As part of the websites ongoing development, the discussion forum area will be unavailable for a period of time this weekend, whilst upgrades are made.

Due to the nature of the upgrades, the exact time the forums will go offline will not be known until nearer the time.  The time will be posted as soon as it is known, although this may mean that not much notice will be given.

We will post a message once all upgrades have been completed.

During this period, all other areas of the website will function as usual.

Sorry for any inconvience this may cause.

Thanks for your ongoing support,

Daniel
Website Administrator

Daniel,

I notice you have introduced the new YaBB V2.1 forum software but must comment as follows:-

1.  All my existing thread subscriptions have been lost, which is surely going to be a real killer for the discussions here if this cannot be overcome.  And I cannot think of a worse time for the discussion here to be killed off in this way.

2. A notification update email message I had sent by the old forum software still only linked me to Page 1 of a multi page thread in the new forum although I know that YaBB V2 does have the facility to send emails with notification links that take you to the current active page from my membership of the www.radioandtelly.co.uk forum which upgraded to YaBB about three weeks ago.

Are you working on the thread subscription issue?  As I am sure you would agree forum members will not find it acceptable for all their message subscriptions to be lost.

NGM

NGM, you could try remembering what you've said.

You're making it sound like people can't read any thread they want to.

lost all my subscriptions to the threads as well. Although I was only watching a couple of threads, so I havent lost that much.

Plus I think the FOI thread should be number 4 in the list after cheep call providers but before site related.

Must be too early in the morning for my brain - but what exactly are these 'subscriptions' being discussed here?
Apologies if it's a daft question!!

ps I'm finding the text not as easy to read as before, seems 'lighter', but maybe that's just age (mine, not the text!).

Things I've noticed:-

• Subscriptions (as pointed out mc661 & NGM) are lost
  
  
• Text size seems smaller & lighter (as pointed out by firestop).  I personally find a default font/text size of Arial 12 is easier to read (assuming this can be changed).
  
  
• Signatures that used the code 'Glow' no longer appear to work (I noticed Dave's signature was one)
  
  
• Links don't appear bold (so as to highlight them more)
  
  
• In the search page, is it possible to change the default 'This post was made in the last...' from 'Week' to possibly '(all posts)' or 'Year'?
  
  
• Is it possible to change the 'Display how many results?' from '15' to a much higher number like '100'.

You may need to install the Board Search add-on.

This would then mean for those members that do bother to do a search, then changing the defaults to a much higher number would ensure they are more likely to get a search result and therefore/hopefully not bother to start a new topic.  I believe not many people look at the default search criteria when searching.  

Now I do feel thick - everyone moaning about 'lost subscriptions' and I don't even know what they're on about!

Is it just for 'supreme & superior' members only?  Must I aspire to these dizzy heights before all is revealed?  Will I need to learn a funny handshake and roll one trouser leg up?

We need to be told. ;) :-[

[quote author=firestop link=1131735546/0#6 date=1131877889]Now I do feel thick - everyone moaning about 'lost subscriptions' and I don't even know what they're on about!

Is it just for 'supreme & superior' members only?  Must I aspire to these dizzy heights before all is revealed?  Will I need to learn a funny handshake and roll one trouser leg up?

We need to be told. ;) :-[/quote]
There's a 'Notify of replies' link at the top of the thread.  Click on that to 'subscribe' to a thread and you can then click to get an e-mail to tell you when anyone replies to that particular thread.

There's also a 'Check this if you wish to be notified of replies to this topic' box at the bottom of the Post Reply page (i.e. the page you type in). That does the same thng - 'subscribes' you to a thread.

Many thanks, Heinz.  Now I understand, just never heard the term before.

firestop wrote on Nov 13^th, 2005 at 11:17am:

Many thanks, Heinz.  Now I understand, just never heard the term before.

When you reply to any thread/topic there is a "Check this is you wish to be notified of replies to this topic" option.  Thereafter you continue to get emails when there are further message posts in that thread.  There were 70 or 80 threads to which I was thus subscribed.

Daniel said he wasn't going to switch over to YaBB V2 until this problem was overcome but now he has done anyway regardless.

So now I don't get any update emails when there are new posts in topics/threads that I was watching.

wrote on Nov 13^th, 2005 at 11:39am:

So now I don't get any update emails when there are new posts in topics/threads that I was watching.

It's not the best solution but the next easiest way of re-subscribing to threads is to go into the threads again and click on 'Notify of Replies' either at the top or bottom of the thread.

I've just been searching on Yabbforum (the makers of YaBB) and it appears it is a problem for which they don't know how to get around.  It is annoying but isn't a major problem in comparison to losing threads or PM's etc.

NGM, didn't you also say radioandtelly also had same problem?

bbb_uk wrote on Nov 13^th, 2005 at 11:50am:

I've just been searching on Yabbforum (the makers of YaBB) and it appears it is a problem for which they don't know how to get around as yet.  It is annoying but isn't a major problem in comparison to losing threads or PM's etc.

If you were subscribed to 80 or so threads as I was then it is a very significant issue.

I can't understand why these records can't be migrated across as the info is clearly there to transfer in the forum database.

wrote on Nov 13^th, 2005 at 11:53am:

If you were subscribed to 80 or so threads as I was then it is a very significant issue.

I agree if you have loads.  I personally don't know how you kept up with these.  You must have got loads of emails on a daily basis.  lol.

Quote:

I can't understand why these records can't be migrated across as the info is clearly there to transfer in the forum database.

I agree here completely but if the forum makers don't appear to have found a way around then what can one do?

Daniel mentioned here that to send out a mass email informing people of the consultation then it is best done from the new upgraded forum.  I assume this is probably a feature that wasn't present on the old existing one.  Therefore, in my opinion, I'm glad he's now upgraded so that hopefully this mass email can be sent out.  Had he hold out until this notification problem was solved then this may have been too late for a mass email to all members.

A lot of the threads had become dormant so did not send me lots of new messages on a daily basis.  However every now and then someone added a new message to a thread that had been quiet for a few weeks.

I can't see how YaBB can conisder V2 to be a full release version if no satisfactory migration path from YaBB V1 on thread subscriptions is available. >:(

wrote on Nov 13^th, 2005 at 12:15pm:

I can't see how YaBB can conisder V2 to be a full release version if no satisfactory migration path from YaBB V1 on thread subscriptions is available. >:(

It does seem weird that they haven't found a way around this but from my experience (in my field) it is very rare that when an upgrade/conversion is done, it's done without a problem.  This is true not just of forum software but other software as well.  I noticed VBulletin forum software that you actually have to pay for, also had problems with conversion/upgrading, etc.

Like I said I agree it's annoying but as I said earlier holding off until it can be sorted would make it too late for a mass email especially when its not known when (or indeed if) the notification problem could be sorted.  At this moment in time, as I'm sure you'll agree, a mass email to forum members about the consultation is more important and worth the upgrade especially as there is only 22 days left.

Another very worrying fault with the new YaBB software is that it turns off the option to receive a new email notification and/or for a Pop Up box to appear when you log in (a new feature of this version) if you have new Private Messages (even if you previously had this enabled in the YaBBV1.4 version).  So bang goes the idea of sending a PM to most forum members about the 084/7 consultation as most of them now won't even now receive that message.  Also to now save the option to say you want to get an email or a pop up message box for a new PM you have to step through all four Options screens one by one saving each in turn.  But if there is a default setting that is applied to all members in YaBB V2why isn't it turned on by default for PM notification, which is surely what most forum members would want.

The only good thing I have seen is that you can actually change your forum name if you ever want to (whilst keeping all your messages) which wasn't possible with the old forum software.

Also you should now get email notifications that take you to the current page in a thread and you shouldn't get multiple emails on a single thread between forum visits.

Two negative points:

I can't see any way to show dates/times of postings relative to a different timezone, unlike with the last version;

The previous version allowed a view of all posts by a specific user - the only options that seem available now are 5, 10, 15 and 25 posts.

Time Offset does seem to still be there in User Profile but you have to realise there are now four user Profile screens instead of just one as there was before.  I agree that the facility to view all posts of a forum member has been removed.

The switching off of PM notifications by default (even for those who previously had the facility enablled)  is a very worrying failing.  It means I can't now communicate directly with various forum members by PMs as I was before.  If there is a global option for the Forum Administrator to turn PMs on by deafult unless people decide to over-ride this by turning the facility off then Daniel should globally turn PM notification for all users on.

wrote on Nov 13^th, 2005 at 1:45pm:

Time Offset does seem to still be there in User Profile but you have to realise there are now four user Profile screens instead of just one as there was before.

Thanks - have found this now. Wasn't obvious, at least to me.

As as aside, there are some positive aspects to the new system, including the 'remaining characters' count  and the 'live preview' that I have just noticed. I also prefer the 'look' of the new forum.

wrote on Nov 13^th, 2005 at 1:02pm:

So bang goes the idea of sending a PM to most forum members about the 084/7 consultation as most of them now won't even now receive that message.

Sending it by PM may not make members aware of the consultation anyhow as they may have had this notification turned off.  I believe an email direct to members email accounts is the better option.

Quote:

if there is a default setting that is applied to all members in YaBB V2 why isn't it turned on by default for PM notification, which is surely what most forum members would want.

I agree.  Daniel, is there anyway to change the default PM notification by email and pop-up to on by default?  Obviously those not wanting it can turn it off if needed.

With the exception of subscription and default PM notification I believe this is a better forum that will hopefully fix the problems associated with the last one.

I like the fact you can now move PM's to the 'Storage' area which is handy for those wanting to keep PM's and don't want them kept in the inbox and clutter the inbox up.

I also like the fact that you can recall PM's that haven't been viewed by the receipient.  Similar feature that exists with Outlook for emails.

And update emails now take you to the current active thread page instead of Page 1.  Although they do not take you down to the first new message added on that page since your last visit to the thread, as some other pay forum software does (YaBB is Freeware).  And no multiple emails for new posts in a thread, which is a real boon if you go travelling for a couple of days and cannot view busy threads.  And a more elaborate and a wider range of smilies. [smiley=2vrolijk_08.gif]

Its just a pity about losing all subscriptions, turning everyone's PMs off and limiting the number of old posts that can be viewed per member to 25.  [smiley=thumbdown.gif]

Just a quick message to let you all know that I am just going through changing/updating a few things that have been pointed out here.

Please bear with me as I make the necessary changes/updates.

Thanks again!
Daniel

Daniel,

Thanks for all your hard work so far and its good to know that you are still working on ironing out the bugs.

Is there any way to resubscribe us to all the threads we were involved in before, to turn PMs on by default for all members and to let us view more than the last 50 posts for any forum member?  Also if there is an option to change the number of posts required to reach each of the various categories of forum membership perhaps you might also like to review that too?
[smiley=dankk2.gif]

wrote on Nov 13^th, 2005 at 3:02pm:

Thanks for all your hard work so far and its good to know that you are still working on ironing out the bugs. Is there any way to resubscribe us to all the threads we were involved in before, to turn PMs on by default for all members and to let  us view more than the last 25 posts for any forum member?

I have sent multiple e-mails to the developers of the forum software over the last few weeks to try and find a solution to the notifications problem.  So far, I have yet to get a solution - Although if it is possible, I will certainly get them transferred across from the old forum.

With the PM situation, I am just waiting to hear back with a work-around to get this activated for all users (and new users) by default.

There is no problem with increasing the number of posts you can see from a forum member, but this along with other points I have on my to-do list, which I am currently working through.

Thanks again
Daniel

wrote on Nov 13^th, 2005 at 3:02pm:

Thanks for all your hard work so far...

I agree, thanks Daniel.  [smiley=dankk2.gif]

NGM, just noticed all those additional smilies you referred to earlier - a lot better than the last forum version.

bbb_uk wrote on Nov 13^th, 2005 at 3:15pm:

I agree, thanks Daniel.

Yes, thanks from me too. The new software is a significant improvement with some nice modifications and helpful additions. The changeover appears to have been seamless. Well done!

Yes, well done Daniel, the writing is now much better (unless it's just an illusion now that it's past lunchtime and my eyes are finally focussing properly!).
I think the site is much better now.

Hello everyone! It's me, Dave!

I've had a few problems getting logged in and Daniel has sorted it for now; I'm dave with a small 'd'. I hope to have my big 'D' back soon!

Just checked and my posts say "Dave (ex member)". I hope this will be fixed.  :'(

The new forum has a much better feel and hopefully Yabb Add-Ons will provide better functionality. I do hope this notification problem can be fixed.

Some points I've noticed:

• On the navigation bar at the top, with the previous version 'Search' was changed to 'Search Forums' so as not to get confused with searching the database.
  
• Locked topics aren't locked any more.
  
• I've read my new private messages, but it still says they are new and unread.

A vast improvement is with links. No need to make it bold, it does it automatically!

One other thing, I can't find the Modify option to modify a post.

Dave wrote on Nov 13^th, 2005 at 4:33pm:

I've had a few problems getting logged in and Daniel has sorted it for now; I'm dave with a small 'd'. I hope to have my big 'D' back soon!

Do you think Daniel is trying to tell you something?   [smiley=2vrolijk_08.gif]

I think you have lost you mod status that's why you can't edit any posts.  If you look at the main page of the forum, you are not down as a moderator anymore.  I also noticed Forum Admin isn't down for Geo chat section.

They were all there earlier on so not sure what has gone on.

I never noticed topics weren't locked anymore.  Could that be because they were locked by you Dave and you no longer exist (in a nice way)?

Update:

It's not because you don't exist.  Just checked some threads daniel created and locked on old forum.  They also aren't locked either.
I do think Daniel's "to-do list" is getting larger and larger.  [smiley=lolk.gif]

bbb_uk wrote on Nov 13^th, 2005 at 4:54pm:

I think you have lost you mod status that's why you can't edit any posts.  If you look at the main page of the forum, you are not down as a moderator anymore.  I also noticed Forum Admin isn't down for Geo chat section. They were all there earlier on so not sure what has gone on.

AFAIK any member should be able to edit their own posts. Yes i noticed Ive lost the mod status for some of the sections, although I'm blue, which means global moderator.

Still got the issue of having unread messages despite reading them. Also, the 'new' icon is still there next to posts, despite the fact that I've read them.

Dave wrote on Nov 13^th, 2005 at 4:59pm:

AFAIK any member should be able to edit their own posts.

I can edit my posts.

Try this link.  It's the link used to edit a certain post.  This should allow you to edit your post #28.  See if you get any error messages.

Edit by Dave:
I can edit all posts now, even yours!  ;D

Yes, it works now bbb_uk!

I've just edited your above post.

It doesn't say when posts were edited.

Help  :-[ With the new software, I don't seem able to edit my post: http://www.saynoto0870.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.cgi?num=1129637610

There doesn't appear to be either an edit/modify link and I want to edit the days-to-go-til-consulation-deadline and it won't let me!  [smiley=undecided.gif]

Thanks in anticipation

gdh82 wrote on Nov 13^th, 2005 at 6:42pm:

Help  :-[ With the new software, I don't seem able to edit my post: http://www.saynoto0870.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.cgi?num=1129637610

Done.  ;)

Thanks  for your replies and thanks very much Dave for doing the edit for me! :)

bbb_uk wrote on Nov 13^th, 2005 at 2:38pm:

I also like the fact that you can recall PM's that haven't been viewed by the receipient.  Similar feature that exists with Outlook for emails.

Alot of members receive emails when they get a new PM. Once that's been sent, there's no way to recall it.

I also notice that when you use quote, it places quotes within quotes. So if you're quoting someone who quoted someone else, then you get a quote within a quote. I hope that makes sense. Good.

Hmmm.

My subscription to this thread disappeared and I have only seen the new messages because I decided to view it manually.

I also currently have no Reply button available and the only reason I can reply is because the Quote button is available and I then deleted the Quote.  So more than a few things wrong to say the least!

Oh I see there is only a Reply button for the last and first message on the page.  In the old forum there was a reply option against every message wasn't there?  Again doesn't seem like progress. [smiley=thumbdown.gif]

Ok everybody take a look at this thread from Yabb's own web discussion forum where Karsten, the lead YaBB forum software developer, says he has now fixed the problem of Message Notifications (subscriptions) and PM notification status not being carried over from the old to the new forum software versions on conversion.  But he hasn't yet found out how to do  this for already converted boards so I wonder if there is any chance of persuading Daniel to re-convert our board to V2.1 again using Karsten's new fixed forum converter? :-/

I realise this would mean losing all posts made over the last 24 hours or so but its probably the lesser of the two evils.  Also Daniel is there any way to re-email dorf with his password which he seems to have lost  or something?

Here is the YaBB discussion thread:-

www.yabbforum.com/community/YaBB.pl?num=1131508359/30

You may perhaps recognise a certain djblamire and NonGeographicalMan who post in this thread. ::)

Daniel

Carsten, The lead software developer for YaBB, has now posted a file on the thread in the YaBB forum that should convert all message notifications and IM by email opt ins from the YaBB V1.4 version of the forum.

Hope you can give this a try as soon as possible.

NGM

I can't reply to any PM messages at all  :-?

Anyone else had this problem?   :-[

You can click on the Reply button on the bottom of each message summary or click the envelope thingy against each message and use the Reply button in the screen that brings up.

But losing all message subscriptions and the ability to communicate with nearly all other forum members by PM is really killing discussion in this forum just when it needs to be busy.  I hope Daniel can run the fix for message and PM notifications tonight.

I keep getting this every time I try to send a PM :'(  


Quote:

An Error Has Occurred! 104 An Error Has Occurred!: Unable to open 1.txt

Please help!  I've suddenly got 9 messages all in one go, not sure why, but I need to reply to them and can't at the moment :-[

I'm back to normal now with my big D!

Thanks to Daniel for fixing this!

We now have a Recycle Bin, so should any moderator remove a topic by accident, it will be able to be restored. [smiley=vrolijk_1.gif]

I doubt we'll need that though!  ::)

The forum isn't back to normal though as the termination of all thread subscriptions and blocking off of PM facilities for most members (unless they learn how to turn them back on) has killed most forum communication and posting stone dead.

What is Daniel doing about implementing the fix to restore PM status and message subscriptions offered by Carsten over at the YaBB web forum? [smiley=undecided.gif]

wrote on Nov 14^th, 2005 at 10:03pm:

What is Daniel doing about implementing the fix to restore PM status and message subscriptions offered by Carsten over at the YaBB web forum? [smiley=undecided.gif]

NGM,

Please check your e-mail ;)

The message basically said sorry for not replying to you sooner, as I have been working through the different problems people have been finding.

I am going to run the update a bit later tonight (when the forum is a little quieter). - I've tried it on my test forum, and it seems to work well, so hopefully it should go smoothly.  :-X

Daniel

The threads subscriptions have now been transferred across from the old forum, which shouldn't have affected any you have subscribed to since.

All members will now be informed by e-mail if they receive a private message - This can be disabled if necessary through the 'Profile' link at the top of the forum.

Thanks again
Daniel

Daniel,

It now turns out I am subscribed to around 200 threads (many admittedly long dormant).  So I knew there was a reason I was so touchy about this issue.

The only remaining issue seems to be PMs which have converted from YaBB V1.4 in the wrong order with the oldest message in the Inbox at say item 165 and the newest message at Item 1 but with any new messages coming in via YaBBV2 joining at Message No 166.  I guess we need to make this a feature request over at www.YaBBforum.com as they seem more than a little touchy about any suggestion at all that their forum software could have any bugs in it.  There is a guy over there called Spike who seems more than a little appriately named. ;) :o

Anyhow thanks for your all your hard work on this Daniel.  It seems like we are almost there. [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

Please feel free to vote here on what you think of the new forum version (inc its features) compared to the older one.

Once you vote you have approximately a week from the date of voting to change your mind and remove your vote (bottom right-hand side of voting screen) and vote again.

Also, I would just like to say thanks Daniel for the time you have put in on upgrading the forum and solving the conversion problems.  I believe overall it's a better forum compared to the older one especially now that most (if not all) conversion problems have been solved.
[smiley=dankk2.gif]

A big thanks to Daniel for putting in the work over the past couple of days to upgrade the forums. [smiley=dankk2.gif] [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

Agreed but it would still be nice if we could get our www.yabbforum.com chums to tell us how to reorder the PMs here so that they appear properly in date order.  Also longer term it would be nice if the update email could take us to the actual post in the thread which is the first new one we haven't read since we last visited the thread.  It seems many other web forum packages now provide such a facility.

Or perhaps they are holding off on this for YaBB V3 which already seems to be in development. ;)

Thanks for logging me for "keeps".

It was a pain in the .... having to go and look for my PSW every time I logged in.

And I like the new look, thanks.

juby

Juby,

The old forum did actually let you change your password to one you could remember in Profile as does this one.  Also one was rarely logged out by it so long as one asked to stay logged in for a large number of hours.

As the for Keeps thing may be knocked out if you clear the Cookies on your PC or run other antispam type applications I would still recommend changing your password to one you can easily remember.

NGM

As you have pointed out to me a number of times eh NGM. Well of course I have learned my lesson now and have changed my PW to a memorable one.

Only 28 to go until your rightful place in the forum hierarchy is restored Dorf. ;)

I am glad that you noticed that NGM, and I hope that you also noticed that I am not cheating by splitting my posts into two or three or even four. I could of course hardly continue to do that after your severe chastisement, could I?

Daniel,

I've noticed with this version of the YaBB compared to the other one and that is with this version of YaBB you can't use Windows' Undo feature (ctrl-Z) so if we accidently delete a sentence or something we're unable to use the Undo feature.

This feature worked on 1.4 Gold so not sure if this is a setting or something or is a feature that isn't currently supported with 2.1.

Thanks in advance.

::)  :D  ;D

bbb,

Do you not also get a problem with Notificatione emails from SayNoto0870 and clicking the link in them to be taken to the Message?

I have found since we went to YabB V2.1 that the thing just hangs the first time round and I have to close the IE6 window and click the link again (it then always works the second time).  The same thing happens when I visit the forum home page now.  I often have to enter the URL again as it stalls the first time.

Although I have Norton Firewall, Microsoft Antisyware etc I don't think they are causing the problem as I am not getting this issue on any other web forum I use.

Have you also perhaps experienced this problem?

wrote on Dec 23^rd, 2005 at 11:17am:

Do you not also get a problem with Notificatione emails from SayNoto0870 and clicking the link in them to be taken to the Message? I have found since we went to YabB V2.1 that the thing just hangs the first time round and I have to close the IE6 window and click the link again (it then always works the second time).  The same thing happens when I visit the forum home page now.  I often have to enter the URL again as it stalls the first time...

I very rarely use the subscription feature to avoid getting loads of emails! lol.

I do have the problem with IE6 appearing to hang when visiting the homepage.  The problem is intermittent and I suspect only happens with those of us still using IE6.

Visiting the main homepage doesn't (well shouldn't), as far as I can see, make any difference to forum as that is on a different page (ie separate) but I agree its only recently this has been happening.  Daniel doesn't use static type pages (html) but instead using php so this could (possibly) be related to YaBB and any files it installed.

A work-around for this is to click on the refresh button (the button with the two arrows in a round shape).

I've found this happens more often after I have cleared my cache which I do every so often.

The problem I mentioned in my last few posts also exists for FireFox users as well but only after the cache has been cleared (obviously) same as IE6.

Update:

I noticed the Undo (Ctrl-Z) not working problem (discussed in my next to last post) is more related to browser because it works using FireFox but not when using IE6.  Daniel am I therefore correct in assuming this is a 'bug' rather than something that you can "tweak"?  If it is, I'll post in the YaBB forum.