Welcome to the new PCV forum

[Dustydog]

Hi Andrew
Thankyou. Why then does Technical always stay at the top when say the latest post is on Our Website near the bottom? I accept the posts within a sub cataegory work ok . If the subs also flipped to the top when a new post comes up I just thought that could be more user friendly?

 

[AndrewEverard]

Thankyou. Why then does Technical always stay at the top when say the latest post is on Our Website near the bottom? I accept the posts within a sub cataegory work ok .

Ah right – you mean like this, where the most recently commented thread is at the top of an active topics list, regardless of which section it's in?
I can only assume it wasn't part of the spec for these forums, though of course I wasn't involved in that set-up procedure. It's certainly something we've specced for the revamp of whathifi.com, which will run on the same platform as this, so I am sure that in the fullness of time – most notably when JD is back from his well-earned and much-needed holiday – it can be rolled back into this site. Once we've got it to work over there, of course!

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Andrew
Thanks, you explain it better than me! LOL. It seems to me that the sections at the bottom are off screen so some people less familiar with the forum may not realise there is a post to read. Glad you are rolling out the same mechanism elsewhere.

What does everyone else think?

 

[Soozeeg]

I agree, DD. Or at least have a button saying 'read all new posts' or something like that.

 

[BedfordGeorge]

Being late to catching up with the new site, it had just crossed my mind that the Technical Section was staying at the top of the list, when I read Dustydog's comments. I have to say I agree with him, I do feel that with the present system, some of the sections will become marginalised, particularly the New Members which is at the bottom of the list. With the old system having the latest post brought to the top, it, for me, made me read some sections, that I may not have readily done. I hope that when JD returns, he will be able to modify the new site, to bring the latest posts to the top of the list.

Best regards,
George

 

[DerektheSecond]

ForumTopicsPostsLast post

Technical
Keep your pride and joy in tip-top condition
00M.I.R.O
by Mel
12 min 26 sec ago

General
Express your views and let off steam about general caravanning issues
00Help please!!
by steve56616
29 sec ago

UK parks & touring
Give and get recommendations for the best UK sites
00is it too ...
by Big S
31 min 59 sec ago

Overseas parks & touring
Travel tips for other enthusiasts
00Campsites ...
by gm4pgv
20 min 51 sec ago

Towcars
Recommendations for the best towcars
00n/a

Equipment & accessories
Swap advice about that essential piece of kit
00n/a

Towing, driving and safety
Getting to your destination safely
00n/a

Events, rallies and owners' clubs
What's on and news from the clubs
00n/a

Insurance, security and storage
Keeping your caravan safe and sound
00n/a

Our website
We welcome your feedback and ideas for the PCV forum and website
00n/a

Buyers' Guide: caravans
Share ideas and advice on choosing the best touring caravan
00n/a

Chit-chat
For non-caravan issues: jokes, trivia, gossip.
00n/a

New Members - Say Hello
Tell us a bit about yourself and your 'outfit'
00n/a
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[austin]

It looks like all of the posts have come back, which is nice.
We implemented a fair few changes to try and speed the site up a bit and some of these may have caused the odd hiccup for some reason. I'm also hoping that we have improved the speed though.
We do have some more tweaks in the pipeline as well.

 

[smiley]

Do you think they could put a few more posts per page?

There doesn't seem to be many on each page, more would be better.....

 

[DavidKlyne]

Clearly the changes in the forum are a step forward but it still does not have the usability of something like CT2 or T&T. However I think some small changes (he says as a non tech!) could benefit the users. Firstly I would reduce the size of the font on the index page so that you can see more of the sections when you log in and more of the threads in the individual sections. (even What Hifi seems to have a smaller font) Getting rid of the banner advert at the top would also make this possible. What would be really good would be to have the option of being able to see new posts since last visit. The forum is not particularly fast So being able to view just the new posts would enhance the experience.

David

 

[chelsea1]

I post on a lot of various forums but this one has got to be the slowest by far! Puts me off posting!

 

[Dustydog]

This website is temporarily unavailable. Please check back later.
Unfortunately there were no suitable nodes available to serve this request

Grrrrr??? It's usually the hole in the wall that gives me two fingers!

 

[Robtel]

This website is temporarily unavailable. Please check back later.
Unfortunately there were no suitable nodes available to serve this request

Grrrrr??? It's usually the hole in the wall that gives me two fingers!

Had the same "temporarily unavailable" message a few times now as well, usually after typing out a reply to a post with the end result that the reply is lost. That combined with the slow speed of the pages loading has meant that I haven't bothered reposting the reply.
Re the speed of the site, have to be fair and say that I think it has speeded up over the past couple of days.

 

[Soozeeg]

I've been getting the same 'temporarily unavailable' message quite a bit too, twice last night being the last time. The pages do seem marginally quicker to load now, though.

 

[Dustydog]

Excuse my IT ignorance , what is a "node"? The same as a nerd? LOL.

At least we know the bofins are really trying hard now. Hopefully the improvements wont be long.

 

[Parksy]

Excuse my IT ignorance , what is a "node"? The same as a nerd? LOL.

At least we know the bofins are really trying hard now. Hopefully the improvements wont be long.

As I understand it a 'node' in computer terms can have different meanings depending on which context it is used in.
Haymarket are using cloud computing to run this and their other websites I believe.
A 'node' can be a users computer or a central computer or network of computer terminals which have access to the cloud.
A 'cloud' is similar in some ways to a utility company. Users rent processing and storage from the 'cloud' in a similar way that we buy electricity from the power company via our electricity meters.
The 'node' in this instance could be a terminal at Haymarket and problems could stem from this or be caused by forum members own computer protection software blocking the data from the cloud.
When the 'Unavailable node' message appears if a click back on the green arrow doesn't work try clicking on the red text links at the foot of the forum page >>Home Page, then via the tab back to Forums.

 

[Robtel]

Re the speed of the site, have to be fair and say that I think it has speeded up over the past couple of days.

Er.......scrub that last comment, it seems to be on a go slow again tonight. Mind you it is Saturday night, Parksy has probably gone out for a few refreshments and forgot to stoke the boiler

 

[Soozeeg]

Yep, it's excrutiatingly slow again this evening. Think I'm off for the night to watch crap TV with a glass of apple juice in my hand ;o)

 

[DeliDave_]

X factor great eh wheres the smiley thing for sarcasm

 

[AndrewEverard]

The 'node' in this instance could be a terminal at Haymarket and problems could stem from this or be caused by forum members own computer protection software blocking the data from the cloud.

As I understand it, it's caused by the server running out of access points for users to get to the site, though of course this is exactly the problem cloud-servers are supposed to avoid. One of those mystery our site technical people and ops team are wrestling with at the moment.
FWIW whenever we have tried to launch te revamped version of whathifi.com on this platform, on several occasions now, it's fallen over completely before ever getting to the stage where this site is at now (ie working but with errors). The people providing our cloud hosting – in Texas, no less – seem as baffled as to why it is happening as we are frustrated.

 

[Parksy]

I don't want to unleash a storm of criticism Andrew but........
Your answer does rather beg the question why if the cloud host was shown to be unstable with whathifi.com have Haymarket persevered with this host and launched Practical Caravan on it? Several members have asked both on the forum and via email.

Just one example from several posing the same question:

What puzzles me is that their are several good forums out there that could form the basis of what this one should look like but it seems to have been decided not to follow the well proven way of doing things. Did anyone from here have a look at the other forums? Caravan Site Finder (part of Haymarket) have a forum which is under used but far superior to this one (old or new) This is what this forum should be like http://www.caravansitefinder.co.uk/forum/index.php?sid=5b1a74efba195af1bcb80cc09af85d90 It seems to me that you have taken the old forum as a model to create the new one and it has not really worked. This can be an excellent forum but its got a long way to go.
David

I have every confidence in the technical staff but they seem to have been placed between a rock and a hard place if it was already known that this particular cloud host is difficult to get working correctly.
Is there any possibility of Lord Hezza switching to a home grown cloud hosting service, preferably one that works?

 

[Soozeeg]

What he said! Don't understand all this cloud stuff, just want a forum that works properly. Other forums seem to.

 

[Dustydog]

Andrew Everard said
The people providing our cloud hosting – in Texas, no less – seem as baffled as to why it is happening as we are frustrated.

Forgive me Andrew I used to smoke Passing Clouds at college, I've been on Cloud 9, but isn't Texas a breeding ground for Bulls? LOL.
And there's me thinking Old Lord Hezza was a Patriot.

Keep smiling mate.

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

The people providing our cloud hosting – in Texas, no less – seem as baffled as to why it is happening as we are frustrated.

Why on earth with our inclement weather can't we use our own clouds? This is something we have in abundance in this country.
I've heard it all now, not only do we have to use Texan oil but now Texan clouds :O(
They even claim Hereford cattle as their own and believe they exported them to this country.

 

[Soozeeg]

Re all this stuff about forum or servers or whatever coming from Texas............is that why forum is soooooooooo slooooowwwwwwww in the evenings, coz it's coming from USA and everybody and his wife is online in USA as soon as they get out of bed? Timed out or got the 'no nodes' thing constantly last night, so was reduced to watching repeats of CSI, NCIS - oh wait, they're from America too! Funny how they don't work in slo mo then *winky sly grinning thing which we ain't got*

 

[NigelDonnelly]

It seems a bit faster getting around the site but I've been getting the same node things at times as everyone else. There are further speed and reliability improvements pencilled in for early in the week.
We'll keep you posted and value the feedback - sometimes things that work in the office don't translate well and so on in wider world of caravans...
Thanks again