Opel Aus

[MiksOpel]

I dont like the new changes
I dont like forum style, it feels like theres too much junk and everythings too big.
I have to scroll too much to read posts.

The previous style worked well.

The darkside? Can we get rid of that please, you may be a star-wars fan, but not eveyone is. Makes us sound childish, and if were up to something.

And why do we need a separate forum for states? Now were all dispersed and not a strong community like we used to be.

Michael.

Warning: This is an Old Thread This discussion is older than 120 days. information contained in it may no longer be current . Please think of the children before resurrecting this ancient thread!

[NUTTTR]

What screen size are you using????

I've never had a problem, i don't have to scroll... 1024x768 and it's VERY fast and vbulletin is an EXCELLENT forum, much better than phpBB...

I like the dark because it actually differentiates it from other forums around (like VVOC) that are identical...

[Lt Ketch]

I dont mind the new forum style! And we are all up to something, enjoying our cars! My jury is still out on the state forums though, haven't made up my mind about that one yet!

[blackSRi]

my 2cents - new site loads fast but I don't like the dark design and the new member profile layout. The games weren't needed and it's good to see that done away with. I definitiely preferred the previous cleaner design - easier to read and reply and post - ie the layout was more usable - not so much scrolling mouse wheel action, and I liked the new posts link displaying the number of new posts (you have to click it now to see how many).
Apart from that, good work to Turblue, I know it's a lot to do and costs time and money. I would like to see money raised by contribution at cruises, selling stickers and parts - I would definitely like that way - it's commonly done on US and some other car clubs/forums. (a commission for stuff sold on forum would help - I mean its free advertising at present). Thanks for your attention,

[Turblue]

I understand that not everyone will be happy with the current look. I just went with something. Not being a "graphical' type of person, my choices can be somewhat dubious....

Anyway....

Forum layout is a flexible thing. As I become familiar with the programming, it will change. Graphics and such are all being looked at. It's just not a 5 minute process. The concept of skinning the site with a completely different look is being investigated. The current look is quite standard.

The phpBB2 style of forum served us quite well. However, at some point about 2-3 months ago a corruption occured in the database. I have no idea when or what happened. The table in question is in fact the user_table. This table contained about 50,000 entires. Way too much for me, with no MySQL experience, to fix. All the checks and tests I could find showed no problem. This caused the slow speed issues.

In an effort to fix this, I got hold of this vBulletin software. The conversion process worked quite well, and managed to fix the issues. This is why I elected to use it. It is a commercial product, I have the licence, and support is fantastic. It is very different to phpBB2 in look and function, and this has caused some frustrations. I perfectly understand. We all got used to the phpBB2.

The state thing is interesting. We have in the past had all control coming out of Melbourne, and this has caused trouble. Basically I decided to let the states have their own forum. Entirely run by people from that state, with no interference from me. They way the run is entirely up to them. On the previous forum, it took one click to see a state thread. Now it is two clicks to see the state site.

We are all only a couple of clicks away....

At this point I am not sure if this will work, but I want to give a go. Ultimately it is up to you all to make this work. Not me.

Thanks all for their comments.

Wayne.

[MiksOpel]

Im running 1280x800, its just messy with alot of items on screen.

I can see your interest in state forums, i think maybe it should be for meets only?
We can run a trial and see how things go,
On a positive note, i welcome state based forums as they will bring alot of people closer. Especially with meets since your only chatting with people you know.

Anyway, good work with OpelAus overall, I appreciate your efforts!

[MK]

Hi,
Overall good effort by TURBLUE, i can imagine that a lot of his time went into transferring the old forum data into this new one... Thanks for that.

[Namus]

nothing wrong here; standard 1280X700/800 (wateva)...nothing wrong :~

[Slimcraigie]

Nobody like change, but these things happen......... I'm sure Turblue will alter things over the next few months to how the majority of people request him to, but you must admit he has done a good job to get this to where it is at the moment, Don't forget he is putting alot of time and money into the project and deserves some praise and not just negative critisism about the way the site is.

Star Wars is not everybodies cup of tea (or 4XXXX) but it does look good and I'm sure the slogan is open to offers if you ask him nicely.

Thanks for all the hard work Wayne....................

[btm]

any chance you could get the 'new posts' to stay for longer in the 'new post' page??