I don't like this new forum software

[Kathytoo]

Lordy...I am a virtual sponge here. I don't mean to be....I'm a board klutz. I DO appreciate the board and the mods. Thanks again for your time and selflessness (is that even a word?) in creating and maintaining such a creative and knowledgable board for everyone. You're all swell!

 

[leppy]

I've used IPB before, and vbulletin blows it away imo.

 

[moonrevel]

I was a little jarred by the new software at first because I was so used to the old layout (I am a slave to habit!), until I realized I had interacted with vbulletin on a Tool forum I used to waste most of my life away browsing, and instantly it became quite easy. Cheers to everyone who makes this a great place to be!

 

[nphernetton]

You know, all of those various forums that were mentioned are good forums...This one is a good forum too, HOWEVER, people do have a right to express their feelings. I'm not going to complaing because this place is not ultimately about me and what I want...but I personally do not necessarily like VB. I'm on several car forums that all use different software and I've never been a fan of VB. I do realize, though, that no website will ever be able to make 100% of their subscribers happy, and because of that, I'm not going to protest. I just think that people shouldnt go on the extreme defensive just because someone expresses that they dont like the change...Like I said, whatever, I know that you had your reasons, completely justified, for choosing this software, more power to you, but not everyone will like it so dont belittle the people that dont. Most people who express dislike of this change are just doing that, expressing it...they arent trying to insult anyone or bring them down or diss the site.

...I also fear this may have come off as slightly harsh...if so please forgive me, I dont mean it that way...I tend to abuse strong language sometimes, that is a habbit I'm working on...

 

[Janice]

It is regretful you feel as if someone was belittling or defensive in this thread.

As admins we have to do what we can to continually improve the site and the users experience. I realize that not everyone is going to be happy with the decisions I make. Ultimately I have to look out for Specktra's best interests and keep it growing, if that upsets a few people along the way there's nothing I can do about it.

I also feel that everyone is entitled to have and express their opinion without fear of censure. You don't see members getting banned, edited, or deleted for expressing a dissenting opinion on this forum. Our members have the right to express dislike all they want, but the original post is really just bitching about issues that had already been clarified and resolved. If you just plain don't like the software, fine.

I'm very sorry you don't, but oh well.. you know? Most who truly don't like the software have given me a chance to help them optimize their forum settings so they can *at the least* browse and entertain themselves in relative comfort.

For website owners and designers vB is a very powerful software which puts the admin in the drivers seat. This is sorely needed with the community growing as fast as it is. This software grants lots of great options to members as well, and we plan on fully utilizing it to make the forum experience at Specktra fun & entertaining as well as informative.

So while everyone has the right to voice their opinion I also reserve the right to defend my position. Contrary to what you would typically believe I welcome and appreciate honest criticism regarding the website as it only serves to improve and fortify the strong foundation we have built.

 

[Turbokittykat]

I have to say I am surprised at how quickly I have adjusted to the new software, and how much changing the colour scheme helped. I'd say to all the people who really don't feel comfortable with the new site, just give it some time and talk to the admins and mods about what's making it difficult for you. Things change

 

[mac_obsession]

Being a mod, Vbb (vb to me = visual basic) blows the previous software away. It makes very long arduous tasks very simple.

Also the mods and admin here are very quick to help out and help members understand.

That being said, everyone has a right to their opinions. But bashing is not cool and/or accepted.

This is one of the very few sites Ive seen (IMHO of course), that does not bash people over little things, or statements. I love that about specktra and its members. Its a lot more friendly than others Ive seen. *Again this is my personal opinion.*

 

[midnightlouise]

First off, I LOVE Specktra!! I think all you guys do a great job and I really appreciate the hard work that goes into keeping this place up. It is an invaluable resource for MAC fans, and it's free, so I'm not about to get bent. I'm proud to have donated to the new software, even though I have to admit that I am a creature of habit, & this new layout will take a little getting used to. This is *not* a complaint at all, it's just that I know it takes me awhile to assimilate change!

To me it is worth the time and effort to familiarize myself with the new software. You guys say it's better, and you know more than I do about these things, so I'm sure it is! It's just a matter of getting comfortable with things, so I'm going to go browse awhile & settle in

but I wanted to thank you all, and tell you how much I appreciate you first.

 

[mac_obsession]

<3 midnightlouise you are so sweet!! I agree, some things take some time to get used to, but its such an amazing site its worth it!!

 

[Star]

All I'm goingn to say about this thread and the way it was handled is that it sure gives everyone a "warning" about expressing any dislikes about the site/software/the way it's run. By that I mean "If you don't like it, go away" attitude.

Perhaps the OP was a bit harsh and could have worded her frustrations in a more diplomatic manner, but the response was swift and it was heavy-handed, like, "let's nip this questioning of our wisdom in the bud" type thing. IMHO.

Also the point which was made about the OP only posting in one forum and therefore not being a "true contributor" to the site was - again IMHO - inappropriate: I guess I wrongly assumed that all registered members were on equal footing.

This being said, having administered many communities with IPB and phpBB, these are two superb packages, one of which is free, which is not nothing. If rising bandwidth costs and site maintenance are becoming issues, then sticking with the free software makes more sense, again IMHO.

 

[Janice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Star This being said, having administered many communities with IPB and phpBB, these are two superb packages, one of which is free, which is not nothing. If rising bandwidth costs and site maintenance are becoming issues, then sticking with the free software makes more sense, again IMHO.

Bandwidth costs and site maintnance costs are not issues, at all.

There was some miscommunication between Chelsea and I (one of the very few problems run into with more than one person administering a site) and the impression might have been given in the email that she wrote that we were asking for donations to cover server costs as well. That is untrue. I 100% financially back the site and have no isssues with this. In regards to the software switch, when I consulted staff and friends on how to handle the licensing issue everyone agreed that donations should be accepted and I consented with the exception that I would pay for for whatever wasn't covered by donations. It was surprising, and humbling, to us all when we discovered that the software (plus some) had all been covered by donations within 24 hours.

If I am going to be called heavy handed for asking a member to be more constructive with their critism so I can help improve their site experience, so be it. I don't need to reply to all these posts to explain myself, but I do because I believe that our members enjoy the candidness we promote and they see from the staff on the forum.

However there does come a point when discussion no longer becomes productive, and if this thread continues in that direction it will be closed. (Because, you know, we handled it so heavy handed that we closed/locked/deleted it immediatly after it was posted instead of splitting it from the main topic and allowing any user who DIDNT like the software a place to speak up.) This thread was split to allow those who wanted to voice their dissenting opinion be heard, instead it's turned into a debate about how the situation was handled which isn't nessacery.

Members can feel free to PM Chelsea and/or I if they dislike the way the forum or site is run. We will do our best to address concerns.

 

[leppy]

Janice: In this situation there is nothing you can do that will make certain people happy at this point. It was obvious the malicious intent with which the first post was made, especially to those of us who have witnessed interactions between RnR and certain admins of this site before.

Star: Janice give a ton of her time and money to this site. Being someone that has recently started helping out with this, I can tell you that this is a very unrewarding job except if you take pleasure in providing people with information and resources that make them happy. Janice is constantly worried, and drives me a bit nuts with it to be honest, if everyone is happy, if things are as best they can be at the moment etc.

Heres the facts: We are using vb. Money has been spent on it. Arguing for or against it at this point is just being contrary and damages the confidence and motivation of the admins, and especially Janice who put a ton of time researching the very best thing to do for the site that will make the most people happy and work the best in the end. To imply that she is does not have the best interests or happiness of the users (which btw, she doesn't HAVE to) is just petty imo. Those of you trying to shame her about this thread when you obviously don't have a clue should check themselves.

 

[Star]

Quote:

Originally Posted by leppy when you obviously don't have a clue should check themselves.

What don't I have a clue about? Judging from your tone and language, you're the one who needs to "check" herself.

 

[midnightlouise]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mac_obsession <3 midnightlouise you are so sweet!! I agree, some things take some time to get used to, but its such an amazing site its worth it!!

Aww! You're the one who is sweet! I can't count the number of times you have helped me fix things lol!

The people here have been nothing but nice to me always, and that is not something that can be said of many other forums! Long live Specktra!

 

[shriekingviolet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Star If rising bandwidth costs and site maintenance are becoming issues, then sticking with the free software makes more sense, again IMHO.

As a board administrator of a large community myself, I have to strongly disagree because your opinion seems to be grounded in the idea that running a large (and growing!) board over time on a free BBS won't cost you, which isn't true. phpBB doesn't require a high licensing fee like vB or IPB, but it's a poor forum choice for large communities. Not only can it become unstable during high traffic periods because it's not built well for that kind of demand, it uses a lot of a server's resources (particularly if it's been modified) and disk space for the database. CPU usage isn't talked about as much as bandwidth and disk space (among amateur webmasters anyway) when people think about choosing a new host, but it becomes a real issue when your site largely revolves about a forum or other piece of interactive software. I had to move my forum to a VPS last March because my forum had outgrown my host in terms of resources, even though I was well below the limits for disk space and bandwidth. And I'm telling you had my board have still been operating on a phpBB, I probably would have had to move from shared hosting to a VPS 6-8 months sooner than I did. And since my vps costs me $30 more a month than my old host, the difference in hosting costs would basically pay the cost of a lifetime license with either IPB or vB. Plus then since I'm running a more efficient board, it'll be a longer time until I have to think about upgrading again which would cost me another $20-30 (at least) a month. And I suspect it'd be a similar situation with Spectra, judging from what I've seen of this forum's growth and from what I heard from Janice while she was making the decision to convert. So I don't think staying with the free forum when you're trying to make decisions about what will be the long term costs of a rapidly growing forum would be that wise.

Plus, unless you're willing (and able!) to do a lot of rewriting of the php code that goes beyond adding little modifications here and there for phpBB, a large community will cause a phpBB to crash fairly often (which I think we were starting to see here). And I'm sure the benefits on the sanity of the forum staff that running a stable forum will bring, is worth at least the cost of a vB license. And it seems that factored a lot into the decision for the change, as well it should. So even if the change causes some initial distress to the community members, I'm confident that the longterm stability of the forum coupled with a lot of new helpful features should more than make up for that.

I know I mainly lurk here, but as a fellow community admin that's had to suffer some of the same trials, I had to put in my two cents. Congrats on the successful move and conversion Janice and Chelsea!