New formatting to forums coming soon!

Actually yes. The flags will hopefully help our community alert us to spam much more easily in the future :-).

Another possible bug to report - what are the blank square areas seen between posts? An example of what I'm referring to is in this thread between chillybean's post #10178517 and elsie's post #10178520.

I understand the reasoning behind implementing "pages", but can a configurable preference be added in the end user's profile to "Show how many items per page"? This would allow flexibility to accommodate the varied opinions on this - i.e. if you weren't limited on a mobile device, you could set the item number pretty high and then all posts on a thread could theoretically still show on a single page. I know in the Mid Atlantic forum most of the thread themes get a new thread created once the posts count reaches 300 or so. If this feature would require a maximum item count limit, maybe 500?

Ok, one more and then I'm going to bed lol. On the action links at the top of the thread (i.e. Edit, Mark unread, Print, Skip to New), what is the Edit link supposed to do? Right now, it just takes you back to the Home Page. If that is the intention, it should probably be labeled as "Home" vs "Edit".

I don't expect the status quo. I expect improvements. And I expect not to be told it will grow on me when I point out concrete failures with the interface. Why can't the engineers get the system past alpha testing before they throw a poorly functioning system out there? I give you credit for responding but not for listening. Because it ain't happening.

The definition of a downgrade is a loss of functionality, and that's what this new interface provides. Your absolute certainty on the subject is absolute proof that you are not listening.

On the list of communities/forums Texas isn't listed anywhere. Are some missing?

This message was edited Dec 10, 2015 12:00 AM

I agree with Sandy, my eyes HURT. it is just stark. and no I don't think it will 'grow on me'. sorry

I haven't heard one person who says they just love this mess. :-(

This is even worse for me on my IPAD. even after increasing the print size, my eyes start to water after only a few minutes.

Part of the problem is the colors.

I am afraid I don't like the new format either.
I find it harder to read and some of the text is quite small.
Some of this is just changing a system I am familiar with and comfortable with.

I am having a problem when I click on skip to new it only brings you to the bottom of page 1 not to the last post.

I do miss the actual date and time of a post..big time.

I checked my Ipad and there is shading of every other post to separate them. On my PC there is not shading, therefore it is just one big white screen which is eye strain. The Ipad is much easier on the eyes. Is there a way to put the shaded boxes on the PC post to give the separation distinction?
I have Windows 10 (Google)





This message was edited Dec 10, 2015 7:00 AM

Yes, I miss the actual date and post time as well. It's easier to see a date and time rather than just '46m'.

I send admin a Dmail before I realized this thread was here. My Home page isn't updating at all. It still shows the most recent post on some of my favorite forums as a couple days ago when that just isn't true.

I too do not wish to preview my post all the time. That's one of the things I don't like about Gardenweb....

It's in the list of forums - see my screenshot below.

Here's a screenshot of what I see when I view those two posts. Can you take a screenshot of what you see when you view them? That will help us solve the mystery.

That shouldn't be there - thank you. I will flag it for the techs to look at today.

Sincerely, Melody and I are listening. We are working with the techs to sort out the issues that have been reported - and I agree with all of you that many of them should not be occurring, and I am terribly sorry for the confusion. We tested extensively, and we would not have given the green light to the rollout had we known these issues were going to occur.

The text size and colors, the shading, the layout of the navigation links, and breaking longer threads into pages, are all modifications that we agreed were necessary, even though we knew these changes would not be enthusiastically received by everyone. We can continue to tweak them, but we won't be going back to the older "hard" look that the site had previously. Yes, it was distinctive. Yes, our eyes were all trained to peruse the familiar territory of the lined boxes and sidebar links.

Except...a lot of people never caught onto the edit, quote or post links.

And some threads rambled for 300+ posts - and those on dialup or slower connections often experienced problems loading them.

And overall, the site looked like it was stuck in the year 2001. A good year, to be sure, but no viable website can remain unchanged longterm.

I'm asking you to bear with us. I am holding the techs feet to the fire to resolve these obvious formatting issues quickly. I'm not a programmer, so I don't pretend to know what they're up against when they start tweaking the code. But I am committed to seeing these problems resolved ASAP. I do hear you loud and clear, and I've joined my voice with the rest of you in insisting that we get those issues fixed.

We will continue to listen to input on these and all other issues, but we know we can't please everyone (fonts too small/fonts too big, too many changes/too few improvements, etc.) Melody and I both spent hours testing and comparing the new site to the old format. We knew the changes would be pretty dramatic, which is why I did the side-by-side screenshots and explanations at the top of this thread. We'll continue to hang in there with all of you throughout this transition until the issues are resolved. We're just asking you to hang in there with us, too.

Terry - I'm attaching screenshots of the blank grey square I see sporadically scattered everywhere on my view. I see it in both IE and Firefox, and see it from the computer at work and the computer at home. The first is the example I referred to between posts in a thread and the second is the same thing, but between thread lists in a forum.

Just noticed another bug - clicking on the username in a post doesn't do anything - it should take you to that user's info like it did before the update.

True - and we are working to correct that.

Terry - I'm reattaching those screenshots. My first jpeg captures were cut off.

I used the Skip to New and ended up with an open message box at the bottom of the first page. Didn't even notice that there was a second page that I should be on. There really shouldn't be an open message box in the middle of the thread.
They should only be at the end of the thread. The problems I am seeing are the same ones that I saw last night. I was expecting to get up this morning and see at least a few of them fixed.

I found those shaded boxes to be where the ads would be if I had them turned on.

I am finding that this forum has no updates since yesterday at 4:32 AM. that is what is showing on my home page. the previous post here was 12m ago.

I would also like to suggest that when posting that we have the option to preview or post reply. If I am saying a simple Good Morning on a thread I shouldn't have to preview it.

I came here to report a problem with the "skip to new" feature, but I see you are already aware of the problem.

My only additional comment on that subject is about testing. I've tried the new format on three different browsers, on two different devices - on none of them does the "skip to new" feature work. How did this bug get from implementation, through testing, and on to release? Or do your developers not test their changes? The next time you contract them to do work, you might want to state in the contract that the feature you are paying for acutally works before you pay.

Also, you stated that you "did all we could" to announce this change. A notice at the top of everyone's homepage would have been very helpful.

My membership is up in a few days. What to do... what to do... If I don't renew, I'm afraid my cat Max will miss his buddies Tao and Charlie and Huck.

Thank you - that helps a lot!

I truly hate the way things look, work and feel. Resistance to change is a natural human reaction. The "Give it time and it will grow on you" response is just plain wrong. It doesn't work with a toothache and it won't work with this. DG's first concern should be the good people that actually PAY to use this web site. All the rest are irrelevant. Are you pandering to your prospects and neglecting your membership? It would appear so.

I have questionned renewing my membership in the past, but this latest alleged improvement may very well have driven the nail in your coffin. I have made my decision and I will not renew. I hope hordes of other scorned users follow my lead. Were I a rich man, I would buy DG just to have the satisfaction of shutting it down. So there!

And could someone PLEASE remove these ubiquitous ads? I already had a heart attack, I don't need bee removal, I am not looking for an assisted living facility and I want nothing to do with those 5 weird tricks to weight loss and steel abs. Good Lord, what next... Russian brides who want to love me long time very goodly?

No salutations extended.
Sylvain.

Sylvain, I have adjusted your ads settings which should remove the ads from your pages. I agree that resistance to change is a natural human reaction, but I think it can also be argued that some people like change and that is just as natural as resisting it.

I'd also say that these changes are not like a toothache, but more like the somewhat painful remediation necessary when a tooth has been neglected. It's not pleasant to adjust to the changes, but we make them for the longterm health and well-being of the site.

Another problem I am having is when I viewed photos on a thread when I hit back to post I was back on the top of page 1 of the post again instead of in the middle of page 4 where I should have been.

Terry,
Elsie hit the nail on the head about those grey boxes being related to the ads. I tested it out by changing my preferences to show adds and low and behold, those blank grey boxes were now displaying the ad detail. So, the tech fix should be to get rid of those empty grey "placeholders" when the end user's ad preference is set to "off".

I do not care for the new format!!! I can't find where the end of my threads are without clicking at least 4 times. This is not friendly or easy. I was hoping for a easier way to post pictures and this is not it.

Aspenhill, I turned all of your ads off for the moment and that should fix the problem...you correctly identified it.

If anyone is seeing ads, you probably have your premium or sponsored ads enabled, which wasn't an issue with the old format, but with the new one, it is causing you to see blank spaces and in some instances ads. Tweak your preferences settings, refresh your browser and ads should disappear for subscribers.

It is not showing up on mine. I copied what shows up below.
Regional Gardening

Australian and New Zealand Gardening
California Gardening 
Canadian Gardening 
Carolina Gardening 
Central Midwest Gardening 
European Gardening 
Florida Gardening 
Georgia Gardening 
Michigan Gardening 
Mid-Atlantic Gardening 
Mid-South Gardening 
Northeast Gardening 
Ohio River Valley Gardening 
Pacific Northwest Gardening 
Rocky Mountain Gardening 
Southwest Gardening 
Tropical Zone Gardening
Upper Midwest Gardening 


Read more: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/#ixzz3tw2K4ScJ

Melody, I'm back to the original problem of still seeing blank grey boxes where adds would be if ad preferences were on. Would rather not see the interrupted space and placeholder empty grey boxes if my preferences had all ads turned off. Thanks, Terri

Better now Terri?

That is odd. I logged in as you and it looks like you probably have it in your favorites (or at least threads from it show up on your watched threads list.) So you have access to the forum, but I'm stumped as to why it is not appearing in your list. I will add it to the techs' list of things to investigate and fix.

Hi Melody - nope, still the same. Works as it should with ad preferences turned on, but with ad preferences turned off, there are still those empty grey boxes.

It is on my list to have them work on. Bear with us.

VERY, VERY hard to read. The colors are not distinct enough. Could ya'll just darken the shades on the threads?

Also, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE fix the posting dates issue. I remember whole threads by the dates, and can't easily determine them from your current change.

I refreshed my browser, and, instead of getting the ads, I just get a big blank box as an ad placeholder, in the middle of the thread.

Finally, "SKIP TO FIRST UNREAD" would make much more sense than your "Skip to New" arrow. When I get to a thread, I'm much more interested in starting up with the newest posts since I last visited the page, than just being directed to the new post box ON THE BOTTOM OF EACH PAGE...

Now, I have to navigate from the post box, back to the top of each page, then scroll down each page, to figure out where I left off.

You KNOW I'm a patient person...

Uh, am I even reading your new date format correctly, or, is it just plain wrong?

►Oct '07 means the date occurred sometime in October of 2007.

►Oct 07 could mean the date is actually October 7th...

I'd MUCH prefer, October 1, 2007 11:53pm....or something reasonably comparable...

You KNOW I'm a patient person...

Why is your system putting a "\" character in front of words that contain an apostrophe?

Are we supposed to continue receiving notices on the Home page for updated threads that we reply to? I did not get one for this, even though there were replies. Do I have to click the Watch link instead?

Another issue relating to how well things can be seen. When I go to the Forums page, I scrolled down and here is what I see for how "paid for" forums are marked. I didn't think there was anything there but lint on my screen. But that "lint" is found next to some of the forums. Can this be more visible?