Software Upgrade

[oldsalt1]

I am not a computer expert but the results sure looks like it took a great deal of effort . Thank you very much for your work

[skirtyscot]

I've got used to the new layout already. The only two differences I notice are that the contents page in each forum no longer tells you who started each thread, and that details are no longer given in each post about the poster.

Thank you Carl for this update and for generally keeping the technical side of the café in order.

[crfriend]

For those who completely and absolutely detest the new colour-scheme and layout, I've managed to locate what looks like a reasonable simulacrum of the old interface. It's not for this precise version, but I've been playing with it in my lab at home and it looks reasonably complete.

It's called "AllanStyle-SUBSILVER" and should be selectable as a board preference.

I still need to install the various different languages that some folks were using...

[Daryl]

We're back on the air!

I have an objection, sir! I liked the vacuum tube.

[Kilted Musician]

.

[Uncle Al]

For those who completely and absolutely detest the new colour-scheme and layout,
I've managed to locate what looks like a reasonable simulacrum of the old interface.
It's called "AllanStyle-SUBSILVER" and should be selectable as a board preference.

I'm using the "New SUBSILVER" now and it's 95% of the "Old" version

Uncle Al

[pelmut]

I've spotted some more improvements:  1) 'Search Users Posts' now lists the individual posts in reverse chronological order, rather than just listing the topics.  2) The last-visited link is surrounded by a hatched box when you mouse away from it, so you don't lose your place when you are working through a list of postings.  3) When submitting a post, the redirection used to bring up an irritating warning notice from the browser, now it just behaves like a link.

...and one minor niggle:  The simple formatting control buttons with legends have been replaced by icons; you have to stop typing and lose your train of thought while you work out what they mean.

[Firefox 48.0.2 Y.M.M.V.]

[crfriend]

...and one minor niggle:  The simple formatting control buttons with legends have been replaced by icons; you have to stop typing and lose your train of thought while you work out what they mean.

I suppose that's "the price of progress" -- things that used to be textual have been replaced by icons, which we need to recognise before drooling on them. One plus is that the learning process can be assisted by hovering over each of them in turn to get a textual display of what they do as some are non-intuitive.

[Firefox 48.0.2 Y.M.M.V.]

That'll be universal across all graphical browsers, unfortunately, as it's part of the way the new version is coded.

[crfriend]

I've just been able to restore a few of the different languages once again that I know were in use before the upgrade. These include Dutch, French, and German. If anybody's got any requests, speak up and I'll see what I can do.

[Sinned]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. The list unread posts option is back, among other things.

Talking about upgrades. Yesterday we had installed SkyQ [0] and in the process it was noticed that our broadband speed was only 1.5 Mb/sec which explained why our system was so slow. In testing the lines the resulting speed went to zero, in other words it broke. The internet supplier is sending us a new router which gets to us tomorrow. We have had a BT engineer here today who has spent most of this afternoon rewiring the land line box in our house and testing in the local exchange. The result is that our speed has increased to ....

wait for it ....

2.0 Mb/sec.

But we are going onto a new fibre optic plan in a few days time which should apparently increase our speed to 20+ Mb/sec. And we get another router. Apparently we don't have to return the router that we will use for a few days.

[0] I don't know if you have Sky television in other lands but SkyQ is their latest invocation. Google it.

[Fred in Skirts]

Hi Dennis,

I do believe I can best you for SLOW Internet connections from the ISP. I am supposed to get 5Mb/s but when I am being lucky I can manage 1Mb/s, most of the time the best I can push is about .6 or 7Mb/s.
I have complained but it seems that because of their infrastructure is barley capable of handling the Internet and to get around the regulating bodies they say they are in the process of upgrading. They come out and dig up the lines once in a while and replace them with more of the same with no upgrade at all.

Other than going satellite I have no other choice for Internet service and satellite is sketchy here due to the weather. Lots of clouds in winter and thunderstorms in the summer.

They now have fiber but it is between the main station and the substations and they do not connect it to the houses. They have the only telephone service to the area and there are no cable services available as I am out in the country. If I lived in the city I would have about 6 companies to choose from.

Fred

[greenboots]

Thanks Carl for your great work. The colour scheme doesn't bother me too much, and I really like the new mobile format. Most of the time I read on my phone, but now I can respond sensibly. (Or perhaps I should say, I now have no excuse for nonsensical responses )

[crfriend]

Thanks Carl for your great work.

You're most welcome.

Quite honestly, I was most bothered that it took me two entire days of non-work non-sleep time to even restore basic functionality. That's an embarrassment to me; I should have detected -- and fixed -- the issue within hours (or, preferably, minutes).

I'm glad that the new format is more compatible with mobile devices, and view that as a side-benefit of what happened. Some folks have transmitted thanks, and a couple have expressed overt disapproval. All I was after was preserving the space in a meaningful way. That many are happy with that I'll take -- perhaps falsely -- as praise. I don't write the software, I just try to keep it running -- the eternal curse of the Sysadmin.

[6ft3Aussie]

I have to be honest here, while I like the new look, it's only filling the centre part of my screen, which is very strange.

Is there a way of stretching it out, or will there be anything done to default it to full screen?
Or is this a browser specific problem?

[crfriend]

I have to be honest here, while I like the new look, it's only filling the centre part of my screen, which is very strange.

Is there a way of stretching it out, or will there be anything done to default it to full screen?

Different board "styles" can be had by opening up the "User Control Panel" and then in the "Board Preferences" tab there's a "My Board Style" drop-down menu. In that setting you can select different styles which "skin" the board to a different look/feel. The "prosilver-wide" style was done by me which uses the full width of the browser window because the narrow look bothered my sensibilities. There's also a nicely-done modern version of the old "subsilver" style that's more familiar to long-time phpBB users.

I've had a couple of requests for a "dark" style, and I'm looking into something that'll both look nice and play well with the overall tenor of the community. The problem with adding styles is that there's a fair bit of custom work done to the masthead that mandates customising each installed style accordingly -- which can be a bit of work.