Bonaparte

Forum Upgrade - One Month Later

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About 1 month ago we did a massive upgrade of Eurobricks, the first big upgrade since several years. At first it was a bit of a shock to some, but I hope by now you are all getting used to the new software. I already forgot how the old one looked.

Since the upgrade the admin team has been working hard. We worked to improve the look and feel, we work to improve performance and fixed a lot of bugs and glitches. And we also introduced this new smiley :pir_tong2:

We are almost done getting one forum theme (the default one which you see now) close to the way we want it. A few more details and it will be fully ready. 

So what's next? 

We are preparing some amazing skins and graphics for our theme forums.

And you can expect us becoming spooky soon :pir-murder:

Are you getting used to the new Eurobricks forums?

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Yes, I am getting used to it - all my issues (including that quote button :D) have been resolved since, and by now it works (at least for me) smooth as butter. Great work over the past month (I can't believe it has already been a month:pir_tong2:). Also, is the other smiley you used also new? I haven't seen that one before:P

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I am getting used to it.  You all have done an amazing job.

There are still a few issues.  One for me is the line between the post and the signature.  It is very light, which makes it hard to see.  I often begin reading the signature thinking it's a part of the post.  Darkening this line would be a wonderful change.

I'm looking forward to seeing the themed forum skins.  I'm also looking forward to getting spooky.

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As it happens with all the updates, especially major ones, lots of thing got re-arranged. So it is not easy to find the needed function/option quickly. However overall experience is good. Many issues has been fixed, which is great. God job!

PS. Still missing text editor, where all tags are visible. :cry_sad:

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I have adapted to the new version.  I was getting used to the forum side bar for recent posts then it disappeared.  I had to get used to not having it. Change can be hard.  :laugh:

 

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Thanks to the admin team for all their hard work! :sweet: The forum looks great and even the mobile version is a bit easier to navigate now. A few minor complaints: there's no way to single-space lines between text (I know this is not a priority to fix), and the mobile version is a little graphic-heavy - I really liked how plain the old one was.

Other than that there have been some really nice new features, like highlighting text in a post to quote just that part, and the user control panel is much more intuitive.

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Personally I really enjoy the new design, fresh and modern, it is a pleasure to browse both on PC and mobile. Every small change is making it better (contrast, quote button, etc.) And I applaud the team for patiently listening and considering all the feedback from the users! :thumbup:

I look forward for the new themes in my favorite forums...

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26 minutes ago, JimBee said:

<snip> and the mobile version is a little graphic-heavy - I really liked how plain the old one was.

This one is covered by this:

2 hours ago, Bonaparte said:

We are almost done getting one forum theme (the default one which you see now) close to the way we want it. A few more details and it will be fully ready. 

There will be 3 sizes for each theme banner and depending on the screen resolution a certain size will be shown. We tested this already and it will get implemented soon.

 

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I like it as much as the old one, maybe a little bit more by virtue of the added post editor options on mobile (I no longer need to know all emoticon codes by heart) :sweet:! Looking forward to the skins, too!

One thing I miss: the clear seperation between pinned and normal topics, it was just helpful. Other than that, I'm very satisfied. :thumbup: 

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When I first stumbled upon Brickpicker I was a fan of their forum layout and I'm really glad it was applied here, too! I like being able to tag people and getting notifications. 

So far, very positive response from me. 

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Upgrading big forums like EB is not as easy it some people might think of, so I am very pleased how it turned out. It wasn't a smooth sailing at first but gradually things got better and now the forum is in better shape than ever.  The mobile version is so much improved from previous version but I also miss the simplicity of the old one... of course with a simple tweak here and there on a simplified theme this can be achieved as well.

Overall, I'm very glad how things are shaping up and I know there are many stuff still in progress. Thanks admins for the hard work!

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5 hours ago, Exetrius said:

One thing I miss: the clear seperation between pinned and normal topics, it was just helpful. Other than that, I'm very satisfied. :thumbup: 

I agree, this would be much better than the simple icon indicator.

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Props to you, EB Admins. 

As a member of Flickr, hearing the word "update" often leaves a bad taste in the mouth along with horrid memories of good layouts being replaced by a format that progressively gets worse as the years go by. However, after seeing this update, it felt immediately refreshing! I didn't think the update was unnecessary after seeing the sleek results. As said above, the signature issue is fairly annoying but it's more the good outweighing the bad in this case. 

Reporting is also extremely useful here too, so thanks again. 

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I used to find interspersing responses between quotes on the old desktop version quite a bit easier than now. I did it a couple of days ago in response to a series of questions about some CMFs I MOCed and I struggled to get it right. I managed eventually, but it really wasn't straightforward.

As for the mobile version, the old main Forum index URL now goes to News forum from which it is pretty difficult and sometimes impossible to get to the other fora. If you have the old index URL as your favourite, you need to update that or you'll get stuck. Until I worked that out, I was using Google to navigate the new mobile version. :hmpf_bad:  

   

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11 hours ago, JimBee said:

Thanks to the admin team for all their hard work! :sweet: The forum looks great and even the mobile version is a bit easier to navigate now. A few minor complaints: there's no way to single-space lines between text (I know this is not a priority to fix), and the mobile version is a little graphic-heavy - I really liked how plain the old one was.

Hi Jim...Jim here..... :wink: 

Actually there is a way to have "single space lines" between text.

Shift + Enter results in a line break, where plain Enter results in a new paragraph. This is common modern behavior for editors. For example, the basic template of Word also works this way. I admit, it will take a day or two to get used to.

We are working on smaller (responsive) banners for the mobile version, so that will be fixed soon.

10 hours ago, Exetrius said:

One thing I miss: the clear seperation between pinned and normal topics, it was just helpful. Other than that, I'm very satisfied. :thumbup: 

True, true! Have been looking into this one. I find it annoying too. We need some bottom padding and/or a slightly different color. I'm working on the Technic skin and I will do best to find a solution.

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2 hours ago, Jim said:

Actually there is a way to have "single space lines" between text.

Shift + Enter results in a line break, where plain Enter results in a new paragraph. This is common modern behavior for editors. For example, the basic template of Word also works this way. I admit, it will take a day or two to get used to.

I'm not sure this works for mobile devices, but it is handy.

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At first, I wasn't a big fan of the upgraded forum, but I must say the more I explored it and the more it was changed, the more I began to like it. I echo the other user's feedback about the clear separation between pinned and regular topics, but otherwise, I think the admins have done a great job of ironing out the bugs and acting upon other's feedback. I look forward to seeing the re-implementation of forum theme banners, I must say I did miss those.

One question I do have though, I've noticed a new star icon next to a couple of topics, it looks similar to the pinned topic icon. I might be missing something here but... what is it's purpose? At first I thought it was to denote topics mentioned in frontpage news, but that's not true of all the topics that are marked with a star icon (like, for example the MOC Ninjago Swamp City topic in the A&A forum). Nothing major, I'm just surprised nobody else has asked about it yet. Unless I'm missing something there too :grin:

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36 minutes ago, TheOneVeyronian said:

One question I do have though, I've noticed a new star icon next to a couple of topics, it looks similar to the pinned topic icon. I might be missing something here but... what is it's purpose?

It denotes a featured topic: a topic a forum moderator wants to highlight. We're testing a feed in the sidebar on the portal that lists recently started featured topics.

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There is always some resistance to changes. That's just how humans are wired. Some more, some less :classic:

All in all I like the new design a lot. New possibilities and devices require the UIs to change. That's just how it is and I don't miss the old style at all. It looks very good, is logic and clear (the colours do a great job separating what belongs separated), is mostly self-explaining and works well on my tables as well as on my PC.

A big thank you to everyone involved in the redesign! Great work! :thumbup: :classic: 

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12 hours ago, Jim said:

We are working on smaller (responsive) banners for the mobile version, so that will be fixed soon.

And now the responsive banners are introduction together with our halloween graphics.

Works perfect on my Android smartphone and on my iPad Air2. 

Try it out on your tables ans smartphones :thumbup:

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4 hours ago, Rick said:

It denotes a featured topic: a topic a forum moderator wants to highlight. We're testing a feed in the sidebar on the portal that lists recently started featured topics.

Ah, thanks very much for that. I thought it was for something like that, but I must admit I hadn't even noticed the Featured Topic sidebar in the portal until you mentioned it. I think it works well :classic:

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Hello people,

Love the new lay-out and functionality.
I have one big problem, though.
Since the update I can't log in anymore. My display name is Withacee, I'm now logged in as Ilves (my wife), who created a new account for me.
I tried the Contact us option a few times, but to no avail.
Well, I can actually log in successfully, but after that I get the following error message wherever I click:

Sorry, there is a problem
This member is not awaiting validation
Error code: 2S129/4
Contact us
 
Can you please advise? Remember I can't read DMs, but I do read the email addres with my display name of Withacee, and my wife's address with Ilves.
I'd hate to lose all my comments and it's dead handy to be able to see unto where one has read a topic, so one can jump directly to the first new comment.
 
Thanks in advance!
 
Regards,
Withacee

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How would you be able to delete a quote if you accidentally hit the quote button. (Oh, by the way I am using the mobile version. ) 

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4 hours ago, Ilves said:

Hello people,

Love the new lay-out and functionality.
I have one big problem, though.
Since the update I can't log in anymore. My display name is Withacee, I'm now logged in as Ilves (my wife), who created a new account for me.
I tried the Contact us option a few times, but to no avail.
Well, I can actually log in successfully, but after that I get the following error message wherever I click:

Sorry, there is a problem
This member is not awaiting validation
Error code: 2S129/4
Contact us
 
Can you please advise? Remember I can't read DMs, but I do read the email addres with my display name of Withacee, and my wife's address with Ilves.
I'd hate to lose all my comments and it's dead handy to be able to see unto where one has read a topic, so one can jump directly to the first new comment.
 
Thanks in advance!
 
Regards,
Withacee

Please try again now. 

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