Change in Forum Software

[Scottish Business Owner]

Dear All,

We've been contemplating a change in forum software for a while. We've had to accelerate this due to some critical flaws found within our previous forum software. This has meant that we've had to rapidly deploy a replacment and we fully appreciate that this has not went through the normal user testing. The change was essential to protect the integrity of the forums and we're hoping that (like us) you'll find the new forums to be just as user friendly.

We'll be ellaborating on this more very soon but in the meantime if you have any issues or concerns please feel free to drop them in this thread.

 

[Mike Lewis]

,

At first glance, it looks good. I congratulate you on getting it up and running so quickly.

One small negative point: I see the links in the posts' signatures now have a rel="nofollow" attribute, which is not good from an SEO point of view. It's not all that important - and certainly not your responsibility to do anything about. I only mentioned it because I happen to notice it.

Keep up the good work. It will be interesting to see the reaction of other members to the new interface.

Mike

 

[amestaper]

It seems faster, uncluttered and fresh buddy. Were there any hiccups importing the db from vbulletin?

 

[Scottish Business Owner]

Hi Alex,

Now I didn't do the import it was Stu but the general impression I got was that he was hugely impressed by it. We did have to sacrifice a few small things but overall it seems to have went quite well. We'll obviosuly let it settle down over the next month and see where we go from there. Early signs are though that this has been a good move and it's nice to have something which is a wee bit different.

Hope all is well with you

 

[Scottish Business Owner]

Hi Mike - We are aware of the no follow attribute and at the minute we're being told we have to manually change it although it's likely to be default within the software in a future release. We're currently exploring the possibility of creating a user group where this attribute could be removed. Thanks for the feedback and please keep it coming

 

[Mike Lewis]

A couple more observations:

1. I've decided I prefer the new look and feel (but maybe just because it's different).

2. I found it difficult to find the list of my own posts. In the old version, I think there was a direct link to this (from Control Panel, if I remember right). Now, it needs several clicks to get to the Recent Activity list (unless I've missed something). Not a serious problem.

3. It's now possible to bookmark the "What's new" page. Previously, the address of the page containing new posts was dynamic (the address was different every time I went there),so I always had to go to the main forum page first and click the relevant link. Now, I can do it straight from a bookmark, which saves one click and one pageview.

A few other things seem a bit unfamiliar, but no doubt I'll get used to them quickly enough.

Mike

 

[Dizzydiza]

I have to say I haven't been on here for a while and I feel a little guilty so when I got the email that new things were happening here I thought I would come and pass a critical eye. So from a non techie person I think its very fancy

 

[Scottish Business Owner]

Is that fancy in a good way Diana?

Don't worry about not being on in a while it happens to us all. It would be interesting to know what we could do to make you visit more often. Is it just time that's a barrier or do you not feel the things we talk about are that relevant to your business. We welcome feedback and we can take and bad stuff as well and promise not to cry (not too much anyway!)

 

[Dizzydiza]

Fancy in a good way and I love the trophy awards....it made me laugh! I do occasionally pop by to see if there is anything new that would benefit me but unfortunately and being honest most of the time things that are talked about doesnt either affect my business or interest me (loving the smilies lol) But I know if I need some serious help this is where I will find it. I am also a member on the UK Craft forum , I find the topics there more relevant to my business and obviously its all things creative which is what I am interested in. Plus I can keep tabs on all the nice people here on facebook so I dont feel the need to fill the chat forum with my drivel.

 

[Scottish Business Owner]

Hi Diane,

Appreciate you taking the time to respond. For what it's worth I dont find anything you write to be drivel but I appreciate you giving me your thoughts. It's interesting you mention Facebook. Do you think the social sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are starting to make our type of forum irrelevant?

 

[Mike Lewis]

A couple more observations, one positive, one negative:

Positive: When you open a thread, it now goes straight to the last unread message.

Negative: When you go into what used to be called Advanced View, you no longer see the all the previous messages in the thread. This is a nuisance, because you might want to refer back to an earlier remark while you are composing your reply.

Mike

 

[Dizzydiza]

Oh another £!

I don't like twitter. I tried it for a few months and I was fed up of people adding me as a friend and didn't actually care about anything I said. Basically I disliked all the various reasons people were using it for. The only good thing is, I actually got Duncan Bannatyne to say hello to me...lol...literally thats what he said Hello!
Not really seeing the point of LinkIn yet but I am on it. Facebook I use to connect with family and friends as well as promoting my business. This year has been even slower than last year for business but thanks to facebook I have had a wee turn of business so it is definitely useful on several levels. But nothing beats a serious forum for genuine advice.

 

[Mike Lewis]

I don't like twitter. I tried it for a few months and I was fed up of people adding me as a friend and didn't actually care about anything I said.

That's why I gave up with LinkedIn. I constantly got emails inviting me to join the network of people I had never heard of. I know everyone says social networking is essential for businesses, but it was a waste of time for me.

Mike

 

[stugster]

Negative: When you go into what used to be called Advanced View, you no longer see the all the previous messages in the thread. This is a nuisance, because you might want to refer back to an earlier remark while you are composing your reply.

This is a good point, Mike. I'll need to see if there's a way we can bring back this feature.

 

[stugster]

"go to first unread"

When you click this in a massive thread youve read, it jumps straight to the first unread post. What a brilliant function!