Forum Software Change
- Thread starter Ed Sullivan
- Start date
Trying to figure out why. Nothing in the database looks particularly out of order for you. The remember me box is a reasonable workaround at least, but it still indicates it's not keeping your session for some reason but I don't know why.
turgy22
Nothing Special
I like it overall. Definitely like the fact that we can now embed images and other media files directly in our posts. And now it's easier to see new posts. Also, I like that we can have avatars now.
I don't like how the avatars are currently displayed, though. Not that it particularly bugs me, but I'd prefer if people without them had nothing show up instead of a giant question mark. If there's a way to change that, I'd be in favor of it.
I'm sure I'll have more feedback as I post more on the site.
Thanks for the good work, though! I definitely appreciate it.
I don't like how the avatars are currently displayed, though. Not that it particularly bugs me, but I'd prefer if people without them had nothing show up instead of a giant question mark. If there's a way to change that, I'd be in favor of it.
I'm sure I'll have more feedback as I post more on the site.
Thanks for the good work, though! I definitely appreciate it.
Cheers.
The default "?" icon is probably too in your face (as well as the gender-specific version). A lighter silhouette would probably be less intrusive. Of course, since we didn't have avatars before, everyone is using the default (unless they had a Gravatar with their email address). We could consider skipping the avatar if you don't have it, though there are some interface elements that want it there.
You get awarded trophies for doing things on the board. Partially it's just a game mechanic to encourage posting, though it can drive different user titles etc (you have a custom one anyway, so it wouldn't change yours).
Sorry about that. Generally speaking, they weren't use (I mean in forums in general). I didn't think about them when importing the data (as they are quite infrequently used). I still have the data, so if it's important I can try to go retrieve it.
But from a visual perspective, they were basically just bold stuff at the beginning of a post.
Oversoul
The Tentacled One
Where we (0r some of us, but not me apparently) had filled in a section on the user profile that was like "favorite color to play in Magic" or something like that, the heading is now "occupation." Spiderman's occupation is apparently red Ransac's is blue. Actually, this might predate the switch to the new format, since Turgy's is already "electrical engineer." Or maybe he was just particularly quick to change it manually. I have no idea...
D
DarthFerret
Guest
Have not played with this too much yet, but something to note would be a better option for the icon for threads with unread posts in them. Maybe it is just me not liking the color scheme that much so far, but it seems a bit difficult to tell which ones I need to check. Other than that, I really like the quick reply box much better than the previous one. Another issue I had was that when I added my avatar, the right-most part of the pop up window was not present, and the transparancy was a bit difficult to muddle through with the underlying page showing through it. Not so much a functionality issue (after all, my avatar is set now) but a general cosmetic thing. You might also consider posting the requirements of the avatars, as the size, width and height are not mentioned at all, as well as the formats supported. I will take a little more time to browse through it tommorrow and have more input for you.
I agree with DF on missing the button to click to go to the first unread post in a thread. Maybe I'm just kinda lazy, but it made it so much easier to breeze through new posts in the forums I go to, and if I needed to reread something earlier in the thread to give what I was reading perspective it was a simple enough matter to just scroll up and see what I needed.
I do like the layout better now, and I think everyone will appreciate the opportunity to dress things up with an avatar. Lots of members through the years mentioned they'd like it if that feature was enabled so maybe it'll compel some of our departed members to check in a bit more often...
I do like the layout better now, and I think everyone will appreciate the opportunity to dress things up with an avatar. Lots of members through the years mentioned they'd like it if that feature was enabled so maybe it'll compel some of our departed members to check in a bit more often...
(Hmm, I wrote text here and it got wiped out? Weird...)
I'll double check the import of that profile field. It was a bit of a nightmare to import. I'll also see if I can retrieve the favorite color info into the about field; this software doesn't have custom profile fields yet, but it does at least have a freeform about me section.
This is actually a bit of an experiment. Unread threads are bold, but there's no icon to indicate it otherwise. We debated if this would be obvious enough. Additionally, if the thread is unread, it jumps you to the first unread post in it; the thinking being that if it's unread, you probably just want to go to that point immediately. Unfortunately, part of the challenge might've been that all (recent) threads would show up as read when you first logged in as I couldn't import the data. If you've finished reading what you want to read, hit "mark all forums read" in the header and see if it's clearer next time.
Alternatively, we could add an icon to unread threads to make it more obvious.
Oh additionally, the "what's new" link might help (it was "new posts" in the old software). Though if you only read a few things, maybe not.
What browser are you using? IE 6-7-8 or something else? The underlying page shouldn't be very noticable (at least in Firefox, etc).
As for the avatar constraints, definitely agreed on the dimensions. There really isn't a limit and we want you to upload something big, which I don't think a lot of people would do initially. Filesize is probably unlimited do to it resizing down - did you hit a limit with that, or was it just something that wasn't clear?
(Side note, this quick reply box needs to be a bit taller, or at least have a draggable height.)
Here's my thoughts so far, having just been to the Games Run forum (where I do the bulk of my posting )
1) Have the subforum back on top of the threads, rather than at the bottom. I think this works better because depending on the user's preference of how many threads to see, they may have to scroll for a bit before getting to the subforum, whereas if it's always at the top, it's always there.
2) Change the "Reply" tag to "Reply w/quotes" to make it clearer right away, rather than mouse-over to find out what it does
3) After I click the Reply, the screen display with the quoted post doesn't display the carriage returns. It keeps them, since I hit the send button and they show up on the new post, but it's a bit disconcerting/confusing not to have them there in the Reply w/quotes box. The first time, I went through and put carriage returns back in and then got double after I hit the send button.
4) Like you said, have the Reply box MUCH bigger.
5) When editing my profile, I tried to save with my home page as http:// and couldn't - I had to blank it out. But couldn't just http:// be valid for a "blank" or no home page?
6) When clicking on a thread with multiple pages, I was taken to the page *before* the one with unread posts (i.e. the last).
That's it for now, I'll post again if I have more.
)1) Have the subforum back on top of the threads, rather than at the bottom. I think this works better because depending on the user's preference of how many threads to see, they may have to scroll for a bit before getting to the subforum, whereas if it's always at the top, it's always there.
2) Change the "Reply" tag to "Reply w/quotes" to make it clearer right away, rather than mouse-over to find out what it does
3) After I click the Reply, the screen display with the quoted post doesn't display the carriage returns. It keeps them, since I hit the send button and they show up on the new post, but it's a bit disconcerting/confusing not to have them there in the Reply w/quotes box. The first time, I went through and put carriage returns back in and then got double after I hit the send button.
4) Like you said, have the Reply box MUCH bigger.
5) When editing my profile, I tried to save with my home page as http:// and couldn't - I had to blank it out. But couldn't just http:// be valid for a "blank" or no home page?
6) When clicking on a thread with multiple pages, I was taken to the page *before* the one with unread posts (i.e. the last).
That's it for now, I'll post again if I have more.
turgy22
Nothing Special
I was quick to change it manually.
turgy22
Nothing Special
In the "Members" area, I notice that you can no longer jump to a page with members whose names start with a certain letter. Is there an easier way to search for registered members without having to scroll through 60+ pages or trying to guess what page their name will appear on?
We're still discussing this. I'm leaning towards agreeing, though there are some interface issues we need to consider if we changed it. Tricky!Here's my thoughts so far, having just been to the Games Run forum (where I do the bulk of my posting
1) Have the subforum back on top of the threads, rather than at the bottom. I think this works better because depending on the user's preference of how many threads to see, they may have to scroll for a bit before getting to the subforum, whereas if it's always at the top, it's always there.
This is different than what vB did. I don't really want to create 2 buttons for the distinction so I'm not sure what to do here.
Bug confirmed. Have an idea why, but not 100% sure what to do about it yet.
Bug will be fixed here shortly.
I think this is just down to it not keeping your read data from vB (the data was stored on your computer, so it'd be possible). If you come back later/tomorrow to read replies, can you let me know if it happens again?
That's just something that's missing right now. I'm not sure if the A-Z buttons will reappear, but a name search will be needed.
Not at this point. It's mostly beneficial for server performance; I didn't think it was particularly useful for users. How do you use it?
