Bottlehead Forum

General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Doc B. on January 31, 2013, 10:48:21 AM

Title: Forum being upgraded
Post by: Doc B. on January 31, 2013, 10:48:21 AM
Please be patient folks, we're upgrading the forum to increase functionality.
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: Paul Birkeland on January 31, 2013, 11:02:19 AM
Oh the pain of generic powder blue!
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: johnsonad on January 31, 2013, 11:09:29 AM
Wow, I hope we don't lose some of the old functions such as recent replies and posts. 
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: Grainger49 on January 31, 2013, 11:11:06 AM
Hoooo Weeeeee!  I just reloaded it and it is very different.  It will take getting used to.  I suppose that the look can be customized, yes?
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: galyons on January 31, 2013, 11:22:05 AM
Doc,
A monumental task! Thank you for staying on top of the forum technology!

Cheers,
Geary
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: Doc B. on January 31, 2013, 11:23:53 AM
Would you guys keep your pants on, please? This stuff takes some time to fine tune.
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: 4krow on January 31, 2013, 11:36:51 AM
Wow! This MUCH better! I can read it easily and the format makes more sense to me. I thought the old format was fine, but this has my vote now. Thanks
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: sl-15 on January 31, 2013, 07:27:23 PM
awesome, much easier on the eyes i love it!
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: Yoder on January 31, 2013, 08:11:57 PM
Being newer software, then things will just get better.

It does jump out at you, seems to have more functionality, and as stated above...it is much easier to read.

I am certain that things will get nicer once all of the admin stuff is completed and the forum is fully in place. A lot of behind the scene stuff goes on in building a secure forum, stuff that I no longer even like to think about.

Good work BH!
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: Grainger49 on February 01, 2013, 01:47:13 AM
I thought that Dan was going to do an update of the old software, but this is obviously all new.  All the old functions seem to be there just presented a little differently.  It kind of wakes you up in the morning!
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: RayP on February 01, 2013, 02:31:25 AM
As others have noted, I find it much easier to read. I wonder if that is because we are used to black on white or is there some other reason.

ray
 
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: debk on February 01, 2013, 04:11:38 AM
Don't know if you are finished with the forum changes, but I miss the link that brought you back to the Bottlehead web site

Deb
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: davechen on February 01, 2013, 04:58:22 AM
Would you guys keep your pants on, please? This stuff takes some time to fine tune.

Too late.  Pants are off.

I like the black font on while background better.
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: sl-15 on February 01, 2013, 05:12:28 AM
ray, i am not sure why it was so hard to read. the dark, or better mostly black background and the white font looked really cool but my eyes always got kind of freaked out after a while. switching to any other site with a regular color scheme made you see these 'after pictures' from the white font that i was just reading before. i always helped myself with 'inverting' the colors on the screen. there is a keyboard shortcut on my mac: control+option+command+8  reverses every color on the screen. hitting the same combination again brings you back to normal. also when you have a total white background and black font can be hard too, in particular late at night when everything around you is dark already. for that situation i always use a little app called f.lux. it is free for mac and pc and it takes out all the blue color on the screen. that way everything looks yellowish. needs some time getting used to but it is much easier on the eye and you can sleep better.
anyways, thanks doc for putting in all this extra time and sweat to make the forum better.
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: Doc B. on February 01, 2013, 05:27:13 AM
Would you guys keep your pants on, please? This stuff takes some time to fine tune.

Too late.  Pants are off.

I like the black font on while background better.

Hmm, maybe we'll wait a while on that video chatroom feature...

This is not completely new software, it is the latest rev of the same simple machines forum software that we have been using the past few years. Our web host makes setting up some features tricky. But as I sort it out there should be more features showing up.
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: Yoder on February 01, 2013, 08:07:48 AM
ray, i am not sure why it was so hard to read. the dark, or better mostly black background and the white font looked really cool but my eyes always got kind of freaked out after a while.

Certain colors combos "vibrate" and white on black does to some extent. There are some color combinations that actually seen to move they vibrate so much--pink on green comes to mind.
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: Grainger49 on February 01, 2013, 10:47:01 AM

Hmm, maybe we'll wait a while on that video chatroom feature...

Thank you, thank you, thank you! ! !
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: earwaxxer on February 01, 2013, 02:24:50 PM
Hopefully the search functions will work better. I think the look and format is fine. You do get used to a particular 'feel' to a family site/forum. Its all good in the long run.
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: Zimmer64 on February 01, 2013, 07:18:04 PM
Don't know if you are finished with the forum changes, but I miss the link that brought you back to the Bottlehead web site

Deb

+1
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: saildoctor on February 02, 2013, 06:12:34 AM
I really liked the black with white text - I actually thought it was much easier to read than other forums.  I realize that this is still a work in progress!
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: Mike F1 on February 02, 2013, 06:21:31 AM
Quote
I really liked the black with white text - I actually thought it was much easier to read than other forums.  I realize that this is still a work in progress!

+1

Plus.. it freaks my wife out... she thinks i'm viewing a "different" sort of website! lol  ;)
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: Jim R. on February 03, 2013, 05:45:46 AM
Dan,

Looks good from my perspective.  Only real difference in terms of the navigation for me is that what used to be contained in table containers is now in headings, which are just as easy to navigate through quickly.  Actually, in terms of getting around, it now looks nearly identical to audiocircle, which I've been using for years and am very used to.

-- Jim
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: johnsonad on February 03, 2013, 06:13:34 AM
I really liked the black with white text - I actually thought it was much easier to read than other forums.  I realize that this is still a work in progress!

+1 if it still an option.
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: adamct on February 04, 2013, 07:43:04 AM
+1 - I also preferred white text on black background, but I can live with this.

+1 - I miss the link back to the Bottlehead main website, from which you could get to the products.

And one new issue: when the change to the new forum happened, I initially still had access to the links that showed new replies to my posts, and new posts since my last visit. Those now both seem to be missing.

Best regards,
Adam
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: Grainger49 on February 04, 2013, 07:47:17 AM
At the top left when you log on it says Hello Adamct.  The links are still there just below the bolded text.
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: adamct on February 04, 2013, 08:41:42 AM
At the top left when you log on it says Hello Adamct.  The links are still there just below the bolded text.

Well, it used to. Now it doesn't. To be clear, I neither see "Hello Adamct", nor do I see the links. This is true on multiple computers/devices. And it was working when the system was first upgraded, but now it isn't.

Best,
Adam
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: adamct on February 04, 2013, 08:43:56 AM
Nevermind! I figured it out. In the upper right hand corner there is a white arrow that is a bit hard to see. That apparently expands or shrinks the header. No idea how it got switched, but it was in the "shink header" position, so the "Hello adamct" and links were invisible. I switch it back, and now I can see them.
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: 2wo on February 04, 2013, 12:16:31 PM
I much prefer the black text on a light background...John
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: adamct on February 04, 2013, 12:30:59 PM
There is a very easy compromise: gray text on a gray background. Problem solved. :P
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: Paully on February 04, 2013, 04:01:52 PM
I much prefer the black text on a light background...John

I have to concur.  I like this text scheme so much better than the old one.
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: rif on February 05, 2013, 05:30:18 AM
It's like switching from green or amber text on black background CRT for an IBM PC back in the day to a Mac SE with all white background and black text. Late 80s/early 90s

This new color scheme is much better.
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: Alonzo on February 05, 2013, 06:15:04 AM
Anyone having trouble with viewing large pictures in the Gallery?  50% of the time when I click to enlarge the picture I get an error saying the photo cannot be found/downloaded.  I'll try a few more and see if this continues.
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: Alonzo on February 05, 2013, 06:19:19 AM
Here's what I got when I went to the CEEGAR BOX II thread:
Unable to download index.php from www.bottlehead.com
Unable to open this internet site.  The requested site blah, blah, blah.

This never occurred before the upgrade.  Is it the bottlehead site or my browser?
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: Doc B. on February 05, 2013, 06:48:59 AM
Seems to work OK for me. I will check a few different computers. I hope to be able to upgrade the image hosting setup with this new version of the forum software. Upgrades are going to be appearing slowly due to the necessity of loading each mod manually rather than thru the usual automated script. Seems to have something to do with how owners and permissions are set up on our server. We sacrifice a little bit of bells and whistles for better security.
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: Grainger49 on February 05, 2013, 07:19:10 AM
Alonzo,

I went to that thread.  The first picture loaded on the page.  The second one had to open in a program to display the picture.
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: Doc B. on February 05, 2013, 02:10:33 PM
Argh, registration is busted for the time being. If you would like to register, contact me and I will set your user account up.

Fixed 2/6/13 13:33
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: corndog71 on February 08, 2013, 09:53:29 AM
Maybe I'm missing it but could you put a link on the forum header that goes back to the main bottlehead website?
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: Doc B. on February 08, 2013, 10:21:32 AM
Yes, that is on my list.
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: Yoder on February 08, 2013, 12:56:45 PM
Not sure if they existed before, but I do enjoy looking at the extensive stats at the bottom of the forum's main page. Pretty impressive.
Title: Re: Forum being upgraded
Post by: Doc B. on February 08, 2013, 01:13:25 PM
Thanks Ron. Yeah, those stats were available on the old format, but I don't know if everyone could see them or not. Page views have really been picking up lately. Maybe the updated forum is getting into the search engines better. We've been slamming at getting kits out and parts ordered today, but I hope to get back to tweaking this new setup next week.