Thoughts on forum changes

[otseng]

Here's a PM exchange I've had with Zzyzx that I want to share. I think many on the forum might also be interested...

Have you received indication that members and moderators dislike the new format? I am trying to withhold judgment, but am leaning negative after a week of use. It is not a matter of resistance to change (which typically troubles me very little).

No, nobody has complained to me yet, but I can understand the sentiment. I've spent years customizing the former forum to what I wanted and now I have to start all over. I don't think anyone is more frustrated and disappointed than me that we're losing a lot of the former functionality.

The problem is the forum software and the OS is obsolete. It's been running on the same software for over 16 years, which in itself is pretty amazing. But, now I'm not able to run the latest software. I was using an older version of PHP and the latest version of PHP doesn't support the old forum.

There's pretty much no choice but to upgrade. By the end of the year, the old OS (CentOS 6) won't be supported anyways. Over the next several years, I'll be modifying the forum, but it will take patience as I do this. And just when I get it to how I would like it, I'll probably have to start all over again.

[Zzyzx]

.
Marco, you've had a good run (five years) and made a great contribution to the Forum as a member and as an Administrator.

Go well.

[Tcg]

So a fond farewell.

Farwell to you as well, Marco. You will be missed.

Best wishes in all that you do.


Tcg

[onewithhim]

Here's a PM exchange I've had with Zzyzx that I want to share. I think many on the forum might also be interested...

Have you received indication that members and moderators dislike the new format? I am trying to withhold judgment, but am leaning negative after a week of use. It is not a matter of resistance to change (which typically troubles me very little).

No, nobody has complained to me yet, but I can understand the sentiment. I've spent years customizing the former forum to what I wanted and now I have to start all over. I don't think anyone is more frustrated and disappointed than me that we're losing a lot of the former functionality.

The problem is the forum software and the OS is obsolete. It's been running on the same software for over 16 years, which in itself is pretty amazing. But, now I'm not able to run the latest software. I was using an older version of PHP and the latest version of PHP doesn't support the old forum.

There's pretty much no choice but to upgrade. By the end of the year, the old OS (CentOS 6) won't be supported anyways. Over the next several years, I'll be modifying the forum, but it will take patience as I do this. And just when I get it to how I would like it, I'll probably have to start all over again.

You said no one has complained but I have! I sent you two messages, but I guess you didn't get them. We can't "like" a post without making some kind of full comment. We can't "ignore" anybody. We can't be notified, like we were before, that someone has personal messaged us. There was another thing that I said that I can't think of right at the moment. The new format is awful.

[onewithhim]

1.) Individual posts are not numbered. Many times on a forum I will relate to certain posts made. It is almost impossible if there is no numbering system to them.

Yeah, I agree. I tried adding the post numbering mod, but unfortunately it did not work.

2.) The quote function. It lists every quote made in the quote you are quoting. It overlaps so much that it is difficult to follow. It would be less confusing if just the immediate quote was given.

You'll need to edit out the parts that you don't want to include.

GO BACK TO THE WAY IT WAS BEFORE.

[Difflugia]

We can't "ignore" anybody.

Adding a name to one's "Foes" list is the equivalent of ignore. There are two ways:

Click the person's name to go to their profile page. Under their name, you'll see "Add Friend" and "Add Foe." Click "Add Foe."

Go to your User Control Panel. Click "Friends & Foes." Type names into the box.

We can't be notified, like we were before, that someone has personal messaged us.

In your User Control Panel, click "Board Preferences" and then click "Edit notification options." There's an option for personal messages.

[otseng]

GO BACK TO THE WAY IT WAS BEFORE.

Shouting in all caps is not going to change anything.

I had no choice but to finally upgrade. I've actually been putting it off for years by running on an obsolete platform, but I had to eventually do it sometime. And the time was now. There was other software that I needed to install that required the latest CentOS.

There's no way to go back to the old forum. Bear in mind it took me 16 years of customizing to get it to where it was. Although it's a great loss of all the effort I put into coding the forum, I'll need to get over it and start over again. So, over time, I will continue to modify the forum and gradually add features that the former forum had. No guarantees that it'll take less than 16 years though.

[otseng]

You said no one has complained but I have! I sent you two messages, but I guess you didn't get them. We can't "like" a post without making some kind of full comment. We can't "ignore" anybody. We can't be notified, like we were before, that someone has personal messaged us. There was another thing that I said that I can't think of right at the moment. The new format is awful.

Right, I didn't get them. Did you send by PM?

Yeah, I miss the like functionality too. But the former forum never had it for about 14 years. But, it's something I will code for in the future.

[Thomas123]

You are making a valiant effort here, otseng, and I applaud you for it. Do not become discouraged as what you do is not easily replicated. You have made something that is generous and fair that still retains within it your own personal vision. Keep up the good work!

[Mithrae]

It's good to have usernames/avatars back on the right (left) side of the screen again For such a big transition it's surprising how little has changed really - I hadn't even thought to look at the profile/control panel settings available until now - so that's great. Even all the usergroup info is still there and still accessible, just not so visible (and tbh, in the case of folk who had 30+ usergroups that's arguably not such a bad thing!). We've even got the feature of being notified when someone quotes us which I don't think the old setup had, which is handy if we've lost interest in a topic or someone starts a new one with our words.

How much hassle would it be to experiment with a couple of different board styles?

[Aetixintro]

.
Please, keep a back-up of the old, Forum, Otseng. As you know, the registeries, the likes, etc., can become useful once Version 3.3 gets to mature and then maybe we have our old forum back! Yay!

Just a suggestion!