HAIF-HD Upgrade

[ricco67]

Tested and it works. Figured I'd just click on the subject line and it would take me there, and it did!

Thanks Ed!

Well, I guess not. I just tried it and the button didn't work. Still looking up the forums manually.

As manually as you can on a PC.

[editor]

When i click View New Content... This thread does not appear on the list if someone hasnt added to it...

This doesn't seem right... it still has the most recent post, even if its not new to me. I want to be able to see it on the list, regardless if another post has followed mine.

It's all very logical. The button isn't "Most Recent Posts," it's "View New Content." You've just come from the thread in question, so by definition there is nothing "new" in that thread to see, so it's not displayed.

To take it even further.. I clicked "Mark Board as read" .. and now I get nada under New content. *sniff*

You just told the computer that you've read everything. Then you ask it if there's anything new to read, and it tell you no, you've read everything. Very logical.

After I clicked "Mark Board as Read" ... now when i go to the members tab... I get nada. Says "no new content" ...

I'm gonna shut up now.

I think we all just got used to the old way of doing things. Fortunately, the old way is back so "View New Content" will once again show you recent content, not just new content.

[editor]

I'm not keen on Inbox and Sent having been combined...

There's nothing I can do about this one. It's waaay beyond my knowledge level.

From what I can tell, Inbox and Outbox have been removed because the Messenger is no longer a simple two-way device like a mailbox. It appears you can invite a number of people to participate in a conversation at once so Inbox and Outbox no longer make sense.

and has Message Tracker been disabled ?

I think so. I never really understood what that was for. Sometimes I'd check the box to see what would happen, and nothing ever did.

The content is what we're here for. Not the fluff around it. Don't lose sight of that fact. There are some extremely successful message boards out there that have absolutely horrendous user interfaces...that's because the CONTENT is what people are there for.

4chan can hear you.

[editor]

As a business decision, this was probably the right way to go.

The upgrade was mostly a self-preservation decision. When a new version of the software comes out the company no longer supports bug and security fixes for the previous versions. So I have to stay with the current version to keep everyone safe.

Hopefully, Editor can re-implement a new Diet HAIF, just with the ability to turn on or off pictures. That'd help satisfy the needs of users that access HAIF from mobile devices, too.

I just tried to make an improvement to HAIF Mobile (formerly Diet HAIF) and broke it. But when it comes back it will be ad-free.

[editor]

Definitely need "get last post" link on the new content page, and mark all forums as read.

Mark All Read is at the bottom of the page.

BTW, something I've just discovered -- there are keyboard shortcuts. I don't know if these are new to the current version or if they were in the old one as well.

For example, I can write a sentence, then select some text and press Control-B to insert the proper bold markers. It works on Mac, so it should work on Windows, too. Anyone with Linux feel free to let us know if it works for you, too.

[editor]

"HAIF HD"... too big... I am looking for the elusive "Close Ad" X box to shrink it, but to no avail. I have my resolution set to 1280x1024, and its taking up half the screen!

Just tried it at 1280x1024, and it looks pretty much the same as old HAIF.

[editor]

After 24 hours of trying to use and become aclimated to the new format, I am frustrated and flat worn out. The biggest problem is the new content page. By dropping a topic off the page after it has been read, it discourages adding a reply. Many times, I will read topic and think about it before posting a reply. Other times, I may want to post an article, a photo or research in my post, meaning I leave HAIF to get that information. The new format causes the topic to disappear, meaning I have to search through HAIF to find it again. Needless to say, I won't do that often.

The forum jump at the bottom of the page is nice, and the previous/next topic link is even better. However, if I am in New Content, I want to jump to the next new post, not the next topic in that section.

The overall layout may be prettier, but it seems to have less information and fewer links to things I intuitively want to link to.

The new format seems mostly to help the person looking for specific information, and punish the frequent poster who has already read much of the historical content, and wants mainly to read new content and contribute to it. As one of those posters, I must admit that it is frustrating enough that I have walked away from the site several times already. Whereas in the old format I could almost feel the other posters in the room with me, now I feel like an outsider looking for unlocked doors in a very large building. It doesn't feel like anyone else is online.

24 hours after you wrote that, how do you feel know?

[Fringe]

Wow. I leave for a few days and come back and everythings changed.  This is what happens when you leave the Editor alone.  RedScare, I thought you were supposed to be watching him?

This is going to take some getting used to. I had just almost figured out the old site.  

Editor. Since your revamping the site could you make it so my Aspell spell check program works?  It works on absolutely every other forum and/or internet site but this one and I really need it. 

[editor]

As I mentioned before hopefully there will be an IP Board skin option to go back to the old forum style or continue to use the new updated style.

http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haifnow.php This link is great yet it appears to only show the last 10 hours of new posts. If this could have a drop down of say last 24, 48, 72, last week etc it would make finding recent posts so much easier.

As an example, I am a member in another forum and I only need to click one link or bookmark and I can see all 50-200 posts on one page that were made in the last 24 hours, 2 days, 1 week etc.. whether I have been to that post or not. Even a thread that had 7 posts to it I will see all 7 of the new posts with a short 6 line synopsis of that post to let me know if the post is even worth checking out.

HAIF:Now shows the last 25 active threads. The idea of adding a 24h, 48h, etc... button is interesting. I don't think that would be too hard. I'll put it on my list of things to do.

I might be able to add something like that to the user drop-down box, as well. Is that something that you would use?

I like the new header graphics though I think it is taking way too much of the above the fold space. To me it just seems a bit more difficult to navigate around the forum than the old one. Keep the graphics, new headers, buttons, web 2.0 stuff but at least have an option to choose between new and old style navigation/preferences.

See responses above.

Sometimes I upgrade programs automatically when "new functions" are released. What I have learned is that yes the new upgrades seem to add a bit but in many cases I lost functions that I had come to depend on.

If I don't go with the upgrade, I don't get security updates.

[editor]

Hopefully that empty feeling has more to do with the decline in traffic resulting from HAIF being offline for pretty much a whole day, followed by the weekend slump. And hopefully a lot of these technical issues about user friendliness can be identified and resolved.

• Switch to .com
  
• Sunday.
  
• Holiday weekend.
  
• Summer vacation season.
  

It's kind of a perfect storm, which is why I chose this weekend to do the upgrade -- it would disrupt the fewest number of people.

[lockmat]

I actually liked seeing the new HAIF gallery images loaded at the top of the main board. I thought it would have been a cool way to keep us updated. I for one don't usually go searching for new uploaded images, but that was a cool way to get the word out. Maybe those who do or don't like it can rate this message? If not, cool.

[editor]

I think Ed is trying to make this site all things to all people (radar? really?),

We've had HAIF:radar for close to two years. It's just the first time I've put it on the navigation bar.

and I believe that is the wrong approach since this is an interactive medium. The internet allows you to drill in and find the authoritative source for just about any sort of information you desire. Why would I want to access radar from this site rather than NOAA.gov? Coming to this site and then hopping over to radar is just a needless extra step.

You're looking at it from the wrong end of the tube. Don't think about someone sitting down at a fresh browser screen and wanting to see the weather. Think of it as someone who's already surfing HAIF who can just glance up to see the temperature and radar and doesn't have to bother taking the extra step to visit the NWS site unless there's a reason to.

I visit this site time and time again because it has local info from real people. If Ed really wants to add value to the site he'll find something that will group relevant topics together and display them, or add a feature that would display other topics I might be interested in (mind reading!)....both of which are, unfortunately, hard for computers to do well.

I've seen some fora experiment with what you're talking about through user-added tags. Unfortunately, in every instance I've seen them, they've been a failure because one person's #funny is another person's #offensive, or #Heights <> #heights <> #hites. But I'm open to whatever comes along in the future.

It is crucial to draw people into the site, but as Ed has said previously, people are being drawn in by the content via Google, not the flash-in-the-pan graphics that take up 1/2 or more of the screen while contributing nothing useful or unique to the user experience.

I'd argue that a pretty picture of Houston would help draw people in rather than push them away. Text is not the only compelling form of content. If it was, you'd be surfing the net with Lynx.

[editor]

And as long as were posting constructive criticism, we should be able to post some nicer things about the upgrade, as well. (I know some of us have, but for the ones that haven't.) Im sure we all appreciate it, but sometimes if all we point out is the negative things, we lose sight of the positive things....

There are a lot of new features in the upgrade that I don't know about. Unfortunately, the company that makes the software hasn't bothered to write any documentation for it yet (the reason the bug fixes and such are taking so long).

So, feel free to explore and when you find something new, post it here so that other people can take advantage of it, too.

[editor]

I'm not the power user I used to be, but I think I will be fine with the changes if the HD logo is dramatically shrinked and the spacing is worked on so that there is more info on a screen. For example, on the View New Content page, there is just too much space, and the font too large, so that you can't fit as many posts on the screen. Everything just seems too large and too spread out. I could barely use the old HAIF on my Bold (fault of the Bold's small screen), and can't imagine how much scrolling I will have to do now, LOL. Under this same topic, I also notice that when I go to respond to a post, I have to scroll down to get to the reply box, and then again to get to the Add Reply. Just too much space/scrolling. My laptop screen resolution is 1440x900.

The font is the same as the old HAIF. It's just that there are margins and whitespace all over the place. I'm working to track it all down and bring it under control.

When HAIF Mobile is back online your Bold should be very happy.

When you're done writing a reply, press [TAB] to move to the Add Reply button. You can then hit [sPACE] to activate the button.

[editor]

That's quite the stretch, linking walking to lunch to surfing an intenet forum, but I suppose if you've been stewing over that post for nearly a week, this was as close as you were going to get (if you had waited until I posted the latest 100 degree records that Houston is setting in the 'DAMN, It's Hot!' thread, you could have nailed me there).

To be honest, I debated not posting my thoughts, as I did not want to sound as if I were complaining. But, after deciding that the Editor would rather hear my thoughts than have me and other posters leave quietly, I decided to post, especially considering that the software probably allows the old listing format to be emulated. But, lucky you! Because I post here as a distraction, rather than a necessity (like eating lunch would be), it is very likely that my posting will diminish dramatically if the problem I noted is a permanent feature. Therefore, I won't be around to call out wimpy Houstonians who can't stand the heat.

Seems like we need to come up with a USB device that dispenses food pellets when someone posts a new message on HAIF.

[editor]

Where is the HD part of "HAIF HD?" HD frame size, for TVs, is 1280x720 or 1920x1080. My computer has been set to 1280x1024 for about 10 years now. Digital cameras have been taking high resolution well beyond 1920x1080 for years, even before "HD" as we know it today.

Is there actual HD streaming content that I am missing, that warrants the "HD" designation? If not, does it really make sense having "HD" in the name? When I used to work in web design, the general rule was that the title/splash bar across the top of a site should be no more than 100 pixels in height, preferably 75 pixels or less... but that's minor...

It means nothing. It's just a subtle gag because of the recent transition from NTSC to ATSC transmission, and the way marketing people are jumping on the "HD" bandwagon with everything from HD Radio to HD sunglasses. Maybe it was too subtle.

It appears the upgrade is in line with a newer version of the same message board software, whatever it is. So in a way, we are like a bunch of people complaining of wanting an older version MS Word in favor of the older version - because it is familiar. In general, I've always thought the newer versions were better than the previous versions... until this last version of Office, and the stupid "ribbon." Hopefully, this upgrade doesn't turn out to be like a ribbon upgrade...

WordPerfect 5 was the height of cross-platform word processing art. Though it still lacked some features from the SuperScript and Paperback Writer programs I used in 1984.

None of that means anything. I'm just being nostalgic.

[editor]

Bingo! Well said.

One bug that I'm thankful... that new HD banner only takes up half my screen when i'm not logged in.

• Fixed. It now takes up your full screen, and overflows onto the TV screen in the next room, and your screen door.
  

[editor]

Wayne,

I get this when i try to view the galleries

[#1078] There are no categories that you have permission to view

Thanks

• Fixed. Please test.
  

[editor]

Is there a way to see number of pages (for topics with more than one page) in the new content results? Before you could click on the link to the topic or the page number..

Maybe. That will take some thinking to figure out. I'll add it to the list.

[editor]

I would suggest you put #1 back out in the open where it is obvious. Noticing that feature sitting out in the open one day made HAIF infinitely more useful and interactive for me.

Done. Hit the "New" button in the navigation bar.

[editor]

I look forward to trying out the HAIF on Blackberry. HAIF was a lifesaver during Ike, but going to the full version in order to post replies was burdensome. I cannot get a good signal where I am currently sitting, but I'll check it out later.

This comment is the reason I decided to make HAIF Mobile ad-free when it returns.

[editor]

I'm getting this dark bar on top of the skyline picture. Right on top of my profile image and little drop down list.

For visual things, I need to see a screenshot. Also, I assume you're using IE, right? I'm only able to test against Safari and Firefox, but I'll do what I can.

Anyone else have this problem?

Editor - All the changes you've mentioned involving the user pulldown menu, I'm still not seeing.

Fixed.

Also.. my profile/pulldown is on the upper right still..

Fixed.

as well, I've never had the HAIF-HD banner at the top of my page.. only the IPboard banner.

Fixed.

HAIF banner is only visible when I'm not signed in..

Fixed.

• Updated the maximum number of quotes per post to 20 from four.
  

[editor]

how about an App for Android when you have time?

I'll take a crack at it if you've got an extra phone.

[editor]

I will miss the old look. I don't know about this new one but you surely have put a lot into it. The old look with less razzmatazz makes it easy for me to HAIF at work without much attention. Can the HAIF|HD billboard be reduced a little?

Done. And future headers will be less flashy and more tasteful. I went a little overboard this time because it's new.

And can we get the Tahoma font back please?

The font hasn't changed.

Old HAIF body declaration:

html{
	overflow-x: auto; /* fixes MSIE scrollbar bug DO NOT REMOVE, has no effect in Mozilla, or Opera */
}

body{ 
	background: #FFF;
	color: #222;
	font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Trebuchet MS, Sans-Serif, Georgia, Courier, Times New Roman, Serif;
	font-size: 11px;
	line-height: 135%;
	margin: 0;
	padding: 0; /* required for Opera to have 0 margin */
	text-align: center; /* centers board in MSIE */
}

New HAIF font declaration:

body {
	background: #fff;
	color: #1c2837;
	font: normal 12px arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif;
	position: relative;
}

I actually prefer Times New Roman when reading, so that's what's used on every other web site I run.

[SchwinnChopper68]

Trae, on 05 July 2009 - 10:58 PM, said:

I'm getting this dark bar on top of the skyline picture. Right on top of my profile image and little drop down list.

For visual things, I need to see a screenshot. Also, I assume you're using IE, right? I'm only able to test against Safari and Firefox, but I'll do what I can.

Anyone else have this problem?

I think Trae is speaking of the darkened adspace at the top.

[editor]

Did we have to lose the .ORG in order to get the .COM ? Can the site not function on BOTH webs? If it takes two servers then I understand. I was just wondering, since everyone seems to be so worried about traffic to the site.

HAIF was never a .org. It was a .info. The .info domain remains and redirects to the .com. The .info will remain online for at least the next two years. It does not require an additional server, just this one line of code:

redirect 301 / http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/

Looking better.

Still a huge gap between the banner and menu bar on my end.

20 inch screen here.

• Fixed. Let me know if it's not.
  

[editor]

This is a pet peeve of mine.

Personally, I don't like it when it opens a new window, because what if I don't want it to open a new window? I have no choice.

However, if the current window simply goes to the website of the link, then I have the option of opening a new window and/or tab.

I'll live though.

edit: this was in response to someone wanting a link to open up in a new window/tab.

In an ideal world, the links would open in the same window, but then also be followed by a tiny icon giving you the option of opening in a new window. I'll put this on my list of things to look into and see if I'm smart enough to implement.

I open pretty much all links in a new tab anyway (hold down Double Infinity while clicking), but I think it's important to give people a choice. I'll see what I can do.

[ricco67]

I'll take a crack at it if you've got an extra phone.

Oh yeah!

I forgot about that!

Great job, so far!

[lockmat]

In an ideal world, the links would open in the same window, but then also be followed by a tiny icon giving you the option of opening in a new window. I'll put this on my list of things to look into and see if I'm smart enough to implement.

I open pretty much all links in a new tab anyway (hold down Double Infinity while clicking), but I think it's important to give people a choice. I'll see what I can do.

Thanks for lookin in to it. I usually just right click on the link if I want a new window/tab opened.

[editor]

OK, definitely the visuals are getting better. The New Content screen, IMO, can still use some work. I generally understand the use of whitespace to set off topics, but there just seems to be way too much of it.

• Fixed. Let me know if that's better.
  

Yet we don't have page number links for multiple pages.

See response elsewhere in this thread.

Hopefully the software will allow you to tweak a bit more. I think the vertical whitespace (between topics) could be trimmed like crazy, and I'm not sure we really need the "Attachments" link at all since you will see the attachments in the thread itself.

Yeah, that does seem strange. I wonder why that's there.

I can get used to a lot of the changes, but the New Content page is what I look at most ofte, so I'm most focused on it.

As has probably been mentioned, in the threads themselves, there is a lot of vertical space between posts, just a ton of it. The sig area takes up a lot (which I could care less about, but others like the sig area). I think getting rid of the pictures for Administrator, Subscriber, et al, would help a lot, especially when the Group line appears to repeat the same info.

I'll see if I can think of a better way to lay this out.