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New Forum Structure

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Jamie, 29 Jun 2007.

  1. Jamie

    Jamie ex-Bit-Tech code junkie

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    QFT
     
  2. cjmUK

    cjmUK Old git.

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    An unsuccessful implementation of new software is the fault of the implementers...

    As has already been pointed various times by various people already within this thread, the new site should have been launched in BETA alongside the old site. Anything less was just amateurish and unprofessional - hobbyists who wouldn't hack it in industry.

    Whoever developed the underlying BBS may be responsible for bugs A, B and C, but BT were responsible for forcing it upon us.

    I'm not after a witch-hunt, but equally I don't like to see BT shills rolled out in defence. So far no-one has owned up for this fiasco, and there is no sign that anything is about to change.
     
  3. Jamie

    Jamie ex-Bit-Tech code junkie

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    Actually the bug you mentioned is present in EVERY installation of this version of vBulletin.
     
  4. cjmUK

    cjmUK Old git.

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    So?

    If you had run a beta, you would have discovered this before go-live, you could have investigated fixes or workarounds, and then you could have made a calculated decision as if and how you might proceed.

    There will always be bugs (and 'features') that you didn't know existed - not all can be spotted in a trial or otherwise anticipated - but the limitations of this software (combined with the way BT have chosen to implement it) have presented us with a BBS that is less than ideal.

    More importantly, I'm looking for word on how we either propose to go back (to how it was) or go forward (to how it perhaps ought to be) - but so far I've heard neither.
     
  5. hobbs

    hobbs What's a Dremel?

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    thankgod im not the only one here who thinks this. the bt staff should take a look at [H]ardOCP now theres a real forum.
     
    Last edited: 7 Aug 2007
  6. Guest-16

    Guest-16 Guest

    We've said this time and again, it's not going back but we're always improving and tweaking with regards to what we feel works best with the community as a whole. So far, it seems to still be positive.
     
  7. RTT

    RTT #parp

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    AHAHAHAHAHAHAH. You don't know just how much credibility you just lost with that statement :D :D :D :D
     
  8. Guest-16

    Guest-16 Guest

    If he'd have said "SA" then, yes, but he's American and those are American forums so maybe there's something we don't know. I was giving him the benefit of doubt, after all, most of our links here are anglo-centric.
     
  9. steveo_mcg

    steveo_mcg What's a Dremel?

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    That is one fugly site with really poor usability (navigation specifically), i could actually find a link to the forums still i skimmed through an article. I usually like a dark background. The forum looks much the same as the main site, fugly, with the old functionality of bit. I think i prefer the new system, just my tuppence worth.
     
  10. completemadness

    completemadness What's a Dremel?

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    I haven't said much so far, but i have been reading the thread

    So far, people have mostly asked for a bit more segmentation in the forums, and yet, there were 10 categories when we started, and there are still 10 categories
    I cant help but feel you really aren't listening to the members - if something Ive said here is incorrect, please do correct me, but so far from what Ive read, that seems to be the jist of it
     
  11. cjmUK

    cjmUK Old git.

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    The original poll was pulled because [the results were damning, or...] it was decided that we should give everyone time to get used to the changes in order to be more objective when critiquing them. I'm almost certain a similar poll would be more favourable, but I'd be willing to wager that there are still more people against the changes than are for them. I reckon a sizeable group are too loyal to BT to either dissent or to be put off by the recent changes, and there will be a number of members who will genuinely feel things have improved, but I reckon a very significant group will be equally displeased with the changes as they were a couple of months ago. We still have too few forums, we still have a basic-and-flawed filtering system, and we still have the bling images.


    Perhaps another poll? The only reason not to run another poll is because there is no apparent way forwards and a complete unwillingness to go backwards.
     
  12. Tim S

    Tim S OG

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    There were actually quite a few more features asked for and for the most part they have been delivered, so to say that "we aren't listening" is quite frankly an incorrect assumption to make. We're still talking about some of the additional improvements we're looking to make, but a couple of other things had to take priority in the short term.
     
  13. completemadness

    completemadness What's a Dremel?

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    I'm not saying you haven't done anything, but as from what Ive seen, one of the biggest complaints, and suggested improvements goes completely ignored

    Oh and as for the threads being marked as read when you change tags, that's to do with the forum software
    Once you have viewed the page for the first time its marked as read, so when you click the tag the page refreshes and you lose it
    I don't know how you fix that tbh, its a function of the forum software ....
     
  14. Tim S

    Tim S OG

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    Who said it's gone completely ignored? You're making assumptions. ;)

    We've been following the thread since it started and more recently we have been analysing usage statistics. I'm hoping to formally discuss the (required) changes later this week... almost all will come as a result of the valuable feedback in this thread. :)
     
  15. cjmUK

    cjmUK Old git.

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    As I said in a previous post - this is a design flaw that cannot be overcome. If you leave it as it is, those who use the filters lose the facility to see which thread are new/have changed. If you change it so that the Read flag is reset only when you browse via a filtered view, then those that view posts for all subject areas together will lose that capability.

    This is presumably which very few other people have attempted to implement such a filtering system in the past.
     
  16. zr_ox

    zr_ox Whooolapoook

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    Hi,

    I have been trying the new Forum layout for some time and I'm not sure about it?

    Today I see that you have simplified the buttons, this is something I like a lot since the images used before just gave a cluttered look.

    On thing that irritating is the consolidation (grouping) of forum topics, I think it over complicates the structure. It's actually making topics and threads a lot more difficult to find. A good example would be the overclocking forum, there are about 4 threads in there when there were previously many more.

    Stickies have also gone AWOL from many forums (maybe it's just me that cannot find them). The stickies are still around however they should be at the top of every forum on every page. I was looking for an Overclocking sticky the other day and gave up searching.

    Just my opinion...still lovin the site though, you guys rock :thumb:
     
  17. boiled_elephant

    boiled_elephant Merom Celeron 4 lyfe

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    Main Index Icons

    This might've been mentioned earlier in the thread (I haven't read through to find out, for obvious reasons).

    The new layout does make things tidy and easy, but I think individual icons for each main section (where there are currently blue NET ones) would help loads. At the moment it takes a concerted effort to pick out what you're looking for.

    Come to think of it, there might be an option for this in the CP that I haven't discovered yet. Is there?
     
  18. Brooxy

    Brooxy Loser of the Game

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  19. Delphium

    Delphium Eyefinity enabled

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    I gave up on trying to use the filters when looking for threads, now I just resort to using google with a bit-tech prefix to my search query. :blah:
    Not perfect, but it works.
     
  20. Ramble

    Ramble Ginger Nut

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    I gave up on the filters a long time ago. I just stick to using Doug's greasemonkey script which sorts various posts into various new forums, and for the rest I just browse normally.
     
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