Questions/ Observations about the new Site

Rashad Carter

So glad the forums are up and running. A few questions.

Questions:

1. How will the new Galleries work and when does Daz expect to have the Galleries online?

2. When I purchase a new item I can see both Mac and PC version for download. In the past I was able to filter them for PC only. Is this no longer possible?

3. Where does one find the read only topics from the old site?

4. I notice there is a character counter for posts. The more letters I type the lower the number gets so I assume that when it hits 0 then the post must end? Cool.

Observations:

1. During the past week the site navigation seemed slow, but it seems to be up to speed now. Yaya.

2. I tried to upload an Avatar a few moments ago but to no avail. This feature is still not activated?

3. So far I like the new site and the new store. The checkout process is much neater. Overall I like this new site.

Well Done Daz, keep it up!!!

fixmypcmike

I think they are showing both Mac and PC downloads because when they switch to Zip files it will be the same file for both platforms. I haven't heard anything official about that, just my suspicion.

The old site is at forumarchive.daz3d.com

Rashad Carter

Ah. Thanks so much Mike!

Rashad Carter

Also forgot to add, I did not receive an email yet that you responded to this thread. Perhaps notifications are not yet active?

Chohole

Some notifications are a bit iffy, and we can't yet work out why. THere doesn't seem to be a common denominator.

pumeco

What are we supposed to do to get back to the Bryce Forum Index whenever we're in a thread?
It's bloody awful if we're expected to click on those tiny "breadcrumbs" at the top of the page.

We need a Back to Forum Index button for each thread to take us to the index of that forum, and on the Index page of each forum we need a Back to Main Index button to take us to the main Forum index.

Looks nice and clean, but the absence of those buttons is pretty bad to say the least.

Other than that, my only other complaint so far is that the smileys are crap (the old ones were more legible even though they were smaller), and on a website designed for "feedback" there are still no thumbs-up and thumbs-down smileys.

I really hope these features will be fixed over the transition period (especially the lack of navigation buttons).

Chohole

Well I find that if I go to the "Community " at the top of the page and hover my mouse over it, I see the word "Forums". If I click that word it takes me to an index. However if I hover my mouse poiter over forum, it show me some of the forums, including the Bryce forum, which is, after all, the only one that mattters

:coolsmirk:

pumeco

It's the forum that matters most on here to me, too, but I think you might be misunderstanding a bit.

For example, right now you're reading this, and that means you're inside a thread that is inside the Bryce forum. The problem is when you've finished reading a post in a thread and want to go back to the Bryce Forum index. At the the moment it sort of feels as if you're locked into a thread unless you happen to spot the tiny breadcrumb link right at the top.

That's majorly bad.

After you've read a post you need to return to the main Bryce index to choose another thread to read, but it feels odd the way it is (it feels very disjointed having a tiny link right at the very top). There really needs to be an obvious button shown on the top and bottom of each thread that would take you back to the Bryce forum index.

PS: Line feeds aren't working properly in the posts, at least using Chrome, not sure about other browsers.

pumeco

PS: Funny enough, Renderosity made the same mistake when they first made their new website live.
I complained there as well, and thankfully they agreed and fixed it. I really hope DAZ will too because it's far too irritating the way it is.

gdresch_8c94c3f8dc

Just in time, I was starting to wonder if it was 'coming soon...'

Are there to be no "official updates, news, and other announcements" in the Bryce forum ?

Dan Whiteside

Hi all;
Interesting, going to take a little getting used to (or I'm just getting old!).

Avatars?
Also going to try to attach a small image here which I presume is done with the Attachments button, but is the Max size the only restriction or is there still dimension restrictions?

TIA;
Dan

fixmypcmike

dan whiteside said:

Hi all;
Interesting, going to take a little getting used to (or I'm just getting old!).

Avatars?
Also going to try to attach a small image here which I presume is done with the Attachments button, but is the Max size the only restriction or is there still dimension restrictions?

TIA;
Dan

Maximum dimensions 800x800 for now, as we don't have automatic resizing yet. I believe the filesize limit is 999KB.

silk_99cfbbf5d0

I am hoping there will be auto resizing. I found the old setup a bit outdated. Are you guys on a new server? Or is attachment space still a premium? (I mean lack of, not the cost) I am looking forward to see more post from the DAZ crew. In the past it was a bit sparse.

silk_99cfbbf5d0

Oh BTW for the avatar, I received an error. Could not assign. The image was 90x90 and about 7K

Horo

As I've gathered, resizing doesn't work yet - neither do avatars.

pumeco

A couple more bugs:

1 - Clicking on Dan's image doesn't do anything.
2 - DAZ's HTTPS has a warning through it on login.

Chrome Browser.

pumeco

PS: As resolutions increase you are supposed to increase the size of the font to compensate, but DAZ have done the opposite here, the font is smaller than before.

We have larger, less legible smilies and a smaller, less legible font so I think the previous smilies and font were far better.

And while I'm at the look of the new forum I might as well slip in the need for some sort or definition to the design. It sort of feels like you're in one of those super-modern houses with glass walls everywhere, with the kitchen as part of the living room. There's no definition between sections, or at least, not enough to make viewing the forum feel easy.

I realise it's supposed to be a clean look, but it's not done right, there's too much text the same size, floating around on a plain background with no look of definition or "structure" to it whatsoever.

I should point out that I'm not trying to be a complainer, I'm just pointing these things out because they don't work the way they are. At the moment, while the forum might be better from a technical angle, it's notably worse from an aesthetic and usability angle.

pumeco

PPS: Oh no, it get's even worse...

After getting back to the Bryce forum index (without a button), I just noticed that although my post was just made, Horo's post in another thread is listed further up the index even though it's an older post.

Please tell me this is a bug and that they've not implemented the Renderosity-style forum where adding a new post doesn't update the threads position on the index?

It's one of the reasons I couldn't be bothered getting back into posting on Renderosity, because of this stupid mechanism. It's just irritating beyond belief. It means you have to keep wading through a list looking for the one that interests you, and it means that if an interesting conversation is going on in a thread, anyone who never saw it earlier, will never know it existed once it reaches the end of the index page and starts working it's way back.

I just cannot get along with forums that work like that.

Dan Whiteside

Thanks for the info Mike - wish we could get at least 1000x1000.
Len - that's just a 100x100 image so that may be why it doesn't click open. Trying a 800x800 mow.

"Remember me" isn't working for me, have to relog each time. Hope that's a fixable bug too...

pumeco

Cheers Dan, I thought they'd implemented one of those clickable link type things. Seems a bit odd them adding a title across the top if we can still post full size. But yup, I can see that one full size without even clicking on it (one of the poses reminds me of my Peasant Girls).

My worries about the newest post not updating the thread, have thankfully been laid to rest.
I just saw a thread in The Commons and it's listed as one of the issues - what a relief!

Nimos

Oh boy! A lot of people are gonna be mad using this new site. And those not mad are probably simmering in anger on the inside. The worst mistake in the human world is to completely change the user interface from one that worked well.

PS: This new site has some MAJOR setbacks.

kiwi_gg

I like to visit other forums so the "jump to" button got a lot of use by me, sadly it is now gone, all in the name of progress I suppose.:roll:

Cheers
GG

dyret

I'm not mad, not simmering. TTT!

Chohole

gdresch said:

Just in time, I was starting to wonder if it was 'coming soon...'

Are there to be no "official updates, news, and other announcements" in the Bryce forum ?

Hmm, what sort of Official news and updates would you like. Used to be people were complaining about too many stickied threads, and that most of them were out of date. So we decided to start with a nice clean forum.

If you get nostalgic, you can always go back and read the old announcements, until we find some new ones. THey are here

http://forumarchive.daz3d.com/viewforum.php?f=38

:) :) :) :)

Chohole

oh FYI Those of you who don't like the new forum and the new forum interface, I do aoplogise, but it is the forum that came with the new store software. So we are sort of lumbered with it.

They had to do something becasue the old home brewed site was falling to pieces and was only functioning with the help of yards and yards of string and duct tape. :-)

gdresch_8c94c3f8dc

'official announcements'

Have a look at Forum Home and read the synopsis for the Carrara and Hexagon Forums, Then compare the description for the Bryce Forum.

( nearly added an unwise comment here )

kiwi_gg

@chohole

Duct tape is good. I have many a time patched up bits of a kiwifruit packshed with duct tape ,wireand wooden hammer handles just to get us through the day until more permanent repairs could be made. Duct tape is gooooood.!!!!

Cheers
GG

Rashad Carter

I am confused about threads. I think i read someplace that new threads are added to the end, not the beginning. This is not at all ideal. This means that for the forseeable future this current thread will be on page 1 of the Bryce forums even though newer threads have been added. As time goes on to find new threads users will have to scrool through dozens of pages to find the new active threads. Surely I am mistaken in my understanding?

pumeco

@Pam
To be honest, your comment comes as no surprise to me, and I'm guessing most others as well. This new system comes across as a commerce-based system with a forum bolted onto it as an afterthought.

As a forum at least, this thing isn't in the same league as the PHPBB system. If PHPBB was falling apart at the seams then that is surely a result of DAZ's custom surgery on it. I can't speak for the commerce engine side of things, which I'm sure is superb otherwise DAZ wouldn't have bothered with it, but whoever was responsible for designing the forum needs to desperately improve or perhaps look to a different career - because design and functionality obviously isn't one of their strong points.

As a result, neither is that of the forum we're lumbered with, which from this designers point of view, is pretty bad. On the plus side, if DAZ wanted to cull a lot of it's community, they'll succeed quite easily with this new forum.

PS: Just tried replying to a PM and got the message that the username is invalid.

@Rashad
You just outlined the same problem I outlined above in a previous post, it's a bug (thankfully).

Chohole

I have to agree on all point. The listing of new threads by post date from the earliest. is the pits

So is the fact that new posts don't "bump" a thread back onto the front page. THat is another reason why we are avoiding too many sticky posts at the moment, otherwise it will make the situation worse.

Also is the fact that getting a line break is a diecy thing, sometimes you can manage it, sometimes you can't

BTW there is a bug tracker set up especially to list all the points people are finding, but we are asked to check first, to see of that bug has already been reported, before adding a new one. Also we are asked not to make trivial reports, although quite a few people are ignoring that requirement.

https://bugs.daz3d.com/my_view_page.php

You will find that there is a report there about usernames. For some strange reason some people are finding that their username has changed back to oen they used previously, and it appears that users can not change their own user names.

Graham, I am sorry if I sounded a bit snarky, but we have been struggling with this blasted software and even my legendary paitience is getting stretched. :roll:

Chohole

gdresch said:

'official announcements'

Have a look at Forum Home and read the synopsis for the Carrara and Hexagon Forums, Then compare the description for the Bryce Forum.

( nearly added an unwise comment here )

Ok I guess you mean the bit that says

Bryce Discussion (BryceTalk)
Here is where you discuss all things Bryce. From wishlist items to questions about the interface to rendering issues to anything else that involves Bryce and you.

All that stuff was just copied straight over from the old forum http://forumarchive.daz3d.com/

we had absolutely no input into that bit of the changeover, and it would seem a lot of the input that we did give has been either ignored, or left to be sorted out later.

So can I have some suggestions as to a better description.

BTW I can make announcements, but have been told I am not allowed to make one that says

BRYCE ROOLZ , OK !! and post it into all forums. ;-)