I'm impressed with the new format.

[ProfJohnL]

Having spent some time now using the new forum format, the small number of issues I've encountered are more to do with learning the new system rather than problems with teh system, In fact the introduction seems to have gone extremely well, and that does show the IT team at Future have done a really good job.

The speed and apparent ease with which the change over was implemented was impressive, and it puts into sharp relief the effort the previous owners put into the forum maintenance.

Well done Future and Happy Christmas.

 

[Parksy]

Well said Prof, the team who migrated the forum to this new platform did a fantastic job

 

[paws]

I usually agree with most comments made by The Prof and Parksy....... However on this topic I couldn't disagree more.

I hope my comment will not be taken badly, but it does seem to me that the layout and format of our forum has been sadly compromised.

I have seen nothing that improves upon the previous set up and a lot that is far far worse, difficult to access, read and use.....I do wish that things had been left as they were.

I understand the need to alter things, ( new broom and all that) and the penchant for altering perfectly servicable existing arrangements to " improve" them... often the " improvement seems to be largely illusory.

It may well be however that the previous forum software had reached the end of its life and needed to be "updated" If that is so, then that is the price we have to pay and I can understand the reason for the decision to " update".

Anyway have a very Merry Christmas,
and as always
Happy Caravanning to all
Regards
paws

 

[Parksy]

I usually agree with most comments made by The Prof and Parksy....... However on this topic I couldn't disagree more.

I hope my comment will not be taken badly, but it does seem to me that the layout and format of our forum has been sadly compromised.

I have seen nothing that improves upon the previous set up and a lot that is far far worse, difficult to access, read and use.....I do wish that things had been left as they were.

I understand the need to alter things, ( new broom and all that) and the penchant for altering perfectly servicable existing arrangements to " improve" them... often the " improvement seems to be largely illusory.

It may well be however that the previous forum software had reached the end of its life and needed to be "updated" If that is so, then that is the price we have to pay and I can understand the reason for the decision to " update".

Anyway have a very Merry Christmas,
and as always
Happy Caravanning to all
Regards
paws

Hi Paws
It's a shame that you're not getting the best from this new forum platform.
If you let us know a bit more about the things that you are experiencing difficulties with we'll try our best to help.
Merry Christmas

 

[Dodger524]

By way of balance I must say that I find this site much easier and quicker to navigate around than the old site, it is also much clearer and easier to read IMO.

 

[Hobbyt600]

Forums based on Xenforo software have a fairly standardised look and feel, and the advertised benefits of the Xenforo ‘package’ are summarised here

https://xenforo.com/

It is possible to simplify how the forums look by clicking on the three vertical dots towards the top-right of the webpage, which will suppress the side-bar on the page’s right.

There’s no doubt that the ‘old’ forums were deficient when it came to posting material, with the Xenforo ‘new’ software providing adequate word-processing functionality and the ability to insert links and images easily.

 

[paws]

Hi Paws
It's a shame that you're not getting the best from this new forum platform.
If you let us know a bit more about the things that you are experiencing difficulties with we'll try our best to help.
Merry Christmas

Thanks Parksy, I am grateful for your courtesy and that you didn't jump on me from a great height in your reply.

It seems that some folks like the new forum layout etc and that's fine, I suppose I'm in the minority with thinking that its not a patch on the previous version...

I'm not actually having any difficulties with the new software, just find it visually less attractive, clunky in operation, and less user friendly and not at all intuitive..... and wish that they had left well alone!

However its important that the forum reflects the views of the majority and not just a few old dogs like me!

So I will pipe down and just wish everyone a very Happy New Year and of course
Happy Caravanning
Regards
paws

 

[Parksy]

The forum works in a very similar way to Facebook so for Facebook users the new format will not be unfamiliar.
Thanks for your valuable feedback Paws, the site admin would want to hear all points of view, not just those offering universal praise.
I must admit that at first I found this new format took a bit of getting used to, but it works quite well from my phone for me so I don't have to rely on my laptop as much as I used to.
I find the 'Latest Activity' segment very good for checking to see what's being discussed every day.
If there's anything at all that we can help you with Paws, please don't hesitate to ask 😊

 

[Dodger524]

I find clicking on the "New posts" feature on the top left a very helpful shortcut.

 

[Damian]

I am not one for change, generally.
However whilst at first I was sceptical about the new format , after playing around with the various features I am very happy with the way it all works.

As with any "new" thing it takes some time to get to grips with it, but in comparison to the old format this is miles ahead, especially for the tools that Parksy and I have to monitor the forum and sort out problems etc.

Quote " The forum works in a very similar way to Facebook"
That may be true , I have no idea as I have nothing to do with Facebook, as a lot of others do not either.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I usually agree with most comments made by The Prof and Parksy....... However on this topic I couldn't disagree more.

I hope my comment will not be taken badly, but it does seem to me that the layout and format of our forum has been sadly compromised.

I have seen nothing that improves upon the previous set up and a lot that is far far worse, difficult to access, read and use.....I do wish that things had been left as they were.

I understand the need to alter things, ( new broom and all that) and the penchant for altering perfectly servicable existing arrangements to " improve" them... often the " improvement seems to be largely illusory.

It may well be however that the previous forum software had reached the end of its life and needed to be "updated" If that is so, then that is the price we have to pay and I can understand the reason for the decision to " update".

Anyway have a very Merry Christmas,
and as always
Happy Caravanning to all
Regards
paws

Hello Paws,

I too often struggle when established systems are changed, and I suspect that we're not alone in that respect.

Sometimes it seems that some systems are changed just for the sake of change, and for me that is a very poor reason, but sometimes change is necessary for reasons that we mat not fully appreciate. There should always be a good reason before a change is contemplated, but importantly that doesn't mean you should stop looking in case you are missing a trick.

In this case, at least two factors were generating pressure for change. The first were some of the long standing issues like posting images to threads and no private messaging access, which were probably a combination of the policy of the previous owners, and the inflexibility of the forum software adopted by them.

The second pressure was the purchase of PC by Future, who by all accounts are a more media savvy organisation, and who have more experience of operating this type of forum. They would have difficulty in justifying the cost of supporting two forum engines, when the one they already used was superior and well known by their support team to the one that PC had been using.

I suggest you should try some of the ideas that have been offered, and if you're still having difficulties then as Parksy has asked, tell us in a bit more detail about the problem, and in particular tell us about the equipment i.e. phone, tablet Mac or PC, and the operating system you are using when you have the problem, as there may be some practical solutions.

 

[Clifford_374377114]

I completely agree with paws. I used to look several times a day - I haven't been on for a few days.
It is worse than Caravan Talk forum and thats saying someting.
Cliff

 

[Guzzilazz]

I completely agree with paws. I used to look several times a day - I haven't been on for a few days.
It is worse than Caravan Talk forum and thats saying someting.
Cliff

Hmmm, I find myself reading this forum, and skimming the junk in CT...

 

[Parksy]

For those who are not happy with the new format, it would be more constructive if you could let us know what it is that you dislike.
The old forum is gone now and it isn't coming back, but the community team are always open to suggestions which would make this forum more user friendly

 

[Mel]

The forums home page has 3 “sections”. When I get into one of them, say “CaravanDiscussions” I cannot find my way back to the Forums main page without going to the menu lines on the big top banner and then pressing “Forums”. (Hope this makes sense)This seems a bit clunky to me. Is there an easier way? I generally access the forum on my iPhone or iPad
Thanks
Mel

 

[Hobbyt600]

If you are looking at a forum thread, there should be a line at the top of the thread similar to this



Clicking on the word Forums should return you to the forums’ main page.

(Works on my iMac and iPad.)

 

[Mel]

Thanks. But if I click on a section in Caravan Discussions say Technical, then open a thread in Technical, then the top of the thread will have a <Technical option. If I click on this it will go back to the list of threads in Technical and above that will be < Caravanning Discussions. I click this and it will take me back to all the sections in Caravan Discussions. At the top of this will be the header Caravan Discussions. However there appears to be no way my back to the forums home page without using the menu button as I described previously. At this point I don’t see the message bar you are showing.
Mel

 

[Dodger524]

Close to the top left of this page you should be able to see a small menu (breadcrumbs) like this:



Are you saying that they don't show on your screen?

 

[otherclive]

If the phone is vertical you get a curtailed thread but pressing it takes you back to Forums. Horizontal phone and you see the whole thread as shown in above post.

 

[Mel]

Thank you. I have turned my phone horizontally and I see it now😀. Will try on my iPad when I get home.
Thanks again
Mel

 

[Thingy]

I have to say that I like the look of the new forum and its clean lines. Navigating around it is no problem and it wont take long for the less IT savvy to figure it out. If I have one criticism, and its a point I have already touched on is the lost content caused during the migration, especially in the photography section, and its not just Photobucket, I use village photos and my images are gone too. For the sake of the look of the forum, it would perhaps be better to wipe the content of the particular section and lets start it from scratch. I for one hate to see broken links on a website and that section has a mass of them.

 

[Parksy]

I'll have a look later Thingy, I'm just off out to pay this months caravan storage fee and I may be a little while.
I can easily keep an eye on forum happenings via my phone, but it's a lot easier to tidy things up via my laptop at home 😊

 

[Thingy]

Hold your horses on that one. I am seeing photos now. Confusing or what.

 

[Hobbyt600]

Some images now display that previously did not, others still do not display - and some of the images that previously displayed OK are now inverted (some of your Trip to Bunree photos for example).

One of the risks of a software revision and where data are hosted elsewhere.

 

[SHaines]

Hey again, folks!

We are keeping an eye on the feedback from folks on the forums. I agree with the general consensus that change for it's own sake is not good for anyone. In this case, that definitely wasn't involved here.

The old forum software was much older, it was fairly inexpensive, and served the basic needs of most users. We discussed just leaving things as they were, but in the end, we didn't want to simply leave the forum alone because it was easier.

It's a very modern world wide web out there and creating an environment that can scale up for growth, but also be very secure is incredibly important. Xenforo is newer, has substantially more active development by the official team, as well as by folks who create add-ons, and added a ton of extra functionality we thought would be helpful.

Hosting images locally was something often asked for. It was impossible before, but it's good to go now.

Having a way to directly message other users would be incredibly helpful for folks looking to discuss the sale/trade of previously owned items.

I mean, I was a fully empowered Admin on the old forums and I couldn't change my own forum name. I could turn off and delete the forums with just a couple buttons, but a name change was out of reach?

Parksy and Damian have been incredible moderators for the forums for years and we wanted to be able to provide them with tools to help the community grow into the future.

I'm very happy with how things turned out after the migration, but we'll listen to all the feedback and make changes where we can.