New forum - issues and complaints

[Mayhem]

Can't think of anything which hasn't been already mentioned right now. Has anyone considered trying Invision or vBulletin software if phpBB is too unstable here?

[NorthWay]

It was wasting space like it was going out of business. You lose the overview and quick info from seeing more at the same time. Did you hire _designers_? They don't care how it is to use, just that it looks fancy.

[William S]

If you missed the new software during its brief run on Friday but want to help us improve things, you can try it here: http://www.retrogamer.net/forum/forum/r ... ine-forum/

It didn't look anything like that on my screen.
It was so messy I didn't even know what I was looking at! (I use Firefox, if that's helpful to know...)

[Megamixer]

I've said it before but it isn't it possible to just upgrade the phpbb software? Stuff would (presumably) carry over intact whereas trying to migrate a mass of information and features to a completely different piece of software just seems like more work than sense...

Everything I could mention has already been mentioned but I'll give a special 'me too' mention for the inability to edit sigs. Those of us with quotes in our sigs were left with a mess because it looks like tags from this forum didn't work on the new one and this probably caused a lot of other problems too.

If you missed the new software during its brief run on Friday but want to help us improve things, you can try it here: http://www.retrogamer.net/forum/forum/r ... ine-forum/

It didn't look anything like that on my screen.
It was so messy I didn't even know what I was looking at! (I use Firefox, if that's helpful to know...)

I'm going to assume that the right-hand side of the page was plastered with ads because that 1/3rd of my screen was blank. Perhaps consider placing ads in areas that won't make the forum look rubbish for those who use ad blocker add-ons? Though I realise this would go against what a publisher would want.

Big thanks to Nick for this communication . This is the type of communication that I think all of us have been after.

[markopoloman]

just looking at that new forum - it looks much better than the other day!! But, when I go to view a thread, there is only one reply How do you see all the posts in a thread?!!!!

[markopoloman]

Ok, to add to that last post, if I select a discussion from the Right hand Recent replies section, there is a full thread. If I select a thread from the actual forum, there is just one post viewable!

[William S]

If you missed the new software during its brief run on Friday but want to help us improve things, you can try it here: http://www.retrogamer.net/forum/forum/r ... ine-forum/

It didn't look anything like that on my screen.
It was so messy I didn't even know what I was looking at! (I use Firefox, if that's helpful to know...)

I'm going to assume that the right-hand side of the page was plastered with ads because that 1/3rd of my screen was blank.

Oh yeah, the ads... The only things that worked/made sense!
The ads were actually the only indication that the page I was on had anything to do with Retro Gamer.

[RetroBob]

It looks marginally better as there is some colour distinction between sections. It still reminds me of a skeleton though. It just looks like it's half done. Also, make hyperlinks look like hyperlinks.

Once the new forum is sorted, please can one of the mods go and sort out the sticky threads? 2/3 are not worth stickyfying anymore for one reason or another.

[Mire Mare]

- Problems with login (I can only see this from Bub&Bob - did anyone else have issues?

Specifically, when I tried to log on I got a wordpress holding page with the following message "ERROR: Incorrect username or password.3 attempts remaining."

After 3 failed attempts I was then told to wait 20 mins.

When I clicked onto the Lost your password button I entered my user name as instructed, clicked Get New Password and the Google appeared.

I got this too.

[NickThorpe]

Thanks for all the feedback so far.

The web techs asked for the list of issues this morning as they're keen to get to work on the problems. I think we've been pretty comprehensive in this thread so I've passed the list on, but if you guys think of anything else put it in here and I'll make sure to get it to the team.

[Antiriad2097]

Thanks for your efforts Nick, its much appreciated.

[Bub&Bob]

Thanks for your efforts Nick, its much appreciated.

^ This ^

[markopoloman]

Yeah, thanks Nick.

(and we can take him seriously now that he has 50 posts)

[flatapex]

Thanks for all the feedback so far.

The web techs asked for the list of issues this morning as they're keen to get to work on the problems. I think we've been pretty comprehensive in this thread so I've passed the list on, but if you guys think of anything else put it in here and I'll make sure to get it to the team.

great to see this is being taken so seriously, thanks Nick, its very much appreciated

[NickThorpe]

Haha, this is the first new forum I've gained 50 posts on in some time! Many thanks to you all for your continued help, too - I am but the middle man here.

Okay, we've got a response from the web techs and the news is mostly good. The majority of the technical issues that have been raised apparently can and will be addressed. I'd like to mention two of the more significant issues directly. The new look, which I know many of you weren't keen on (to say the least), will definitely be changing. Old replies were always intended to be retained, but it appears that a problem occurred during the importation process - this will be fixed going forward.

There are, however two things that will pose problems - the former perhaps minor, but the latter is rather major:

- Thread subscriptions apparently can't be carried over. There's a similar feature in the new software, so you'd just need to resubscribe to your favourite threads.

- Private message functionality may not be possible to carry over.

I'd like to stress that with the number of changes that need to be made, we won't be seeing the new software for some time. What's more, after Friday's problems, we'll be giving more warning before making any changes - in the event that neither problem can be solved, you should have ample time to take backups, conclude trading deals and do whatever else needs to be done.

Right now, to help inform the direction we take I need you guys to answer one question: considering the alternative methods of communication available (email, social networking websites, etc.) would the loss of private messaging significantly impact your experience of using the forum?