leccyflyer Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 19 hours ago, kc said: I have setup as Matty B suggested but it's no substitute for the Latest Posts that we had yesterday. The point is newcomers to the site cannot see quickly where the latest and livliest discussions are taking place. Modelflying now looks just the same as...... ( insert name of rival site ) ... which just seems boring as one cannot see where the really lively discussions are taking place - you have to wade through dozens of old topics. I didn't join .......( rival site ) for that very reason - it seemed boring and not current. Same with several other sites that seem to use the same software. Being able to read the latest discussion and see who has posted replies was the big advantage Modelflying had - now it's gone! Now it's just the same as other sites. Newcomers will not be attracted. I didn't join these other sites because they seemed boring, Modelflying had this big advantage and now they have taken it away! Why change something that worked well? Latest Posts is needed! The thing is that it didn't work well -it was horribly clunky and it looked terrible. With a few mouse clicks though, you can easily recreate a Latest Posts interface which does what the old page did, but with much more functionality available - the mods have even produced a very simple illustration of how to do that. It looks like the site might even be modified to make that the default view. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil McCavity Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 The counter pointer is that we were being told it's a very intuitive site that we'd all find easy to use. It's not, you have to do a lot of setting up just to get to a base level and that will/is causing a number of people problems, some people like that and take to it naturally but the rest find it a chore and off-putting, discouraging them from using it. It is early days but unless it's able or planned to be changed the procedure won't go away, it'll still be the same in the future. Our way of life is based on expectation and when you join a forum the expectation is that you can just sign up and start using it with a large degree of familiarity, this is a lot different from what I've used before and others are finding the same. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Ballinger Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 Not seen all the items I note below highlighted ( sorry if they have) so I thought it might be worthwhile a not so quick post ! Yes it’s a big change and yes there’s some preferences to set up to match an individuals aspirations, that said i think it is a great improvement. When David asked for input as to what features we wanted my reply was a better search tool and easier multi media handling in posts. We now have that.? Like many I was initially blown away by the amount of content and difficulty in browsing to what I wanted. So setting the preferences and tailoring the default stream sorted most of that but some more steps and ? were needed. The condensed button gives you the one line view of an update, I had missed that for some reason. That certainly made it easier to assimilate. I agree with the comments that the advertising banner could be smaller and the surrounding white space reduced but I can wait for more important stuff to be finished first. I could not understand why even having set my pref to go to the last post in a thread why it didn’t and on some occasions even went to parent topic leaving me a lot of scrolling. The answer was it all depends where you click. If you click on a name or avitar you will get a persons profile, click on the topic , you get all the threads in the topic. I finally stumbled across what I wanted when I just clicked on the time displayed since the last update or on the number of views. Hey presto it went straight to the last update which is what I wanted.? So more to learn but it is now looking manageable again. Well done all those taking the time to help us all discover what is we want . Tim 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil McCavity Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 (edited) Tim, I can't see a difference in the 'Search' engine, it's no better nor worse than the old one. There shouldn't be a need to customise streams, topic view or viewed posts just to get you to a start point, a forum should be useable without any adjustment with the extra features and greater functionality sitting in the background for when you want to use them not to hinder ease of initial use. For a new user logging in they are instantly bombarded by so much activity information that it's difficult to comprehend what is going on. The typeset and background appear to be causing many people problems, given the age demographic of the average forum user that is a major oversight. We asked for a spell checker with UK English not US English as was used by the old forum, this one has neither. There's an awful lot of activity on the forum being shown publicly and more going on in the background about what registered users are doing that other users can see without the knowledge of that user, some you can turn off but others you can't. That's just not necessary on a model RC forum. This is a much more mobile friendly forum in appearance compared to the old one, the 'Alert' is much better, we can now do 'multi-quotes' which is useful, the 'Images' process is far easier and superior to the old one so users are now more able and willing to add an Avatar to personalise themselves and add a bit of atmosphere to the place and some features which were available on the old forum but were never used are now user friendly. Edited February 12, 2021 by Phil McCavity Spelling. Awaiting a spellchecker to avoid constant edits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leccyflyer Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 It's not the first time that a change in forum software too some getting used to. Historically there are always a few teething troubles and folks having to come to grips with improvements. In this case I think the upgrade has been huge and ultimately very smooth. Looking at some historical documents I notice that many of the recurring comments may well have been made before ? 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil McCavity Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 (edited) I don't think ridicule is very productive, people are offering their concerns in an attempt to help make it work for the future. You want them to say nothing and disappear because they are put off using it? Read the concerns and understand the predicament of others. Edited February 12, 2021 by Phil McCavity Added text. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leccyflyer Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 (edited) No ridicule Phil - just a bit of light hearted humour ? Edited February 12, 2021 by leccyflyer 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Hargreaves - Moderator Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 Indeed....lighten up Phil....this is a bit of adventure & we're all in it & learning together.....? Toy aeroplanes are supposed to be a hobby.....something we do for fun.....? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Ballinger Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 Phil, Perhaps I never got to grips with the old search engine. Now I can search for an exact string if I want to by suitable quoting , I can use standard search logic to link strings and authors to the string I’m searching. There is probably more capability I am yet to find. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil McCavity Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 I understand that Steve but attempting to portray those posting with concerns and suggestions for improvement as some kind of medieval whinger isn't (IMO) the way to enter the new forum, I think there are valid points being made and hopefully being noted....posting to ridicule those people doesn't help give that impression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leccyflyer Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 2 minutes ago, Tim Ballinger said: Phil, Perhaps I never got to grips with the old search engine. Now I can search for an exact string if I want to by suitable quoting , I can use standard search logic to link strings and authors to the string I’m searching. There is probably more capability I am yet to find. Tim I agree. The old search engine simply didn't work to any useful extent - this looks much more sophisticated and much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leccyflyer Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 There is no implication whatsoever that anyone is a medieval whinger -it's just a bit of light hearted humour using a neat little app that I saw for the first time this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 The ability to laugh at yourself at times is priceless, Leckys Tapestry fits me to a tee, it made me chuckle. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 But Phil is spot on when he says that the site is not intuitive and requires far too much ‘fiddling’ to get it to work the way most people (judging by the posts already made) want it to. And also spot on about valuable ‘real estate’ being taken up with ads that are far too big, white space (despite using the compress feature) and 1/3rd screen being taken away due to the ‘Top posters’ panel which I don’t think can be switched off. These are all constructive criticisms and for my part I get over most of them by changing things, but should I have to? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Hargreaves - Moderator Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 Well I'm sorry you see it that way Phil....we all need to keep a sense of humour at this time. Any & all points are noted & discussed & we thank the members for all their contributions. Not all suggestions or requests can be met of course but we will try our best to fine tune the software to be the best Forum that we can. At the end of the day this platform is what has been chosen by My Time Media (publishers of RCM&E) as the ModelFlying forum....effectively it is what it is. Yes some fine tuning can & will take place but this will take time so keep up with the suggestions & give the Developers time to make the changes or maybe take a break & come back in a few weeks & see where we are.... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil McCavity Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 (edited) Ron, Wend hence and taketh thy fusty ideas and moaning with thee! Edited February 12, 2021 by Phil McCavity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel R Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 it's only been two days! the initial grolleys seem to have vanished ? I'm sure admin can move on to sorting layout type items when all the functions are up and working Quote Awaiting a spellchecker Your internet browser has almost certainly had one for many years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Ballinger Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 4 minutes ago, Ron Gray said: But Phil is spot on when he says that the site is not intuitive and requires far too much ‘fiddling’ to get it to work the way most people (judging by the posts already made) want it to. And also spot on about valuable ‘real estate’ being taken up with ads that are far too big, white space (despite using the compress feature) and 1/3rd screen being taken away due to the ‘Top posters’ panel which I don’t think can be switched off. These are all constructive criticisms and for my part I get over most of them by changing things, but should I have to? Ron, Should we have to? , is a good question. For me the answer is yes because I like to have things tailored to suit me. If everyone liked what I like then I would be happy of course but the world would probably be a sadder place ! So in terms of the forum I am very happy to spend some time setting preferences in order to get what I want. If you want something modern that tries to suit all tastes then you need versatility in operation. When AI finally cracks mind reading all will be well, until then we will need to set preferences. Tim 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leccyflyer Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 Indeed my posts on here certainly have spell check, wheras on the previous forum the spellcheck did not work properly at all. It was like a throwback to the spellcheck in Wordperfect 5.0. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil McCavity Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 2 minutes ago, Tim Ballinger said: Ron, Should we have to? , is a good question. For me the answer is yes because I like to have things tailored to suit me. Tim ....but Ron asked "Should we have too?" you replied that you like too, there's a fundamental difference between them. I say No, you shouldn't need or have to, it should be useable straight off the board without any tweeks at all. Customising comes later when you want to do it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil McCavity Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 No spellchecker is following my spelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leccyflyer Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 (edited) Nigel and I were referring to the spellcheck embedded in our browsers, not one that is part of the forum software. Edited February 12, 2021 by leccyflyer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 (edited) 7 minutes ago, Phil McCavity said: ....but Ron asked "Should we have too?" you replied that you like too, there's a fundamental difference between them. I say No, you shouldn't need or have to, it should be useable straight off the board without any tweeks at all. Customising comes later when you want to do it. Exactly right Phil. Put the basic building blocks in place and then allow users to modify rather than ‘there’s a pile of building blocks over to you’ Edited February 12, 2021 by Ron Gray Added words 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel R Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 Then it (in theory) just needs switching on in your internet browser settings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil McCavity Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 Nigel implied that there is no need for one as my browser checker should be doing the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.