Forum Development: Discussion Point

[El Presidente]

I was on the dog and bone with Shrink yesterday and the question came up with what we are doing regaring development of the forum.

As you know we will have a chatroom by the end of this week and Poker Tournament play by the end of the month.

Seriously however, I would like to ask you about the features you wish to see in this forum over the coming 12 months. Forum technology is on the cusp of new developments and we would like to be at the forefront. I will hand over this discussion to out IT guru Jason Chipperfield to discuss.

Please give it some thought and post your ideas.

[Colt45]

My initial thoughts are that I like the look of this forum. It seems many others

use a template similar to each other, and are rather cluttered - big avatars,

quotes, signatures - you sometimes have to search out the post.

I do think it might be beneficial to have the ability of multiple pages for a

single thread.

Also, maybe a true photo gallery, where each member could have and update

their pics - though I do enjoy the immediacy of the current thread view. I'm not

sure how I really feel about the gallery idea.

Overall, I think the forum looks great and is easy to use.

[Jimmy2]

Have a Wine section ..

[Professor Twain]

I enjoy the content on FOH, but would prefer to have some features that I have on other Boards:

when logging in after being away, ability to bring up new posts and threads only

threads with many posts are distributed across multiple pages so that I don't have to scroll through every post to get to the new ones

threads organized by topics (e.g. all reviews can be found in one place)

[Phailure]

» threads organized by topics (e.g. all reviews can be found in one place)

This one is already done. You can see all reviews by clicking "habanos review forum" in the drop down box at the top of the main page.

Anyway... I have a minor suggestion... Maybe I'm the only one, but I personally like to have a forum page select at both the top and bottom of a page. This forum only has it at the top which means if I can't find the thread I want at on the page, I need to scroll all the way back up to the top to change pages. Just my 2 cents. :-)

[PorscheC4S]

» I was on the dog and bone

I think the forum has a nice look to it that suggests, "Come on in and 'ave a butchers."

I wonder if any changes have been made regarding logging in. I used to keep a window open for the forum and remain logged in. Now, if I sign in and leave my computer for say an hour, I must log in again to post. Has a change been made to more accuarately monitor activity? I haven't changed any settings on my computer, so I'm wordering if this change is by design.

[SmokinLightning]

I definately approve of the clean look of this forum. Most are too cluttered with extra crap like avatars, etc. Forum functions great and loads fast, the two most important aspects.

I do like the idea of a gallery, but that may prove to be a real bandwidth/storage hog, unless it's somehow limited.

Chat room is a great idea as well.

Keep up the good work!

[BigSlick]

I like the idea of the chatroom and LOVE the idea of a poker room! I like the layout and "cleaness" of the forum as it is. It is very easy to navigate through it. Really dig the picture banner at the top right, especially when the chick in the bikini comes around.

El Prez, I have complete faith in your guidance in this matter. Make the changes, and then everyone, myself included, can ***** about about it until you tell us all to shut the hell up! :-)

[Well Armed]

show on the thread page who the last poster was on a topic. And do the dates month/day/year?

[Bill Hayes]

I made the mistake yesterday of trying to write a review straight in to the message box. It took me a little while and when I went to send it I had obviously somehow been logged out and was told that only members could post. Next time I'll write it in another program and save the text then paste it in. And it was for a SLR DC 04! :-|

[cigarnv]

1. The ability to bring up only the new posts since my last visit as well as to go directly to the new posts on a specific thread

2.Identify the last poster to a thread

[Phailure]

» » personally like to have a forum page select at both the top and bottom

» of

» » a page.

»

» We used it have it like that, but were asked to take it off

» Easy enough to add it back on.

Was there any reason why there was a request to take it off? I guess its not a HUGE deal but I don't see any drawback to having it there??

[cigarnv]

» » when logging in after being away, ability to bring up new posts and

» » threads only

»

» Already done. There's a green outline in the icon to the left of the posts

» to indicate new posts since the last time you logged in. Maybe it's too

» subtle, i'll rework the icon

Jason, the green icon is very difficult to pick up, at least on my screen. Also, I did not construct my point well... I would like to be able to click on the icon that identifies new posts to a thread since my last visit and go directly to the new posts and not wind my way through the old posts I have read.

Thanks so much for your efforts....!!

[anacostiakat]

Minor thing. Fix or replace the sort order option as it never works for me. I do like to go to the bottom and read backwards sometimes.

[mmblz]

» Jason, the green icon is very difficult to pick up, at least on my screen.

» Also, I did not construct my point well... I would like to be able to click

» on the icon that identifies new posts to a thread since my last visit and

» go directly to the new posts and not wind my way through the old posts I

» have read.

»

» Thanks so much for your efforts....!!

Yeah the green icon is barely distinguishable from the normal one, even when I stare at it.

And I agree - two other things would be nice:

1. Click "new posts" and only see threads with new posts, instead of all threads.

2. Click something to go straight to the new post (first I haven't read, not last post) instead of the beginning of a thread

Other ideas:

- Reorganize the columns Auther / last post date / last post member are the most intersting info so they should be closest to the left. Category and views are least interesting, so should be furthest to the right. As it is now, you have to scan way across the line to see when the last reply was.

- Hover over thread titles to see beginning of first post. Other forums I use have this and I love it - often the thread name isn't enough to tell me whether I'm interested in reading it or not, but the beginning of the post is.

- This may just be me but the "@ original poster" thing on the left bugs me. First, the @ doesn't make sense to me. Also though, it doesn't make sense when quoted text has been removed, since then it just mentioned the name of the person who posted wherever you happened to click "Post reply" (often the last post in the thread at the time). Seems like it should appear as part of the quoted text, not on the left.

- If it were up to me I would vote no pictures in signatures. To my mind it's unnecessary to post something that large over and over and over again.

- Make the difference between background color of posts vs background color of surrounding page slightly less subtle - would make the page not all run together quite as much.

- Make font size slightly larger? On my 1920x1200 display, it's a bit small.

[Well Armed]

» On my 1920x1200 display, it's a bit

» small.

My 23" HD Apple screen really displays pics of cigars very well, but I agree the font is very small!

[cfheater]

How about a trading/ selling section where we could trade cigars or small amounts of cigars could be sold by an individual to another individual?

[Havana Joe]

I love the board style as it is now, but I'm sure that the changes that will be made wil only improve it. I was also curious to see if there would be a way to view the most recent posts as soon as you log on. That feature would be helpful on keeping up with the current discussions. ---Thanks for asking for our opinions El Prez!

[skid11]

» My initial thoughts are that I like the look of this forum. It seems many

» others

» use a template similar to each other, and are rather cluttered - big

» avatars,

» quotes, signatures - you sometimes have to search out the post.

» I do think it might be beneficial to have the ability of multiple pages

» for a

» single thread.

» Also, maybe a true photo gallery, where each member could have and update

» their pics - though I do enjoy the immediacy of the current thread view.

» I'm not

» sure how I really feel about the gallery idea.

» Overall, I think the forum looks great and is easy to use.

Ditto....................... I find many of the topics repeated over and over so a more comprehensive topic category list would be good.

[skid11]

» Have a Wine section ..

We already have one jimmy -- "Alcoholics not so anno............................. Do you mean expand on this with wines from around the globe, pics, tastings etc ?

Cheers mate................ I still can't believe you drank a bottle of grange '92 the other night

[Colt45]

Thanks for you efforts!

[Ginseng]

Is there any way to allow us to toggle off the viewing of people's sig pictures? I'm on a dialup line and every little bit and byte is precious. I live in an area with poor access and most of the time I log on between 28.8-31.2Kbps.

I checked the few controls we have in our personal area but I don't see that option.

Wilkey

[Colt45]

Has the text size been changing back and forth from medium to small

for anybody else? I've tried in both camino and safari, and it happens

with both browsers.

[Ginseng]

» Has the text size been changing back and forth from medium to small

» for anybody else? I've tried in both camino and safari, and it happens

» with both browsers.

Yup.

Loads up medium then rapidly reverts to small.

Wilkey

[Colt45]

Jason, deleteing cookies / resetting the browsers did not help.

When set to M, it did stick. I tried with camino and safari.

It is but a minor annoyance - thanks again!