Forum software improvements (due later this year)

[Shaun]

The people who develop the CC forum software are currently working on the new version - 3.2 - and they let us board owners have a sneak preview yesterday.

There are a lot of changes and the layout has been dramatically cleaned-up and modernised (in a really good way) and I'm looking forward to switching CC over when the time comes as it's so far been a real pleasure to use.

Some of the changes include:

• New post editor - (the thing where you write out what you want to post on CC) - they're binning the current home-grown editor with its many idiosyncrasies, and using a new industry standard one that should give a much more rounded and stable user experience.
• Auto-save feature - the new editor will now automatically save your typed content every two minutes until you post it; so if you accidentally navigate away before you get the chance to post it, you should be able to come back and recover most of your post without having to re-type it all.
• View New Content - now works as it should have done in the first place and is a pleasure to use. The current one is not user friendly at all (to the point where I don't even use it myself) - so the new, proper, working version is going to be a big plus.
• Instant reply posting - When you post a reply in the new version it is inserted directly into the topic without having to reload the whole page. This might not mean much now, but you'll love it in practice.
• Cleaner layout - A lot of work is going into the layout to make it simpler, much less cluttered, and to improve focus on the content - rather than the mechanics. It is much less "clunky" than the current one we're using, and I'm sure you'll soon come to prefer the "new" version when it's introduced.
• Notification improvements - they are now much more user friendly and it's also a much simpler task to change your preferences.
• "Like" for posts - and other things. In the new version you can "like" things in a similar fashion to Facebook; much better than posting a smiley in response. You can also be notified of when people "like" your posts too, which is a great incentive to post more of the same.
• Unread posts improvement - the new version will now keep your place in a topic. Instead of marking the WHOLE topic as read when you view it, it will only mark up to the last page you read, so you can go back to it again and pick up where you left off.

It's a good way off being ready, but I thought I'd share the good news about some of the positive changes that are on the way.

To sum it up more succinctly - it's a lot less clunky.

Cheers,
Shaun

 

[mangaman]

Hi Shaun

I mainly use the "View new contact" whenever I log in. (It's my default button)

It seems to show all new posts.

A bit pedantic, but how will that change?

 

[Shaun]

A bit pedantic, but how will that change?

It won't show topics / post twice in the list ... and will actually find what you're looking for most of the time.

It can be easily tailored to show new content since you last logged in, new unread (and the new topic marking system ensures you don't mark whole topics as read just by looking at them - you can go in and out and it remembers where you were!!!), items posted during a selected timeframe, etc. and will include a built-in "include/exclude" selection page so that you can change where the results are coming from anytime (easily) right from within the VNC menu.

The results are more what you'd expect too, and the new preview feature (which drops down to show the first and last posts) is an interesting implementation of the current "hover" mode, and something I think people will like once they've got used to it.

You also get the tabs along the left side now to select forums, members, blogs, etc. which is much more intuitive to use than the current system.

The functions of two "extras" modifications are now included in the board too so I won't have to reinstall and fiddle about whenever I run an update - which is good for me.

Overall it's a really good improvement on the 3.1.4 we're currently using and I'm confident people will like it.

There's a good way to go - it's only in beta phase at the moment - but it's looking really good so I thought I'd give everyone a heads-up that improvements are on the way.

Cheers,
Shaun

 

[ColinJ]

• New post editor - (the thing where you write out what you want to post on CC) - they're binning the current home-grown editor with its many idiosyncrasies, and using a new industry standard one that should give a much more rounded and stable user experience.
• Auto-save feature - the new editor will now automatically save your typed content every two minutes until you post it; so if you accidentally navigate away before you get the chance to post it, you should be able to come back and recover most of your post without having to re-type it all.
• View New Content - now works as it should have done in the first place and is a pleasure to use. The current one is not user friendly at all (to the point where I don't even use it myself) - so the new, proper, working version is going to be a big plus.
• Cleaner layout - A lot of work is going into the layout to make it simpler, much less cluttered, and to improve focus on the content - rather than the mechanics. It is much less "clunky" than the current one we're using, and I'm sure you'll soon come to prefer the "new" version when it's introduced.
• "Like" for posts - and other things. In the new version you can "like" things in a similar fashion to Facebook; much better than posting a smiley in response. You can also be notified of when people "like" your posts too, which is a great incentive to post more of the same.
• Unread posts improvement - the new version will now keep your place in a topic. Instead of marking the WHOLE topic as read when you view it, it will only mark up to the last page you read, so you can go back to it again and pick up where you left off.

Those ones sound particularly good. (And are long overdue!)

 

[dan_bo]

Not sure about the 'like' bit but otherwise top stuff!

 

[potsy]

Will there be a 'dislike' button too?

ps- bit of an echo in here

 

[Shaun]

Will there be a 'dislike' button too?

ps- bit of an echo in here

No, only a "like" so we keep it positive.

 

[potsy]

No, only a "like" so we keep it positive.

Spoilsport

 

[mummra]

• Unread posts improvement - the new version will now keep your place in a topic. Instead of marking the WHOLE topic as read when you view it, it will only mark up to the last page you read, so you can go back to it again and pick up where you left off.

I'll look forward to this as I'm alwasy losing my place in a thread.

 

[summerdays]

Where there any temporary changes to the site on Fri night. I noticed on a couple of long threads - the ones where it doesn't display the page correctly so only shows the first ever post at the top of the page until I click on the page number a second time, that instead they were working properly but even weirder it wasn't showing post one but actually the next post in the thread.

Anything you did or just a temporary good behaviour?

 

[Shaun]

Anything you did or just a temporary good behaviour?

I didn't make any changes so I suspect it's just a fluke.

Randomness will ensue shortly I expect.

Cheers,
Shaun

 

[Davidc]

Autosave is a good idea, and the improvements to new content are needed.

(I sometimes keep notepad running and write my threads in that then copy and paste to the forum - deals with losing the typing, doesn't stop the typos though)

 

[Dan B]

A working "view new" would be awesome, and if throwing away the editor is what's needed to stop the random font size changes, that sounds like a result too.

 

[Shaun]

Yes, the new View New Content works much better - I'm sure it will win some hearts and minds (because I know the current one drives lots of people crazy).

I'm sure, too, that the new editor will have its own little niggles and oddities, but far, far fewer than the current "random" one we have ... lol

I'll be honest and say that I've struggled with the software since we installed it (up to a point at the beginning of this year when I was considering a change to a completely different platform again!!!) - and I know many of you have struggled with it too, so I'm hoping this will really improve the front-of-house user experience and make CC feel like it once did - an easy-to-use, stable, accessible site that everyone can just enjoy using without having to learn too many get-arounds!!!

In my own experience of testing the new software at IPS, I have found that it doesn't take long to get used to the changes, and once you have done, going back to the current version that we are using just amplifies the "clunky" feel.

It's still very much under test, and is still changing as each "public" preview shows more and more refinements, but I'm hoping that some of the new bits and bobs will give a welcome boost to CC and make it easier for you all to use.

Cheers,
Shaun

 

[KingstonBiker]

I use CC on my iPod with the mobile theme and in general it works very well. Will there be any changes from a mobile perspective with the new software.?