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Bugs and Feature Requests

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Opening post

Bugs and Features

This thread is for reporting bugs, suggesting improvements, and keeping track of what has already been built into the revived forum.

The forum is still new, so if something behaves strangely, please report it here. Small bugs are expected. Large bugs should be mocked respectfully before being fixed.

What has been implemented so far

  • User accounts - Members can register with an email address, username, password, optional location, and optional signature.
  • Email activation - New accounts must be activated before posting.
  • Password reset - Members can request reset links if they forget their password.
  • Legacy username claims - Old ZCF usernames can be reclaimed. Claims are reviewed manually before approval.
  • ZCF Original badge - Members with approved legacy username claims receive the ZCF Original badge.
  • Threads and replies - Active members can create threads and reply to existing threads.
  • Editing posts - Members can edit their own posts. Edits show edit count and last edited details.
  • Quotes and multi-quote - Members can quote one post or build a reply from several quoted posts.
  • BBCode formatting - Basic formatting is supported, including bold, italics, underline, quote, links, lists, colour, and code blocks.
  • Emoji and smilies - Basic emojis and smilie shortcuts are available.
  • Post previews - Posts can be previewed before submission.
  • Draft saving - The editor attempts to save drafts locally so posts are not lost accidentally.
  • Reactions - Members can react to posts with emoji reactions.
  • Notifications - Members receive notifications for replies, quotes, claim decisions, and some moderation actions.
  • Reports - Members can report posts for moderator/admin review.
  • Online users - The forum shows members active recently.
  • Announcements - Admin announcements appear above normal forum discussions.
  • Archive threads - Recovered old ZCF threads are visible as locked archive threads. They will be unlocked once the recovery process is complete and the forum is stable.
  • Pagination - Thread lists and post pages are paginated.
  • Moderation tools - Moderators/admins can approve posts, lock threads, pin threads/posts, soft-delete content, issue strikes, and suspend users.


Who can do what

Members
  • Create threads
  • Reply to threads
  • Edit their own posts
  • Quote and multi-quote posts
  • React to posts
  • Report posts
  • Update their profile/signature
  • Claim a legacy ZCF username


ZCF Originals
  • These are members whose old ZCF username claims have been approved.
  • Their posts do not require the normal first-post approval queue.
  • They are still subject to normal forum rules, rate limits, and moderation.


Moderators
  • Approve pending posts
  • Edit ordinary member posts
  • Lock/unlock threads
  • Pin/unpin threads and posts
  • Soft-delete posts and threads
  • Review reports
  • Suspend/reinstate ordinary members


Admins
  • Manage users and roles
  • Approve or reject legacy username claims
  • Create announcements
  • Manage moderators
  • Access the admin/status panels
  • Perform all moderator actions


What is still pending or likely to improve

  • Dedicated Domain - The forum is currently hosted on my personal domain. If enough users join and if it isn't too demanding on my bank account, I will move the forum to a dedicated domain.
  • More archive recovery - More old ZCF threads may be recovered over time.
  • Better smilies - The old forum had excellent animated smilies. A proper replacement set may come later.
  • Private messages - Not available yet. This may be added later if the forum gains momentum.
  • Search improvements - Search may be improved after more content is added.
  • Mobile polish - The forum should work on mobile, but layout improvements may still be needed.
  • Pictures/Video and other media - It would be nice to upload photos and videos on the forum wouldn't it? That's something to be added down the line.
  • Avatars - Profile avatars are currently disabled. Members should be able to upload their preferred avatars once the feature is implemented.
  • Bug fixes - There will be bugs. This thread exists because reality has a sense of humour.


How to report a bug

Please include:

  • What you were trying to do
  • What happened
  • What you expected to happen
  • Your device/browser if relevant
  • A screenshot if useful (feature not available yet)
  • Whether you were logged in


Example:


I clicked Multi-quote on two posts, but only one quote appeared in the reply box.

Browser: Firefox on Windows
Logged in: yes
Thread: link/title here


How to suggest a feature

Please explain:

  • What problem the feature solves
  • Who would use it
  • Whether it is essential or just nice to have


This forum is being rebuilt carefully. The goal is not to clone the old ZCF perfectly, but to preserve the spirit of the old place while making something stable enough for people to use again.

Welcome back.
ZCF Admin
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer
Is there a way to make sure users stay signed in? At the moment I have to sign in every time I visit. I think this ultimately reduces participation as sometimes people can't be bothered to sign in and simply lurk instead.
My All-time Zimbabwe XI
Neil Johnson, Brendan Taylor, Murray Goodwin, Andy Flower (w), David Houghton, Sean Williams, Heath Streak (c), Andy Blignaut, Paul Strang, Eddo Brandes, Blessing Muzarabani
AdminVeteran
Quoted from eugene in post #795

Is there a way to make sure users stay signed in? At the moment I have to sign in every time I visit. I think this ultimately reduces participation as sometimes people can't be bothered to sign in and simply lurk instead.


Noted. I'll make this a priority.
ZCF Admin
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer
As lovable as the old ZCF was, it was completely incompatible with phones, can this forum be made more phone friendly?
My All-time Zimbabwe XI
Neil Johnson, Brendan Taylor, Murray Goodwin, Andy Flower (w), David Houghton, Sean Williams, Heath Streak (c), Andy Blignaut, Paul Strang, Eddo Brandes, Blessing Muzarabani
AdminVeteran
Quoted from eugene in post #861

As lovable as the old ZCF was, it was completely incompatible with phones, can this forum be made more phone friendly?


Absolutely. I will work on it.
ZCF Admin
AdminVeteran
Quoted from eugene in post #45691

Is there a way to make sure users stay signed in? At the moment I have to sign in every time I visit. I think this ultimately reduces participation as sometimes people can't be bothered to sign in and simply lurk instead.


Fixed.

Quoted from eugene in post #45756

As lovable as the old ZCF was, it was completely incompatible with phones, can this forum be made more phone friendly?


I have made some changes to the UI. There is room for improvement, so any feedback would be appreciated.
ZCF Admin
AdminVeteran
FEATURE UPDATES 09 July 2026

The latest updates bring a few important changes to the forum.

First, the old forum archive has been partially restored. A large number of old threads and posts are now back on the site. Unfortunately, a huge chunk of the old forum may never be recovered, but I salvaged everything I could from the material that was still available.

Some restored threads may still have gaps. Some old discussions may be missing. Some old details may not be perfect. That is the nature of trying to resurrect a forum from the digital equivalent of a burnt hard drive found in a rubbish bin. Still, a lot of ZCF history is back where it belongs.

1. Two Skins Are Now Available

ZCF now has two skins:

  • Legacy ZCF
    This keeps the older forum look and feel. If you want ZCF to feel familiar, this is the one.
  • Neon Glow
    This is the newer, darker, modern skin. Same forum, different mood.


The first time you log in, you will be asked to choose a skin. Check at the top of the page.

You can change it later from Preferences.

2. Old Threads and Posts Have Been Restored

Many old discussions have been brought back into the forum. They should now behave more like normal threads instead of being treated as a frozen museum exhibit.

Not everything could be recovered, but the goal was simple: bring back as much of old ZCF as possible and make it useful again.

If you had an old username, please use the Reclaim Username option where available.

3. New Thread Types

ZCF now supports different types of threads. This should make cricket discussions easier to organise, especially during tours, tournaments and match days.

The current thread types are:

  • Discussion
    This is the normal thread type. Use it for ordinary cricket discussion, general topics, opinions, questions, arguments about batting orders, and the usual ZCF chaos.
    All members can create Discussion threads.
  • Announcement
    These are official forum notices. They are mainly used by admins and moderators for updates, rules, and important information.
  • Series/Tournament Thread
    This is used for a tour, series, tournament, or competition. For example, a Bangladesh tour, Logan Cup season, World Cup, or Vigne Cup.

    A Series/Tournament thread can contain the list of matches connected to that series. Match Threads will be automatically generated 24 hours before the match is scheduled to begin if configured to do so. This should make match-day discussion easier to follow without manually creating everything every time.
  • Match Thread
    This is for one specific match. Match threads can now be connected to a Series/Tournament thread.


For now, only admins and moderators can create or edit Series/Tournament and Match threads while the feature is still settling in.

Once everything is stable, more members will be allowed to create these thread types.

All members can still create normal Discussion threads as before.

4. Match Thread Information

Match threads can now carry extra match information in the side panel or mobile Info section, including things like:

  • Match details
  • Broadcast links
  • Toss information
  • Playing XI
  • Polls


This is still being refined, so please report anything that looks odd.

5. Please Report Bugs

This was a major rebuild, so there may still be rough edges. If something looks broken, behaves strangely, please report it in this very thread.

Thanks for sticking around. Hope you have a good time on the forum.
ZCF Admin
ZCF OriginalVeteran
This maybe already done and I haven’t noticed but is there an away to know when something is unread. Like how on the old form the topic would be red.
ZCF OriginalVeteran
This maybe already done and I haven’t noticed but is there an away to know when something is unread. Like how on the old form the topic would be red.
AdminVeteran

Edited

Quoted from Andy31 in post #45782

This maybe already done and I haven’t noticed but is there an away to know when something is unread. Like how on the old form the topic would be red.


Yes. The old forum used to highlight unread posts and threads. I will definitely work on it soon.
ZCF Admin
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer
A couple of things:

A search feature would be useful
A list of all users with a post count and other information like last login, date joined, etc would be nice.
My All-time Zimbabwe XI
Neil Johnson, Brendan Taylor, Murray Goodwin, Andy Flower (w), David Houghton, Sean Williams, Heath Streak (c), Andy Blignaut, Paul Strang, Eddo Brandes, Blessing Muzarabani
AdminVeteran
Quoted from eugene in post #45849

A couple of things:

A search feature would be useful
A list of all users with a post count and other information like last login, date joined, etc would be nice.


Noted. I will advise when both are available.
ZCF Admin
AdminVeteran

Edited

Technical Issues

Good day, everyone.

You may have noticed that the forum has been misbehaving a bit over the last few days, including yesterday’s outage.

Recovering a dead website and building a new interface on top of it is not a small job. Some technical issues are unavoidable this early in the new forum’s life, but they are being dealt with.

The following issues have been identified:

  • The forum is taking longer than it should to load.
  • Duplicate posts and threads are sometimes going through.
  • A search function is needed.
  • Users cannot yet easily identify threads with unread posts.


I will be addressing these urgently. Things should stabilise soon.

Thanks for your patience. 🤞
ZCF Admin
AdminVeteran
Problems posting.

Quoted from eugene in post #45849

A couple of things:

A search feature would be useful
A list of all users with a post count and other information like last login, date joined, etc would be nice.


Search feature in now available.
As for the users report, it could take time to make it available. Once the forum is stable, I will work on it.
ZCF Admin
AdminVeteran
Quoted from Andy31 in post #45782

This maybe already done and I haven’t noticed but is there an away to know when something is unread. Like how on the old form the topic would be red.


Done.

All unread topics will have a blue dot and a "Jump to Latest" link.
ZCF Admin
AdminVeteran

Edited

More Technical Issues

Good day, everyone.

You may notice that some pages are loading a little more slowly than usual. There is still a great deal happening behind the scenes as I organise, manage and optimise tens of thousands of recovered posts and threads. It is a sizeable job, and the forum may take a little while to settle completely.

In the meantime, you can still browse the forum, create threads and post replies. You may just need to be a little patient while pages load.

Thank you for bearing with me while I wrestle the machinery back into shape. If you notice anything that is not working properly, please report it in this thread.
ZCF Admin
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer
I sometimes get page unavailable messages. When I refresh the site appears but everything seems a little unreliable at the moment. Sometimes after I post I get an unavailable page message, but then I see the message has posted correctly anyway. Is this a deliberate recreation of the same feature on the old ZCF?! Too much traffic to the forum?
My All-time Zimbabwe XI
Neil Johnson, Brendan Taylor, Murray Goodwin, Andy Flower (w), David Houghton, Sean Williams, Heath Streak (c), Andy Blignaut, Paul Strang, Eddo Brandes, Blessing Muzarabani
AdminVeteran

Edited

Quoted from eugene in post #46239

I sometimes get page unavailable messages. When I refresh the site appears but everything seems a little unreliable at the moment. Sometimes after I post I get an unavailable page message, but then I see the message has posted correctly anyway. Is this a deliberate recreation of the same feature on the old ZCF?! Too much traffic to the forum?


Hi eugene.

Yes, the forum has been unusually slow and unreliable lately.

The main problem is that ZCF currently shares limited computing resources with several other web applications on the same server. Traffic contributes to the strain, particularly during busy periods, but it is not the only cause. The forum was also rebuilt rather quickly, and some parts still require further performance optimisation.

The error after submitting a post usually means the server completed the submission but failed to return the next page properly. That is why the post appears after refreshing. To avoid duplicate posts, it is worth checking whether the first one went through before submitting it again.

The plan is to move ZCF to its own domain and hosting environment, where it will have dedicated resources and can be properly tuned. I had hoped to complete that move by now, but I've been held up by other commitments. I will push to have it done before the Namibia tri-series.

Until then, I am afraid we will have to tolerate the occasional glitch.
ZCF Admin
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