[Duma]

Not sure why the previous topic was locked?
Would be nice to know what, if anything, the IO's are planning?
Does anyone think the current theme is ok? (as anything other than a stopgap). Of course I do appreciate that the previous version had become unstable and needed something done, but surely a usable mobile version is an absolute minimum requirement? And changing the colours, text etc shouldn't be that difficult?

Another issue I've found is when on a mobile I can't wad or punter anyone - if I expand the member details under their avatar the option doesn't appear (chrome on android)

[Luke Owens]

Does anyone think the current theme is ok?

I don't like it personally and would prefer something more like what it used to be.

[petejh]

The new look is hard on the eye. Font is too small. The loss of karma comments is a negative. A few other subtle differences in the overall look which add up to a more user-unfriendly experience.

I appreciate the effort in sorting out bugs. For me this new format has had a negative effect on using ukb. 

[tommytwotone]

Toby / Shark - is there the option for a rollback? Or would that just result in the forum being down?

Potential for a mass migration to an alternative platform?

Understand it would be a significant piece of work but I agree with pete re the look and feel, and think it could short/medium term be the beginning of the end of something that is of huge value to the climbing community.

[tommytwotone]

In fact...


https://www.discourse.org/

[tomtom]

but I ... think it could short/medium term be the beginning of the end of something that is of huge value to the climbing community.

+1 those are my views too....

It's now not worth the effort/pain of trying to view on a mobile any more for me.

So my interactions will only be when at work, and the new desktop version isn't too flash.

As 3T said - instead of updating servers etc.. maybe bite the bullet and move to a different system - google discussions for example, lock all the old threads and archive. Even Facebook....

[standard]

Do not agree about swapping out for new forum software. That will definitely kill ukb (unless all content was moved without fail).

I can't see what the problem is with reverting to the default theme, as before. It's better than this.

[tomtom]

Needs a mobile view/theme/option... 80-90% of my viewing was from mobile

a quick google shows that now over 50% of all webpage traffic worldwide is from mobile.. 

[Fiend]

I concur. I'm still using UKB fine, have had time to adjust to it, and there's plenty I just don't like about it. Too bright, too monochrome, harder to read, less gently broken up by blue / grey colours, less separation between people's posts, unread message symbology is less eye-catching, avatars are distorted, circular design for avatars is contrary to 99% of how images are viewed, dashed outline is ugly, usernames are much harder to read, there might be more.

[Clart]

I mainly view ukb on tapatalk but it doesn't seem to work on that anymore. New theme is way too bright and hard to read. I can see myself using this less and less as a result. Sad as it was a good source of info. 

[Will Hunt]

I can live with a lot of the aesthetic deficiencies that have been mentioned, but the real turn off is the lack of a mobile friendly format. Think fixing that should be a priority.

[webbo]

Bikeradar forum uses the same format as the old ukb forum. So presumably the format is not an issue as that seems to be a much bigger site both in volume of use and what's on offer.

[Oldmanmatt]

I no longer have a PC or Laptop, at all.

Both at work and at home we operate on iPads with a 2tb server; so I never view UKB on anything other than a “mobile device”.

The new format is ok on a tablet, shocking on a phone and clunky with that BBC code stuff.
All the features (like strike through etc) can be achieved by downloading a new keyboard app or emoji app.
The beauty of the Tapatalk app was direct insertion of links and photos, via Tapatalk (I guess anything that was put in through that is gone now?).

So I miss the ease of Tapatalk and the easily customised view (I had it set on night view permanently, ie white on black).
I always used the browser as well, though, because things like karma couldn’t be viewed in Tapatalk.
Really, really miss it on my phone.

I hope the forum doesn’t die off because of this and I do think it’s quite a bit more than gripping over change for the sake of it.

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

Why is a mobile theme for SMF an issue? A quick Google brought up a few options;
https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=552969.0

This looks like a possibility, if we can replace the Comic Sans!
https://custom.simplemachines.org/themes/index.php?lemma=2801

[tommytwotone]

Karma comments: I'd like the site to clock up a few more weeks without outages before making any software changes. Also, this.

So are you saying that :

a) there is potential to reinstate / recover the legacy karma data but it's at a risk of site stability, and
b) that it's effectively unsupported functionality?

My initial reading of your comments re: karma was that all the comments etc are gone forever, and there's no way we're putting the commentary functionality back in as that's what was breaking the site.

If a) and b) above are true then I'd argue it's worth the risk - worst that happens is it get tested out in live and if it breaks it gets taken out, we'd be no worse off than we are now.

[Duma]

Thanks for reply habrich.

Perceived need for a mobile theme noted - I will investigate.

This sounds like you're not convinced there is a need? Do you think the site is ok (or even usable) on a mobile currently? Or is it that you don't use it on mobile so aren't bothered? I think if this issue isn't resolved, and pretty soon, many of the regular users will fade away, and since UKB's value is entirely driven by it's user generated content, so will the site.

Burnt retinas: the theme uses an off-white background colour that browsers apparently often render as pure white. I have changed the CSS to use another off-white colour that should render as 1-2% less bright. It looks better on my computer.

Can you change the CSS to something more similar to the old colours? Seems everyone prefferred that.

Text size/clarity really needs sorting too, I'm reading on a PC at +110% zoom and it's still a bit small.

[Paul B]

I'm guessing the Overlords are aware but the search function seems to have returned to SMF rather than using Google.

[tomtom]

The less dazzling white is very welcome!

But what Duma said - text size still too small for me - and IMHO mobile functionality is probably more important than PC.

Personally I don't mind losing the Karma explanations (it was an opportunity for people to be funny - or to know why you were Karma'd - but also an opportunity for people to be snide/have a dig) - but I'm just one person. In the grand scheme of what seems to have been lost (mobile support and general usability) its no biggie...

BTW - the buttons/links I used to use MOST often (unread posts, new posts) that led to a list of said posts has now vanished. Which means I now have to click on forum then some other button on the right and thats only new posts I think.

I notice that the smf forum (for discussing SMF matters) has our old pale blue scheme.... just sayin....

[standard]

I can't see what the problem is with reverting to the default theme, as before. It's better than this.

 

[Will Hunt]

Personally I don't mind losing the Karma explanations (it was an opportunity for people to be funny - or to know why you were Karma'd - but also an opportunity for people to be snide/have a dig) - but I'm just one person. In the grand scheme of what seems to have been lost (mobile support and general usability) its no biggie...

Thing is, if I've said something dig-worthy, then I'm happy to take my dig, but I'd rather have the explanation for said dig be publically viewable, else people can just spam the Punter button with impunity. I've got loads of negative karma, but if anybody was bothered enough to look and could see the info behind it then they'd see that most of it (with some exceptions) from the last few years has been from a couple of serial Punterers or my mates for relatively minor offences. In my eyes the Karma system is the principal way that the forum is policed and it has worked very well, but that system is totally dependent upon the reason for the karma being visible. Imagine if your colleagues at work tried to give you feedback by anonymously leaving you hate mail in your pigeonhole. You wouldn't be able to mend your ways because you wouldn't know who you'd pissed off or why.

[tommytwotone]

...imagine if your colleagues at work tried to give you feedback by anonymously leaving you hate mail in your pigeonhole.

Where do you work Will - the early 1980s?

[fried]

...imagine if your colleagues at work tried to give you feedback by anonymously leaving you hate mail in your pigeonhole.

Where do you work Will - the early 1980s?

I wadded yo for making me laugh

[Will Hunt]

Perceived need for a mobile theme noted - I will investigate.

This sounds like you're not convinced there is a need?

Well, actually, yes.

I would rather see a smaller number of considered long-form comments from people typing at home (or wherever) on laptops than a higher volume of quick-fire stuff from people using phones on the move. I think that's a key way in which web forums can differentiate themselves from Facebook groups. Which, furthermore, I think is a really important issue. Generally-speaking web forums are being killed off by Facebook groups. I think that's a shame for all sorts of reasons, of which I'd especially note that FB groups tend to be obsessively focused on the latest hot topics and that there is no classification of topics so search is impossible unless you know a precise search string (an example on climbing forums is looking up new routing history - impossible on FB if you don't already know the route names). If web forums are going to survive it will probably be through tacking in a different direction to social media.

I've posted plenty of long form posts on here, most of which are done through my phone. With an android Swype keyboard it's easy. I don't often use my laptop for UKB at home. I think it's ridiculous to intentionally try to push out mobile device users because your perception is that their replies are less thoughtful. You'll end up in a situation where you don't attract new users because using it on their phone is so clunky that they don't get hooked on the site, they just give up.

[tomtom]

Regardless we'll try to solve the mobile issue as time permits.

[tomtom]

Fuck the romans. What have they ever done for us? 

Well if that's how it is... *logs off and reaches for facebook/twitter/instagram for his fix of climbing gossip/info/entertainment.*