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  #21  
Old 23rd August 2013, 10:05 AM
John King John King is offline
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Why change what is essentially a smooth running operation. Apart from the cost of installing the new software, then setting it up so that it works properly, will we still have the old posts where they can be looked at if we need information about something that has been dealt with in the past.

Then getting to know the layout, a lot of folk are not computer savy and when faced with a whole raft of new features they can struggle with it.

Leave it as it is please.
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  #22  
Old 23rd August 2013, 10:54 AM
AlanJones AlanJones is offline
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Default Modernisation:

It is now time to advance this topic a little more.

Lostlabours: Thanks for your excellent post. I am in full agreement with everything you say. You obviously have more experience than the rest of the respondents and it's good that you made the point about the 'other' forum. Has FADU started on this slippery slope? I hope not with all sincerity.

All others: It is human nature to leap to the defence of something we all like when it is criticised. It is really a bit silly as it is so counter productive. Just like the rest of you, I subscribe to the idea of 'if it ain't broke - don't fix it' but I think we are past this stage. It is possibly like a car that has just been serviced, we don't notice the gradual fall off in performance until be get it back from the next service then its nearly like new again.

To prove Lostlabours point, some time ago I joined the Electrical Forum for electrical engineers and there were signing on difficulties with password acceptance. I was reasonably active for a couple of months. Then I could not be bothered anymore and never visited it again. Until recently, they still bother me with messages saying why an I not using the forum. Never a reply to my response so they are in my blocked senders list. This was a commercial site with paid for staff. Now we will move on to the members forum on the Severn Valley Railway where we could sign on very easily but there was a whole raft of other problems. A whole group of us, pals from volunteering, meetings and evenings in the SVR's own pub at Bridgenorth, then corresponded by conventional email. It was messy and cumbersome much more time consuming, but we avoided the frustration of the forum. Both of these two forums were the same as FADU in all respects.

For a while I have wondered if there is a fault with my computer gear and have been told it is not the case. It is kept up to date and supported by Microsoft updates. My security package is one of the two top brands and there are daily updates for deletion of temporary files and checking IE9.
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  #23  
Old 23rd August 2013, 12:04 PM
DaveP DaveP is offline
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Alan, maybe if you can make some specific suggestion about the problems this forum software gives you, or improvements you would like to see, and you might get a more positive response. So far all I can pick out is a vague notion that you would like it "modernising".
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  #24  
Old 23rd August 2013, 12:11 PM
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B&W Neil B&W Neil is offline
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I think you have missed the point: for or not for modernisation the fact still remains the large number of hours required by a skilled person to do the work to build a new one of modernise the existing one.

The present admins do a great job at keeping things going as they are and they have looked into using other software and software tools to improve things but the workload required is huge. Our admins and mods all give their time freely to keep this forum running as it is and I think we ought to be thankful for this and respect what has been said.

If you feel so strongly about this I suggest to start looking to start your own forum - because for the above stated reason this one will be staying much as it is.


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  #25  
Old 23rd August 2013, 12:43 PM
Lostlabours Lostlabours is offline
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There can be many issues upgrading sites like this, sometimes the host hasn't implemented the latest versions of Perl, MySQL etc and you just can't use the latest versions of Bulletin board software.

Probably a more important point is who the domain name is registered to, is it owned by the current Admin team ?

The UK forum I mentioned before is registered to an inactive member and the current moderators don't have the permissions to update the whole website or the forum itself. They have effectively been held hostage by one or two people and despite having revamped the website etc can't put the updates online.

I don't see that happening here, and the site performs as well as any other on never releases of the same sofware.

Bob made clear that at this point the site wasn't going to change. Usually any major upgrade would be done and tested on a cloned copy to test it and resolve as many issues as possible and that requires many hours of work. So it needs to be worthwhile before a major upgrade is contemplated.

Ian
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  #26  
Old 23rd August 2013, 02:08 PM
JimW JimW is offline
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I second whomever demonstrated their appreciation of the work ALREADY put into this forum to make it what it is. I for one am very happy with it the way it is. It does what it says on the tin, and I enjoy what I get out of it. No problems, no issues, no NEED to 'improve' a perfectly good set-up. What would it cost to improve (hours and money) and would it be worth it after all that expense? Again, to add to all those who have expressed the same opinion, if it aint broke.....
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  #27  
Old 23rd August 2013, 02:13 PM
John King John King is offline
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Can I ask exactly WHAT Benefits will there be with if new software were to be installed?

We would still have different forums and different answers the Private Messaging so what would the improvement be? It would have to be a great improvement for the cost to be worth it.

We should be thankful we have our hosts who provide the service and not to pester them for a bigger better toy just 'cos there is one out there..

HOWEVER if someone were to say to them. "Here is a blank cheque for you to upgrade the forum go ahead and just send me the bill"........

Any takers............
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  #28  
Old 23rd August 2013, 04:23 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Alan, I am sure we all want to avoid an Alan v The Rest of the FADU Friends scenario arising and if I have read you correctly it is less a case of change being required and more a case of the site not responding for you the way it seems to respond for the rest of us.

A case in point may be the manuals section where no-one else has experienced the problems you have. So just to re-iterate what another friend has said, it would seem to make sense to itemise what difficulties the site is giving you and it may be that this is best done directly with the appropriate moderator.

I hope this comes across as being helpful advice. That is certainly the spirit in which I have written it.

Mike
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  #29  
Old 24th August 2013, 12:48 PM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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I feel I have to agree with the majority of points made so far...

I too seem to find the site suits the purpose and I am very happy using it and appreciate all the work that has and does go into keeping it going.

As Mike has just said again, an itemised list of bits would be the most useful for those that are most in the know.

Terry S
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  #30  
Old 24th August 2013, 10:49 PM
JamesK JamesK is offline
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Alan has clearly got a problem with a particular aspect of this site, namely uploading manuals, which needs addressing whatever the cause of this turns out to be. In the true FADU spirit, those of us who can help in this respect should do so.

I think, however, to dismiss the whole site because of a particular problem is taking things a little bit too far.

With all the talk of "old junk", "modernising" and "standing still", I get the impression that what some people are talking about is, to use computer jargon, the "look and feel" of the site.

Personally, I'm not bothered about the appearance of the site, being only interested in it for the content.

I think too much software these days is over-engineered when it comes to visuals, employing processor-sapping graphics and animations when mere words would suffice, in a similar way to which supposedly "serious" television programmes such as Newsnight have taken on the appearance of a computer game or pop video.

In short, I'd hate to see FADU go down the "style over substance" route.

As I've said before, in comparison to other photographic websites, FADU is the only one I keep coming back to for it's unique (amongst such sites) blend of camaraderie and lack of animosity.

I can't help thinking that perhaps it's being "old fashioned" (note the inverted commas) that give it not only it's look but also it's appeal.

As Mike says above, "I hope this comes across as being helpful advice. That is certainly the spirit in which I have written it."

Last edited by JamesK; 24th August 2013 at 10:54 PM. Reason: Spelling.
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