Move to a new forum system ?

JayGee · November 2020

They all suck, just in different ways and for different reasons. The editor occasionally reduces me to incandescent rage when I use it on my iPad (although that happens much less often than it used to) and linking pictures seems to fail in slightly different ways and for slightly different reasons every time I try to do it (although that probably has as much to do with third party image hosting as anything else, and I totally, totally, totally get why the people who are on hook for the bills don’t want to go down the road of holding images locally) but those things pale into insignificance compared with the disruption a change in platforms would undoubtedly bring with it...

MikeS · November 2020

I use the advanced search a lot, and that list down the left of special search tips and operator tools, If they're meant to work, then I've never been able to get them to work, but it's maybe just me. I'd love to know how to use them properly.

The ignore function is a bit iffy. I was so annoyed when I added someone to ignore and realised it deletes all the dodgy messages from them, which was the whole point in ignoring them. And now (because I have a life and/or I'm getting old) I can't remember what it was all about in the first place because I've no messages to remind me. A function to make notes next to a user would be handy.

It's also a bit upsetting to see certain people following other folks around LOLing each of their posts, it's sad, and basically bullying.

Apart from that the forums brilliant. Really simple to use. Love it. Oh, and I hate change.

Handsome_Chris · November 2020

octatonic said:

Emp_Fab said:

I think we've outgrown Vanilla - it's got too many bugs and ill-functioning features to continue with on a forum of this calibre.
I believe @digitalscream was planning on writing a new bespoke forum himself but I don't know any more on that front.

Lee... what other options are out there that could replace Vanilla ? Are they expensive ?

You won't be able to block Drew more effectively on another platform.

Of course, you're not actually anyone on tFB until you've been ignored by @Emp_Trump.

ennspek · February 2021

I'm not sure we need extra functionality for click bait threads. You seem to do ok @Emp_Fab ;

Emp_Fab · February 2021

It was a perfectly reasonable question given the many bugs in Vanilla. I actually like the layout and the look of it, but the editor bugs are annoying. Nice try at baiting though.

axisus · February 2021

The things I don't like:

The search function is absolutely terrible!
The inability to 'uncouple' from a thread that you started that just won't die!
I can't LOL myself*

Mostly I think that things are OK though.

*only joking

Emp_Fab · February 2021

There ya go. x

viz · February 2021

This is by far the best, simplest, cleanest, most attractive forum out there, and I’m not just talking about the users

TTony · February 2021

ennspek said:

I'm not sure we need extra functionality for click bait threads. You seem to do ok @Emp_Fab ;

Seems like an odd thread to bump back from the near-dead.

Is someone bored? Or has Emp got a stalker ...

digitalkettle · February 2021

viz said:

This is by far the best, simplest, cleanest, most attractive forum out there, and I’m not just talking about the users

Fixed!

Tannin · February 2021

viz said:

This is by far the best, simplest, cleanest, most attractive forum out there, and I’m not just talking about the users

I've used pretty much every forum package out there, going back to the days when the Internet was powered by camels and stone tablets. (Well, almost.) I'm a forum junkie. Have been for years. So from the point of view of a user, how does this one stack up against the others? It is as good as any, and better than most. Nicely presented, doesn't get in your road.

PS: Forum search functions such. Always have. Probably always will. The coding effort to translate what the average user is capable of typing into a searchbox into functional SQL is non-trivial. We are talking major expenditure here, and years of effort. If you want better search, use a search engine that has had those millions of dollars and years of effort spent on it. (I.e., Google, and one or two of the others aren't bad.) Forum software will never have search that works like a proper search engine.

PPS: On-line editing never, ever works as well as you'd like it to. That's not so much a matter of needing development time and money, it's more a consequence of the fact that the whole HTTP protocol was never designed for interactive use. Anything more than a short post is best done with a proper text editor.

ennspek · February 2021

TTony said:

ennspek said:

I'm not sure we need extra functionality for click bait threads. You seem to do ok @Emp_Fab ;

Seems like an odd thread to bump back from the near-dead.

Is someone bored? Or has Emp got a stalker ...

Stop stalking me!

poopot · February 2021

ennspek said:

TTony said:

ennspek said:

I'm not sure we need extra functionality for click bait threads. You seem to do ok @Emp_Fab ;

Seems like an odd thread to bump back from the near-dead.

Is someone bored? Or has Emp got a stalker ...

Stop stalking me!

Can you imagine... emps stalker... the only stalker to take out a restraining order

monquixote · February 2021

It's worth mentioning that the two parts of the forum that everyone complaints about the search and the editor aren't part of vanilla and are plugins.

prowla · February 2021

The current trend in forum redesign is to use some crap framework which has big square buttons, loads of whitespace, and a small area of the page to display the actual content, almost as if it's a hindrance having to include it.

Please do not go down that route!

A prime example is Money Saving Expert, where the forum page shows just 2 posts; how not to do an index page:

Also, do NOT let the page designers have 4k screens, because they will assume that all of the users do too.

Tannin · February 2021

^ Yes! Also, don't let the designers have telephones, because they will assume no-one uses real computers anymore. This is why they produce crap like the Money Saving Expert screen above - it is designed for mobile.

ennspek · April 2021

Emp_Fab said:

I think we've outgrown Vanilla - it's got too many bugs and ill-functioning features to continue with on a forum of this calibre.
I believe @digitalscream was planning on writing a new bespoke forum himself but I don't know any more on that front.

Lee... what other options are out there that could replace Vanilla ? Are they expensive ?

Nob.

springhead · April 2021

ennspek said:

Emp_Fab said:

I think we've outgrown Vanilla - it's got too many bugs and ill-functioning features to continue with on a forum of this calibre.
I believe @digitalscream was planning on writing a new bespoke forum himself but I don't know any more on that front.

Lee... what other options are out there that could replace Vanilla ? Are they expensive ?

Nob.

??

EricTheWeary · April 2021

prowla said:

A prime example is Money Saving Expert, where the forum page shows just 2 posts; how not to do an index page:

Also, do NOT let the page designers have 4k screens, because they will assume that all of the users do too.

You have the sense of being advertised at whilst there aren’t any actual adverts due to the huge strips of vivid colours. However, I recently posted on their forum and there are people who seem to know their stuff so I generally like it.

Enthused Digital run loads of guitar forums and they all seem dated and are splattered with ads. They look amateur especially compared to here yet these are money making enterprises.

[ The Gear Page, TDPRI, MyLesPaul, Strat Talk, Drum Forum,SevenString, Marshall Forum, Gretsch Talk, Squier Talk, Everything SG, Epiphone Talk ]
I wonder if their home spun look serves to make you warm toward them and feel less like you are being bombarded by ads. But I guess my point is I have yet to see another forum and think ooh that’s so much better looking than TheFB.

Hattigol · April 2021

ennspek said:

Emp_Fab said:

I think we've outgrown Vanilla - it's got too many bugs and ill-functioning features to continue with on a forum of this calibre.
I believe @digitalscream was planning on writing a new bespoke forum himself but I don't know any more on that front.

Lee... what other options are out there that could replace Vanilla ? Are they expensive ?

Nob.

You know Rule 1 would apply whatever the forum, right?

Grunfeld · April 2021

Dav275 said:

Only minor gripe I have is that the "quotes within quotes" on long threads can reduce the text down to a narrow vertical strip in the centre of the screen, especially when viewed on phone. Not sure this is a system problem though, or just peoples habits.

People generally don't snip quotes because they are lazy bastards. So you get the quotes within quotes er, "feature".

But if there is software which can fix being a lazy bastard then please sign me up.

Funkfingers · May 2021

axisus said:
The inability to 'uncouple' from a thread that you started that just won't die!

This.

On the Seymour Duncan User Group forum, the thread starter's editing tools include the option to close one's own thread.

For example, your question to the forum is, " where can I obtain spare parts for my obsolete vibrato bridge?" A couple of helpful replies later, the question is answered and there is no need for further comments. The thread might as well close.

Failing that, the ability to switch off thread notifications would help.

digitalscream · May 2021

Funkfingers said:

axisus said:
The inability to 'uncouple' from a thread that you started that just won't die!

This.

On the Seymour Duncan User Group forum, the thread starter's editing tools include the option to close one's own thread.

No, we don't let people close their own threads. Why? Because it lets people start arguments, then close the thread when things don't go their way. The result of that is other people starting their own threads to carry on the argument, and so on.

Also, scammers love to close their FS threads.

Funkfingers said:

Failing that, the ability to switch off thread notifications would help.

You can already do that. Go to your notification preferences, and untick "Notify me when people comment on my discussions". Then you just have to remember to bookmark your own threads.

At least, that's how it's supposed to work.

robinbowes · May 2021

Funkfingers said:

axisus said:
The inability to 'uncouple' from a thread that you started that just won't die!

This.

On the Seymour Duncan User Group forum, the thread starter's editing tools include the option to close one's own thread.

For example, your question to the forum is, " where can I obtain spare parts for my obsolete vibrato bridge?" A couple of helpful replies later, the question is answered and there is no need for further comments. The thread might as well close.

Failing that, the ability to switch off thread notifications would help.

This is about my only gripe - if I comment on a thread, I am doomed to receive notifications from it for eternity. I'd like to be able to turn off notifications on a per-thread basis.

Oh, and the search is a bit crap,

robinbowes · May 2021

Ah, and it should use https

Snags · May 2021

OP threads: I haven't done this (I don't start popular threads

) but you can turn off all notifications and then just selectively enable them by 'starring' a thread you create, I believe.

HTTPS. Check your address bar. I'm accessing the site via HTTPS ...

robinbowes · May 2021

Snags said:

OP threads: I haven't done this (I don't start popular threads ) but you can turn off all notifications and then just selectively enable them by 'starring' a thread you create, I believe.

HTTPS. Check your address bar. I'm accessing the site via HTTPS ...

Oh wow - it's changed, and I didn't even notice!>

Awesome job @digitalscream ;

R.

Jez6345789 · November 2021

For me it works fine and as says largely does not get in your way.

looking at others in both guitar and other hobbies this place feels like it already an upgrade

Thanks

prowla · November 2021

All I've seen from sites which have "upgraded" their forum engine is loads of stupid fripperies like big buttons & badges and wasted screen space, so that the actual content (ie. what you come her to see) seems almost like an afterthought.

If there is thought being given to looking at another system, I would urge the principal and overriding design decision to be the presentation of the content.

darthed1981 · November 2021

The forum is just fine as it is.

I love the idea that people are trying to be productive while busily prevaricating on the Fretboard....

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