Comments (constructive) on the New Forum Software

[Ian P]

On Ian P Said:

I used the ‘search’ function but the only hit it returned was your post containing the word ‘backlog’.

I was unable to find any backlog Thread, Post, Topic or software (separate or otherwise). Where can I find it?

Ian P

Basically you can’t! It is a separate bit of software being used by the developers. It is neither part of nor does it link to the forum. More info here Nulab Backlog

John

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

I wasn’t looking for the software

I was trying to find a single register of the forum faults and suggested that the forum management team should update it daily so we have an idea of what progress is being made. There are an awful lot of people on here wasting their of time by commenting on and reporting problems that the developers already know about.

I do also see that some users are happy with the forum as it presently is, I’m not one of them. They must have a different type of computer system to my Win 10, Chrome, maybe I’m a rare breed

Ian P

 

 

 

commothought  looking to

[EmgeeParticipant @emgee]

Pleasantly surprised today when moving around various topics on the new site I found the speed acceptable, that is until I signed in to state my satifaction with the huge improvements made. After signing in and waiting for the forum to be live I found it as even slower than I remember from a week ago, I am using a 15.6″ i3 Laptop with Win10 and Firefox.

Another point I wish to make again is the links on the blue background News, Features, Workshop, Gallery, Classifieds and Archive all leave the Warcos advert and the blue background on screen so the viewing area is drastically reduced to a 50mm high area at the bottom of the screen.

This is not the case when using the Forum link from the same location, full screen is visible which is how it should be, that is a definite noticeable improvement since my last visit, as is the grey background to the viewing area.

Keep up the good work and I’m sure all will be fine given time.

Emgee

[Gary WoodingParticipant @garywooding25363]

I’m using a Core i5 with Firefox under Win 10 on a 60Mb line and the performance is appalling. It’s so bad as to be almost unusable.

[Graham Meek]

On Graham Meek Said:

Whilst the overall appearance of this forum has improved since my last visit. Speedy it is not I have take 4 minutes from Log-in until getting to this page.

I tried to read the Privacy Policy, I had clicked to accept it weeks ago, but it just decided I should do it again.

I got the following message.

“”Composer detected issues in your platform: Your Composer dependencies require a PHP version “>= 8.1.0″.There has been a critical error on this website.

Learn more about troubleshooting WordPress.””

I do like the bit about there being a “critical error on this website”

I will leave the troubleshooting WordPress to the professionals.

Regards

Gray

 

Today has still taken a while to get logged-in, due mainly to having to go back to the start of the Forum, rather than make a comment on the page I was reading before I logged-in.

I am still being asked to accept the Privacy Policy, something I accepted ages ago and again on Friday. Something which I cannot access. Surely a simple PDF document would suffice for the Privacy Policy. As regards my platform this was set-up by Microsoft, (Son-in-Law works for them doing Coding out of Seattle), and I am not skilled enough to tamper with that.

Regards

Gray,

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Deleted as superfluous … I was only repeating what Gray had already observed

[Gary Wooding]

On Gary Wooding Said:

I’m using a Core i5 with Firefox under Win 10 on a 60Mb line and the performance is appalling. It’s so bad as to be almost unusable.

Gary, try reading the forum without logging in, unless you wish to reply or post yourself.
Even when logged out, don’t access posts from the Latest Replies list, but just use that list to identify the new post you wish to read, and then steer towards it on  the main forum list above.
I don’t think the problem is anything to do with your PC, ISP, or network connection.

Bill

[Graham Meek]

On Graham Meek Said:Today has still taken a while to get logged-in, due mainly to having to go back to the start of the Forum, rather than make a comment on the page I was reading before I logged-in. I am still being asked to accept the Privacy Policy, something I accepted ages ago and again on Friday. Something which I cannot access. Surely a simple PDF document would suffice for the Privacy Policy. As regards my platform this was set-up by Microsoft, (Son-in-Law works for them doing Coding out of Seattle), and I am not skilled enough to tamper with that.

Regards

Gray,

I get the same error; I just ignore it, and neither to I press the accept button.
Yes the blue bar remains until the screen refreshes, but vanishes when I log on.
I don’t think that’s what’s causing the delay.

Bill

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Question for the day:

Why has the ability to annotate ‘Edits’ been removed ?

MichaelG.

[Journeyman]

On Journeyman Said:

…  More info here Nulab Backlog

John

I just followed your link, John … and had to smile !!

Plan less, do more

is the most delightfully ambiguous statement I have read in ages.

… it could almost be the “Lessons Learned” summary for this project.

MichaelG.

[Graham StoppaniParticipant @grahamstoppani46499]

This one may have already been mentioned.

The Latest Reply page shows the latest 25 replies with the option at the bottom to see all replies. Clicking on the link then shows the same top 25 replies plus the ability to click back page by page to older replies. So why not just show this second page in the first place and save on a couple of lines of code?

[Pete WhiteParticipant @petewhite15172]

I have not been on here for a couple of weeks, instead have used my time to get something done in the workshop which has been far more productive and enjoyable.

I see the problems and moaning continue, I will drop in from time to time maybe, but we will see.

The dismal responce time really is unacceptable and will not drone on about other issues, off to the workshop.

Shame really, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, springs to mind ?

Pete

[Michael Gilligan]

On Michael Gilligan Said:

Question for the day:

Why has the ability to annotate ‘Edits’ been removed ?

MichaelG.

Obviously I’ve no idea, but I consider it a retrograde step.
Having a long list of edit notifications at the end of a post wasted screen space, particularly if the only reason for the edit(s) was to correct a typo.
We had the option to untick the box, or leave it and add the reason for the edit.
Now we don’t know if, or why, a post has been edited.
Can mods/admin still see the actual edits?

I tried something out with Jason previously, where I edited a post multiple times, but only ticked the box for some of them.
Even from a mod’s perspective he could only see the edits where I’d ticked the box.

I didn’t mention it previously on the open forum, but it gave me reason for concern about misuse.
Fortunately most folk on here are well behaved, though I’m aware of issues in the past.

If a member edits a post, but is able to hide that edit by unticking a box, what’s to stop them from posting a tirade of abuse or similar, then deleting it after 25 minutes during the edit window; mods would not have been able to see what had happened. The poster may have had a rethink, or more concerningly, it can be a deliberate action.
I don’t know if admin would have been able to see what a mod couldn’t when the tick boxes were available.

I’m very much aware that this has arisen on other forums I’ve visited.

Bill

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

If the latest posts view is more user friendly it will help to boost activity

Still a restricted letterbox view

[S KParticipant @sk20060]

I propose that the font used for forum comments be changed to something actually readable.

It’s positively painful trying to read paragraphs of this stuff! I mean, comic sans would probably be better than whatever is being used now.

Life here at present:

• Wade through 3 or 4 of those awful Captcha screens.
• Wait 20 seconds per page to load.
• Have your eyes get stabbed by the font.
• Decide that life is too short for this.

[S K]

On S K Said:

I propose that the font used for forum comments be changed to something actually readable.

It’s positively painful trying to read paragraphs of this stuff! I mean, comic sans would probably be better than whatever is being used now.

……………..

I think it’s just Arial font 13.5 point, which is pretty standard, and used on many forums.
I too find it hard on the eyes, particularly with such a pale background.
I’m not sure if it stays as 13.5 point when displayed on the screen.

I believe the old forum used Verdana 9 point, on a slightly darker background which personally I find far less of a strain to read, even though it was a smaller point size.

Interestingly, the edit pane, where this post (and yours) was composed, seems to be a default Calibri 11 point, which I also find far easier to read before it’s submitted.

Your quoted text above my reply shows as Arial 10.5 point italic, but of course on a darker background.

Bill

[S KParticipant @sk20060]

It’s not just the font that looks more at home on a spreadsheet than a discussion forum, it’s the weird size and line spacing. The font is too large in general and especially too tall in comparison to the meager vertical line space afforded to it. (I agree that the edit box and the quoted text are both more readable.)

And I had to go through NINE of those damnable Captchas to get back in this time. As I said, life is too short for that garbage.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

I get zero captchas. You must be coming in on the country roads.
The font is just right on my normal sized laptop without screen enlargement but the smaller quoted text is almost too small for comfort so I would have to use maybe 110% screen enlargement if that were the norm.
I like Arial but the font (calibre 11pt you say) seems slightly darker or bolder and maybe if increased to 12pt would be my ideal for the resultant posts.

Grey bar between posts. – almost unreadable.
I much prefer the old forum green with bold white text. I so much associate that green with model engineer now that I think of it as the company colour, like green or red distinguishes railway companies.

Up at the top of each topic there is a button “create new reply”. This is totally redundant isn’t it as you are at the bottom of the page reading the last entry when you decide to reply.

[Phil SParticipant @phils66830]

1. Problem with the images in some, but not all, classifieds. When you go to the ad page there is an empty rectangle above the red price. Image only appears when you click in the rectangle.

2. Not clear how you reply to ads…. If the only way is to click on the member name and send a personal message then it needs to say so.

3. Font is far too thin/small.

4. Background behind text far too bright.

Apologies if raised already.

 

[Peter GreeneParticipant @petergreene36336]

Can’t help feeling that different people are seeing different things. I personally have no problem at all with the Arial font – but then, I use it myself a lot. Text height/boldness is fine on my setup. Background is fine on my setup. Grey bar is fine on my setup.

In fact, as far as legibility goes, the whole thing is fine …. on my setup

I stress “my setup” because much of this depends on OS settings if they’ve ever been tinkered with. Some years ago, when I was coming down with cataracts, I tinkered with my windows colour and other settings to make life easier. When I got un-cataracted I reversed (I think) a few of the changes I’d made but I’m sure I didn’t catch them all.

Not to mention zoom level and monitor setup (and monitor tilt angle in some cases …. it’s nice to assume that everyone looks at their monitor at a right angle vertically – but I know they don’t)

Based on my own past experience.I do think that someone with cataracts (or other visual problems?) might have some difficulty with this setup.

[Text height in the reply box is about one size less than in the final message – doesn’t really bother me but I don’t know why it need to be smaller.]

[Maurice TaylorParticipant @mauricetaylor82093]

Hi, regarding latest posts looks like this on my iPad

 

 

[dhendleyKeymaster @dhendley]

Morning everyone. Just a quick update. The main thing we are trying to resolve is the speed issues, once that’s done we will be looking at the other issues. Our server hosts are looking at database settings and optimisations – sorry it’s taking so long but we are working on it every day.

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

Thank Darren

That sounds good news, at least it gives us some hope.

Ian P

[Ches Green UKParticipant @chesgreenuk]

Darren,

Good to hear. It can’t be an easy task, but keep going 🙂

From my POV it would be nice, once you have sorted out the speed issues,  to get rid of the huge amounts of ‘white space’, reduce the number of Fonts and sizes used, and the large gaps between paragraphs…and keep smiling 🙂

Regards,

Ches.

 

[Peter GreeneParticipant @petergreene36336]

“large” gaps between paragraphs enhance the readability for some of us! It’s only one line space. Please don’t go to close spacing.

[Author]

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