Icy Phoenix

Hi again everyone,

I'm trying to figure out how to hide empty profile/viewtopic fields. If a user doesn't enter their location in their profile, the field "location" still shows. I'm trying to get the "location" field to disappear from profiles if a user didn't enter their location. The same thing goes for viewtopic. A blank space is in place of an empty location field. How would I go about removing these fields if the user didn't enter anything into them?

Thanks!

Just mentioning this again.

This will help to keep forums looking neater and more professional looking. I know what I need are some SWITCH tags, but I just don't know the necessary code.

I stand to be corrected, but it wouldn't be practical. :(

Apart from a huge re-write of the .php files with if and else arguments that query the Db to see if the entry has been filled in, it would also have to be programmed with new Block-Vars to return different template options.

That would mean new vars for every field that the user has a choice of filling in or not. :(

Then they would have to be applied to all of the templates that are available to the user <-- Begin Not Filled In Here etc. and <-- Begin Filled In Here etc, so that the correct templates are shown.

Then one would have to start re-writing the .tpl tables to accommodate the switches, and that itself would be a nightmare. :P

It gets worse - What if the User doesn't fill something in, and the option block disappears - How does one go back and fill it in then ?

It's more than a few switches, it's a huge rewrite. :shock:

Edit: And templates with left, right and multiple fields, it would be impossible to accommodate all options that may or may not be included, and hold the whole thing together. ;)

Lopalong wrote: [View Post]

I stand to be corrected, but it wouldn't be practical. :(

Apart from a huge re-write of the .php files with if and else arguments that query the Db to see if the entry has been filled in, it would also have to be programmed with new Block-Vars to return different template options.

That would mean new vars for every field that the user has a choice of filling in or not. :(

Then they would have to be applied to all of the templates that are available to the user <-- Begin Not Filled In Here etc. and <-- Begin Filled In Here etc, so that the correct templates are shown.

Then one would have to start re-writing the .tpl tables to accommodate the switches, and that itself would be a nightmare. :p

I understand what you mean, but I think it's more practical than you think. What is the use of an empty profile field? It sits there taking up space in the already cluttered profile page. Any subtraction to the profile page is a plus.

You can't tell me this doesn't look sloppy, unorganized, and completely unprofessional.



Wouldn't you rather your viewtopic look something like this? Notice how I filled out all my profile information, therefore, everything under my avatar looks nice and neat because my profile is complete.

Lopalong wrote: [View Post]

It gets worse - What if the User doesn't fill something in, and the option block disappears - How does one go back and fill it in then ?

I'm not really sure if you understand what I mean. The empty fields are always there when editing your profile. If you fill out the "Location" field, it will show your location on viewtopic. If you don't fill out the "Location" field, the whole field won't be shown on viewtopic, but the empty "Location" field is still viewable and empty when editing your profile. It becomes invisible and erases any mention of a location field. You can always go back and edit your profile to include your location if you wish to. There was a mod like this for phpBB2, I just can't remember the title or who the author was.

To be honest, this should have been taken care of in the first release of IP. IP is brilliantly packed with most every useful modification you can think of, so why not include something as small as this? It was easily possible and 'do-able' with a vanilla copy of phpBB2. The profile page is jam packed with information, so why not make it easier on your older user's eyes and brains and simplify the page a little?

/opinion.

Hehe!

I did beat it up with the wrong train of thought on what you were trying to achieve. The pic made all the difference. :P

Try this:

Open viewtopic_body.tpl

Find:



Replace with:



You will probably have to add class="?" to the <p strings to control the text size etc.

That worked perfectly! Another idea would be to remove empty fields from the profile...any suggestions?

Thanks again Lopalong.

many thanks for this tip, lopalong :mrgreen:

Chaotic wrote: [View Post]

That worked perfectly! Another idea would be to remove empty fields from the profile...any suggestions?

Thanks again Lopalong.

You're welcome. ;)

I trust you mean this profile template? h**p://***.icyphoenix.com/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=3295

That's what I was mislead into answering in my first post as it invloves Db Queries something like:

if user_hobies==('') etc DO THIS ->

else DO THIS INSTEAD ->>> etc, etc, .php files - templates and God knows what else?

Now I'm out of here, because that one is out of my depth. :P

KugeLSichA wrote: [View Post]

many thanks for this tip, lopalong :mrgreen:

You're welcome too! :mrgreen:

It only has one drawback, and that is if one wants to centre the text, then it has to be done "block-wise" with margins and fixed width; and it could end up looking pretty U.G.L.Y with any line that is just a little bit too long and wraps. :(

Me I like it centered as in the pic. :P

Lopalong wrote: [View Post]

Me I like it centered as in the pic. :P

yes, looks better...

I like how you have all the messenger icons under the avatar, but with our Xbox Live Gamercards and the Medal Mod under our avatars, it would look more crowded than it already is...LOL.

I do have some users that are putting whole sentences in their Location field. It looks terrible. Is there a way to limit how much text can be added to the Location field? I think a city and state would be sufficient.

Chaotic wrote: [View Post]

I do have some users that are putting whole sentences in their Location field. It looks terrible. Is there a way to limit how much text can be added to the Location field? I think a city and state would be sufficient.

Why not remove the field from viewtopic, as the same info is generated by hovering over the user's Flag?

You have a point. I believe I will do that.

Thanks again buddy!