I do love the whole idea of fixing somethign which wasn't broken.
Things now are less distinctive and seem to run into each other more. I can't say I see the improvement, but then I can't say I saw what was wrong before you fixed it.
A wild-ass guess would be someone new taking control of appearances and trying to justify/prove their new responsibilities andfees. [but then I'm just a cynic]
Probably a quiet day in Hammersmith today.
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My guess and it is a guess...
Forum was hacked (that game thing on the right) and so we've been upgraded to avoid that loop hole and someone else easily hacking. Including the original hacker. I can live with that and see why necessary..
Visually it's different but I assume "Forum Version 1.8" more different behine the scenes. I say that as a techie.... nearly said sad techie but I'm happy ;-)
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..and so we've been upgraded to avoid that loop hole
honestjohn flagged up the impending improvements a couple times some time ago - eg.
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=48...5
Visually it's different
the only little bit that i do not find appealing so far is the "white space". if that was made some pale pastel shade, i would be 100% happy.
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Dalglish - you have a remarkable memory.
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Dalglish - you have a remarkable memory.
thanks, though there are times when it is not such a welcome attribute.
mind you, i had no trouble at school or university with any subject or exams ever (including grammar and use of capitals).
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"a welcome attribute.
mind you, i had no trouble at school or university with any subject or exams ever (including grammar and use of capitals)."
Obviously! ;-)
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Phil
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Looks fine to me though it would be good to have the, for instance .....
Discussion > New look to forum
..... buttons repeated at the bottom of a thread to save scrolling back up to the top.
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I think that since yesterday the solid lines above and below the thread title/ name of poster/ date and time have returned. But there again my bad memory is legendary!
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L\'escargot.
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Correct L'escargot.
The border lines were missing for a while. I asked if they could be put back in as it helped break up each post in the thread to make for easier reading.
DD.
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Position your mouse pointer over the left-hand edge of the page (where "E-mail HJ, Home, News ...." and the ads. below are. Move the mouse pointer up and down for a very odd looking screen flickering effect - surely unintentional?
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Position your mouse pointer over the left-hand edge of the page (where "E-mail HJ Home News ...." and the ads. below are. Move the mouse pointer up and down for a very odd looking screen flickering effect - surely unintentional?
I noticed that. The new forum doesn't like my mouse scrolling wheel. The screen dithers about like trying to read a newspaper while operating a road drill.
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That effect is *usually* caused by a 'bold on mouseover' styling so as the mouse goes over the text it changes the size of the text, then as the size changes it ceases to be under the mouse, so it resizes again, etc etc...
Jerry
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The screen dithers about like trying to read a newspaper while operating a road drill.
Very good!
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I noticed that.
Can't say that I have, but Stephen Khoo is looking in on this thread every now and again. If there is a problem, then I'm sure he'll try and address it.
DD.
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To be fair Dave they were always in there .. in all well-behaved browers - just not visible in Internet Explorer that doesn't understand borders on table rows. ... so now they are borders on table cells which it does understand. We had to compromise the side edges of the box but that is the best compromise one can do easily.
But yes - you were helpfully able to see that they were missing!
I am sure the juddering effect is also another IE undesirable which I may see it for myself when I crank up IE in our VM.
As for making changes - well that's an inevitable fact of life that I suppose some like to resist. We need to move on some really old html from stuff that is almost 6 years old to more modern CSS and less tables for layout. We are not complete purists in this case and take the view that if tables still make some stuff easier and work ok then we still will use them, just not on the same scale as before. Sometimes the CSS used to get around tables is worse than the tables they are replacing. That's why we don't go crazy over this.
The forum software is used elsewhere and already had a CSS makeover. So this simply got brought back in the main to this site. That way we get rid of the really old stuff and can maintain a more consistent set.
We will be making more changes to the site with new sections added and so on. It all is good for HJ and keeps the whole thing fresh and active.
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Stephen Khoo
www.khoosys.net
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The page flashing as one rolled over links was pretty bad. It only seemed to affect IE and not Firefox, Safari etc. It seemed to be caused by the two flash (shockwave) ads in the left nav although this is strange as nothing changed in the code used to place these.
We have replaced this with a javascript solution that seems to fix the problem.
Cheers
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Stephen Khoo
www.khoosys.net
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The page flashing as one rolled over links was pretty bad. It only seemed to affect IE [...] We have replaced this with a javascript solution that seems to fix the problem.
It does indeed, Mr. K. Wonderful!
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What's all this going all narrow carp though?
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What's all this going all narrow carp though?
Huh? Please explain.
ps, have deleted your same question in a new thread as I'm guessing it's related to the recent changes - which is what this thread is for.
DD.
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And you deleted my fish puns.
Curse you, DD. ;-)
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It seemed to be caused by the two flash (shockwave) ads in the left nav We have replaced this with a javascript solution that seems to fix the problem.
Does that mean the problem of the site crashing if you don't turn off shockwave flash beforehand has now finally been resolved?
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I was hard put to see any differences however this reply window looks a little different and there a couple of new buttons at the top for Car Insurance and Car Loans.
I am using Debian 4 and Firefox (IceWeasel) 2.0.0.3
It all looks fine to me and if the Sysadmins think that an update is needed then I am happy to take their word for it. I am sure most of the changes are behind the scenes and invisible to us users.
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It only needs a couple of dozen more upgrades & it maybe up with all of the other forums I use as regards ease of use & appearance. (deleted), this one is dated!
(CASUAL BLASPHEMY IS DEEPLY OFFENSIVE ANS IS NOT TOLERATED ON THIS WEBSITE)
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I don't know why you guys call it 'forum'.
I'm the one to blame, HJ. Please accept my apologies.
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L\'escargot.
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>>I don't know why you guys call it 'forum'
Because its the only bit that we use to any extent ? And those people who use the other bits and not the forum, if there are regulars that do so rather than those who come once or twice, have nowhere to comment or refer to it as a "website" to balance matters.
>>new advertising opportunities
Now where did I put that pop-up blocker..................
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I don't know why you guys call it 'forum'.
Because it is a forum, every other "forum" I use sits in a website with other things but is still a forum!
Go look at Pistonheads, a massive forum that sits within various other bits of website but still a forum.
new advertising opportunities so that
Thank heavens for Firefox & a pop up blocker!
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There's a link to a motor match grid in another thread. When I try to look at it, the grid appears for a second and then vanishes. This has happened several times with the feature.
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the red text representign the thread title used to be bold, now it isn't, now it doesn't stand out.
The yellow around the reply box is nasty
the "New" flag still hasn't been made more prominent.
On the forum directory page it is a small box of interesting information absolutel deluged by boxes, adverts, flashing, scrolling text etc. etc. It looks like a Chrristmas tree and not a good one.
The pages lack a strong banner across the top, but I guess that's because fo the desperate need to slot in more and more advertising. On which note I would point out that the advertising on this site is so nasty that I will make every effort to avoid spending money with any supplier who has one of these adverts - epsecially since half the time they've got nothing to do with motoring.
No spell checking, still times out on long post writing, still need to return to the top of the thread to navigate.
All in all, whilst I totally understand Stephen's comments about technology changes, the appearance changes seem largely pointless and mostly a deterioration.
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oh, and I just used IE without any pop up or advert blocking to see how the site looked to the unwise. Omigod, what a amess and how many pop-ups ? Where on earth did you find an advertising agency with such outdated ideas of the type of advertising which is effective and with so little awareness of the improtance of aesthetics ?
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the red text representign the thread title used to be bold now it isn't now it doesn't stand out.
it wasn't - it was just underlined. But point taken - it's bold now.
The yellow around the reply box is nasty
Too bad.
the "New" flag still hasn't been made more prominent.
Yes - it's still the same. BOLD RED - for the visually impaired
On the forum directory page it is a small box of interesting information absolutel deluged by boxes adverts flashing scrolling text etc. etc. It looks like a Chrristmas tree and not a good one.
Not my problem.
The pages lack a strong banner across the top but I guess that's because fo the desperate need to slot in more and more advertising. On which note I would point out that the advertising on this site is so nasty that I will make every effort to avoid spending money with any supplier who has one of these adverts - epsecially since half the time they've got nothing to do with motoring.
A commercial decision and nothing to do with you or me!
No spell checking
Get yourself a nice browser like Firefox that has spell checking built in. - Yes it even underlines in red your "epsecially".
still times out on long post writing still need to return tothe top of the thread to navigate.
Good point
All in all whilst I totally understand Stephen's comments about technology changes the appearance changes seem largely pointless and mostly a deterioration.
.. to the uninitiated.
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Stephen Khoo
www.khoosys.net
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Too bad.
Not my problem.
Ooh er! I'm beginning to regret starting this thread! ;-)
--
L\'escargot.
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Too bad.
Not my problem.
Quite an arrogant response.
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I think he was probably being deliberately provoked by a certain contributor that we all hold in such high esteem.
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I think he was probably being deliberately provoked
and he took the bait, rather than respond in a positive calm fashion. ( whatever the history between the two amy be ).
the result is that other people with any constructive suggestions will be put off; assuming of course any suggestions were welcome in the first place.
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>> I think he was probably being deliberately provoked and he took the bait rather than respond in a positive calm fashion. ( whatever the history between the two amy be ).
On the whole I think you are right and make a good point.
the result is that other people with any constructive suggestions will be put off; assuming of course any suggestions were welcome in the first place.
One normally assesses the suggestion given the source. We all do that. For example, if Dave puts forward a suggestion it carries higher weight as my assumption is that he has carefully considered it in the light of a series of comments to him and won't bother us with time-wasters but with stuff that could do with sorting out.
And yes, on the whole most people are constructive and we read it as such.
We also acknowledged that FM2R did also make some good points.
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Stephen Khoo
www.khoosys.net
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>> the "New" flag still hasn't been made more prominent. Yes - it's still the same. BOLD RED - for the visually impaired
I don't suppose it could be changed to upper case?
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Couple of observations:
- Shockwave flash finally seems to be behaving (at least in a non-IE browser)
- An index of some kind on 'Road Tests' would be nice - the scroll page is about 5 metres long!
Perhaps similar to the 'Car by Car' , by make/model/year etc?
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Couple of observations: - Shockwave flash finally seems to be behaving (at least in a non-IE browser)
Yes - it seemed to be an IE only problem.
- An index of some kind on 'Road Tests' would be nice - the scroll page is about 5 metres long! Perhaps similar to the 'Car by Car' by make/model/year etc?
Yes - good idea.
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Stephen Khoo
www.khoosys.net
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>>The trick is not to let the %@?????∞ /@ get under our skins.
I'm sorry, could you explain your comment, or do you prefer me to return to winding you up at every conceivable moment because If feel insulted. I can get under your skin any time I choose, do try not to tempt me into it.
As for Stephen Khoo;
I have no "history" with him as far as I am aware
I didn't take anything he said as stroppy, I didn't intend that he should feel I was being stroppy with him. Sorry if he took it that way.
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Strange how one way abuse is tolerated.
I still feel the forum is way behind the times, a lot of this is down to anachronistic rules such as no edit button, mile long threads, with no paging, which is a pain & very intrusive advertising, which is down to the forum owners. It's certainly the only Forum using this software that I know of.
I certainly wouldn't use an advertiser on here.
Some policies on here are more than strange, such as no embedded links.
It may not be what people want to hear but is mine & obviously FM2Rs opinion, like it or not.
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Well, I'm with the OP on this but sometimes you have to buy new slippers. The tweaks are ok, I don't visit for the colour scheme but for the "conversation".
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If posters were given an edit button they could change what they had previously posted making nonsense of responses to that post. So instead of that you have a preview facility so you can preview what you have written correct keying and spelling mistakes if you want to then confirm the post.
Strange how EVERY other website doesn't consider this a problem! Hence my comment about some strange perceptions on here!
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>> If posters were given an edit button.... Strange how EVERY other website doesn't consider this a problem!
Other websites I've seen with an edit button *may* not consider it a problem, but when people who edit their posts don't fill in the "reason for editing box", the only clue you have that they've edited their post is "post edited on date at time".
Now unless the edit was for a simple spelling mistake, you have no idea if the content had been changed or not until you read any replies to that post, and if the content has been changed the replies don't make any sense.
::adorns moderators hat for a second:: the edit button discussion has been done to death, and the bottom line is there isn't going to be one. So can we now drop further discussion on it please. DD.
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I think that, overall, the website presentation is cleaner, clearer and sharper (i.e. stands out better), but do feel that the first line (in this case Discussion > New look to website, which is in red) should be in a slightly larger font.
It's somewhat lost at present.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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I visit the back room for several reasons.
The content.
The way the content is controlled
The humour.
The sarcasm and wind ups.
It is generally a good humoured, friendly place.
It is refreshing not to have to wade through loads of foul language, text speak and poor language skills to follow a thread.
The site looks "better" to me.
My understanding of the technicalities involved can be written on the back of a postage stamp underneath the New Testament and War and Peace.
The lack of an edit button can be overcome by posting a clarification.
If HJ (M'lord) needs popups, banner ads or whatever the technical terms for them are, then I will live with them for the pleasure of the virtual cameraderie of the backroom.
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mjm
Most of your comments re content also apply to a well known PC magazine's forum I also visit regularly.
The result? Probably the most successful website of its type in the world and with a six figure membership ...:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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the "New" flag still hasn't been made more prominent.
This isn't necessary anymore because you can click on the "new" at the end of the thread title and it automatically takes you to the first new thread, no more search scrolling for them.
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>>the "New" flag still hasn't been made more prominent.
>>This isn't necessary anymore because you can click on the "new" at the end of the thread title and it automatically takes you to the first new thread, no more search scrolling for them.
Clicking on the new takes you to the thread but not the new post.
Is there a quick and easy way of getting from the top of a thread to the first new - would be especially useful for Cheddar iniated monster threads.
Even better would be a way of moving down to the next new post (after the one I'm already reading if you see what I mean).
Stephen/HJ
So far all the changes look like very welcome progress to me - keep up the good work.
Dan
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Clicking on the new takes you to the thread but not the new post.
not in my case
you can click on the "new" at the end of the thread title and it automatically takes you to the first new thread, no more search scrolling for them
yes that does work for me. and a really welcome feature it is, too.
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>>a really welcome feature it is, too
it will be if I can get it to work for me......hmmmm
Dan
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Clicking on the new takes you to the thread but not the new post. Is there a quick and easy way of getting from the top of a thread to the first new
I've raised this matter with Stephen as it's not working for me either. I have a feeling though that it only works if you view the threads in threaded view and not flat view.
At the moment what I do is press ctrl f (brings up a "find" box) and then search for the word "new". The downside to this is when the subject header also contains that word - as in the case of this thread ;o(
That aside, new posts are a slightly darker colour now, thus making them more easily idetifiable when scrolling down the list with the mouse.
Even better would be a way of moving down to the next new post (after the one I'm already reading if you see what I mean).
If you change to threaded view, you then get "Next" & "Prev" buttons so that you can do that.
DD.
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If you change to threaded view you then get "Next" & "Prev" buttons so that you can do that.
Ignore that comment, I didn't previously see what you meant. DD.
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It only needs a couple of dozen more upgrades & it maybe up with all of the other forums I use as regards ease of use & appearance. (deleted) this one is dated!
What, like all those forums with annoying avatars, stupid smiley icons etc etc. Some forums are so hard to read its beyond a joke, this one is refreshingly simple.
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