Welcome to the new forum!! Comments please!

Updates, changes and plans for Feldgrau.net and Feldgrau.com.
phylo_roadking
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Re: Welcome to the new forum!! Comments please!

Post by phylo_roadking »

David, Change Happens for the same reason on a server as it happens on a PC. You're hardly reading this on an old 486 running Windows 3.x, are you? And likewise, over the years as you change your PCs, sadly you sometimes find your favourite applications don't like your new all-singing all-dancing operating systems.

Well - that's exactly what has been happening with AHF and Feldgrau and others. As they grow in size, they grow beyond the storage capacity of the old hard disks on their old servers...so before you as users start complaining of response time issues, mangers/owners move them to new servers. Which are in turn running new versions of operating systems and hosting software and database languages...and the owner/managers find that their OLD version of forum software isn't compatible with them, so are forced into a software upgrade as well as a server upgrade.

Actually - you should be aware that servers have proved to have a MUCH longer life than PCs. Feldgrau has inhabited the same slot on the same server for SEVEN years. Most older fileservers are only glorified PCs, with the same technical specification as a desktop PC of about 5 years or more ago! Just remember what was sitting on your desk six or seven years ago...does it even have housespace now? Or is it wedging the garage door open since even the local charity shop wouldn't take it...

Compare the long life of a server with the average USEABLE life of a modern PC...dated as soon as it's out of the box - if not actually before it ships or leaves the shop - and obsolete as soon as your loudest kid comes home with a game that needs a new £150 video card NOW for peace of mind and eardrums...that will cost you only £20 in a year's time!
"Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." - Malcolm Reynolds
David W
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Re: Welcome to the new forum!! Comments please!

Post by David W »

Jason.

Time will tell. I hope you are right.
michael kenny
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Re: Welcome to the new forum!! Comments please!

Post by michael kenny »

Is there no easy way to link an old thread/post number to the new ones?
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tigre
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Re: Welcome to the new forum!! Comments please!

Post by tigre »

Hello Jason, great effort indeed. You've my vote, go ahead (tech changes everything......). Cheers. Raúl M. (Jesus, I've lost my smiling faces....he perdido mis caritas sonrientes, bue..ya vendrán).
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Jason Pipes
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Re: Welcome to the new forum!! Comments please!

Post by Jason Pipes »

Time will tell. I hope you are right.
Time will tell what? It wasn't a matter of moving over on a whim - we had to or the site would no longer function. Everything will be worked out shortly. I don't see anything in particular that is bad or worse than before. If anything things are and will be better.

As for links, the links you had were to posts on a forum that no longer exists. I can't help that they no longer function. That is one of the small issues with moving to a new server. I suggest searching for the subject/topic line on this forum and linking to them again. I do apologize about the snafu, but it's a small price to pay for moving over to a faster, bigger, safer, server and a better forum platform.
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Paulus II
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Re: Welcome to the new forum!! Comments please!

Post by Paulus II »

[quote="Jason Pipes"]If anything things are and will be better.[/quote]

Exactly, so far its all shaping up quite nicely.

I do have one question: Yesterday I couldn't find the smiley icons and such while posting but in a later post they were all there and clickable. As I write this post the smileys are again not visible! How does that happen? Or do I don't get it, this new software?

Two more minor things, moderators that are online have their name appear in red in every thread that they moderate. In the various indexes. I find the red very distracting and hope that will be changed to a more neutral colour. And the [BOT]'s that are visible in the "who's online" at the bottom of the index, I could do without those very well indeed!

Keep up the good work!

Paul
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Waleed Y. Majeed
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Re: Welcome to the new forum!! Comments please!

Post by Waleed Y. Majeed »

Could it have something to do with the section you post in.
I have noticed the BBCode is OFF when posting here in the ANNOUNCEMENTS section.
No ability of posting new topic either. Maybe a restricted Admin section, which is OK with me!
Posting or replying in other sections shows BBCode is ON and smilies present.

As I said earlier might need some "getting used to", but definitely an improvement in performance!
And as long as the content is the same... why care too much about the cover!


waleed
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Richard Hargreaves
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Re: Welcome to the new forum!! Comments please!

Post by Richard Hargreaves »

Looks nice and clean to me. I must admit when I logged it was "WTF? Son of AHF". Actually, it's a lot clearer and easier to read than the new version of AHF.
I've come to like the new-look AHF, however, and I shall in time come to like this too. It's all about getting used to things.
David W
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Re: Welcome to the new forum!! Comments please!

Post by David W »

""""This forum when set up completely will be a much improved research tool than what we had before.""""

That is what I meant.

As for links? I never mentioned them.

All the best, David.
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Jason Pipes
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Re: Welcome to the new forum!! Comments please!

Post by Jason Pipes »

Still not sure what your point is. The comment about links was directed at someone else.

Just a side note - you don't seem to be having any problems posting and reading messages here and following up.
David W
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Re: Welcome to the new forum!! Comments please!

Post by David W »

You have asked for comments.

I have given mine.

They have not been well received (presumably as they were the first negative ones)

If you ask for comments, you must be prepared for the rough as wellas the smooth.

David.
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Jason Pipes
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Re: Welcome to the new forum!! Comments please!

Post by Jason Pipes »

We did indeed ask for comments, but the hope was the responses received would be reasoned and/or very specific and not things like suggesting we are just making changes for the sake of change, etc. We fully accept there are some burps in the system (although pretty few so far it would seem) but certainly don't appreciate when folks make the mistake of assuming we are switching to this format just for the fun of it.

I understand you may not find the new set up ideal for some reason, but the fact remains you seem able to post and respond here quickly and effectively and the forum is apparently quick and secure enough that no issues arise when doing so. That is the key above all.

Thanks for your comments so far, but please do understand our reasons for making the changes we have. They weren't just for the heck of it, and any issues you see will be worked out in the next few days if they haven't already.

If you have any specific comments about what you'd like to see done better or different or on something that is apparently not working please let us know.
David W
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Re: Welcome to the new forum!! Comments please!

Post by David W »

You have convinced me that this is not change for change sake. I never thought or said that you were doing it for fun.

You are right that I can use the new forum (unlike AHF which still locks me out).

I have commented that I hope you are right, re the new forum being a better research tool than the old. As Isaid before, time will tell.

As for specific complaints. I do not think it fair to highlight stuff that you will probably sort out anyway (Teething problems) The time for specifics would be after a Month or so, not just a week, so I'll hold my tongue.

Please don't make the mistake of thinking me a troublemaker. It's just that I have seen too many forums make backwards moves, in the name of progress, and Phylo's precious newer technology is often to blame. This forum is too valuable to make a retrograde move.
Instead, be flattered that I care enough about Feldgrau to be concerned for it's future, when it's present seemed to be A-Okay to me.

That's all.
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Jason Pipes
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Re: Welcome to the new forum!! Comments please!

Post by Jason Pipes »

On the contrary, I totally understand your concerns and appreciate you voicing them. Sorry if I came off as not responsive to them as I'm pretty frazzled right now after having gone through so much hair pulling and teeth gnashing to get where we are now and we aren't done yet (the main site is still in pieces, for example).

It would actually be of great help to know specifics you'd like addressed or that you take issue with as otherwise we won't have a full idea of what things to concentrate on. If you have some specifics we'd love to hear them.
phylo_roadking
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Re: Welcome to the new forum!! Comments please!

Post by phylo_roadking »

Actually...I hate new technology for the sake of this year's shiny toy. I stretch a PC or laptop or OS out years beyond what it's normally practical. Am I the only one misses the good old days of switching a PC off and walking away...and not having to wait 2.5 minutes while it clean-closes? Also - it's a poverty thing LOL Not being a gameplayer helps greatly. But sometimes you hit a barrier where you gain nothing more from not upgrading, and the parts you need are long gone from the shelves. Ever tried to buy an AT transformer for a PC case? Or RAM for an old PC? After a while you're down as far as second-hand parts and buying someone else's problems LOL That's when you have to invest in effect in a few years' flexibility and the process starts again.

Servers are the same. Reliability notwithstanding - when eventually you DO have to change, you sadly find a lot MORE has changed in the meantime and you have to buy into those extra years' flexibility.
"Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." - Malcolm Reynolds
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