Site upgrade of 2017, part II - All is Not Lost

Discussion in 'Customer Service' started by soccernutter, Mar 21, 2017.

  1. fatbastard

    fatbastard Member+

    Aug 1, 2003
    Lincoln (ish), Va
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    My #1 issue remains not being able to see the latest thread updates on the forum lists.

    The tiny little thing that drives me nuts is the delay on being able to click the green arrows (or the media link when creating a new post), they don't seem to work on the first click.
     
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  2. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    #327 blissett, May 12, 2017
    Last edited: May 12, 2017
    Can only answer to a few of the Desktop/Laptop issues. The others are not a problem for me (or I don't even know what they mean, in some cases):

    I guess these two are the same problem, and, as I repeatedly said, it's issue #1 for me (and for most of the people posting here, judging from what I read).

    Ok, except riverplate. We don't care at all, riverplate, no need to tell us again.

    Well, since the update, I didn't see any significant change, so, this is at least as much a problem as the first time it was listed.

    In my view, this is not a major problem, but it could be considered a minor one. In oher words, the "new" tag was much more visible in the previous version of this website and I wouldn't care reverting to something similar.

    Not sure what this mean. What I can say is: it was a problem when the two lists at the top of the page were sticked to the screen, with no way of removing them, because they were bigger than the previous ones and this removed space on the screen for the posts. But, since now there is an option to not have these lists sticked, I guess the problem is solved.

    Since this issue is not expressed in a very clear manner, it could also refer to the fact that there are two buttons that link to the same menu, "My Threads" and "Watched Threads". This was seen as an issue by some people, but I don't see it this way at all, because: 1) it's always been like this, so it's not something that was introduced by the latest update; 2) I guess that a little redundancy in a website is a good thing: as long as it doesn't take too much space, it gives everyone the option to stick to the path he's most used to.

    Guess it's fixed. Never happened to me, and for sure not recently.

    I should retrieve a post in this thread where this had been visually explained very well... Anyway, basically it means that the reply box it's a little shorter than the posts in the thread above. It's just an aesthetical thing, I guess (or does it somehow prevent people from exactly knowing how their text gets separated in lines?).
    Anyway, it doesn't bother me (and I even wonder if it wasn't actually the same in the older version).

    Edit: found the post I was talking about: it was in the old version of this thread. The poster himself, later, admitted that it's a minor aestathic tweak.

    Guess so. I never felt the need to hide my online status, but I guess it should be possible to switch it off with privacy settings. Never tried, but maybe someone can confirm that?

    "Somehow" still an issue. In the sense that I guess there is still more padding than in the previous version of BigSocccer and I wouldn't mind seeing it reduced some more, but, compared to the times just after the upgrade, I don't deem the posts as "unreadable". I would appreciate a better flow, but it's not a major issue.

    Someone had mentioned that a font with serif (as this one, for instance) could be more readable, especially in situations when someone has to read a little screen or is in movement, than a font sans serif, as the default one here.
    I could agree with this, but since someone else has expressed a preference for sans serif fonts instead, I wouldn't start a nuclear war for that.
    I guess a "with serif" font would be better, but I can live with a sans serif one.

    This one wasn't mentioned in your list, but it's anyway an only partially solved problem.
    I still see it as a "minor one", since the breadcrumb navigation bar has been at least added to the bottom of the page, after many people had requested that, and this is already a good fix. Its position, anyway, could be better: it could be placed immediately under the posts, in the position suggested by Kryptonite here above, so people wouldn't have to scroll down to use it.
    It's a minor scroll-work to do, but it can be slightly annoying anyway and one wonders if moving that bar a little up wouldn't be a quite easy fix.
     
  3. dark knight

    dark knight Super Moderator
    Staff Member

    Dec 15, 1999
    Club:
    Leicester City FC
    So lots of people's #1 is a big server drain apparently which is why we haven't seen it yet. It's going to be a work in progress unfortunately. I'm on way to airport and won't be able to do much for a few weeks but will pick up again when back.
     
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  4. holden

    holden Member+

    Dundee FC, Yeovil Town LFC, Girondins de Bordeaux
    Oct 20, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Dundee FC
    Showing when a forum has a new post is a big server drain? A feature that had been a part of this forum as long I've been here until this recent change?

    Or are you talking about something else?
     
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  5. Knave

    Knave Member+

    May 25, 1999
    My comments in bold.

    Desktop/laptop
    • Videos at top of page: Just get rid of them. They're useless.
    • Trending threads: They're hidden for me. Keep them that way or I'll get angry.
    • Sigs. Too much padding is correct. And there should be size limits.
    • Not able to see new posts in forums and subforums without going into those locations. See the notes about subforum & My Forum details below. I *think* it's all the same design issue.
    • A user option to switch between grid and list views. See below about alternative styles.
    • Sticky threads. They do take up too much room. Reduce padding. Eliminate separation.
    • Size of the reply box should align with post in thread above. This is a minor alignment annoyance that I noticed. See this. I would not worry about it unless you really want to fine tune things.
    • Too much padding between posts (interrupts flow) Things could be tighter.
    Issues to Add/Clarify
    --

    I want to give you another option that might allow you to experiment more with layout and features without pissing the power users off.

    Why don't we have a second style for power users that's much more simple and streamlined and doesn't have all the bells and whistles?
     
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  6. Knave

    Knave Member+

    May 25, 1999
    Also, the default avatar should be less lame.
     
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  7. JasonMa

    JasonMa Member+

    Mar 20, 2000
    Arvada, CO
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yeah, this seems odd. I can list on one hand the number of internet forums I read that don't have this and every single one of them is a forum built on a 15+ year old backbone that's been customized to the point it can't be replaced (BoardGameGeek.com is a good example).

    Obviously I have no back-end access so I'm now trying to say you're lying or anything, just that I'm shocked that this fairly standard forum setup is eating that kind of resources for a simple task.
     
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  8. NorthBank

    NorthBank Member+

    Arsenal; NYRB
    United States
    Mar 29, 2006
    Connecticut
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #333 NorthBank, May 15, 2017
    Last edited: May 15, 2017
    Just noticed a new $ symbol showing up left of the thread title. Is that new or have I just not noticed it before? And what is its meaning??

    Edit: Nevermind. It's an icon that seems to appear in all threads of a certain forum. In my Arsenal threads it's the team's crest, and in the TV threads it's the "$". I just never noticed the big green "$" before today. Carry on....
     
  9. fatbastard

    fatbastard Member+

    Aug 1, 2003
    Lincoln (ish), Va
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    on top of this page? I see a telephone handset
     
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  10. NorthBank

    NorthBank Member+

    Arsenal; NYRB
    United States
    Mar 29, 2006
    Connecticut
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #335 NorthBank, May 15, 2017
    Last edited: May 15, 2017
    Yes this thread has a telephone symbol. Most of my other threads have $ symbols. I guess it's just some kind of thread type? Odd. But, aha, maybe that's the big net positive from this last upgrade?! ;)

    Edit: My snark was misplaced. See my "Edit" 2 posts prior.
     
  11. Knave

    Knave Member+

    May 25, 1999
    I'm trying to figure out whether you guys are all talking about the same thing, and whether I mentioned this too in my list above.

    Is this what you're all talking about, as seen in various aspects of the board?

    Main Forum List

    ScreenClip.png

    Sub-Forum Lists


    ScreenClip.png

    My Forums (Watched Forums)

    ScreenClip.png

    That's what I was pointing out in my list. I'm wondering if this is what you're asking about too.

    I do find without a visible most-recent thread name that I frequent forum and sub-forums less often. There's less to pull me in. No longer do I see a thread name in the various forum lists, think "that's what they're talking about now!," and click the forum link to read the discussion.

    What I don't get is that the software is already making a call to the database to retrieve a last post time date. If adding a thread title to that call is really too onerous (two pieces of information instead of one), then I think I'd rather see a thread title than a post time.

    That said, this functionality has been part of BigSoccer for ages, and it's part of every other forum I've frequented. The idea that it can't be implemented here now seems crazy to me.

    (Honestly, until now I assumed the omission of the most recent thread names was a (bad) design decision driven by the desire for a cleaner grid layout. If it is a design decision due to the grid layout, then we should dump the grid layout.)
     
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  12. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    I am also talking about something else: the forum/subforum where an unread post is should appear in bold (or, now, in blue), just as threads with unread posts do.
     
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  13. Knave

    Knave Member+

    May 25, 1999
    I understand:

    Compare this:

    ScreenClip.png

    With this:


    ScreenClip.png
     
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  14. JasonMa

    JasonMa Member+

    Mar 20, 2000
    Arvada, CO
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #339 JasonMa, May 15, 2017
    Last edited: May 15, 2017
    I was talking about what @blissett said. There needs to be some way in the forum lists to show that the forum has new posts since last time I visited/marked everything as read in that forum
     
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  15. Winoman

    Winoman Drinkin' Wine Spo-De-O-De!

    Jul 26, 2000
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You're expressing the same thought as Knave, but just saying it differently. A number of us have asked for the same thing, but in different ways.
     
  16. JasonMa

    JasonMa Member+

    Mar 20, 2000
    Arvada, CO
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    No actually, its two slightly different things. @Knave wants to see the last thread that has been posted in on the forum page. I want to see if any thread has been posted in since last I read the forum. For example,the MLS: Commish forum was last posted in on May 3rd. Knave wants to see the thread that was posted in on May 3rd on the forum page. I want the forum page to show there has been a new post since I read the forum, and then change somehow when I read that thread to show there are no new posts in that forum.
     
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  17. fatbastard

    fatbastard Member+

    Aug 1, 2003
    Lincoln (ish), Va
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    So slight difference - I would want the additional information about which thread (as we've always had previously), but even the visual clue that something, somewhere in there had changed would be nice.
     
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  18. Balerion

    Balerion Member+

    Aug 5, 2006
    Roslindale, MA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    On desktop using Chrome, clicking on the blue "go to first unread message" button doesn't load threads in a way that actually aligns with the first unread message if there are any previous posts on the page with embedded media like YouTube or Twitter.
     
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  19. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    I agree this is a problem, although I don't think it is due to the recent "upgrade", since I seem to remember that it used to happen with the previous version also.
     
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  20. sitruc

    sitruc Member+

    Jul 25, 2006
    Virginia
    Tweets are the worst offender. When tweets were initially allowed to be embedded, they were fit in a container, but the problem with that is that the container was often too small.
     
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  21. Mengão86

    Mengão86 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Flamengo
    Brazil
    Nov 16, 2005
    Maryland, RJ/ES/PE
    Club:
    Flamengo Rio Janeiro
    Nat'l Team:
    Brazil
    Not sure if this has been addressed, but there's a club "bug" for member profiles. My profile, for example, had text fields filled for my favorite club and NT. The new version of the forum didn't carryover those same text fields and created new fields for favorite club and NT, which are populated by logos. Look under my name in this post to see.
     
  22. JasonMa

    JasonMa Member+

    Mar 20, 2000
    Arvada, CO
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Thanks!!! Those new NEW icons fill the biggest hole in the new site.
     
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  23. Knave

    Knave Member+

    May 25, 1999
    Though they are a little garish.
     
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  24. NorthBank

    NorthBank Member+

    Arsenal; NYRB
    United States
    Mar 29, 2006
    Connecticut
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Sigh, if the only the powers that be were reading this thread any more...
     
  25. Knave

    Knave Member+

    May 25, 1999
    Yo, @dark knight!

    There, I fixed it, @NorthBank.
     

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