New board format?

[FiReSTaRT]

I don't want to sound like I don't appreciate your effort, b/c I really do. However the only way the site will get even better is if members post their own impressions/suggestions/complaints and that's what I'm doing right now.
Ok, so Opera is not compatible with certain features of this forum software. I'm willing to accept that and I finally installed FF because of it. However, now you are saying that the ability to access the forums from the main site frame will be eliminated under all circumstances and I'd like to hear the reasons behind that decision because I consider that a major annoyance. I am also requesting for you to reconsider this decision (maybe make it a poll).

[dwessell]

Just to clarify, so that we're all speaking the same language.

What will happen, is when you click the link from the main page, to go to the forums.. Instead of it loading up in a frame like it does now.. It will go directly to the forums (http://straightrazorpalace.com)..

Are we talking about the same thing?

dw

[azjoe]

I'm running firefox 1.5.0.8 at 1280x1024, and when viewing PM's or posting in the forum the message area is larger than the space allocated for it, so the smilies and other stuff on the right are chopped off. There is a large empty space to the right of it that is maybe 1/5 of the screen wide, then you get to the shadow border, then another 1/5 of the screen beyond that.

Anytime I've had to compose a PM or posting I've had to open the frame in another tab to get enough real estate to see; PM's are particularly bad because the reply/forward buttons are off the viewing area if they're opened in the normal window.

I'll send you a PM with the URL to a screenshot so you can see what I'm talking about.

I wasn't able to view the url you pm'ed... I must need a login or something.

I tried 1280 and things still worked ok for me. If you're viewing inside the frame of the main forum, make sure you've clicked the "<->" button at the top-right of the screen to choose the wide format (note: people viewing @ 800x600 should click "||"). Make sure you have a recent version of javascript and that it's enabled. If all else fails, try upgrading to Firefox 2

I just changed the smilie area of the message editor to be 2 wide instead of 3-wide... that will help some (at the expense of making us scroll up to get to some of the smilies.)

Thanks for the PM letting me know that changing the smilie columns helped.

Also, I was finally able to view the screen capture you sent... are you sure you have the main site width selector set to "wide screen"? I could only get my screen to look like your screen shot when I selected the "narrow screen" setting. The selector I'm talking about is located at the top-right of the main site... the red circled area in the attached graphic. "||" is narrow, "<->" is wide. Let me know.

[FiReSTaRT]

Just to clarify, so that we're all speaking the same language.

What will happen, is when you click the link from the main page, to go to the forums.. Instead of it loading up in a frame like it does now.. It will go directly to the forums (http://straightrazorpalace.com)..

Are we talking about the same thing?

dw

Yes we are Dave. Unfortunately that will either force opening another tab automatically or will make going to the user gallery or the help files a much more involved process. In any case it will complicate using the site. The reason I downloaded and installed FF today was to avoid this.

[dwessell]

Ahh... I see now.. I don't think that many users are on the site and forums at the same time.. And I say this from looking at the logs extensively..

Perhaps what we'll do is create a wrapper just for you..

dw

Yes we are Dave. Unfortunately that will either force opening another tab automatically or will make going to the user gallery or the help files a much more involved process. In any case it will complicate using the site. The reason I downloaded and installed FF today was to avoid this.

[FiReSTaRT]

Dave, there are still plenty of people who use their galeries for showing off or posting razors/gear for sale. Then there are newbs who should be downloading and reviewing EVERY help-file there is lol. If that sort of a usage is so small that you can't find it in logs, then maintaining a special wrapper for a miniscule percentage of users may not be such a great idea.

[azjoe]

Yes we are Dave. Unfortunately that will either force opening another tab automatically or will make going to the user gallery or the help files a much more involved process. In any case it will complicate using the site. The reason I downloaded and installed FF today was to avoid this.

Actually, I'm pretty sure you're not. There are only three things on the site that open in an iframe (aka a wrapper) and that's the forum, the videos section, and the googlemap feature that was added a couple days ago. Ilija, none of the other things you're crusading for (galleries, help files, etc.) are even involved. The change David's talking about won't affect anyone very much much... you will still be able to load the main site, click the pull down menus to access everything you do now... it's just that things that currently open in the iframe will open in their own window (or tab, if you have a tab-capable browser). Since the majority of people view the forum in it's own window anyway, it's hard to appreciate how this could be such an overwhelming problem.

I'm really sorry that Opera doesn't work for you right now. As I've tried to get across to you, this is not something we (meaning David or I) are going to "fix"... no matter how much you complain. Joomla works the way it works and vBulleting works the way it works. These are two of the best pieces of software available for the functionality we need. We have some latitude in selecting options and configuring them... but we don't write the code and we're not going to fix the code. Eventually they (meaning Joomla, vBulletin, and the various browser vendors) will work out the problems... . In the meantime there are only two obvious choices... leave it broken (which you complain about) or disable the feature that doesn't work for you (which you complain about).

The path that works for this particular problem right now is to use a different browser and change the way you access the site for some things. The path that doesn't work is to complain and flame.

Please continue to ask questions, make suggestions, and bring problems to our attention that we may not know about. We welcome that!

I think we've been fairly responsive and addressed many problems successfully. Some have no immediate solution. Some we simply just don't have time for... remember, we all have responsibilities outside of SRP... Davids moving this week... I have a business that occasionally needs attention, etc. We do the best we can

[FiReSTaRT]

Joe, I am sorry if it appeared that I was trying to flame. I am very appreciative of your effort and here's where I am at now:
1) I accepted that Opera will not open the forums or pms in the main site frame and now I am contemplating whether I should use 2 windows to mess around with the forums and the other site features that i can't directly access while browsing forums or switch browsers until Opera people fix the issue. Therefore this has nothing to do with you.
2) The way I understood the proposed change, there would not be single-click access for the galleries/help files and that those features would require a window separate from the forums or two clicks to access. That is something that has nothing to do with the browser used to access the site. <-- Please correct me if I understood this one wrong.
Therefore I don't see any other points of contention and as far as I'm concerned there's nothing to complain about.

[John Crowley]

I have been busy changing jobs and trying to buy a house and have not been a pareticipant for a while. The new look is great! Good work!