Welcome

[The Crofter]

I see that lrboards.com (land rover) recently upgraded to phpbb3 and also use the prosilver template. Their version has been modified to place the avatars etc on the left so I guess it can be done but appreciate some coding changes are required.

http://www.lrboards.com/forum/

[Moglet]

I'm glad you posted that link to the landrover forum, Pat. I just hopped over there to look at their layout, and to my surprise, I found it much easier on the ol' minces.

I displayed a screenload of posts from each forum in side-by-side windows, and had a gander to see if I could see what was causing me discomfort when viewing posts here. It's the white background! On my Eizo monitor it has a blimmin' Colgate Ring of Confidence. Arrrrrgh!

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Request to John:

If it's possible, and if neither you nor anyone else has any problem with the request, is there any chance you could turn the bright white background down a notch or seven, please? (I'm starting to resemble Molly... )

[The Crofter]

I suffer with migranes but thankfuly do not get the severe headaches. My problems start with a flash of light such as walking past a window and getting blinded by the sun. I also have problems working on a word document or similar that has a lot of white space. What happens then is that I get a series of intense sharp lights that start in the corner of my eye(s) and then multiply to fill at least half my vision. This is quite debilitating and I normally have to close my eyes for 30 minutes to allow the lights to subside. Great excuse for an afternoon kip but a pain if I have to make a frame !. I seem to remember that the lrboard forum offered an alternate colour scheme to cater for people like me - and a lot of people had similar problems. The best software I ever used was an electronic cad package called Protel that had a great black on cream default colour scheme - wonderfull

[Moglet]

Sorry to hear that you suffer from migraines, Pat. Having seen others that get them, I'm very grateful that I've never had one.

My problem is that my eyes are very, very light-sensitive. I actually need sunglasses more in the winter, when the sun is lower in the sky, than I do during the summer. Indeed, in the summer months, it's reflected sunlight from light-coloured paving that gets me most during the day, or the evening sun (again, when it's lower in the sky).

[Moglet]

Me again, John!

Regarding the pop-up windows, please, please, pah-leeeeeeze would you look into it further. It's a complete headfrell not having them. For example:-

1. Type new reply text.
2. Add link to website in text.
3. Preview the post.
4. Click on link in Preview window to ensure it's working OK.
5. Click back button to return to preview screen
6. Do lots and lots of this -------> because the frelling page has expired.....

And I keep closing windows and dropping myself out of the forum... (Do it all the time on the G and it wrecks my head!!!! )




..... and relax.

(Cheers for that line JGF #1!)

[John]

This is an easy one Á.

4. Click on link in Preview window to ensure it's working OK.

Instead of Left-clicking on the link, move your finger a fraction and click on the mouse wheel. This will open the target in a new tab.

This is a great habit to get into, I cannot commend this practice highly enough, and superb on sites with lots of links such as YouTube where you can meander from link to link, but can always find your way back and investigate interesting byways that you noticed in passing the first time through.

It is amazing just what a positive impact that this simple shift of finger position can have on your whole surfing experience.

Try it. You'll like it.

[Moglet]

Tried it. It works, but I don't like it: have to switch tabs (don't like tabs at all), and then I'm left with another thing to accidentally shut down, i.e. click on the "instinctive" close buttion (cf. the tab close button) and it's bye-bye browser (sulk).

You're not gonna convince me on this one, J.

[John]

Tried it. It works

accidentally shut down

Another compelling reason for opening links in a new tab rather than a new window.
The new window can be closed accidentally, instantly, and without ceremony, whereas a window containing a tabbed browser has the 'Do you want to close all tabs?' safety net.

You're not gonna convince me on this one, J.

Hopefully, in time, you will convince yourself, Á.
"You can take a moggy to water..."

Please don't think that I am not sympathetic to your views, but this is not a feature that can be just switched on within the forum administrator's control panel. Changes like this require modification of the code, and while this in itself is no biggie, the more mods there are to the forum's software, the more of a nightmare it becomes when the inevitable upgrades come along and all the features that have been added in this way have to be hard coded again into the new upgrade.

So for the sake of my future sanity, I think long and hard before making these kind of mods. And have to convince myself that they are of such a benefit that they are not just worth doing, but worth the hassle of doing again and again.

[WelshFramer]

It's the white background! On my Eizo monitor it has a blimmin' Colgate Ring of Confidence. Arrrrrgh!

I see the posts on a light blue background. Has it changed?

[Merlin]

On my monitor posts are still on a white background

[John]

No Skype button in the poster's details. Didn't there used to be one?

Well spotted.

This feature is not available at the moment. However, it is a simple matter to add it to your signature.

Go to User Control Panel > Profile > Edit signature >
In the edit box, enter your Skype name, then highlight it, click on the Skype button (above the edit box), and click submit.

[Roboframer]

Just some general comments.

OK there are some new features which are helpful but I think the basics are not as good - not least of all the overall 'feel' of the place.

It does not look as welcoming, is harder to navigate and (at least in my case) takes longer to load, not necc initially but from forum to forum, back buttons etc.

The new post icons don't stand out as well as the old pink bells blah blah blah - just a different 'atmoshpere' in some strange sort of way. I think the place is less lively too - but that may just be adaption.

[Roboframer]

.............. and if you want to edit a post you need to be bloody quick if you have much more to say and not just sort some typos out - I just tried and by the time I'd typed it, previewed it, poured a beer, typed some more. It was too late - and I 'ain't tie pin it all out again.

[John]

and if you want to edit a post you need to be bloody quick if you have much more to say

And this as a bad thing?

How?

[Roboframer]

The Grunble's 30 mins is short, our previous hour was great but I think 15 mins isn't long enough, if it can't be extended fair enough, everyone's in the same boat.

But if it can be altered and seeing as the last one was altered to an hour, why does this need to be shorter?

[John]

Don't be upset John, but I have done this deliberately, however not with the intention of annoying folk. And it bothers me that you should find it irksome.

This is what I am trying to avoid:
Say you posted [The sky is blue]
Other members on the forum at that time may read it and think: Robo says 'The sky is blue', so all is well with the world. They might even put up a quick reply along the lines of [Too right mate] or [It needed to be said], and so head off to bed.

Then on reflection, you decide that your original post was in fact incorrect, so you edit it to read [The sky is blue, with green stripes]

Now unless overnight the world fell through some rupture in the space-time continuum, and the sky was actually blue with green stripes, those who read your original post, and those who replied, might feel aggrieved, begin to doubt their sanity, and head off to the hills to become hermits in order to contemplate the single dimensionality of time, or whatever.

I am hoping that when things settle down, I'll be able to configure the forum in such a way that edits will not be possible after a reply on the same thread.

For now, try not to think of the forum as a word processor, to be edited at will. Instead do all your editing in the edit box, hit preview to check how it will look, do a spell-check, and then kiss it goodbye by clicking submit. Just like you would do if you were posting a letter. But with the added bonus that for ten minutes you are able to reach into the pillar-box and pull it back out in order to erase those couple of rude words that you've had second thoughts about.

[Roboframer]

OK - points taken and it's no biggy really - I just have to be more organised and I'm about as organised as an un-organised thing.

But have the situations you describe been a problem in the past?

Here's a post I just made on the general discussion forum

So I'm assuming DeMotfort's price of £510 is the framed price - that's the only price they give in their catalogue now - and the gallery's price is for the print only. This being the case I don't think it's a big deal.

I added, by edit, the words 'and the gallery's price is for the print only'

I don't think additions like that within half an hour would alter the flow of things. But of course, with an unusually long or an unlimited editing time - topics could make no sense, and that's happened.

(Edit) In the past

[Moglet]

Another compelling reason for opening links in a new tab rather than a new window.
The new window can be closed accidentally, instantly, and without ceremony, whereas a window containing a tabbed browser has the 'Do you want to close all tabs?' safety net.

Fwiw, I'm in the habit of using the Windows Taskbar to manage my open windows. I find the tabs introduced in IE7 both unwieldy and unnecessary. Also, I am used to using the Close Window Icon when I'm finished with a particular browser window; it keeps the PC desktop tidier. I don't find the Tab feature at all helpful: to me, it just creates more clutter and increases the work I have to do to manage my desktop. Safety net, schmafety net.....

"You can take a moggy to water..."

... but I'll be b*ggered if I'm gonna drink, J!

Please don't think that I am not sympathetic to your views...

Likewise, I am sympathetic to your forum maintenance concerns.

But I still don't wanna use tabs!!

[John]

But I still don't wanna use tabs!!

But you already do. What do you think those items in the taskbar are?

Back in the day, when I was also going through the same denial phase, I used to open browser after browser, using up more and more of my system's scarce resources. The frustration of endless freeze-ups eventually got through to me and so I stopped fighting it, moved away from the dark side, and embraced the relaxed glowing warmth that is tabbed browsing.

For those yet to see the light, hold the shift key when clicking on a link to open it in a new window.

[MITREMAN]

Hi John and other Forum Members,
This Site is Cool Wish my PC was its been driving me NUTS Got to get it repaired running like a snail and freezing, into the Medics for a week, so wont be about will miss you all .

Take Care
MITREMAN
http://www.framersequipment.co.uk