[JohnD]

AlexL, on Dec 1 2010, 09:55 AM, said:

Out of curiosity, does the new version support hover-over previewing of threads? I know some other boards im on do this, if it doesnt, any way it could be implemented?

Looking forward to the other new changes.

Yes - for now. We're unsure as-to the load this will put on the system and it may be that we have to remove it at some time in the future.

For those not familiar with the feature - it provides for a pop-up window that displays the first and last post in a thread, when you 'hover' your mouse over the topic title on the forum index. It's a kinda-cool feature ... but provides limited utility, IMO. We'll see how it works-out.


P.S. We'll take this same sort of 'conservative' approach with new features/add-ons going forward. This is a MAJOR change we're undertaking and I'm reluctant to add *all* of the bells-n-whistles until we know how the system will perform under load. Our PRIMARY objective is to keep DCP running smoothly and with reasonable response times.

[John Murray]

I have a feeling that this will be almost exactly like the HS MB forum that I frequent. And if it is, I must say that it will be a nice and welcomed (at least on my part) change.

[JoeDz]

Will the new change involve electronics? reeds?

[bawker]

JoeDz, on Dec 3 2010, 05:47 AM, said:

Will the new change involve electronics? reeds?

Neither.

Think of it more as adding a few more horns to the mix instead.

If you want to see what a forum running the latest Invision Power Board looks like, well, just take a look at the IPB company forums themselves:

http://community.invisionpower.com/

[JohnD]

bawker, on Dec 3 2010, 05:14 AM, said:

Neither.

Think of it more as adding a few more horns to the mix instead.

If you want to see what a forum running the latest Invision Power Board looks like, well, just take a look at the IPB company forums themselves:

http://community.invisionpower.com/

Ummmm .... kinda, but different. DEFINITELY no reeds, but some clever use of the electronics that you're looking at right now.

We're just about ready now .... and I'll get started with the database backups and conversions late tonight - sometime after midnight Pacific. HOPEFULLY, everything will be done by tomorrow evening.

We've had a couple of forum members helping us with testing this week, who I'll invite to share their opinion here on how things are looking and what you can expect.

Thanks again, in advance, for your patience this weekend. I'm confident that you'll find it was worth the interruption.

-john

[garfield]

JohnD, on Dec 3 2010, 11:32 AM, said:

Ummmm .... kinda, but different. DEFINITELY no reeds, but some clever use of the electronics that you're looking at right now.

We're just about ready now .... and I'll get started with the database backups and conversions late tonight - sometime after midnight Pacific. HOPEFULLY, everything will be done by tomorrow evening.

We've had a couple of forum members helping us with testing this week, who I'll invite to share their opinion here on how things are looking and what you can expect.

Thanks again, in advance, for your patience this weekend. I'm confident that you'll find it was worth the interruption.

-john

Thanks John. After pounding on the new site for a few days I've been itching to make comments here.

Simply, I'm very impressed (or, maybe, I'm simple so I'm easily impressed).

The site's interface has a new look and feel, for sure, but it's still mostly familiar.

There are goodies like a "Quick Reply" pane that's resident on each post screen, a "hover" feature that lets you see the first or last post of each thread just by hovering over the topic, and a chat-type pane to post quick comments on a side bar.

One note: for any of you using Windows XP (not 93 like I originally thought, John) you'll find the fonts colors and most functionality beyond just reading thread topics is mostly useless. My company still uses XP and it looks like I'll become much more productive at my desk beginning next week!

While I originally thought that John D. and staff had done ALL the programming - and apparently they're using a third party's shell - John was able to change the few bugs I found and improve the site even more.

I think you all will, with a little practice, really enjoy the new site (despite the few here who pee on their own corn flakes each morning and seem to complain about just about anything).

Oh! One addition that I still don't understand is rating the "reputation" of each poster/member. Somehow this lets you filter what you see by reputation rating so you don't waste your time on cornflakes pee-ers. I'll be anxious to see how this works once everyone can rate everyone else's reputation.

Good job, John. Kudo's from me anyway.

[bawker]

garfield, on Dec 3 2010, 01:13 PM, said:

Oh! One addition that I still don't understand is rating the "reputation" of each poster/member. Somehow this lets you filter what you see by reputation rating so you don't waste your time on cornflakes pee-ers. I'll be anxious to see how this works once everyone can rate everyone else's reputation.

This will be put into action soon enough . . .but the short of it is this:

Member one posts something trollish, a la "I hate brass instruments, kids, and think drum corps is dumb".

Members two, three, four . . .and so on see the post, and, out to the right side of the post, find a "rate this post" button, where they can either give it a +1 or a -1.

Assuming that enough people give a "-1" to member one and his post, his member reputation (located on his profile) goes down.

Once member one has established himself as a troll of sorts, he either can try to post something constructive to prevent the other users from rating him down further, or he can troll more and get rated even lower . . .a sure sign for members (and moderators) that the user is not really adding anything to the Community.

Oh, also: you can't rate your own posts to raise your reputation.
That's my take, anyway.

[JohnD]

bawker, on Dec 3 2010, 10:58 AM, said:

This will be put into action soon enough . . .but the short of it is this:

Member one posts something trollish, a la "I hate brass instruments, kids, and think drum corps is dumb".

Members two, three, four . . .and so on see the post, and, out to the right side of the post, find a "rate this post" button, where they can either give it a +1 or a -1.

Assuming that enough people give a "-1" to member one and his post, his member reputation (located on his profile) goes down.

Once member one has established himself as a troll of sorts, he either can try to post something constructive to prevent the other users from rating him down further, or he can troll more and get rated even lower . . .a sure sign for members (and moderators) that the user is not really adding anything to the Community.

Oh, also: you can't rate your own posts to raise your reputation.
That's my take, anyway.

So far, so good. Further - we're setting a limit on the number of 'ratings' a person can give per-day: 20 positive and 5 negative. This helps prevent a 'ratings war'. Also - no, you can't see who gave the ratings .... but I can, so will be watching for obvious abuse of the system over time. We'll fine-tune the system as we see how things work.

[JohnD]

garfield, on Dec 3 2010, 10:13 AM, said:

Thanks John. After pounding on the new site for a few days I've been itching to make comments here.

Simply, I'm very impressed (or, maybe, I'm simple so I'm easily impressed).

The site's interface has a new look and feel, for sure, but it's still mostly familiar.

There are goodies like a "Quick Reply" pane that's resident on each post screen, a "hover" feature that lets you see the first or last post of each thread just by hovering over the topic, and a chat-type pane to post quick comments on a side bar.

One note: for any of you using Windows XP (not 93 like I originally thought, John) you'll find the fonts colors and most functionality beyond just reading thread topics is mostly useless. My company still uses XP and it looks like I'll become much more productive at my desk beginning next week!

While I originally thought that John D. and staff had done ALL the programming - and apparently they're using a third party's shell - John was able to change the few bugs I found and improve the site even more.

I think you all will, with a little practice, really enjoy the new site (despite the few here who pee on their own corn flakes each morning and seem to complain about just about anything).

Oh! One addition that I still don't understand is rating the "reputation" of each poster/member. Somehow this lets you filter what you see by reputation rating so you don't waste your time on cornflakes pee-ers. I'll be anxious to see how this works once everyone can rate everyone else's reputation.

Good job, John. Kudo's from me anyway.

First - thanks for the kind words. Yes, we have used the Invision forum software platform from the very first days here at DCP. It's a rock-solid system that is deployed on hundreds (if not thousands) of sites. We do some customization and additional coding around it ... but the core feature-set is defined by the Invision platform.

Next - welcome to the current century, with respect to your work computer system. The issue is not with WindozeXP, but rather with the Internet Explorer browser. Our new system makes heavy use of CSS, Javascript, and XHMTL - something that IE6 is known to be crummy with. I suspect your (and others') issues with the new system will be resolved by using a current version of IE, FireFox, or any other 'modern' browser on your XP system. I just tested FireFox 3.5.3 under WinXP Pro and it worked just fine.

[bawker]

Yes, I concur . . .IE6 is indeed a horrible browser, heh.

However, I get it if it's something that your local IT department has "mandated" you have on your box.

(thank god for being a Sys Admin! )