How about we ask Mark nicely to price up the improvements we would like and we crowd fund to get those changes implemented?

If a new forum was required (and it isn’t), surely the best option would be to open source the code so all you know-it-alls can put your time where your mouths are and do it yourselves?

The mobile forum front page hysterically awful. Sure the dev team is small, but who signed off on a design where you can’t see the OP, or the thread title, which are the only two things when determining whether it’s worth clicking on, so you end up wasting time clicking on something you don’t want to read and……..ohhhh…I see

you end up wasting time clicking on something you don’t want to read and……..ohhhh…I see

See also;

clicking on a thread twice in order to get to the last page.

reducing the number of posts per page from 40 to 35.

Gotta keep the page count up now.

Get out of town. The forum’s perfect. Have you seen other fora? Massive GIF avatars, rambling signatures, nested cocking quotes… I could go on?

Pop your catastro-truck into reverse, as you’ve overshot the middle ground.

I pay for my P. However, I’d happily pay more to have “ stickies “ so the main forums don’t get cluttered up with the daily shit threads, what lights, tubeless, x1, my gears don’t work etc.

Jamie – Member
Pop your catastro-truck into reverse, as you’ve overshot the middle ground.

Aint no reverse gear on this catastro-truck partner. No brakes neither… no siree!

I’d like a Magnetodog emoji for when something is so awesome a ‘like’ button just won’t do.

I also like the current setup. Straightforward to use, quick to load.

As others have noted, a link to last page on mobile (longer thread titles hide the current one) would be all I’d like to see changed. I use Google to search the site mostly anyway.

The main things I like are that it’s text-based and low bandwidth; I can use it with any data connection, on any device.

We all agree that the current forum is rubbish and needs an update.

I really like the existing forum, best one I’ve found so far.

Very clean interface, no signatures with stupid giffs in them.

I never use the mobile site, always request desktop version. Then it’s fine.

The main things I like are that it’s text-based and low bandwidth; I can use it with any data connection, on any device.

Someone’s using an adblocker then.

footflaps – Member

I really like the existing forum, best one I’ve found so far.

Very clean interface, no signatures with stupid giffs in them.

Again, just to clarify, functional buttons and features need not mean animated giffs in signatures or avatars. The moderators or forum admins can disable these features while retaining other wonderful features.

Someone’s using an adblocker then.

If you pay the tiny sum they ask for a ‘P’ you can switch them off.

If you pay the tiny sum they ask for a ‘P’ you can switch them off.

I know.

The user who posted what I quoted did not have a P, ergo see my previous post.

The user who posted what I quoted did not have a P

Bloody freeloader! 😉

Bloody freeloader!

They’re a blight on the forum.

footflaps – Member

If you pay the tiny sum they ask for a ‘P’ you can switch them off.

If the premier “P” allowed you to have an avatar, embed instagram pics, functional quote buttons and other “amazing” new fangled features I would pay it.

The magazine is worthless to me.

If the premier “P” allowed you to have an avatar, embed instagram pics, functional quote buttons and other “amazing” new fangled features I would pay it.

Avatars add no value and just ruin the clean look of the place…..

Just two things:

1) last post read button
2) sort out the horrendous mobile view. Luckily I have a tab in chrome which appears to be glitched and only ever shows the desktop view of any site so this is now my Singletrack tab. However, I want a new phone but this would mean losing the glitched tab. Choice is between shiny new phone and or not having to use shit mobile version of site.

I would be over the moon to get something as clean and nice to use as the Bearbones forum.

We should leap to conclusions about someone’s character by the contents of their posts, not some crappy avatar and a list of ego chariots.

Keep it clean.
🙂

As an aside, surely it would be fairly simple for a third party to write an app for this wouldn’t it? Might be against STW t&cs I guess.

Only one suggestion – introduce a dedicated ‘politics’ forum and move all existing political threads onto it.

Only one suggestion – introduce a dedicated ‘politics’ forum and move all existing political threads onto it.

Then once they’re all in there, seal up the doors, attach an anchor and chuck it in the sea 😀

footflaps – Member

If the premier “P” allowed you to have an avatar, embed instagram pics, functional quote buttons and other “amazing” new fangled features I would pay it.

Avatars add no value and just ruin the clean look of the place…..
[/quote]

Avatars would increase recognition and and familiarity between forum members which would lead to less bickering because people would remember they had some common ground with a forum member previously or they would quickly remember they’d had fruitless engagements before.

It’s easier to form an association with an image than trying to discern whether you once had a good discussion with perceypanther or pantherpeter or Drj or Drz and so on.

And also…wait for it…..indivdual users could choose whether to switch them on or off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Avatars would increase recognition and and familiarity between forum members which would lead to less bickering because

Unless two people had the same avatars…..fight

Why would people not just go to a forum that discuss bikes instead of changing the software where the same ten post

I’d genuinely hate to see signatures or avatars on here.

They add nothing and just decrease the signal to noise ratio.

It’s easier to form an association with an image than trying to discern whether you once had a good discussion with perceypanther or pantherpeter or Drj or Drz and so on.

Personally I find it a lot easier associate with a static name rather than going “Oh yeah, this Minion guy is the same guy that used have Asterix as his avatar before he had the rabbit with a pancake on its head.”

indivdual users could choose whether to switch them on or off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

True. Would they also get to switch off pointless conversations about avatars?

I like the way the “Skip to top” button stands out compared to other forums I use.

That’s my lot.

GrahamS – Member

Personally I find it a lot easier associate with a static name rather than going “Oh yeah, this Minion guy is the same guy that used have Asterix as his avatar before he had the rabbit with a pancake on its head.”

You would have the name AND the avatar to assist your recollection. There could also be forum guidelines that avatars could be locked for a year, or mod reviewed etc. And once again, you could decide to switch them off so it would be no skin off your nose. The people who would appreciate a forum with avatars could have it and those who want to pretend there is some kind infered of intellectual superiority associated with a forum that doesn’t have avatars could have a forum without them.

Amazing. Mindblown.gif etc

True. Would they also get to switch off pointless conversations about avatars?

No those are mandatory.

Yeah I use Opera mini on the latest Android phone with the inbuilt ad blocker – never get ads.

If it ain’t broken don’t fix it.

😛

An ignore button would be good too.

I’d like a timer to boot me off STW, as getting pins and needles in my legs sat on the bog “reading” this thread. Might even enable me to actually ride one of my bikes then as well 😯

Upgrade is like saying you are driving a perfectly capable BMW M5 now for your family but you want to “upgrade” to a Mercedes C class to accommodate your neighbours.

😆

Well whatever floats your boat jimjam, but that sounds like a lot of extra hassle with adding/enforcing rules, ensuring hosted images are appropriate, coding and maintaining a new set of post/thread layouts and additional server bandwidth all just to support something that quite a lot of users have explicitly said they don’t want.

Personally I’d rather see the effort spent elsewhere, like sorting out the mobile layout and (re-)implementing the Last Read functionality.

Regarding quotes and ignore function. The STW killfile plugin for Chrome provides both of these. Not a perfect solution but saves waiting for them to implement it.

The software this forum is run on is appalling.
Always will be.
Mark has already stated he cant be bothered (to pay for it) despite the fact that it is the forum that drives the mag sales not the mag that drives the forum visits.
Without the forum – the magazine would nose dive. Let’s face it – plenty have already stated that they binned off the mag subscription as they’d already read/googled/etc the contents before it ever arrived on their doormat.
Could run this on vBulletin or phpbb software – or even simple machines, all of which are free(so Mark wouldn’t be paying for it), massively functional and can be configured with every single thing that has been requested by hundreds of users over the years.
Want to sell something? Then subscribe/P
Technical know how stickies – P
Want to talk bollocks – then feel free.
Guarantee the revenue would go up instead of asking for a donation and hoping its a day without a Y in it and a westerly wind ….

THere is no valid excuse for the utter tripe that this forum is run and poor features other than ignorance and empty promises.

Could run this on vBulletin or phpbb software

Pretty sure it already runs on a customised version of phpBB (at least it used to last time I cared enough to find out)

THere is no valid excuse for the utter tripe that this forum is run and poor features other than ignorance and empty promises.

We must be using different forums, this one works fine for me. One of the cleanest UIs I’ve come across.

If thats the case Graham then there is absolutely no reason for the lack of features available as they are all a basic part of that software!

Foot flaps = you’re one of the most vociferous when it comes to not wanting change here so no surprise with that comment.
Far more want features that are a given on just about every other forum out there yet are ignored.
Time and time and time again.
That alone should show you were priorities lie with those in. Singletrack Towers……
Hiow many pages did the “Forum update” thread run too before it was locked?
Was anything done?
Nope.
This forum is part of a commercial enterprise – it isn’t a “freebie” tacked on somewhere despite what the sticky says.
It’s about time it and its members were shown the respect that being part of that should have,
They want people to pay for a P – then damn well make it a proper functioning platform, without all the rogue ads, redirects, spam and other boilloclks that are a daily occurrence here. A proper sales section with restricted access, stickies, Know hows, etc.
It really is not hard – options in a dashboard – on or off.
If it isn’t – then hand it over to the Mods and those members who actually have an interest in running it, the P is for the magazine only (ets face it, there is nothing for the forum to having the P in the real world ) and then you can also stop moaning about anyone who might say something to make Aunty Mable blush becasue it isn’t linked to the magazine and ergo there’s no responsibility so as we’re all adults (well Chewk and Perchy aside) reduce the PG filter and add decent functionality.