Question [Resolved] Unexplainable Black Boxes

I just added Kunena 1.7.2 to our Joomla 2.5.1 web site which is also using the latest JomSocial 2.4.2 and for some strange reason the forum has small black boxes through out the forum as shown in the attached image. How do I get rid of these? The site requires registration otherwise I would post our link as well but I did post images of the black boxes which are appearing for you to view.

Please read My Joomla template is making a mess of Kunena

Odd! I happen to have Kunena loaded on a number Joomla1.5, 1.7, and now 2.5 web sites using the T3 Framework and none of them are displaying this particular issue. It might help if you are going to offer support relevant to this thread if you actually state or at least site the source cause of this issue rather than referring to a publication without any particular reference to what is causing this problem. I posted to get support assistance!

Are you saying that you have used exactly the same template on the same version of Joomla on a different website and you did not have the same problem? Are you implying that your problems are not caused by Joomla or your Joomla site template?

Suppose I posted a topic in a forum where you were a moderator: gave you a "picture" but without supporting information that allowed you to see where you could examine this problem for yourself? Let's say, in your reply to me you said that while you're prepared to help, it's not really your job to sort out my problems free of charge but that I had several options available including using webpage diagnostic tools like Firebug for Firefox. What should you think - if you were in my shoes - I should make of your last reply?

We may be able to help but, I remind you, our job is not to fix every problem in the few million different Joomla templates on the market today. Based on the number of questions that are asked on this forum we are aware that some Joomla templates are be more problematic than others but - we keep trying to remind everyone - if people purchase templates then they should also be entitled to support from the template developers for problems that occur when it comes to using them.

We also remind people that there is no company behind Kunena and that this is a community-based self-help forum. No-one is paid to answer the questions posted here every day.

You ask us to cite the cause of your issue: the cause of your issue is your Joomla site template CSS file. I don't know specifically what line or lines of CSS file this might be because I don't know anything about your site.

It was for these reasons that I referred you to My Joomla template is making a mess of Kunena . Did you read the Wiki article and the recommendations it made?

If you would like someone in the community to look at your specific problem then I suggest you read What information should I include when I ask for help (including how to post my configuration report)? We should not have to keep repeating this message that it greatly assists the work of this forum to provide information that assists everyone that will, in turn, assist you more efficiently and more effectively.

To my knowledge, Kunena, JomSocial and Joomlart or at least JomSocial and Joomart are working together on template issues experienced between their templates to reduce the amount of user issues experienced when integration is required. Now I know JomSocial has a number of modules and plugins specific to Kunena in order to integrate Kunena Latest Posts, My Posts etc directly into any JomSocial community and vice versa. So whether or not anyone with Kunena is actually working with the devs over at Joomlart or JomSocial I have no idea but the premise did seem to be logical that perhaps someone at Kunena actually is.

This latest response regarding the css issue is precisely what I was looking for so thank you for that. At least now I have something to go on in trying to troubleshoot this issue and I will revisit Joomlart to dig up a corrective action. I had already used firebug to try sorting out where these black boxes were coming from and all it shows is the over laying div and does not highlight or list the black box itself. I have also used the T3 Extension Manager to do a compare of the Kunena template files, css, components, modules and plugins again with no definitive results. I was not asking anyone to fix my problem but I was asking for something more than someone merely pointing at a publication and basically telling me here ya go figure it out.

Let me quote directly from the "publication":

How to fix your problems

...

Nearly every problem that we've seen can be fixed really quickly if people know a few things about web design and about the building blocks of the internet (in particular about CSS).

...

(3) While every problem is unique, the approach to asking questions should be the same. If you have a problem with your Joomla template then please give other people the details about where the problem occurs. A screenshot helps but the URL of your Kunena forum will help others find and help you faster. We respect your right to privacy. If you don't want to provide that information, that's OK. As we all know, every problem is unique and it's impossible to give general solutions without knowing what's causing the specific problem.

I have to disagree with your assertion that our response here is generally a go-figure-things-out-for-yourselves approach. That is not our approach and I think we'd all be very disappointed if people believed that to be the case. I believe I have stated our position clearly; we are willing to help where we can. In the first instance, however, if people have purchased a commercial Joomla template then they should ask the template the developer about known issues and workarounds when using such templates with Kunena.

When people ask general questions (with or without pictures to illustrate the symptoms of a problem they're having) then I would ask you to put yourself in our shoes for a moment and consider how you would respond in similar circumstances.

I sincerely wish you good luck.