I've only just noticed this thread now, but for what it's worth, here are my opinions on most suggestions made (more than 2 cents' worth....probably more like $200):
Quote: "Automatic image re-sizing for images larger than the page would be great as well."
Yes! That's a very important and necessary upgrade!
I hate having to scroll back and forth to read text when someone posts a huge image.
Quote: "how about the option for an OP to unlock their own thread if it has been locked simply for inactivity"
Excellent suggestion!
Quote: "Also an option to have the carriage returns match the post writing box so that the way you see it in the edit window is the way it comes out on the post."
Bad. Why have widescreen monitors when all the posts are fixed at a narrow width?
Quote: "Post preview button?"
As much as I think it's actually unnecessary (I thoroughly enjoy posting then editing then posting then editing), this is probably for the best.
Quote: "This is quite a big suggestion but... the whole site is badly designed.
Pages are arranged in tables with dozens of images, every image is a separate file! This is a pretty basic forum so it should have very few images and load fast on any machine."
If you're referring to the current site, I disagree. I think the site is very well designed. Oh, unless you mean internally...
Quote: "Ability to recommend (vote up/for) a single post in a thread. There shouldn't be a vote down option though, as it becomes like karma and was useless on the older DB boards"
I think I agree with this. Something like a "thanks" may be good, but I don't know if they cause problems or not.
Quote: "Text size [size=14]Bigger Headline Text[/size]
* Colour (Both spellings) [colour=ff0000]This would be some red text[/colour]"
No. This would be bad. These abilities lead to threads full of random and messy posts all using different colours and sizes. When noobs post they make the text huge and red to try to grab attention, which isn't an endearing quality.
Quote: "Tidy up the emoties. It would be nice if the bar had "pages" we can flick through and click on an emoticon, the current system is a bit tacked on."
Tacked on? Really? I think the emoticon bar is fine how it is.
Quote: "I made a stylesheet for the site with a hovering navbar."
NO! Please, no! Floating stuff is AWFUL! I feel like I'm looking through a tiny window when there's stuff floating in my face!
Quote: "I also enjoy the look of these forums so as well as the new theme I will create as close a clone as I can to the old forum design with the new code."
Thank goodness for that!!
Quote: "Can you please make the max allowed size of an avatar be at least 80x80px? 50x50px is ridiculously tiny in 2013!"
No! The worst part of modern forums, IMO, is huge, flashy graphics that distract awfully from the text!
Quote: "I like spaghetti flavored ice cream"
?!
Quote: "One thing I would like is the option to make a post float... Like, if I have a WIP thread, and I post an update in the middle of page 3 - I might want that post to be shown at the start of the thread as well. So if I post a new screenshot or something, it appears in it's usual place on page 3, but I could also 'float' it, and it would be linked to the first post somehow - like first post, then an expanding list of any floating posts, then the normal reply posts after that."
Ew no, don't like that at all. You do realise you should simply edit the first post, right? Editing the first post is one of my favourite things to do when I post a WIP.
Quote: "There will be a darker theme also the reason I am going for a purposely very minimal theme is many people don't like dark colour schemes and have trouble reading on them."
Me, for one. I much prefer these forums stay the colours they are now. If you want to add a dark theme as an option that's entirely fine, just so long as I can keep my "Godlike" colour scheme
Quote: "for it to show up as edited in the board, and in the thread will be orange or something"
No, why would you want every second post to be orange??
Quote: "Users who have been around long enough to prove they are good citizens should have some sort of administrative rights over threads they start. Not only would this take a massive load off the moderation staff but, as someone mentioned, it'd be nice so far as preventing the I need my old WIP thread, "The Eight Fingers of Aztok", unlocked clutter. I'd also like to be able to delete threads for projects that aren't valid because they were dropped. etc. By delete, I just mean that access rights are modded so only the thread creators and moderators can still see them."
Excellent suggestion, me likes greatly
Quote: "At the risk of incurring everyone's wroth, I think this is a potentially bad thing. Sure it feels good to get your answer 'up-voted' but this has the potential to leave behind sour grapes. It also can create a situation where users start up-voting another. Putting all this aside, life is very subjective. There are many times I've searched for answers online and found a forum where the answer with ~100 votes is not half as good as the one with ~20. People have a sheep mentality and once an answer gets enough votes, they also have a tenancy to automatically agree with it. Finally, and this is the most annoying bit, it can lead to people answering every question they can to try and earn more points. Take a look at the help forums around the net and you'll find them littered with pointless answers and copy-pastes from other sites."
Good points there, and I now see reasons to not have a +1/thank system.
Quote: "I think it is, as someone stated earlier, about high time this forum had larger avatars. These little images are silly."
Silly? Why? Where do you stop with size, then? It's entirely arbitrary and there's no reason to increase the size.
Quote: "As for sigs ... I think allowing a few more px in width and height wouldn't hurt."
I think it would. So there.
Quote: "Also, the char limit for sigs is ridiculous. I think that chars should only be counted if they are not part of a link/tag, i.e. they are actual visible text."
I wouldn't say
ridiculous, but yeah, it's a bit limited.
Quote: "I'm therefore requesting that the placement of things please not get modified too much"
100% agreed
Quote: "[xsmall]extra small[/xsmall]
[small]small[/small]
Normal
[large]large[/large]
[xlarge]extra large[/xlarge]"
Ah, I like this. I assume this is the only way to resize text? A good compromise, me thinks. Limits how much randomly-sized text we get in general posting.
Quote: "You're testing the new forum code with the live database? Hmmm... sounds dangerous."
Now that you mention it...
Quote: "I'd personally vote for a relatively flat style all around"
I agree, though not so much in the Windows 8 style as a pixelarty style. And I hate borderless stuff. Mostly.
Quote: "Not true at all I use the email notifications all the time, my email is my number one source of information"
Absolutely!
Quote: "Using yellow is a bad idea anyway as it is hated by many when used over large areas and causes eye strain for extended use, a bit like white."
I'm SO glad you said that! I hate yellow/orange colour schemes! I love the colours of the "Godlike" theme on the current forums: clear, plain and not flashy.
Quote: "Would it be possible for users to tweak their own colour settings? You'd have to set up a new table for users to store their preferences, but if you gave a bunch of themes and then let the users tweak their own 'custom' theme to suit their tastes, then you wouldn't have to worry about colour-blindness, screen differences, personal tastes etc."
I LOVE this idea!!
It pretty much guarantee that I could have my old theme still! I would spend an hour or so tweaking it to be exactly the same colours in each area
Quote: "Beta forum now supports
Supertext
Subtext
and..
"
Amazing, just amazing!
Quote: "Could you make it so that the button tags are inserted at the cursor location rather than at the end of the text?"
Oh YES! That's something that has annoyed me for years!!
Quote: "As promised the new spoiler tag has been added."
Useful, but I'd prefer if you had to click on it to see it. It's all too easy to brush your mouse over it and I detest having to be careful where I place my mouse lest I
do something without providing any intentional input. More importantly, the flicking whenever you move your mouse around is annoying, to say the least.
Quote: "Font sizes are now consolidated into one tag, no backwards compatibility I'm afraid."
Oh....I preferred it with the different tags....much neater...but it's only a minor change, really, so I'll live.
Quote: "Size numbers won't work. The reason for this is to stop abuse that is often seen on many other forums. The number of options will be limited by design hence why they have names and there are only 4.
I could have used numbers and limited in the same way I suppose but I felt that the named version would be more understandable as to what size the text would end up."
So glad you said that!!
Totally agree!
Quote: "The new highlighter needs support for DBP ... and it is case sensitive."
That seems like a really bad idea to me, when DBPro is case-insensitive and the highlighter is case-sensitive.
Quote: "The "global threads" board is for use by mods and TGC staff only if we need to make a thread appear at the top of every board we now can, it will eventually be hidden to all other users but is basically where those threads are stored."
What a good idea
Quote: "Improving search functionality is a MUST. Starting with some simple features that every other forum takes for granted--being able to view all threads and posts by any particular user. Currently, we can only view threads a user has started and only the last 100, so a lot of historic posts and content is pretty impossible to find. This should be one of the easier updates to implement."
Not that I have yet had great use for such features, but I second this.
Quote: "Maybe you could convert the user name (On the left side) to a link to the users profile, rather that a separate profile button, to me that seems to make more sense.. but that may just be me."
Quote: "I think this makes a lot of sense as well."
It makes sense, yes, and it's what a lot of other forums do. I dislike the idea simply because I don't like change, but it makes too much sense to not do it. Just so long as you don't make the names blue. Make them black and underlined or something.
Quote: "Sorry if someone has mentioned this already - can you disable posting unless its the last page of the thread?"
This could be a real nuisense if you actually want to reply to someone on the first page! My suggestion would be to have a reasonably prominent warning to inform you that you're not posting on the last page, but not to remove the ability.
Quote: "Thanks for being so dedicated to this!"
Indeed, many thanks The Next!
Quote: "However I will say I am working for TGC on a large project"
Quote: "Hope its DB Elite."
Haha I doubt it
Quote: "I have a great idea! Why signature is hardcoded into post? It should be made like avatar. So when you change your sig it changes everywhere!"
I used to think that would be a good idea but would completely disagree now. I like to see what everyone had as their signature, particularly since people often comment on it, comments which would be invalidated by the signature changing.
The one issue that I have that no one seems to have brought up previously is that fact that if a thread is more than 1 page long, new posts will not be coloured blue by the time you get to the last page because viewing the first page tells it that the entire thread has been viewed. When you open the link from the email notifications, you only go to the first page (would it be possible to make it link to the page on which the post was made? That would be great) and by the time you get to the last page, the posts are no longer blue.
Ah, finally. Got through all 7 pages. I know it's a very,
very long post, but I didn't realise there even was a beta forum until today. I have very strong feelings about this forum, so I couldn't help but comment on almost every single suggestion, sorry
I'm slightly disappointed it's disabled just as I find out about it, but I know it'll be back up as soon as The Next finishes with the current changes
