Nice layout even though I enjoyed the old style of forum.

[Tom Westbrook]

Somehow, though, it looks a lot like buying a Scion

At least you didn't compare it to a Yugo!

My only concern now is that you've locked it into one commercial product and will need to keep it updated as it and technology changes. After 15 years as a data/database manager for a federal government agency (now retired)

That was one of the reasons for changing. We'd run into the same issues with the old software if MySQL or PHP or whatever back-end stuff changed significantly. At least with a commercial package we can blame the other guy and not me! But I suspect the vBulletin developers will be better able to keep up with changing technologies than I.

Thanks for the thoughts, and I think it is just a matter of settling in and getting used to things. We can try to quiet things down a bit with calmer, less cluttered 'skins', which I'm all for.

[bglick]

Certainly not nitpicking here, as like everyone else, i am grateful for all the hard work done.... but if there was one thing I found more efficient on the old forum was the ability to quickly view the subject matters listed on the Q&A page. With this system, many lines are wasted due to the short left/fright margins, all the detailed information on the posts, etc. etc. So, you spend more time scrolling down to find subject matter you want to read.

It's too bad the forum does not have a better interface to filter what forums appear on your screen... saving the forum ID's (which don't display on my system when moving mouse over them) into the saved URL's is resorting back to end users doing programing :-) But this feature was not available on the previous forum, but seeing all this sophistication I would have thought this was an obvious feature that should exist with easier interface.

On some forums, they have a very unique feature, whereas the threads which have recent activity gets moved to the top of the forum, as well as new posts...buy doing this, the forum always has the most active or new threads on the first few pages. I found this a very useful forum tool.

[Ralph Barker]

. . . On some forums, they have a very unique feature, whereas the threads which have recent activity gets moved to the top of the forum, as well as new posts...buy doing this, the forum always has the most active or new threads on the first few pages. I found this a very useful forum tool.

The "unified view" does this, listing threads with the most recent activity first. You have to click the link again to update its awareness of which threads you've viewed, and any new ones, however.

[David Karp]

Thanks for the hard work to everyone involved. I think the old software was magnificent, will miss it, and understand the reason for the change. I hope the actual changeover was not too traumatic (unexpected problems, etc.). It would be interesting to hear about any hangups and how you guys got around them.

[Ralph Barker]

. . . I hope the actual changeover was not too traumatic (unexpected problems, etc.). It would be interesting to hear about any hangups and how you guys got around them.

We've only encountered a limited number of member sign-in issues, so the conversion seems to have gone quite well. Bypassing the birth date question seems to cause problems for some folks. So far, it's unclear why. We may write a book (and sell the movie rights) about how we got around the problems, but we need to find the right guy to play Tom.

[Marko]

Ken - hopefully, it will grow on you, but not like a fungus.

Speaking for myself, it feels more like an itch - you scratch it a few times and it feels much better. ;-)

[grumble]

I also liked the old forum style much better. Less clutter, easier to navigate, but oh, well, I guess there was/is no choice anyway, so we'd better just get used to it.

[/grumble]

That being said, Tom et al did a great job within the limits of a commercial package.

[CXC]

Another vote for simplicity and less clutter.

Somebody remind me why I should like the presence of emoticons, one of the constant irritations of the net...

In the effort to keep up with technology, is there a way to make better use of wide screens? Almost half of mine is blank...

Here's hoping that the new system is soon as good as the old...

[Scott Knowles]

Tom,

Thanks for the response. I choose Scion from the flashy TV commercials. It's not a Yugo or a Scion, but just a metaphor (who makes those?) and the state of change these days. Let's hope vBulletin does stay progressive. I was only responding because I follow the axiom, "Simplify, simplify, simlify.", and 75+% of the software stuff I have I don't use, so much of the neat, nifty tools here are lost on me. But I notice it does have the most tools and features for the most people, so it benefits everyone, which is a good thing. It's one reason I retired, the software (data collection, processing and production) got so complex for the managers (me) and the users it was a fulltime job to understand it and the changes with the semi-annual updates. "Whew.", was always an understatement.

Does this make LF photographers contradictions? They like the traditional ways of photography but want the latest computer tools? Left and right brain thinking. What would those of the 1930's think of today's methods? And today's communications?

[Tom Westbrook]

A
Somebody remind me why I should like the presence of emoticons, one of the constant irritations of the net...

You think those are bad, you should see what we turned off! Makes even me shudder.

In the effort to keep up with technology, is there a way to make better use of wide screens? Almost half of mine is blank...

It's funny, but someone was complaining yesterday that the display was too wide for their 800x600 screen. I'm looking into it, but I expect it will take some experimentation to balance various needs & wants. That person suggested a floating width (instead of static width) based on browser size, which might work.

[David Karp]

We may write a book (and sell the movie rights) about how we got around the problems, but we need to find the right guy to play Tom.

Well, depending on Tom's age, how about Leo DiCaprio, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, or Paul Newman?

And who will play Ralph?