Let's go back to the old forum...

[superuser]

06-12-2009, 08:35 AM

bcarlson | Default Let's go back to the old forum...

I have been adjusting to this new bulletin board system, but sometimes my experiences have been somewhat difficult. Formerly when we had an occurrence that was of vital interest to us all, we immediately knew about it because of the user friendly nature of the old ISPA “Hangar” bulletin board.

With the new system however, sometimes the myriad of tabs and page changes required to get to a post can be cumbersome.

Perhaps this site could work better, or could be improved if there were fewer categories so we didn’t have to keep switching back and forth between categories, and then paging through several pages to see the posts (perhaps the pages could be made longer so there were fewer of them). These are just a couple of suggestions. Surely there are others.

I’d suggest we see what can be done to simplify and improve this site.

What do others think? Can something be done to simplify this forum?

Thank you for your effort and assistance in providing this forum Mike.

Fly Safe, BC




06-12-2009, 07:21 PM

rwolf | Default ISPA Site User Friendliness

I'm sorry to admit that I've had trouble with this site also. It took me quite a while to figure out how to post a new topic. I finally concluded I needed to start a new "thread". This term is typical of the computer world. Is there some reason it's not called a "subject"? Is starting a new thread the way to start a new subject correctly?




06-13-2009, 09:49 AM

bcarlson | Default

Greetings Dick. According to Wikipedia the term "thread" is a computer programming term, but you're correct, in this forum it just means "subject" and starting a new thread is the correct way to start a new subject. Once started, as people reply to the message they "stay in the thread," and viewers can then "follow the tread" of replies.

Thank you for replying to my post. I was beginning to wonder if anyone was reading it (even though the new forum allows us to see the data and users on-line).

After posting it, I also feared that folks would take the title of my thread too seriously. I really don't believe we should go back to the old "hangar" forum. It reminds me of the old joke about how many Seawinders it takes to change a light bulb; "Two, one to change it, and one to lament about how much better the old one was."

There are a number of things I really like about this new forum. Like the following:

- Text can be posted without embedding HTML code like in the old forum.

- Photos and other files can be attached and seen from the post.

- On line spell-checking as you type (sometimes, but it doesn't seem to be there in "Quick Reply" mode).

- I really like the feature that we can edit our posts after they have been made.

- Of course there are others...

It is good to see more posts being made as we go. I'm hoping that our members will experiment and help make this forum better as we go.

Fly safe, BC

[superuser]

06-13-2009, 02:07 PM

Tom Saccio | Default The Old Forum

My opinion is that we should thank Mike for trying to improve this web site. Many of us may find it difficult to navigate it, but with a little effort it can be accomplished. I am not computer literate as many others might be but I seemed to have worked it out. I'm not saying that the site is perfect. It could use tweaking. Since I don't know how to improve it, I will not criticze it. I'm sure Mike would welcome any suggestions that would help improve this site. I think that the old site was too large and everything was all grouped together in such a way that it was hard to find things. This site separates everthing and groups them into catagorys that makes it easier to follow. Before we condemn this site and Mike for putting it together, lets come up with some suggestions as to how to improve it, not just critize it. I for one would like to thank Mike for all the time and effort he has put into doing it. I,m sure he's made a bundle of money on it.

Tom Saccio




06-13-2009, 02:14 PM

bcarlson | Default The New Forum

Hi Tom. I agree with everything you said. You know me well enough by now to know that any criticism I might make is meant to be strictly constructive.

How about a report on your Seawind flying adventures?

BC




06-17-2009, 11:59 AM

Mike | Default Hummmmmmm

I knew there would be some opposition to the new forum before it went on line. Since the forum has been online; I have been fielding questions and solving issues. Most of the issues are navigation of the site….”Oh I didn’t know I could do that” is a common comment. Some of the problems have been computer issues. Because I am keeping in touch with those who ask for help there has been as much if not a better turnout then the old board; the stats prove this.

There are at least ten (10) seawind members signing in every day to see what’s new. Thirteen (13) yesterday and Fifteen (15) today. Thirty One DIFERENT members have signed on within the past 30 days. If you were to look back at the posts and the time between the posts on the old board you would find that the old board was not used as much as this one is giving the same amount of time.

Building a plane is complicated! This forum format is not complicated. The old board does not have any of the good features that this forum has. You talk about posting…. In the old board everybody was jumping posts within the topic, nothing was in order. Try to read about a topic and it would take some time matching up the post numbers, now that’s ridiculous! No search feature! Not supported by the site! Eats more memory! Couldn’t edit posts………….the list goes on.

When you sign on – Immediately click on “NEW POSTS” this will bring up a list of all the threads, posts, topics since you have signed on last. Click on the post and read. When done click on “New Posts” if there was more than one and the list shows up again. Click on the seawind picture to go back to the beginning. I posted a “lets get started” sticky. How many have looked at it? This sticky will inform you of how to use the forum, then try experimenting; after all isn’t that what we do?

One of the main reasons I suggested this new forum is because I wanted to improve the image and encourage more participation of the seawind community. This will happen over time. Hell, the present web site hasn’t been updated for years; excluding the calendar and splash in page which I updated recently.

The Vans website people had the foresight to get off their old board and on to this new forum software so that their needs would be satisfied now and in the future. APOA also runs this software for there forum. This is not only for the present but also for the future!!

So what now? We go back to the dark ages because a few have a few issues. Some of the most vocal have not even asked me for help! Others have emailed and I have called them, answered questions and taken suggestions. How many really have problems with the forum? One member has major computer problems. He went to another computer and all worked well. Out of 56 members maybe 5 have issues. I guess it’s easier to complain than it is to ask for help!

I have spent a lot of time and money getting this to work; to pull the plug at this time without giving it a chance would be service to a few and a disservice to all.




06-17-2009, 07:22 PM

kiwi | Default Forum

I for one think that the new site is great.

I appreciate all the work that was put into it on our behalf.

Phil




06-18-2009, 03:52 PM

Fred Lohr | Default

please count me among those who like the new format and find it to be manageable and more useful in many ways. I find most other forums I visit use this same type of system. Thanks mike.




06-18-2009, 06:49 PM

bcarlson | Default Thank you Mike.

Greetings Mike and all.

Hmm, it would seem an apology is in order.

I certainly didn’t mean to offend anyone, and believe me, after being involved with this group since the beginning, and being the editor of the ISPA site for more than two years, I know how much work and expense is involved.

I think you’ve done a great job setting up this new forum Mike. Thank you.

It is good to see that there are so many who like the new system. I’m sure everyone will adjust in time.

Thanks again Mike, sorry to have ruffled your feathers.

Fly safe,

Brent Carlson




06-19-2009, 03:28 PM

Mike | Default

With my last post I wanted to respond to an email I had received a few days ago. I wanted my response to be public so others would know what was going on behind the scenes and give all a chance to voice their comments and concerns. Thank you for all those who responded both here and in private messages.

One of the main reasons I suggested this new forum is because I wanted to improve the image and encourage more participation of the Seawind community. I believe we have started to accomplish this. As a group and with the progression of “Seawind”; I can see this forum as well as the website growing quickly over the next few years. To keep the interest of all we need to update the forum as well as the website and keep it updated. Changes and or updates have been made over the past few weeks and will continue as new information is collected.

I picked this format simply because it is the most widely used format in the world. I own two other forums and I am an administrator of another which gives me the insight into upcoming changes and possibilities for this forum. As I mentioned before, when the dust settles I will start to customize the forum to meet all of our needs…….as long as the plug-ins (software) exist and those changes can be made. I would like to l@@k at software that could place a few small ad’s (nothing fancy, business cards) in the forum that would defray costs and might eliminate dues. This might be attractive for current members.

Use this forum to inform and enlighten the members of our seawind activities.

Moving On…….

As always, I am available to answer questions and help with the forum and website in any way I can. If you need help; email me with your phone number and a good time for me to call you. If you have your computer fired up at the time I call that will make things go smoother. Suggestions are ALWAYS WELCOME!!

PS - There are ways to customize what you see when you sign on that are user specific. Over the next few days I will try to post some of these so you can decide if and how you will view the forum.