Welcome to the new Boards.ie platform - Version 1.0 :)

Boards.ie: Odhran · 15-07-2021 8:10am #1

Hi all - we’re delighted to welcome you to the new Boards platform! Thank you again for your patience over the last while as we directed our attention towards this platform and performed the actual migration. We were finally able to push live late last night / early this morning after a lot of wrangling. This new version will allow us to update the site quicker, add new features, increase uptime and not have to invest all of our dev resources into just keeping the site alive.

We are very aware that there are some issues with CSS styling, view on touch etc - we have listed out what we know so far below. The great news is that we are fixing that on the fly. We had to focus all of our attention on making things work - while didn’t get it 100% right… we are now able to fix it. The team are already going through css updates to fix the problems. Touch in particular is getting a lot of attention so you will see updates there through the day.

Many things should look and feel familiar. However, there are some pretty big changes which will result in more stability. There will also be some difference in how this site functions and perhaps some features that you used on the legacy site that did not carry over. We knew that the migration would be tough and expected a lot of teething issues - but we are literally fixing on the fly

We will need your assistance (and patience again!) as we clear out of some of these issues. A lot of them are simple CSS so you will see impact there quickly. Reply to this thread for reporting issues and we will reply and update here. Please provide as much detail as possible (especially with so many different browsers, operating systems, screen sizes, etc.), including steps to replicate if you can, and images can be very helpful too.

If you would like to request development of a feature that hasn't carried over (or to suggest possible improvements for an existing feature), we have the Site Development forum for suggestions.

Thanks

Odhran

Current issues being worked on:

CSS styling issues on desktop and mobile (mobile in particular is being focussed on first)
Some content not migrated over (social groups - soccer etc)
Long user names / roles pushing user info panels out
Hovering over user name drop down appears broken
Posts not numbered
‘Like’ button should be ‘Thanks’. Cannot see who you have thanked
Quote function - adding too much space in reply
Dropdown menu wrong colour
Share links on hover have wrong style
Thread heading style needs updating
Forum view first post listed as last
Breadcrumb not sticky
Various font and layout issues
User ranking not displaying
Thank count not viewing correctly

Zaph · 15-07-2021 8:25am

Not an issue, just a small question Odhran - for those of us less technically minded, what's CSS?

Tomalak · 15-07-2021 8:29am

View first unread post is missing...

Boards.ie: Odhran · 15-07-2021 8:30am

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117612232#Comment_117612232

Thanks Zaph - That is the language that we use to style the html page. Basically the design

Pelvis Parsley · 15-07-2021 8:33am

Good to see you engaging Odhran, best of luck with the work.

I see some significant improvements already!

Doomofman · 15-07-2021 8:34am

Will the dark theme be making a comeback at some point?

MarkR · 15-07-2021 8:34am

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117612232#Comment_117612232

Basically styling for the pages I think.

Is speed down as an issue, or is boards under a big load this morning. It is very slow.

_Kaiser_ · 15-07-2021 8:35am

I'll lift some of the points from my post in the AH thread, and add some more I've noticed since...

As with the god-awful "responsive" site, there is so much wasted white space everywhere - and this is the desktop version!
The top menu bar is reduced even further and (unless I'm missing something), doesn't pop-up when you hover making it even harder to get around as it opens a new page instead
My favourites/Bookmarks now seems to be every thread, rather than the forums themselves?
No dark theme.. ye had a week and couldn't put that in? Makes the whole thing very hard to read (see also point 1)
The "touch" version has gone from clean and readable to cluttered and cramped (ironic considering the first point)
The "user" column to the left of each post varies depending on the length of their name
The "Categories" section is even more unhelpful than the old menu system if trying to find a specific forum with the whole lot just lumped together
No option to delete a post? I accidentally posted this in another tab but can't delete the entire post?
Performance is very slow. Even had a Vanilla "Maintenance" page come up when loading this page
Where are all the user/customisation settings?

Honestly guys... retrograde doesn't begin to describe this. As I said, if the plan is to fix forward now then ye shouldn't have launched in this state, and how these things weren't caught in testing(??) is beyond me.

I really think the only benefit here is for the devs (as the regular posts from staffers about how hard it was to maintain the old site illustrate), but the users and usability hasn't been considered at all.

sioda · 15-07-2021 8:35am

Did we lose our subbed forums list in the move can't locate a list of mine.

Also for the few of us who were using it is m.boards gone entirely?

Boards.ie: Odhran · 15-07-2021 8:35am

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117612311#Comment_117612311

Both I reckon. But speed should not be an issue - ie server response times should be much faster... we are checking.

Shield · 15-07-2021 8:35am

I can’t seem to find the Help Desk. Has it been pulled across yet? Cheers.

MarkR · 15-07-2021 8:36am

And it seems quoting someone can go a bit crazy. I quoted zaph, and it it posted twice, once before and once after him. :-D

GBX · 15-07-2021 8:39am

On mobile, there is a lot of wasted space at the bottom showing users on a particular forum. No need for this IMO.

Shows thread created date rather than last post date.

Seems to be a time zone delay also on desktop site shows 1 hour difference.

feelings · 15-07-2021 8:40am

Why is the site so bloody slow?

Vicxas · 15-07-2021 8:42am

Adding in:

Unable to follow a forum or post on Desktop.

Impossible to Navigate the forums, some lead back to homepage others just try and redirect you and then it brings you to threads YOU have started.

Boards.ie: Odhran · 15-07-2021 8:45am

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117612314#Comment_117612314

We are working on UI/UX and more issues.

You will see daily change as we go over the coming days and weeks.

We have one developer.

AlmightyCushion · 15-07-2021 8:46am

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117612324#Comment_117612324

It is pretty slow on desktop but on mobile it is horribly slow.

[Deleted User] · 15-07-2021 8:46am

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117612259#Comment_117612259

This is the biggest miss of the whole change. Makes it unusable and really needs to be the first thing addressed.

_Kaiser_ · 15-07-2021 8:49am

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117612407#Comment_117612407

With all respect, one dev (no matter how good he/she is) isn't going to be enough here - especially if addressing what are key functionality issues is going to take days and weeks, and certainly not if the plan is to do this "live", which will only cause more disruption and issues as stuff changes/moves/disappears.

Why weren't these things caught in testing? What hypercare support do you have from Vanilla to help fix what are core issues with the site?

DrPhilG · 15-07-2021 8:51am

Ah well I got a good laugh anyway. All this bluster on twitter the last week about how the delay would ensure that everything was perfect, then the first post here is a list of things that are broken and being worked on.

Can someone tell me where to find my list of followed threads from before? I'm using the mobile site on android chrome.

klose · 15-07-2021 8:54am

Where's the soccer forum?

The my threads/forum tab gone is not ideal, can't seem to find anything to route me to my old followed threads.

CelticRambler · 15-07-2021 8:56am

https://boards.ie/discussion/2058198814/welcome-to-the-new-boards-ie-platform-version-1-0

That! No (obvious) option to cut a quoted post down to the relevant word/phrase/sentence, so the whole post is quoted (and re-quoted when nested). On just about every other forum I visit these days, it's possible to highlight and quote directly from the text of earlier posts, so I was expecting that feature to appear. Instead, we've gone at least a decade in reverse.

Also for multiposting - really annoying to have the page scroll every time straight to the comment box, forcing me to go looking back up the page to find where I'd got to. Another retrograde step that I don't have to suffer on other forums.

happyday · 15-07-2021 8:57am

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117612232#Comment_117612232

happyday · 15-07-2021 9:00am

Hope it's ok to ask a few questions here.

How do I find my followed threads?

How do I like or thank a post?

When I search for something why do very old (15 year old) threads come up first? Just trying to find my topics/threads.

GBX · 15-07-2021 9:01am

Clicking a link from a thread now brings up a new landing page before having to reclick to go to the original linked thread. No need for a double click IMO.

"You are now leaving boards.ie - Now Ye're Talkin'. Click the link to continue to ...."

seamus · 15-07-2021 9:02am

These two issues probably relate to a similar thing:

Long user names / roles pushing user info panels out
Quote function - adding too much space in reply

I haven't looked at the CSS, but it would appear that the style for the quote box refuses to overlap with the info panel. If I get a chance later I might see if I can suggest a fix.

‘Like’ button should be ‘Thanks’. Cannot see who you have thanked

No "Like" button at all on desktop.

For the "after the bugs" stuff,

It would be nice for the desktop version to take up more screen space. Huge chunk of space on the right of the screen going unused.
Quick link to "find my posts" somewhere would also be nice.

I like the editor. Finally a responsive editor that doesn't need you to know BB code.

Piehead · 15-07-2021 9:02am

This is a disaster to be honest. Has any thought being given to just reverting back pre update?

Exclamation Marc · 15-07-2021 9:03am

What happened to subbed forums? Having to manually navigate to each one is just not a goer and puts me off the site. Unless I'm missing something of course. Should say this is on touch site.

titan18 · 15-07-2021 9:04am

Forum bans haven't carried over anyway. Have site bans?

CelticRambler · 15-07-2021 9:04am

"Find my threads" seems to have disappeared, and been replaced with "My Discussions" which presents two problems:

1. There doesn't appear to be any (obvious) way to find my own posts. Now, when I know I wrote something somewhere, I can't find it without trawling through hundreds of threads.

2. I'm getting notifications of new posts on threads that I have no interest in, because of one post on a random thread six years ago, and (again) with no obvious way to turn it off.

A lot of overlap between "My Bookmarks" and "My Discussions" with - so far - the worst aspects of both and few advantages.

Also, can't delete bookmarked threads en masse like in the old boards. Now each one has to be opened to be unbookmarked.

pinkypinky · 15-07-2021 9:06am

I can't find my list of followed forums - just threads. Using Chrome on windows10 pc. Do I have to bookmark each one myself now?

Also, I can't find the moderator forum.

Welcome to the new Boards.ie platform - Version 1.0 :)

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