New Forum Design

[Pebe]

Same here. While I appreciate that some things need to be fixed at the backend, I find I need to do a lot more clicking and moving back and forward then I used to. In the past I was able to catch up over the weekend, AND discover some new interesting topics to follow. Tapatalk may be unsafe, be unsupportive to site owners and probably has a business model that conflicts with the way TMC is paid for, but I'd happily pay a monthly fee for a decent mobile client, and never bother with the Web UI again!

Secondly, giving up just feels wrong. I learned so much and was able to help others. Could @doug and/or @danny perhaps give us some insight in their planning or roadmap? Transitioning between platforms is hard, and obviously the shop stays open while the remodelling goes on, but managing our expectations w.r.t. to expected changes and their planning would certainly help. Even if the proposed dates aren't met

+1

 

[Pebe]

Better on iPad
This is a full screen capture...

I actually like the new look and feel better and better for each day. Dont miss the old setup at all now that I've found my usual links such as watched threads and new posts. Getting more post per page would be nice, but not a big deal its heaps better on ipad/iphone which is where I spend 98% of my browsing time!

 

[cdub]

It's possible what @Chrisizzle wants is actually to be able to watch, say, the Roadster forum - and see new posts in that forum only - even if they are not subscribed to every individual thread.

You can do this by watching a forum.

 

[ohmman]

You can do this by watching a forum.

I can watch a forum but it doesn't show me only new posts. It just lists my forum under watched. Can you explain how this works for you?

 

[cdub]

I can watch a forum but it doesn't show me only new posts. It just lists my forum under watched. Can you explain how this works for you?

You should get an email notification when there are new posts.... or at least that's how I believe it to work. It works that way for other sites on xf. Haven't watched anything here.

 

[darthy001]

View attachment 168928
Better on iPad
This is a full screen capture...

Better than the old design. I simply like it. I've never used Tapatalk if that is what you were thinking of. Tried tapatalk once, but gave up after 2minutes.

 

[tomas]

For those who want their old rep back, you could put in your custom title if you could find a way to encode the green lozenges!

 

[rage_777]

Good job on making the threads 20 pages long. Bad job on not making it user customizable, hopefully I will be able to set it to 100 again.

 

[Johan]

Good job on making the threads 20 pages long. Bad job on not making it user customizable, hopefully I will be able to set it to 100 again.

This is probably because it messed up for search engines a lot, you'd search on Google say and get a good hit, get sent to "page 19" (because when the search engine was indexing the site this was the page title) but when you're logged in and has 100 posts per page in your preferences your page 19 is something different.

 

[Canuck]

Looking for 100% feature parity seems foolish; things change, some aspects get better, some aspects get worse, and the world moves forward.

No one is looking for 100% parity, and it doesn't help things by using the term "foolish" to describe people's concerns with the new system. I know that if I only had 17 posts the changes would be no big deal to me either. I also know that "things change, some aspects get better, some aspects get worse, and the world moves forward" - but I come here for pleasure and relaxation. I deal with system changes at work that I have no choice but to suck it up and move forward. However, unlike work changes, I choose whether to come here or not and more often than not I have been choosing not to. That's all I'm saying. I'll still come by and check things out but I sure miss the old place.

 

[HankLloydRight]

This is probably because it messed up for search engines a lot, you'd search on Google say and get a good hit, get sent to "page 19" (because when the search engine was indexing the site this was the page title) but when you're logged in and has 100 posts per page in your preferences your page 19 is something different.

I still really don't understand why this is a problem. It's basic, simple math (i.e. not "common core" math).

Why is "page number" even needed in the URL? If a specific post is referenced at a search engine, the forum software (both vBulletin and XenForo) should be smart enough to load the correct page containing that post, for the specific user that is currently logged in (regardless of posts per page setting), and if no user is logged in, use the default 20 posts per page.

The entire idea of "pages" should be virtual and based on user preferences. I can understand how this was hard-coded in vB which used "pages" in the URL, but the XenForo guys should have been smart enough to eliminate this ridiculous and unnecessary constraint.

Example: Search engine finds results in a thread using default 20 posts per page. The URL *should* reference the thread ID and the first post in the page (not using #anchors), and not the page number. A user using 100 posts per page (ppp) clicks on that link. The forum software says "I see the first posts referenced on this page is post #342 in the thread. This user has 100 ppp, so I'll load up *his* page #3 which will include that post and posts following. For a user who has 50 ppp set up, the forum would load page 5. Or alternatively, when a user clicks on the link for that "page" with post 342, the forum software creates a "page" with post #342 at the top of the page and all posts following it, even if post #342 wouldn't have normally been at the top of the page in his/her normal viewing of the thread.

But instead of using a basic level of intelligence, the forum software is dumb and we're locked into 20 ppp because the URL references page numbers. Dumb design.

BTW, this is no statement on Doug or Danny, but rather the forum designers.

 

[jgs]

I just noticed to my chagrin that the RSS feed seems to have gone away. True? Of course I tried to search for other discussions about this before I asked but "The search could not be completed because the search keywords were too short, too long, or too common." :-(

 

[MorrisonHiker]

I just noticed to my chagrin that the RSS feed seems to have gone away. True? Of course I tried to search for other discussions about this before I asked but "The search could not be completed because the search keywords were too short, too long, or too common." :-(

Here you go: RSS Feed?

 

[jgs]

Here you go: RSS Feed?

Thanks!

 

[Canuck]

BTW, this is no statement on Doug or Danny, but rather the forum designers.

The same applies to my comments. I know change is inevitable and the changes made here are just part of progress and have to be done, especially with the Model 3 coming, the new influx of people, and the constraints of the old forum. I really appreciate Doug and Danny, and all the mods. Thanks for all you do!

But at the same time I do still miss the old place...

 

[wayner]

I have given it a couple of weeks and the new forums aren't growing on me, the information density is way too low. The new forums are prettier in many ways but the functionality, at least for me, is way down. Like others I find that I am coming to the forums less often.

 

[Mr X]

Sorry but this new forum isn't growing on me.


I visit the forum less now... just saying.


Old layout was WAY better.

 

[Andyw2100]

Sorry but this new forum isn't growing on me.


I visit the forum less now... just saying.


Old layout was WAY better.

My response is not directed only at the above poster, but rather at the many posters who have made similar posts recently.

I'm not thrilled with the new design either. I also liked the old design better. Change is difficult.

The thing is, it is 100% clear that TMC is not going back to the old software or the old design. It won't matter how many members make posts like the above, and it won't matter how many members just stop reading and stop posting entirely. There is no going back. In the worst case scenario, (and not one that I think is at all likely, but the worst possible scenario,) TMC just slowly dies. But it's not going back to the old TMC. That much is clear.

So that leaves us with options. The option I have chosen is to try to help by making suggestions that I think will improve the site for me and for others, while forcing myself to use the site as I wait for the improvements. I'm hoping that I'll get used to the changes, and will eventually like the new TMC as much or more than the old one. I understand that others may be making different choices, and that's fine. I'm suggesting that in the very least, rather than just saying, "I still don't like it, I'm coming here less, etc.," at least offer one piece of constructive criticism that if implemented might cause you to visit a little bit more--perhaps not as much as you were visiting before, but more than you are visiting now.

If you do that, your post will have more value, and may help Danny and Doug get TMC back to where we all want it to be.

 

[green1]

My single constructive suggestion is to revert to the old and far more functional version.
Anything else will be me simply listing the many many features lost for the sake of lots of useless whitespace.

I'm sorry, I have not found a single redeeming quality to the new site. It does nothing better than the old version, and everything worse.

 

[Pebe]

My single constructive suggestion is to revert to the old and far more functional version.
Anything else will be me simply listing the many many features lost for the sake of lots of useless whitespace.

I'm sorry, I have not found a single redeeming quality to the new site. It does nothing better than the old version, and everything worse.

+1