Format upgrade?

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Phil Herring

Phil Herring

Alien
Mar 25, 1997
4,924
- - Bainbridge Island
Yes , only this one thread.... but :)

If you look at the address for this post you'll see that part of it rreads 'pview.tpl' If you change that to 'pviewall.tpl' (just add 'all') you can view any thread on the site this way.
 
R

Rich Stidger

Is it really faster?

If each question and all answers are DL'ed when we click on a question, is it faster if we just want to see the question BEFORE deciding if we want any or all of the answers? It seems like we would have to accept the DL of all the answers even if after seeing the question we decide that we don't need to look at this thread. OTOH, when I see an interesting question, I nearly always click on the choice that gives me all the answers. Why don't you put it up for 1-2 weeks and then move the Monday question to a vote? Bottom line, your site is my home page and will continue to be so. Rich
 
Phil Herring

Phil Herring

Alien
Mar 25, 1997
4,924
- - Bainbridge Island
Question for Rick

Hate to ask a stupid question, but what is DL'd mean? :) If this is implemented, the 24-hour activity screen would still click directly to the post or reply shown there. True, the new system incur more load time in that scenario than in the current format. But the end result for the user would be the same: reply link will take you right to reply. You'd simply scroll up to see the question, or maybe I need a 'Top' link on each reply. Now, help me understand if I've come within a county or so of your question. :)
 
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Tim Donley

Whoaa ,dude,AWESOME ,two thumbs up!!

I like it,very easy to view over with out all the screen changes loading and reloading, but then I'm lazy too. I give it two thumbs up to the tenth power!!!
 
John Nantz

John Nantz

.
Jul 1, 1998
3,062
Hunter Legend 35 Poulsbo/Semiahmoo WA
Thread Length Concern

Hmmmm this is different. I'll have to think about it. It does load really fast - good! The all-white is kinda sterile and I'm curious if there were colors where they would be in this format. Zweigart's post about Casper and the cotton ball fight in a snowstorm was a good one. Fortunately there are very few really l...o...n...g posts (like the firearms one) but if one wanted to see just the new posts they would have to scroll down each time, I guess. Currently the previously viewed posts are magenta (due to computer setting?) where as the new posts are blue. Wonder if there could somehow be a similar differentiation with previously opened/viewed posts? Pictures: Could a thumbnail be automatically be generated? If so, then one could decide if they wanted to open it full screen or not. Bottom line: I'm comfortable with the existing format and this one would take some getting used to but there are some definite advantages with the viewing all at one time. But then I still think that old Multimate wasn't all that bad!
 
John Nantz

John Nantz

.
Jul 1, 1998
3,062
Hunter Legend 35 Poulsbo/Semiahmoo WA
"Back Arrow" didn't Work

Just tried the back arrow to return to the forum and it didn't/doesn't work.
 
John Nantz

John Nantz

.
Jul 1, 1998
3,062
Hunter Legend 35 Poulsbo/Semiahmoo WA
The "Edit" Doesn't Work Either

Went back to edit my previous message and the Edit command doesn't work either. Wanted to add that the Back Arrow couldn't return me to the original forum.
 
Phil Herring

Phil Herring

Alien
Mar 25, 1997
4,924
- - Bainbridge Island
Back arrow and edit functions

The back arrow _on the forum screen_ takes you to the previous topic in the same forum. To get back to the forum Menu click the 'Ask All Sailors Topic List' at the top. If you mean the back button on your browser, it can take you anywhere, depending on where you were last. :) I haven't reviewed the edit function yet and I suspect it will take some re-working.
 
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T J Furstenau

Page Change

Phil - I like the new format. One minor suggestion, on a thread with enough responses to merit multiple pages. As I scroll down reading responses, when I get to the bottom, I don't have any indication that it has gone to another page. I finally saw it back up at the top, on the right side. Maybe a "Next Page" at the bottom? Hope this makes sense, if not let me know and I'll try to describe it better. T J
 
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Bruce Grant

Since I come back and review.....

multiple times most threads as info is added. How about the most recent response is posted first. (instead of last as is the current method) Or maybe that is an option set up on an individuals preferences. With the new format, on the long threads, I would prefer to see the latest answer and not have to scroll through all of the info I have already looked at. Other than that, looks great, keep up the good work. Regards. Bruce. Neon Moon
 
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Derek Rowell

A few small points...

Phil, With the old format the response links were always available on the right hand side - I found that very convenient. With the new format, in a popular thread those links disappear as you scroll down the page, and you need to scroll back to the top to navigate quickly. I guess the only way to get around that would be to use "frames". I also found the multiple page concept for popular threads to be a bit awkward... As somebody who has developed several (large) web sites I very much respect the effort you put into developing and maintaining this site, but I have to say that I found the old format one of the best I have seen for discussion groups. I like it so much that my humble vote would be to leave things as they are/were. Derek
 
Phil Herring

Phil Herring

Alien
Mar 25, 1997
4,924
- - Bainbridge Island
Yes Bruce, alot of this should be indivdiual

...preferences, but to do that effectively we'd have to ask for a login. How does that sit with everyone? Sounds like it may be time for a survey!
 
John Nantz

John Nantz

.
Jul 1, 1998
3,062
Hunter Legend 35 Poulsbo/Semiahmoo WA
Can There Be Both Formats For A While?

Phil - if the information goes into a data base, and since the current format seems to be stable, is it possible to have both formats for a while so we could test-drive 'em? Maybe at the entry point with the tabs one could select version I or II? Or two rows of tabs where one would be "old" and "new"? At least that way if there are some bugs in the new you wouldn't get a hart-attack having to stay up all night to fix it right away. What am I saying - programmers are used to staying up all night. Right? That's when they get their best work done!
 
D

Dick W.

I like the new format!

I like the new format as it is takes much less time to scan through the comments.
 
Phil Herring

Phil Herring

Alien
Mar 25, 1997
4,924
- - Bainbridge Island
That is so true, John

Just ask my wife. I plan to keep both running for a while, although having two complete forum systems running at the same time will be a grind, a it means duplicating almost _everything_, and there's alot of it. But that said, you're right on and it does make sense to run in parallel until some consensus is reached and/or bugs are gone.
 
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Bill

Great!

Phil, this is a marvelous improvement. I usually print the whole thread to browse it anyway. Having the whole thread complete with clickable links makes it much easier. The post # on the left is a nice touch. Look forward to seeing it as the production version.
 
S

Steve

Reminds me of others

This new style is very similar to other forum boards... especially the political ones that have to support the RAPID onslaught of many users. I like the looks of the old one, but I could easily get used to this one. If this works faster and better, so be it. Whatever you decide, Phil, we will use. Steve
 
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