Hi friends & readers,
We have made a number of significant changes to the website, as you will no doubt notice at the outset, browsing and reading through the website!
We have a totally new “Look & Feel”, with a new design exclusive to Rugby-Talk, and designed by me, your friendly webmaster.
The development process is still ongoing, with a few elements not yet coded and added, the most notable of which is the COMMENT NUMBER. The “missing” comment number will be a priority to add and we ask for some patience on that score and a few other issues, as time constraints keeps me from just adding them nilly willy as I would like and as I am sure you would want.
In the meantime, I suggest you use the TIME of the comment you REPLY or QUOTE from, by simply typing the time, then clicking on the relevant REPLY or QUOTE button… then go right to the end of the text added by the REPLY or QUOTE string and type your message, before SUBMITTING the comment.
One of the more interesting new additions is the GRAVATAR or “Globally Recognized Avatar”, which is a picture or symbol of the commenter. The first question which pops up is “How the heck do I add a GRAVATAR for myself?”
Well, here is the explanation:
- Simply go to your USER PROFILE here on Rugby-Talk, where you will see a Gravatar Section was added or alternatively go to the the Gravatar website at http://www.gravatar.com
- Simply click on Create Your Own Gravatar, fill in the E-Mail Address you used here on Rugby-Talk to register (or your other E-Mail Address – in which case you would also have to add your E-Mail Address here on Rugby-Talk afterwards, for the Gravatar to appear)
- Follow the prompts on how to add a picture from your computer or some generic symbol. It will take you through the process to crop the image and to add it.
- It will also send you a Mail containing a link where you have to go verify creation of the Gravatar.
- Make sure to add Rugby-Talk’s URL (web address) as one of the web pages where your gravatar will be used. In case you do not know, which is highly unlikely, Rugby-Talk’s URL is: http://www.rugby-talk.com
- Finish off the processes and wham-bam, by magic you will then have your own Gravatar.
The Second question is whether you need to even bother changing or creating a Gravatar for yourself? Well no, you do not HAVE TO, but it is a nice addition to have your own personalised Gravatar, so we encourage you to create one.
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Regarding which approach to use for an Avatar / Gravatar… the following:
- Using Gravatar makes sense, as any other Avatar Plugin we could use, which does not run through Gravatar, will impact on site perfrmance and CPU load time, due to the fact that added queries then have to run, whereas Gravatar’s use is already built into the WordPress Platform backbone, requiring a simple click in my Admin Panel to activate using Gravatars or not.
- Regarding prescriptive use – like in the Disqus or LiveFyre commenting systems… applying Gravatar it is not nearly going that route, as Gravatar use is and has been part of the WordPress Platform itself for yonks.
- All that Gravatar registration does, is that it issues / allows a “Picture” or “image” to be used with a certain E-Mail Account – to be used as a Gravatar – apart from that there is no hook-up to Gravatar and certainly no privacy or security issues involved and neither does any part of our Database move over to any Third Party, integrity fully in tact.
To sum up folks, using Gravatar takes nothing away from Rugby-Talk, all propriety matter stays resident and neither does it compromise you, the reader, at all in any privacy or security stakes… it just gives you a usable “image” to use as an Avatar or in this case a Gravatar!
It has always been and will continue to be Rugby-Talk’s policy to protect personal integrity and privacy and this move to use Gravatar stays perfectly within those bounds.
There are no risks involved, in relation to the added benefits we get by using Gravatar, none at all!
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Under the Main Menu, under ABOUT, the instructions to create a Gravatar will also be published, for future reference.
At the moment the changes we have made is in a sort of “Beta-Test Phase”, as we still have to monitor how the website performs with the new design under busy conditions and how the changes impact on Rugby-Talk’s WEB HOSTING package at the third party web hosts we use.
Hopefully it is lighter, tighter, faster, sleek and much easier on shared resources and provides a much more seemless experience to all of us.
From first indications on Friday, Saturday and today, it performs to expectations and we have had the opportunity to see how it performs under heavy load when the website is extremely busy during our LIVE GAME ARTICLES on the weekend. So far, I am extremely happy and I have not had any complaints, just numerous compliments, for which I thank you.
Any suggestions on additions and further changes will be duly considered and welcomed with open arms. This is after all a community which caters for and cares for each other, one built on mutual respect and a common love for the sport we enjoy so much, Rugby Union!
Regards,
cheers GBS
also, I have an idea for a game that can still be played this season.
its called “Last Man standing”
every round, each person in the comp has to select a team to win their game that weekend. if the team they choose loses, then they are out of the competition. If they win, the person progress to the next week and can then choose any team again to win, and the process repeats until there is one person left, the last man standing
😀
Spit spit spit
What a horrible photo, idolizing that cheat who’s eyes are too close to each other.
Sincerely
Bakkies
@ grootblousmile:
So if one loads a pic’ as you’ve described, does that automatically load on all blogs where you’ve registered using the same e-mail address, or just here on RT?
08:31 @ Scrumdown:
As I understand, it loads it on all where the Globally Recognized Gravatatar is applied.
That should generally be the case, although I see that there are also seperate Plugins which handle the Avatar or Gravatar differently.
I’m not sure whether specifying the websites where it would appear is a requirement, so have a good look at Gravatar’s site.
Hello there.
What a busy month.
nortierd wrote:
Lets see how this works
Just for our hard working Webmonster. Brakpan almost made it back on the map.
High drama as Community Cup Easter field confirmed
There was high drama in Gauteng on Saturday when Refreshhh! Centurion made it through to the last eight on their first attempt after holding out for a nailbiting 32-all draw against Brakpan – the Blue Bulls’ representatives’ second deadlock following their 26-all result against Roses United last month. With both sides finishing on 15 log points, it was Centurion who advanced on points difference.
hey gbs…
i’m with carol here…
you say… “Simply click on ‘Create Your Own Gravatar'”… but there is nothing in my profile that says that…
then you say use your RT email to sign into gravatar… but it tells me “invalid username or password”…
what now bud…?
As I said on Saturday, I thought the site worked well on my iPhone – Only comment is, whether you can change the adverts to show at the bottom, as it takes a while to scroll through them each time to get to the comments section?
Good work GBS, looking mighty fine!
@ ufo:
I think i am talking out of place here, but you need to sign up with Gravatar as well.
MacroBull wrote:
thanks macro… have tried that bud…
but can’t… it says i must have a username of four digits… so i guess i’m schtoeped… and will remain gravatar-less…
@ ufo:
you must sign-up with gravatar as macro said. you may find that your username may be already taken. I just continued with another one and changed in my profile when I finished. o, do make sure that the email address you enter and the one you signed up with at rugby-talk is the same.
@ ufo:
oh haha you used the username ufo…
just use something else then
@ Ashley:
that is changed the username in my “display as” in the profile when I finished. should work for you too
GBS… any chance of adding an avatar module that just allows users to upload an avatar without going through gravatar…?
I don’t comment on any other websites so having a global functionality is pretty much moot for me…
no prob if you can’t… but will be stuck with that sideways G…
@ ufo:
I think the problem in adding those things make the website SLOOOOW.
just make your username springbobberjaankombers… it does not matter, the username on gravatar is not linked to rugby talk
@ MacroBull:
yes, I think the email address is the important bit!
@ Ashley:
@ MacroBull:
thanks ashley and macrobull…
but i’ve been using ufo since 96 on the CNN rugby messageboards… as they were called then… so i’m pretty attached to it… and will rather continue with it it… and without an avatar…
i think the changes GBS has made are great and the site looks awesome… just a pity to go with an outsourced option IMO… it’s like all the sites that you can only join through facebook and twitter… it excludes those of us who don’t do facebook and twitter… and just adds to the dictatorial power of facebook twitter and gravatar…
no biggie though… GBS’s must do what’s best for him and his site… just means i’ll forever be a sideways G…
@ MacroBull:
so if I sign up there i can still use ufo here…??
@ ufo:
haha but you will still keep UFO on RT
will try that… thanks macro and ash
@ ufo:
just out of curiosity, your email is ufo@…?
gosh if your email is ufo@gmail.com, I bet you could make THOUSANDS on ebay.
thanks macro and ashley… all sorted…
no macro… I wish…
@ ufo:
No problem ufo.
@ ufo:
see? wasn’t so difficult now, was it?
13:09 @ ufo:
Following your line of comments, I am happy that you managed to get it right.
Regarding which approach to use for an Avatar / Gravatar… the following:
1. Using Gravatar makes much more sense, as any other Avatar Plugin we could use which does not run through Gravatar, will impact on site perfrmance and CPU load time, due to the fact that added queries then have to run, whereas Gravatar’s use is already built into the WordPress Platform backbone, requiring a simple click in my Admin Panel to activate using Gravatars or not.
2. Regarding prescriptive use – like in the Disqus or LiveFyre commenting systems… applying Gravatar it is not nearly going that route, as Gravatar use is and has been part of the WordPress Platform itself for yonks.
3. All that Gravatar registration does, is that it issues / allows a “Picture” or “image” to be used with a certain E-Mail Account – to be used as a Gravatar – apart from that there is no hook-up to Gravatar and certainly no privacy or security issues involved and neither does any part of our Database move over to any Third Party, integrity fully in tact.
To sum up folks, using Gravatar takes nothing away from Rugby-Talk, all propriety matter stays resident and neither does it compromise you, the reader at all in privacy or security stakes… it just gives you a usable “image” to use as an Avatar or in this case a Gravatar!
It has always been and will continue to be Rugby-Talk’s policy to protect personal integrity and privacy and this move to use Gravatar stays perfectly within those bounds.
There are no risks involved, in relation to the added benefits we get by using Gravatar, none at all!
13:48 @ grootblousmile:
Cool GBS… Thanks for that explanation… much appreciated…
No offense meant to you at all… just a little frustration on my part… But all’s good that’s all good…! 😉
13:14 @ Ashley:
Yup Ash… easy when you know how…? Thanks again…
@ufo
I also struggled a bit until I noticed that my 2 email addresses weren’t the same!
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