Forum Software Upgrade

[nilsjohan]

As you may see the forum looks slightly different from before.
The forum software has been updated and we have also spiced up the layout and graphics. This week we will be working on implementing some other small changes and new features for the forum. If you come accross any errors or other strange things, please let us know by posting here!

[general disarray]

I like the look and everything seems to run more quickly!

But the "preview" thingie seems a little funky . . .   

[pianochick93]

It's very different, I don't really like it yet, but I might get used to it.

I think it's the chunkiness of it...the top and bottom of each page and the increased borders around most things.

[lau]

oh sick get it off! what is this? strange chunks of graphics are pasted randomly to create a surreal effect to my eyes. this is a downgrade.

*pukes*

[pianochick93]

Hang on...did chat disappear or am I not looking for it properly?

[Bob]

Chat is still on the topmost banner set of buttons.

[Bob]

There's some doubling in the buttons.  Messages on top.  Recent posts on the main forum page.

And I lost my hidden status.  Darnit! Haha.

[pianochick93]

Ah, found chat. Thanks Bob.

[shingo]

I think it's the chunkiness of it...the top and bottom of each page and the increased borders around most things.

I agree. You can click the little button (top left) which resembles 'minimize' on windows OS to shorten the gap at the top of the page. Not sure about the bottom.

[iheartpiano]

I like the changes that have been made so far.  The site seems to be a bit "snappier" too.  I don't know if it was just me but prior to the upgrade, some threads just seemed to take forever to open.

[rob47]

It's way better now.  

but let's be honest, can it really compare with the oldschool?

https://web.archive.org/web/20030605141402/www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=misc

 

just noticed the almost instant preview feature; pretty damn good lad!

[rob47]

FYI i just noticed the ability to put pictures in your signature is back.

[shortyshort]

Why am I now unable to hide my personal e-mail address??

[Bob]

Yes, scary.  I tried redoing from the account settings page and that doesn't work.

I did see in the profile settings part you can block people from PM'ing you though.  I think that's new.

[shortyshort]

I also notice that the "logout" button at the top does not actually log you out anymore.

And, when I logout my name dissapears from the list at the bottom.
The "double or more" accounters will love this new feature.

[retrouvailles]

I also noticed that Chat is having maintenance done. Will the software be more stable this time around, and not as slow? I can only hope for near (equal?) IRC quality.

[nilsjohan]

Thanks for your feedback! 

Why am I now unable to hide my personal e-mail address??

That is still possible. Email addresses are hidden by default but if you want to show it, click the "Account settings" link at the top left of your profile page or a bit down on the "my account" page and you will find the setting.

I was looking at your account and your email address is indeed hidden but you have also entered it in the "MSN" field and it is therefore visable for all logged in members.
You can remove it on the "Forum Profile Information" page which you can get to from the left side menu in your profile.

I also notice that the "logout" button at the top does not actually log you out anymore.

Yes, there is currently a separate logout button for the forum and the main website.
The safest way to logout right now is to first click the logout button in the small black forum menu and immediately after click logout in the main menu.
We will fix this soon.

I also noticed that Chat is having maintenance done. Will the software be more stable this time around, and not as slow? I can only hope for near (equal?) IRC quality.

The chat is temporary closed because of general maintainance work in the forum. We are not upgrading the chat at the moment but will look into that later.

[thalbergmad]

Nice work boss

Thal

[pies]

There was an option to hide online status before the upgrade.  I can't find it now.

[shortyshort]

Thanks for your feedback! 
I was looking at your account and your email address is indeed hidden but you have also entered it in the "MSN" field and it is therefore visable for all logged in members.
You can remove it on the "Forum Profile Information" page which you can get to from the left side menu in your profile.

I replaced my personal e-mail account with my MSN account, because I could not stop my normal address from being shown.

[shortyshort]

There was an option to hide online status before the upgrade.  I can't find it now.

Was there?

I missed that one. 

[michel dvorsky]

Cheers for the venture, Nils.

PS: Do NOT allow people to put graphics in signatures.  It will be appalling.

[debussy symbolism]

Way to go on deteriorating this forum further.

[Bob]

My email is still visible in the account settings part.  The main one, not the profile part.  I tried setting it to 'yes, display' and then back to no, but it's still out there.  Not that it matters that much.

I wouldn't mind being invisible again.  I'm just hanging out there now.  I'm exposed.

I wouldn't mind having avatar pics availabe.  I know that came up years ago, but the concern was the speed of a page loading.  If the pages are loading faster now... The av pics wouldn't slow it down too much.

[goldentone]

Yes, I think the improvements are very good. 
I like the browns--easier on the eyes.  I'd say, all in all, a bit
more prestigious. 

Right now the GO DOWN button has disappeared.
Is it gone just temporarily?  I hope.

[pianochick93]

I'm starting to get used to the new look, but I still think I like the old look better (and not the old old look)

[nilsjohan]

My email is still visible in the account settings part.  The main one, not the profile part.

It should be visible on the account settings page. This page can only be viewed by yourself when you are logged in so it's not a problem.

Right now the GO DOWN button has disappeared.
Is it gone just temporarily?  I hope.

It was just on a short vacation trip (together with the GO UP button) but they are now back to work again, untiringly assisting you whenever you need them!

Yes, there is currently a separate logout button for the forum and the main website.
The safest way to logout right now is to first click the logout button in the small black forum menu and immediately after click logout in the main menu.
We will fix this soon.

Fixed

[pies]

Was there?

I missed that one. 

There was indeed.  After the upgrade I saw myself showing up as online and at the bottom of the index, which didn't happen before.  I think it should be brought back, and maybe the who's online page shouldn't show which threads people are looking at?  A bit stalkery IMO.

[Bob]

I still my email when I look at the profile view everyone would see.  I have the account settings set to hide it, but it's still there.  As far as I can tell.  I didn't see anything in the profile settings part to change it there.

Hmm.... I check again.  "Yes" for hide email. 

[Bob]

Nevermind.  I logged out and looked.  It's hidden.  It must just appear to the user when they're signed in.  Maybe that's why it's in italics.

[nilsjohan]

It must just appear to the user when they're signed in.  Maybe that's why it's in italics.

Exactly.
This seems to cause a lot of confusion so I have now added a little tag that says "hidden" when you are viewing your own profile when your e-mail is set to hidden.

[goldentone]

It was just on a short vacation trip (together with the GO UP button) but they are now back to work again, untiringly assisting you whenever you need them!

 

[m19834]

I have noticed that viewing who's online is seemingly not possible anymore.  Is this temporary or has it been removed permanently ? 

[Bob]

I like the recent posts feature.  You can go back page after page now.  Very nice.

I don't miss the Who's Online page.  I didn't quite like the idea of people spying on there.  Although it was interesting to see what people were posting too...  But if that page is gone, there's not much need to be invisible then either.

[m19834]

For some reason I liked it.  It's similar to just sitting on a bench in a park and watching people go by, but I would also see what other people were reading and follow the link, often learning something new.  I know people liked to make a big deal of me actually using it, but what was it there for if people don't use it (plus I think people thought that would be a good way to get me all bothered about something ) ?  Anyway, I am just curious if it's gone for good or not, and if so, why ?

[pianochick93]

I uesd it, if I was umming and arring about whether to get off the computer I'd go there and see if anyone was about to post something interesting.

[Bob]

I'm having to log in everytime I click on the site.  Except I'm already logged in.  I click the login button and it welcomes me, but I haven't entered my name and password.  I don't know why it doesn't recognize me right away, but at least I don't have to log in.

On the Who's Online issue, maybe there's a way to show what threads are being viewed, but not necessarily who's doing what.  Just make the page a list of threads being viewed and leave off the names.

[pianochick93]

I'm having to log in everytime I click on the site.  Except I'm already logged in.  I click the login button and it welcomes me, but I haven't entered my name and password.  I don't know why it doesn't recognize me right away, but at least I don't have to log in.

Yeah, I'm getting that as well.

[quantum]

I think you have to log in twice.  Log in, then immediately after log in again. 

When I did that it said it was updating the password security or something like that.

[pianochick93]

Yeah, that was only the first time though. Since thyen I've had to keep clicking log in eveytime I come here, but it doesn't ask me to enter a password or anything.

[concerto_love]

Huh? they ask me to type password once.... 

[Petter]

I miss the chat 

[cherub_rocker1979]

Yes, please bring back the chat!

[retrouvailles]

Yeah, that was only the first time though. Since thyen I've had to keep clicking log in eveytime I come here, but it doesn't ask me to enter a password or anything.

Yeah, I just started getting that recently. I didn't get it before, not even after the upgrade, until now. It's not really a big deal to me, but it is still rather annoying.

[ramseytheii]

I don't like this.  For one thing the buttons underneath the "Total time" counter (which I do like) don't have any personality, and they should also extend across the whole page.

Also, it seems on the old one, I never had to return tot he login screen.  Even if I closed my web browser, and came back the next day, it knew who I was and logged in for me.  Now I have to log in every time?  Why do you have a box that says, "Remember me," if it doesn't remember?

Thirdly, why can't we tell, by looking at all the threads in a board, which ones we have posted in?  I post in a lot of threads, I can't always remember exactly which ones, and in the old format, the icon on the left changed when you posted in it.  Now they all look the same.

Fourthly, on the page listing all the boards, it now says "Last post by..." first, instead of the thread first.  I think it should say the thread first, and the last poster second.  The thread is more important than the poster!

I am sure I will find more things to complain about.  Thanks for the effort though.

Walter Ramsey

[shortyshort]

I don't understand why the "Chat" was taken down before it's replacement was ready.

But, I'm sure that there was a reason?

[quantum]

I'm having to log in everytime I click on the site.  Except I'm already logged in.  I click the login button and it welcomes me, but I haven't entered my name and password.  I don't know why it doesn't recognize me right away, but at least I don't have to log in.

I'm getting this now too 

Tried loging out, deleting all pianostreet cookies, closing browser, login again, close browser again, open browser, go to PS again, and it still won't remember.  But it doesn't ask for password when I click login.

This is a potential security issue.  One can be falsely lead to believe one is logged out. 

[gerryjay]

 dear nils:
 i can't say if i like it or not, because i was very acquainted with the other: everything just look different to me by now.

 anyway, i have a complain about the icon to the threads where i did post. first, it is not working at all to me. then, it's quite hard to distinguish between both: why not something sparkling and colorful? 

 above all, thanks for keeping this forum on, because it's a great place.
 best wishes!

[Bob]

I'm getting this now too 

Tried loging out, deleting all pianostreet cookies, closing browser, login again, close browser again, open browser, go to PS again, and it still won't remember.  But it doesn't ask for password when I click login.

This is a potential security issue.  One can be falsely lead to believe one is logged out. 

It's purgatory for loggin in.  You're not quite in, but you're not quite out. 

[nilsjohan]

I'm getting this now too 

Tried loging out, deleting all pianostreet cookies, closing browser, login again, close browser again, open browser, go to PS again, and it still won't remember.  But it doesn't ask for password when I click login.

This is a potential security issue.  One can be falsely lead to believe one is logged out. 

If you login without checking "Remember my login" you will stay logged in until you either click logout or close the browser. That's as secure and normal as it can get.

If you do check the "Remember my login" when logging in a cookie will save your login details until you either logout, delete your cookies or when the cookie expires after 15 days.
You should of course never save any kind of login details if you are on a public computer (school, library etc.) but if you by mistake do this, clicking logout will clear all saved details.

That's the way it is supposed to work (default functionality of our membership management software) and I do not believe it's more of a security issue than the very common browser feature to save login details in login forms. It works exactly the same way except that you do not see your saved user name when clicking the login button.

I however see your point in that it's slightly inconvenient to need to click the login button and then back click back to the forum so we will consider an alternative solution. Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts about this.