How do you like the new site?

where is the I don't?

sorry guys i liked the old site better.....ill try to suck it up but itll be hard

Komata

My initial reaction was that I'd somehow stumbled on a hitherto unknown version of Wikipedia or something similar - that banner is not exactly welcoming, though as has been observed, this is being worked on.

I guess that my biggest disappointment is with the fact that the familiar is gone - having become used o the green and white, to go to a light blue is a fairly massive adjustment, but one that will be made - it just takes time, that's all.  It is however great to see our favourite site back again - missed it and missed you all.  Todd and Bryan, you HAVE done a marvellous job.  Many thanks. 

Komata

"TVR - serving the Northern Taranaki . . "

Is the bland graphics just to get the site back up and running to keep us entertained till the finished product? I know how building (or rebuilding) an entire site can be, so I was just wondering when/if the railroad look is coming to the site?

Todd & Bryan;

KUDO'S!!!   GREAT JOB!!!   EXCELLENT WORK!!!   A FANTASAMOLOGICAL OPERATION!!!

I vote on the poll later ... after I get more used to the format here, but what you've accomplished so far is too great for words.

 THANKS!!

Well, I replied to this thread over here

http://www.nscale.net/node/6671

because I couldn’t find this thread after my first visit here! Then I discovered that polls seem to have their own forum and you have to click “Polls” to find them!

 

Similarly with the thread I end up using it seems to be a “forum thread” and if it wasn’t listed on the right I’m not sure how one would find it!

 

Overall positive impression but there will be a learning curve!

 

Is there a plan to create a repository/thread where we can indicate any “funny” things we may encounter? I already have a couple. Nothing serious but still worth mentioning.  (This font size, for example, which I can't seem to change).

Cheers!

Bryan C
Alligator Lines "The Eclectic Line of the South"
http://ALines.home.att.net

It's going to take me a while to build my "mental map" of the site but it definitely looks cleaner than it was. Change is sometimes for the better. ;-)

-mike

I am just glad to have the site up and running! Lots of hard work I am sure.

Just like the fact the when you are on the site, we are talking N scale.

Thanks to the hard work of Bryan and Todd

I like how fast everything seems to be working!  Great job getting the site back up so soon.

---

When it absolutely, positively has to be destroyed overnight!  OohRaah!!!

                                             U. S. M. C.

                                 Semper Fidelis

Well, I don't have to try 4 or 5 times before I actually make it here, so thats a HUGE improvement.

Question:  I liked how the old site had right on the home page the most recently made or replied to topics.  I didn't have to go looking for the newest posts.  Is that going to be included on this new site, or is that toast?

Also, do I have to preview my post before I can actually post it, or am I missing something?

Philip

Rails Of The USA

Preach the Gospel at all times, use words if necessary

Philip, try the Recent Posts link on the right, plus from what I have seen in the few hours I have been on the new site you only have to preview your post first when responding to another post, If you create a new thread, you can preview or submit. Oh, and your signature block is not included either.

Cheers!

Bryan C
Alligator Lines "The Eclectic Line of the South"
http://ALines.home.att.net

I just noticed the recent posts thing....thanks! 

It still only lets me preview on the first try, but I guess I can live with it.

Philip

Rails Of The USA

Preach the Gospel at all times, use words if necessary

eh......I think I like the old one better.  Maybe it's just because it's new.  I find the new one a bit more difficult to navigate through.  It will just take some getting used to.  I'm not going anywhere.

Eric

Anaconda, MT

Folks, once you've voted, there's a Cancel your vote button available... so you can cancel your it's OK vote and bump it up later if you feel better about the site as it evolves. 

  Bryan

http://www.locoworks.spillage.net/

gonna take a little getting used to both visually and 'operationally' [pun intended] but your efforts are greatly appreciated and you fellers do one helluvajob.  thanks for everything.  as i get more used to it i'll prob'ly be changing my vote.

one thing i learn every day is that i don't know very much......

This new site is really fine, but is it TOO fine? I liked the old site much more home. This new one is a little bit too clean to my taste (not a single train on the opening page). Technically this is excellent, but the spirit seems to be missing. I'm an software engineer and I feel like being at work when I come here.

I'd like to vote for "Like it, but the old one was better", but as it doesn't seem to be an option, so I voted for "I like it!".

However, it's nice to know that you guys take the hackers/viruses/etc seriously and reacted to the first signs on that sort of activity.

Yours,
Mikko

Mikko, as stated a couple of times, this is the default bland scheme to get the show on the road... the aesthetics wont be worked on until the operation/features are working...

 Bryan

http://www.locoworks.spillage.net/

Thanks Bryan ... so far "I Like It." But the more I 'play' around this new place the better I like it.

What just happened here? It went from professional looking site to one made by a kid. I am sorry if i offended anyone, i know how hard it is to work on websites. But the graphics interface or the web design is just terrible. I would definately have done more work on the menus and the way the layout is setup. When i scroll up to the top of the website the web design seriously look like the websites you end up on when you type the name incorrectly and end up on buy the domain websites or links to other familiar websites. Anyways I like the new features in forums where the active and new forums are now seperated. So for i have not really surfed any other part of nscale but i guess i'll get used to it. All in all it features are more user friendly, i just do no like the design. I did not mean to offend anyone but this is just my opinion. Who ever started this post asked for it. lol

 

ps what hapened to the emotion icons that were animated

another thing, is there an option where i can see the previous post while i am replying to it

Did you fail to read any of the several posts (including the one immediately above yours) on why the site is bland, and that it will not remain so????

The post you're replying to is above the WYSIWYG editor.

Bryan [CoAdmin]

Hmmm...I've been away on business and this is the first time that I have logged in in eight days.  To say I am surprised is an understatement. 

Getting use to anything new is a challenge and this is no different.  I will poke around a few days and try and get use to is as soon as I can.

I applaud Todd & Bryan for all their efforts here.  If they were being paid handsomely it wouldn't be enough.  Doing this for the love of the hobby is just an absolutely selfless gift that we all enjoy and should be thankful for.

Bravo Todd and Bryan.  Now lets see where this post ends up.

Best,

Tony

I agree: important things first! And I understand that it's not easy to get a site this big moved from one system to another. Besides I'm already getting used to this new one, so I changed my vote to "I really like it!".

Thanks,
Mikko

  I liked the old site better. This one is hard on my old eyes. It's all pastel looking, not enough contrast to make reading easy.

Good luck with all the fine tuning.

When I clicked on "latest image", I get a page of hodge-podge-thumbnails image superimposed over a full size image of something else, with both those overlapping the adjacent column with it;'s transparency....?

After working way too hard to reach my images album, I found that jumbled with a transparency problem too. When I finally found a hint of how to load an image, I discovered there's no longer a BROWSE(my hard drive) button!

And why did you adapt one of the former site's most glaring weaknesses? The undersized 'enter text' field box'?

I couldn't PREVIEW my message, then EDIT any necessary corrections. It looks like you've taken some things that worked fine on the old site and discarded them, replacing them with new versions that will need tuning?!

Please tell me you've at least changed to a server that's not located overseas (from the USA)

I like it, it will take some getting use to but change is always good.. Thanks to all for doing such a great job. I really appreciate all the hard work that you do for no money..

GREAT JOB!!

Ted

"SO MUCH TO DETAIL, AND SO LITTLE TIME"

I'm glad to nscale.net as moved to a more scalable and current platform than the old phpnuke system I think they were running.

Is this drupal based? Looks kinda like.

Otherwise, I'm waiting to let them fix up the bugs, tweak up things and get the layout situated more before making any sorta judgements since I know this was a sorta unplanned last minute upgrade.

Good job so far, looks promising with the new platform.

The old site was a highly modified version of postnuke running pnPHPBB2.

This site is indeed a current platform ...Drupal. I have been using Drupal professionally for just over three years.

 Thanks for your comments and perceptiveness.

Todd

Thanks! 

 

Regards,

Todd
Administrator

Great work Gents! Looks great and loads fast. The graphics dont bother me one bit as from the old site. I have allready gotten use to it.

(GREAT POND LOGGING & LUMMBER )  im with the rest i like the old site

I don't like it. I find it rather confusing and less user-friendly than the old version (or any other forum I've ever used, for that matter). Maybe I'll get to like it better over time...

We have managed to get an entirely new site up and running, whilst still giving our members access to continue to use and contribute to the information available... new features have been made available, and now we have a familiar look back...

I would like to personally thank those of you that have shown patience and tolerance during this period...

The site will continue to develop and grow (with your input), as we iron out the remaining bugs...

Well, time to vote or possibly change you vote if you have already voted.  (There are only about 60 votes so far!)

The amount of change from when the new site initially appeared until today is absolutely incredible! (And it's all positive change).

I have voted for I really like it and I know it will take time to learn to navigate my way around but that is to be expected with any new site. We had to learn how to navigate the old site when we first signed up so I dont see why we should criticise it without giving it a fair trial first.

Jeff

on the wairarapa line

The site is still on the same server, and to my knowelege has never been on a server outside the U.S.

Since I only visited the old site once or twice, I don't have a comparison.  This looks fine to me.

I still do not like the functionality of the forum, i would rather see it go back to a V Bulliten or something simular since they are easier to use and have better features. This is my first post here in a long time. I used to visit this site multiple times a day, now it is once every two months.

Just out of curiosity (and to help with development), what features/functionality do you miss from a VB board, that is not available with Dropal?

Once every two months, eh?

Really...thats strange. The site says you were here two days ago, several times 2 weeks ago, numerous more times 6 weeks ago, and so forth.

To be blunt...In my opinion, you've been nothing but argumentative and negative about the transisition to the new forum and the new software since the day it was implimented. I don't appreciate that negativity, and I can't imagine Todd and Bryan do, either. I won't speak for them, or any other member on the forum, but personally, I didn't miss you or your 'input'...

AR 

I prefeer the quick reply, the seperation of forums, not including blogs as recent posts and just the general feel

I know for a fact that I was not here searching the forum, might have clicked a link, but I have not been here multiple times a day like I do with the Atlas site. Also, your additude is a good way to run off members. I have ran sites in the past, and I have used MANY programs in the past. Simply, I do not like the software and prefeered the old...yes, not everyone reacts the same to change. Please note that I have not posted before today since July. With your post, I doubt that I would ever come back.

The new Comment editor is at the bottom of every thread, giving you the same functionality as Quick Reply.

If you view the Forums page, they are all seperate... it is only the recent posts page that has a combination.

A Blog entry is still a recent post... they are clearly marked as Blog posts, so can just as easlity be ignored if you choose... you can also turn "off" the recent blog posts block in your account settings.

IMHO this overall layout seems good. Methinks what is being run here is more then a forum, but a community. I find a strait-ahead BB/MB tend to lose their content in a myriad of threads, but as this site includes member feeds, blogs etc. it has value added components that provide alternate entry points to content. Twister's comments are valid as the features I mentioned as being positive additions are those things that he did not like. I'm enjoying the forum hybrid you've created but understand why someone who prefers a standard BB/MB would be disappointed. Fair comments. If I were to suggest anything, I find the list of "popular" "recent" "new" posts too short. When I arrive I do find myself checking for new posts in a few different places. Makes it tricky to find the active threads when there are 7 new threads in a day as the first 2 threads get buried. Likewise I've noticed that a new thread can be lost if 10 new threads are started in 24 hrs. Regulars help keep new threads alive by propelling them back to the top with activity, but the more occasional member may never see a new thread without a search, or trolling the archives. Thanks for the constant effort to improve.

"Recent posts" in the right-hand column (under your name) lists all content additions in reverse chronological order... so you will see any new content no matter where it was added... If it is a new thread, it will have "new" (in RED) at the end of the Title... if it has a new reply(s) a number will appear with "new" under the total number of replies.

Clicking the thread title takes you to the beginning of the thread... clicking the new# will take you to the first new post. 

It had been about six months since I last visited the site, and I was pleased with the cleaner look. Good Job

First off as an old member, I went to log in and it wouldn't let me in. That of course didn't help my opinion, then I had to create a new account. After logging in, I am totally lost. The site seems very user unfriendly. Not to mention my spell checker dosn't work either. The old site was fine. Why did you have to change it? My vote is "I don't like it"

The site has been with this software for quite a long time now, so it has obviously been a long time since you've visited... this is why you couldn't initially login... an email to the site ADMIN would have had your account reactivated.

Your reaction is similar to many when the change first occurred... Once you gain some familiarity with the new layout you may change your mind, as others have.

Since this old subject was brought up. I thought some of the problems I see, like poster's usernames being cut off if more than about 6 letters, avatars cropped on the right or overrunning into text and so forth would be corrected by now. I run my screen at 800x600 as the vast majority of the sites I visit work well at that size and the type is easier to read. Have things been set up for some humongous screen size?

I believe Todd has 1024x768 as the target default screen resolution.

In 2004 ~57% of all PC's on the web used 1024x768, and Mac's use 1024x768 by default... In all ~81% of all online users, use 1024x768 or higher, and with the advent of larger screens, this percentage is increasing... Many web developers are tending towards this resolution as the standard for webpage development.

800x600 accounts for only ~18% of all online users.

Ref; OneStat [ http://www.onestat.com/html/aboutus_pressbox38.html ]

There are still some minor issues to be addressed with the site layout, but Todd has had little time for site development of recent.

This is an old sleeping dog from 2007. All of those issues were hashed over and resolved. This post has served it's purpose. Most folks active on the old site were aware of the conversion and went through a lot to get it the way it is today. If you have complaints PM Todd or Bryan instead of stiring the pot with a public post. See ya Ron