FORUM UPGRADE - now completed!

[kerrensimmonds]

I think you are doing a wonderful job, Julian.....the new website is taking a little bit of getting used to, but one only has to apply a bit of common sense. I hope you do not feel too criticised (in any way) by the suggestions fellow Forumites are making. Their suggestions are indeed leading to enhancements, but it was good anyway. It's just getting better. Carry on!
Kerren

[ben ashton]

What's this add friend/add foe option when looking at someone's profile?
Seems a little pointless/w**k to me but i await enlightenment...


Edited to add: also, is w**k really that naughty it has to be starred?!

[jtaylor]

What's this add friend/add foe option when looking at someone's profile?
Seems a little pointless/w**k to me but i await enlightenment...

No idea what that's about - assuming it'll show you if your "friends" are online, and maybe ignore things from "foes"??

Edited to add: also, is w**k really that naughty it has to be starred?!

See the topic linked below for the explanation about word censors - it's really nothing to do with how "naughty" we perceive them to be, it's more that it prevents the forum being filtered by some internet firewalls/proxies due to lanuage content...
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=608

[jtaylor]

Follow-up:-
I assumed that the "Friend/Foe" thing wasn't self-explanatory, having not looked at myself - but having now read it, I think it speaks for itself?
Foe:- "Foes are users which will be ignored by default. Posts by these users will not be fully visible. Personal messages from foes are still permitted. Please note that you cannot ignore moderators or administrators."

Friend:- "Friends enable you quick access to members you communicate with frequently. If the template has relevant support any posts made by a friend may be highlighted."

Settings can reached here:- ucp.php?i=zebra&mode=friends

[loringa]

Julian

I can't seem to find a pm option and the e-mail is 'not allowed' so I'm afraid I'll just have to post here. Since the upgrade, my access is now so slow that I frequently give up before finishing reading any new posts - is there anything I can do? Also, I now appear not only to have to login again at each session but login twice if I wish to post.

Hope you can help

Andrew Loring

[sejintenej]

Julian

I can't seem to find a pm option and the e-mail is 'not allowed' so I'm afraid I'll just have to post here. Since the upgrade, my access is now so slow that I frequently give up before finishing reading any new posts - is there anything I can do? Also, I now appear not only to have to login again at each session but login twice if I wish to post.

Hope you can help

Andrew Loring

The PM sign is under the poster's name; click it and you will eventually get a pm form to fill in. There is a send button but for me this brings up a message that the addressee's name is incorrect. Get it from the list of subscribers and it is the same message. I have been sometimes able to respond to pms

I emailed and pm'd Julian when the upgrade was installed but still no repair.

I haven't had the logout problem (yet) but it is now regularly taking 18 seconds or more to upload a post (it went down to 9 at one point but was back up within the hour) if I don't get the not infrequent message thast the forum is not responding.

I've simply given up the concept of contacting others off forum

[englishangel]

Strange, I am having none of these problems, I hadn't done a pm since the upgrade so I have just sent one to loringa and it went ok. Whether he gets it is a different matter.

[Angela Woodford]

Sending a pm seemed the easy bit - I just clicked on User Control Panel!

[jtaylor]

I emailed and pm'd Julian when the upgrade was installed but still no repair.
I haven't had the logout problem (yet) but it is now regularly taking 18 seconds or more to upload a post (it went down to 9 at one point but was back up within the hour) if I don't get the not infrequent message thast the forum is not responding.
I've simply given up the concept of contacting others off forum

I don't believe I received that PM. Is it clearly in your "Sent Items" box, or did it fail to send it?
I'm struggling to help on this one - as someone else said, others aren't saying "me too" and hence it doesn't look like a global forum problem.
I've seen no repeatible failures at all with this version of the software yet - but that's not to say you're not seeing issues.
All I can assume is that there's some sort of issue with your software setup and/or broadband setup. It might be that your ISP is filtering some access for some reason, or that it's throttling bandwidth on certain types of sites? Maybe they're trying to slow down access to forums for some reason?
Have you got access to another PC to try out?
Alternatively, I could set you up with another account to try out, and see if that works? Maybe it's some user-specific issue that we're not seeing? Before I do that, can you confirm whether it's OK on another PC somewhere, and also try NOT logging-in and seeing if it's slow/failing then?

[Wuppertal]

I logged on a few days ago for the first time in a few months, and was very impressed and pleasantly surprised with the new format. I think it's clearer and also easier and more pleasant on the eye.

There is just one downside I have found: in the old version, if someone put on a link for another website to look at, like people do frequently, when you clicked on the link, it opened up in a new window or tab (depending on what browser you had). The new version, however, doesn't do this - it just goes straight to the website that you clicked on, therefore going out of the CH forum. I preferred the way the older version did it because you could click on external links and view them without having to leave the thread you were looking at. I know it's easily solved by right clicking "open in new tab/window" but it was just a tiny bit more efficient the other way.

Other than that miniscule hitch though (which is after all just a matter of my opinion, and not a fault), very well done on the new layout.

[sejintenej]

I emailed and pm'd Julian when the upgrade was installed but still no repair.
I haven't had the logout problem (yet) but it is now regularly taking 18 seconds or more to upload a post (it went down to 9 at one point but was back up within the hour) if I don't get the not infrequent message thast the forum is not responding.
I've simply given up the concept of contacting others off forum

I don't believe I received that PM. Is it clearly in your "Sent Items" box, or did it fail to send it?
I'm struggling to help on this one - as someone else said, others aren't saying "me too" and hence it doesn't look like a global forum problem.
I've seen no repeatible failures at all with this version of the software yet - but that's not to say you're not seeing issues.
All I can assume is that there's some sort of issue with your software setup and/or broadband setup. It might be that your ISP is filtering some access for some reason, or that it's throttling bandwidth on certain types of sites? Maybe they're trying to slow down access to forums for some reason?

This went to pm so I have only now seen the forum message (from memory). Julian is aware and set me on the right track - it is necessary to "Add" an addressee's name after you have inserted it.
As for the speed problem I added RAM (1990's version!) which helped marginally, cleaned out the registry, cleaned out the cache and did a hundred other things which helped a bit but temporarily. However, for no known reason, about a week after doing all this suddenly everything speeded up.
I have a suspicion: I use AVG as an anti-virus programme and it logged in at the same time as I logged into the forum. I now log into google and let that struggle for 30 seconds while I make a cup of tea.
Public thanks to Julian for his help.

[J.R.]

Like David, Jan and I use AVG. A free and daily updated anti-virus programme.

It's the best we have ever used. OK, it does slow down the pc MARGINALLY on some sites and programmes, but always seems to immediately identify any incoming threat. Better safe than sorry.

[kerrensimmonds]

My new laptop came with avast! already loaded. I wasn't asked to pay for it. It seems very efficient, the computer runs much faster than its predecessor (which had Norton) and the only irritation is on the occasions (4-5 times a week) when a male American voice announces 'Virus Database Updated'....
I have a PC upstairs (rarely used now) and I have had a lesson on how to disable Norton, whereupon I will load AVG.

[J.R.]

For what people pay for Norton, it seems far more trouble than it's worth !

[jtaylor]

I used to use Norton, but found it was very resource-hungry, and also a nightmare to update the subscription annually - they didn't make anything easy. It is also an absolute nightmare to completely remove from a system.

I've since tried McAfee - which was pretty good, less resource-hungry, and easy to update.

Since moving to Vista I'm using AVG, which I'm finding excellent.

I've heard that the very latest version of Norton is FAR better - leaner, simpler, easier to update etc.
Anyone using that latest version?

J