A note from your host

Matt,

I just want to say that I really appreciate your post. Seeing that you joined this forum in 2003 and had posted over 500 messages gave me some comfort on what would evolved on this forum format.

After some hiccups in the beginning, its been running pretty well. I'm used to it already. Give all your IT guys a hand.

  After a rough start (par for the course on any software change/upgrade) FSM has listened to the users complaints/concerns and acted on them.  Good job!

And many thanks to Megan for being the front person during the implementation.  And thanks to several of the users in the FSM community who stepped up and assisted.    

Appreciated.

Agreed, I've noticed the site running a lot more smooth lately. Thanks guys!

Josh

Matt, thanks for stopping by and letting us know we AREN'T forgotten in the hinterland!\

Edited to correct spelling error or was that a Freudian slip?

Thanks Matt. I think you should look into a different format though as this one is one of the hardest to navigate of any that I have been to and I have been to a lot of forums.

How about a mailing address for those of us who can't wait for the forum to load?

All I heard was "blah blah blah. You guys have been ______ and moaning for over 2 months so I guess I should pretend like I care"

firesmacker

All I heard was "blah blah blah. You guys have been ______ and moaning for over 2 months so I guess I should pretend like I care"

Yeah! Seriously, how are some of you saying thank you? For what? The search function still sucks, navigating is still a PITA, I still have to click multiple times to get to where I was after I post a message, I still only see 2/3 of the screen and the list goes on!!!!!!!!!

Lets see, the bottom of the screen is occupied by the contents of the drop down menus at the top, how bout, get rid of those and then you'll have some room for the ads and useless other crap that sits over there ->! Besides, it's a bit redundant. I'm gonna be clear on this, the ads are fine, I get that ads are needed, but MOVE THEM elsewhere and give us back the 1/3 of the page! Besides making threads difficult to read it screws up the pics within the thread.  Why do some of the pics go in here as the normal size while others dont? The way it was worked a whloe lot better, there's the pic, you wanna asee it bigger? Click it! Done looking at it? Click the X and it goes back to normal. So, to recap, here's my biggest complaints

The right side of the screen, .......GIVE IT BACK!

Pictures within threads, at make them all show up on the page as one size, it's not fun to have to keep moving the page side to side to read what the poster wrote!!

Hey, it's great that my post was posted successfully but I dont want to go back to the beginning, take me back to where I was!

Lastly, the serious delay in getting a response of any kind here. It's great that some people are getting emails from some of the staff but what about the rest of us?! Maybe some direct answers to complaints?

Try holding your ctrl key then tap the - key to zoom back out. I had the same problem and that fixed not seeing the whole site completely.

How did the "A" in this subject line not get the ss*report me* error that others have reported? 

I'm just asking - constructively!

The reason we are saying thank you, is it's better to catch flies with honey, than fecal matter. Storming in, screaming and yelling and demanding heads roll doesn't accomplish anything, other than showing people bad behavior.

Pfffttttt .. I was married to bad behavior for 15 years.

I did it the old fashioned way and wrote Mr. Usher a letter. And no, before anyone asks, there wasn't any white powder or anything like that in it. Cat hair, probably, but nothing more lethal than that. We shall see what kind of response that garners.

mfsob

I did it the old fashioned way and wrote Mr. Usher a letter. And no, before anyone asks, there wasn't any white powder or anything like that in it. Cat hair, probably, but nothing more lethal than that. We shall see what kind of response that garners.

I hope that Matt will post his reply to you here at the same time. If not, would you post again when you receive an answer. I do believe that the preception of how the FSM chief editor responds to all the complaints from long term supporters of this forum and subscribers is as important as the substance changes.

keilau

 I do believe that the preception of how the FSM chief editor responds to all the complaints from long term supporters of this forum and subscribers is as important as the substance changes.

I could not agree more.  Which is one reason I am concerned/disappointed that since starting this thread, there is nothing to suggest that Matt has actually come in and read the comments that were posted....

That being said, I am going to trust that Matt is, in fact, keeping up with this and other threads.  I'd also like to direct a question in his direction:

Matt,

The forum seems to be improving.  Those incessant error messages are far less frequent.   The search function is working and our most recent posts now show up when we click on the post-count.  All great!  Thanks to you and to Megan and everyone who has been working to make those fixes.

Now that is accomplished, what is next?  Specifically, can you tell us what plans are in the works to address some of the repeated complaints about the site.  For example:

-the post confimation screen, which is universally reviled, plus the feature that redirects you from your post confimation back to the first page of a thread

-the third of the screen on the right that is lost to.... stuff, but with significantly impacts the readability of the forum

-the lack of tools to easily navigate through the forum (ie: something akin to the old "Forum Jump" pull-down menu that appeared at the bottom of every thread

-the lack of page numbers at the top of the page to assist with rapid navigation

If I thought about it, I am sure I could come up with other issues that have been raised repeatedly, but this is a good enough sample.  Can you, WILL you, tell us, please, if there are any plans to address any of these concerns?  Or should we just eat cake?

Up until mid-November, this was the most heavily moderated modeling forum in the history of modeling forums. Suddenly, everyone is too busy to respond...

Bring up religion or politics? The iron fist comes crashing down. Forum issues? "Who, what...sorry guys, we are awfully busy with other stuff".

Here's what we know right now:

bbrowniii

 

-the post confimation screen, which is universally reviled, plus the feature that redirects you from your post confimation back to the first page of a thread

This aspect of the Forums is part of the software and it serves a specific purpose so will not change, according to our online folks.

-the third of the screen on the right that is lost to.... stuff, but with significantly impacts the readability of the forum

The ads, etc., on the right side of the screen are a necessary part of the site and will not change either.

-the lack of tools to easily navigate through the forum (ie: something akin to the old "Forum Jump" pull-down menu that appeared at the bottom of every thread

-the lack of page numbers at the top of the page to assist with rapid navigation

Megan is checking with our online crew to see if these two changes are possible. We will let you know something as soon as we hear.

In the meantime, we are hopeful the major issues with the Forum – speed, Forum search, old posts, and system errors – have been resolved.

Cheers, Aaron

Aaron,

Thanks for your reply. Feedback, any feedback, like this is very important to us, and I want you to know that even though the answers aren't necessarily what we would like, the fact that you are taking the time to answer is appreciated.

I'm completely baffled by the response regarding the post confirmation screen. I use many different forums (not all are modeling related) and most use a post confirmation screen. Which then automatically redirects back to the last post in the thread. Some use a pop-up box to let you know that the post is confirmed and doesn't even take you away from the thread. This seems like such an easy thing to do that I find it difficult that your "online folks" can't figure it out. Instead, we are forever stuck on "post confirmed" until we close the page. I appreciate the need for unspecified "specific purposes", but unless that purpose is to drive your forum members crazy, or to another forum, it needs to be re-addressed.

I can understand the need for ad revenue, and have accepted that 1/3 of my screen real estate is lost. I've already adjusted to it and frankly it doesn't bother me as much as it does others. It might bother your advertisers to find out that people can be quite easily self-trained to ignore ads. And even cleverer people use ad blockers to eliminate them entirely.

The other issues bbrowniii raises should be pretty simple coding entries for the programmers, and I look forward to having them back. Having page "jump" numbers top and bottom is so basic to forums that I am shocked to see it not applied here. Same with the "Jump to" pull down menu option. Both are such simple and basic forum necessities, and the lack of them makes using the forum that much more difficult. And I think you'll agree that a difficult forum is a quiet, boring, and worse of all, unused forum. Hardly the result your advertisers are looking for!

I haven't seen any speed issues for quite a while, search is doing what it should be doing, the old posts are there if you know how to find them (see below for a "new" enhancement request). I haven't had a system error in a week now, so I am feeling optimistic about the future!

New Enhancement Request:

The Sort & Filter option now shows "Newer than 6 months" which is better, but "Applying and Saving" doesn't save properly. I change it, save it and when I close the forum and come back, it reverts to "Newer than 6 months". It also seems forum specific. In other words, I would have to set each forum's settings individually. A universal, and permanent, setting would be preferred.

Again, thanks for taking the time to keep the lines of communication open, it truly is appreciated!

Bill Grigg

No worries Bill. I have passed you comments on to the online folks and we'll see if we can't get something done about these two concerns.

Cheers, Aaron

First of all thanks for responding, I think the silence gets people more frustrated than the technical problems.

Aaron Skinner

Here's what we know right now:

bbrowniii:

 

-the post confimation screen, which is universally reviled, plus the feature that redirects you from your post confimation back to the first page of a thread

This aspect of the Forums is part of the software and it serves a specific purpose so will not change, according to our online folks.Cheers, Aaron

You might have your online people talk with your other publication Scale Auto's online people. Same software but they don't have the despised post confirmation.

Bgrigg

Aaron,

Thanks for your reply. Feedback, any feedback, like this is very important to us, and I want you to know that even though the answers aren't necessarily what we would like, the fact that you are taking the time to answer is appreciated.

Aaron

Since Bill said it quite well, I'll simply echo his thoughts - thanks for taking the time out to reply.  Hearing from someone 'in the know' certainly is appreciated.

Boyd

Aaron

Now that I have praised you for responding in my previous post...

Seriously, though, I'm once again going to defer to Bill.  He summed up my thoughts pretty well and I'm not trying to turn this into a 'let's bash Aaron' segment.  But, just so you know, I am in (almost ) complete agreement with Bill...

Aaronw

 

You might have your online people talk with your other publication Scale Auto's online people. Same software but they don't have the despised post confirmation.

Scale Auto uses an older version of the software that doesn't use post notification. It is a built-in aspect of this version as I understand it.

Cheers, Aaron

bbrowniii

But, just so you know, I am in (almost ) complete agreement with Bill...

News flash!

Due to the totally unexpected and rapidly plunging temperatures, Demons and Devils are panicking as snow falls in Hades for the first time ever. Lucifer High announced today that all courses in Demonology are canceled until further notice. If you can donate blankets and coats, or if you have an unending source of brimstone, please send them to your local area politician, as they normally have the most direct avenue to the nether regions

Bgrigg

bbrowniii:

But, just so you know, I am in (almost ) complete agreement with Bill...

 

News flash!

Due to the totally unexpected and rapidly plunging temperatures, Demons and Devils are panicking as snow falls in Hades for the first time ever. Lucifer High announced today that all courses in Demonology are canceled until further notice. If you can donate blankets and coats, or if you have an unending source of brimstone, please send them to your local area politician, as they normally have the most direct avenue to the nether regions

You know what....?  I know funny and THAT is FUNNNNNN-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

Aaron Skinner

 

Scale Auto uses an older version of the software that doesn't use post notification. It is a built-in aspect of this version as I understand it.

Cheers, Aaron

Aaron,

I'll take your word for it (though it does seem like it should just be a 'simple' - and I did put it in quotes - code thing), but can't it at least be tweaked to take us to the LAST PAGE of the thread we are in.  And before you suggest that I simply arrange my threads to show the newest posts on the first page, as Bill said, it doesn't really do any good to do that since everytime I leave the site and come back, none of those settings are remembered...

bbrowniii

 

Aaron Skinner:

 

 

 

 

Scale Auto uses an older version of the software that doesn't use post notification. It is a built-in aspect of this version as I understand it.

Cheers, Aaron

 

 

Aaron,

I'll take your word for it (though it does seem like it should just be a 'simple' - and I did put it in quotes - code thing), but can't it at least be tweaked to take us to the LAST PAGE of the thread we are in.  And before you suggest that I simply arrange my threads to show the newest posts on the first page, as Bill said, it doesn't really do any good to do that since everytime I leave the site and come back, none of those settings are remembered...

Wasn't going to suggest that. We are looking into that issue to see if it can be addressed. Also looking into the setting not saving issue.

Cheers, Aaron

bbrowniii

 

Bgrigg:

 

 

bbrowniii:

But, just so you know, I am in (almost ) complete agreement with Bill...

 

 

News flash!

Due to the totally unexpected and rapidly plunging temperatures, Demons and Devils are panicking as snow falls in Hades for the first time ever. Lucifer High announced today that all courses in Demonology are canceled until further notice. If you can donate blankets and coats, or if you have an unending source of brimstone, please send them to your local area politician, as they normally have the most direct avenue to the nether regions

 

 

You know what....?  I know funny and THAT is FUNNNNNN-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

Glad you enjoyed it. I'm here all week, try the veal.

And the tip jar is on the piano in the lounge!