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Site is Still Updating

Hi,
The current look is temporary. The new look will be coming sometime tonight or tomorrow!

At the very top of the site, on the top right is a menu. Use those to find the New Posts link.

Once the dust is settled the forum will be some much faster and hopefully better!

Thanks for your patience!

Roger

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I'm still fixing the look and feel of the site!

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TomatoNut95
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So far I don't like it. There was nothing wrong with the way it was.

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Lindsaylew82
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Woo, Rog! Not a fan of the new do! I understand about functionality, though.

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Yeah, it's going to look a lot better, trust me. The fonts are too small, the colors are yuck, the logo and stuff looks yuck.

I used this template on another forum and it looks great, so amazing!

But I forgot the code so I'm re-learning how this forum template is coded so I can make this forum look better.

I have a bunch of client work though so it's going to drag on a few more days before I can sweep out the cob webs!

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applestar
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Having fun trying to figure out what all these icons mean.... :wink:

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The old site needed updating for security and speed.

Trust me this site will look better soon.

😉

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digitS'
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Fresh should be better ..

. for a new growing year.

I will say one thing, SQWIB's cooking photos sure look appetizing!

Steve

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TomatoNut95
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Well something's wrong; ever since the forum was messed with I haven't received a single notification from here

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TomatoNut95 wrote:
Tue Apr 07, 2020 8:12 pm
Well something's wrong; ever since the forum was messed with I haven't received a single notification from here
Check if you're still subscribed. The way to do it is to scroll to the very top of the page where you're avatar is, to the left of the magnifying glass. Click on that to get to your profile.

You'll see tabs on the left. Select Subscriptions and that will show you if you're subscribed.

Let me know if your subscriptions are there and give me the link to a discussion that you're subscribed to and I will post to it to see if you receive notification.

Thanks!
:)

Roger

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Just for information:
My control panel says I have no subscriptions, yet I'm getting notifications. It does give a long list of my 'watched' threads. (I'm not sure what the difference is.)

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Thanks!

I clicked to subscribed to this topic and received an email notification that someone had posted to this discussion as well.

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digitS'
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I frequent a couple of other forums and was writing a response to another gardener's post on being surprised seeing the first grasshopper this early in the season. I remarked on seeing the first Yellowjacket Wasp and how I have developed a tolerance for them in everything except building nests on the house, greenhouse or garage because they patrol the gardens for caterpillars and aphids.

The site is a frustratingly difficult place to post, I suppose because I'm often trying to do that on a Silk browser. I have learned that it is best on that forum to not try to delete a misplaced word without highlighting first. So, I highlight a word and then accidentally hit "paste!" Something that I'd copied from a linguistic article replaced that wrong word:

"That that is is that that is not is not is that it it is"

("That that is, is. That that is not, is not. Is that it? It is".)

It was not what I had intended in my post, at all. I highlighted the quote, clicked the space bar twice to replace in with a period. The browser jumped to the bottom of the webpage! I scrolled up again to the comment box and my previously typed 2 paragraphs had disappeared!

The stability in posting on HG forums is very much appreciated. The longtime shaky comment boxes on that other site makes me wonder if the administrator cares. Still, it is my decision to read and post. I will likely try again to say something about the benefits of having some critters in my garden, beyond the gently floating butterflies and the honey bees.

Steve

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applestar
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Thanks @digitS — for the post and that funny linguistic mind twister! try saying or THINKING that out loud 3 times!! :lol:


I remember going through the growing pains last two times that I can remember.

Like any software (and hardware) update, the visual difference from what you’ve comfortably become accustomed to is jarring and uncomfortable, but as a user, you do get used to the changed appearance — and it would be kind to give YOUR own senses a little time to adjust especially since the designer behind the scenes have worked hard to make the improvements which are sometimes just aesthetics and sometimes more functional.

This is the time to voice SPECIFICS, especially functional deficiencies, to help identify and debug. So if you notice something — like fonts are too small to read — speak up either in this thread or privately to the webmaster by PM.

Most of the original functions are still here — looks like many text links have been replaced with more streamlined icon/picture links, and some of their locations have been moved or reorganized. And I have already noted some new features and improvements.

Sometimes, dysfunction can develop due to differences in the underlying OS or the browser you are using, so it’s helpful to (or you maybe asked to) identify both. Sometimes it’s even the particular version you are using that makes the difference, and to everyone else including the webmaster, the problem you are seeing does not appear and it looks fine.

...just my unsolicited 2¢ — webmaster can correct me if I got this wrong. :wink:

imafan26
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I am getting the notifications. There will be a learning curve but I did manage to figure out most of the new icons and messaging. I think it will be better once the kinks are worked out. Thanks for all you do Roger.

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Thanks!
Yes, definitely listening for any bug reports or suggestions for improvement.

I'm still not done with things like icons. I may change them.

I may also bring back the similar posts thing.

I'm thinking of not bringing back the topic preview that shows what's inside a post via a tooltip popup when you hover over a topic.

Vanisle_BC
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My 2 cents:

I'm not a big fan of icons without text, especially if they're tiny. Hovering to reveal hidden text is OK but less convenient (and is extra code as well as slowing the site?)

But I confess I did quite like the tooltip when hovering a topic.

In general I think simplest is best and graphics are only helpful if they're - helpful. Too often it seems web designers are just having fun at everyone else's expense ?? Pointing no finger: thanks for what you do.

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TomatoNut95
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My profile page(avatar, whatever) is not showing at the top of the forum, neither is a magnifying glass. I searched around in my notification settings; it's still shows that I am to be notified when somebody replies to a thread. I saw nothing anywhere about subscribing. I miss the old forum.

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I think all of those icons at the top of the page are too small. I'm going to make them bigger.
TomatoNut95 wrote:
Wed Apr 08, 2020 2:37 pm
My profile page(avatar, whatever) is not showing at the top of the forum, neither is a magnifying glass.
I temporarily switched to your member permission level to check if there's something unique to your member profile that's affecting the board but I could see the items I suggested, including the magnifying glass.

This is what you should be able to see at the very top of every web page, let me know if you can see that:
2020-PROFILE.png
2020-PROFILE.png (10.62 KiB) Viewed 1502 times

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TomatoNut95
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No I cannot see that. But actually I just found out that notifications from here are going into the 'spam' section in my gmail. I was so mad... I don't get notified if something automatically goes to Spam. BAD Gmail!! So I'm sorry for thinking it was the forums fault. Like I said, I've been in a very downhearted mood lately and fussy. Rot virus.

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applestar
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OK so this is where the device you are using and the browser might come into play. I think I’m seeing everything when I’m accessing from the iPad, but here’s what I see when accessing with Safari from my iphone 8+ running 13.3.1

This is in landscape mode with phone held sideways:
2B9FE521-DFE9-4C1E-8766-3F2FD8393700.png
(ETA — oh, and I just realized I have an extra icon (for moderator control panel that other members probably don’t have) between New Posts and the InboxTray-shaped icon which is the User Control Panel

But it looks like this in portrait- phone held normal way:
BE9B4BEC-13C3-4D76-8737-F60D0312B528.png
And you need to use the pull down menu. You can also see how turning the orientation back and forth results in zoomed view — I can fix this with FIVE-fingered pinch which actually is kind of tricky. BUT I think this might actually be an iOS Safari problem because I’m running into this same issue while accessing gmail using Safari.

06A295FD-36DC-4FF0-8685-81A30CC731FA.png
...and you need to scroll the pull down menu... but you know what I don’t think I’m seeing the profile in the menu? Or is “user control panel” what I’m looking for?
B360B076-6390-4F3D-8E3D-CE180731F16C.png
.... oh you might want to control or allow control of the displayed image — click to zoom, etc. like before....

VVV and this is what happens when I 5-finger pinch so all of the banner is displayed— refreshing the window does not auto adjust the frames to screen width of the banner.
Attachments
D187DE13-7ED2-42C1-AE69-713170E771CD.png

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webmaster
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Thanks Apple!
Adjusting the values for the different screen sizes is something I'm going to be working on.

TomatoNut,
Something that I will do in a few weeks is reproduce the OLD forum style and make that available for users to choose. That way you can have the forum style that you prefer. :)

I will also later on create different versions of this current style, that have different color styles.

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TomatoNut95
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My phone is no where of being fancy like everyone elses. My phone is a Tracphone smartphone(Android ZTE whatever) because I cannot afford nor care to have a fancier phone when there's nothing wrong with the one I have. So I probably cannot view everything or have the fancier features a more expensive phone can do, but that doesn't bother me.

Vanisle_BC
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TomatoNut95 wrote:
Wed Apr 08, 2020 6:58 pm
My phone is no where of being fancy like everyone elses. My phone is a Tracphone smartphone.... So I probably cannot view everything or have the fancier features a more expensive phone can do
Tracphone, smartphone? To me that's pretty fancy. We just have a phone. Well, 2 actually; our good old reliable land line and a just-a-phone cell unit in case of emergencies on the road. I read the forum on a 'pre owned' laptop that was old before I got it. The battery's shot but it will run on the charger even with the battery removed.

Waste not, want not eh? The dinosaurs live on!

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TomatoNut95
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Right! I say never replace or throw anything away that's still usable! And if you don't want or need fancy technology don't use it. Just because the world tries to push it on you doesn't mean you gotta have it. People need to learn to stop depending on it anyway.

Vanisle_BC
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webmaster wrote:
Wed Apr 08, 2020 6:53 pm
Something that I will do in a few weeks is reproduce the OLD forum style and make that available for users to choose.

THAT would be excellent - extreme backward compatibility!

Our regional library switched to a new page format which I find very clumsy; but I somehow manage to log in to the old one; still using my 4-letter 'user name' instead of the 14-digit number the new page demands.

'Progress' sometimes isn't :).
.

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TomatoNut95
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Right! Just because everything is constantly changing and updating doesn't mean it's any better. Progress is not always a good thing and people need to learn to leave stuff alone.



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