Maybe this has already been addressed and I just missed it. I sure hope this new format was necessary and not just someone's need to rearrange the furniture because they need a change or because it is easier to link up with Facebook or twitter. I really enjoyed the old format. It was much easier to read and navigate. The contrasting colors were helpful and seemed appropriate to the subject matter. I'm not bitching - just venting a little if there's a difference. I'm all in favor of progress but I'm just not getting it from this new look. I hope others are having a better time than I am. I'm glad the site is still here, though, but ***? I'm now thinking maybe I need carpet and curtains in the cab of my excavator and maybe some potpourri. Maybe I should "Post a Poll" about what people think of the new format.
ps I really appreciate all the help and camaraderie I've received from people here and am glad if I have helped anyone but I'm not here to be "liked" so please keep my "likes received" at 0. I probably didn't need to say that but just in case. If I need someone to "like" me, I'll go on a dating site. It's a sad day in the dirt when it comes to crapola like this.
I will jump on the bandwagon. I am not excited about this change at all. Why is change always considered to be "BETTER"? Oh well, love the site, so I will get used to it.
Grady.. I am the same way.. when you log in click your name on the right hand side.. there is a spot marked prefferences for alerts.. Just zero them all out.. There is also a thread by admin, in general industry questions, about the new site..
Eh...Ya, different look, and a bit different to navigate, but it's all fine...I'll get use to it. Forums change it up every now and then and that's OK. At least it's not MS that shoots out an update and FORCES one to accept, reboots and restarts. THAT jacks me up every time. I was gone for 10 days and half way through, MS forces an update, reboots and shuts down our IP security cam software, had to be restarted locally. That was a GRRRRRR!!! moment.
Don't worry, nobody likes you anyway. LOL. Just kidding. The reason for "likes" is that you like what advice a person said. It means that you agree with the advice given. On other forums that I'm on, when they switched XenForo, I hated it. Turns out that it's much better forum software than V-Bulletin. Give the Admins some time to configure the settings. Pretty sure that the spam controls are better, probably the reason why they chose to change the forum software.
It's still a work in progress, but yea it was necessary. The old software was just obsolete, we held off as long as we could, but things like security risk, spam control, and many other important factors just made it something we had to do. I know change isn't always easy, but there are people out there who seek out forums that stay on obsolete software and take advantage of that, and at a certain point you just become a sitting duck. I hope @Grady and everyone else who finds the changes difficult will give us the benefit of the doubt and stick with us. Thanks!
One thing for the bug/change list is the inline pictures are now thumbnails, and the zoom (pop-out) function is still smaller then it was before
Auen, Thanks for confirming that for me although I was pretty sure that was the case. ; ) I realize it means you like or agree with the advice given but it might inhibit some good advice as well. A lot of good advice is something that people don't want to hear and won't like when they do hear it. Doesn't mean it wasn't good advice. I'll suffer through it - unless I just can't deal with it - but you can count me as not "liking" the new look. Was this the best we could do? It feels like someone pulled the cushion off my seat and replaced it with thorns.
It will get better. I'm guessing the "old look" will return pretty quick.. It's just gonna take a little time..
pumpguy, I checked out that thread you referenced and read where they were bragging about the similarity to Facebook - who knew? - While some may find that appealing, it makes me want to puke. Different strokes, I guess.
Geezz @Grady Maybe give these guys a chance to configure the site before you start your bitching.... :-(
Seems like once it's "configured" it's written in stone. Seems to me, the time to bitch is now. Once it's done, it will be too late. If everyone is happy about it becoming a glorified gossip site like Facebook then that's OK by me but I'm at least going to weigh in. I thought this was America and everyone had a right to their opinion - or is this Russia or China now? It's getting harder to tell.
I don't think you're being quite fair with us there. We've always been pretty responsive to what the community here asks for. At least I think we have. I say it at about every opportunity I get--It's our members that make the site as good as it is. Everybody's shared interest in heavy equipment, and their willingness to reach out and help solve problems others might be having, or just plain discuss interesting things--None of that should change just because of the version of the software that makes it run, or the color of the text and the background. I'd wager that most of our members would still be here if this software was running when they first found the site, because it wasn't the colors and the gizmos that made them join and stay, it was the content and the people. That having been said, I'm with you on the social media aspects. I don't do Facebook or Twitter, and I hate the whole "like" me thing that pervades so much of social media. That's not why I'm here, and just because it's a feature of the new software doesn't mean that I have to let it define my experience here.
I don't know how the configuring process works but if it's as involved as it sounds, I figure you'd rather do it once than twice or multiple times. I wasn't trying to be unfair - just honest. Since nobody asked us members what we wanted or didn't want, I was just voicing my opinion and I'm glad we are on the same page with the social media thing. It may be popular with some but this is a heavy equipment site and a damn good one - not a personality or popularity contest. That "like" stuff doesn't belong here - save it for what people think of my grand-daughter's prom dress. I just hope the new and improved version is as good as the old one. I wish some of the new heavy equipment with all it's bells and whistles was as good as the old stuff, too.
Not sure if I just missed it or its back but we can put images in; either thumbnail or fullscreen (gives option at time of doing them). So its getting there and yes definite faster reloads/refreshes. I also like that the ads don't smear themselves on the sides as before and so far as I have seen highlight every word for a link some-wheres. Reason for me having the fullscreen is I lurked quite a while before joining, can't tell you how many forurms I'd joined just to get one or two bits and beyond that one post the site lacked content (not the case here). So when having some issues and being able to do some searches and see some of the data (because it was fullscreen-inline) I found myself coming back (because typically to pull a thumbnail big requires a site login). Thanks, Keep moving forward
Couple questions: 1. Will the previously attached pictures go back to full size eventually? If not, how should I post future pictures to be full size and not thumbnails. 2. Also on the existing post the "attachment" paperclip icon is missing. This to me is like selecting a Craigslist ad without a picture Just not as fun! Thanks for the upgrades, it wont be long and it will be the new norm.
X-ray.. VERY KOOL AVATAR..
Yes, the list looks quite bland which I don't mind but we use to hear of a lot of people couldn't figure out how to post a photo. It is really easy now.
Not too hard to figure out. Not as many questions on each page, so, you must go to the next page sooner and guess what, look at more ads! All about advertising money nothin else.
If you don't want to support the forum by viewing ads, look at a browser ad blocking add-on. I sometimes use https://adblockplus.org/
Yair . . . . I doubt the folks who own this site make a lot from it. I have no idea what revenue the ads generate BUT I am in the throes of having a small blog built and judging from that I would imagine the heartache and disruption the guys are putting up with from our collective whingeing about the new format is also costing them big money. As I mentioned on another thread the I.T. folks include a lot of features because they can and tend not to listen to folks who use the product and want less bells and whistles and a basic bullet proof system . . . I still have one computer running XP, it does every thing I need to do and I resent the fact on the new machine I have to go to Win ten. Our twenty five year ( I think) old Red Imac still works just fine, has never had an upgrade but of course there is no support and we don't have it on line. Hopefully in time the problems on this site will be resolved more or less to everyone's satisfaction. Cheers.