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Comments on New forum design / software
As you can see we’ve made some changes on the forum. Our old forum software was getting dated and was no longer updating with changing Internet protocols. So, that is why we made this switch.
I’m still trying to figure things out but what I could use from you is feedback and questions.
So, what do you think?
What do you like?
What do you hate?
What is not working?Comment away!
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89 Replies
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What I don’t like is:
- the formating options… having underline and colours would be nice whilst two types of lists… who needs that?
- lagging: I’ve had now (during these few lines) three laggs but fortunately, the cursor didn’t disappear as it did before in another post
- that I can’t read the above answers. Very annoying to have the forum open on two tabs especially because I still don’t know how to cite (and my answers tend to be longer, so I might forget things and have to look up an above question/answer)
- that I can’t see a button to go back to the subforum I came from before answering except the regular ‘Forum’ botton on top
- EDIT: Search function doesn’t seem to work when searching for more than one word
- What’s ‘blockquote’ and ‘preformatted text’?
- Sorry for only mentioning the ‘bad’ things, I’m better at criticising than giving kudos (if I don’t mention anything, it usually means that I’m happy with it… doesn’t really work according to my wife and my employees 🙂 ).
- How do I upload a file/picture without a link?
- How do I post smileys? EDIT: Okay, it does make smileys… large ones! Let’s try some more 😉 😛 <3 ;( 😀 If only I could get a preview…
- I’m now at a count of more than 10 short laggs…
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What system are you posting from (mobile device, laptop computer or other)?
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@thejoggler Sorry, posting this here. Please tell me how to post my discussion? I found difficult for somethings in your new forum. If possible elaborate it in steps of generating new questions in this platform. With forum, Perry also changed to thejoggler ????
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Laptop, Windows 10
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Ok, I’ve figured out how to allow media and emojis.
This is a wysiwyg editor so if you want to underline something you can highlight it and do <ctrl>U
<ctrl>B bolds text
<ctrl>I italicizes, etc.-
Sorry, posting this here. Please tell me how to post my discussion? I found difficult for somethings in your new forum. If possible elaborate it in steps of generating new questions in this platform. Perry changed to thejoggler ????
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Yes, unfortunately we’re still working out some of the glitches in the switch from the old forum software to this one.
To start a new discussion, go to https://chemistscorner.com/cosmeticsciencetalk/forum/general/ There will be a button on the side column (if you’re on a computer) or a button at the bottom of the discussions (if you are on a mobile device). Just click the discussion and start a new one.
I’m trying to get that fixed but haven’t been able to at the moment. We’ll get it corrected.
And yes, my handle is thejoggler at the moment. I’m going to fix that too.
Perry, 44
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Hi Perry,
Thanks for getting the forum back up quickly.
Just a few comments / questions
- I too am having some lagging issues when typing and it just misses several letters if I type too quickly (Windows 10 / Desktop).
- Is there a way to distinguish which discussions I have already read. They just all seem to be the same color in the list of discussions. I liked in the old forum that they changed color when read.
- Although having the topics up the top looks good I personally don’t find it that useful as I prefer to read all the discussions from the list. Often people put their post in the wrong topic anyway so if I only wanted to read formulating posts I would probably miss some because they might be under hair etc.
- Does the subscribe button send you the responses via email? If yes I do like this function.
- In the list of topics there is a Private category but it just seems to have old random topics. Not sure what that is about.
- Do we still have the capacity to send private messages to others on the forum? I am still exploring so I might have missed it.
Thanks again. ????
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Thank for this update.
I am confused with everything i do in forum right now but maybe because it is new.
Here are some of my suggestions that was better previously.
1. An introduction in front of the name of users to know better if he is a regular member, student, professional chemist, professional formulator and etc like before.
2. I made a post but i couldn’t upload a picture in it. Not in actual post, not in comment.
3. When i was adding tags to my post, it wasn’t suggesting previous tags when i was typing like it did before. This may create unnecessary new tags.
4. In “recent discussion” section, it only shows 5 discussions, if for example 8 new discussions has been started and i haven’t checked them, how should i know that?
5. How should i know in general, which discussions i have opened and which i haven’t.
Thanks again
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@Abdullah would you like to tell me how to post our query and to where ?
I am very confused and didn’t find the way to post query.
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I went to my mailbox…where I had a massive archive of invaluable messages….and the are ALL GONE!
Will these be reinstated soon?
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No data should be lost, so it is still in our database. I will have to check with my IT guy on where those might be.
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Ahh.. I hope you can revive the old PMs, would be greatly appreciated!
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Congratulations Perry on the new format.It looks crisp and clean.I personally like the boxes for each category.
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Old system allowed a great number of discussion posts on screen at one time - this one allows fewer
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Hi Perry, thanks for updating the forum. What a revolution!
Positive ones:
- I liked the cleaner design, it’s probably a matter of time to adapt.
- I love the “unanswered” and “popular” tab, it’s really useful!
- The topic boxes are very interesting, maybe this will make it easier when searching.
- “Recent discussions” box was great too.
- Subscribe button was awesome in place of the star from before.
- Possibility of more editions and the presented history is very good.
- Loved different colors for different topics. It turned out very functional!
- “Notify me of replies via email” option when answering is powerful!!
- Emojis! Emojis!! EMOJIS!!! ????
Not so positive ones:
- I would particularly prefer it if it were possible to “minimize” the topic boxes (or at least that it was a “line” above the general discussions, smaller, you know?). As some have mentioned, sometimes people get confused when categorizing the question and I felt that the boxes take up a lot of space in the main menu.
- There is certain lag for typing answers and loss of words and letters.
- I can’t tell which discussions I opened, and which ones I opened, which had a new reply. This confuses me a bit! 🙁
- “Pinned” posts are not actually pinned. They are marked as important but are lost when there are new discussions.
- Do members still even have a “signature”? I haven’t seen any yet.
- I’m having trouble searching for topics on the forum.
- Chances of a darkmode soon? As someone who stays in front of the computer most of the day, the brightness has always been something that bothered me, but this is a personal and particular case, I don’t know if others feel the same. ????
Let me know if anything got confused. Thank you for all your dedication to the community and your efforts to keep bringing us together. You’re the man, the legend!
P.S.: <i style=”background-color: var(-bb-content-background-color); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; color: var(-bb-body-text-color);”>Avatars are no longer randomly generated, oh no! I thought mine was the best. ????
Edit 1: My italicized text in the last sentence (P.S.) was edited itself, I think it’s some error because I just pressed “ctrl+i” in the sentence.
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On some older, longer posts it always starts (for me at least) at Page 1 of multiple pages. It would be great to have the option to see the latest replies at the top of the thread. (reverse chronological order).
I was perusing a thread that was on “Page 4” of comments and I had to navigate back to Page 4 each time I refreshed the post.
The lag is persistent when responding. (I had to “edit” my initial response since several keystrokes just disappeared into the ether causing some spelling errors)
However, much cleaner interface.
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Good job, Perry … it’s a nice, clean design and I like the addition of colors on the Forum.
On the Forum, the Topic Boxes that preceed the actual Forum discussions are quite large. You would not necessarily know that the Forum discussion by individual post is down below. I would make those much smaller and color code them to match the color coding of the discussions in the Forum down below. I think all you need here is the heading: General, Formulating, Change My View.
I also preferred designated Professional Chemists as such as opposed to everyone being a Member.
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I’m working on figuring out how to change from “member” to something else.
However, in the “profile” section you can put a lot more than in the previous software. I’d suggest you populate that so anyone who clicks on your username will get the information they need.
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You’ll see I’ve updated your “member” status.
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be careful not to lose anything from this forum it will be for the generations to come!!
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I still have the old database so all the info from the forum is still captured. It’s just a matter of setting it up to work with this new software. At the very least I can turn the old stuff into a PDF.
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Is the search feature working? I tried it…and no matter what word I entered….got nothing.
Also…the old site had a feature…where you could look through ‘Your Content’….basically find the threads you started…..does this exist? If so…how do I find that?
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To check your discussions, just go to your own profile and select “Foruns” (:
I still struggling with the search engine too 🙁
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I’m not sure I understand the problem with the search function. Is it working for you now?
I tested it on my system and it is now working. It could be a “cookie” issue on your computer at the moment. Perhaps clear cookies and try.
Let me know if you are still having problems.
Thanks!
Perry, 44
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I think it’s working now Perry!
One suggestion, I think the search tool could work more like google itself. If we mix words that don’t follow each other, it won’t have results (like in the old forum)… So, for example, if I want to find a forum where 2 different ingredients were mentioned but I don’t remember the title or an exact phrase, typing both in the search box will not return any results, as if the topic does not exist. But it’s there, I just don’t know the exact words order to look for it.
Sorry, I don’t know if my explanation made sense ????
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Thanks! Still working on fixing the ‘search’ but right now it searches the entire website.
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Just some observations as I am looking at the new interface for the first time.
- The new interface is much cleaner and certainly looks much prettier than the old one
- As others have mentioned, dark mode would be appreciated
- Typing lag and interruptions are certainly an issue (as I have just discovered while writing this)
- Just looking at the main forum page, I can’t figure out how to make a new post (although I may just need to put my glasses on)
- It would be nice if private messages and profile data such as join date could be conserved form the old site
- As others have mentioned, some colour or shading difference to show you which posts you have read would be appreciated
- The old tag system was certainly better and having popular options displayed to you certainly made tagging a breeze
Those are the things I can think of off the top of my head. As always, we greatly appreciate all of the work you put into making this site as good as it is. Thanks Perry!
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<div>It’s much harder to read. The choice of a grey % vs complete black font, plus the extra wide line spacing are fatiguing. Also the wider margins make for long skinny passages vs paragraphing as before. All hamper reading & attention.
</div><div>As others have noted, it’s very hard to find what one has read or not, what’s new or not.
I have read here for years to learn & understand. It used to be quick and direct, now it’s a chore.
</div>
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Thanks! We’re working on making updates.
The choice to switch was not one that I necessarily wanted to do.
The old forum software didn’t work any longer.
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Plus.. look at those code tags showing. I didn’t add them.
(mobile/firefox or opera)
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Yes, I’ve seen a couple users show those tags. Not sure what’s going on.
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When someone opens the forum, in the All Discussions page, there isn’t any option to create a new discussion. Some people can’t find the option easily. It is also more convenient to have an option to create a new discussion there at the top and then an option in that about its category like the past.
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“Recent Discussions” section also looks useless too me. It shows only 5 recent Discussions. This you see from list of discussions too that what are the recent Discussions.
If i haven’t checked more than 5 recent Discussions yet, it is completely useless. Also misleading because i would not know what other recent Discussions i haven’t opened.
If i haven’t checked less than 5 recent Discussions yet, it is again useless because it doesn’t show one i have opened and which one i haven’t.
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I think recent discussions refer to new entries as questions. On the main page of the forum, those ones with new replies appear as well, even if they are old posts, so they get mixed up with new discussions
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In this part if we have a brief description that what type of discussions should be on which category, it would be much helpful to prevent creating discussions in wrong category.
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Love it! I’m still getting used to it though so it’s a bit difficult to navigate the forum on the whole. But besides that, I prefer this new format a lot more.
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No doubt much more cleaner design. For me it will take more time to get well acquainted.
The key issue I am facing is -
I don’t see full list of members when we wish to address particular Member. I have to go back to his comment; copy the link & paste it.
I am unable to upload files. Is it due to file size ? It gets uploaded half way & suddenly message appears unable to upload.
Pl. guide.
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Thanks! We’re working on getting that functional.
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That’s a feature I’ve requested the software developers add. At the moment I don’t have a good way to do that. Hopefully, it will be implemented soon because I like that feature a lot too!
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Thanks for the update! For now I will just have to remember how long it has been since I last logged in. ????
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I find it easier to navigate on my phone, as before I had to switch to desktop view to be able to search for things, and it wasn’t ideal. But with the new version, the messages in my inbox disappeared. Also, it is a little harder to tell replies in a thread because there is no separation with the previous comment. I preferred the old version where each comment/reply was in chronological order and one under the other. Another point is that when replying, I can only see what I am writing, I can’t see what anyone else says. I’m also finding it a little glitchy to type. It seems to freeze temporarily, then my writing appears as if typed quickly. I’m not having this issue on any other website.
Btw, is there any way to delete threads or posts we’ve made?
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If you want something deleted, you can just ask me. Users can edit their own discussions for 30 min after posting, otherwise a forum admin needs to do it.
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I did comment in a discussion but wasn’t able to find the option how to edit it on my phone. It only has replay option. I have to switch to disktop mode and then edit it.
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I LOVE:
That we can now get notified of responses to our questions. FanTAStic!
That you, Perry, have gone to the trouble to re-create this fantastic site. I have read and actually remembered many things from many people here. Rock on man!
I do NOT love so much:
That it’s a little tricky to post a new question. One has to first click on the TOPIC they want, THEN the box appearances for ‘New Discussion’. It would easier for MY brain if one would first click on ‘New Discussion’, then you can pick the variety of query you have.
That you have to click on the ‘…’ at the top to find the FORUM. I would be ecstatic if the forum had its own heading/title the same way your blog does.
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