April 4, 2019 at 10:13 pm
I really don't like the new forums. The layout makes it really hard to read posts containing a lot of technical information.
Even on Mobile there is a ton of dead space https://pasteboard.co/I8DXvsL.jpg
April 4, 2019 at 11:30 pm
This was removed by the editor as SPAM
April 6, 2019 at 12:59 pm
Same 'feelings' here.
Sometimes it is getting used to a new format and often the disadvantages are more apparent than the disadvantages. So I am stil open to this format, but the current format (and disappearance of features) looks very disappointing up to now.
Ben
April 6, 2019 at 11:56 pm
Looks like a forum software downgrade to me. Yuck.
April 8, 2019 at 1:15 pm
There is no way to go back to the old forums. Data format different, code different, etc. It's a software change.
I appreciate that you may find this harder to read. The flip side is we've had lots of complaints about the other format as being hard to read, too old, lots of confusions for new users. Constantly people confused a level rating with a name.
We made a decision for a few reasons to move, so we're moved now. We are still doing some bug fixing, as quite a few things we didn't catch need to be fixed. We'll continue to do some work for awhile, and a portion of Issues I'm opening are more visual/ergonomic items.
Suggestions for making the forums easier to read, or trying to clean things up are welcome. I am thinking the horizontal line is a little too light right now myself, and I'd like to get that darker and thicker to separate posts. If you have ideas, post them in the website issues forum.
April 9, 2019 at 11:48 pm
The flip side is you made things worse, not better. Look, I caught some heat on these forums for asking other DBAs to help me come up with a plan for using cross-database views. But the point is - I started with a plan. I don't know why as a community we weren't similarly asked to help build a checklist of features important to us. (Or were we? In that case, I apologize.) I guess my observation is, in the working world, I am not GREAT at planning, but I PUT TOGETHER a plan, and have other people kick it into place before we actually go do any work that could break a bunch of stuff.
Are you aware none of the BBCode tags work any more? Yet the forum toolbar suggests you can do just that. It says:
You can use BBCodes to format your content.
Available BBCodes include: code, b, i, u, s, center, right, left, justify, hr, sub, sup, color, pre, blockquote, div, ol, ul, li, quote, url, img, youtube, google.
BBCode tags reference
April 10, 2019 at 7:01 pm
We had a plan, we asked lots of users, we duplicated functionality. Things got worse in some ways, better in others.
I get that formatting and some other changes here are problematic. I've tested bbcode and it works, or worked. It still works today in tests I've run, so trying to understand why it doesn't work for others is hard.
This is entering brackets around a b, then ending it with brackets around , no toolbar used.
Why this doesn't work for you, not sure. I tested a few random non admin accounts on two machines, and it works there. We've had hundreds, likely thousands of hours in testing things, including from users. We had some bugs reported, some slipped through because the nature of testing a visual interface is that we follow certain paths and not others, or we take shortcuts. People that said they tested things reported more later, noting they didn't try some of the things they normally do. Again, the nature of testing.
This is far, far more complex than any database enhancements I've done. It's equivalent to a 2+ year, 4 developer project I worked on, except we spent 6 months here. We had go/no-go meetings for 6 weeks, trying to decide where we could make a cut. I think we maybe went slightly too early, but I also know some of these items we wouldn't have found in a few more weeks. They just were things that we fundamentally made a decision on, as part of our plan, in a way that didn't work out as expected.
So yes, we made some things worse, but not everything. At least I hope most people don't think that.
April 10, 2019 at 9:06 pm
I had no toolbar and manual BBCodes weren't working right for me. They did a configuration fix recently which fixed this. I had to clear my cookies for SSC today before it worked right though.
I've got a bit less "dead" space by setting the zoom level to 90% for this site. I have old eyes and can still read it all and it seems like less wasted space.
Sue
April 10, 2019 at 9:36 pm
I'm feeling really heartbroken by the new site. This is one of the most sacred places on the Internet to me, and this feels like a significant loss. The new layout is awful. I'm so sorry to be blunt. I'm not sure what it is that's so bad, but there seems to be a TON of whitespace and the fonts are all way too large...? I'm sorry I don't even know what constructive criticism to add. It's just horrible. 🙁
April 10, 2019 at 10:41 pm
I'm sorry you feel that way, and I hope you'll stick with us as we evolve. We will work on styling a bit differently at some point, but for now we're still fixing bugs from the migration.
I understand a longing for the older format. Keep in mind awful is relative. I've been getting complaints for years, well over a decade on the way the old site looked, so while you and I liked it, plenty of people didn't. The fonts and whitespace are a very personal decision, and I hope we can add more customization here over time that allows people to flex a little more.
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