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- CommentAuthortakai
- CommentTimeFeb 27th 2006 edited
# 1
Hello everyone, welcome back to the forums! Thanks for your patience while the site was updated.

A lot has changed. In fact, every thing has. Hopefully you wont be put off by the changes. Try giving things a chance and you'll find that the new build is way easy to use.

At the top you have your basic sections:
Discussions is a list of all topics with active discussions first
Categories is your traditional forum view, allowing you to find specific topics of interest
Search is now optimized to perform faster. You can even save searches for later use. Say you want to keep updated on all topics about cars - do a search for 'cars' and save the search; you'll be able to check for new topics about cars whenever you wish!
The link in the top right will allow you to sign in.

Topics are now simplified to a T, showing only your icon, username, date, and post. You can also block a user or their posts. This does not hide the post, it just disables HTML. For example, if they post a huge image that you don't want to load you can block their post. Or if they keep spamming links to a site you can block them and it will remove the links.

Instead of loading a new page to reply to a topic, there's a quick reply box at the bottom of every page. Very slick to use.

Bookmarking is more prominent now. You can easily bookmark topics for later reference.

Profiles are even more efficient. Instead of filling in pre-set fields, you can make up your own profile fields! You also get your very own Clipboard to save snippets or post drafts (which can be called upon later when posting).

As you will find, the new site is very easy to use and focuses on discussion.

You're probably thinking, "Wait! Where did my blog go?!?"
The blogs used a phpBB extension, one that is no longer in official development and has quite a few security exploits. Theoretically, it's very cool to get your own OpenPost blog. All things considered though it's nothing more than a novelty. If you're going to have a blog you might as well use good software, such as Google's Blogger or WordPress.

It’s taken me a lot longer to get the new site ready than I thought it would. Hopefully it was worth the wait. The backend of the site isn’t completely ready yet though. I’m currently working on optimizing the SQL topic rows (the topics became un-categorized when I updated), which takes hours. Eventually all of the “help�? and “about�? topics from the old site will be ported into our new documentation Wiki (http://openpost.net/wiki) as well. Make sure to check that out. Have fun with all the new features and let me know what you think! Start some new discussions or catch up on some old ones.
- CommentAuthorReD OcTobER
- CommentTimeMar 7th 2006 edited
# 2
looks great and feels easily to use but..
i miss the signatures ):
- CommentAuthorChris Ace
- CommentTimeMar 9th 2006
# 3
Maybe it's just me, but it doesn't seem very welcoming. For potential new members, that is. I know, if I weren't me, and was coming here for the first time, I'd have no idea what was going on, and probably wouldn't register...

But, maybe it's just me. It does look nice though. I like it.
- CommentAuthortakai
- CommentTimeMar 10th 2006 edited
# 4
Red - I knew someone would say something about the signatures. Yea, they can be fun... There are a lot of reasons I don't like them though. For one thing, it's spammy and annoying. Huge images and random quotes at the bottom of every post is annoying and adds more useless complications to the page. More importantly, it's degrading to discussions. Threads are for discussing topics, not posting huge banners about yourself or advertising links. On the new site you can treat your profile more like a signature and personalize to your liking.

Ash - I completely agree. Even people that are familiar with forums may be confused at first. However, people may also be intrigued by the design enough to check the site out. Its part of my philosophy in web design, simple is always better. I don’t want to pepper the front page with bullets about the site or user statistics, I want it to be simple and all about the content.
- CommentAuthorqhiiyr
- CommentTimeMar 14th 2006 edited
# 5
takai, I've got to say, I give you props for the new redesign. I'm loving the slick and simple feel to it, and like you said, simple is always better. And it's different. That counts for a lot, at least for me anyway. I am drawn more to a site that is unique like this than just another site running a standard, or even beefed up, version of phpBB or some other CMS.

I miss the signatures too, but I can kinda see your point with the spammy and annoying complications...I'm thinking maybe you could have a minisig that is in small text and that really light gray color like the "Bottom of Page" link at the top of this page. Or maybe you could approve each one before it's displayed. I dunno. I'm just throwing these ideas out there.

Great job on the site, once again.

EDIT: Also, it'd be nice to have something similar to that small section at the bottom that says how many members, posts, etc. there are, or maybe even a user list. I was looking at some old posts (ever heard of 2004?) and saw one about there only being six members. I'm thinkin', "well how many are there now?" Some stastistics, any statistics, would be nice.
- CommentAuthorDurrendel
- CommentTimeApr 7th 2006
# 6
1st off, wow.... i was worried for a while cuz i was tryen to get on a few times and nothin would come up, thought u guys killed the site or somethin.

hella good job man

once you get into the site everything is smooth, but the main page looks, idk how to describe it exactly... lacking? the old main page was a bit more comprhensive w/alot of things about random stuff. bringing some of that back would be a thought
- CommentAuthortakai
- CommentTimeApr 7th 2006 edited
# 7
I totally agree. The frontpage is lacking something, especially for new visitors. The idea though is that simplicity is virtue. When I want to search for something I go to Google because that's what it is - search. No gimmicks, no crap on the front page, just search. When I want to discuss something I come to OP.

I guess it will only improve with time. A lot of the random info and announcements about OP will eventually be ported into our wiki, if that's what you were talking about.

About not being able to access the site - it may have been your browser was still trying to access a cache of the old OP or something. Or maybe it was the server. I had trouble getting on the site a few nights ago.
- CommentAuthorChris Ace
- CommentTimeApr 8th 2006 edited
# 8
Not to come off as offensive, and I'm sorry if I do, but...

Of course you come to OP when you want to discuss something. It's your site. But what about everyone else?

Personally, and again, I mean no offense to you or your site takai, but when I want to discuss something, I go to, well....Somewhere else. Somewhere more specific, perhaps. Somewhere I'm more used to. Someplace familliar.

I guess I'm trying to say two things:

1) OP changes very often (relatively speaking - months aren't often unless compared to other sites that don't change for years). It's hard to keep up. It's kinda like joining a new website every few months. The only people who stick around are those of us who already know eachother, and have for years. We know that, while the site looks different, everyone in it is the same, because we've always been together. But for those people who haven't been around for years, and who aren't completely comfortable with OP and it's users, all these complete and total changes could scare them away. As I said before, if I weren't already y'alls friend, and a user of OP, I'd probably just leave.

I'm NOT saying I don't like the changes. It's clear you work hard, and you're amazing at what you do. I'm just saying, maybe a complete make-over isn't such a great idea. Maybe, instead of changing everything every few months, you should change little things, little bits at a time. It wouldn't be drastic enough to have people go "HOLY SHITBALLS ON ICE!", as has often been the case, but it would make things a lot more comfortable for OP's users.

2) Again, as I said earlier, if I were a new user, I probably wouldn't stick around. This is just my personal opinion, but OP doesn't have the same....Appeal it did before. As Durr pointed out, the front page is lacking. It's, well....Boring. It's simple, yes, and this is good for a few people, who come to a site such as OP because they want intelligent discussion. I can appreaciate that. The thing is, most people on the internet (or, just in general), aren't interested in, or even CAPABLE of an intelligent conversation.

I know my opinion's never really meant much to you, but there it is.
- CommentAuthorqhiiyr
- CommentTimeApr 11th 2006
# 9
I just remembered, or rather thought of, something.

It'd be nice to have something similar to a post count, not necessarily a number, but maybe a small, slick meter or something, maybe not even for posts but for some rate that people give their posts, kinda like reputation or karma points that other sites have, but in a more general manner with a bar.

Which brings me to the thing that what I just said brought me to (does that make sense?). Right now OP is just kinda a small community with not too many people, so there aren't many new posts at any given time. I don't know if you're doing anything to promote the site, but if you did, we could get more members and get the place flowing. That's actually how I found OP - I remember you posted at some web developer site in the site affiliation forum, and we exchanged buttons. That's long gone, but something like that could help this place out.
- CommentAuthortakai
- CommentTimeApr 27th 2006 edited
# 10
Ash -
I meant that as a goal. To have this site recognized for discussion eventually.
As for the changes, I know changing the site around every few months is straining on people. It continues to change because it can be better. If the forum remained as a clean install of phpBB, we would have some posts for a while until things fizzled out. Then, people would disappear onto other forums that could offer something more. I guess you have to understand that running this site is unfortunately not a full time job, merely a hobby that I pay out of pocket and work on evenings to maintain. Therefore, the site progresses at a slower rate. Also, there is nothing to be gained by keeping an outdated design. Imagine if sites like Google had stuck with their original designs. I still see where you're coming from though and I don't plan on doing a complete makeover again anytime soon.

coleProtocol -
Statistics is something I got away from intentionally. You can still view someone's post count in their profile. In the future we could have statistics in the About section. If you're wondering, we had over 200 registered members as of a few months ago. Unfortunately only a small percentage of them sign in regularly. As for the rate/post/karma bar idea, I love it! Definitely something to work on.

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