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Should We Move To A New Forum Platform?

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ratdude747

Re: Should We Move To A New Forum Platform?

One of the forums I've been a longtime member of migrated from vBulletin to Discourse. A bit of a learning curve, but it wasn't a bad migration and once everyone got used to it, it works great.

Another one migrated from vBulletin to Xenforo (forum ownership change). A bit jarring, but after some migration fixes, works well enough.

Both are good platforms. Discourse is a lot more powerful (from what I've seen) but with power comes a learning curve. And it's GPL'd (free open source)... they make their money off support, not the software itself.

Xenforo's main boon is that it was more-or-less forked off vBulletin; it was made by ex-jetsoft employees and they actually got sued over it (which was settled out-of-court). Since we never had vBulletin, that doesn't mean much.

Pick thy poison.

1984 F150: 300 L6, AOD, RWD. EEC IV / TFI, Feedback Carter YFA Carb. Stock everything but radio (for now).

ArdWrknTrk

Re: Should We Move To A New Forum Platform?

Administrator

In reply to this post by Gary Lewis

Imbedded docs are the bane of my experience here on the forum.
YOU make like it, but it causes me to close the tab and note never to go there again.

Often, if it's a post, I will refuse to return until the page rolls over.

Jim,
Lil'Red is a '87 F250 HD, 4.10's, 1356 4x4, Zf-5, 3G, PMGR, Saginaw PS, desmogged with a Holley 80508 and Performer intake.
Too much other stuff to mention.

Gary Lewis

Re: Should We Move To A New Forum Platform?

Administrator

Why is that, Jim. Are they too big and take too long to load?Hard to see on your phone? Just trying to understand.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

Gary Lewis

Re: Should We Move To A New Forum Platform?

Administrator

In reply to this post by ratdude747

Larry - Thanks. Interesting that you like both Discourse and Xenforo. Chris already has Discourse running so I'm sure we will try it at some point.

All - Speaking of trying, we are now trying myBB. Chris just got it up and I've not done anything on it - including registering as I kept getting an error.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

ArdWrknTrk

Re: Should We Move To A New Forum Platform?

Administrator

This post was updated on .

In reply to this post by Gary Lewis

Take forever, if they finally do load at all.
If I'm sitting here watching a blank page with a "W" ord logo for 5+ minutes it does nothing but piss me off, and I know that if I reload the page things are going to be the same.
Instead of enraging myself any longer, I just quit. And ignore the thread until the pg# changes.
It's that way with some of your photo packed posts too.
I think you take perverse pleasure in making as much detail as possible.
But 99% of us are not looking at a 32" monitor, we're looking at a 720p screen in our pocket (ok, probably not 720 in this day & age.. but you get what I'm saying)

Eta: definitely not my connection, when I'm on ac wifi, a business class router w/ FTTH.

Jim,
Lil'Red is a '87 F250 HD, 4.10's, 1356 4x4, Zf-5, 3G, PMGR, Saginaw PS, desmogged with a Holley 80508 and Performer intake.
Too much other stuff to mention.

BigBrother-84

Re: Should We Move To A New Forum Platform?

I agree with Jim, the MS Word documents are useless on a phone. If I have to read at such documents in the library, I wait to be in front of my desktop computer. PDF are easier.

I would say this is the case for most of the library… not built to be seen from small screens, tables are difficult to navigate in, etc.

But the worst case is really the .doc format.

Jeff / 1984 F350 Crew Cab 4x4/5.8L w351 4V/ T18/ D50 4.10 front/ 8' bed.
Restored 2019-2022.
Nicknamed «Big Brother 1984», due to its soooo-looong shape & nod to George Orwell's 1984 famous novel.

BigBrother-84

Re: Should We Move To A New Forum Platform?

This post was updated on .

In reply to this post by ArdWrknTrk

ArdWrknTrk wrote

I think you take perverse pleasure in making as much detail as possible.

Personally, I like well detailed documentation Gary!
I think you like too, and I’m pretty sure it’s not a perverse pleasure.
Maybe?

ArdWrknTrk wrote

ok, probably not 720 in this day & age.

I too feel that, the more I am getting in age, the less crisp is my monitor resolution.
Jim, are you telling me this is not a hardware issue?

Jeff / 1984 F350 Crew Cab 4x4/5.8L w351 4V/ T18/ D50 4.10 front/ 8' bed.
Restored 2019-2022.
Nicknamed «Big Brother 1984», due to its soooo-looong shape & nod to George Orwell's 1984 famous novel.

ArdWrknTrk

Re: Should We Move To A New Forum Platform?

Administrator

Back in the day we would say the problem was the meatbag between the monitor and keyboard.

Humans haven't changed much in 40 years...

Jim,
Lil'Red is a '87 F250 HD, 4.10's, 1356 4x4, Zf-5, 3G, PMGR, Saginaw PS, desmogged with a Holley 80508 and Performer intake.
Too much other stuff to mention.

Gary Lewis

Re: Should We Move To A New Forum Platform?

Administrator

Ok, I'll admit that I almost never use my phone to look up things on the website or forum, and don't post using it often either. So I don't see those problems, and am glad y'all pointed them out - especially since today's metrics show a 50/50 ratio between mobile and desktop users.

So I need to find a better way of posting information, especially for the forum. (I don't think there is a better way for the website when we have large documents, but I'm willing to consider something else.) Given that, I'll take embedding off the table as a requirement for the new forum.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

BigBrother-84

Re: Should We Move To A New Forum Platform?

Gary Lewis wrote

I don't think there is a better way for the website when we have large documents, but I'm willing to consider something else. Given that, I'll take embedding off the table as a requirement for the new forum.

Gary, I don’t think that the issue is about embedding.
I think it’s more about Word and Excel documents.

Let’s take Manuals and literature as example. The table works well on a desktop computer, but is very annoying to navigate in from a mobile device (iPhone or iPad in my case).

In this table, if I click on "open link", I get a long delay before it opens the document.
And if the target document is a Word or Excel one, it takes forever to open it…

Just for testing purpose, here is a PDF copy of the same table.
Don’t know for others (Jim?), but on my Apple iGadgets, clicking a link is much faster to reach the target document.
Manuals_&_Literature.pdf

I suspect that using PDF format for tables and documents would greatly accelerate the library navigation, and this format would be more "friendly" for mobile devices.

Jeff / 1984 F350 Crew Cab 4x4/5.8L w351 4V/ T18/ D50 4.10 front/ 8' bed.
Restored 2019-2022.
Nicknamed «Big Brother 1984», due to its soooo-looong shape & nod to George Orwell's 1984 famous novel.

ArdWrknTrk

Re: Should We Move To A New Forum Platform?

Administrator

I don't even attempt it from an older (non premium) Android.

Occasionally, I'll click some link or tab that brings me to this type of stuff.
I've got better things to do than waste my time with any of that

Gary's already told me that this is how he does things. 🤷‍♂️
Constructive criticism is one thing, but criticizing someone for the effort they make is completely counterproductive.

Jim,
Lil'Red is a '87 F250 HD, 4.10's, 1356 4x4, Zf-5, 3G, PMGR, Saginaw PS, desmogged with a Holley 80508 and Performer intake.
Too much other stuff to mention.

Gary Lewis

Re: Should We Move To A New Forum Platform?

Administrator

In reply to this post by BigBrother-84

Jeff - Let's test your theory out. I put your pdf on the page above the Excel version. So you can test both versions.

I've tested and the biggest difference I see is that on the pdf table it opens directly, but on the Excel version you may have to click a time or two and then you get a popup with an option to open the link. But I can't tell that one is faster than the other.

Or, do I need to take the Excel version off the page to test?

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Gary Lewis

Re: Should We Move To A New Forum Platform?

Administrator

In reply to this post by ArdWrknTrk

ArdWrknTrk wrote

Gary's already told me that this is how he does things. 🤷‍♂️
Constructive criticism is one thing, but criticizing someone for the effort they make is completely counterproductive.

I think what I said, or meant to say, is that it is how I know to do things. I'm open to a better way, and maybe Jeff's found one.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

ArdWrknTrk

Re: Should We Move To A New Forum Platform?

Administrator

I've said many times before "I got nothing"

If I can't offer a better alternative, it's time for me to "shut up and sit down"

Jim,
Lil'Red is a '87 F250 HD, 4.10's, 1356 4x4, Zf-5, 3G, PMGR, Saginaw PS, desmogged with a Holley 80508 and Performer intake.
Too much other stuff to mention.

Gary Lewis

Re: Should We Move To A New Forum Platform?

Administrator

NO! Please don't shut up. Even if you don't have a better suggestion at least I need you to tell me when you have problems. I can't fix it if I don't know about it, and while I might not be able to if I know, maybe someone else can help.

Like Jeff's suggestion to use a pdf instead of Excel. I would never have thought of that as "table" means Excel to me. But my pdf editor will allow it as well. So we need to figure out if that works better.

As said, I put his pdf on the same page as the Excel file, and maybe that was a mistake. But if there are two problems, meaning one of opening the table and the other using it, then this should answer the 2nd question. And if that does improve the response I can remove the Excel file to test that way.

So y'all please test. I've tested and am not finding much speed difference but there is a usability improvement with the pdf table.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

ArdWrknTrk

Re: Should We Move To A New Forum Platform?

Administrator

The PDF only prompts a download.

Useless for me.

Jim,
Lil'Red is a '87 F250 HD, 4.10's, 1356 4x4, Zf-5, 3G, PMGR, Saginaw PS, desmogged with a Holley 80508 and Performer intake.
Too much other stuff to mention.

BigBrother-84

Re: Should We Move To A New Forum Platform?

In reply to this post by Gary Lewis

Gary, here is a short video showing «small iPhone» behavior.

As you can see, the two tables (PDF and XLS) move around, we don't see it all, no possibility to zoom on it, it slides in around. So maybe this is the first issue, the way the tables are inserted «in a frame» on the web page.

In this video, I first use the PDF table, to open a link pointing to a .DOC brochure, then to a PDF one. I did the same with the XLS table. You can see how I mess around to simply click on "open link".

From each of the two tables, opening a target Word format brochure takes forever, looking at the pulsing W. Opening a PDF target brochure is much faster.

My observation (you'll make your own):

1- Would be easier if the table (XLS or PDF) wasn't in another frame, so we could directly zoom in-out the content. But maybe this is a HTML limitation.

2- A PDF table is much easier than a XLS one, clicking on a link is direct and fast.

3- PDF or JPEG formats are much faster for the the target documents opening.

Jeff / 1984 F350 Crew Cab 4x4/5.8L w351 4V/ T18/ D50 4.10 front/ 8' bed.
Restored 2019-2022.
Nicknamed «Big Brother 1984», due to its soooo-looong shape & nod to George Orwell's 1984 famous novel.

Gary Lewis

Re: Should We Move To A New Forum Platform?

Administrator

Ok guys, there is a really clunky way to create a table in Weebly. It uses a plugin for tables, but it apparently wasn't meant for something this large.

But lets test it. Go to the new page in the menu called Test Page For Tables. There you'll see the table in all of its ugliness. But it has enough rows and columns to replicate what we have. Lets see how bad it is. I don't like it on my phone, and I really don't like setting it up. But you tell me if it has possibilities.

And Jeff, you are right, there are two problems - the table and then loading the file or pic. And pics load a lot faster. But you can't search a pic and pics of multi-page documents don't work. So if we are going to have large documents people will just have to wait for them to load - unless there's a better way I'm not aware of.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

BigBrother-84

Re: Should We Move To A New Forum Platform?

In my case, for all my devices (desktop computer, iPhone and iPad):
• I can zoom in-out flawlessly, very useful.
• Clicking on the target document link is easy and direct.

Desktop computer: Perfect

iPad: Perfect

iPhone Mini:
• Portrait, everything is shrink, unreadable and u-g-l-y:

• Landscape, correct. Don't understand why the "84" column is shrink.

Jeff / 1984 F350 Crew Cab 4x4/5.8L w351 4V/ T18/ D50 4.10 front/ 8' bed.
Restored 2019-2022.
Nicknamed «Big Brother 1984», due to its soooo-looong shape & nod to George Orwell's 1984 famous novel.

BigBrother-84

Re: Should We Move To A New Forum Platform?

In reply to this post by Gary Lewis

Gary Lewis wrote

And pics load a lot faster.

Gary, I just realized that target files are Word or Jpeg format... Never PDF.
I thought that the pict brochures were PDF ones, sorry...

So, you are right, the pict ones load much faster than the .DOC ones.

Question:
There is no way to have PDF target files? I suspect that they could probably load faster than .DOC ones.
And, as Word documents, PDF can keep hyperlinks in the text, if required.

Anyway, maybe we should wait to find a new platform to see how it will perform?

Jeff / 1984 F350 Crew Cab 4x4/5.8L w351 4V/ T18/ D50 4.10 front/ 8' bed.
Restored 2019-2022.
Nicknamed «Big Brother 1984», due to its soooo-looong shape & nod to George Orwell's 1984 famous novel.

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