We Are Listening!

The new discussion forum is a work in progress:

1. I just added a header to the page so Roadfood Insiders can access their photos
2. The background has been changed to match the old forum
3. The font size was increased by 2 points so it is more readable

More to come over the next 48 hours, including some added perks for Roadfood Insiders.

Stephen

Thank you, Steven. Now, If we could only get the "active forums" item back...

Happy Holidays, and Cheers, John 

John, the Active Topics formatting change is going to take quite a bit of coordination with the forum software company to make it work.  It is a big priority for me, but a few more things need to stabilize before we can tackle that project.

UPDATE - Subscription preferences have been successfully migrated.

UPDATE - White space has been significantly trimmed down on short posts.

As long as you're listening, Why am I having so much trouble with the site remembering my log in credentials?
I'm doing everything correctly but still have to log in manually each time I visit.

Are you selecting the check box to remember your credentials?

If you still are having a problem, you might want to try removing ALL of your cookies associated with Roadfood.com and start from scratch.

BTW, the login screen on the Main part of Roadfood.com is completely different than the Forums.  Eventually they will be linked, but that is lower on the priority list.

Stephen,

Will Avatars be turned on?  The link is dead when I try to add one.

jrp

JRP, I don't anticipate having Avatars on the Roadfood forums.

How about signatures? 

These guys may be interested.

Stephen, thanks for all your hard work...while I'm still not crazy about the new look...it's starting to look more like the old...and that's good....but those "stars" are so AMEMIC!!!!!

Change is always depressing for people, some, more than others.
But, I am getting the hang of this new message board and it is going to be better than the old forum, "I Gaarunteee"

Six monthsfrom now if there was a change backward, you would the same cry of foul.
That is not to mean people should not speak out.  I am sure those suggestions are what helps Stephen Rushmore build a great forum. I say, keep up the good work Stephen.

By the way, when I clicked Spell Checker I never seen no yellow hilighting of spelling errors. "I Gaarunteee, there was one".

I posted the following in the "Insider" forum. This seems like the more appropriate place.

The main gripe I have is that the fonts are now largish compared to the old board software, and all of the tables and cells are very bloated. Basically, the old forum's displays sat comfortably in my laptop screen, and now the forum takes much more effort to scroll through. There's a ton of white space now where before the layout was nice and tight.

You see much less material at a glance. And you need a gigantic monitor resolution to easily use the forum. This makes the forum much less usable, in my very strong opinion.

Also, there may be a problem with fonts when posting. See "NYPizzaNut's" message at the end of this page about the Grecian restaurant:

http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/Where-to-eat-in-Dayton-Ohio-North-of-Middletown-m379488-p7.aspx

This large font, probably posted in error by the user, ruins the readability and is irritating in the middle of the thread. I realize that users can set the font they want to use, but it almost seems like a mistake caused by misunderstanding the font controls.

A friend of mine is a web developer and one of the things that he stresses continually is "tight" design - a minimum of unnecessary white space.

This stuff can probably be tweaked easily in the accompanying CSS style files. In fact, I  object much less to the larger fonts than I do the excessive blank space everywhere.

I guess the features of this forum can be "tweaked" in software. I found you can find other sites running this software package by entering the following string into a search engine:
ASPPlayground.NET Forum Commercial Version 3.2

If I get a chance this weekend, I will see if I can find some sites that have more of the features we liked from the old board.

Thank you, Stephen for increasing the font size.  I can now read what others have written.

Stephen,

I am familiar with similar forum software and think this is a winner.  I have a couple nits on the "All Forums" view.

I think the column width for the Forum Description is too wide and dominates the view.  As a consequence, the column width for the Last Post is too narrow and does not allow a full view of the topic.  If the software allows it, it would also be extremely useful if the last 3 or 5 posts for each forum could be shown. 

Thanks for listening,

Jim

I'd suggest less new tabs ... seems everything I click opens a new tab.

Right now I have 11 RF tabs in my Firefox browser.

Question:  How do you get the thumbnail photos to increase to a size I can see?  I have clicked on them but nothing happens unless I click "Back" and then click "Forward".  Am I missing something?

Also I really hate the verification feature when I sign in.  I hate this at every site that requires it.  The fact that it is deliberately distorted and hard to discern makes no sense to me.  It's more like a test of my ability to read a cryptic code than a verification of who I am.  The "J" looks like a "1" sometimes.  What's the point?

Sandy, the point of the code is it keeps spammers from loading up the site with stuff we do not want.  It does require a visual and it is not a test of your skills but it will definately challenge computer generated spams.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Part 2:  I found that my profile gave my real last name without permission.  I don't think that's a good idea.  I deleted it but I think folks should be aware of that.

Also, I clicked back trying to get to the forum menu, and it took me back to the log in page with a different crptic code (angry-faced icon if I could find how to add it) but when I ignored it, it let me click forward and I was still signed in...confusing.

After I figured out on the first day I had to go into the forums to login I have no complaints about this new software. I think it's a great improvement, just takes some time to get familiar with.

test

Thanks, Paul.  Now it makes sense, but sometimes it's difficult to discern.
 
Sandy

Sandy, you are welcome.
 
Paul E. Smith
knoxville, TN

I'm surprised there isn't anything to distinguish insiders from non-insiders.
Do you plan to add that to the posters username as on the old format?

Stephen,
Is the "signature" going to be activated?
I tried, and every time, it never shows up.
I do like the new site so far, and it just takes time getting used to it, but I give it a thumbs up.
 

 
And thank you for all the hard work that you and the others have put into Roadfood.com.

donw9876


I posted the following in the "Insider" forum. This seems like the more appropriate place.

The main gripe I have is that the fonts are now largish compared to the old board software, and all of the tables and cells are very bloated. Basically, the old forum's displays sat comfortably in my laptop screen, and now the forum takes much more effort to scroll through. There's a ton of white space now where before the layout was nice and tight.

You see much less material at a glance. And you need a gigantic monitor resolution to easily use the forum. This makes the forum much less usable, in my very strong opinion.

Also, there may be a problem with fonts when posting. See "NYPizzaNut's" message at the end of this page about the Grecian restaurant:

http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/Where-to-eat-in-Dayton-Ohio-North-of-Middletown-m379488-p7.aspx

This large font, probably posted in error by the user, ruins the readability and is irritating in the middle of the thread. I realize that users can set the font they want to use, but it almost seems like a mistake caused by misunderstanding the font controls.

A friend of mine is a web developer and one of the things that he stresses continually is "tight" design - a minimum of unnecessary white space.

This stuff can probably be tweaked easily in the accompanying CSS style files. In fact, I  object much less to the larger fonts than I do the excessive blank space everywhere.

 
I think the link you refer to was entered large by the poster, since we have the option to size  our letters and has nothing to do with the RF logistics.
 
(the large font above was just for example, and not meant to be sarcastic)

 

I am finding more and more, that it is easy to maneuver within and to forums.
I do wish the background would change from the blinding white.

Stephen

Thank You for adding the Upload photos link back to the page. 

I know you are "snowed" under right now with the upgrade, but WE DO appreciate EVERYTHING you are doing to make this site a better place.

sometimes i can log on, sometimes i can't.... ie reports a page error and the login button doesn't work. great upgrade.......:(

great... when i click the "reply to message" button, it takes me to the top page in the thread. 
 
 
 actually, i've found that the only way i can post anything is by using the quick reply box at the end of any thread.