Retiring the "TMC" style and other forum changes

[doug]

Get ready to say goodbye to the TMC forum style which has been the default for a while.

As part of a multipronged approach I've been planning in order to make things easier to find on this forum (which will get a thorough explanation soon) I'm going to have to retire the TMC style. With each upgrade of the forum software, more and more of it breaks. Within the next couple days, I plan to upgrade our forum software to the most recent version. At which point the "TMC" style will be broken beyond usability.

To remedy the situation, I've created a new style currently named "TMC-2012" which you can actually select now at the bottom of the page. It's built out of a more default style but with a few tweaks to make it not too different from the existing TMC style. I encourage you to go ahead and switch now, since once I upgrade, the "TMC" style will be removed and "TMC-2012" will be set as the new default. This may cause an error for a few users until they clear their cache and reload the page.

Other things coming down the pipeline:

Item	Description	status
New "TMC-2012" style	Fixes a lot of subtle errors we had with the existing "TMC" style. Will survive software upgrade.	done
Enable thread tags	Searchable user generated tags on threads. If you spent a lot of time searching for a thread, add a useful tag so that it will be easier to find in the future.	done
Google search	Available in the "TMC-2012" style. TMC specific site search by Google. Replaces existing search box. "Advanced Search" link available for standard forum search.	done
Wiki posts	The ability to insert a wiki post in a thread for a member generated summary or for updating information.	done
Forum software upgrade	Will break the "TMC" style. Initially differences will be more noticeable on the Admin side or things.	very soon
Wiki articles	A proper section with wiki articles. This will be the place for FAQs, history, and whatever else. No longer will this info be left buried in the	very soon
Subscribed Threads button	Like the "What's New" button, but will only return the new posts in the forums to which you have subscribed.	very soon

[NigelM]

Switched over to the new style, looks great so far. Also, maybe it's me but it seems faster?

Thanks for all the work you put in!

[VolkerP]

Great work with the Wiki functionality! Thanks, Doug.

[efusco]

it's real perrty

[bonnie1194]

Nice job, Doug!

[Sparrow]

Great job. Most importantly for me was that it was extremely easy to convert.

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Thanks, doug; looks fine. The banner ad up top now (in addition to the one at the bottom that's present in the old style too) makes it look a bit busy now; a necessary evil?!

[goyogi]

To remedy the situation, I've created a new style currently named "TMC-2012" which you can actually select now at the bottom of the page.

For me it was at the top of the page in a drop down. When you go to TMC-2012 it appears at the bottom.

[Tempus]

looks nice. my only comment would be that the differentiation between forums with unread content and those without is a lot more difficult to see now. The colors are light blue and grey in my monitor - hard to tell the difference. Would prefer more contrast there.

[NigelM]

looks nice. my only comment would be that the differentiation between forums with unread content and those without is a lot more difficult to see now. The colors are light blue and grey in my monitor - hard to tell the difference. Would prefer more contrast there.

+1. Same minor issue with Stickies, could use more differentiation.