Thread title length

[Former Member]

Hi there,

Not sure if this is really the right place for it (if so, moderators please move it to where it's most appropriate), but is there any way anyone could adjust the thread title length? I feel it's restrictively low, and having a higher character limit enables more accurate description of the contents of the thread.

Thanks,

Seleucus.

[Wormopolis]

Its not a number that can be changed with a plugin. its set server-side.

there is a thread description plugin that you might find useful though

[ponzinomics]

My +1 for this. I suppose is a database issue but is important at the user interface

[Wormopolis]

Isnt the current max set at 150 characters?

[ponzinomics]

not in the screens at least, when I create a thread, the subject field is limited to 60 characters:

012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789

Do you suggest that, by fixing the screens, the issue is fixed, or is a database issue instead?

[Chris]

The current max is 60, it may have been longer on initial release of V5 since I sort of recall some pretty wordy subjects but it also caused some spacing issues. Examine the subject input when creating a thread and you'll see
 <input type="text" class="full-width" tabindex="2" maxlength="60" name="subject" id="form_randomhash_subject_input">
This doesn't necessarily have to reflect the capacity in the database and the database capacity could be higher but if Proboards is limiting it to that number then it is a good bet it is the upper boundary they want. You could try increasing through coding means but if it fails any checks on the server end then your post will most likely be rejected. Local form verification only checks for a minimum not a maximum if I am remembering correctly

[Pebble]

If I'm remembering correctly....

V5 started with a 50 character limit and after requests, this was increased to 60. Then, people said they wanted it back to 50!
I wrote a plugin to shorten the limit to a specified amount and seem to remember through testing that although you can shorten the limit, increasing it just meant that the title got chopped off at 60 characters anyway.

[Todge]

You could use a thread key and replace the thread title in it's entirety, though obviously only the truncated thread titles would be displayed on the mobile app.

[Wormopolis]

this seems like a good candidate for the thread description plugin.

[Pebble]

Jul 27, 2014 9:23:50 GMT -8 Todge said:

You could use a thread key and replace the thread title in it's entirety, though obviously only the truncated thread titles would be displayed on the mobile app.

Going off memory, so probably wrong! But isn't there a problem with knowing the thread id for the key when creating the thread, which would have the thread title in it?
Maybe someone found a workaround or PB's sorted that out....

[Todge]

Yup, that is an issue, but in this case you'd not need it. The key would be set when the thread is created with 'set_on('thread_new') function and would be assigned the thread ID on it's creation.

The problem with not knowing the new threads' ID is only an issue when you are wanting to save it to a different key.

[Former Member]

Oh well, it can't be done then. No problems. I do like the Proboards service, this is the only gripe I have with it. I think 50/60 is far too short, but never mind.

Thanks for your help everyone.

[Wormopolis]

Did you try the plugin?

[Former Member]

Jul 28, 2014 6:40:41 GMT -8 Wormopolis said:

Did you try the plugin?

I did, yes, thanks for that. I still use it. It's not ideal but a more than decent compromise. Thank you for alerting me to its existence. 

[Wormopolis]

Typically, a thread title doesnt need to be really long in the first place unless you are putting extra stuff in there for organization. the point of the title is to be a summary of the post, not a detailed description of the contents.

for example. lets say the article was about

a man in florida, who was out fishing and was attacked by an alligator. His left foot was bitten off and it took wildlife officers three days to find the suspected gator.

^that is too long to be a thread title. that is almost long enough to be a post itself. but a decent title would be

man attacked by alligator

that is 25 characters right there. it does its job.


what would be an example of a thread title you were trying to use?