New Forum VERSION.

Guest123 · Aug 24, 2010

Threads Merged.

Dan · Aug 26, 2010

I can only apologise in advance for those that don't like the new style, unfortunately for you, this has to happen so it is going to.

I totally understand the "if it aint broke dont fix it" rule. And it's one I stick to, I have to say. But the only reason we're the number one forum is the fact that we stayed ahead of the game, there's always been other forums about and we always need to make sure we're working towards the better things.

I like the old style from a user point of view as I'm used to it. Though let it be known that it took me a year to get used to an old forum I was on before I made my own first one all them years ago (which was in 1996!). Though I got used to the new one within a few hours, even at administration level.

And I always refer to the main reason I want to make the change member-wise. Many new member just take ages getting used to this software. I'd have to change just as much manually to this forum to make it much easier to use (such as more obvious "New Thread" buttons and so on) than simply upgrading the place.

I deal with umpteen emails asking how to register. And 'can you send me a password please?' when they've hit the 'send email' button to us from the actual Lost Password page which emails your password to you if you stick in your email address and hit go. It's actually more labour intensive to send an email, yet they seem to be able to do that easier!

And I deal with even more PM's from people saying "I've replied to posts, but I can't find how to ask a new one" - The reason for that is the Quick Reply box is very obvious - yet the "Post New Thread" button is in the forum category and not in threads - yet the whole forum in this version is geared towards NOT browsing through forum categories and simply hitting search buttons or 'new posts' (or Today's Posts for those that got used to that before we changed it).

Though the new forum software has those features. It's more obvious that when you're in a thread, that the thread is actually contained within a category. And people DO click back and find the even more obvious than normal "New Thread" button. Which even changes colour when you mouse goes over it!

You've even said yourself that you've been on forums making the change. Imagine if we were the last and it was us that started to have the minor style and people couldn't work our forum even more?!

A good forum isn't online for a few years, it's online for life. And it needs to keep in the game, if not be ahead of it. It's time guys, it's been on the cards for years! And it's been tested, we've got all the mods and extra we need created in the new version, and we've already done 50% of our forums in total, 75% of our construction ones. Only three more to go!

I hope you all stay with us, but I know we will have many more threads and posts to read for those that will stick with us, so it's a good thing for the future of the forum in general.

--- I also notice that the votes two weeks ago, 1:8 in favour of keeping the forum as it is, is now 8:9, nearly equal.

Let's see the poll in a month "do you NOW prefer the new design?" lol

Phil · Aug 26, 2010

the first thing i did notice for the new forum version is, double the space in the inbox, we currently have 50 max on here and 100 in the new version which is great. i have had pm`s and calls from people asking how to start a new thread etc, i know it`s not rocket science but it does show that people do struggle with it and anything that can make it more user friendly has got to be good. i also like the "new forum post" section on the right hand side as well. it does have a nice feel to it and we will be keeping all of our posts when it gets moved over so it`s all good. is there any chance we could have say a "learning zone" where all the info and posts from such as lenny and amber so they are all in one place. like our own on site guide and regs

maybe free up some of the top of the pages on stickys. looking forward to seeing it in action. can`t imagine how much work is going into the change over.

Sintra · Aug 26, 2010

Gotta admit that i am starting to appreciate the new version more after using it for the last few weeks. It's definately growing on me and i'm sure after the initial changeover period and members getting accustomed with the layouts etc it will in the long run be an improvement for us all.

Sparky Ninja · Aug 26, 2010

sintra said:
gotta admit that i am starting to appreciate the new version more after using it for the last few weeks. It's definately growing on me and i'm sure after the initial changeover period and members getting accustomed with the layouts etc it will in the long run be an improvement for us all.

+1

Dan · Aug 26, 2010

phil7677 said:
the first thing i did notice for the new forum version is, double the space in the inbox, we currently have 50 max on here and 100 in the new version which is great. i have had pm`s and calls from people asking how to start a new thread etc, i know it`s not rocket science but it does show that people do struggle with it and anything that can make it more user friendly has got to be good. i also like the "new forum post" section on the right hand side as well. it does have a nice feel to it and we will be keeping all of our posts when it gets moved over so it`s all good. is there any chance we could have say a "learning zone" where all the info and posts from such as lenny and amber so they are all in one place. like our own on site guide and regs maybe free up some of the top of the pages on stickys. looking forward to seeing it in action. can`t imagine how much work is going into the change over.

Phil,

you now have a 2000 PM limit mate.

that's a figure I can change on any forum for any usergroup. It just gets a bit mental when you have high PM storage though as you'll end up needing to erase them all in the future, page by page. So try to keep on top of them and erase any old ones periodically so it's not such a chore in the future.

Me and Dave have a 4,000 limit on tilersforums and I keep getting messages saying I'm 93% full and need to clear it up. I clear it up and within a couple of months I'm doing it again!

martysparky · Aug 26, 2010

I'm sure as with any change that isn't to extreme, of course, the initial change can be a little frustrating but after a week or maybe two it will be no bother because it has at that point become normal.