Forum Upgrade
- Thread starter Hent
- Start date
As mentioned previously in this thread, much more edit time would be nice.
The avatars suck; not only are they small, when I upload an image it gets unevenly cropped. If I do a calculated crop before uploading in effort to compensate, it gets cropped differently than the previous attempt so it's still screwed up. One attempt resulted in about 25% of the image being cropped from the right side, even though it was square when uploaded (top and bottom were also cropped, left was not). I then recropped to compensate, leaving extra on the right, and the results were the same. My current one doesn't look terrible, which is why I keep going back to it after trying something new. Look at how badly some photo avatars are chopped off.
Where did the build-off archives go? @Hent
A while back, I noticed that one of my posts had been replaced with photos that I didn't own, upload, or post. My post was a reply to another member and contained no photos; all of the text has been removed and replaced with two photos. I believe the photos belong to a long-time member who may not like seeing them attributed to me. The member I replied to also replied to me and that post is now gone. Hopefully this is an isolated incident... (may want to check your old posts) It makes me somewhat uncomfortable thinking that my posts could be replaced with something else; if text can be replaced with photos, it could also be replaced with different text. See a problem there? I have (just now) used the Report function to request that the modified post be deleted.
On a positive note, I have noticed that photos have been restored to many threads; kudos on that. (imagine "thumbs up" emoji here... 'cause we ain't got one)
The avatars suck; not only are they small, when I upload an image it gets unevenly cropped. If I do a calculated crop before uploading in effort to compensate, it gets cropped differently than the previous attempt so it's still screwed up. One attempt resulted in about 25% of the image being cropped from the right side, even though it was square when uploaded (top and bottom were also cropped, left was not). I then recropped to compensate, leaving extra on the right, and the results were the same. My current one doesn't look terrible, which is why I keep going back to it after trying something new. Look at how badly some photo avatars are chopped off.
Where did the build-off archives go? @Hent
A while back, I noticed that one of my posts had been replaced with photos that I didn't own, upload, or post. My post was a reply to another member and contained no photos; all of the text has been removed and replaced with two photos. I believe the photos belong to a long-time member who may not like seeing them attributed to me. The member I replied to also replied to me and that post is now gone. Hopefully this is an isolated incident... (may want to check your old posts) It makes me somewhat uncomfortable thinking that my posts could be replaced with something else; if text can be replaced with photos, it could also be replaced with different text. See a problem there? I have (just now) used the Report function to request that the modified post be deleted.
On a positive note, I have noticed that photos have been restored to many threads; kudos on that. (imagine "thumbs up" emoji here... 'cause we ain't got one)
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Will the build-off archives ever be restored? They disappeared when the 2019 build-off classes and rules were posted. I enjoyed browsing the older build threads, I'm sure others did, too.
Will edit time ever be increased? 10 minutes isn't much time, 24 hours would be nice in case of poster's remorse.
Will the avatar problem ever be fixed? (images being randomly/oddly/unevenly cropped when uploaded as an avatar)
Will the supporting members ever get their "Larger Custom Avatars" back? (still listed as an included perk) Less important than the altered image problem, but it was a nice perk for supporting members.
I appreciate this forum, so I don't want to criticize too much, but the new format still isn't as good as what the old one was. Activity is still way down; in 2017, it was common to have 50+ members online, 70+ on occasion; same in 2018, until the site went wonky in September. Now, 20+ is about as good as it gets. Enough time has passed (since the "upgrade") that I'm having doubts that the activity will recover, maybe a few site improvements would help.
I'm an OldMiniBikes supporting member because I appreciate this site and @Hent for providing it; I imagine it's a PITA maintaining a website/forum. I enjoy this forum, which is why I'm posting my concerns, I don't want it to die.
Will edit time ever be increased? 10 minutes isn't much time, 24 hours would be nice in case of poster's remorse.
Will the avatar problem ever be fixed? (images being randomly/oddly/unevenly cropped when uploaded as an avatar)
Will the supporting members ever get their "Larger Custom Avatars" back? (still listed as an included perk) Less important than the altered image problem, but it was a nice perk for supporting members.
I appreciate this forum, so I don't want to criticize too much, but the new format still isn't as good as what the old one was. Activity is still way down; in 2017, it was common to have 50+ members online, 70+ on occasion; same in 2018, until the site went wonky in September. Now, 20+ is about as good as it gets. Enough time has passed (since the "upgrade") that I'm having doubts that the activity will recover, maybe a few site improvements would help.
I'm an OldMiniBikes supporting member because I appreciate this site and @Hent for providing it; I imagine it's a PITA maintaining a website/forum. I enjoy this forum, which is why I'm posting my concerns, I don't want it to die.
The archives will be restored.
I'll look into the image cropping issue on avatars. It's not likely that larger avatars will be "back" as it was a more important feature when everyone was using actual PC's, and now most people are using mobile devices to access the site. It's a factor in website speed, larger images = longer load times. Same for signature pics. Again, this goes towards a more mobile friendly experience. I can remove it from the Supporting Members criteria and adjust it to more current features.
The activity has been down for many years, the old software displayed members "online" for a longer period of time. This lack of activity can also be attributed to the previous software that was non-mobile friendly in display and use. You can encourage members to use the site rather than Facebook if you want to see the activity level go up. People also change hobbies, have kids, pass away, etc.
If it were kept in the old format, the site would have died much sooner, and potentially lost most or all of the data. In 2012, I had wanted to switch the software and constantly faced backlash from people - so it was left "untouched" for many years, and I honestly don't have the same motivation to work on the site as I did in 2012 - especially with a large majority of people using social media rather than forums.
I'm open to site criticism and potential adjustments. Thanks for your post @Charles S
I'll look into the image cropping issue on avatars. It's not likely that larger avatars will be "back" as it was a more important feature when everyone was using actual PC's, and now most people are using mobile devices to access the site. It's a factor in website speed, larger images = longer load times. Same for signature pics. Again, this goes towards a more mobile friendly experience. I can remove it from the Supporting Members criteria and adjust it to more current features.
The activity has been down for many years, the old software displayed members "online" for a longer period of time. This lack of activity can also be attributed to the previous software that was non-mobile friendly in display and use. You can encourage members to use the site rather than Facebook if you want to see the activity level go up. People also change hobbies, have kids, pass away, etc.
If it were kept in the old format, the site would have died much sooner, and potentially lost most or all of the data. In 2012, I had wanted to switch the software and constantly faced backlash from people - so it was left "untouched" for many years, and I honestly don't have the same motivation to work on the site as I did in 2012 - especially with a large majority of people using social media rather than forums.
I'm open to site criticism and potential adjustments. Thanks for your post @Charles S
