Well, Jason...

[Fridolin]

... this is exactly what I feared, a new 'TRF like' Forum...
But now it's been decided, and as I am a disciplined guy, please accept my congratulations, as it really looks great.
Best Regards

[Jason Pipes]

Let me be the first to say that I know TRF has a similar set up, as do 10,000 other sites on the web, but frankly I think we both have drastically different designs and information layout. As such I think we actually compliment one another nicely rather than become redundant. TRF has a big focus on the Holocaust, political topics, general Third Reich subjects, etc. As with our other forum (and one look at our board layout) our main focus here is on unit histories, research info, topical discussion on the military aspects of Germany 1918-1945, etc.

I heartily applaud TRF for moving to this setup back in March as it truly is a great one. The advances it provides for a community of online users is spectacular. There are drawbacks to having a system like this (complex, more things to navigate through, loss of threaded nature of old forum) but the advances more than make up for that. TRF knew this many moons ago and they are thriving as a result. It was only a matter of time before Feldgrau did so as well considering what this system has to offer.

Thanks for your comments!!

[Marko 7-19]

I don't see a problem with having different forums looking similar, especially if the different forums share similar interests, which makes it kind of "family like".

If one tweaks and customizes the forum to have its own distinct look, over and above the basic forum style, then it should work out fine. You want some uniqueness, and not just another clone. As I sit and write this, seeing all those photos up top, as well as the site name, I know exactly where I am. This stands true for TRF's forum as well. As you said, the designs and layouts are different and the info is not redundant. This is a good thing.

As a user, it is a benefit to not have to go through different learning curves each time we visit some new forum. Mind you, the old forum was as easy as pie. My only beef with that style was that once a new thread was started, it could quickly get buried, depending upon how many new threads went in after it.

There are many pros and cons with both styles. At the end of the day, it all comes down to what you want to do with your site that you know most people, including you, will benefit from.

All the best to you Jason. I wish you success with it.

Regards,
Mark 7-19

[bast]

The phpBB forums are great! They offer easy administration, easy message tracking and are super fast...

Your doing a great job on the site. It is a great resource to have and I know many of us appreciate all the work you put into running it. Thank you!

[Al Carter]

Excellent!

I had honestly for sometime been hoping that Feldgrau would move to a different format then the previous one. Maybe it was just me, but I could never get the order of post without checking the time they were posted.

Bravo on your choice Jason.

Al Carter