Some more small changes - updated 23rd April!

[Delphy]

Hi All,

I seem to be doing a lot of small optimisations lately... So much for retirement. But, hey, it's fun and keeps me busy. :)

Anyway some small changes today:


Removed the query that checks for staff messages on every page refresh - now it is all handled by the PM system. Saves 1 query every page.
Changed the Thanks display on download threads, so that the full list is only returned for the thread owner, rather than returned but not shown. Should speed up thread generation.
Made the "Add to favourites" box dependant on the Thanks - now you can't add anything as a Favourite Download unless you have thanked it (which makes sense, but mostly becuase it also saves a query too)
Some small optimisations with regards to template caching, but shouldn't change much
Chii has been switched back to Apache2, since Apache1.3 seems to kill the box regularly :(


Updated / added 23rd April:


Fixed bug where threads with no keywords would have an implode error at the top of showthread
Possibly fixed bug with member.php and imploding arrays
Added "Search PMs" box which, as the name suggests, searches PMs
Hopefully fixed bug with 65536 unread PMs from staff
Fixed bug where PMs from some staff would not get added to the pmsFromStaff value
Removed the Online/Offline indicator from the profile page
Removed all QX links from the site. This is now unsupported permenantly.
Probably some other minor changes I have now totally forgotten about :)


The main thing you have to be aware of is the whole Thanks/Favourites thing. Otherwise it's all small stuff but should hopefully help a little.

Edit: a quick note about QXpress. The reason that MTS2 has stopped supporting it is twofold. Firstly, it does not work on a lot of peoples machines, has serious issues with Vista, and is horribly broken code, and secondly becuase I personally feel that it is is outdated and that we have FAQs and tutorials on how to install manually anyway. Yes, it still works on other sites, no those other sites are nothing like how MTS2 is setup, no I wont be fixing any bugs for QXpress, no those links wont be coming back.

Thats it for now.

Regards
Delphy

[Rapsheba555]

good work as always delphy! :D Just can't stay away, can you? :lol: Well, we all appreciate it, so thanks! Looks good. I like the one about the thread must be thanked to be a favorite. It's a nice improvement. Nice job! :D

[pokedude9777]

I really like the favorites to thanks, Delphy! :D Great job :Pint:

[icy96]

Hehe. But i'm not sure if I recieve the results for my upload now :P

[bbc100]

Wow!!!!

[Buzz2112]

Thank you Delphy

[Vixenia]

thanks delphy. These 'small' changes have made quite a difference it used to take forever to load pages here and now it takes only a few seconds ;) thanks again!

[Delphy]

Hehe. But i'm not sure if I recieve the results for my upload now :P

Translation, anybody?

[icy96]

whoops! sorry 'bout that sometimes I get carried away :P

[Petchy]

Thankyou! Hey I know, If we speed it up even MORE, delph, we'll need a new theme! XD Ok, Thats not necessary, At all, but it makes for good reading!

Thanks and Grat. for the improvements on your jolly retirement!

[Mihura]

Yes it's a not far retirement :p but thank you for your support Delphy. :)

[freesimmy21]

Nice work on the site! :D Thanks!

[The Sim Supply]

Ah great idea, thanks for the update:)

[cameranutz2]

Thanks for the updates, Delphy! Glad you aren't taking Retirement TOO seriously!

[verenaheu]

Cool! Thanks,:)

[Kimsie]

Nice work, as always! I've encountered a minor issue though. Every now and then I get the message:
"Messages: 0 Unread, Total 35.
You have 65535 unread message from an MTS2 Staff Member"

It's not a big deal, and it doesn't bother me at all. Just thought that maybe you wanted to know.

[Alisar]

I am glad for your still improving mts2 site.
your help is invaluable. thank you. :)

[kopple36]

Nice work, as always! I've encountered a minor issue though. Every now and then I get the message:
"Messages: 0 Unread, Total 35.
You have 65535 unread message from an MTS2 Staff Member"

It's not a big deal, and it doesn't bother me at all. Just thought that maybe you wanted to know.

The same thing happens to me every now and then...

[billyratbag]

Thank Delpy you rock! :)

[G.O.C.]

Nice work "Delphy" Now, sit down and have a sausage!!! :deal: :Pint:

[mdude]

hey
I was wondering when qxpress links will be back?
mdude
ps nice retirement!

[neosimstyler]

mdude basically qxpress links will be back up when they are back up... Could be a few days or could be longer

[dmcflygirl1]

thank u delphy

[Wolfe075]

Um, Sorry that I'm adding this comment here but Q-Xpress is still not working.

[Delphy]

*bops Wolfe on the head with a rolled up newspaper*

Q-Xpress links are back. Whether Q-Xpress works or not is a totally seperate issue and is not the point of this thread.

[Wolfe075]

*bops Wolfe on the head with a rolled up newspaper*

Q-Xpress links are back. Whether Q-Xpress works or not is a totally seperate issue and is not the point of this thread.

Oh...Sorry...um... :Pint: And I never use smileys!

[Delphy]

That's ok :)

[bennyboy2104]

Hiya Delphy,
I'm sure i heard earlier this year that you weren't going to continue with this site for The Sims 3 threads, does this mean that when it comes out in 2009 the whole site will close down?:(

[maxpax318]

Hiya Delphy,
I'm sure i heard earlier this year that you weren't going to continue with this site for The Sims 3 threads, does this mean that when it comes out in 2009 the whole site will close down?:(

You can find out about that in this thread:
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=262191

[swimgators]

When I try to download things it says I'm not logged in. I look up top of the page, and it says I'm logged in. I click my username, and it says i'm OFFLINE. I enter my password (I checked a few million times that it was the right one) and it still said my password or username was incorrect (I checked the username too) SOMEONE HELP ME!

[swimgators]

Oh yeah, one more thing from swimgators: it let me post that message, didn't it?

[Delphy]

The online/offline indicator is disabled. When you login, make sure to tick Remember Me as the download page says.

[wargarurumon]

what Qx is gone forever, but that was so great

[dancorp]

Why and the heck did you get rid of the Q-Xpress? Thats what I use to download everything. Is it coming back?

[plrin]

Downloads aren't working at all for me, I keep getting a 404 page.

[jamaicanstacie]

I'm totally bummed that QX is disabled. It was a big reason this place was my fave. Welp, guess I'll have to resort to TSR *ducks*

[Wolfe075]

Wait, who said it was disabled forever? And is it realy that hard to download things normaly? I mean it's not that difficult...

[neosimstyler]

Wait, who said it was disabled forever? And is it realy that hard to download things normaly? I mean it's not that difficult...

Well according to Delphy's update for April 23
"Removed all QX links from the site. This is now unsupported permenantly."
So that means permanently, sighs....

I guess we will just have to start downloading stuff individually from now on, :cry:

[neosimstyler]

Ok just read somewhere else, where q-xpress is down for good, too bad, however there is a program for firefox users called download them all, it works wonderful

[mizmudgie]

Never could get Q-Express to work anyway. I will have to look into the firefox thing.

Thank you Delphy for your hard work to make this the best Sims site on the net. I appreciate your work very much, this site and it's contributers makes the game so much better. :)

[neosimstyler]

mizmudgie you will love firefox

[gates27]

why does Q-Xpress disabled?

[Rapsheba555]

So QX is gone now? I don't see the links, so that must be right. By "permanently unsupported" I take it you mean, QX still works, but we have to manually add the files to the queue? I never used it anyway. :D so it doesn't affect me besides the fact people would complain to me about how the QX links to my d/l's weren't working. :/

[Deluxe Designs]

Thanks for this :)

[Delphy]

gates27, read the announcement.

rapsheba, correct. the local install is still usable, but the automatic download + install is not available here anymore. :)

[Crashley1784]

I just wanted to say thank you for Delphy for all your hard work on this website. I run some smaller (MUCH smaller) websites, and those stress me out...I can't even imagine how hard this site is to run - but you've done a fabulous job. Being able to use custom content is the main thing that has kept me playing sims for so long. If it was only Maxis crap I would have chucked it years ago, lol. I am sad to see QXpress go, as I never had any problems with it and it made my life lovely, and it has made me lazy! lol. I'll look into the firefox thing. Does anyone know what it's called, or offer a link where I can find it? Thanks! And thanks again Delphy!

[Crashley1784]

I just wanted to say thank you for Delphy for all your hard work on this website. I run some smaller (MUCH smaller) websites, and those stress me out...I can't even imagine how hard this site is to run - but you've done a fabulous job. Being able to use custom content is the main thing that has kept me playing sims for so long. If it was only Maxis crap I would have chucked it years ago, lol. I am sad to see QXpress go, as I never had any problems with it and it made my life lovely, and it has made me lazy! lol. I'll look into the firefox thing. Does anyone know what it's called, or offer a link where I can find it? Thanks! And thanks again Delphy! We love you!!!

[thegammingperson1994]

I like the updated update, Delphy! I am a little disappointed with the drop of QXpress, it installed fast and easily for me.

[animejosse]

I must be one of the few people who never used QXpress since it didn't let me install the files where I wanted them.

Anyway, thank you for the updated updates!

[Netza]

oh god.... I have like 50 files in my qx que....>_< Down them all has never worked for me on this site. :(

[wavebabies]

so does that mean you no longer will have this option q express permantly.i loved this feature.it worked for me.

[wavebabies]

couldnt we add it as an option?

[Summer1794]

that sucks QXpress made it so much easier
and iv only had one problem with it

[Summer1794]

what are the other sites that use QXpress
i havnt seen any

[Delphy]

Q-Xpress will not be added as an option. Q-Xpress will not be coming back. I don't know how many times I have to say that :)

[jessiemeister]

Ok, this site has gone down the drain. First the IRC chat was deleted, next the home requests, then the expansion pack checker for the download section, and now qxpress... :/ Everything I used to love about this site is gone :(

[jessiemeister]

Ok I take back the Expansion pack checker thing, I had to search for it. It was hidden for me.

[~Jessica~]

irc chat is still there...click "site links" and then "live chat" in the menu
home requests? most people who can make homes like in the pictures, dont take requests or fulfill any, so thats probably why it was deleted.
and im not sure what you mean by expansion pack checker...it automatically filters out downloads for eps you dont have. I'm guessing you mean the part that filters in the actual download area? All he did was switch it to a collapseable thing now so it takes up less space on the side and people can now see the Download faq links without scrolling too much. Although I can see how that part could seem hard to miss, it wasnt hidden.

[poundingheart]

Hey Delphy, Have a drink and a good lie down lol. Now that you are rested, I would like to say thank you for all the small things you do for this site. I found qxpress didnt always work and I wont miss it. cheers

[neosimstyler]

q-xpress didn't work half the time anyways

[wavebabies]

thanks for the update
theres so much great custom content on this site.id love to add it all

[chezzyg13592]

Its a pity that Q Xpress is gone because I finally got it to work on Vista :cry: but I suppose if there are toomany problems, that seems logical. Thanks for all the hard work, love the site still and hopefully will be just as good. ;)

[alic122012]

I want Q-Xpress back!! :'( it was the only thing that let me download RAR files from MTS2 correctly into my downloads folder- winRAR doesn't work for mee! *sobs*

---Pretty pleease?? :(

[jessiemeister]

Ok I'm done complaining. But I'm just wodering if any other people are experiencing my problem. Simply put, the pages are taking like 10 minutes to load. How do I fix it??

[loveneverfails]

Wow.. Its not even worth it to download from this site anymore. Q-Xpress was honestly the only thing that kept me downloading from here because without it, it takes 10 minutes to download one friggin' thing. Did you not think about the people who QX actually worked for?

[Delphy]

No, I obviously don't think about anybody on the site at all who things work for, and don't spend my evenings or weekends making new features, and making things go faster or really improving things.

Of course, the fact that you can just queue things up in a regular download manager program obviously doesn't help.

:rolleyes:

[neosimstyler]

download manager has been acting a bit buggy today, but thats normal for firefox... and to all those that don't like q-xpress being gone, delphy is the owner of the site, and if he wants to take q-xpress down its his right to....

begging, pleading etc aint gonna help, trust me i've tried..

so basically you either adjust to using a different downloading program, down load the files individually or leave...

personally i like the stuff that people create on here, so im staying...

so either stay or go, but please don't complain about it

[Delphy]

I'm not just the creator of this site, I also wrote Q-Xpress, too.

[mooninspired]

I just want to know how can i install without that QX. sorry for such a fool of me.

[rubennieto]

OK if you got winrar try this when downloading wait for the download to finish when the little window opens and click on open when it opens in winrar click on file where it says extract to folder click on that when the menu of folders opens go down to program folders then where it says EA open that click on sims2 folder and there you go. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt,as far as Qinstaller im no coder or I would try my hand at the free code and try to fix it but im not. Oh I almost forgot im not trying to promote other peoples sites but if you want to try sims file maid 2 you can try that.

[maxpax318]

I just want to know how can i install without that QX. sorry for such a fool of me.

There's a whole guide on how to download and install stuff here:
http://www.sims2wiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Downloading_for_Fracking_Idiots

[ileya333]

Delphy, I aplogize for everyone out here who keeps complaining, that has to be so frustrating. It's not enough that you keep this site up for all of us Sims addicts, but you come out of retirement to continue to take care of us..

I loved Qexpress, but I understand when something becomes a bigger problem than help it's time for it to go.. I have learned how to download manually, and if I can do it, anyone can.. Seriously technically impaired indivual here... LOL

I want to say thank you, there are no other sites as full of great content and as well organised and easy to find as they are here. You did that, so thank you... I hope this site doesnt go down too quickly after sims3 comes out, cause I wont buy that one for several years yet.. I tend to wait till bugs are worked out as much as they are going to be..And with ea's record with bugs, it's gona be a long wait... LOL

I love this site, it's my favorite sims site and I dont see that changing just because I'll have to take an extra 10 seconds to get my downloads.. Thanks again, for all you do in here for us. Cause you know I just dont really think you do it for yourself, You've got all the great content you could possibly want and then some.. Im pretty sure you do this for us...

Thanks again. A huge fan, Ileya

[angelad428]

Sorry for all the idiots. I love the improvements, Qxpress was more of a hassle than a help anyways, it only seemed to work half the time.
I love what you've done with this site, it is in my opinion the most user friendly free site with the best content that exists.
Thanks for everything Delphy!

[PrincessMalfoy]

Well, I am happy with the improvements of the website. I'm glad to see Delphy around again. As far as QX goes, I never once used it. I have always downloaded manually. When I first came to MTS2, I found a program to open RAR files easily and have never had any trouble with downloading or opening files. The program is ALZip and it will open all types of files, RAR or ZIP, so it works for everything!! Cheers and happy downloading.

[Sinthe]

Thanks, Delph.

Y'know, Q-xpress was nifty and all... but (I think) downloading and unzipping manually is only a smidge more difficult. I don't miss it too much.

[leapfreak]

Thank you Delphy for continuing to improve a wonderful site ;)

[dirty]

It's a shame about QX, as I'm a pretty serious downloader and, though I use Vista, it seems to install everything in bulk just fine.

As a newbie, I just wanted to say thanks for maintaining such an awesome, comprehensive site.

[Delphy]

Thanks for all the kind comments here, everybody :)

[ukyochan]

Thank you very much for holding this site together, Delphy! About QX, I stop using it all together because of the timeouts I've had. I just download stuff manually now, because I like to control where my downloads go.

[kristopher]

that does suck that Q-Xpress is now longer in used here. that made it easy to download things to my Sims2 Folder.Great Site By the Way

[dolllover81503]

um Delphy will you be putting Q-Xpress links back on? I love this site but without that downloading and installing is really hard for me im pretty dumb when it comes to pcs.I hope you do so every one can enjoy all the beautiful things.

[Delphy]

dolllover, thats why we have the Downloading for Fracking Idiots tutorial, you know ;) Q-Xpress will not be coming back.

[Zeonic_Miko]

I'm terribly upset to see that Q-Xpress is gone for good, it was one of the huge reasons I came to this site. I never had any problems with it at all and it made adding the Creator's lovely content to my game a breeze.

I know a lot of people who had great difficulty downloading and installing custom content even with things like the Downloading for Fracking Idiots tutorial so I always recommended this site and it's great tools. I hope that perhaps someday you will at least consider bringing back Q-Xpress even if you have no plans to do so now. It was a truely wonderful thing for many people and will be greatly missed.

Thank you for all your hard work in keeping a great site running, I’m very appreciative of all you do for the Sims 2 community!

[topwickedfan]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NONONONONONONONONONONONONONO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WITHOUT QX I DONT KNOW HOW 2 DOWNLOAD ANYTHING! the site has NOTHING (repeat NOTHING!!!) about downloading without it! SOME1 PLZ HELP ME!!!!!

[thesimsrule]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NONONONONONONONONONONONONONO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WITHOUT QX I DONT KNOW HOW 2 DOWNLOAD ANYTHING! the site has NOTHING (repeat NOTHING!!!) about downloading without it! SOME1 PLZ HELP ME!!!!!
It has a tutorial on how to install custom content Here:
Dowloading for fracking idiots (http://sumomo.modthesims2.com/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Downloading_for_Fracking_Idiots)

[Delphy]

topwickedfan, Nothing about downloading, huh? What's the link that says "Need help with download or installing custom content? Click here!" that appears on every single download thread on the site then? Window dressing?

[uagirlPlayer]

Delphy!

The ONLY way i know how to download is through Q-Express!
WHAT DO I DO NOW!?!

[Delphy]

...You read the link thats on every single download on the entire site, of course.

We don't just write those downloading FAQs for our own amusement you know.