October 2023 Refresh

[chrisolson]

 

 

Of course, change always presents challenges and we've attempted to incorporate a wide range of suggestions ... but, although its not possible to please all the people all the time, nothing is set in stone.

 

Lots of little changes and reorganizations  ...

 

How many did you catch ?

 

Spoiler

 

Mostly from the top down

 

• Banner concept… its a BMW + A rider challenging the road as shown in lean angle  +  with  full touring bags ...ie ...  BMW .. Sport .. Touring
  • These are Members not "stock" photos ... the Members have agreed to BMWST usage.
• The menu system when viewing on a desktop was changed to a drop down style rather than in two separate rows. Mobile remained unchanged.
• ReNamed the sidebar "Featured Topics" title to "Featured Discussions" and moved it from sidebar to top center
• Moved Upcoming events to top of sidebar
• Moved Popular Topics to 2nd listing on sidebar
• Moved Gallery Images next on sidebar
• Moved Posting Rules to next to last on sidebar
• Moved Recently Browsing as last sidebar app
• ReNamed M/C Discussions to BMW MODEL/ENGINE SPECIFIC FORUMS and only included the specific bikes
• ReOrdered listing in the category to go new -> old instead of old -> new
• Created new category MOTORCYCLE ORIENTED DISCUSSIONS
• Moved "MotorcycleTalk" into MOTORCYCLE ORIENTED DISCUSSIONS
• Moved "Bike Related Things" into MOTORCYCLE ORIENTED DISCUSSIONS
• Moved "Moto Mouth Mosche's Reviews" to be a sub-forum in "Bike Related Things" along with "Product Reviews by Members"
• Moved "Classified" into MOTORCYCLE ORIENTED DISCUSSIONS
• Moved "How To" into MOTORCYCLE ORIENTED DISCUSSIONS
• ReNamed "BMWSportTouring Annual Events" to just "BMWSportTouring EVENTS"
• Eliminated "Other BMWSportTouring Events" category
• ReNamed "Ride and Event Planning" to "Local Anytime Ride and Event planning" and put into BMWSportTouring EVENTS Category
• Moved "Ride Tales" into INFORMATION AND SHARING Category
• Changed  the Motorcycle news feeds and moved them into INFORMATION AND SHARING Category
• ReOrdered forums within INFORMATION AND SHARING Category
• "The Ride Home" and "Tales That Last" still bring up the bottom of the page

 

 

 

 

Bonus points for this very nerdy one ...

Spoiler

Clicking on the mini-image-icon for the forums will take you to the Forum where before it just opened a modal window of the icon.

 

 

 

Comments  ...  ???

 

 

 

 

[wbw6cos]

Nicely done!  

[chrisolson]

William ... thanks   

[TEWKS]

Smooth transition, thanks for all the behind the scenes hard work that makes this place work!   Very cool header pics, William, Mike and other (sorry)  you’ll be signing autographs at the next START event! 

[taylor1]

Every time I start to get used to something, somebody throws me a curve ball and I get all discombobulated.  Kidding aside, I just wanted to thank all involved for their time and effort. This forum is about 90% of my social media and it just keeps getting better and better!

[chrisolson]

1 minute ago, TEWKS said:

William, Mike and  other (sorry) 

 

Andy Raye ... 

[Rougarou]

I do kinda miss the members online at the top, but, just a little exercise of the finger to get to the bottom right.

 

Thanks for working in the background.  You IT types are only generally called (bad names I might add) when there's problems, not when time consuming upgrades, patches and the like are completed just to maintain the systems.

[chrisolson]

18 minutes ago, Rougarou said:

I do kinda miss the members online at the top, but, just a little exercise of the finger to get to the bottom right.

 

 

I did think about that a bit ... it was sorta a hold over of a previous era in web design ... so rather than removing it, just relocated it.  Not sure how many folks actually saw that as a beneficial feature .

[TEWKS]

I’m not here every minute of everyday but, I never logout.  I sure hope the meter isn’t running… 

[chrisolson]

5 minutes ago, TEWKS said:

I sure hope the meter isn’t running… 

 

 

Nah ... but the bandwidth cost for 16.5K posts plus attachments ... now that's another thing altogether ....

 

[wbw6cos]

I just realized that keeping the World Wide Motorcycle News in its own sub-forum gives it a less cluttered feel.  Sometimes I feel like reading  those feeds, sometimes not.   Keeping other members' posts in Motorcycle Talk forum separate now means they will get some more views, by me anyways.   

 

Kudos, so far.

[chrisolson]

4 hours ago, wbw6cos said:

I just realized that keeping the World Wide Motorcycle News in its own sub-forum gives it a less cluttered feel.

 

Yeah ... that was the idea ... 

 

4 hours ago, wbw6cos said:

Sometimes I feel like reading  those feeds, sometimes not. 

Yeah, its a debatable feature ... some like, some not ... but in combination with the ability to ignore a forum, I think it works overall with a diverse set of articles

[Rougarou]

6 minutes ago, chrisolson said:

 

 

Yeah, its a debatable feature ... some like, some not ... but in combination with the ability to ignore a forum, I think it works overall with a diverse set of articles

 

I usually try to note if there are replies to the feed by members here,.......that kinda means the article posted has some interest.

[chrisolson]

12 minutes ago, Rougarou said:

that kinda means the article posted has some interest.

 

Yes, although there was some "call" to eliminate them, there  were member views tallied against many of the articles so there was some small interest ... and since it doesn't cost us anything, it seemed easy to retain.

[Twisties]

Thanks for all the hard work.  Nice Job! 

 

Please take a look at Bike Related Things.  I'm seeing the subforums, but not the main list of posts.

[chrisolson]

13 minutes ago, Twisties said:

Please take a look at Bike Related Things.  I'm seeing the subforums, but not the main list of posts.

Fixed ...

 

[Twisties]

6 minutes ago, chrisolson said:

Fixed ...

 

Thanks!

[lkraus]

Looks good, but...

 

If I don't look at a notification immediately, I can't find my way back to it.  Used to be a bell?... or something?

 

I think I also remember seeing my avatar at the top when I was signed in, clickable to edit profile, etc.

 

Or is my memory really that bad?

 

EDIT: Never mind, cleared cookies, and all is well.

[chrisolson]

5 minutes ago, lkraus said:

EDIT: Never mind, cleared cookies, and all is well.

 

[Rougarou]

Do users actually utilize this navigation thingy? or just go back with the back buttons?

 

I dunno, but when you scroll up and hover over browse, it covers up the "home"  button, so I just click "forums" from the drop down in "browse".

 

Seems redundant navigation stuff

 

I don't remember that drop down thingy getting in the way of stuff before,....I could be wrong as my memory is as long as my pinky toe sometimes.

[lkraus]

I ran into the same situation on a different computer today, did some experimenting, and found out what was happening. I use various zoom levels on a large 4k TV depending on the subject matter and my seating position.   As the picture in the BMWST header grows, it pushes right, until it pushes the icons on the top right completely out of the window. A horizontal scroll bar then appears at the bottom, which I did not notice (it may have been off-screen).  If the zoom is increased still another level, the icons appear on their own line above the (shorter) picture.  So the icons are always there, but at a few levels (4,5,6 below) the window must be scrolled sideways to see them. If I did not scroll at the sixth level, my avatar would have been completely out of the window, as it was last night.

 

All the other elements of the page rearrange themselves as needed without using the scroll area.

 

The same thing happens if the window width is changed.  Narrow the window, and the icons slide sideways until they are completely out of the window, and then narrowing a little more pops them up on top.  (Maybe the height/width proportions are adjusting for phone use?)

 

So this is not a big issue and may be unique to the ways I view the site. Clearing the cookies "fixed" the problem last night berceuse it reset my zoom level. It probably did not happen before the recent changes because the header picture was not so wide. If the icons "disappear" for someone else, pick another zoom level, another window width, or start scrolling.

 

 

[lkraus]

3 hours ago, Rougarou said:

Do users actually utilize this navigation thingy? or just go back with the back buttons?

 

I dunno, but when you scroll up and hover over browse, it covers up the "home"  button, so I just click "forums" from the drop down in "browse".

 

Seems redundant navigation stuff

 

I don't remember that drop down thingy getting in the way of stuff before,....I could be wrong as my memory is as long as my pinky toe sometimes.

If my cursor approaches Home over the Browse button, the drop down does appear quickly. I'm not even hovering, just passing over Browse.

 

No problems reaching Home if the cursor approaches from any other direction, keeping the cursor off of the Browse button.

[chrisolson]

2 hours ago, Rougarou said:

Do users actually utilize this navigation thingy? or just go back with the back buttons?

 

I dunno, but when you scroll up and hover over browse, it covers up the "home"  button, so I just click "forums" from the drop down in "browse".

 

Seems redundant navigation stuff

 

I don't remember that drop down thingy getting in the way of stuff before,....I could be wrong as my memory is as long as my pinky toe sometimes.

 

The "breadcrumb" navigation you circled was always there and is a standard "feature" ... can't say how may do or do not use it but unfortunately its not a modifiable element

 

What has changed is the drop down menu ... that is new . Previously the menu options showed as a second line just below as you hovered over the Browse, Search, Activity (etc)

 

The easiest way to go Home is to click anywhere on the picture part of the banner.

 

 

 

 

27 minutes ago, lkraus said:

(Maybe the height/width proportions are adjusting for phone use?)

 

A few  things

 

The main screen is designed to be responsive to the overall width of the browser window vs being a set size.  Its that way so when viewed on large or high res screens it fills the window instead of a fixed width with large blank spaces on either side of the main content.  But there are obviously conditions in which that adaptability is not handled well.

 

There is an unknown algorithm that resizes the banner jpg to fit its predetermined space (hight and width) even without resizing the window.  Although I think you're right that the increased overall width of the banner is contributing to this response.  The overall "responsive" behavior of the core software was not changed but potentially is more evident now in certain situations.

 

Also, I believe that behavior is an interaction of how it responds to mobile vs desktop and the exact conditions under when and how it adapts is unfortunately is unknown and not user modifiable.  I've not had any concerns expressed by Members on any mobile issues ... yet ... 

 

[chrisolson]

An interesting side note ...

 

At least on my display ( older imac 27" ) at some point as  the screen width shrinks the  display changes to mobile mode ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lkraus]

That's exactly what I see at certain combos of zoom and window width.  Increasing zoom or making the window narrower causes the bottom scroll bar to appear when the icons and avatar start getting pushed out of the window, and then it disappears when some threshold is passed to put them on their own line.

 

It's probably out of your control, but it would be better if the forum software would put the icons/avatar onto their own line as soon as the picture started intruding on their space, rather than letting them be pushed beyond the window.

[chrisolson]

16 minutes ago, lkraus said:

It's probably out of your control

 

Yep  ... the picture/banner is ultimately a non-shrinkable element while the space containing avatar /icons is ... but at some point something has to give.

 

The issue is the timing when it decides  to switch to mobile mode vs leaving the avatar/icons pushed out of view as the width shrinks ... as you said, it might be better if it happened sooner than it does now.

 

 

but ... sorta like the old bromide ... "hey doc, it hurts when I do "x" ... "   doc says ... "well, don't do "x" 

[lkraus]

I think I found another change, which I'll blame on the October update because that is about when it started.

 

Apparently, I can no longer completely ignore MotoNews. Previously, checking all the ignore options kept those posts off the Unread Content list, but lately they are still showing up. If I'm not paying attention to the sources, I click on the topic and have to back up. 

 

I've never really enjoyed or found value in their articles, some are just a small step above click bait.  If the board is getting some sort of revenue from the feature I'll just suck it up, but It would be nice to never see their topics.

 

 

[chrisolson]

29 minutes ago, lkraus said:

If the board is getting some sort of revenue from the feature I'll just suck it up, but It would be nice to never see their topics.

 

No revenue ...MotoNews is a virtual user that the forum software requires to be the "author" to be able to post anything ... so the catchall MotoNews serves as the generic user/author across all RSS feeds.  I find _some_ of the articles interesting, but some are, as you say,  more click bait than informative.  

 

But there is a work around (which I use ) to exclude him from Unread Content

 

Continue to ignore MotoNews but create a custom activity stream that is essentially the standard Unread Content but excluding the RSS forums ... yes its a bit tedious to set up because you can only specify the ones you want to see which means you have to check off everything EXCEPT the RSS forums.  You can also set other parameters for the custom stream if you want.  You can then make your custom the default that shows in your browser.

 

By doing this the RSS fourms still show on the home page but you could also ignore each of the forums.  And MotoNews will still show as the poster with new posts because ignoring doesn't prevent them from showing in the "new post" listing on the form.

 

I've left the forums showing since, for me, there are an occasional article that is interesting.  

 

 

[lkraus]

3 hours ago, chrisolson said:

By doing this the RSS fourms still show on the home page but you could also ignore each of the forums.  And MotoNews will still show as the poster with new posts because ignoring doesn't prevent them from showing in the "new post" listing on the form.

This is pretty well where I am.  I've ignored the forums I have no interest in or those on subjects think I know what I'm talking about but have no real experience.  I usually use my bookmark to go direct to Unread Content, which is where I'm seeing  MotoNews.

 

Oh well, life has much greater annoyances...

Thank you

[chrisolson]

1 hour ago, lkraus said:

I usually use my bookmark to go direct to Unread Content, which is where I'm seeing  MotoNews.

 

Yep, if you're still using the standard Unread Content it will show even when MotoNews is ignored ...same with ignoring the Forums ... Mo toNews will still show in the standard stream .... 

 

BUT ...

 

if you create a custom stream as I indicated ... life will be good as MotoNews will be gone from your view.  The custom stream can replace the default one so you can continue to bookmark it .

 

 

 

note that the RSS feeds are not included in the list ... MotoNews does not appear in this view !

 

[wbw6cos]

What is that criteria that determines the topics listed in the FEATURED DISCUSSIONS section?

[chrisolson]

There is no actual criteria other than Management makes an uninformed, unscientific ,  guess   as to what might be of interest to members in general.  It could be anything.   We try to catch it early in the posting cycle rather than at the end.  Sometimes its slim pickens.

In general the BMWST events or even some local events most always will be featured

[wbw6cos]

I see that the top header, on the main page, now shows Member Statistics.   Interesting feature.    Looks good.