Luminous Landscape Forum

Site & Board Matters => About This Site => Topic started by: Chris_T on August 12, 2010, 07:45:19 am

Title: Comments on new site design
Post by: Chris_T on August 12, 2010, 07:45:19 am
Been away for awhile and notice the new design. A couple of quick comments (after 5 minutes):

1. Saved links (for old forum threads) from the old design seemed to stop working. Instead of displaying the thread as it used to, one took me to the forum home page.

http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=41252&hl=site

Another would only display a blank page.

http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=13890

If the new design stops supporting links from the old design, it ought to be at least listed as a "new feature". It probably would be too much to ask for an automated way to convert the old links into workable new links.

2. In the old forum home page, clicking on the top "Luminous Landscape" link would take me to the main LL home page. Now it won't and stayed in the forum home page, and I could not find an easy alternate way.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: dchew on August 12, 2010, 07:58:39 am
2. In the old forum home page, clicking on the top "Luminous Landscape" link would take me to the main LL home page. Now it won't and stayed in the forum home page, and I could not find an easy alternate way.

Upper-right:  "Luminous Landscape Home"

Dave
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: mguertin on August 12, 2010, 01:07:39 pm
Been away for awhile and notice the new design. A couple of quick comments (after 5 minutes):

1. Saved links (for old forum threads) from the old design seemed to stop working. Instead of displaying the thread as it used to, one took me to the forum home page.

http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=41252&hl=site

Another would only display a blank page.

http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=13890

If the new design stops supporting links from the old design, it ought to be at least listed as a "new feature". It probably would be too much to ask for an automated way to convert the old links into workable new links.

2. In the old forum home page, clicking on the top "Luminous Landscape" link would take me to the main LL home page. Now it won't and stayed in the forum home page, and I could not find an easy alternate way.

I've added a custom modification to perform 301 redirects for any of the old forum links (direct topic links only).  Worth noting, this was not just a new "design", it's completely different forum software.  Luckily it seems the the conversion preserved the topic ID's from the old site so this mod I did should perform well (in theory!).  If anyone sees it loading pages that they didn't expect from bookmarks please let me know.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: Steve Weldon on August 12, 2010, 01:20:23 pm
Are we allowed to say we don't like the colors?  Hate them actually.. darker shades would be nicer.

The huge header (LL/discussion forum) header seems excessively huge..

I find the two icons to the right mostly a waste of space.. who's going to memorize the legend, especially when its at the bottom.  Cutesy icons aren't worth taking space over.. smiley faces, thumbs, etc.. and the different folder icons.. nah.. How about  a simple "hot topic" or "closed.."  Maybe it's just me.. but it's busy, takes space, and isn't very useful as far as providing information.

I know what I think isn't important.. never is to the wife anyway.. but there ya go..

Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: NikoJorj on August 12, 2010, 02:58:03 pm
I've added a custom modification to perform 301 redirects for any of the old forum links (direct topic links only). 
Great, thanks!

BTW, Google still indexes the old "Lo-fi" form of threads, eg :
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t28791.html
for
http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=28791
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: pcunite on August 12, 2010, 03:58:16 pm
A feature I use constantly is the "new" button for checking new posts I have not read. Since this button is now at the end of the post title, it is never in the same place. You might put it somewhere constant.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: BernardLanguillier on August 12, 2010, 04:13:10 pm
Many good improvements so far, thanks.

I use all the forms I am active in in threaded view where an indented view of the thread is shown.

This makes it possible to reply to a given post in a thread instead of replying to the whole thread, and is IMHO, one of the most important features. To my eyes a forum lacking this feature is... useless.

I have not found how to do this in the new interface, could you please explain how it can be done?

Thank you.

Cheers,
Bernard
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: mguertin on August 12, 2010, 07:32:56 pm
Nothing I can do for the lofi versions of the old pages unfortunately.  Google will catch up.

For a threaded view of the forum, I've not found that ability in this version of the software so unfortunately there's nothing I can do for that one.

Lastly, the "new" icons are also controlled by the forum backend, so there's no easy way to edit that either.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: BernardLanguillier on August 12, 2010, 11:52:38 pm
For a threaded view of the forum, I've not found that ability in this version of the software so unfortunately there's nothing I can do for that one.

This is a major issue, an order of magnitude more serious that the small details about lack of separation between posts.

A forum without threaded view really is next to unusable as it renders "conversations" within a thread impossible.

If you look at the old forum, you will realize that at least 70%to 80% of the posts are done within such a "conversation" where 2, 3 or 4 people discuss in alternance a sub-point of the initial topic.

I hate to be negative on this upgrade, but having deployed a forum software not offering this capability is IMHO a major mistake that will significantly reduce the appeal of LL's forums.

Cheers,
Bernard
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: DarkPenguin on August 13, 2010, 12:52:20 am
So someone actually used threaded view... huh...
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: michael on August 13, 2010, 03:56:13 am
Hummm. Must be me, but I never have used thread view. Appreciate its usefulness, but never felt the need.

Just to reiterate – the purpose of this forum software change was not to enhance the forum itself, but to provide a member database that we can use for other unique and worthwhile upcoming features. RThe old software just didn't have the capabilities that we needed.

We should all be thankful that Mark found SMF, because it provided a migration path. Without it we might have had to abandon all the messages and registrations. >:(
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on August 13, 2010, 04:20:49 am
A few points:

 - I like the lines - they make it much easier to read.

 - Is there a way of viewing a multi-page thread in the old style, with the introductory post appearing at the top of each new page of replies?

 - What controls whether a thumbnail opens in its own window or merely enlarges in situ? Some do one, some the other. For an example, see the penultimate post in the Clouds thread (in User Critiques): the first three shots open in their own windows but the last exhibits the new behaviour. Like many here, I prefer images to open in separate windows.

 - each time I click "show unread posts", the number of pages of new posts shown on the first page is one greater than the actual number of pages: when I reach the last page, I find it doesn't actually exist.

 - is there a way of going directly to the last post of a thread if there are no new posts in it? On the old boards, there was a link to the last post in the "last post" column, which was logical. Here, there seems not to be any such link.

 - the boards certainly seem more responsive.

Jeremy
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: Dick Roadnight on August 13, 2010, 04:45:06 am
Hummm. Must be me, but I never have used thread view. Appreciate its usefulness, but never felt the need.
Hi, Michael

I think threaded view would be extremely useful in topics like "Recent Professional Works" (you often do not know to which photo a reply relates)... but the way round this is to have a sub-forum for it like "User critiques" ... and start a new topic for each new topic or photo, or set of photos.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: Kumar on August 13, 2010, 07:58:42 am
In the old version, one could elect to remove the signature for a particular post.

Quick Reply also had an option to Go Advanced.

Threaded View is very important to me as well, for the reasons Bernard gave.

The colors are awful.

BUT, the boards seem to have become faster.

Kumar
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: beamon on August 13, 2010, 08:59:22 am


Just to reiterate – the purpose of this forum software change was not to enhance the forum itself, but to provide a member database that we can use for other unique and worthwhile upcoming features. RThe old software just didn't have the capabilities that we needed.


Hi Michael,

Would you please expand on your statement above? I hope that LL doesn't plan to allow members' data to be used by any other interests and that LL's use of it will not intrude in any way with our privacy.

BTW, the "delete account" capability of this s/w is a good feature. I hope that if a member chooses to use it that it will expunge all that member's data, 100%.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: michael on August 13, 2010, 09:34:02 am
Hi Michael,

Would you please expand on your statement above? I hope that LL doesn't plan to allow members' data to be used by any other interests and that LL's use of it will not intrude in any way with our privacy.

BTW, the "delete account" capability of this s/w is a good feature. I hope that if a member chooses to use it that it will expunge all that member's data, 100%.

Rest assured, no member's data will be visible by or used by this site or anyone else without that person's expressed permission and involvement.

Here's a hint at what's coming up, and why the database is important......

If a member wishes they can provide information about themselves. This information can be visible to others, or not. As one wishes.

Let's assume that you are a portrait photographer who lives in Boston and who shoots Nikon, and have underwater photography as a hobby. You also currently print with Epson printers.

If you provide the site with this information, then whenever there is a new article publish on the site, or a new discussion thread that mentions portrait photography, or Nikon camera or lens reviews, or Epson printers, or photography events in Boston, the system will be able to great you when you visit the site with an advisory that either new content or discussions on the topics that you are interested in has become available.

This can optionally be sent to you in the form of an RRS feed, or not. If you like you can make this information (or subsets of it) visible to others, or not. Always your choice.

You will also have our guarantee of complete confidentially with regard to your information, and also complete control over its use by the system.

If people want to take advantage of this new capability it will greatly enhance the site's usefulness. We are adding a great deal more in terms of new authors, topic experts, feature sections, discussion areas and more. Being a registered member (free, of course) will open the door to these features, but its optional, and anyone and everyone will still be able to read all content without the automation and community tools.

I've now probably disclosed more than I should (I'll punish myself at the next staff meeting), but I wanted people to know that the new database structure is intrinsic to what we've had in development for the past 12 months, and this particular brand of forum software was the only way to actualize it in a timely and cost effective manner.

So – I ask that everyone just settle down and become familiar with the new Forum software, because there's no going back now. Yes, it has some failings, but overall it will be the engine that will make LuLa a much more dynamic environment for those that love photography.

Michael

Ps: As for colours and other cosmetics, we'll continue to experiment, and value everyone's feedback. But I've also learned that you can't please all of the people all of the time.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: PierreVandevenne on August 13, 2010, 10:28:24 am
Right now, I find the member's list a bit too accessible. Nothing prevents a quick script (running as guest) to collect the "public" information about all the users, their on-line (strictly speaking logged into board status), etc... Not too much of an issue for those of us who were relatively careful when providing their personal information, and I have no problem with sharing my ID/Age/URL with any member of the board, but I think this shouldn't be so visible and so accessbible to guest scripts.

Within a few minutes, the board being so fast, the database you have in mind can be created by anyone.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=37216
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=37216;sa=statPanel

Just loop on the uid and store the result. Not too bad, but still eventually very convenient for data collection and consolidation.

While delivering custom content to users in, in principle, a good idea, please make sure someone keeps an eye on security issues, especially if the plan is to evolve towards a more personalized experience.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: beamon on August 13, 2010, 10:51:48 am
Thanks, Michael, for the sneek peek and the assurance of security issues.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: Steve Weldon on August 13, 2010, 10:54:03 am
When building my own rather modest site.. the forum software choices were limited by priorities not necessarily obvious to forum users.

1.  Localization.  (ability to render in different languages, a planned future feature)

2.  SQL reliability and repair functions

3.  Data migration capabilities

4.  User account information inclusion into other parts of the site and planned future features.

After these requirements were met.. THEN we looked at actual forum design, icons, colors, and the little stuff..

Once you get to this point there just wasn't a lot of choices left..  
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: Christoph C. Feldhaim on August 13, 2010, 11:03:54 am
I'd wish the "unread posts" feature wouldn't leave out a post once I have read it.
Though this might be economic to some, I believe it would be nicer to be able
to go back to a topic in the "unread topics" list. Sometimes I just quick-peek into a
new topic and then want to go back to it later, butr with this forum behavior it is
lost for me from the list.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: mguertin on August 13, 2010, 11:20:13 am
Right now, I find the member's list a bit too accessible. Nothing prevents a quick script (running as guest) to collect the "public" information about all the users, their on-line (strictly speaking logged into board status), etc... Not too much of an issue for those of us who were relatively careful when providing their personal information, and I have no problem with sharing my ID/Age/URL with any member of the board, but I think this shouldn't be so visible and so accessbible to guest scripts.

Within a few minutes, the board being so fast, the database you have in mind can be created by anyone.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=37216
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=37216;sa=statPanel

Just loop on the uid and store the result. Not too bad, but still eventually very convenient for data collection and consolidation.

While delivering custom content to users in, in principle, a good idea, please make sure someone keeps an eye on security issues, especially if the plan is to evolve towards a more personalized experience.


Thanks for noting this, and I just wanted to let you know that we are being very security conscious with the new site software, and in fact this forum software (which is beyond our ultimate control code wise) gives out more information to a guest user than our own site code ever will.  Ultimately though, on a public forum (which this one is) you have to consider that (almost) all of the information you post and all of your actions are indeed public.  I have taken steps to prevent guests from seeing anyone's email address, and have taken it one step further, in that other members can no longer see your email address (the forum software defaults to allow members to see each other's email addresses and is not a selectable option!).  Any other profile information you share you should consider public, at least for the time being (age, urls, MSN, ICQ, etc etc).

Mark
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: mguertin on August 13, 2010, 11:26:01 am
I also want to post another quick note for the people commenting here.  Your suggestions are appreciated, but also I wanted to be clear that for people asking for functionality changes in the way "things work" that we are very limited in that regard, and even though we can technically make some changes in the low level code of the forum software it's rarely if ever a good idea to do so as it will come back to bite you when it's time to do upgrades and security updates.  For things like masking members' email addresses it simply has to be done, but beyond important security and privacy issues like that it's extremely unlikely that we will be doing any major editing of the low level code for the forum software to change the way "things work" in regards to features, etc.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: feppe on August 13, 2010, 12:02:44 pm
This is a major issue, an order of magnitude more serious that the small details about lack of separation between posts.

A forum without threaded view really is next to unusable as it renders "conversations" within a thread impossible.

I also weren't aware there was a threaded view in the previous version. While it would be useful, the forum is far from unusable as it's clear I'm not the only one who didn't use threaded view in the past.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: JeffKohn on August 13, 2010, 07:56:17 pm
I personally dislike the threaded view in forums software (dp-review being the the one exception because their flat view is so horrible).

As long as people quite enough for context when not replying the the message immediately above, the flat mode isn't a problem. And I find it preferable because it means less clicking and waiting for pages to load.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: BernardLanguillier on August 13, 2010, 10:12:39 pm
I personally dislike the threaded view in forums software (dp-review being the the one exception because their flat view is so horrible).

As long as people quite enough for context when not replying the the message immediately above, the flat mode isn't a problem. And I find it preferable because it means less clicking and waiting for pages to load.

Unusable is probably too strong a word, but I still believe it is a lot less usable because it simply is very difficult without a threaded view to find all the answers that were provided to one's last comment.

Non threaded view is bound to cause misunderstandings because your never know who people are answering to if content is not quoted.

As soon as you have more than 2 people in a conversation it is a fact of life that several threads do emmerge every single time within a thread.

Looking at a threaded conversation without a threaded view is bit like looking at a 3D object in 2D. Or like looking at a picture of a footbal game instead of watching a motion picture. An important information is lost, or more accurately information that was initially differentiated is mixed up. Showing a threaded conversation as a one dimentional flow is an entropic operation similar to a switch from RGB to LAB space. The quote capability of forums is at best a  poor way to compensate for this.

Cheers,
Bernard
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: beamon on August 14, 2010, 12:19:11 pm
I belong to another board using the exact same software, and the way they have chosen to differentiate between posts is to alternate white and, in their case, very pale blue backgrounds. This board could use very pale green in a similar way. That, plus the heavy line now used would further separate successive posts.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: jean1974 on August 14, 2010, 04:03:07 pm
I do like the smooth design.  On the bottom left when I hover over the buttons such as "reply" I see a line above (instead of line below).  I was thinking a background color for mouse over would be nice, like the buttons on the.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: Mark Anderson on August 14, 2010, 11:16:25 pm
Michael, thanks for the disclosure of what's coming in the next few months. I love LL, and visit the site at least once per day, and have done so for years.

Is it time for a change? As the chief architect and content provider for the site lo these past 11 years (do I have that right?), if in Michael's judgement it is time for a change, or a transition, to a site that strikes me, top to bottom, as having the potential to be more dynamic, and more integrated in how it provides pertinent information and discussion on as wide a range of photographic topics as might be imagined, well, let's just say I'm really looking forward to what we're going to see in the next six months.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: Mike Louw on August 15, 2010, 07:12:55 am
I like it overall and I'm looking forward to the new features. One thing I do miss is the "remember me" check box. I now have to log in every time I visit the site.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on August 15, 2010, 09:35:40 am
I like it overall and I'm looking forward to the new features. One thing I do miss is the "remember me" check box. I now have to log in every time I visit the site.
Mike,
I managed to get that one after several tries. The trick is that you must login from the "Login" button just to the right of "Members" (near the upper right), and NOT from the Username and Password boxes in the upper right. After you click "Login" you will see boxes with places for Username and Password as well as the check-box for something like "Keep me logged in forever" (the default is something like 60 minutes.)

It took me about three tries, but it finally seemed to work.

Good luck!

-Eric
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: Mike Louw on August 15, 2010, 11:38:45 am
The trick is that you must login from the "Login" button just to the right of "Members" (near the upper right), and NOT from the Username and Password boxes in the upper right.

Aha! Thanks Eric, that works for me too.

Mike
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: Kirk Gittings on August 15, 2010, 01:12:44 pm
Another issue I'm having on a Windows Vista/Firefox setup. 9 times out of ten, when I go to account settings it crashes Firefox.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: mguertin on August 15, 2010, 01:53:32 pm
Another issue I'm having on a Windows Vista/Firefox setup. 9 times out of ten, when I go to account settings it crashes Firefox.

Try clearing your cache in Firefox, that might help.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: kpmedia on August 15, 2010, 11:18:56 pm
I've been coming here for a couple of years now, and disliked the 1990s-style forums, so generally stayed out of them. Being on SMF now, an easy-to-use and -read forum, I see reason to register and participate.

Good job.  :)
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: darr on August 15, 2010, 11:28:31 pm
A big improvement!  Thank you for think about us lurkers!  :) ;) :D ;D
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: Chris_T on August 16, 2010, 08:55:22 am
Upper-right:  "Luminous Landscape Home"

Dave

I stand corrected. But the link did move and is much less obvious.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: Chris_T on August 16, 2010, 09:09:18 am
I've added a custom modification to perform 301 redirects for any of the old forum links (direct topic links only).  Worth noting, this was not just a new "design", it's completely different forum software.  Luckily it seems the the conversion preserved the topic ID's from the old site so this mod I did should perform well (in theory!).  If anyone sees it loading pages that they didn't expect from bookmarks please let me know.

One key and basic factor to consider when trivially updating a site or overhauling one is to decide whether to seamlessly support old urls linking into the old site. For a site like LL with a lengthy history of mountains of information, the decision ought to be obvious. Hope the old links were only broken for the forum, and not elsewhere, such as the articles, etc.

One of the most challenging site design tasks is to beta testing it *prior* to launching. Finding a wide range of users with different platforms, browsers, usage, etc. who also happen to be insightful, opinionated and vocal is easier said than done. Here at LL, you have the luxury of plenty of them, for free.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: michael on August 16, 2010, 09:25:25 am
One key and basic factor to consider when trivially updating a site or overhauling one is to decide whether to seamlessly support old urls linking into the old site. For a site like LL with a lengthy history of mountains of information, the decision ought to be obvious. Hope the old links were only broken for the forum, and not elsewhere, such as the articles, etc.

One of the most challenging site design tasks is to beta testing it *prior* to launching. Finding a wide range of users with different platforms, browsers, usage, etc. who also happen to be insightful, opinionated and vocal is easier said than done. Here at LL, you have the luxury of plenty of them, for free.

We have been, we are, and we will.

Michael
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: mguertin on August 16, 2010, 11:18:31 am
One key and basic factor to consider when trivially updating a site or overhauling one is to decide whether to seamlessly support old urls linking into the old site. For a site like LL with a lengthy history of mountains of information, the decision ought to be obvious. Hope the old links were only broken for the forum, and not elsewhere, such as the articles, etc.

One of the most challenging site design tasks is to beta testing it *prior* to launching. Finding a wide range of users with different platforms, browsers, usage, etc. who also happen to be insightful, opinionated and vocal is easier said than done. Here at LL, you have the luxury of plenty of them, for free.

No worries on that front.  The forum legacy links were less of a concern due to the way most people use the forums and the way forums function, but it worked out that it was easy enough after the fact to do a little fancy redirecting -- which only works with actual topic links that were bookmarked and nudges google to re-cache the new URL's as it encounters them.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: AndyF on August 16, 2010, 10:00:33 pm
A tiny suggestion on a tiny but frequently used feature - is there a way to make the page links larger?  I refer to the next page numeric links at the bottom left for longer discussions, and the "next" link.  Relative to the size of a display these are only a few pixels in size.

Looking forward to the new features
Andy
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: NikoJorj on August 17, 2010, 11:37:20 am
Non threaded view is bound to cause misunderstandings because your never know who people are answering to if content is not quoted.
I'll also agree in that an internet discussion asks for careful use of quote. Note that threaded view is also dependant on user's care to hit the correct "reply" button (ie not simply the "reply to the thread" at bottom of page).

Quote
Looking at a threaded conversation without a threaded view is bit like looking at a 3D object in 2D.
You mean... like looking at a photograph?
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: Dick Roadnight on August 19, 2010, 12:05:51 pm
Try clearing your cache in Firefox, that might help.
That is tools/Clear recent History/Cache

Firefox has been slowing down for me so I have tried it.

¿Will 8GB help?
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: Kirk Gittings on August 20, 2010, 02:04:17 pm
I really wish there was a simple "New Posts" link in addition to a  "unread posts" link, because as soon as you look at something it then disappears into the ether of general discussion forum.

Does anyone have a simple http search link that we could use ourselves to achieve this? I remember on a forum I moderate there was one that ended in something like 1-10 for the number of days of simply recent posts it would show.

The "unread posts" is just a search code right? What would it be for "New Posts"?
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: LoisWakeman on August 24, 2010, 12:43:06 pm
[Update:] aha: I just found the "unread posts since your last visit" link after I had logged in - look for the link top right.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?action=unread

Is that what you wanted?

How could I have overlooked that I wonder? I'm sure it wasn't there yesterday when I put my original grumble in  ???
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: jjj on August 25, 2010, 06:30:40 pm
Today's the first time I've posted since the redesign and when I posted some replies, rather than taking me to end of thread when my post appears I end up on unread posts page, which is extremely annoying as I have to go back a few pages in browser, then reload to see if post actually posted and return to thread.

As others have pointed out, LL banner at top is unnecessarily big and page numbers at bottom are unnecessarily small. Plus I think next page/page numbers should be at bottom right not bottom left as we read L-R not R-L in English.

And ironically the board logged me out when I tried to post theses comment and tells me I've already submitted the post when I've logged back in. Despite no post appearing. This post is a second brand new post
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on August 25, 2010, 06:39:42 pm
Today's the first time I've posted since the redesign and when I posted some replies, rather than taking me to end of thread when my post appears I end up on unread posts page, which is extremely annoying as I have to go back a few pages in browser, then reload to see if post actually posted and return to thread.
There's a preference checkbox, "Return to topics after posting by default". It's in the "look and layout" panel of your preferences dialog.

Jeremy
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: jjj on August 25, 2010, 06:46:11 pm
Ta for that, though seeing your reply should be default not a hidden option option. I've used t'interweb forums for many moons now and never had to go back looking for my post before.
Though if you edited a post, you got returned to the post and not taken elsewhere
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: JeffKohn on August 27, 2010, 11:56:38 pm
Is it just more or has the "Show unread posts since last visit" not been working correctly the last day or two? Did something change?
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on August 28, 2010, 10:58:33 am
Is it just more or has the "Show unread posts since last visit" not been working correctly the last day or two? Did something change?
It does have one weird behavior that I think I've identified. You might start out with 2 or 3 pages of "unread posts", but by the time you go through a number of the ones you want to read, the number of pages has reduced, making it difficult to locate the ones that used to be on page 3 that are now on page 2.

As a workaround, before I click on the next page number, I try to remember which item was at the bottom of the current page, and then look for that on on the next page to see where to continue. It's a nuisance, but I can live with it.

Eric
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on August 28, 2010, 03:01:39 pm
It does have one weird behavior that I think I've identified. You might start out with 2 or 3 pages of "unread posts", but by the time you go through a number of the ones you want to read, the number of pages has reduced, making it difficult to locate the ones that used to be on page 3 that are now on page 2.

As a workaround, before I click on the next page number, I try to remember which item was at the bottom of the current page, and then look for that on on the next page to see where to continue. It's a nuisance, but I can live with it.

Eric
Eric, I commented on that a while ago (look above in this thread, I think).

The answer lies, I conclude, in the fact that the new software refreshes the search under certain circumstances (such as when you post a reply), so that posts which were new when you first arrived but which you have now read disappear. I don't regard that as an improvement but I can understand how it happens.

Sometimes, I hit command-R to refresh the page before I try to move from it. When the site is busy, that has the advantage that it picks up new posts since you arrived.

Does anyone other than me miss the "your last visit was at xx" which used to greet us when we returned under the old system? Could it be restored? I'd rather have it than "Hey, kikashi!" but I'm an old fogey.

Jeremy
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: JeffKohn on August 28, 2010, 03:07:30 pm
It does have one weird behavior that I think I've identified. You might start out with 2 or 3 pages of "unread posts", but by the time you go through a number of the ones you want to read, the number of pages has reduced, making it difficult to locate the ones that used to be on page 3 that are now on page 2.

As a workaround, before I click on the next page number, I try to remember which item was at the bottom of the current page, and then look for that on on the next page to see where to continue. It's a nuisance, but I can live with it.

Eric
The problem I'm seeing is that it was telling me there are no new posts since my last visit, even though I know that's true. It's like the 'last visit' value gets reset to 'now'. It doesn't happen every single time, but more often than not lately. This wasn't happening for the first week or so after the upgrade, it just started recently.

For now my workaround is to save a bookmark to the "all unread posts" link and use that instead, but it's not ideal.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: digitaldog on September 07, 2010, 08:32:12 pm
The trick is that you must login from the "Login" button just to the right of "Members" (near the upper right), and NOT from the Username and Password boxes in the upper right. After you click "Login" you will see boxes with places for Username and Password as well as the check-box for something like "Keep me logged in forever" (the default is something like 60 minutes.)

I can’t find that option although I did see it mentioned in the help area. I have a field where I can enter a time value that had a default of 60 minutes. I popped in 2000 for grins, that didn’t work. I’m running Safari, but I can’t understand why the “keep me logged in forever” isn’t seen. I keep having to log in and its kind of a nuisance.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: mguertin on September 07, 2010, 08:51:25 pm
I can’t find that option although I did see it mentioned in the help area. I have a field where I can enter a time value that had a default of 60 minutes. I popped in 2000 for grins, that didn’t work. I’m running Safari, but I can’t understand why the “keep me logged in forever” isn’t seen. I keep having to log in and its kind of a nuisance.

You will only see the Login button in the top toolbar when you are not already logged in (it changes to "Logout" once you are logged in).  There should be a checkbox on that same page that says "Always stay logged in"

Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: digitaldog on September 07, 2010, 09:30:06 pm
You will only see the Login button in the top toolbar when you are not already logged in (it changes to "Logout" once you are logged in).  There should be a checkbox on that same page that says "Always stay logged in"

I saw it, I clicked on the check box. Didn’t work for me. But I’ll try again.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on September 07, 2010, 11:40:31 pm
I saw it, I clicked on the check box. Didn’t work for me. But I’ll try again.
Do try again. I'm pretty sure it didn't work for me the first time, but it did the second (or third?) and I haven't had to login since.
Good luck!

Eric
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: digitaldog on September 08, 2010, 10:05:26 am
Do try again. I'm pretty sure it didn't work for me the first time, but it did the second (or third?) and I haven't had to login since.

That may be key. This morning, it stuck! Thanks for the help. I guess it just needs a few tries.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: mguertin on September 08, 2010, 10:31:08 am
That may be key. This morning, it stuck! Thanks for the help. I guess it just needs a few tries.

Sometimes cookies "stick" in browsers and you either have to manually clear them out or wait until they "kick" properly :(
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on September 08, 2010, 12:31:22 pm
Sometimes cookies "stick" in browsers and you either have to manually clear them out or wait until they "kick" properly :(
That's why I much prefer home-baked chocolate chip cookies, and I keep them well away from my browser. They never stick around too long.

Eric
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: digitaldog on September 08, 2010, 08:26:22 pm
Well I’m thrilled to report that its sticking now.
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on September 08, 2010, 08:53:22 pm
Well I’m thrilled to report that its sticking now.
That should be one of the perks of being a "Sr. Member," especially one who has helped others as much as you have.
So if it ever unsticks, just ask Mark, Chris, or Michael to log you in.  ;)

Eric
Title: Re: Comments on new site design
Post by: bobtowery on September 23, 2010, 05:02:33 pm
Content is King! I'm thrilled that Michael's friends will be more frequent contributors. I have gotten so much good information from this site over the years, it has added to my abilities significantly.  I also very much appreciate the desire to innovate and expand.  Good for you and your team. 

Bob Towery
http://www.dreamtomorrowblog.com