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The board will be going down this weekend

Hey all - We're going to be updating the whole website, and the messageboard to a newer system.


We're going to need to take the board down for a bit, so (if all goes well) it's going to happen over this weekend. We want to make sure to transfer everything over properly and don't lose threads, etc.


This will hopefully correct some of the buggy issues, as well as create a better experience.


-the private message issue should be fixed

-we'll be hoping to fight the spam issue with some additions

-you'll be able to scroll thru to the past from the board's main page

-hopefully a better search function


unfortunately this is happening on lance armstrong weekend, but i think we'll get over it. just want everyone to know and be prepared


erok
2013-01-17 16:47:33

Yay - good luck with the updates!


pinky
2013-01-17 16:48:45

"unfortunately this is happening on lance armstrong weekend"


No, I think you're actually doing us a favor there. Good luck and thanks.


2013-01-17 16:51:45

haha


erok
2013-01-17 16:55:09

sneak preview for all of you dedicated followers:



erok
2013-01-17 17:30:19

Could you be more specific on times? - just when it is going to start would help so we will know when it is the upgrade and not our slow computers.


helen-s
2013-01-17 17:53:16

Wait -- what about Tag-o-Rama? If the tag is open, how can it be picked up? Maybe whoever has the open tag should wait until the upgrade is finished before posting it.


jonawebb
2013-01-17 17:57:06

@joanwebb - Rule #7 should apply in this case while we wait for reboot


bikeygirl
2013-01-17 18:09:42

Thank you for the upgrade and for doing it at a time most inconvenient for your personal lives. (sincerely, no snark here, I get it). V.


vannever
2013-01-17 18:27:58

also, if you would lie to us and tell us the new message board server uses a hard drive made out of carbon fiber and a cooling fan driven by 9-speed chaindrive that would be pretty cool.


vannever
2013-01-17 18:30:19

@jonawebb - i've got the current tag, and will be posting it in a couple hours. i don't anticipate any difficulty with someone getting it by tomorrow, but if there are objections, i'll hold off.


hiddenvariable
2013-01-17 18:39:55

@hv, that makes sense, but maybe the next tagger should hold off, voiding the 36-hour rule for this weekend.


jonawebb
2013-01-17 18:42:57

Could you be more specific on times? - just when it is going to start would help so we will know when it is the upgrade and not our slow computers.

There is supposed to be a redirect page with a simple "Boards down for service, will be up soon. go ride your bike" message or something


erok
2013-01-17 18:46:29

It's about time the board got some! /rim shot


marko82
2013-01-17 19:07:07

I work this weekend, so instead of obsessing over the board you expect me to actually work?


Thanks for the upgrade looking forward to a bigger better board experience.


marvelousm3
2013-01-17 19:34:48

My original reaction was much like bikeygirl's but Id like to see some of the issues resolved, so I'm ok with it.


But, when other groups have done updates, I've seen them lose the data in the current message board, etc. Is there any assurance that current content will remain?


And, will the new site be more easily searchable? That would be a big help. I used to have to go to google to search the content of this board/website. That seemed freaky!


swalfoort
2013-01-17 21:25:58

As long as we maintain the seniority


The bossanovas must maintain their firm grip on the forum!


sgtjonson
2013-01-17 21:46:49

An excellent reason to go outside and put some miles under me.


stuinmccandless
2013-01-17 22:49:00

Is it done? Did you do it yesterday?


jonawebb
2013-01-19 14:09:04
lol
erok
2013-01-29 09:26:25
clear your cache it works better
erok
2013-01-29 10:05:31
The board is back up. ? Yes.
unicyclemike
2013-01-29 10:19:36
also, it seems that there were some lost names on some posts.  sorry.    
erok
2013-01-29 10:32:19
please post away. please leave buggy issues in this thread. also, if you have an issue, please say what browser you are using.
erok
2013-01-29 12:26:13
EROK! What happened to the "Bossanova" "Newbie" etcetera titles? Just a "Participant" ? :( :(
bikeygirl
2013-01-29 12:42:13
dude. chill.  just be glad it's up.  yeeeeeeesh
erok
2013-01-29 12:44:16
Ok, speak for yourself "key master" :) :p
bikeygirl
2013-01-29 12:45:01
kinda wish it was "dragon slayer"
erok
2013-01-29 12:47:19
Dragon slayer would be awesome! Can we get cooler names then? ha!
bikeygirl
2013-01-29 12:49:18
This is all very interesting and a little frightening. "Change is bad" - Homer. Can I hav "Curmudgeon"?
edmonds59
2013-01-29 13:04:44
was it better or worse that the great board blackout of 2013 happened during the shittiest weather? like less people are thinking about biking, but you're also cooped up with a computer.
erok
2013-01-29 13:05:02
Hey, fwiw the right-side column is riding over (on top of) the text in the comments column.  
vannever
2013-01-29 13:30:54
well that didn't work. Couldn't find "edit". second attempt. screenshot
vannever
2013-01-29 13:33:17
is there a mechanism for going to the most recent unread post, or notifying you of which threads contain unread posts?  i notice that some thread titles are in a larger font, but i couldn't divine the pattern behind it.
hiddenvariable
2013-01-29 13:53:22
I'm not seeing that on Chrome/Linux, the formatting looks fine.
salty
2013-01-29 13:54:29
is there a mechanism for going to the most recent unread post, or notifying you of which threads contain unread posts?  i notice that some thread titles are in a larger font, but i couldn’t divine the pattern behind it.
Yeah, the thread title link changes color (from blue to grey) after you click on it.  when it's topped again, it goes back to blue.   The larger ones are topics that are supposed to be stickied, but aren't staying up top.  he's working on it
erok
2013-01-29 14:08:11
Oh, yes, mine is not wrapping the right end of the text into the visible box, same as Vannevar mentioned. (Firefox on Win 7)
edmonds59
2013-01-29 14:18:08
yeah, i noticed the most amount of formatting issues with firefox
erok
2013-01-29 14:27:28
also having same formatting problem using Chrome
sarah_q
2013-01-29 14:45:26
like what?  did you clear your cache?
erok
2013-01-29 14:50:44
It might just be the concussion, but the new design is really hard to look at.
ndromb
2013-01-29 15:59:16
Umm... I'd make the profile picks about half or a quarter as big
sgtjonson
2013-01-29 16:22:39
And bring back the ability to edit
sgtjonson
2013-01-29 16:23:16
I'd also like the name displayed on the forums page to be the person who last replied to the thread rather than the person who created it Did this guy design the new site as well: http://clicknathan.com/web-design/ His designs generally seem to focus on big buttons, but the images he has are from the old site Everything seems too big and blocky for my tastes; Not to be too snarky, but almost as if the site were designed for an 85 year old with cataracts
sgtjonson
2013-01-29 16:30:52
Also, text from the body of these threads is now appearing on the main page, rather than just the headlines, which I could see being problematic based on some of the posts that have been on the forums before
sgtjonson
2013-01-29 16:31:46
thanks for the feedback, keep it coming.
erok
2013-01-29 16:32:55
I agree as to edit button and I also had  the line overrun issue on Firefox (but not Chrome, for the moment). I zoomed out on size (ctrl + mouse roll down) because there was too much blank space between posts. I generally agree about getting more density of content on the screen. I DO like the more precise timestamp on posts, rather than the vague ones that displayed before.
ieverhart
2013-01-29 16:45:18
Also, I assume this is being done to accommodate varying widths of screens, but on the screen I'm on right now seems to be wasting an awful lot of space on the left and right edges, which contributes to the overall lack of content density.
ieverhart
2013-01-29 16:47:11
I am also experiencing clipped text on the right margin of the colored fields containing posts. OSx10.8.2 Chrome Version 23.0.1271.95. \\\\\\\ Hi everybody!!! //////// All the buttons and text are HUGE, and I have old-person eyes.
pseudacris
2013-01-29 17:19:13
BTW I do have the cutoff problem on my phone (chrome/android).  And the large margins take up a ton of space on tyebphone screen. I'll send a screenshot later.
salty
2013-01-29 17:19:18
Maybe a clue - I don't seem to have an issue on page 3 or 1 only 2. Maybe the embedded video has something to do with it?
salty
2013-01-29 17:21:37
I'm glad to see the board back up, but I'm seeing some major issues. I see some accounts have history and others don't.  I had to recreate my account.  Password recovery didn't work and my old credentials didn't either.  Were some accounts lost?   I'm seeing multi-minute load times for the front page and some board pages.  This seems to be intermittent.   I see a lot of layout issues in IE8 including: White text on a white background for the drop-down menus. "Squeezed" avatars (width is about 50% of height). "Add this topic to y" box overruns and isn't readable. Gradient-shaded triangles under boxes don't align and spoil the intended "wrap around" effect. I'll see how things look with firefox when I get home.  Thanks for getting the board back up though!
mattjackets
2013-01-29 17:27:13
I'm seeing the same as Salty when it comes to the “'Add this topic to y' box overruns and isn’t readable" issue. Only seems to be on page 2.
mattjackets
2013-01-29 17:32:09
I'm using IE9, and the load time is very slow & I get the main "site map" listed at the top of the page when I look at any thread & "newsletter" and "poll" showing at the bottom of each thread. I also don't go back to "forums home" either, it's giving me a forums site map (text) instead. Glad the boards back!
marko82
2013-01-29 17:43:19
I'm using Firefox on Ubuntu and on some posts on page 2 of this thread, I can't read the full text due to lack of word wrap and the text going off screen. The posts on page 3 seem to be wrapping correctly. Also, it seems my account didn't carry over and was lost =(
brybot
2013-01-29 18:18:08
On my phone I can't see anything but the first page if tag-o-rama. There's no way to go to any other page.
jonawebb
2013-01-29 18:21:00
All private messages seem to have been lost on my account.
pseudacris
2013-01-29 18:58:15
Current Issues for me: 1) My account was lost. I had to re-register my email and username to login. 2) at work today (before lunch), using IE9 for Windows 7, the text for each post was not wrapping and was being hidden by the right margin/column. Also, the formatting would be lost when I opened a thread (i.e. no background color, the links at the top of the page were in a list, and other weird things like that); F5 would fix the formatting after opening the thread, except for the text-wrap issue. 3) I am currently at home using Opera 12.12 for 64-bit Ubuntu with no layout/format issues. 4) Just a general comment: everything on the page looks big and blocky (buttons, avatars, text boxes, etc...), as though it were designed to be viewed on a small screen, such as a smartphone or tablet. It look great when I view the site from my phone, but on an actual computer it looks strange to see gigantic avatars. I'll probably get used to it, but I just wanted to give some feedback.
jaysherman5000
2013-01-29 18:59:36
The pagination link issue can be replicated by changing the browser window width to the point where the sidebar disappears
dmtroyer
2013-01-29 19:07:09
I zoomed out on size (ctrl + mouse roll down) because there was too much blank space between posts. I generally agree about getting more density of content on the screen.
I did the same. The site looks great zoomed to 60%. :)
rice-rocket
2013-01-29 20:04:19
Significant concern: I cannot edit a post once it's submitted. I can't count how many times I've gone back and tweaked wording, fixed a typo, adjusted a link, whatever, maybe 3 or 5 times. If that's possible, I haven't figured out how.
stuinmccandless
2013-01-29 20:19:33
My shopping list includes: 1 Got to, got to have after-post, or if your prefer "post-post" editting. My posts are never really done until the third edit. 2. There was a promise that we'd be able to link to individual posts in a thread on the new board, but I don't see that. 3. This blue/gray status thing is wonderful, but it's insufficient for geezers like me, small screen phones like me, and maybe colorvision folks - can we get some other indicator? FWIW, and with kudos and recognition of all the effort - this is not better than the previous version. Completely open to somebody showing me how this is better. Firefox 18.0.1, Win XP SP3, 1280x800 pixels.
vannever
2013-01-29 20:39:16
1) if you are color blind, you can't tell what threads have been read/have new posts. 2) I wish I was color blind because red text on blue background hurts 3) the only way I can view this board is by going through a link on g+. I am not going to clear cookies and data on my mobile devices cause it is a pain in the ass. 4) yes I am complaining. This is hard to look at and doesn't work well, and for being down over a week, I thought it wouldn't have this many problems.
stefb
2013-01-29 20:57:06
The sponsor image from the lawyer is being overrun by the Urban Velo image
sgtjonson
2013-01-29 21:32:26
Windows 7, Chrome 24.0.1312.52 PMs: 1)Previous PMs lost 2)Formatting issues, starting with my Gravatar being rendered at 820px by 820px on the PM page (http://bike-pgh.org/pm/) Message Board: 1) Clicking a topic with unread replies takes me to the last post, not the first unread post 2) Same issues reported by others...inability to edit, lack of display of last poster in a thread, etc. General: 1) Search box in main menu bar is non-intuitive (it's not obvious that the word "Search..." is actually a hidden input box, so clicking the magnifying glass leads one to a page with the results of searching for the word Search...)
reddan
2013-01-29 21:37:45
Heh...and, by replying to the thread, it now shows up for me as having unread replies, even though the unread reply was the one I just composed. And, for some reason, the word "why" is automatically populating in the Tags: input field.
reddan
2013-01-29 21:40:29
Aside from the buggy issues people are having, overall I like the look and feel of the board. I suppose everything could be scaled down a bit for better readability, but the colors/design are nice.
rachel_ding
2013-01-29 21:44:06
Haha, I also noticed the "why." Very existential.
rachel_ding
2013-01-29 21:45:13
I  thought the auto "why" tag seem appropriate The text also seems to be smaller in the reply field than everywhere else As for the color on replies, everything is red, regardless  of whether or not there's a new reply I'm just going by time now, but that's only good if I remember how long it's been since I've been in a thread The return key is also bumping down like a half extra line, but then jumping back up when you begin typing; kind of reminds me of the annoying auto-feature in modern version of Word that put a different kind of space between paragraphs when hitting enter, rather than just jumping one line down like the original return key on typewriters
sgtjonson
2013-01-29 21:49:22
Man, I really hate to fess up, but I added the #why-tag to my post and maybe it's stuck in the thermojiggy. And the "why" behind my why, which I guess is perhaps explaining my why-ning, is that I don't see any Why Are We Doing This. But, it's day-early, and I await enlightenment. But so far there's no new feature set or new benefit (outside of embedding videos) that answers my question Why. So, it was me, I asked Why.
vannever
2013-01-29 22:09:57
I cleared my cache and it's still screwed up but only on that one page. I agree with Nick, but am recovering from a concussion too.  
sarah_q
2013-01-29 22:33:43
I don't have a concussion and I agree.
stefb
2013-01-29 22:43:58
Wow, site looks and works fabulous on iPad, like that was the platform it was built for. On iPhone, no "forums home" or page navigation buttons appear, can only hit the back arrow to go home. Awkward.
edmonds59
2013-01-29 23:10:59
It would also be nice if your read/unread history followed your account and wasn't attached to a cookie on the individual machine. At least for those of us that use 4 or 5 different devices depending on the day/situation.   And I can confirm that the board home and pagination links are indeed hidden on the phone, in portrait and in landscape views. Plus the submit button is way too low on the page. I'd rather see redundant submit buttons in both the current location And directly under the text entry field or just under the text field than have it all the way down at the bottom.
cburch
2013-01-30 00:06:26
Oh one more global issue with the entire site: on a phone there is no way to use the main menu. Clicking the menu button opens up a drop down of the top level pages, but clicking those pages doesn't open up a list of their child pages or navigate to the top level page. So the menu is turned into a useless drop down list.
cburch
2013-01-30 00:10:12
And one more one more thing. The narrowest view seems to be set to work on a phone in landscape mode. So when you have your phone in portrait mode, you have to scroll back and forth horizontally to read the threads.
cburch
2013-01-30 00:12:29
no access to thread pagination on smaller screens is really bugging me. +1 tho for the board resurrection.
quizbot
2013-01-30 00:26:10
I just tried to embed images in the Tag-O-Rama thread and failed. I used the same html code I've always used and the board seemed to interpret the "closing quotation greater-than" symbols at the end of the IMG tag as a semicolon. I tried it multiple times just to make sure I didn't mistype something. Also, I can't edit my posts after they are posted, and when I posted in the TOR thread, instead of returning me to the page where my post was made, I was returned to the first page of the thread. I sure hope ClickNathan gave you a good deal on bugfixing...
jaysherman5000
2013-01-30 00:34:48
yeah, i tried posting for you and had the same results. i wonder if it needs all the unused attributes in the tag as per the guide below. let's see...   nope    
cburch
2013-01-30 00:54:22
guess not.
cburch
2013-01-30 00:54:40
Just pointing out that there's a discussion about embedding images going on in the Tag-o-Rama thread. Apparently, if you want to embed a pic properly, you have to be typing in the "Text" tab, not the "Visual" tab that comes up by default. For example, this pic will probably embed just fine:
stuinmccandless
2013-01-30 02:39:00
...but if I am trying to do the exact same thing in the "Visual" tab, I get this:  
stuinmccandless
2013-01-30 02:39:56
Also, the default tab you get is entirely dependent upon whichever one you used last time. I could learn to live with that, but that's a pain.   FWIW, I'm using Chrome Version 24.0.1312.56 m on a Win 7 laptop.
stuinmccandless
2013-01-30 02:43:09
Hmmm... Okay you can now edit your posts for about 5 minutes after you initially create them.
test5
2013-01-30 07:10:03
Use the little image icon just above the post box to add an image that's already somewhere on the web...
admin
2013-01-30 07:24:32
Type the code in: Gives you:
admin
2013-01-30 07:26:02
Uploading an image test....
admin
2013-01-30 07:31:33
...looks like you need to be in the Text tab. Perhaps we should just ditch the Visual tab altogether.
admin
2013-01-30 07:32:29
admin
2013-01-30 07:38:55
The travails of the webmaster. (or, in this cartoon, Webmistress Ming.)
vannever
2013-01-30 08:16:47
BTW it would be nice if the Submit button was just below the textbox, above the HTML note, because it would make it easier to reach after typing. Edit: and we used to be able to edit posts for 1 hour afterwards. Not a big deal, really, but you might consider setting the limit back up. Also, the RSS feed doesn't seem to work anymore.
jonawebb
2013-01-30 08:23:48
I said, hrrrrrmmmmmm.....
test5
2013-01-30 08:53:00
Okay a little wrap up here of what's been fixed over the last day, for those of you interested:
  1. Text getting cut off in Firefox & IE 8/9 should be fixed.
  2. Tweaked display on iPhone to accommodate landscape/portrait and certain image/video combos in posts.
  3. Other IE8 fixes
  4. Pagination added back in for phones.
  5. Added editing capabilities.
  6. You can click the # symbol to get the link to a specific reply.
  7. Fixed some issues with images being scaled too large.
Some things that are less likely to change for the time being:
  1. How the whole linking to the most recent post works from the main forums page.
  2. The size of things on the page, colors, etc.
  3. Gravity holding us all to the Earth.
Until I can do something about all 3 of those, I don't think I'll be able to adjust the other two. :) Many thanks to those of you who provided feedback, and I'll continue to monitor this thread and look into issues as time permits. I also feel a wee bit compelled to just state that I created both this current version of bikepgh.org, and every other iteration of bikepgh.org since 2006, absolutely 100% free. So please bear with me while the redesign is fresh and we tweak things as needed.
admin
2013-01-30 09:26:56
Getting some occasional failures to load CSS, so everything comes through unstyled, in Chrome 24.0.1312.56 m (Win7). (I've had this happen on the old board in Opera/Android, but not Chrome before.) Not only do I not have any private messages, but my fuzzy little ungravatar is showing up at the entire width of the column. Looks like article.page img's width: inherit; is clobbering the image's own width. Not sure what it's inheriting from, but maybe that's why it's going max-width... The poll is nonfunctional. Submit imports the entire forum front page into the space where the poll was--and the poll still acts like it's never been answered. (6-10, btw.) "Your Account" & "Messages" pages need links back to the board. "Topics with no replies" goes to http://dev.bike-pgh.org/mb/view/no-replies/, which is dead. It didn't even occur to me that the little icon above this text box was an insert-image button until I got curious what the hell it was & where should it have been. The border should either be clickable as part of the link or non-existent--it looks like a big button but apparently only the tiny little icon is an actual link. For some reason the link two paragraphs up is in its own little box? and it's wrapping bizarrely:
epanastrophe
2013-01-30 09:32:07
Nathan, appreciate the work, and didn't realize you were doing it for free. The message boards are a big contribution to the bike community here. Thanks.
jonawebb
2013-01-30 09:35:37
I'm still seeing text cut off on my tablet (chrome/android). It happens in portrait as well as landscape, screen resolution is 2560x1600.
salty
2013-01-30 10:02:39
I do notice a few users have been converted to 'anonymous' users now, like pbeaver and a few others. Not sure if there is any way to save the link to their old accounts.
benzo
2013-01-30 12:22:05
You really should consider changing the colors because i don't think it is ADA compliant.
stefb
2013-01-30 19:57:30
How about having http://bike-pgh.org/bbpress/ forward to the new URL so old Google results go to the right place and not the maintenance page?
sgtjonson
2013-01-30 20:50:27
Following up on Stef's question, if I may. Is this either Section508 or WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative) Compliant? I think what I find bothersome is the very low information density of the layout. In general, with these huge big blocks of color reserved for a post of 12 words, I can see one post at a time on my laptop screen. But I sure can see the avatars. When I go to make a post, I can see the whole text box. But you can't see the submit button, and you have to go find it, there's no affordance. To make a newsprint analogy, the old board was the NY Times. A bit info-dense, but there was a lot of content on every screen. This new layout is rather USA-Today, lots of colored geometric shapes and bold fonts, but really very little meaning. I don't like USA Today, and I don't like being unable to complete tasks within a single screen view. Outside of (1) posting videos and (2) the fresh look, can somebody say why this is better and why is BikePgh doing this? Absent somebody educating me - cause there might be a great reason - I'm left puzzling and thinking the old board was better.
vannever
2013-01-30 21:05:17
I'm seeing text cutoff only on certain pages of threads. Page 4 of this thread has the text cut off on the right side, but pages 3 & 5 work fine. I can't see a pattern to how this bug appears. Opera 12.12, Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS
jaysherman5000
2013-01-30 23:16:07
this is my test of the photo-embed thingy Edit: ooh, look at that sexy bike!
jaysherman5000
2013-01-30 23:21:47
I agree with what Vannevar said above. I'm an opponent to change for the sake of change. Sorry, but the new format/look is not more functional, more efficient, or more visually appealing. Even if all of the basic display bugs get fixed, it still looks clunky and uses way too much real estate. Can't we please lose all the big links on the right side (poll, adds/sponsors, newsletter, etc), the big alternating color blocks and just go back to the old "look"? Please don't think that the effort isn't appreciated, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The old version worked well for us. Yes, there were underlying code issues that needed to be addressed, but the appearance did not require modification. Unless I missed something? Did anyone have a problem with the display on the old board?
srpit
2013-01-31 05:32:54
But it's done, so, moving forward....
edmonds59
2013-01-31 08:04:15
Can admins still sticky threads so they always show at the top, like the 311 thread?
benzo
2013-01-31 09:42:36
I keep alternating between the big colored boxes and a more site-map looking layout with no apparent reason for which one shows up. It is also not changing the color of the thread title so I can’t tell which threads have been read. Also, I am always taken to the first page of the tread. Overall I think I will like change, and appreciate the efforts of those working on this. But for now it’s kind of disorienting. PC, Vista, IE9
marko82
2013-01-31 09:50:40
Have we confirmed whether the PM system is working now? I tried to send myself a test message, but it says 'You must enter a valid recipient!'
benzo
2013-01-31 09:58:23
+1: search seems to be improved
quizbot
2013-01-31 10:02:38
Benzo, it let me send you a test PM. But I couldn't send myself a PM by typing my name in the box. The system offered a bunch of suggestions for valid names: StevenGates stevenslim SteveNR stevenpaul It seems as if it's using a list of member names copied from some other message board.
steven
2013-01-31 10:07:46
With the old board, it was easy to read only new posts by clicking on each thread title in the list of threads. It would go directly to the first unread post in the thread. (Occasionally it would mess up.) Clicking on the "last update" column would always go to the last post of the thread. This is no longer working for me at all. Now it behaves the same whether I click on the title or "last update". Either it goes to the very top of the thread, or goes to the last message, even if there are others I haven't read. The whole "remember which message I last read" thing seems to be completely broken for me. Is it working for anybody?
steven
2013-01-31 10:18:19
Steven, I got your test Private Message and I was able to send one to you. I just think that your own name doesn't show up in the 'TO' section. So we can't send messages to ourselves, but it seems that it works to others. It did suggest your username as I typed. I did get the email notification too. I wonder, is there any auto-deactivation of users after a certain time period (like 2 years of no login?)
benzo
2013-01-31 10:26:11
I just tried switching over to Chrome and everything is much nicer and more stable. So I think the bugs are more IE9 related than Vista, IANCG (I am not a computer geek)
marko82
2013-01-31 10:33:16
The go-to-latest post thing works differently on different threads. It never works on Tag-o-Rama, I'm guessing because of an overflow problem. But it works for me (w/Chrome) with this thread, for example.
jonawebb
2013-01-31 11:19:22
I'm pretty happy with the absence of spam since the update. I also just tested search and it seems to work. So I'm OK with things as they are now.
jonawebb
2013-01-31 12:48:34
This is minor, but is there a way to change avatars? I looked for a way to edit under my account profile & also changed it on the email address I used via gravatar.com. Am I missing something? //nevermind// took a while to populate. I think it's on gravatar's end of things, since I refreshed the page before posing this now outdated question.
pseudacris
2013-01-31 15:33:01
@Psuedacris - fun new gravatar
teamdecafweekend
2013-01-31 17:46:57
Steven - it always takes me to the last post in the thread and Nathan insinuated a couple pages back that was expected and not easy to change for unspecified reasons. But, I think that's my #1 usability issue and I really hope it's not gone for good.
salty
2013-01-31 21:21:31
Yes, that's the #1 issue for me too. The main complaint I had with the old board was that occasionally the unread-posts function messed up. If that's now gone entirely, I'd say junk the whole thing and go back to the old system, or replace it with some existing message board system that has that basic feature.
steven
2013-02-01 01:56:49
I have to say, I doubt we're going back to the old message boards. I suspect we're talking about a different release of WordPress (I think that's what the old website used) and it's probably all tied together with the rest of the website. Plus it's a lot more volunteer work by Nathan. I'm pretty glad we got the new website without losing the previous content, or most users, and that Nathan's been responsive, fixing the glitches folks found on the initial roll-out. Also the new image link feature is nice for Tag-o-Rama, now that I know how to use it.
jonawebb
2013-02-01 08:19:35
Is there some way to make it less huge? I am using Chrome. None of the other sites I vist are like this. Maybe if it was less huge and blocky the colors wouldn't be so ouchie on my head. I miss the jump to latest unread feature -- I am constantly reading things in reverse order, scrolling up. It would be nice to have that back. sorry to be a complainy-pants. I know this is a volunteer effort. thanks.
sarah_q
2013-02-01 09:41:53
thanks for the feedback everyone. appreciate it. Stef: temporarily at least, you can zoom out and it will shrink it.
erok
2013-02-01 10:32:50
I notice that if I log out, and then log back in later, it shows that all of the tags are unread instead of remembering what I’ve already viewed. This might be on my end since I have my browser settings set to delete history/cookies on exit, but this didn’t happen with the old board. It’s not the end of the world, but I wanted to mention it. PC, Vista, Chrome
marko82
2013-02-01 11:47:01
At this point, my only serious gripe is over the loss of functionality with regards to unread/read posts. On most days, I view the board using 2-4 different devices; having the read status of the posts tied to a device-specific cookie, and not being able to see the name of the last person who replied, make it very hard to keep track of what I've read. Come to think of it, I suppose I could monitor the board via RSS and use my reader to keep track of what I've read, but that's not exactly optimal.
reddan
2013-02-01 15:47:13
Does the board still support RSS? It looks like the links for that have gone away.
steven
2013-02-01 16:43:25
@Steven : if you append /rss, you should get a feed. Like this one.
reddan
2013-02-01 16:45:26
I have the same proble Marko does with format. I am emphatically NOT PC or design literate, so my closest approximation of words that I think describe the issue is that I go from a "frames" layout to a "non-frames" layout sort of at random, but almost predictably about 4 seconds after entering the message board. So, the top of my screen currently looks like this: Skip to Content Skip to Content Search Form BikePGH! •About ?Mission ?Board of Directors ?Staff ?History ?In the News ?Contact •Get Involved ?Become a Member ?Become a Business Member ?Newsletter ?Volunteer ?Become an Advocate ?Give to Bike Pittsburgh ?Ride a Bike •Projects ?Pittsburgh Bike Map ?Bike Commuting 101 Guide ?Bike Friendly Employer •Events ?Local Cycling Events Calendar ?BikeFest ?Pedal Pittsburgh ?Car Free Fridays •Resources ?Message Board ?Getting Around Town ?Bike Parking ?In a Crash? ?Shops, Clubs, Resources ?Why Bikes Make Sense •Buy Stuff ?Gear ?Bike Racks ?Valet Bicycle Parking Search Your Account | Messages | Logout •Google Plus •Twitter •Facebook •Flickr •Pinterest •Instagram The board will be going down this weekend This topic contains 126 replies, has 38 voices, and was last updated by Steven 8 secs. Viewing 2 posts - 126 through 127 (of 127 total) Then I see the threads, including avatars. But, there is no visual separation between submissions on a given thread, and the avatar is HUGE relative to the line or two of text adjacent to it. So, I can see only two avatars/posts before I have to scan up or down. Minor issues, maybe, but it makes me miss the old site. As far as I can tell, in upgrade, Home Page for website was enhanced, rest of the site not so enhanced. But, just my thoughts.
swalfoort
2013-02-01 16:50:04
Sara - try clearing your cache, or maybe switch to Chrome or Firefox if you're using IE.
salty
2013-02-01 18:46:23
^Clearing the cache didnt work for me with IE9, but switching to Chrome made a hugh difference. I think salty's employer is somehow behind all of this...
marko82
2013-02-01 20:14:47
Cache has already been cleared. Don't have option of switching to Chrome on all the devices I use to access board. I'll live with current situation, but not entirely happily.
swalfoort
2013-02-01 23:39:52
Cleared my cache and finally back! (hurray!). Not sure if anyone has mentioned this, but the front page for the forums is presumably in chronological order; Page two then time travels over a year. On a related note, if I then click on the page one hyperlink, it takes me to an entirely different page than the one I was just on (front page). I presume this is universal, but if not I'll log in on all five installed browsers and see if the problem repeats. Mac OSX 10.8.1 Chrome 24.0.bunchofnumbers (shouldn't that info be included in the page source data anyways? maybe I over-rated big-brother).
headloss
2013-02-02 00:10:09
and the front page also seems to be screwing up the name of the most recent poster... if that hasn't been mentioned (I'm not about to read through five pages to see what was already pointed out). *edit* confirmed this, since I'm clearly not erok and I was the last to post just a few seconds ago.
headloss
2013-02-02 00:15:08
OK, my account had been deleted so I signed up again (same user name) but my posts continue to come up as "anonymous". I went in to the edit account function and it shows my user name. Thought I'd add a photo just to identify my posts from all the others stuck with "anonymous" right now, but there's no way to do that.
srpit
2013-02-03 07:25:35
Oh, sure, this one shows my user name again! OK. I give up. Still no method to add a photo though.
srpit
2013-02-03 07:26:20
Heres something good about the new board... I love the exact date and time of day shown on each post.
teamdecafweekend
2013-02-03 13:51:53
One other thing I noticed that's changed - the board front page doesn't update with the most recent username who has posted on a thread. Seems to be original poster by default. I just assumed erok was all over this thread.
quizbot
2013-02-03 15:40:23
Quizbot - thanks, that's awesome... dialing back the font sizes looks a lot better to me. I haven't figured out how to shrink the L/R margins though.
salty
2013-02-03 16:16:07
ok, I was able to reduce the left margin (in div.container) but the right margin persists even if i set it to 0 - any ideas?
salty
2013-02-03 16:50:31
What about further dialing back the font size, but then zooming in on the page itself? *shrugs* I haven't used div. container, but I've just been zooming out two steps on my browser and dealing with the margins.
headloss
2013-02-03 19:10:46
I'm using Win7/IE9 and the style sheet fails to load about 40% of the time so I get a completely unformatted page.
sew
2013-02-04 10:32:33
What's with all the oddball tags that seem to automatically materialize when you're posting? (In the 'tags:' box between your post and the submit button.) I've noticed that they generally have nothing at all to do with what I've written and I've gone ahead and started to delete or change them. Seems like phony tags are going to mess up the search function even more. They don't always appear, but when they do they just aren't relevant. How are those being generated?
srpit
2013-02-05 09:04:22
I think it's people being funny. don't know how it will mess up the search, it just adds other things to be searched for. I kinda don't see a reason to even have the tags feature, to be honest
erok
2013-02-05 10:48:06
FWIW, I kinda like the new format/look. I miss the old one purely for nostalgia, but this is cleaner looking to me. Works fine in Chrome for me.
ejwme
2013-02-05 14:41:10
Damn, did I just find one. Maddening, too. Used to be, if I clicked on a link in an article, read the article, did a "back", started typing a comment, then went back to check a fact in the article with a "forward" and then another "back", I could resume typing where I left off. Nope. I got two paragraphs into typing a response in the transportation funding article, did the above, and lost everything I was typing. Grrr. [Chrome Version 24.0.1312.57 m, Windows 7 laptop]
stuinmccandless
2013-02-05 16:33:29
stu- you need to learn how to use tabs
erok
2013-02-07 09:58:06
Yeah, I realize that this is one of those "it's not a bug, it's a feature" things. I just didn't realize that it did things that way.
stuinmccandless
2013-02-07 12:54:08
speaking of tabs, it would be nice if links from the board opened in new ones.
cburch
2013-02-07 13:10:49
Login does not seem to work on my android phone web browser. Anyone else having this trouble? I have cleared the cache, passwords, cookies & history.
pseudacris
2013-02-08 11:45:41
@pseuda, Just tested, works for me.
jonawebb
2013-02-08 11:52:55
My lightly-used user account (pvernaza) seems not to have survived the transition--this post authored by me, as well as a few others, are now authored by "anonymous." Alas. I was able to re-create my account, however.
pvernaza
2013-02-13 00:24:39
Sorry about that, pvernaza. not really sure if anything can be done about it.
erok
2013-02-13 11:56:27
Other problems: The CSS for all links restricts their width and misaligns them vertically, as if the CSS used for the box to the left of each post is being applied to actual content. In both Firefox and Chrome on Windows. The notice that a post was edited is missing the word "ago", and its formatting is messed up. But the main problem is still that it doesn't remember what posts you've read.
steven
2013-02-13 12:12:01
I routinely run into the 5-minute limit on editing a post. Used to be 60. Can we at least have it 10, since it obviously is a hard-and-fast number?
stuinmccandless
2013-02-13 12:49:10
Being able to drop in whenever I had a spare moment and pick up right where I left off was a fantastic feature of the old board. Having to figure out---not just every time I come by, but for each and every thread---where I left off and how to pick up again requires time i just do not have. Being automatically dropped at the end of the thread instead of the beginning is somehow not helping. If the system can't keep track of what i read last, could it at least drop me at the top of the thread, instead of the bottom? Perhaps I'm being silly, perhaps I'm just too stressed out by other things to handle this well, but this has seriously caused me to almost completely stop using the board.
epanastrophe
2013-02-13 15:31:17
^^^agreed
rubberfactory
2013-02-13 15:35:16
it needs more bacon.
pbeaver
2013-02-13 15:43:10
I'm betting board traffic is down after the redesign. User experience is not improved.
eric
2013-02-13 18:36:13
+1 Eric.
mick
2013-02-13 18:39:03
I thought it needed more vegetables
sgtjonson
2013-02-13 18:52:46