Can we have Old Style Forum back please.!!!. . . . This one sucks.!!

[Jonathan]

Just over this last week or so I've been around more I've noticed the amount of post's and replies is nothing like it was before so You must have noticed a decline in new threads and post's surely.?

Correlation doesn't imply causation, e.g decline in activity could just be due to the weather!

Having said that, I do think this layout is less convenient than the old one.

[m_c]

I just wish he'd set the default home page to http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/forum.php instead of the stupid activity stream.

[John S]

e.g decline in activity could just be due to the weather!

.

Wot like it was cold in winter when it was crap and now its hot in summer its still crap.?

[Lee Roberts]

Just over this last week or so I've been around more I've noticed the amount of post's and replies is nothing like it was before so You must have noticed a decline in new threads and post's surely.?

"Correlation doesn't imply causation", agreed!. I've observed over the years that the forum activity slows down at certain times of the year, this is one of those periods, looking at the stats for new threads and posts it would seem all is well, though i would say things are a little slower at the momment and i think this is more to do with the time of year and to do with people making the most of the sun we have been getting in the UK recently.

Seems a little far fetched i know but for a site (forum) that is driven by user activity, such things like extra sun shine can have the said effect. It works both ways though as days of holiday can see more user activity, our slowest days of the week have been saturday and sunday mostly and the newsletter that used to go out helped with this.

What dont you like about the current layout?

layout sucks.

Been saying it since the changes came in but falling on deaf ears.

I cant agree that is true John, i've taken your feedback onboard in the past and made changes to accommodate that feedback.

What dont you like about the current layout?

I agree totally. Thats why I hardly use it anymore. Also cant stand the google ads that try to keep you on the same page, press the back button on the browser and nothing happens, click the down arrow to find a google ad link keeping the page open. Pain in the arse. The red cross button does work well though.

Humm, not sure this is an issue with the ads being shown from this site. It sounds more to me like your browser is being hijacked by something else.

What dont you like about the current layout?

I also will say that I am not keen on the new system.
e-mails stop and start working when it feels like.

Hi Professor, the design/layout of the site is cosmetic the forum software is the same system we have always used. I'm not sure what the issue maybe with regards to your email problem, we did have a problem with email and the server back in June, you can read about it here: Unscheduled Email Services Downtime 08th June @ 10:50 everything looks to be working just fine at this end.

Sorry i cant be of any more help.

I just wish he'd set the default home page to http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/forum.php instead of the stupid activity stream.

I dont think the activity stream is stupid, it seems illogical to me that you would rather goto the forum home page and navigate though the various sub forums to look for updated/new threads and or posts when the activity stream shows you a complete summary of everything that is activity sitewide. I do understand though that it is still a desire at times to use this page to find somthing you are looking for, this is why the main navigation links for the site take you to the category location on this page, giving you the option to scroll to others if you need to.

To All:
The changes made to the design have been that of condensing the smaller banners above into 1 location on the right, this has brought the main content above what is called "the page fold" so this should mean a little less scrolling to get to what you want to see (small ideal i know).

The other change from above the posts has been to remove the "Reply To Thread" button and to the right of that the pagination links for when a thread runs into more than one page, so again bringing the content above the fold a little more and decluttering the page at the same time, because both of those page features are also still present at the bottom of the thread (typically where a user ends up).

Ads have also been removed and condensed from the first and last post of a thread, they now also live in the sidebar in 1 location. So less distraction, clutter, real estate and a better user experience while reading.

Overall one of the bigger changes is that the page now fits closer to the left and right of the browser window and so more screen real estate is now used by the main content of intrest, or is that the point i'm missing here and actually users prefered the fixed centered layout over the fluid/elastic layout?

There is still things i need to add/change and all feedback is much appreciated and being considered for the final design currently being worked, obviously you understand i cant always act on single user preferences but i do try and build a happy medium as best i can.

.Me

[John S]

OK Lee said this loads of times so this time I'll write slowly so you can read it.

W E H A V E T H E S A M E I N F O A T T H E T O P O F T H E P A G E A S A T T H E S I D E R E S U L T I N G I N O N L Y 3 / 4 O F A P A G E S H O W I N G W H E N Y O U A R E P A S T T H E T O P S I D E B I T

W H Y D O W E N E E D T H E S A M E I N F O T W I C E , T O P O N I T 'S O W N I S F I N E

[Robin Hewitt]

I stopped posting when people stopped doing interesting innovative stuff.

I am reminded of American colonisation. The first people to go West were the pioneers, it was all jolly exciting and everyone who survived had great stories of daring-do to tell.

After a while a huge industry grew up on the East coast, the new arrivals were equipped with wagons, horses, cheap "Davy Crocket" rifles, vitals, drug bats etc. and sent on their way.

It became boring because everybody's story was the same as everybody else's.

[Fivetide]

Also picking up on Robins post, a lot of subjects have been thrashed to death ! Same subject subtle variants . For example I have been spending a lot of time on DIY audio looking for help on designing my CMOY , I don’t do any posts , most of the answers are in the search button. And besides, the subject has been thrashed into the ground. I expect now that a lot of members – lurkers – readers simply syphon off the required information because let’s face it, in most cases it’s complete. I have posted more off the topic threads than about CNC’s tbh. Mainly because I trust what people say on here. But in fact they do relate to my CNC work eventually.
So the difference between posts and threads and actual forum hits would be interesting to see as the “hits” are a measure of the quality of information, returning visitors , how long people spend on the forum are much bigger indicators of weather it’s doing its job as a repository for information and ideas.
As for the layout, I just bookmarked the forum start page.

[Lee Roberts]

OK Lee said this loads of times so this time I'll write slowly so you can read it.

W E H A V E T H E S A M E I N F O A T T H E T O P O F T H E P A G E A S A T T H E S I D E R E S U L T I N G I N O N L Y 3 / 4 O F A P A G E S H O W I N G W H E N Y O U A R E P A S T T H E T O P S I D E B I T

W H Y D O W E N E E D T H E S A M E I N F O T W I C E , T O P O N I T 'S O W N I S F I N E

I've already explained why John in the other thread:

Because eventually the TOPSTATS on the forum home page that myself, you and a few others i know of like is going on the new design, so rather than remove it, first i have replicated what we get from it on the side bar, the idea was it would give people time to find what is in the side bar and adjust to using it.

The TOTSTATS is a 3rd party addon for vB and i dont want to support it anymore, it gives us nothing that isnt already here and the sidebar now has the same content, so its just extra queries and conflict for the new design for no reason.

Other than being a little over the 50 word optimal line length for reading print, i cant see anything wrong ?

.Me

When I said in the quote above "is going on the new design" I should have said "is being removed", with regards to vegetables I also said:

Sorry about that, I haven't had the time to build any custom modules for the side bar yet. Which would obviously extend the sidebar down the page more and add more feature to the overall page.

This is still true, I’ve been though quite a rough time over the last 8 months going from 17st down to 14st mostly fat loss but I’ve also got some muscle loss in my arms, I’ve now been diagnosed with an underactive active thyroid this can affect people differently with some putting weight on and others losing weight, there is quite a few other symptoms that go with it as well but to sum up "The thyroid gland produces hormones which regulate the body’s metabolic rate as well as heart and digestive function, muscle control, brain development and bone maintenance."

For me I’ve had major problems with my joints/bones (some would argue the brain as well lol), if I do any kind of physical work the next day I’m in allot of pain and have massive swelling/fluid on my joints, this is mainly on my wrists with it taking me 10 mins to get out of bed in the morning depending on me having a good day or not, some days even if I haven’t a good day the day before as soon as I put any weight on my skeleton it hurts.

This is quite difficult for me mentally because I’m naturally a very active and physical person with lots of things that need doing, one day I could be doing a job laying 2x2 slabs/flags for someone, another day I may be fitting a new stair case, you get the picture - I’m very handy with my hands or have been :(. Most of the problem seems to be with my wrists to the point where it hurts to brush my teeth let alone open a can of beans for the kid’s dinner. I'm saying this here because one day someone may read this and notice my symptoms as being the same as theirs, for me this has been a long progression so allot of it while quite bad now has been going on for some time but because it’s been over a long time I’ve got used to living with it rather than noticing something is wrong.

There are a couple of other ones that stand out more like depression and so on but I’m not going into that, though that one dose get me quite a bit, fed by things like not being able to allow my kids to jump on me and play because they can hurt me really easily. Anyway I’ve got another blood test next week to see if my thyroid has picked back up, I don’t think has because come 4pm I’m shafted and need to rest for a couple of hours while my dinner kicks in, I’m on 50mg at the moment and that has made me feel better in a few ways but like I say come 4 I’m no good to anyone and I’ve clearly still got a problem with my bones, I recon I need 150mg but who am I to say.

It’s not all doom and gloom though, today I’m having quite a good day, I could get out of bed this morning and the only really problem today is my right knee, my wrists are still goosed but they always are so far, when it was just my right wrist it wasn’t to bad but now it’s both. Bummer!

So yea with all this sun we've been having I’ve managed to catch up on a few jobs around my own house that need doing, this week has seen new accommodation for the hens being built, doing an hour or two in the evening.

Hoping to get the last bit done later today (the top bit that’s missing), the framing is just roofing battens with the two top bits being hinged to allow for access. The rest is from some pallets I got off the local wood yard, at the bottom you can see the base is now finally finished for what will be my 24x12ft home workshop/shed (2 ton of type one, 5 ton of sand and 100+ slabs later), not much to show I know but it’s an achievement for me at the moment and I've been doing other smaller jobs as well when I can.

The last school run is approaching so I need to wrap this up, in September my youngest starts school full time so I will have my days back to myself, I’m hoping after putting food on the table I can crack on with the work I have planned for the forum and the other sites, with a bit of luck they can give my wrists back (the rest I can live with) and so I will also be able to get the workshop built and then enjoy having my own cnc machine up and running (4ftx2ft cutting area) finally!

Until then you will just have to be patient with me because as I’ve said above, life is a bit of a struggle at the moment for me and mostly I’m just getting by doing what I need to everyday to keep things going for the house and family.

Sorry for going on for so long but I couldn’t see any other way of putting out there that would give you an idea, I’m not looking for sympathy I’m not that type of person, it’s also been nice to get it off my chest as well, so if you read all of this, thanks and sorry for the delay in going forward.

.Me

[JAZZCNC]

Correlation doesn't imply causation, e.g decline in activity could just be due to the weather!

Having said that, I do think this layout is less convenient than the old one.

YES NUMBNUTS I've been around long enough to know this and was taken into consideration.!! . I've also been around enough forums to now a good layout that works compared to one that sucks.

Sorry for going on for so long but I couldn’t see any other way of putting out there that would give you an idea, I’m not looking for sympathy I’m not that type of person, it’s also been nice to get it off my chest as well, so if you read all of this, thanks and sorry for the delay in going forward.

Very Sorry to hear this Lee and believe me having gone/going thru 2yrs of hell and heartache I fully understand and thou not seeking you have my deepest sympathy.
Now my dislikes are similar to John's.!! .. What's the point of that silly Bar done the side.? Adds or serves very little to viewing experience and takes 1/4 the screen and most of it is blank.
I don't need or want to see Active threads twice or who's online twice then a great big blank space all the way to bottom of page.
(On personal note some times I wish it didn't show I was Online has it can mean I get PM's/emails or phone calls from folks I've offered help seeing me online when all I've done is nipped on for a quick nosey.!! . . Little thing I know and my choice to offer/give details so not going to complain too much but still would be nice to be invisible at times.!! (Without having to LOG off.!!))

Adverts don't bother me too much and realise rent has to paid but it would be better if they could be located lower down not taking a good portion of the top of page. End of the day the point of these forums is to inform and let others communicate with like mined folks. . . . If we need a shopping channel we all know the place.! If we need to find something we all know the search engine to use.!

Now for me the best layout is the one with a large Recent activity or latest post's across top of first page with nothing but the MYCNC header and all activity for sizeable period of time not just 10 lines.
The silly side bar with active threads would be ok if it started at top of page was slightly wider and showed all active threads for long period, 10 is neither use nor ornament.!!
When I come on the forum I want to see whats happening and go to it quickly.! . . . If I have to go looking chances are I'm not going to bother and find another site that gives me what I want.
If I want a specific bit of information or find something relating to something I'm doing or planning then I'll happily go searching for it or use the relative category in the lower down portions of the forum to find it. . . . But the first contact should show me at glance all that's happened in any thread category, Lathe,mill, router etc for a good amount of time else other wise I'm bored and away to wind-up our American cousins on CNCzone. (Which by the way is far more cocked up than this site but yank bating is good fun when bored. . Lol)

So that's my take I just want to see what's happened or happening and see it quickly not search for it. The adds I can live with if kept sensible (Which compared to the Zone this sites fantastic for ) and from spoiling my first viewing experience IE Lower down.

That's it Rant over, best wishes and hope you get well soon.

[John S]

Ditto with the best regards, sorry that's the best i can do. I don't do PC, H&S or sympathy

In your post you say you are strapped for time to develop the side bar.
So OK no one will think any worse of you to just drop it, it's duplicated after all and give the full screen over to the relevant posts.

Surely that will help short and long term ?