Poll: Three weeks later, what do you think of the new design?

[ZA_Survivalist]

At first I thought itd be tough to get used to it but now its pretty easy to navigate.

 

[BigDaddyDMD]

Like any change, it takes a little getting used to. I can navigate it just fine, but for some reason the layout and color are very, very hard on the eyes and I find I'm not browsing the forums like i used too. I seem to get eye fatigue very quickly reading the forum. Is there some setting I missed that would allow me to change the colors or layout in my preferences?

 

[GunRightsCoalition]

Just noticed that it is not very intuitive to respond to multiple posts in one response. Yes it can be done simply by hitting reply and scrolling back up again and doing it for the next but the old way was easier and didn't require scrolling back up each time. Not sure if there is any way to fix it or not.

 

[Mikej]

I like the new layout all right, like I voted. The only thing I could say is, out of all comments on this thread so far none of them seemed ridiculous, or out there to me. They all had merit.

Mike

 

[Don H]

The tag editor for classifieds is buggy, or I'm just too dumb to figure it out. I tried many times to switch an ad from 'WTS' to 'WTT' and couldn't.

Other than that, I'm getting used to the new format and it is much faster. Thanks for all your hard work!

 

[Tbucket]

I like it, took a little while to figure out but still a nice upgrade.

 

[badnova]

I can't figure out how to start a thread ?
I don't want to run an exe file after all your new regs. I just want to find a good .45 pistol smith in the PDX /Marion/Yamhill countiee thanks

 

[leadcounsel]

Well, I for one hate it. It was a change for the sake of change. What was wrong with the previous site. I HATE having to re-learn how sites are set up, new lingo, etc. For instance, nearly every other good forum uses the same Private Message system, with an inbox. The learning curve is nearly zero.

However, here, now, there are all sorts of new terms for the sake of new terms. A "PM" elsewhere, is now a "conversation." Give me a break. "Start a conversation" And things just purposefully put in different places not because it's more efficient, just for the sake of different. And I don't really like different for the sake of different. I do like vast improvements, but have not experienced any.

But this is just like taking all your pistols and for no apparent reason swapping the magazine release button and the slide release button, and making the trigger so you have to push it instead of pull it. Why?

I have experienced issues. For instance, classified adds randomly change to Oregon for location, and cannot be converted back. Any attempt to convert it to Washington simply doesn't stay and reverts to Oregon.

I appreciate the hard work, and forum, but sometimes in life 'good enough' should just be left alone. It's like digging up the underground pipes in your yard to change the color of them. Who cares?? Reminds me of the government, tearing up all sorts of buildings and other stuff for busy work.

 

[GunRightsCoalition]

One thing that I know was a problem with it before was that it was sluggish and prone to freezing up. That seems to be corrected now so it wasn't just for the sake of change.

 

[JohnnyD]

I'm liking it as far as the discussion forums go. Really not bad. What I'm not liking is the classifieds. Not only the prefix errors but I miss at the top
Of the screen you could pick Oregon or Washington. I know I can click on Wts Washington or wtt wa but it was so much simpler before 1 click and all Washington adds pop up.

 

[Joe Link]

I can't figure out how to start a thread ?
I don't want to run an exe file after all your new regs. I just want to find a good .45 pistol smith in the PDX /Marion/Yamhill countiee thanks

Go into the section where you want to create a thread and click the red Post New Thread button at the top or bottom of the screen.

Well, I for one hate it. It was a change for the sake of change. What was wrong with the previous site. I HATE having to re-learn how sites are set up, new lingo, etc. For instance, nearly every other good forum uses the same Private Message system, with an inbox. The learning curve is nearly zero.

However, here, now, there are all sorts of new terms for the sake of new terms. A "PM" elsewhere, is now a "conversation." Give me a break. "Start a conversation" And things just purposefully put in different places not because it's more efficient, just for the sake of different. And I don't really like different for the sake of different. I do like vast improvements, but have not experienced any.

But this is just like taking all your pistols and for no apparent reason swapping the magazine release button and the slide release button, and making the trigger so you have to push it instead of pull it. Why?

I have experienced issues. For instance, classified adds randomly change to Oregon for location, and cannot be converted back. Any attempt to convert it to Washington simply doesn't stay and reverts to Oregon.

I appreciate the hard work, and forum, but sometimes in life 'good enough' should just be left alone. It's like digging up the underground pipes in your yard to change the color of them. Who cares?? Reminds me of the government, tearing up all sorts of buildings and other stuff for busy work.

I've been over this many times before, and I'm really disappointed by your assumptions. I can assure you, I didn't spend hundreds of hours on this for the sake of change. I'm the first to let something be if I don't have a good reason to change it. Support for the vBulletin software was coming to an end. Should someone discover a security vulnerability in the software, which happens quite often with old, unsupported software, it's up to each individual forum to develop a fix for it themselves. Most people with administration experience agree that the best practice is to generally run the most current version of supported software. This was a main reason, among many others.

What I'm not liking is the classifieds. Not only the prefix errors but I miss at the top
Of the screen you could pick Oregon or Washington. I know I can click on Wts Washington or wtt wa but it was so much simpler before 1 click and all Washington adds pop up.

Take a look at the last section here: http://www.northwestfirearms.com/threads/how-do-i-use-the-classified-section.165337/

You can also hover your cursor over the sections and the quick search will pop up for you to click on a state.

 

[leadcounsel]

Honestly, I've tried it and don't like it. At all.

I wasn't a heavy browser/contributor here before, so perhaps no one cares about my opinion. But in line with the thread OP... I don't like the new setup.

First, it builds rather slowly and choppy due to the excessive content on every page. It's too busy, with flashing advertisement at the top, and some 20 ads along the side. I understand capitalism and am all for the site owners making money, but this was not an issue with the old software. Nor is it an issue at ANY OTHER forum using the former software. So the excessive content on each page causes VERY SLOW, CHOPPY loading.

Site is slow to navigate. Hard to go back just one page to exactly where you were before. No direct links to go back at the top, like a chain of where you've been. Additional steps to try to contact another user. Seems to be an issue with advertisements forums to default to Oregon. Just a really frustrating new forum design.

There are 20,000 views on the forum to report issues. That seems to indicate that I'm not the only one experiencing issues.

 

[Rughunter]

I like it, but am on an older laptop with bad color reproduction (also low brightness in the monitor).

In the classifieds section I much prefer the colors before the shading overlay is loaded over them. The blue and green are much easier to differentiate.

Any option for removing the overlay on the classified colors would be greatly appreciated.

 

[slapdash]

I might be missing it, but, what happened to the number of visits on items WTT/WTS? I don't know how many folks have visited my posting. By the way, I like the new system; it just takes me a while to get used to it. I am about one step above an ATM, technically ; )

 

[Blackcobra]

I might be in the minority, but I really like it. I consider it an upgrade from the previous platform - not a sidegrade or changing just for the sake of change.

I especially like the instant notification of watched forums - I can pounce on all the best gear in the classifieds.

I have a couple nits - nothing major:

* I liked having the body of the post in my email notification
* In conversation mode, I have been having trouble showing the latest posts, even after hitting refresh. However, this may be because of my iPad browser - not sure I've seen it on my PC.
* It would be nice if the alert counter decremented after reading the new posts that it is alerting me to, without actually clicking on alerts.
* I would love the mobile version to show the location of the poster.
* I would like more emoticons!

Obviously, I understand these issues may be beyond your control, maybe requiring dev by the authors of the software. They are also minor and not causing me to lose any sleep. Not much, anyway.

I appreciate all the work - it isn't lost on me how big of a job it was to convert, and try to make everyone happy in the process.

 

[Browning55]

Trying to send a PM (by whatever politically correct name) is a big, unwieldy PITB.

 

[Joe Link]

What seems to be the problem with it?

 

[Browning55]

Haven't yet figured out why I can't send PM's -- excuse me, a "conversation." Finally figured how to clean inbox because to me "leave thread" means leave it there. But not it means "delete." Just seems to be unnecessarily confusing.

 

[aflineman]

One thing I noticed in the mobile view on my phone. Advertising is at the top, and not the site name. I am all for advertising, but the site name should be on top. Just an observation.

 

[Garg]

One thing I have noticed is that when I am in a thread, from New Posts, and press that back on the browser, sometimes it take more than once to navigate back.
Also, a Return to Top on the bottom of each page would be great.