What's new around here, and what do you like/not like about it?

About This Message Board
1

Obviously the admins have installed this new software in the hopes that it will be an improvement over the last version which kept crashing on us. For that, and all they do around here, I’d like to give a hearty THANK YOU!

I do have a few questions and observations about all the new features, though…

I read through the threads I could find that were about the new software and I keep seeing references to features I haven’t found anywhere. I also read through the vB codes and FAQ pages and I don’t see any comprehensive list of what all the new features are.

Questions:

Have some of the features changed during the short time the new software’s been in use?

From the FAQ’s page:

So is this an automated thing that’s done as you post? And if so, will you see it in the preview? I ask because I post to another db where ‘unacceptable’ words are pre-set by the system admins and using them will give you a warning message instead of the preview screen. So I’m just curious how this one works.

Are the names listed at the bottom of the index page the users who are here and may be just browsing, or is it activated based on whether someone posts? If my own name isn’t showing up on mine, is it showing up on others’?

Why do you get sent back to the main board after posting a reply instead of back to the topic where you just posted it?

I noticed that the feature that allows you to post a subject line in your replies doesn’t seem to be working. Will this be ‘fixed’ or will we always see that window and not be able to use it? (Or did I do something wrong or miss where the subject appeared after I posted?)

Observations

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the preview!

If the active users listed on the index page really does tell people that I’m online reading the boards, I don’t like that one bit. I turned off my buddy list so I could be online without anyone knowing I’m here unless I want them to.

I LOVE that you can now enter threads with multiple pages on any page you choose, so if you’ve read the whole thing already, you can start at the end where you left off.

However, I don’t like that you can no longer review the topic right from the reply screen. On threads that are only 1 page long, the topic review is still at the bottom (although in reverse order - why is that?). But on multiple page threads, it has this message: “This is a long thread. Click here to review it,” and then you get a whole new browser window which starts you at the beginning of the thread instead of the last page, which you were reading and most likely replying to. I don’t like having a bunch of browser windows open and having to toggle back and forth. :frowning: And it’s all too much clicking - LOL.

I’m not particularly fond of seeing how many times a thread has been viewed. I don’t know - it kindof gives me a creepy feeling to know that 1,000 people have looked at a thread but only 2 people have bothered to reply to it.

Do people like being sent back to the topic list instead of the topic itself after posting a reply? I’m still on the fence about that one.

I really like being able to see who the last poster was who replied to each topic. Now I don’t have to memorize how many replies there were up to and including my reply so I’ll know whether or not anyone else has answered since I did. Nice feature!

I think that’s all I’ve found so far. Anyone else?

2

All this change is too much for me to deal with right after coming home from a 14 hour shift at work!

3

I’d like to see the column with of the thread titles enlarged a little, perhaps stealing some space from the last post column. Scrolling down the message board used to be pretty easy, but now we’re getting 5 line titles…

4

Two things I’ve noticed which are bugging me:

  1. When I go back to the main board, the (previously visited) links to threads I’ve already looked at aren’t dimmed. I know the system is keeping track of ‘unread threads’ somehow, but I’d rather use the browser’s ability to dim the hyperlinks because it allows me to check off unpromising subject lines and previously viewed topics in the same location.

  2. I don’t know if this is new, but I’d never noticed it before. - The layout of the board doesn’t adjust to fit my browser window. I typically don’t maximize my browser and having words sailing off the page is an annoying (and infrequent) occurence.

BTW - this should be my 69th post, in honor of which I have adopted a signature line. Oh, happy day.

5

Okay. I don’t like the fact that it doesn’t automatically fill in the subject when I’m posting a reply. I just now noticed this, and I had to go back to make sure I was doing it correctly. I’m still not sure. What happens if I type in a new subject? I think I’ll check that out in the test thread.

I do like that I can pick what page I want to go to in a big thread. That will help quite a bit in GD, I’m sure.

The preview feature is going to be a real help, as is the “automatically parse URLs”–not sure if the old board did that or not.

Old board. Sheesh. This is the second new board I’ve gone through. I feel old. And a lot of people were around for three–I managed to find the Dope on AOL right after the Great Board Switch.

6

I was just playing around with my profile, and there’s an option in there that you can use to turn this off. I think I’ll leave mine on, though.

I like how “Show Signature” is automatically selected. I hardly ever had a sig before because it was a pain to remember to click on the box. Now I don’t have to.

I don’t particularly like what the quote boxes look like–they were a bit easier to read when they were indented and offset.

7

Taking these issues in turn:

This is very new software, and not everything about it is completely documented. It’s very much a work in progress on several fronts. That’s the nature of the business; to give an oft-quoted example, if they waited until it was complete and/or all the bugs were worked out of it, you would be seeing Windows 3.0 most any day now . . .

Yes, we’re asking a lot of you folks right now, mostly in being patient while we implement everything and tweak and fix and get this board where it should be. Won’t be an overnight thing.

It should be not too different from the UBB you’re used to and in a very short time you’ll be more comfortable with it, like with our old “used to bees.”

Mention of this feature is vb boilerplate; we don’t use this function.

You have the option to turn this function off. (See the choices available to you in “Profile.”) Not sure how this works, but I think if you’ve logged into the board (made a posting,) your name then shows up, UNLESS you have turned this off. I don’t think you see your own name.

I’ll send this note to the techs (in fact, I’m sending all your complaints and comments to them), this is something that should be fixed.

I used this last night and it seemed to work fine.

That’s where I’m getting these quotes, right off the bottom of the reply page. They are listed in REVERSE order, that might be confusing.

Another note to the techs.

These may be things you can change in your individual browser settings.

Do you really need the topic stated over and over and over again? If so, add it in.

Finally, we do appreciate your input as you use the new system; we want to be responsive to your needs as much as possible. Between helping us chase out the bugs and tweaking the extras, working together will make this a better experience for all of us and that’s what it’s all about. It’s why we changed in the first place. The initial road may be a bit bumpy, but the end result is gonna be an easier and better thing. Thanks for hanging in with us.

your humble TubaDiva
Administrator

8

I like the fact that you can jump to page 2 of a long thread.

9

I’m currently logged in and not hidden, and I CAN see my own name on the list.

10

Great galloping horse turds! I was gone for 24 hours and the whole world turned upside down! I almost had a stroke when the new message board showed up on my screen - I guess I missed seeing the announcement. At least I read the new info on ATMB and wasn’t too shocked when I got the page saying I wasn’t allowed to post!

You know, sudden changes like this are hard on us old folks!

I do appreciate the fact that it was done for our benefit, though. It’ll just take some getting used to. I hope MPSIMS and GD are up soon - I was in the middle of a conversation over in GD!

Okay, one thing I’ve noticed that I don’t like (so far - I’ve not had a chance to look around much yet) and hope can be changed - the thread titles don’t change colors after you’ve read them. It would be nice to have them marked as read - it’s easy to lose your place or a particular thread you’ve been reading when you’re roaming over the entire board.

There are things I DO like just in the short time I’ve been looking around - this larger reply window and the preview feature, for example.

Thanks, SD bosses - I appreciate what you’ve done, and hope it all works out. No more board crashes will be wonderful!

11

Well, the feature that shows you the name of the last poster in every forum is going to take some getting used to. I’m used to seeing the moderator’s name there, and for a sec I wondered how the hell THE FUCKING HORN DOGG got to be a mod…

On the other hand, the preview button is very, very cool. Thanks!

12

I am curious about the “views” feature–does it keep track of cookies and note the number of different poster, or is it just how many times that thread has been opened, period? If so, I don’t think that it will be pretty misleading. If I am real active in a thread I might easily click on it (mumble-mumble) times a day. (Number concealed to disguise poster’s pitiful obsession with a BB).

This also means that even clicking on an obvious troll post will be feeding the trolls. They don’t even have to get responses any more to know that 85% did, in fact, click on “My Big Penis”. We are all going to have to practice self-control.

All in all I like it–especially if it stays up more than the UBB board did. The only real problem I ever have with the Straight Dope is when it is not there!

Does anyone but me feel a strange urge to keep typing and fill up all this grey space?

13

I second the motion to make the “thread” column wider–I have a nice big monitor, and I see a large blank space on the right hand side while the topic is squeezed into this tiny space, making it hard to read.

I don’t really see the use for the # of views; seems like superfluous information to me.

I like having the username as well as date & time of the last post. Is it possible to show the date the thread was created as well? That might cut down on the confusion when people resurrect really old threads.

14

I’m glad to know that I have the option not to appear on the visible list, since I’d really prefer not to. However, I just checked the profile page to be sure that option was chosen, and I saw that it’s lumped in with making your email address, ICQ number, etc. invisible. It won’t matter to me because I have always had those things invisible, but there might be some posters who don’t mind being on the visible list when they’re here, yet still don’t want their email linked to their posts or vice-versa. Is there any way to separate those things?

As to your reply about not being able to see the thread review at the bottom of the reply window, I think you may have misread what I wrote. I see that the thread review is, in fact, at the bottom of the reply window when the thread is only one page long. However, with longer threads, that’s when it makes you click a link to open a new browser window to review the thread, and starts you at the beginning of the thread, not the end of it like it does when there is only 1 page. That’s what I think is kindof a pain.

I agree with Drain – I like having the show signature box default to checked.

And I just can’t thank you enough for the preview! :smiley:

15

Soemthing else I’ve noticed, although this might just be my computer:

When I first go to a forum, the 'posts to this thread since you last visited’icon will be lit up. However, once I read a thread and/or reply and return to main forum board, only those threads that have been replied to since I clicked on that thread will be lit up. Not sure if I’m explaining this well - once I visit a single thread in a forum, it marks my return to the main forum page as a ‘new visit’ and turns off the icon on the threads I haven’t read yet, so I’m not sure which threads have been posted to since I was there last night, for example.

Still not sure if this is clear - anyway, every trip to a forum board is treated as a new visit, instead of treating only my original visit to the main message board as my ‘new visit’.

I hope you can understand what I’m trying to say! If not, I’ll try again!

But, hey, I can live with it if I have to - at least the board is here!

Yes! Some of us may be more long-winded than usual until we get used to it - but I like it!

16

Works on mine. What browser are you using?

I noticed jdavis is administrator, although I don’t recognize his (her?) name. Is it a new person, or just a new username?

Before, if I closed my browser and came back, I had to reenter my username and password. Now apparently that is stored as a cookie. Does this mean that if I use someone else’s computer, that person will be able to access my account for all time?

Is email notification just for the starter of a thread, or anyone?

There was an announcement?

17

The only complaint I have about the new board (which I really like, overall) is the search results. Now it shows when the last post was made to a thread, instead of the date that the subject you were looking for was mentioned.

It’s a pain to have to scroll through 25+ replies looking for my search hit.

The preview feature and last poster posted features are pretty cool.

I agree with Drain that the automatic checking of Use Sig is very nice.

18

In general, from what I recall, Netscape does not automatically resize the page when you resize your browser window. IE does. Later versions of Netscape might as well. I also think that it’s possible for the techs to put in some dhtml to force it to resize with the window regardless of the browser.

19

Check my sig line.

20

I don’t like the fact that if you change your sig, it updates it on all your old posts (since the changeover, that is). Any way to disable that feature?