New AFF Website

[andy2015]

Request: on board view the page numbers only show for a topic when you mouse over. If they could be shown without mouse over that'd be preferred by me. Maybe others?

 

[RooFlyer]

So, and as an interim measure, I have enabled the standard Xenforo style for our GOLD and SILVER members. You can select this by selecting “Xenforo Standard Style” from the Style Choose at the bottom of the page. See image below.

Thanks muchly and I'm afraid I'm going to go with : "a lot easier on the eye". Dark grey on light yellow background for quotes - tick. Normal post dark grey on white - tick. much better (economical) use of space - tick.

I can't believe they ship this thing with a serif font, but that's what we have.

A good interim move. As you say, its not permanent, but will allow me at least to get used to the new site without also have to battle with the new look. With one hand on my Zimmer frame, I can only manage to juggle one other thing at a time.

I'm as lost with web design and functionality as you guys would be if I took you deep into an underground mine and said "new environment, just deal with it while I work on fixing the lights". Anything to ease the transition welcomed.

 

[Hvr]

Noting that Wiki's aren't working and you're frantically trying to get them running, in the interim is it possible to copy previous entries from the September and maybe even October lounge meet threads so people can arrange to meet in a lounge?

 

[melbkate]

It is so un-user friendly. Sorry I hate it. Everything soooo spread out! So little fits on one page. Not possible to scan and skim over threads easily. Feels like it is for a pre-schooler.

 

[samh004]

Noting that Wiki's aren't working and you're frantically trying to get them running, in the interim is it possible to copy previous entries from the September and maybe even October lounge meet threads so people can arrange to meet in a lounge?

At this stage unfortunately not, but we do have a developer working on the issue and we expect it to be resolved soon, much sooner than October!

It is so un-user friendly. Sorry I hate it. Everything soooo spread out! So little fits on one page. Not possible to scan and skim over threads easily. Feels like it is for a pre-schooler.

If you are using a full screen window on a wide screen, my tip is to scroll to the very bottom of the page (only have to do this once) and find a small button with two arrows facing away from each other in the bottom left corner. Clicking this will "Toggle Width" to expand the page elements to the screen width (if using on a wide screen display).

 

[samh004]

Request: on board view the page numbers only show for a topic when you mouse over. If they could be shown without mouse over that'd be preferred by me. Maybe others?

I note that this behaviour only happens on desktop, on mobile they show by default. I think it is just to keep the page looking a bit less cluttered.

 

[Limewood]

What a mess this upgrade is, why was it not fully tested before going live?
and what is it with all this super small font size with faint type and forum headings? (my magnifying glass has come in handy)
I mean really, these fixes are easy to implement.

 

[melbkate]

At this stage unfortunately not, but we do have a developer working on the issue and we expect it to be resolved soon, much sooner than October!



If you are using a full screen window on a wide screen, my tip is to scroll to the very bottom of the page (only have to do this once) and find a small button with two arrows facing away from each other in the bottom left corner. Clicking this will "Toggle Width" to expand the page elements to the screen width (if using on a wide screen display).

View attachment 105974

Thanks for tip but I don't have that option. Also notice white space ratio.

 

[admin]

What a mess this upgrade is, why was it not fully tested before going live?
and what is it with all this super small font size with faint type and forum headings? (my magnifying glass has come in handy)
I mean really, these fixes are easy to implement.

See my post at New AFF Website

And I'm not going to comment about the other remarks in your post. I'll let others make up their own mind about the success of the upgrade, testing, template etc.

 

[Pushka]

What a mess this upgrade is, why was it not fully tested before going live?
and what is it with all this super small font size with faint type and forum headings? (my magnifying glass has come in handy)
I mean really, these fixes are easy to implement.

I can't let that pass through to the keeper. It isn't a mess at all. It's gone extremely well. It's a fix for those who experienced months of frustration with the app. Uploading of photos is a snap. The font is normal font. There are tweaks but there will always be tweaks. I use size 3 glass lens (quite strong) and do not experience the vision issues at all. It has clearly been tested thoroughly. I've mentioned a few times that recently a US cruise site that would have hugely more resources than AFF produced a very poor site that still experiences major issues weeks later. At work we've tried launching a slightly different style of platform and I know first hand how hard it can be. So cut some slack and I'd really check out if you are experiencing issues with your eyes. Not being sarcastic at all but I think something else must be happening. And I'm posting this on an iPhone with ease. And I'm certainly one of the oldies on this forum although one of the younger oldies.

 

[melbkate]

Re my comments regarding scanning over pages for info a great example is the whirlpool boards. If you look at their Travel page Air Travel - Travel - Whirlpool Forums it is so easy to skim down to see what topic looks relevant, recent, popular etc so much information in one go. No avatars or signatures which is fine for me, and easy to read layout. Mostly though you can scan probably 20 topics, or threads whereas on the new AFF site can see 3 or 4 at a time before scrolling and scrolling...

I've learnt so much on the AFF forum, I really hope the layout can be improved

 

[QF WP]

What a mess this upgrade is, why was it not fully tested before going live?
and what is it with all this super small font size with faint type and forum headings? (my magnifying glass has come in handy)
I mean really, these fixes are easy to implement.

Yes, it was tested by the developers; then handed to admin and the Moderation team for us to test. We were able to advise some more issues that were fixed before going live. Some faults will never be known until they are broken. Ad naseum testing would mean that nobody will deliver a timely product.

The changeover has been reasonably smooth - unlike others like Loyalty Lobby whereby I understand they had to reject the upgrade and go back to the pre-existing platform. We held our collective breath Friday night until the site went live again on Saturday morning - none moreso than @Admin and @support who have put in months of work on bedding down the changeover. The major issue has been the inability of the Wikis to work in the new environment - but we are working on that (well not me, because I don't know anything about IT). We wouldn't make everybody happy with the change, however to stay on the vBulletin platform that was at "end of life" would have meant even more pain at a later stage.

None of us like change, but we need to adapt to new environments lest we go the way of the dinosaur, dodo, et al.

Read this article to see that the writing was on the wall for us continuing to use vBulletin...vBulletin review - how Internet Brands have killed off vBulletin

 

[samh004]

Thanks for tip but I don't have that option. Also notice white space ratio.

You might not be using a very wide screen then.

I'll concede, the design tends to take up more space than it did before, however we have actively worked to remove extraneous information from profiles attached to posts to minimise this. The end result is also a website that is able to be used on a mobile phone much more easily than before, and this does require page elements to be larger to accommodate fat fingers. I can't tell you the number of times the old website got the better of me on my mobile phone. It just wasn't designed for smart phones.

a great example is the whirlpool boards

No offence, but if AFF looked like Whirlpool I would resign

I can see what you mean regarding the amount of information and spacing between Whirlpool (1 line), the old layout (~3 lines) and the new layout (perhaps ~6 lines). We are a different website with a different audience though.

 

[RooFlyer]

What a mess this upgrade is, why was it not fully tested before going live?
and what is it with all this super small font size with faint type and forum headings? (my magnifying glass has come in handy)
I mean really, these fixes are easy to implement.

Do what I've done and change to the alternative layout ( bottom left of the desktop screen). Much more readable and much better laid out. I understand it won't be available forever, but will serve very well while they go through the list of bug fixes and, dare I say it 'enhancements'

Hopefully once they can get the wretched wiki thing fixed they'll be able to address the layout and poor readability things.

Hope Admin is getting some in-kind blood out of the developers for the angst caused

 

[Pushka]

Re my comments regarding scanning over pages for info a great example is the whirlpool boards. If you look at their Travel page Air Travel - Travel - Whirlpool Forums it is so easy to skim down to see what topic looks relevant, recent, popular etc so much information in one go. No avatars or signatures which is fine for me, and easy to read layout. Mostly though you can scan probably 20 topics, or threads whereas on the new AFF site can see 3 or 4 at a time before scrolling and scrolling...

I've learnt so much on the AFF forum, I really hope the layout can be improved

I check into Whirlpool if I want to chat about TV or technology but I certainly don't spend more than a couple of minutes in it a day. It's not a social hang out for me. I like having an Avatar. Love seeing photos.

 

[RooFlyer]

Yes, it was tested by the developers; then handed to admin and the Moderation team for us to test. We were able to advise some more issues that were fixed before going live. Some faults will never be known until they are broken. Ad naseum testing would mean that nobody will deliver a timely product.

Personally I'm not greatly concerned about the new site going live with obvious imperfections and in spite of my own grumbles I know admin is keener than anyone to get them fixed ( disagree with the seeming order of priorities, but I only have a narrow view ).

But a wider view. It definitively seems to be the way of internet sites and their developers ( not necessarily site owners) that launching a site with known bugs and issues is ok and normal. " We can't find all the problems, so let the punters find then for us" seems to be the thing.

And of course it's a near universal conversion to sites with lots of white space and 'cool features' at the cost of usability - such as much scrolling just to read it coherently ( Qantas had been discussed a lot on AFF, But the same arguments now apply to AFF itself). This suits the group of younger, cooler users with their phones and tablets, the same cohort that most web developers seem to come from. Not so much the rest of us.

I once had a web site designed for an industry group. Had very specific instructions on what it was to contain and do. It was essentially a static notice board while another solution was being negotiated. I could not, could not, get the ponytail to have it look the way we wanted it. He knew better, even though he knew nothing about the type of people that would be accessing the site, and why. I think it's a blessing that sam004 is onto the bug fixes, as he knows the site and many of the users, but obviously being from the tech side he can't fully appreciate all the perspectives of the wider user base of AFF. And no problem with that either, now I have the alternative layout to work with

 

[Pushka]

It's funny you mention the pony tail brigade RooFlyer. We wanted a sign - arrow- that pointed down to our reception area which was down a few stairs from street level. It was confusing. So he painted a triangle. It was supposed to be pointing down but to us oldies (then in our forties) it didn't and was ambiguous. We wanted a 'stick or tail' painted in to get the context. He said 'but that would spoil the design'. Yeah. Maybe. But at least it would serve its purpose. He refused to do it so we bought some paint and did it ourselves. It worked.

 

[RB]

I don't seem to be able to find the alternative to the old version where you could email a link to a post eg at the top of a trip report I could click the option to send a link of it to a friend that is not on the forum. I know that I copy a link & then go to my own email program to send it but does the old facility exist in some new form?

 

[moa999]

where you could email a link to a post eg at the top of a trip report I could click the option to send a link of it to a friend that is not on the forum

Click on the post number (eg #439) in top right and you get a little popup, with lots of options

 

[OzEire]

What a mess this upgrade is, why was it not fully tested before going live?
and what is it with all this super small font size with faint type and forum headings? (my magnifying glass has come in handy)
I mean really, these fixes are easy to implement.

Every day (hour?) the little bugs are being fixed - but even on the day it went live this site was an improvement over the old app and had some features the old site lacked.

I have provided my feedback. @Admin and @support have responded. I've moved on and am enjoying the site again. I'm fairly sure we all want Support working on improvements rather than responding to the same issues time and again.