[charliex]

I really HATE this new format! It's so difficult to navigate and time consuming. I can't even pull up my history nor messages. I tries sending and replying to messages and I end up writing the message okay, but there is literally no 'send' icon. What is up with Head-Fi ? God help me if I try to list and sell my gear - not looking forward to the challenge. Please at least put it back to the previous format!!!

 

[chef8489]

ITs not that complicated. The send button is labeled post reply. To your private messages there is an envelope next to your name on the top bar. Click on that and then all messages. For your threads you can click on subscribed threads or click on your profile and sort by posts you posted or by threads you started.

 

[vert]

Yeah, unfortunately I've almost completely stopped coming to head-fi with the new format.

I'm not sure who decided upon the new format, but it's a huge step backwards.

 

[AxelCloris]

The platform change was not one made because we wanted to, but because the Huddler platform was being discontinued and shut down and we had limited time to make the transition. We're constantly working to improve the new site and we have some big improvements both planned and in development. It's going to take time for us to get back to where we were, but we will get there.

Feel free to check the link in my signature for more details.

 

[Arysyn]

I like this site and have learned alot from it. I've been an Administrator of several forums in the past ten years, including being on staff of a few as a Moderator, and I know quite a bit about forum software.

Setting up a new forum software takes alot of work, which isn't so bad if someone is starting up a brand new site. However, to transition an already very large site with an active forum over to a new forum software, I can't imagine how difficult that must be to have everything perfectly coordinated, while still managing the forum community already in existence.

That is something I've never had to do, and if I ever find myself in another staff role, or even an Admin role, I don't know how I could manage a transition even half the amount of work I'd imagine it has taken the Head-Fi staff to do. So with that said, I can respect the time and effort put here in trying to make this process go smoothly for the members.

However, I do have to agree somewhat with the members who've spoken out about wanting to have known about the transition ahead of time, although I understand the staff's reasons too for having not done it. While I'm hoping the bugs can get worked out, I'm still hoping that perhaps for the future, Invision Power Board could be considered if for some reason Xenforo doesn't improve.

I've used Xenforo in the past as an Admin when I got caught up in the hype over its introduction when it first was revealed. I even got a license for it back when it was heavily discounted in that introductory period. One of my biggest interests in forum software is the design phase, and I thought all the news discussed on the Xenforo forum at the time about the design system made it sound revolutionary. Yet when I got Xenforo installed and started with the design system, what a pain in the nerves!

I mean for all its faults, being the Woltlab Burning Board I won't even begin to describe the problems I had with that software, its design system was simple and great to work with. While the Invision Power Board design system is a bit more complex, it too generally was great too. Yet Xenforo was something completely else.

I'm not sure how these systems may have changed in the past few years since last using forum software in the admin cp, but one thing I've noticed go wrong in the design here on Head-Fi, is the color code in charge of coordinating the box for thread subscriptions. On my smartphone when I went to subscribe to a thread, the options to change email behavior was blacked out, meaning I couldn't see the options, other than the circular markings.

I'm not blaming the person in charge of designing here though, as I remember the complicated system Xenforo set in place where you didn't always know which section's color code did what to where on the site. It is trial and error.

 

[amaridev]

In my opinion this site is no longer usable. Sorry. I used to like to read here quite a lot. But if you don't do changes to the current state you will lose most of the members in the next two years. Promise! I can tell from experience.

Xenforo itself is not that bad. I switched a similarly sized board from vBulletin to XF. But the Styling you did and the everything, is just loveless. Even the default Style is easier to use. And you should definitely clean up the navigation bar. It is so cluttered with so many things nobody cares about in a navigation.
Please just don't stop in the process. A migration like this is a lot of work, I know. But there is so much work in front of you guys and I have not seen much changes in the past few months.

 

[amaridev]

Oh, and the page load times / server performance is insane. It takes over 10 seconds per page to load. Maybe you should use cloudflare if you can't afford a better server.

 

[CorvetteGarage]

Hey, the jumbo ad's are working good though!

 

[Currawong]

Oh, and the page load times / server performance is insane. It takes over 10 seconds per page to load. Maybe you should use cloudflare if you can't afford a better server.

It has been the opposite for me. Huddler pages took ages to load quite often. Now pages load very fast for me. If you're having pages load slowly, depending on your browser you should be able to run a time test on a page showing what elements are loading slowly. One part of the page loaded from a server that is slow for you can slow a whole site down, even if the rest is fast.

 

[chef8489]

It has been the opposite for me. Huddler pages took ages to load quite often. Now pages load very fast for me. If you're having pages load slowly, depending on your browser you should be able to run a time test on a page showing what elements are loading slowly. One part of the page loaded from a server that is slow for you can slow a whole site down, even if the rest is fast.

Yep. I dont have a problem with page loading slowly either.

 

[amaridev]

Hmm, might be my location as well.

http://imgur.com/a/qEAO3

 

[Arysyn]

There has been a brief discussion in the FlaresPro thread today regarding thread creation in how the search tool doesn't always work correctly and can lead to, and actually is leading to new threads being made when old ones of the same subject cannot be found using the search tool. Even worse, Google isn't always picking up on listing certain threads, which I blame on the variety of different ways members here title threads.

My belief is that members should not be allowed to create official product threads, but rather be allowed to continue creating general discussions, while the official product threads be created by various staff under the name of "Product Thread Creator". All product threads could start with the product title, followed by the company name, such as what I did with the thread "FlaresPro by Flare Audio".

By doing this, it would index much better both for a simple appearence, easy to locate product information, and great for SEO. Now, I realize it would be alot of work to go back renaming existing threads to such a style, something I'd be willing to do fo free, considering my severe health condition limiting me to not being able to work, all except for online design projects. I have a decade-long history of working as an Admin and as a Moderator of several websites, and I'm very familiar with several of the leading forum software.

Speaking of forum software, I find Xenforo to be buggy and complex, despite it having a newer appearance than some of its competitors. However, I prefer Invision Power Board, due to its stability and professional nature which serves many business forums. Its more expensive than Xenforo, but I'd be willing to sponsor half the cost for it if Head-Fi considered changing to it, which would give Head-Fi alot more features than what Xenforo has available, and would be more familiar to people here use to the old software Head-Fi was using prior to Xenforo.

I'd even design the forum for free.

 

[Currawong]

Given the astronomical effort required to change forum software, I doubt that after all that has been done, they'd even remotely consider the idea of changing software at this stage.

 

[charliex]

ITs not that complicated. The send button is labeled post reply. To your private messages there is an envelope next to your name on the top bar. Click on that and then all messages. For your threads you can click on subscribed threads or click on your profile and sort by posts you posted or by threads you started.

Sorry, but I still don;t get it. No matter how enter to start a PM, I NEVER get a SEND PM icon - only get "Start a Private Message" or "Upload File" or "Preview Message". Regardless of what I do I never see a SEND icon - help!

 

[AxelCloris]

Sorry, but I still don;t get it. No matter how enter to start a PM, I NEVER get a SEND PM icon - only get "Start a Private Message" or "Upload File" or "Preview Message". Regardless of what I do I never see a SEND icon - help!

"Start a Private Message" will start a private message. It means "Send."