Is improvement work on this forum/website still ongoing?

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

A month or so ago this forum was very busy with several threads and hundreds of postings covering the problems experienced by users. As of now though, discussion of forum problems has all but ceased and I wondered (since most of the problems are still present) why there is so little conversation about the forum itself.

I used the word ‘most’ above because whilst speed is now getting ‘towards’ acceptable there are dozens if not more than one hundred items that make this website and the forum one of the least inviting or user friendly places internet sites I know of.

This question is aimed at the developers, is work continuing apace or has slowed to a crawl or stopped?

Ian P

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Just a comment [and I hope that I am wrong]:

I suspect that the developers are overwhelmed by the amount of change that is required … Visions of silk purses and sow’s ears come to mind.

MichaelG.

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

It’s useable now and at least we can communicate

It’s like a loco build,

do the big bits and the little bits will eventually fall into place

…and it may take a few years

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

It’s still not as good as it was before they messed with it, but credit where it’s due, it is a lot better than the first attempt. It is just stunningly non intuitive,hence many queries on how to find things

[Ian P]

On 18 December 2023 at 12:44 Ian P Said:

A month or so ago this forum was very busy with several threads and hundreds of postings covering the problems experienced by users. As of now though, discussion of forum problems has all but ceased and I wondered (since most of the problems are still present) why there is so little conversation about the forum itself.

I used the word ‘most’ above because whilst speed is now getting ‘towards’ acceptable there are dozens if not more than one hundred items that make this website and the forum one of the least inviting or user friendly places internet sites I know of.

 

This question is aimed at the developers, is work continuing apace or has slowed to a crawl or stopped?

 

Ian P

 

Bump
I had hoped that someone involved with the upgrade might have come forward to tell us what is happening

Ian P

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

My use of the word ‘overwhelmed’ was carefully considered, Ian

MichaelG.

[EmgeeParticipant @emgee]

Have just signed in after a week away and find the site is closer to a reasonable speed, even after signing in.

Still got the annoying 2/3 0f the screen blanked out by the top adverts when trying to view the For Sale classified items and signing in, is that ever going to change ?

Emgee

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

I don’t know if this is useful to you, Emgee … but the direct link to the Classifieds is simply:

https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/classifieds/

… bookmark that and you have the ultimate shortcut !

MichaelG.

 

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Probably because I said something nice about it, it has reverted to circular logout. On my PC, if I log in, access the forum here, it logs me out. Works on my phone. It has done this off and on for weeks

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi Duncan, the same thing happens to me just lately every time on my laptop, but refreshing the page in the browser then allows me to carry on. This situation is very likely going to stop people trying to make any posts, if it’s not resolved, what with those stupid squares that don’t always have any logit to them, makes logging in too long winded, and I just give up trying myself at times.

Regards Nick.

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

What’s with the blue vertical band on the left hand side flashing on for one second every time you change pages?. It has menu choices but you don’t have time to read them let alone use them?

[Nicholas Farr]

On Nicholas Farr Said:

[…]

 

what with those stupid squares that don’t always have any logit to them, makes logging in too long winded, and I just give up trying myself at times.

Regards Nick.

For the exclusive benefit of those with supported systems on  Apple iCloud: This works beautifully:

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/iphone/iph4f43a30c9/ios#:~:text=iCloud%20allows%20you%20to%20bypass,Automatic%20Verification%20on%20or%20off.

 

See also:

https://abilitynet.org.uk/news-blogs/apple-are-helping-eradicate-curse-captcha

 

MichaelG.

[EmgeeParticipant @emgee]

Thanks for the link to the Classifieds Michael but don’t think I will bother to bookmak it, screenshot shows why.

[Emgee]

On Emgee Said:

…  screenshot shows why.

 

It’s a little less ugly in portrait mode

… but I stand by my previous assessment of the layout of this site

Dog’s Breakfast

MichaelG.

[Chris GunnParticipant @chrisgunn36534]

I was not a big critic of the old forum, and had got used to it, and could do what I wanted on it. When the new one came along, I was not sure about it, it was slow for sure, and I almost gave up on it, but then persevered, and gradually eased myself into it. I am still not 100% into everything, but will get there in time when the need arises. Not everyone likes change, but it is inevitable, in everything we do at the moment, and many so called improvements are just the opposite. It is a pity that many folks seem to have been put off by the changes, and the level of activity seems a lot less than with the old system. I just hope folks will persevere and get used to it. When I first joined the old system I struggled to start with, for a while, but got there in the end. Maybe we should also remember we get this for free, and the proprietors need to fund it, and the ads are an essential part of this. I think this is my first post on the new forum, so another step forard.

Chris Gunn

[roy entwistleParticipant @royentwistle24699]

It seems to be a bit faster but the content is sadly lacking. This, of course, is no fault of the propriortors. It’s now up to us to use it.

Roy

[Chris Gunn]

On Chris Gunn Said:

Maybe we should also remember we get this for free, and the proprietors need to fund it, and the ads are an essential part of this. I think this is my first post on the new forum, so another step forard.

Chris Gunn

We get the forum for free because hosting it is a benefit (or it should be) to the magazine publishers, true it will probably not produce them a significant financial input but even if it has a negative input on their balance sheet it would be regarded as part of their advertising budget.

The usability of the website and forum is so bad that it is unlikely enough users will ‘get used to it’ to make it a viable platform to attract advertisers.

As it stands it looks to me as if the forum and the website are losing participants and therefore advertisers , it seems to me at least to be in serious decline with laterly no updates or any feedback whatsoever from the management.

I am now coming to the conclusion that the management have lost interest and consider the upgrade completed so will now let sleeping dogs lie, at least they have had breakfast!

Ian P

[roy entwistle]

On roy entwistle Said:

It seems to be a bit faster but the content is sadly lacking. This, of course, is no fault of the propriortors. It’s now up to us to use it.

Roy

Its entirely the fault of the proprietors!

The totally shambolic handling of the site changeover is the sole reason for the reduction in users and ‘traffic’.

Ian P

[Ian P]

On Ian P Said:

We get the forum for free because hosting it is a benefit (or it should be) to the magazine publishers, true it will probably not produce them a significant financial input but even if it has a negative input on their balance sheet it would be regarded as part of their advertising budget. […]

Spot-on, Ian !

Unfortunately I was ridiculed a while back, when I used the term raison d’être

MichaelG.

 

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

I must have missed your posting but surely not ridiculed for just using the expression, maybe we have to stick to plain english so people don’t get upset

Ian P

[Harry WilkesParticipant @harrywilkes58467]

Hey guy’s I don’t have a problem for members using ‘big words’ if they are over my head which id more often than I would like to admit I just google them it all pass the day 🙂

H

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

It caused me no offence, Ian … but the response was:

”I’ll pass that French to Del boy to add to his collection of well known German phrases ( wot! no smilies on this forum)”

Whereas an actual discussion of the point might have been more productive.

MichaelG.

[Harry WilkesParticipant @harrywilkes58467]

Michael did mine  :  + – + )  the old fashioned way 😉

H

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Thanks, Harry … but the bit about smilies was part of the quote

MichaelG.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Work is ongoing, just less dramatic and more incremental.

The site is now loading pages much faster.

I have also been able to add some feature content, which I found a much easier process than on the old website, although I made a couple of mistakes I was able to correct them.

Neil

[Author]

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