First off, let me say that I fully understand the $hitstorm that has engulfed the fine folks at STW Towers over the last couple of weeks. I'm incredibly impressed by their hard work and resilience at what must the worst time of year for that kind of thing to happen. Hats off to all involved in the ongoing recovery and I wish you all well.
Secondly, I like the look and feel of the new forum, especially given how quickly it's been called into service. It is obviously still a work in progress and assuming that the forum we have now is the bare(ish) bones of what the forum will continue to be I thought this would this be a sensible time to provide some feedback.
[b]No winges please[/b] Just sensible, constructive praise or criticism.
I'll start.
I like:
- The buttons to press for bold, italic, images etc
- The edit facility
- The general look of the forum
I'd like to see
- who started a thread, rather than the last poster
- a search facility
- tabs so you can switch directly between the main, OT and classifieds forums.
- the smilies removed (please God, please please)
i'm not whinging but i kinda liked it the way it was........
oh and take the smileys off while your at it!
8)
[i]the smilies removed (please God, please please) [/i]
I posted a line for a user style sheet to do that last night. You can easily hide individual elements, change colours etc etc from a style sheet
🙁
it was better before
i like shonkytrackworld.
Like the fact that all the forums are back together on the front page so I can see off topic and bike stuff mixed in together once again.
Pics back in the profiles again would be good as I used to tuck my email address in the photo to avoid spam.
There's a lot of stuff to make it look better, but that will come I'm sure in time.
'It was better before' isn't exactly the constructive feedback I was after.
I realise that some of this stuff is probably in the pipeline and is rightly some way down Tom's 'must do' list.
It's a forum. It works OK.
Job done. Beer and mince pies all round.
you can search from the main forum page, look at the bottom in 'Views'.
Smileys are the internet's greatest feature. 🙄
I have exactly the same list as IHN
welcome to the three letter club, Si 🙂
I like this new forum, but I would like to know what forum I am in - ie, Bike - or - off topic
like it as it is, inc smilies
[i]I like:
- The buttons to press for bold, italic, images etc
- The edit facility
- The general look of the forum
I'd like to see
- who started a thread, rather than the last poster
- a search facility
- tabs so you can switch directly between the main, OT and classifieds forums.
- the smilies removed (please God, please please) [/i]
I agree with all the above, only other thing I would like to add is can we have an option to list new posts in order, like the old forum..
email notification of a reply on your thread was good, can we have that 'un back please?
Avatar.
PM's.
Loose the last poster.. Newest thread at top.
.................phpbb3
DO NOT PUT AVATARS IN!
No tag lines either, the rest is fine, although I would prefer who started the topic rather than the last poster.
How about a better name for the 'off-topic' forum? Behind the bike shed, Alan, anything... just somthing with more imagination than 'off-topic'.
i know it's probably a bit late, and the guys at st-towers have done a sterling job, but I use vbulletin on my forum, and it's very, very good. And very customiseable so you can put in / take out what features you do and don't want.
As it is, it works currently, but the volume of posts makes the current view not really that useful.
A preview feature new posts, particularly useful for checking images work.
A way to jump into a thread at a certain page, i.e. the threads pages listed after the topic like [url= http://forums.gentoo.org/viewforum-f-8.html ]here[/url]
No comments other than fantastic job at such short notice, and I'm happy just to have a forum back, thank you. Everything else is jam.
Glad it's back in any shape or form (it's free after all)
Would like to see:
Who started thread aswell as last poster
Search facility
Preview option (critical for my crap spelling)
Email notification of replies to threads
I do like the edit post option though.
One whinge, The old STW looked nicer. This new one looks abit sterile.
10/10 to for the great work the STW folk have put in for getting us all back online so fast 😀 😀
Aye, ought to qualify anything with a:
Bloody good job chaps!
it could do with a preview button ..
I'd like to know who started the thread.
"[i]I'd like to know who started the thread.[/i]"
[b]IHN[/b] started it !
(",)
Nice work from the STW tech people. One thing that is driving me a little mad at the moment is on threads with multiple pages, it'd be nice to start off at the latest post (maybe a last page link).
5thElefant - Member
It's a forum. It works OK.Job done. Beer and mince pies all round.
Woh, don't you realise these middle management IT types need to over [i]anal[/i]yse everything
Is it just me, or have the buttons for adding links, bold, etc. disappeared? On Google Chrome, if that helps.
I like it. Its like the old forum but converted to singlespeed.
Simple. Effecient. Does the job.
Preveiw neeeded. (see)
I like it and the fact it has a edit button.
Can we have a next/previous thread so I don't have to keep going back to the main screen when reading a few threads to see what's happened on here recently. Used to be older/newer I think.
All I want is to be able to change my password! When I click my name I get "User not found" screen.
What do you get in your set-up area that I am missing anyway?
Edit and RSS feed is great. As is are all the features to help post url links etc.
Easier access to the various forums would be helpful. Also can you get the site to open a new tab/page when you click on a link?
Need to lose the tags or at least filter them. Probably not very worksafe. Not very nice at all really. If I was accessing an adult *ahem * gynaecological forum or website fair enough.... but not on a bike forum.
p.s. well done for getting it all back on quickly at the 'wrong' time of year. Hope it was triple time!
Glupton banned.
Needs more colour I think on the threds and all threads on one page for each topic (rather than multiple pages)
I like the smilies (adds tone to the email and might avoid some fallings out we've had before)
Love the front page with all the new topics in one place.
Love the link to the latest post on a thread
Would like to see who origianlly posted along with the latest poster (to save clicking into a post only to realise it is the same postas when you last viewed it)
needs a rules link
to tell us what we can, cannot post.
I like it.
I like the fact that the poster names are directly linked to the profile.
I also like (in a lol way) the status of the poster (see the 'Blocked' member above!)
One slightly annoying feature is that on IE6 (at work, no choice before you ask), when you refresh the page, the page is drawn, pauses long enough for you to scroll & click on a link, then jumps a bit as the add kicks in resulting in somewhat random clicking.
It'd be nice to have a 'go to top' button or similar as well.
Aside from that, top work fellas 😀
I'm mostly liking it, couple of things that would be good are to remove the bit that says posted XX minutes ago for every post, it just means the thread takes longer to scroll through.
It would also be better if each thread was contained within one page like the old forum, this was one of the best features.
Another thing i like on other forums is if you hover over a topic heading it brings up the first bit of text in that post so you can preview the thread without clicking on it.
Apart from that, good job to all the STW staff.
I like it how it is - its almost perfect.
Then again it was good before.
The STW boys have worked miracles.
How about something near the adverts or somewhere that shows the top stories on the front page. I tend to hit the forum directly and rarely come in via the front page.
I liked the old forum. It was perfect. I'm sure I'll get used to this one, but the old one was better, so any modifications (regressions?) in that direction would be ace.
search function other than that. it feels alot 'fresher'
[i]The STW boys have worked miracles. [/i]
Uh, too sycophantic. It is adequate
1980 just rang and wants his website back 😀
I have a gripe. Links open in the same tab instead of opening a new one. Unless this is a browser setting, but I don't think so. I know I can right click and 'open in new...', but its TWO MORE clicks of effort and I don't wanna be suing for RSI or anything now.
Well to al the people not happy with a free service, I remember mark or chipps saying that they would appreciate any IT help 😉
Wave to his fellow Juan
No, no, Juan. That's not another Juan. That's a play on words, the 'Juan' bit sounding like 'Wan'. Wan-Kerr. See?
Very childish, actually.
the 'Juan' bit sounding like 'Wan'
Hu!!!!!
Since when?
Trust me on this one (juan?) ok?
I like it and the boys dun grate.
Agree that it is better to see the thread originator, and see the threads in the order they were started rather than the last post
Also, go to top button would be nice
Can we separate the classifieds form the bike and chat forums? The main forum page sees to be half-full of classified ads. The fun and interesting stuff keeps getting pushed off the page.
thread originator rather than last poster
not going to top when posted - hard to follow threads /adverts etc
Back to forum after posting
Some kind of poilitness rule/temp bans /yellow cards - we can disagree but some of it is rude, juvenile inappropraite and would not occur face to face - see Israel thread for example.
percentage of sales to stw? miles cheaper/easier than ebay and generate income for site
Miss the old simple site ...reminds me of me
[i]go to top button would be nice[/i]
try HOME key...
Some way to contact members, we don't seem to be able to see the email addresses associated with profiles even when logged in, which is a pain, especially in the classifieds.
Oh, and less white space between consecutive lines of text, just makes for more scrolling and makes it harder to read (IMHO).
Great feedback guys.. thanks. We are taking it all on board. Things will get modified and stuff but at the moment we are working some of the other major issues with the site before we start tweaking. The front page should be back to normal today.. followed by the Trail Guide section. We need those up and running because they are traffic pullers and that impacts on advertising and ergo money for us. Once we've got that all sorted we'll start tweaking the useability issues with the forum.
Cheers
Mark
Other than not being able to see the "thread starter" and the inability to search by author, I think it's great. Judging by some of the previous comments, it looks like some folk need to do a bit of exploration (e.g. there [i]are[/i] separate forums for Bike, Chat and Classifieds).
Breaking the long threads into several pages must reduce network traffic - benefitting both the server and the requester (especially those using mobile connections).
Lack of colour will keep the workers happy.
Option on multi-page threads to go to page 1 2 3 4... from the thread title to save loading page 1 then clicking through (like MTBR forums)
"Thread starter" rather than "last poster" (as everyone else!)
Other than that great job guys!
SSP
[i]the inability to search by author,[/i]
[url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/profile.php?id=114 ]Check the users profile by clicking on their "member"[/url]
:o)
But you don't appear to have a member, Dave 😆
SSP - I've obviously been being thick, but just realised you can go straight to the last post (which is the main thing you want those multi-page options for, and the reason I would have supported that request) by clicking on the "freshness" link rather than the "topic" link.
Ooh look - forum links on every page now. Someone has been busy overnight!
As an addendum to my post above (and hoping the mods are still reading this) - could we have the linky on "Most recent reply" in user profiles in the same way as on "Freshness" on the front page to take you to the last post rather than the front of the thread? Would help those of us who like to go back and check on threads we've posted on.
Most of my points have already been raised but...
Additional things when you get the basics smooth as butter (which I assume is what STW tech minions are up to at the moment)
[*]Preview of posts[/*]
[*]Loose the page divisions - just one long thread as before please.[/*]
[*]Tabs for each of the forums (although it looks like you're almost there with this so I guess its on the list)[/*]
[*]A search function - I'm really missing this at the moment[/*]
[*]A new name for "off topic" as previously suggested - I'd like to suggest "heresy forum" on the basis its not bike stuff and this is a bike forum therefore its heresy. Alternatively the Sofa forum - you know like flopping into a nice soft leather sofa with a beer and talking b*llcks with your mates.[/*]
[*]Change the colour scheme a little - the text area looks a bit pale and limp[/*]
[*]A way to turn off the video advert on the RHS of the screen - its too attention grabbing - great in an advert but not so great if its your boss or work colleagues who's attention it's constantly grabbing (highlighting to them the fact that I spend far too much time "just checking" whats on STW)[/*]
These are all minor points really and STW tech minions have done a stunning job so far getting it all back up - must have been a bit of an onerous task to rewrite the whole site from scratch whilst beating off the t*ssers who hacked it originally with a virtual stick.
Well done STW.
You really are missing the search function... It's there.. top of page.. right 🙂
Loose the page divisions - just one long thread as before please.
I suspect that's going to stay whatever the users think, as it's doubtless designed to save STW bandwidth (think of that huge, picture heavy thread on LED lights a few years ago, which the mods had to end up splitting). Another of your points also suffers from being something they're not going to do whether you like it or not (though given we're not supposed to discuss these things, I'll say no more 😉 )
Just another one of mine, as mentioned on another thread - could we have links to threads in profiles going directly to the post the user themselves last made (I'll happily scratch my "Most recent reply" request above, since that would do the same but better).
(though given we're not supposed to discuss these things, I'll say no more [:wink:] )
if I understood Mark rightly when this came up last week. *I* am not allowed to discuss the matter at all, and no one else is supposed to discuss circumvention
Keep the page divisions. Better use of bandwidth for the server and the readers (especially if on mobile connections).
Preview would be nice - especially where photos are involved.
Other than that, I think it's really good. Much better than before and makes you wonder why we had to wait for outside intervention to force it along.
Mark - Administrator
You really are missing the search function... It's there.. top of page.. right
errr.. ah! I see it now - hidden in plain view witht eh adverts that I tend to ignore...
OK scratch the search function comment - sorry for my muppetry!
Yup. That's about it Simon. You pushed it to limit, with warnings..
As for the topic of advertising this is falling foul of the Chinese whispers effect.
Advertising is not a taboo topic of conversation. What is is the promotion of ways to disable the ads displaying on this site. Imagine the old pub cliche scenario. You can talk about the beer but if you come up with a way to get the beer for free and start telling everyone in the pub then I'd imagine the landlord would ask you to leave.
makes you wonder why we had to wait for outside intervention to force it along.
There are many reasons not least of which being that we now have to start entirely from scratch with registrations. Transferring the user database from the old system to a new one, without resetting all the passwords, is apparently not without it's considerable difficulties.
Re the Ads - why have the extremely irritating flashing ads? If the ads were still they would be much easier to tolerate.
If the answer is that the flashing ads get more clicks its because of an escalation effect. Remove all flashing / animated ads and then its a level playing field for all.
That does raise an interesting thought - was farse really a gisgruntled STW forumite who was fed up with waiting for the new version? 😈
Regarding the old bug-bear of the ads: perhaps you could consider a subscribers-only version of the forum with less-flashy adverts? Much like the subscriber-version of the magazine with less words on the cover?
Just a thought. I actually don't mind the ads that much. They are nicely segregated from the main content. But I should tell you that a good number of them, expecially the YouTube/Vimeo ones, get blocked by my work firewall (nothing to do with me!) so in those cases plain-text ads like Google Ad Words might actually be more effective.
Features I'd like to see:
- mobile/iPhone friendly version (it is usable on an iPhone/iPod Touch but could be better)
- a return of the multiple styles (including the "Worksafe WideBoy" style.
- more details on the user profiles. e.g. if people gave their location in a standard form, maybe the first part of their postcode, then we could have a forum readers map and people could opt to be part of a [i]"Find Sociable Riders Near You"[/i] thing. This could also tie into the trail guide: [i]"Find Rides Near You"[/i]
perhaps you could consider a subscribers-only version of the forum with less-flashy adverts?
I would happily pay for that. If you could also add the ability to inline a user style sheet so I could pick my own colours/spacing/etc I'd be a very happy bunny 🙂
My 2p
How about a link at the end of the thread to take you back to the forum - for example on this thread, there are already links for previous, page 1 and page 2. Why not also add 'forum'? This would save me scrolling down a bit more, hitting 'top', then hitting 'chat forum'.
Also, distinguish between read and un-read threads so I can see at a glance if any of the threads have been updated - since 'freshness' has replaced 'time of last post' I find it difficult to keep track, especially at work when I'm jumping onto threads when time allows.
Other than that, I like it. Nice one. Ta.
Don't like the green bits. The font isn't great. Maybe needs to be a bit bolder or the grey background missing.