Has F-chat lost it's feel | FerrariChat

Has F-chat lost it's feel

Discussion in 'Other Off Topic Forum' started by mr. green, Nov 3, 2003.

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  1. mr. green

    mr. green Formula Junior
    BANNED

    Oct 31, 2003
    263
    I'm not trying to be negative here, The new board seems like it has lost some of
    it's Intimacy. How do you feel?
     
  2. Allen S.

    Allen S. Formula Junior

    Mar 16, 2001
    512
    Morgan Hill, CA
    Full Name:
    Allen / AKA tCoupe
    I think the new forum is a big improvement. We'll find it more user friendly as we go.
     
  3. PeterS

    PeterS Four Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Jan 24, 2003
    47,933
    Goodyear, AZ
    Full Name:
    PeterS
    Green..I am glad you feel this way. Maybe you will not like it enough to move on and bug another forum.
     
    greg512tr likes this.
  4. fanatic1

    fanatic1 Guest

    Nov 1, 2003
    561
    columbus
    Full Name:
    philip
    Green, I think is correct on the surface......mainly just because in the old forum, everyone "knew each other"....that feeling will come here also. With the post histories gone, and the "real names" gone, there is more of an anonymous feel.......but that will be self curing......I do hope we get to see the real names of people under our "handle"...it was always nice to see Bruce's name in a post, and also, I watched for posts by Mr. Glickenhouse. I knew that if he was commenting, it must be a worthwhile thread, and I looked forward to seeing what he wrote.........I think that will happen again as we get accustomed to everyones new name.......
     
    greg512tr likes this.
  5. Ferrari_UK

    Ferrari_UK Formula 3

    Dec 6, 2002
    1,277
    England
    Full Name:
    Jeff Howe
    It's just a matter of time....Full marks to Rob for his time, dedication and enthusiasm !
     
  6. West777

    West777 Formula Junior

    Aug 28, 2003
    311
    lol. The only problem is there are some glitches that need to be worked out. But thats like any new site. I also think the site is a big imporovement. There are more functions, and it looks better. Like Allen S. said, we'll find it more user friendly as we go. I think Rob has done an excellent job, and it amazes me how much dedication he has to this site.
     
  7. JimSchad

    JimSchad Guest

    I guess change is good, but seems to me this thing is now overly complicated and busy with buttons, switches and options. I need to spend some time on here to get it set up the way I want it. Just afraid some users who are less computer savy will be scared away or frustrated.
     
  8. ART360

    ART360 Guest

    I don't know about this. I guess, better the devil you know, than the one you don't. I'll suspect I'll get used to this new board, but it just seems a lot more formal, and more difficult to use. Time will tell. There certainly are a lot more features.

    Art
     
  9. fanatic1

    fanatic1 Guest

    Nov 1, 2003
    561
    columbus
    Full Name:
    philip
    On this note, what was the main reason for the switch to this new software.......was there something missing from the old board......certain things that many people or Rob needed that was not possible with the software....just curious
     
  10. BWS550

    BWS550 Wants to be a mod

    Apr 1, 2002
    8,933
    NEW JERSEY
    Full Name:
    BRUCE WELLINGTON
    PHIL....GOOD QUESTION..

    I HATE CHANGE ,,,,WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THE OLD WAY?? WHO NEEDS THE SMILEY SIGNS OR PRIVATE EMAIL SECTION??

    ANYWAY, ROB...THANKS FOR THE EFFORT...BETTER YOU THAN ME

    BRUCE
     
  11. MarkCollins

    MarkCollins F1 Rookie
    Owner

    Jul 2, 2002
    3,202
    South England
    Full Name:
    Mark Collins
    Bruce

    Nice to see the CAPS still work though :) :D
     
  12. BWS550

    BWS550 Wants to be a mod

    Apr 1, 2002
    8,933
    NEW JERSEY
    Full Name:
    BRUCE WELLINGTON
    THANKS MARK

    I DO IT JUST TO PISS OFF DOODY :)

    BRUCE
     
  13. ILuv4Res

    ILuv4Res F1 Veteran
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Aug 8, 2002
    6,529
    Full Name:
    Fred
    Hmmmmmm, I'm trying to reply to this thread, but because this board is so darn confusing now, I don't know if anyone will ever read this.

    Anyways, many thanks to Rob for investing such time & dedication to this site. Please don't take my comments personally because I do appreciate everything you do. But, I miss my old friend "Ferrari Chat".
     
  14. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
    59,407
    Southlake, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Lay
    Top Ten Reasons I Switched for the Tenth Time :)

    1) 3,500+ users was busting the old software at the seams. The board wasn't database driven, so we were getting corrupt pages and remember those file locking messages now and then? Any more growth (which is a given 100-200 a month) and it would of been major problems. I was one of the largest boards running the old software. The new software is run for communities with 100k+ users with no problems. It's a little slower now, but that will improve as I make changes and the developers of the software improve it. vB2 is much faster than this, We're using vB3, which is just in the final beta stage, so it's only going to get better.

    2) Allow more personal customizations... sort order, style templates (we already have 4 color combos and will add special styles with larger fonts for example in the future), allow everyone to PM (even AOL users), individually block other users, rate threads, and use BB codes... many others.

    3) This software is supported by a company with many employees. It's the industry leader and appears to have the legs and support to be long lasting. The previous software was developed by a kid as a college project and he does it part time now. Also, no one supports conversion of Discusware to any other software, however, since vB is one of the most often used, if something in the future comes out better, then there will be an easy conversion where old posts and users are automatically integrated with the new software.

    4) Expanding on the previous, because vB is the most common forum software, more people are familiar with it than the old software. For every one of you *****ing I had 5 *****ing that they didn't know how to work Discusware because they were use to vB type boards.

    5) There is a large customization community around vB. vB3 is new, so not yet, but if you can think of it, someone will eventually create a customization. For example, on Kenny's vB2 board they had a very cool trivia game.

    6) Ties in with the number of users, but eventually this software will be much faster than the old.

    7) Easier and more administrative controls to make my job easier.

    8) More controls in place to control wayward users.

    9) Ability to create various levels of users with various permissions.

    10) TO PISS BRUCE OFF! :D

    Integrated Calendar and I'll let other users familiar with vB throw out other reasons. I've never seen a group of adults ***** and moan like some are. You should thank me! You're joining the 21st century and you'll be more computer savvy! :)
     
  15. vraa

    vraa F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    Oct 31, 2003
    3,494
    Texas
    Full Name:
    Mr. A
    Bruce, it seems as if everyone wants to tick you off. May it be known I'm on your side. So.. ever driven a mbworld.org G-Wag?... with the .50 cal? ;)
     
  16. ART360

    ART360 Guest

    On reflection, Rob has done a great job, but us old guys have difficulty in learning a new deal. I guess I'll learn, but I still like the old format. I think that our real names should be shown, because just the screen names takes away from the board, but let's see what happens.

    Art
     
  17. KennyH

    KennyH F1 Veteran
    Owner

    Aug 13, 2001
    5,238
    NYC
    Full Name:
    Kenny
    I *BELIEVE* Rob is looking into this- it's not very hard, just another value in the Profile to add to the User..
     
  18. Jerrari

    Jerrari F1 Veteran

    Jul 24, 2001
    5,463
    Michigan
    Full Name:
    Jerry Wiersma
    I agree with Jim, Art & Bruce...too complex for us non-computer savy guys. It's like a VCR, you just want to watch movies on the damn thing, you don't want to have to learn how to tape a show on channel 8 while you're watching channel 5!
     
  19. Agent Smith

    Agent Smith Formula 3

    Apr 20, 2002
    1,569
    I like the new format. I especially like the "ignore" feature to block certain posters (green) messages. Not going to mention any names though....
     
  20. DropGems

    DropGems Formula Junior

    Nov 4, 2003
    407
    Atlantic City, NJ
    I just liked the simple look/approach of the old board and reading the threads from the bottom up, it was unique.
     
  21. bobafett

    bobafett F1 Veteran

    Sep 28, 2002
    9,193
    Drop; you can set it to read the other way arounfd. In fact, I think I am going to do this...

    --Dan
     
  22. wax

    wax Five Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa

    Jul 20, 2003
    51,459
    SFPD
    Full Name:
    Dirty Harry
    Which is more complex? The old board is.

    This longass post covers how complicated the old board actually was, and what features were missing.

    Reading posts:

    No more scrolling down to the bottom to see the first post - then scrolling up past the bottom of a longass reply to get to the beginning of that reply, then scrolling up past said longass reply again to get to the next one...

    If you want to go bottoms up, by all means, select that option. But at least now there is an option.
    _________

    "But the old board was simple" Wrong
    "Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis? What fer I need all dem newfangled buttons?"
    Ho, ho, ho. I think most folks are spooked by "all dem newfangled buttons" below each post on whatever topic they're reading.
    But the new board has turned what used to be multiple steps on the old board into one step. Here's how:

    There's only 8 buttons - at most. 2 can be turned off. The order doesn't change from one post to the next, or one topic to the next. Though two can be removed by users via their profile page, and one can be made smart or dumb.
    The order of those buttons is:
    Online Status ----- (can be made to be in invisible mode by user - otherwise, Golden hue means that user is online.)
    Profile
    Private Message ----- (can be turned off by user - therefore button will be gone)
    email ----- (can be turned off by user - therefore button will be gone)
    Search (for posts by that user)
    Buddy (Add to List - or put on Ignore)

    Add to Reputation (X)
    Edit
    Reply (with quotes - muahahahaaaa!)


    Profile is one step away as it has been for some time.

    Private Message used to be: click on name - click to send a private message. Now it's 1 step.

    email used to be - click on name to go to profile - click to send an email. Now it's 1 step - heck, users can easily turn it on and off if they like.

    You want to search for posts by the user?
    Click "search" underneath their post - *voila* you're done in 1 step.

    The old board: Hahahahahaha (Go to the old board via the archives)
    Hit Search:
    Search for: wax
    Look in: names of authors

    Result after a long wait:
    Your search found 710 posts on 549 pages in 16 topics.
    DesChat.com
    General Ferrari Discussion
    Technical Q&A
    Vintage (1969 and earlier)
    Racing Fans
    Collectables, Literature, & Models
    Other Italian
    Showroom
    Off Topic
    FerrariChat.com Southern California
    FerrariChat.com New York Tri-State
    FerrariChat.com Florida
    Other Areas
    General Ferrari Discussion Archives
    Technical Q&A Archives
    Off Topic Archives

    Open any one of those - guess what - it's just in order of most recent post by *anybody* who posted in that Discussion area - you'll have to hunt through there to find my posts. Ridiculous.

    Again, 1 step on the new board to see what somebody posted anywhere, anytime - just push the button

    Buddy List? The old board didn't have one.
    Add to Reputation? I think my reputation still sucks. Still, the old board didn't have one.
    Edit? That option remains the same at one step.

    Reply? Now you can quote chatdud/ett/es and make 'em eat their words n' stuff a lot easier.

    It's easier this way - Honest.

    After a bit, those buttons become almost invisible, much like a whole lot of little things in your home, office or car that you used to stare at and wonder if it'd explode.

    So, you see - no more hunting and pecking for profile or private-messaging or emailing or posts by or whatever regarding a fellow f-chatter. It's one click away.

    ________

    Perhaps a user's Name will be part and parcel of what's Openly Broadcast again - perhaps not. If you really need to know somebody's name - click on their profile. You'll remember. That's the way the smartest sites do it. Smart sites respect privacy.
    You see, you have to be logged in to see a member's Openly Disclosed Information. Personally, I consider that a good thing. Your "personal" info isn't broadcast to Google and neither is mine.

    PS - if you haven't updated your profile - click on User CP on the top right - select Profile. While you're at it - choose your Options.

    ______
    Some folks are worried about new users coming in "at all" after fees are implemented - when they see that users are addressing each other in familiar use of those first names you already know or remember by clicking on profiles and so forth - they'll want to be part of it. That's human nature. Human nature is also resistant to change - but the feel of this place will grow on you. The old board did for those who'd never used one before - and it was more complicated.

    1 small step for F-Chat, 1 giant leap for F-Chat-kind
     
  23. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
    59,407
    Southlake, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Lay
    User CP - Options

    I'm reading it right now how I like it and always have. :)
     
  24. vraa

    vraa F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    Oct 31, 2003
    3,494
    Texas
    Full Name:
    Mr. A
    Sir, you are the greatest and I have the utmost respect for you but I just had one thing to change. Google's spiders will NOT crawl through all the vbulliten forums (as last time I checked) unless you specify in the templetes some additional code. That information is for sure for phpBB and vbull 2.3.x. It might've changed for vbull3 but I doubt it.
     
  25. gordo

    gordo Karting

    Feb 19, 2003
    220
    United Kingdom
    Full Name:
    Gordon W Ash
    It is definately very different from the old system but I think it is simply a case of familiarity.

    Good job Rob

    Gordo
     

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