Duplicate Print Discussion to web document

[Anacleto]

Hello, many users ask us to give them ability to print discussions (vbulletin has that function and we use that before the migration to xenforo).
The build-in Web browser Print function is terribel... don't do what we need and print a portion of one single page.

I'm talking about a way to print an entire single page or few/all pages of one entire discussion in a simple formatted document format like a Web document/PDF/Word/any you retain could be simple to open in a web browser ... The goal is to obtain a page with messages in order, and continuity from one page to other page, then let users to Print that with the web browser print button.

 

[Old Nick]

Save the planet ! Don't print !

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Print manager

Premium upgrade: This XF2 add-on along with the entire collection can be purchased for $35.00 USD. Your Premium upgrade will allow you to download as many XF2 add-ons as you like for one year. Please see the entire collection located in the...

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Premium upgrade: This XF2 add-on along with the entire collection can be purchased for $35.00 USD. Your Premium upgrade will allow you to download as many XF2 add-ons as you like for one year. Please see the entire collection located in the...

xenforo.com

 

[Mendalla]

Looks like good old Andy has you covered, but I guess my question would be, "Why?" Most forum content is ephemeral stuff with minimal to no value as a printed document. I could see it for a content item like an article, I guess.

EDIT: Reread what you are after. Export to PDF, which you could then print, I can get behind.

Save the planet ! Don't print !

My approach to things increasingly. I am amazed by how little I use my work printer nowadays.

 

[Anacleto]

obviously the ultimate goal is to obtain a nice archivable PDF or any else archivable digital document.
You don't necessarily have to print it on paper guys.

ok, excluding the goal to print "on the paper" and consider the function to print a discussion in a digital document.

I don't know which forum you have, but we (journalism) occasionally need to print on paper. and like us, our users.
"Save the planet" is not the answer I would expect from an implementation suggestion in the official xenforo forum.

 

[Anacleto]

Save the planet ! Don't print !

---

Print manager

Premium upgrade: This XF2 add-on along with the entire collection can be purchased for $35.00 USD. Your Premium upgrade will allow you to download as many XF2 add-ons as you like for one year. Please see the entire collection located in the...

xenforo.com

Print friendly

Premium upgrade: This XF2 add-on along with the entire collection can be purchased for $35.00 USD. Your Premium upgrade will allow you to download as many XF2 add-ons as you like for one year. Please see the entire collection located in the...

xenforo.com

So, save the planet, and pay again, pay again for each addon pay and pay, right?
I think we can avoid to pay what can be native in xenforo core (we are already paying for license every year)

The function is "print to digital/web document" ... is not mandatory print on paper. The goal is that to obtain a readable digital and downloadable archivable document.

 

[Old Nick]

I think we can avoid to pay what can be native in xenforo core

In 2022 printing or converting forum discussions to pdf is not something essential. Your own requirements and needs are not necessarily those of the majority, you often seem to forget this...
And quite frankly a CTRL+P with your browser does not give such bad results for an operation that you yourself consider occasional.

 

[Anacleto]

In 2022 printing or converting forum discussions to pdf is not something essential. Your own requirements and needs are not necessarily those of the majority, you often seem to forget this...
And quite frankly a CTRL+P with your browser does not give such bad results for an operation that you yourself consider occasional.

Your document is clearly unreadable, it contains such as html elements that aren't needed in the read process and take many blank/useless space in the document. Have you see it? 3 messages in one single entire page... all the rest is body/style/html/usefull elements. Clearly not the right way to print a document.
I know very well the result of ctrl+p, and, these things apart, really is not useful when a discussion has 50+ pages.
I talk about print the essential things = messages in order.

vbulletin has seen a long way on this tool "print to document/print to web doc/print to a readable and archivable digital document/ or yes, why not, print to paper".
there are leisure forums and institutional forums. Keeping digital documents is not a useless thing.

This may be not essential, you true, not essential. But if a feature is useless to you, it needn't be useless to others, isn't it?
if then xenforo tells me, "we are not interested in developing it", I raise my hands. but if I have good reasons for suggesting a change, I'll try to provide them all.

the question for this feature was there and there is. The answer is additional paid add-ons. Yes it can get better don't you think?

 

[Old Nick]

My bad, I didn't realize that was a suggestion from you. I don't think it's likely to be implemented one day because I'll say it again, it doesn't seem essential or a priority to me, but if I'm wrong (and it wouldn't be the first time) I'd be happy for you.

So, save the planet, and pay again, pay again for each addon pay and pay, right?

LOL, good point.

 

[Mendalla]

In 2022 printing or converting forum discussions to pdf is not something essential.

Printing is not. PDF? I wouldn't mind being able to take a longer article to read on another device where I may not access my site. Or to share outside the site. Maybe not essential but definitely a nice to have. And, honestly, how many of the upgrades in 2.2 were "essential" vs. "nice to have" on a general (vs. specific site or type of site) level. None of them were really essential to my site.

 

[Anacleto]

Printing is not. PDF? I wouldn't mind being able to take a longer article to read on another device where I may not access my site. Or to share outside the site. Maybe not essential but definitely a nice to have. And, honestly, how many of the upgrades in 2.2 were "essential" vs. "nice to have" on a general (vs. specific site or type of site) level. None of them were really essential to my site.

good point.

 

[Old Nick]

Okay.

 

[TPerry]

Most forum content is ephemeral stuff with minimal to no value as a printed document.

yes, but not all... I can see someone wanting to print out a discussion about how to optimize the operation of an EQ-35 Pro mount (since they tend to be POS when it comes to total RMS) instead of having to bookmark and then hope the thread continues to exist.
So, yes, there is a niche need for it... but it remains a valid need.
As for "export to PDF".. you still have the formatting issues involved. A clean method to print in a formatted way would be welcome by many.

 

[TPerry]

being able to take a longer article to read on another device where I may not access my site

Screw that not being "essential"... I'd LOVE to be able to export specific instructions on some of my astronomy stuff to a PDF that I could simply pull up on my phone and not be dependent upon having internet access. The Davis Mountains - wonderful Bortle 1 skies - and many other good astronomy sites SUCKS for data access, as a simple example.

 

[Anacleto]

i agree.
the function is not essential but useful and certainly productive for many.