Comments (constructive) on the New Forum Software

[peak4Participant @peak4]

I’m trying to reply to a post by Keith on the Deleting Site Account topic, but rather than de-rail it, I’ll try posting here.
His post is italicised below as rightly, I can’t quote cross topics.

I have been looking at the site daily, just to see the comments and to hope for progress.

I am now convinced that a lot of the problems people are /have experienced is due to the machine and system they are using. I have a reasonably powerful PC with Win 10 and Firefox. All settings are as default and I have not installed any “clever” software.  Reading a lot of the complaints about loading problems I have been confused at times, because I have not seen the same things. As a for instance, comments were made about flashing adverts. I had none of that. The banner add did move to the left after a time, but that was always so. At the moment  I access the site from a Bookmark, clicking the green Forum takes me to Latest posts ,without loging in. If I read a post to the last posting and continue to scroll, it runs into the Latest posts again, which all seems pretty easy. I have no problems with the clear black type on a white background either.

I have yet to try to make a posting including photos, which was always my stumbling block on the old site, but I will  try it later.

Keith

Keith, as you see from my previous post, loading can still be an issue as the Forum part of the site’s been down again for 40 minutes;

Flashing Adverts are still there to me, Samik & Cowells both have adverts where their display alternates between two images. I don’t like doing so on free to use forums, but I’ve enabled my Ad Blocker on this one, which is in no-ones real interest long term.

Latest Post was certainly an issue in it’s initial Temporary implementation, and is now much improved.
The issue I compiled earlier, where its use on different pages led to different results now seems to have been cured, so I too find it currently works well, though sometimes very slowly. I can also use the Blue Button whilst logged out, without causing me log-in/out issues experienced previously.

Black type on White is obviously OK for some, but not others, depending on any vision problems for the viewer; I’m finding it a bit of a strain.

There may well be problems with the displaying of posts on different devices; I’m  broadly OK on a PC, which is sufficiently powerful to not be a bottleneck. Surely one of the specifications for this new forum, was that it should display in a useable format on all devices.

You’ll be pleased to know that posting images on here is a lot easier than the old forum, as albums are no longer required.
You need to do any re-sizing, or other editing, before uploading here.
Full pane width seems to be 800 pixels, so if you only want to part fill it, you need to re-size smaller.
The forum will handle larger photos etc, but seems to resize down to 1200 wide, and display at 800 to fill the display pane.

I covered this with quite a bit of explanation elsewhere.
As yet, the text-wrapping around photos doesn’t seem to be functional; the facility seems to be provided, but not yet implemented.
By all means tag me in as @peak4 and I’ll try and assist with photo posting if I can.

For basic image editing/resizing, please see my post about Fastsone Image Viewer

All in all, problems are gradually being resolved from what I can tell.

Must go, tea smells almost ready. 🙂

Bill

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

I settled to sleep very early last evening, and have woken in what I hope is ‘the middle of the night’ …

Just now, navigation speed between most pages of the forum appears to be dramatically improved [to the extent of feeling acceptable!]

Hoping that this is a real change, and not simply to do with traffic levels.

Zzzz

MichaelG.

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Edit: __ that said …

submitting and re-opening this post for editing were both slow.

[peak4]

On peak4 Said:

 

Latest Post was certainly an issue in it’s initial Temporary implementation, and is now much improved.
The issue I compiled earlier, where its use on different pages led to different results now seems to have been cured, so I too find it currently works well, though sometimes very slowly.

The guys were working on it at the time you were compiling things so that would be why you were not getting the same results, something to be expected when working on a live site.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

It looks like my last attempt at posting missed the boat

…this is the message from CloudFlare …

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so I will try again:

 

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Although I habitually use the iPad in landscape format, and therefore suffer the bombardment by sidebar advertising …

I am delighted to see that the current iteration of [Latest Replies] works very nicely in portrait format.

MichaelG.

 

 

[JohnFParticipant @johnf59703]

I had the same problem as Micheal G last night see screen shot.  This morning it is taking 20 to 30 seconds to load a new forum page form the latest post page !

John

[Keith Rogers 2Participant @keithrogers2]

Hi,

I’m finding a vast improvement to the website. I like not having to log in to look at the forum and to view latest posts/replies, and the refresh rate of the pages I’m finding almost instantaneous. It doesn’t log me out when I hit the blue button anymore.

Well done guys, much better!

The downside is it took ages for me to log in to compile this post, so slow!

We are seeing some improvements though. I’m sure it will get there in the end.

Keith.

ps. It took forever to submit this post.

 

[Ches Green UKParticipant @chesgreenuk]

Just some random feedback…

11.30am 7 Nov …

– Website generally quite a bit more snappy this morning.

– layout much improved but still a LOT of white space, and huge gaps between the paragraphs in some Posts. ‘Relevant Information’ could usefully fill the ‘white space/gaps’  😉

– The huge Blue banner at the top is obviously on a diet…it’s depth has slowly been reducing over the past couple of weeks…good.

– Not sure why there are Orange ‘Subscribe’ & ‘Buy Latest Issue’ balloons top left AND also under the images of the two magazine covers.

– I couldn’t find an Underline button in the Editing Icon row.

Website normally viewed via a 24″ 1920×1200 display, fast hardwired internet connection, Firefox 119 browser on an Intel desktop.

Ches

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

Latest replies not working AGAIN, it takes you to the first post ,this beginning to get boring when it takes nearly 15 mins to find a post and post an answer.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Bernard

I have just checked the behaviour, on my iPad

There are two links available, which I have indicated with big arrows:

The RED one takes me to the start of the Topic

The GREEN one takes me direct to the most recent post in that Topic

… does that help ?

 

MichaelG.

[vic neweyParticipant @vicnewey60017]

What is weird here is that this thread should be on it’s own page, that’s what you see on any other forum, but here it’s not!  it’s loaded on top of the list of latest replies which are down below if I scroll, so the page is loading complete with all those links which must make it lag.

See the photo, I zoomed out so it shows what’s below

[Gary WoodingParticipant @garywooding25363]

A very big problem for me is the enormouse waste of space. My screen size is only 1366×768 and the actual forum stuff is sqeezed into a narrow band down the middle. The top blue banner spans the screen width, but the actual forum data is relegated to a narrow column with masses of white space either side.

If I zoom in to read the text, then I can see only a few lines.

[vic newey]

On vic newey Said:

What is weird here is that this thread should be on it’s own page, that’s what you see on any other forum, but here it’s not!  it’s loaded on top of the list of latest replies which are down below if I scroll, so the page is loading complete with all those links which must make it lag.

See the photo, I zoomed out so it shows what’s below

 

Yes I’d observed the same, but it’s not just this topic; open any other one of the forum and Latest Replies will appear below as a time ordered list.
At the top of the page is the Latest Replies Blue Button, which if you click it, takes you immediately to the recently updated list at the bottom of the page.
Clicking on any of the posts there however, does take an age for the relevant page to load, complete with a refreshed Latest Replies list.

N.B. what you might not have noticed, unless you happen to be at the very top of a topic page, is a second abbreviated Latest Replies list, all in blue, just below the Latest Issues/Subscribe box.
This is off to the right hand side, so might not show, unless you are using a wide screen monitor (or maybe Landscape format on a tablet/mobile device.
If you visit other parts of the site, say News or Workshop, i.e. Not Forum, the space below the yellow Subscribe & BuyLatest/Back Issues yellow buttons is populated by the “Tags” cloud.

Also, prior to the latest implementation of “Latest Replies”, navigating between posts on the forum directly, whilst not an immediate response was still reasonably quick.
Now, even avoiding the use of the blue button completely, direct navigation on the forum is slow; Like you I suspect it’s because we have to wait for the latest replies list to compile, before the new screen loads.

p.s. I should say that the actual use of the Latest Replies list does seem to work well, and far better than the temporary solution we had previously, particularly when you realise which bit to click, as per Michael’s helpful post 688122; I just question why the list is displayed at the foot of every topic page.

Bill

[JasonB]

On JasonB Said:

On peak4 Said:

 

Latest Post was certainly an issue in it’s initial Temporary implementation, and is now much improved.
The issue I compiled earlier, where its use on different pages led to different results now seems to have been cured, so I too find it currently works well, though sometimes very slowly.

The guys were working on it at the time you were compiling things so that would be why you were not getting the same results, something to be expected when working on a live site.

Yes Jason I thought that might be the case, as soon as I realised that the problem had cured itself.
I guess too much to hope that someone else had read this topic and acted on an implied fault report. 😉

Now purely an observation on how quoted posts display.
The current implementation is far better than what I recall originally, and I note that the quoted post seems to be all italicised.
Previously when discussing the original contentious blue button, I often referred to it as a Temporary solution, to highlight the temporary nature of it.
Perhaps not wildly important in this instance, but I note that with all the quoted text being italicised, that stress on one word is lost.
I wonder how this double quite above will display.

 

Bill

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I quite like having a latest relies list below the end of each topic, saves having to wait for the slow back button or clicking on “more latest posts” as we had on the old forum at the top and bottom of each thread as you read through the recent activity.

[peak4Participant @peak4]

Re my previous post about how quoted text becomes all italicised, I wonder if the underline option, where it to be implemented, as mentioned by Ches above, could help.

Purely as as an experiment, I wonder how this post will display when quoted?
All text above is plain, except the hyperlink to Ches’ earlier post

This text was originally italicised via the edit I icon.

This text was originally italicised by using Control i

This text was originally emboldened by using the edit  B icon

This text was originally emboldened by using Control b

This text was originally italicised & emboldened by using I & B icons

This text was plain, but highlighted and Control u clicked note that it is underlined in this edit pane, but may not carry over to the submitted post

Edit, certainly seems to be some inconsistency above;
As expected Italic & Bold icons at the top of the edit pane carry over into the submitted post
Control I also does, but Control B & U seem not to.

I forgot to add these lines earlier

This text was originally italicised & emboldened by using Control i & b

This text was originally italicised & emboldened and underlined by using Control i & b & u

Note the second Latest Replies over here too

Bill

[peak4]

On peak4 Said:

Re my previous post about how quoted text becomes all italicised, I wonder if the underline option, where it to be implemented, as mentioned by Ches above, could help.

Purely as as an experiment, I wonder how this post will display when quoted?
All text above is plain, except the hyperlink to Ches’ earlier post

This text was originally italicised via the edit I icon.

This text was originally italicised by using Control i

This text was originally emboldened by using the edit  B icon

This text was originally emboldened by using Control b

This text was originally italicised & emboldened by using I & B icons

This text was plain, but highlighted and Control u clicked note that it is underlined in this edit pane, but may not carry over to the submitted post

Bill

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Permit me to join your experiment, Bill

I have now quoted the entirety of your post.

MichaelG.

[JasonB]

On JasonB Said:

I quite like having a latest relies list below the end of each topic, saves having to wait for the slow back button or clicking on “more latest posts” as we had on the old forum at the top and bottom of each thread as you read through the recent activity.

So do I personally, for the same reasons as you, but both Vic and I were wondering if compiling the list is what’s slowing the screen refresh when moving between different posts, even when the Latest Replies option is not required or selected.

p.s. if you do refer this to the developers as a suggestion, don’t forget that the list, as opposed to the button, occurs twice; once as a fully populated list below the posts, and again as a set of headers below the yellow subscribe buttons.

Bill

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

… and, to continue Bill’s general theme iOS and iPadOS users get a different frustrating experience.

Apple’s  inbuilt OS formatting controls appear to work correctly in the composition pane, but when the post is submitted they are displayed as plain-text representations of the HTML … thus:

<b>This is emboldened</b>

<i>This is italicised</i>

<u>This is underlined</u>

 

This is all very frustrating

MichaelG.

 

[Michael Gilligan]

On Michael Gilligan Said:

… and, to continue Bill’s general theme iOS and iPadOS users get a different frustrating experience.

Apple’s  inbuilt OS formatting controls appear to work correctly in the composition pane, but when the post is submitted they are displayed as plain-text representations of the HTML … thus:

<b>This is emboldened</b>

<i>This is italicised</i>

<u>This is underlined</u>

 

This is all very frustrating

MichaelG.

 

That’s interesting, your original quoted reply to me and this post have highlighted a couple of things.

Firstly, how text is displayed in the composition/edit pane isn’t necessarily the same as in the submitted post, but more important, it’s not consistent.

Second, it works differently with different devices.

Third, the quoted post becomes all italic, though emboldening remains; it seems that all text is italicised, rather than it being toggled on/off

Fourthly, and I think it’s a good thing, extra line feeds/spacing are removed in the quoted post; they aren’t needed and were probably only included for clarity of reading in the initial post (or often by accident), but would take up unnecessary space in what it really just a reply, with the quoted text to put that reply to specify context.

I usually add space between lines, as above with Shift-Carriage-Return, as this only adds one line feed’s worth of space.

Carriage Return on its own sometimes applies two lines of space, but it’s not apparent until the post is submitted, as the final result has a different number of characters per line, compared to the composition pane.

This following line of random text exactly fits the composition pane’s window

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna

but it will likely display differently after submitting.

Back to the need for either a preview option, or a WYSIWYG editor
worth noting that italicising takes up the same screenwidth as the original text, but understandably depending on the font, emboldening lengthens the script in pixel terms.
It’s very easy to end up with orphaned words on a new line, which unless edited, leaves the reader with a poor experience.

Bill

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Good summary, Bill

I don’t know enough about HTML5 to really comment, but I was under the impression that it should have better cross-device, and cross-OS, compatibility than we are seeing here.

MichaelG.

[Ches Green UK]

On Ches Green UK Said:

 

– I couldn’t find an Underline button in the Editing Icon row.

There wasn’t one on the old site either – and here, as on the old site, if you highlight the word(s) and hit ctrl-u it underlines.

Hmmm … it worked when I typed that (I underlined “underlines”) but it disappeared after submission. Yet it has worked for me on this site before

This should be underlined (it shows that way before submission)

[peak4Participant @peak4]

Another experiment I’ve just tried, and I’ve absolutely no idea if it points to anything specific.
We’ve had a period of half an hour or so, where Michael and I have been the only ones posting, or editing existing posts.
This is just an observation; now, and on other specific occasions if I click on any single topic, on the Latest Replies, or in a forum list display, the refresh to the new screen is about 8 seconds.

On other occasions, within this same half hour period, the same actions can take up to 20-40 seconds.

The difference seems to be that the “Latest Replies” list hasn’t needed to refresh.

That is, I post something, submit and shortly afterwards refresh the screen a couple of times, response is consistently about 8 seconds; nobody has altered any post in between my screen refreshes.

Now either, Michael adds a post, or I edit one of my own; whatever script is behind Blue Latest Replies Button, and intended to monitor posts, sees changes and now re-compiles the list; screen refresh time is now 20-40 seconds.

I think if I’ve just edited a post, the list at first appears the same, as my name is still at the top, so it doesn’t look like the list has changed, but it’s noticed my edit and refreshed accordingly.
If Michael has posted a reply, then it’s obvious the list has changed, as his name shows at the top.
On both occasions, it seems to lead to the much longer load/waiting time.

I will now submit this post; I’m guessing that the Latest Replies monitor will see the change, refresh the list, and thus my new post will take a long time to display, complete with the updated list.

Edit, yes 35 seconds to submit and refresh screen; is that because it takes 35 seconds to upload the post or 35 seconds to refresh the Latest replies list??
Also, after pressing the edit button, it again took about 35 seconds before this edit pane opened

Edit-2 , and a further 35 seconds each, to open the last edit pane now, and for the previous edit to upload/refresh

Edit-3 screen refresh / post reload response time down to 8 seconds; nothing seemed to have changed in the Latest Replies list.
During this time, Peter also posted, and this lead to a 35 second refresh time as well.

Bill

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

For what it’s worth, Bill … I am typing this at 18:53, having just read your last post

MichaelG.

Submitted at 18:54 plus a few seconds

.

Edit: __ it appeared on the list almost instantaneously

Submitting this at 18:57

<b>Edit</b>: __ to put the ‘p’ in typing

and also to mention that the system doesn’t appear to be tracking edits … either in terms of time, or in the display of my posts in My Profile.

[peak4Participant @peak4]

Missing screenshot issue.
This is getting silly, there was a screenshot in this post an our ago; now there is just a blank space

The screenshot was I think to point to the second Latest Replies list on the right.

Here’s a similar one

 

This is getting sillier and sillier, there is now a missing image from This Post as well

 

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

If this site doesn’t improve soon Im off, postings keep disappearing ,constant error messages and time to change pages is appalling. its fairly obvious that a lot of contributors are not happy as well as regular names from the previous forum do not seem to appear like they used to. subject matter is thin on the ground, i suspect because the site i user unfriendly.

[Author]

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