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Additional Storage for JS
Topic Started: Oct 12 2014, 10:24 PM (1,407 Views)
Arrogant
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It can be hard to create certain types of codes without the ability to store information that can be retrieved at a later date. Currently, there are several solutions that don't exactly solve the problem, but provide limited workarounds.

1. Client-side Storage -- Cookies/localStorage/sessionStorage:

  • If you want to store information specifically for the user, this is the best method. All the information is stored client-side of the user's own PC so that it can be kept specific to that user and is easily accessible.
2. Server-side Storage (ZetaBoards) -- Custom Profile Fields/Threads/Replies:

  • If you want to store information that is accessible by everyone, and not just the user, this is currently the most feasible method. There are a number of codes that use this method to store information.
3. Server-side Storage (Third-party):

  • If you want to store information that is accessible by everyone, and not just the user, this is the best method to do so, though not feasible for most. It requires hosting that isn't offered by ZetaBoards, and that usually isn't free -- defeating the purpose of using ZetaBoards to begin with.
All of the above methods have downsides, with the second method being the most problematic because of rampant AJAX use that's putting strain on the servers, so I want to suggest an alternative that fixes the problem entirely: forum specific storage that's managed with JS. It's a current feature of a longtime InvisionFree, now ZetaBoards competitor.

The idea is that ZetaBoards allows information to be stored on their servers that can be specific to certain parts of the forum: thread, reply, private message conversation, private message, and user.
Edited by Ben, Oct 13 2014, 09:26 AM.
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Ben
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Quantum-locked when observed.

SlothLikeSin
Oct 12 2014, 10:24 PM
the second method being the most problematic because of rampant AJAX use that's putting strain on the servers
AJAX requests would only put a strain on our servers if they request a page hosted on our servers. Otherwise, AJAX requests have no interaction with our servers at all, because it all happens in your browser.

I’ve had to edit your post, because we don’t allow discussion of competing services.
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Arrogant
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Ben
Oct 13 2014, 09:25 AM
SlothLikeSin
Oct 12 2014, 10:24 PM
the second method being the most problematic because of rampant AJAX use that's putting strain on the servers
AJAX requests would only put a strain on our servers if they request a page hosted on our servers. Otherwise, AJAX requests have no interaction with our servers at all, because it all happens in your browser.

I’ve had to edit your post, because we don’t allow discussion of competing services.
That's what the second method is though. If you're using a script that stores the names of users that were online for the past 24 hours in a reply and displaying that information in the board statistics, you're using AJAX to do it.

I wouldn't call them a competing service now that ZetaBoards has lagged so far behind them in usability. It's hard to explain without showing exactly how they do it, which is why I linked to them in the first place. If you truly want suggestions that can help make ZetaBoards a better service, you shouldn't have a problem with us posting links to the features your competitors offer and asking for them -- that's how most other services that are serious about improving operate.

Brandon has final say in whatever is added to ZetaBoards, so I guess I'll just send him the link via PM.
Edited by Arrogant, Oct 13 2014, 09:32 AM.
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Ben
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SlothLikeSin
Oct 13 2014, 09:27 AM
Ben
Oct 13 2014, 09:25 AM
I’ve had to edit your post, because we don’t allow discussion of competing services.
That's what the second method is though. If you're using a script that stores the names of users that were online for the past 24 hours in a reply and displaying that information in the board statistics, you're using AJAX to do it.
Ah, my bad. I was conflating the second and third methods.

Ben nips off to eat more pumpkin pie for breakfast.

While I agree an entire extra page load here and there is not ideal, the “strain” it represents on our servers is negligible compared to the load we typically deal with. That doesn’t invalidate your idea; it just means your feature request isn’t really going to alleviate a major issue.

It would certainly be more efficient for the board to be able to serve more specialized responses to AJAX requests, preferably in JSON form. For that reason, I’d rather see a proper API introduced first. It would be far more beneficial in the long-run. We could consider some kind of user data sandbox storage within the API framework from there.

Your idea has merit, but I’d say it actually doesn’t go far enough in terms of how coders should be able to interact with the board.
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Arrogant
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Ben
Oct 13 2014, 09:32 AM
While I agree an entire extra page load here and there is not ideal, the “strain” it represents on our servers is negligible compared to the load we typically deal with. That doesn’t invalidate your idea; it just means your feature request isn’t really going to alleviate a major issue.

It would certainly be more efficient for the board to be able to serve more specialized responses to AJAX requests, preferably in JSON form. For that reason, I’d rather see a proper API introduced first. It would be far more beneficial in the long-run. We could consider some kind of user data sandbox storage within the API framework from there.

Your idea has merit, but I’d say it actually doesn’t go far enough in terms of how coders should be able to interact with the board.
It might seem that way, but when you look at how the competing service has it implemented, you'll see the types of advantages it brings. You could easily setup a "like" system for threads and replies; a rating system for threads; a list of the users that have been online for the past 24 hours; a simple script that allows avatars to be displayed next to member names on the index page (similar to the newer IPB); etc... You could even write a script that rivals Dynamo without having to rely on third-party hosting.

I think you're underestimating the impact that easily accessible storage would have.
Edited by Arrogant, Oct 13 2014, 09:39 AM.
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Brandon
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What you are describing fits in quite well with what the ZB API will offer.
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Viral
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I've always envisaged an API where developers can request information about a user, which will return their general information (group, posts etc) but also extra information in the form of getters and setters. For example, I could 'set' Viral's money to 50, and then request Viral's money, which would return 50. But then it would be generally useless for most applications that would benefit from this unless the setters could only work if validated (I wouldn't want a member to 'set' their money to a higher value).

Not just users though; information on topics, posts, etc would be nice (with the extra 'setter', 'getter') thing above.

Would you be able to shed some light on what we can expect from the API, and whether or not it will offer anything like that?
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Ferby
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Viral
Oct 13 2014, 01:04 PM
Would you be able to shed some light on what we can expect from the API, and whether or not it will offer anything like that?
I'd love to have this answered too. We've been hearing about an upcoming API for a while now and I'm quite curious to see what it has to offer and why it's taken such a long time to come into affect. I won't criticise you (Brandon) so much as you have released an update but I'm interested to see what's also coming.
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Arrogant
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Brandon
Oct 13 2014, 12:52 PM
What you are describing fits in quite well with what the ZB API will offer.
Like the above posters are asking, is there any ETA for the API? We've been hearing about it for quite a while, and I know it's probably frustrating to see suggestions like this pop up when they're already in the works.. but we don't know that. We don't know what's being worked on right now, or even what the API will eventually allow us to do.

You probably don't want to give a date because there's always a chance you won't meet it, and we understand that. We just want a little more information on what we'll see in the (hopefully) not too distant future.
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Ferby
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If you can't give us an exact date, what about confirming it being released before Thanksgiving (US) or even Christmas? :)
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Stephen
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Twilight is upon me, and soon night must fall.

The API was put on the backburner because focus shifted to the mobile app, tapatalk and the update that was just released. It remains a top priority, but it is also one of the most time intensive projects so unfortunately, no estimate is available at the moment. Given that another update is planned soon, the chances of Thanksgiving or Christmas for the API are highly unlikely at this stage.
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Arrogant
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Stephen
Oct 13 2014, 04:21 PM
The API was put on the backburner because focus shifted to the mobile app, tapatalk and the update that was just released. It remains a top priority, but it is also one of the most time intensive projects so unfortunately, no estimate is available at the moment. Given that another update is planned soon, the chances of Thanksgiving or Christmas for the API are highly unlikely at this stage.
I understand why Brandon would want to focus on the mobile app, but why the updates? As far as I know, Brandon develops ZetaBoards by himself, so updates take quite a while to complete and push out. Wouldn't be it easier if he were to give coders more tools so that they can push out more features, faster?
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Stephen
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SlothLikeSin
Oct 13 2014, 04:37 PM
Stephen
Oct 13 2014, 04:21 PM
The API was put on the backburner because focus shifted to the mobile app, tapatalk and the update that was just released. It remains a top priority, but it is also one of the most time intensive projects so unfortunately, no estimate is available at the moment. Given that another update is planned soon, the chances of Thanksgiving or Christmas for the API are highly unlikely at this stage.
I understand why Brandon would want to focus on the mobile app, but why the updates? As far as I know, Brandon develops ZetaBoards by himself, so updates take quite a while to complete and push out. Wouldn't be it easier if he were to give coders more tools so that they can push out more features, faster?
Several of these were mostly done/needed updates. So they can be completed faster and released faster. The API requires a redesigned approach. For now at least, it's easier to push out several smaller updates as announced rather than take more time on one large item as we've done in the past. That doesn't mean the API isn't being worked on, just that it may take longer to complete.
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nogats07
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Dropbox offers API integration for free,, with dropbox you could get as much as 17gb free storage. but the real problem is.. i cant create a code for it because im only skilled for css and html, if anyone will make a code for it can help all zetaboards forum owners in storage problems
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Ferby
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nogats07
Oct 15 2014, 03:06 PM
Dropbox offers API integration for free,, with dropbox you could get as much as 17gb free storage. but the real problem is.. i cant create a code for it because im only skilled for css and html, if anyone will make a code for it can help all zetaboards forum owners in storage problems
That's not exactly what we mean by JS Storage.
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