fair to ask this..

[Wayne Luke]

Our video BBCode hasn't changed since 4.x and works properly. Your passivevid embeds are most likely in a different format and not compatible. We do not support and never have supported just inserting a link into the text of a post and having it parse to a video embed.

There is a Suggestion for embedding a player for MP3 and MP4 files here: http://tracker.vbulletin.com/browse/VBV-13592 . It only has one vote so hasn't been as popular as other suggestions.

As stated, lightbox only applies to Photo Galleries which are only created by clicking the camera icon in the top left corner of the editor. The JIRA for using a Lightbox with Attachments is here: http://tracker.vbulletin.com/browse/VBV-11752. Different issue. Again something that would be good to add but it doesn't have a lot of votes or popularity.