Jeffhew
"Aut Vincere Aut Mori"
Oh, and nice job on the upgrade!! There's some nice, new features. Best of which being that the "Rep" system is history. :hellyes:
Its nice to be back!
- Thread starter Honza
- Start date
Proff3RTR
Elder Member
Pretty much Mate, will try and sort something out over the next few days Jeff, but as you know things are up in the air here at the moment.You got it!! Nice to be back "Home," in'nt?
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2003
- Messages
- 19,629
- Reaction score
- 5,603
- Location
- St-Légier
- First name
- Robin
- Country
-
Hi everybody,
The Swiss Moron is back. :jig:
The Swiss Moron is back. :jig:
Proff3RTR
Elder Member
Hi Robin,
Glad to see you are back, and do not put yourself down........That is our job
Jeffhew
"Aut Vincere Aut Mori"
THIS!!Hi Robin,
Glad to see you are back, and do not put yourself down........That is our job
I'm here from August 2003, if memory serves this is the first time GS stays offline so long. I'm sure it has been a necessary move.
Only I hope to have again at least 13 years uninterrupted to continue my exercises with the English Language. :study:
Only I hope to have again at least 13 years uninterrupted to continue my exercises with the English Language. :study:
Walt Kenney
Member
There is balance in the Universe again.
PabloGS
Senior Member
Nice to see the site is back. Much smoother now. I did like shootin' deserved negative rep though!
And what the heck happened with the dancing banana and the smiley with MGs???
And what the heck happened with the dancing banana and the smiley with MGs???
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2003
- Messages
- 19,629
- Reaction score
- 5,603
- Location
- St-Légier
- First name
- Robin
- Country
-
Hey, you don't even see that ignored members posted, now. Not even when they are quoted.
It was because I hadn't logged in that I saw Prof3rtr's post.
My "Swiss Moron" surname is an old joke between me and Psycho.
I calk him the "Bayou Retard" in response.
We are a pair of pervs : he strangles people lost in the Everglades and I eat them.
It was because I hadn't logged in that I saw Prof3rtr's post.
My "Swiss Moron" surname is an old joke between me and Psycho.
I calk him the "Bayou Retard" in response.
We are a pair of pervs : he strangles people lost in the Everglades and I eat them.
Proff3RTR
Elder Member
It was meant as a Joke for sure (said in my best Dutch accent)
Ganjulama
Tuco B.P.J. Maria Ramirez
Nice new format
As a retired IT person, I can only make the vaguest guess as to the work involved, but a nightmare most likely. At one stage I was beginning to wonder whether things had gone tits up. Backup, backup, backup! So congratulations!
It's too early for me to form a firm judgement on the new format but something thing I noticed: No additional format options like subscript and superscript, I used those occasionally. The lack of contrasting colour a bit putting off, too much a wall of glaring white I find a bit hard on my eyes. Oh, I can't get the "smilies" to work, OK, different mechanism, found them, my duh!
Rep system -> Likes: To my surprise I found I had gone from 5th in rep to 1st in likes, clearly I had not impressed enough of the rep high powered individuals. A nice touch is being able to see all of my old reps, not just the last 20. Very useful for finding old threads/posts of mine for later reference. As for rep points vs 'likes', no real preferences, but you could say that 'likes' are more democratic/equitable than rep points.
I, along with many others, will need time to adjust to the new look controls and features. As an example the "read newest posts" button was not obvious, but I found it. So lots of learning, on both sides I expect.
It's too early for me to form a firm judgement on the new format but something thing I noticed: No additional format options like subscript and superscript, I used those occasionally. The lack of contrasting colour a bit putting off, too much a wall of glaring white I find a bit hard on my eyes. Oh, I can't get the "smilies" to work, OK, different mechanism, found them, my duh!
Rep system -> Likes: To my surprise I found I had gone from 5th in rep to 1st in likes, clearly I had not impressed enough of the rep high powered individuals
. A nice touch is being able to see all of my old reps, not just the last 20. Very useful for finding old threads/posts of mine for later reference. As for rep points vs 'likes', no real preferences, but you could say that 'likes' are more democratic/equitable than rep points.I, along with many others, will need time to adjust to the new look controls and features. As an example the "read newest posts" button was not obvious, but I found it. So lots of learning, on both sides I expect.
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2003
- Messages
- 19,629
- Reaction score
- 5,603
- Location
- St-Légier
- First name
- Robin
- Country
-
Hey, there is a "Show Ignored Content" option at the bottom of the page.
So it is possible, even when signed in, to see people on ignore at will.
So it is possible, even when signed in, to see people on ignore at will.
Dr Zaius
Chief Defender of the Faith
- Joined
- May 1, 2001
- Messages
- 8,902
- Reaction score
- 408
- Location
- The Forbidden Zone
- First name
- Don
- Country
-
Just a little background.
The old forum was run on a software called vBulletin. vBulletin was once the most popular and widely considered the best forum software available. But a few years ago the company was bought and many of the original developers quit after a falling out with the new management over the direction of the company.
Many webmasters intensely dislike the new vBulletin versions, so some sites simply refused to upgrade. That was the case with GS, and so we were stuck using the same old software for years. However, that's not practical over the long term as the site becomes increasingly vulnerable to hackers, etc. As most of you noticed, the forum was becoming unstable and a bit archaic. The newer versions of vBulletin are bloated and very slow.
Part of the original vBulletin team reformed and started a new company called Xenforo. The new Xenforo forum system was well received by webmasters, but Xenforo was promptly sued by vBulletin. That little drama took years to play out and since no one knew whether Xenforo was going to be shut down with litigation, that kept many sites on the sidelines. That's part of the reason GS felt sort of stagnant for such a long time. I didn't want to transition to a new system just to have the carpet pulled out two days later.
I don't know the details, but the legal issues were eventually resolved and Xenforo has now grown into one of the best forum suites out there. It's much faster and more intuitive than competing software IMHO.
The old forum was run on a software called vBulletin. vBulletin was once the most popular and widely considered the best forum software available. But a few years ago the company was bought and many of the original developers quit after a falling out with the new management over the direction of the company.
Many webmasters intensely dislike the new vBulletin versions, so some sites simply refused to upgrade. That was the case with GS, and so we were stuck using the same old software for years. However, that's not practical over the long term as the site becomes increasingly vulnerable to hackers, etc. As most of you noticed, the forum was becoming unstable and a bit archaic. The newer versions of vBulletin are bloated and very slow.
Part of the original vBulletin team reformed and started a new company called Xenforo. The new Xenforo forum system was well received by webmasters, but Xenforo was promptly sued by vBulletin. That little drama took years to play out and since no one knew whether Xenforo was going to be shut down with litigation, that kept many sites on the sidelines. That's part of the reason GS felt sort of stagnant for such a long time. I didn't want to transition to a new system just to have the carpet pulled out two days later.
I don't know the details, but the legal issues were eventually resolved and Xenforo has now grown into one of the best forum suites out there. It's much faster and more intuitive than competing software IMHO.
Last edited:
volgaG68
Fighting WWII One DR At A Time
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2012
- Messages
- 3,212
- Reaction score
- 1,549
- Location
- La Crosse, KS
- First name
- Chris
- Country
-
One of my favorite features that I continuously used was the 'Related Thread' section that would show up below a thread you were reading. It would show 5 or 6 related threads. Am I missing something or not using a new feature correctly?
Dr Zaius
Chief Defender of the Faith
- Joined
- May 1, 2001
- Messages
- 8,902
- Reaction score
- 408
- Location
- The Forbidden Zone
- First name
- Don
- Country
-
I've been using Xenforo on a couple of other forums as a regular member for about a year now and have found it a big improvement from a user perspective.
From a management perspective, Xenforo is great because there is a comprehensive system built right into the software which allows webmasters to extend the functionality of the site by installing pre-built add-ons. For instance, the powerful search function is one of the official Xenforo add-ons.
In the coming days you'll be seeing a lot of new options and resources as I have the time to install some of the add-ons I've been testing out.
As some of you have no doubt noticed, you now have to be a paying subscriber to access a few of Gamesquad's features. There's no way around that, folks, as the site is VERY expensive to run and I've been funding it by myself for way too long. At one point it was costing me about $800-1200 per month, and we didn't have any advertisements or other income to offset that.
Many people will elect not to upgrade and that's perfectly fine, I get it. For those that do, it's much appreciated and I'll do my best to add extra features that make it worth the cost.
I also know that not everyone has or wants a Paypal account. I believe you can still pay through the PayPal sstem without opening an account, but I honestly haven't been able to test that myself. I can say that in the near future GS will be getting a gift system, which will allow members to get other members a subscription. That's a nice thing to do during a holiday or for someone you really appreciate.
At any rate, I'm still learning some of the forum features myself! As for the rep system being replaced with likes, the like system is more powerful. As you accumulate likes, you eventually earn what are called 'trophy points,' which can get you promotions. I'll have to see where that leads us.
I will eventually get around to adding an alternate style choice, but I want to go slow on that as it makes doing upgrades a lot of extra work. And part of my motivation for transitioning to Xenforo was to make the site less work, in addition to being better and more stable.
From a management perspective, Xenforo is great because there is a comprehensive system built right into the software which allows webmasters to extend the functionality of the site by installing pre-built add-ons. For instance, the powerful search function is one of the official Xenforo add-ons.
In the coming days you'll be seeing a lot of new options and resources as I have the time to install some of the add-ons I've been testing out.
As some of you have no doubt noticed, you now have to be a paying subscriber to access a few of Gamesquad's features. There's no way around that, folks, as the site is VERY expensive to run and I've been funding it by myself for way too long. At one point it was costing me about $800-1200 per month, and we didn't have any advertisements or other income to offset that.
Many people will elect not to upgrade and that's perfectly fine, I get it. For those that do, it's much appreciated and I'll do my best to add extra features that make it worth the cost.
I also know that not everyone has or wants a Paypal account. I believe you can still pay through the PayPal sstem without opening an account, but I honestly haven't been able to test that myself. I can say that in the near future GS will be getting a gift system, which will allow members to get other members a subscription. That's a nice thing to do during a holiday or for someone you really appreciate.
At any rate, I'm still learning some of the forum features myself! As for the rep system being replaced with likes, the like system is more powerful. As you accumulate likes, you eventually earn what are called 'trophy points,' which can get you promotions. I'll have to see where that leads us.
I will eventually get around to adding an alternate style choice, but I want to go slow on that as it makes doing upgrades a lot of extra work. And part of my motivation for transitioning to Xenforo was to make the site less work, in addition to being better and more stable.
Last edited:
Dr Zaius
Chief Defender of the Faith
- Joined
- May 1, 2001
- Messages
- 8,902
- Reaction score
- 408
- Location
- The Forbidden Zone
- First name
- Don
- Country
-
You can still tag threads up near the top. The more people that use it, the more powerful it will become.