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i hope i was also a part of that pulling and shoving! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by The Texan
I think our opinions do count and a forum is after all a community. It would thrive if it has good members. I am a bit sad to see the user browsing numbers which are down drastically since the upgrade. These are days of good looking websites..web 2.0..our neighbours taz have got a great looking thing going on.
amen
Just to add in my 2c
As an ex developer/manager of a large system (An EPoS System with ~ 500K lines of code & heavily normalised database behind it) I think that with the resources available to perform this upgrade then it's been a roaring sucess.
I also like the look & feel and while I am finding it a little difficult to get around the site, it's getting easier all the time.
I agree with Nihil, keep the RP system since it is an effective way of killing the trolls.
Well done to all, keep up the good work. I know it's difficult to get users to accept change (I still dream about the roll-out I did on my EPoS system to 1500 users).
Don't react to every moan about design etc. Get some rest & a little perspective.
Steve
Both JPNYC and mnstgrl, I believe, are getting downtime. I think what a lot of people were not aware of was the amount of hacks that this site had originally. The fact that this took two tries -- even with a test devel site done previously and working -- indicates that nothing is perfect and Murphy's Law will rear it's ugly head when we least expect it. My understanding from previous, brief discussions with mnstgrl indicates that the original site was so far from an actual vBulletin forum that I almost thought they would have to do a complete from scratch (that is, trash all the old posts and create a new forum). They avoided that. They tried to keep as much from the old in this new forum. There may yet still be some cosmetic features to put in so it would be nice if people were a little more patient.
That all said, it is interesting that:
1. many disliked the old forum because of <insert complaint here>
2. many dislike this new one because of <insert complaint here>
3. Lots of people like to complain and hear themselves complain
4. There are many good suggestions put forward but how you word a suggestion can come across in a negative fashion, intentional or otherwise.
5. All of this will fall on deaf ears and people will repeat steps 1, 2 and 3
6. Mod suggests everyone gets a beer and all ends up quiet on the front. ;)
I'm fully familiar with that story. I turned up at the first one of our stores to upgrade to the new system. At 10.15am I pulled the plug, put the old system back & then had to re-key all the transactions from the new system onto the old systemQuote:
Originally Posted by MsMittens
2 Weeks later I had another go, this time it worked.
Thankfully, I don't have to deal with that kind of stress anymore. I have gone to the dark side and I now do business analysis.
Drat, 5 hourse before I get off work.Quote:
6. Mod suggests everyone gets a beer and all ends up quiet on the front. ;)
Hi MsM,
The only person I remember who ever complained about the old forum was Spec...he thought many of the features were useless. Of course I don't read every thread. ;)Quote:
That all said, it is interesting that:
1. many disliked the old forum because of <insert complaint here>
The top three: look, navigation, and AP/Rep systemQuote:
2. many dislike this new one because of <insert complaint here>
True...but in this case I think the responses are genuine.Quote:
3. Lots of people like to complain and hear themselves complain
True.Quote:
4. There are many good suggestions put forward but how you word a suggestion can come across in a negative fashion, intentional or otherwise.
I expect so ;)Quote:
5. All of this will fall on deaf ears and people will repeat steps 1, 2 and 3
You buying? :DQuote:
6. Mod suggests everyone gets a beer and all ends up quiet on the front.
Eg :D
It's not half as bad as i expected it to be. I'm sure it will be easier to look at it after about a week once you get more used to the design. I used to admin a site with about 100 000 members and when we did upgrades to it no one liked it. Give it a few weeks and it will be fine. People just need time to get used to it.
Well the old AO was better in my opinion due to the look and feel of the site.
This one is good on the front that the pages load quickly as i have a slow connection.
It'll take some getting used to but the only thing that is constant is change. So its good !!
today it looks better the way the threads are laid out...everything back to the left....easier to read then everything all on top...
From my experience....most people hate change...they will get used to it....
all I can say is what a bunch of freaken whinners...geez...
<roll eyes>
MLF
Awww your just upset it's beer their giving out and not wine...:DQuote:
Originally Posted by morganlefay
I kinda like the new look, some different issues with Firefox though for copy/paste, have to use ctrl + v to paste, but it's easier on my Java...:drink:
I didn't realize that it was the format of the site that made AO what it is. I always thought it was the members. What a dumshite I am.
Thanks folks. We're responding to the complaints we can address and fixing remaining issues with functionality.
*snickers @ the irony of mis-spelling dumbshit.
Kinda sad my cow is gone............
*shrugs his shoulders*
Ry
Whats with the " \ " that have showed up before " ' " ? Need to fix that one.....
Also don't forget to remove the old tags such as [glowpurple] [/glowpurple]
Just a couple of things I've noticed in the last few min. Is there a way to see the rep assign of a post? Also, before you could close a thread down if there were to many bad aps. Has this feature been carried over? And if so, how about the ability to assign reps to the thread instead of an member?
I always thought that was a good feature.
Also, there doesn't seem to be a home button or am I just not seeing it?
I really do like that edit feature now... How it just expands the post and leaves the rest of the thread viewable in the same format....
Also anyone notice the Gold Dot is now an ominous Black Dot?
Hey hjack,
If you click the logo it'll take you there.Quote:
lso, there doesn't seem to be a home button or am I just not seeing it?
Eg ;)
No, you can't see the reps awarded per post, and yes you can rate a thread in the rate this thread dropdown.
Why thank you sir.....never even thought to try it.. Still should have a button imho.
Ry
Question here: How do I setup the threads I want to see? Meaning when I'm on the main page, I usually just want to see certain forums. Is that option gone or am missing it? Not a big deal in the long run.
As for the bitching - To each their own. I'm from a different school of thought here. This appears to be alot of work and I'd feel like a ******* if I complained about it. That's just me.
No that was a hack to the old forum. I'm trying to figure out a "bloodless" way of doing it with the new system, while still keeping carnage to a minimum.
The endless hacks to the old forum is what kept it running such an archaic version for so long. Upgrade wasn't thought to be even possible. Turned out it was, just took vast amounts of work to do. Lots of custom import scripts written.
For what it's worth, I like the new site. I see that there are a lot of comments about the new format, difficulty getting around etc., but that will come with familiarity. I saw the comment about the search function not working and appreciate that it may take a little while to get it working again.
Thanks for all the hard work in keeping the site running and (IMHO) improving it.
Thanks. The search function doesn't work yet, the indexing is proving to be a problem. We're looking into that as well.
I just have one request, if you are intending on keeping the RP system. Please allow so you can see who assigned you them.
Sorry but the software doesn't allow for that feature. :(
My opinion is that change is always better; it encouraged me to check out the website a bit more and try to participate a bit more and who knows how many other people may have been encouraged to do the same.
everyone that matters has quit posting in this thread. the actual seniors have given up, besides the ones who have been deemed "moderator." of course. whatever, this **** is ridiculous and we all know it. it really makes me sad. i actually am depressed by the fact that AO is gone. And if you say its gone and attribute the only actual "gone" of AO to it's members leaving, you're a retarded newb. AO is gone. It's ****ing gone. It's essence is gone. For you mod's that are paid and remember what AO really is, speak up, or quit acting like you care.
I'm sorry, but i came to this site when i was 15 years old. ****ing 15. i was taking a driver's ed program and this was my only place to go outside of the monstrous depression outside of the lack of summer i had. This was my refuge, the place to go. These people were my friends, family, whatever. As the years have gone by, i've seen it all gradually change, for better and for worse. I've seen it at it's best and at it's utter worse, which is what it is now. I remember every ancient bit of AO, every little thing, i started my first website/server/irc whatever off of this site, everything, and now all that is gone. You know why? because its become a place of corporate bullshit that you in particular, neg, nihil, msm, have become a part of. It's ridiculous. **** you all. If you all think that you're a part of something that benefits the community, whatever, take a ****ing step back, and remember what it used to be like, and recognize the ****ing corporate hand that is destroying us. The same god damned thing that will make us like any other community out there. What will make us different? Our shitty VB? Our streamlined bullshit that makes us look like every other site? whatever man.
We're done. And the bone heads that thought this was a good idea, regardless of their legal reasonings (which im positive there were (thank god for JP)) * and btw, for those of you who werent around when jp actually did this site, **** you and leave the site, for you are nothing but a google scab that doesnt belong here, and what i mean by that is, you're opinion as to what this site deserves/needs, doesn't matter so keep your god damned mouthes shut and im sick of hearing about your opinions, because they should mean absolutley nothing.
Ive missed Ao since jp left. I've missed AO ince people like juridian (even though we had our problems), souleman, Terr, Rewandythal, THEJRC, evil_enchilada, etc. stopped posting. They were basically my family. I've missed it, but I've accepted it and tried to make it better. But jesus ****ing christ, Negative, I actually know you IRL, and Mel, stop being a dick for the money, you know what's best for AO and this isn't it. I invite your witty response in order to keep your position here or whatever, to keep order, but its bullshit whatever it is, go ahead, demean me. but you know people like me are the heart and soul of an actual internet community, especially one so closely bonded as this. Nihil, stop man, quit trying to defend it. you know it sucks, give up dude. Mittens, i've been here since before your picture was up on the front page as member of the month or whatever it was called, quit acting like this is for the best.
Bottomline:
I'm tired of you all accepting corporate **** because you have to. I love all you that I know, and will miss you as this site goes to ****. And that's exactly what its doing. I'll miss all of you and you were a huge part of my life. **** all of you who don't support this site as what it is and what it stands for, and what it meant to me, and I know it meant a **** load to alot of you, and to each of you that it did, i guarentee we are friends from waaaay back. Don't stand for this **** because it makes money. Don't stand for this **** because its potentially different.
God damnit, I've been here since i was 15 years old. Don't ruin it because some corporation is lazy,
**** all of you who don't care, and I love all of you who do,
er0k.
read the above post, it will do you some good.
Change is not always for the better.
What was so cool about the old AO?;)
For that answer, you'll have to be reborn. In the past ie;Quote:
Originally Posted by panamared
The site is starting to take shape and functionality like the old one did. thats nice.
What colors does this new rep system give it to you in? is a blackish/bluish dot good, bad, indifferent?
How do you check the status of a thread now? is that what this rating thing is?
What happened to my tip of the day?
Is there a way to add a home button? (other than the AO icon at the top?)
Is there a way to shrink down the crap on the main page at the top? I am assuming it is that way for your advertising but it just seems when i first load this site all i see are the links to your other sites news and security products, could that be added to a side menu instead?
Just some thoughts
Black dot means the user has chosen not to display reps (userCP).
I will think about where to put a home button, if that many people are bothered by clicking the header logo.
The header was basically copied and pasted right from the old site. What's there now is what was there before.
or to see what it was like visit
http://web.archive.org/web/200504010...ntionline.com/
but you'd really have to be there to see what all members are missing
And it seems you haven't matured much since then.Quote:
Originally Posted by er0k
If you reall don't like the change, then you can always vote with your feet.
I've hardly posted here in ages, but since the change I've been making the odd few posts and keeping an eye on the site.
A good thing IMHO
Steve
Hi Spyrus,
The "rating thing" is sort of similar. Be careful though, it has 5 gold stars........one gold star is "terrible" and five stars is "excellent".......... no stars just means "unrated"
There is no apparent effect of user reputation on the thread, so you won't kill a decent thread if you take a shot at a Troll, you will just kill the Troll. You use the scales symbol down the bottom left for this, and it adjusts "reputation" which is the vanilla expression for antipoints.
I have no idea what the options are for the rating feature, as I haven't had time too look yet; I have been trying to help with the transition as much as possible. I would hope that in the future it would be possible to default all ratings to 3 stars, which means "average", then the feature would have more meaning perhaps?
Cheers :)
Thanks for the info.... The 3 stars thing would be nice johnno but it would be better if it was possible to use words again, seems easier, maybe I just like words more than little damn symbols i have to hold my mouse over to figure out what it means ;)
JPnyc: In reference to the news and ads, I think it was just that it was more centered before and smaller, as displayed in the link mem...copyright posted. If you could put the home button to the left of CP that might be the best place I would think? So now users can leave reps(ap's) and choose whether you see them or not? and you dont know who did it unless they drop their name in the comment? either way if you cant control it you cant control it. I do like that it bolds the topics I havent read or have changed since my last login... still having issues with firefox remembering i am here...
Users can't see who left reps no matter what, but admins can. That's the way the software is designed. Also helps keep outbreaks of war between members to a minimum. "You negged me you @#$%!" etc.
I'll think about the best place to put a home button as soon as I get a chance to think for more than half a second :D
could the rep assign page be a pop up like with AP's if possible at all...
Unfortunatelly, it is a bad one :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Nokia
I think one of the problems with the look of the site is the fact that the home page actually looks like a forum now :) - imagine that! I personally don't like that, but I also can't find a good reason why it shouldn't be so; also it won't stop me from coming to the site, so why should I care?
To whoever was complaining about the adverts at the top of the site, you can probably clear that up a bit using AdBlock! - a firefox extension (I'm currently waiting for them to update it to work with firefox 2.0 although I guess if I really cared that much about it I wouldn't have upgraded).
One last thing. I know that whoever was involved in the update presumably worked their asses off, and probably did an amazing job as far as the stuff that really matters is concerned, but you have to take into account that from a user's perspective the look of a system is quite often far more important than how it actually works since they don't necessarily understand the mechanics of the thing. Add to that the fact that Jup Media make money off this site and you can understand why people are so pissed off about a few images with white borders, etc.
Fair enough us members aren't paying Jup Media for a service directly, but we are indirectly since it's the members that make a site like this; no members equals no advertising revenue. I guess what I'm really saying is that although the new site was apparently tested for a month or whatever, there were just a few bits and pieces that you'd expect to have been sorted during that testing that weren't, and I reckon the main problem probably is that a lot of members feel like Jup Media doesn't actually give a **** about them.
But anyhow, from my point of view as long as I have my programming forums I don't really care - just a few points that you might want to consider.
ac
I don't believe it's all about the bells, whistles, buttons, makeup and lipstick of a site. In the past we'd just hack it so we could make it do what we needed - can't do in this case. You'd become bubba's toy. Licenses, laws, attorneys, etc... And that may be part of the issue regarding the 'old vs new'. It was unique and fluid. Not confined by rigidity. Oh the lure of elitism (or something like that) :p