162 replies to this topic

[SJ-David]

Welcome to the new Forums! Sorry it took as long as it did to get everything sorted.

Our regular members will already have noticed a big difference in the way everything looks. It's not just a big change in the way things look either - the Forums have had complete overhaul, starting from the basic code up. The only thing that is the "same" as before really is the member information, threads (which we'll now called Topics) and Posts. Of course they are the all-important content of the Forums, but the backbone on which they now exist is completely new.

If you already have a username and password, you should be able to login using that same username/password.
Once you are logged in you might want to also adjust your Time Zone information in My Settings.

The only things that have been inpossible to convert properly into the new setup are:
- quotes within a thread;
- polls; and
- a bit of strangeness over in PMs where for some people they may look like you have sent them to yourself -- but the PM itself should be ok.
Sorry about those things, but it was simply not possible to bring them over 100%. Any new quotes, polls and PMs from now on will work and display just fine.

We actually started work updating the Forums about a year ago and have spent the last four months or so fine-tuning this new setup. The complex nature of these things means that once they are out in the open for hundreds of people to use, issues and problems may arise. We have done our best to minimise any potential big problems, but nevertheless I am sure that the next few weeks is going to be a busy time for us, troubleshooting any issues and explaining things. Please bear with us while we get things all cleared up as quickly as possible and do let us know if you find anything strange going on.

It's almost impossible to come up with a list of the changes, purely because pretty much everything is new. But in terms of major sections and new stuff you can do, here's a quick list that you can explore:

Tags and Topic Prefixes - add tags and prefixes to topics
Photo multi-upload - over in the Gallery upload multiple photos easily
Embed photos or galleries and video - easily embed photos and galleries as well as video into posts
Blogs - start your own blog over in this new section
Photo Galleries - easily upload photos and galleries
Chat Box - a new fully functional Chat Box that can be used as a popup while you use other parts of the Forums
Member Map - show us where you are located!
New content - follow new content in all the areas of the Forums in real-time
Vid - a new Video section where you can easily embed videos from various sources, including snowjapan.tv
Ability to change the look of the Forums
Mobile versions - made just for mobile devices including iPhone, iPod and Android devices.

I don't want to sound like some cliche marketing term, but in this case it really is true, so here goes - "....and much much more!"

We will be posting more Help-related topics over the coming few weeks but a few are already online, including some video clips that explain some of the new stuff:
http://www.snowjapan...um/28-help-faq/
If you have any specific requests about topics that you think would be good to have a Help page and/or video for, please let us know.

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These Forums represent a very big change and we realise that not everyone will like such big changes. It is definitely going to take a while to get used to the new setup... I have been using this online for three months now and I am still finding new cool things that our programmer put in that I did not know about!

But to move forward, change was necessary. And we believe that this new platform is a huge step forward.

We are keen to hear feedback about the new setup - feel free to comment in this thread.

Thanks and have fun!

[SJ-Andrew]

A very big thank you to David, Pete and Michael on a job very well done, as well as the people who helped out with testing along the way.
Oh yes, and Bob, Hilary, Ben and silly-sausage too.

[iiyamadude]

Very first impression - looks incredible!!

[Gtrain]

Well done and a great job having the update posts. It was a great way to keep people informed and patient.

[snowjunky]

Regarding uploading photos, can I upload directly from pics I have saved on my computer instead of having to post first to an online host (e.g. photobucket) to get a URL?
I recently uploaded a couple of vids direct from my computor to SJ TV and was hoping to be able to do the same for pics

Cheers,

the other Sj

[IIIII]

Those updates were funny, great idea.
As for the Forums.... overwhelmed!
But first impressions are that they look amazing.

[BagOfCrisps]

I had a quick look about a week ago and just a bit of a look round now.
Light years away from what it was. Just love it so far and excited to look round and find out more.
Obviously massive amounts of work and effort gone into this.
Very well done.

[muikabochi]

Outstanding work.
Congratulations guys.

[klingon]

I love the look. Very modern and works very slickly. You were right when you said it wasn't just an update!

Have some beers!

[JA]

Woahh!! What a change!

Looking good at first glimpse, I'll have a good look around when I get a few minutes to spare (not until the weekend, I fear).

[bobby12]

The best thing about the old forum was the 'X unread posts' hyperlink. I am hoping you have carried that feature over to this new forum.

At first glace my feeling is something like "looks flashy (which I don't care about) and I cant find anything any more (annoying)" but hopefully I will be able to post again in a week or so after getting used to it and say how much I love this new design.

Anyway, otsukaresama.

[SJ-David]

There is a number next to View New Content in brackets below the search box - that is your new content.
It's not the same.
It will need a day or two to settle down, but once it gets going it should be ok.

You're not going to be able to find things any more - thats because everything is new! There's no way round that, I'm afraid.

I think you will find, bobby, that this new set up is absolutely not about being flashy. It's all basically about functionality and there is a ton of user-friendliness sprinkled all over the place. But we wanted it to look good at the same time, can't see anything wrong in that.

[sanjo]

bobby12, on 19 September 2011 - 08:14 PM, said:

The best thing about the old forum was the 'X unread posts' hyperlink. I am hoping you have carried that feature over to this new forum.

Slight exaggeration there methinks!

[sanjo]

I generally embrace change.
Especially when things improve.
This just looks so much better than before.
I like it. I like it A LOT.

[Chriselle]

I like it all ....just as long as you nice, friendly, happy-go-lucky SJ mods don't take away my avatar.....

[SJ-David]

Hey, did you ask for permission?!!?
So what was the problem there Chriselle?

[Chriselle]

No, you are absolutely right....should have asked first. Sorry wasn't thinking. Just enjoying the moment and messing around in Photoshop for a few minutes....brain on auto pilot after a full day out in sun.

The original file and low res file were just too big.

[bobby12]

I like that you threw out the sidebar on the forum indexes and threads, that is a big improvement. But there is still a lot of noise at the top of the screen ("above the fold"), 7 rows of navigation menus actually.

I was not exag. about the view new posts function. When I come to the forum, what I want to know is if there are any new comments/threads, and then to click a link to be taken right to the new content. When you added that 'X new comments' function to the old forum I thought it was really kickass. I guess I can bookmark the 'view new content' link and use that instead of the standard forum index, although it includes content from forums that I dont read so it is not ideal.

This is not criticism just comments for your consideration as clearly you are aiming high with this forum design. (If it is not welcome I will just be quiet or offer woos and high fives, but as a developer myself I always prefer to hear the more negative opinions.)

[SJ-David]

Your comments are fine, bobby. Like I said in my original post, it is simply impossible for us to please everyone and we accept that.
Everyone is going to have preferences about almost every aspect of the forums.
Case in point, some people are sad about the sidebar no longer shown on every post.

I think we really like the top area there though, so I wouldn't expect any big changes there.

[Metabo Oyaji]

Give Bob an extra-big bone.
Hilary, Ben and silly-sausage, too.