[jude]

Onward with the list! (I will put any future gripes in bullet list form to make them more visible.)

• User names are now all lower case. (It's supposed to say Music Alchemist, not music alchemist! Grr. For those with subtlety in their user names, well...for example, StanD now just says stand.)...

Yes, the username capitalization error quoted above was a major bug. It's fixed. As you're hopefully noticing, bug-fixes and changes are happening regularly, and will continue to. We have five people who are working full-time on bug-crushing and iterating in response to the bug reports and user feedback here. Just some of the recent fixes and updates in the past day include:

• Username capitalization (already covered)
  
• Website navigation, including adding subscription links in the header
• Matching XenForo terminology with their previous Huddler counterparts for clarity and familiarity. For example...
  • "profile posts" are now "public messages"
  • "Conversations" are now "private messages"
  • Working on "watched threads" = "subscriptions"
• Highlighting links in threads
• Adding the ability to update details to classified listings
• And more

Joe and AxelCloris will be updating you about fixes and changes as they're made.

I wanted to say a quick word about why we made the platform change: We had to. I love the Huddler forum platform, and still feel it's the best forum platform out there. However, we were informed that Huddler would be phased out over the next months, and so the Huddler platform (along with our long partnership with Huddler/Wikia) would be coming to an end. So, for those of you who suggested that we roll this back to Huddler, now you understand why we can't. I believe someone also suggested we license Huddler: That was not an option.

Simply put, we can't go back--none of the Huddler sites can. But we can move forward, together, and would appreciate your help doing just that.

Transitioning 16 years of content to another platform from Huddler is not a simple task. If you want to keep all the content, formatting, URLs, and functionality intact, it is in fact a monumental undertaking, especially for a small team like ours. Huddler is a proprietary platform (with key components of it customized for Head-Fi), and so there were no pre-configured migration tools like the kind available to get from one open licensable forum platform to another.

We had a transition deadline we had to meet, and we met it, but only with an untold number of man-hours and sleepless nights--and some nights where sleep was had at the office on the cot or on the couch. And we're still not done done--not even close--which we knew, and as is evidenced by this thread. Again, we have five people who are working full-time on bug-crushing and iterating in response to the bug reports and user feedback here.

Once we're past the headaches of the initial phase of the transition--once we've fixed most of what needs fixing, and improved most of what needs improving through the first part of the transition--then there's a lot of fun and exciting stuff for the site ahead. We now have a lot more latitude to work with to move Head-Fi forward now that we're fully independent. We've grown our team, and we now have full-time engineering and development in-house.

First, we fix the bugs, we make the place more livable, we complete the transition of some of the key functionalities from the Huddler platform that we weren't able to finish to our (and your) satisfaction ahead of the transition date. One thing (among many) we're working on now is differentiating logged-in and logged-out user experiences, as we did on the Huddler platform. It won't be long, but, as before, logged-in users will have fewer ad units shown.

I'll leave you with this thought for now: Over seven years ago, when we transitioned from vBulletin to Huddler, the response was...rough (to put it mildly). The first days after the change are always the hardest. Just as we did with Huddler, we'll once again quickly get ourselves situated into this platform, with a lot of work over here, and with the help of your feedback. I promise you'll be seeing continuous adjustments, optimizations, feature restorations, and fixes.

Thank you for your patience and constructive feedback.

 

[joe]

One thing I did want to ask months ago but forgot and am now remembered by the new design:
How do I delete showcase items?
Another thing, yesterday I could edit my profile, not the showcase, now I seem to have lost this option?
P.s. Getting used to the new site is going well.

Please PM me with which one(s) are in question, and I'll take a look. We can also work through what you're unable to edit in your profile.

 

[RCBinTN]

Hi All,
I was able to navigate most things on the new site, not easily and was missing some thread subscriptions. I don't have any equipment for sale so haven't been in the FS forum yet. Just a couple general comments from my side...

- I read all 41 pages in this thread. 41 pages! A couple bourbons and beers helped, although my eyes are burning and my head is aching.
- Surprised but maybe shouldn't be that so many Supremus members are the most POed. You folks use Head-Fi the most, and are the most affected by the change. Lost data isn't cool.
- Really sad to see the Reputation feature get changed to "Likes." Waters it down.
- Great to see the admin folks step in to answer and address specific issues. Shout out to @joe and @AxelCloris.
- Remember all that the moderators are not paid. They are volunteers.
- Posts like "this site sucks" are not helpful. Tell the admin what you're missing. Specific details are helpful and can be worked.
- I'm not in the market for IEM's, so the Noble ads can stop sooner than later.
- I was really taken back by seeing ads like the following (screen shots). I don't think these ads, or links to this content, is appropriate on Head-Fi. Please @jude take it down.

Net, I know that change is necessary, but this could have been done better. Too many specific details were ignored. That leads to frustration among the people who use the details the most - the Supremus folks.

Enjoy your music,
RCBinTN

 

[Rob80b]

For those feeling nostalgic there is always .....
the Wayback Machine...all the way back to 2001 if you like.. : )
http://web.archive.org/web/20010625095748/http://www.head-fi.org:80/forums/

 

[thatonenoob]

Hi All,
I was able to navigate most things on the new site, not easily and was missing some thread subscriptions. I don't have any equipment for sale so haven't been in the FS forum yet. Just a couple general comments from my side...

Net, I know that change is necessary, but this could have been done better. Too many specific details were ignored. That leads to frustration among the people who use the details the most - the Supremus folks.

Enjoy your music,
RCBinTN

I'm no expert, but is the adsense for HF currently using personalized advertising? This might account for some of the ads showing up . Apart from that, I am surprised to be seeing movie ads on Head-Fi for the first time.

Seems to be a needed change. A quick heads-up regarding the urgent nature of the problem would've helped smooth things over significantly. Overall, it's cool though.

Just some of the things I've noticed:

• Large empty space directly under the site banner when clicking on menu item pages, i.e. forums, buying guide, etc.
• Front page reviews/ features at the bottom have a scroll over function revealing the feature picture. While nice, I just don't feel compelled to look at them anymore. The wall of text isn't helping.
• Erm, where are the old reviews? My showcase has 6 items, which is quite concerning.
• Got to agree with @RCBinTN, the noble ad is very long, and from a graphic design perspective, takes away a lot from the site design. It'd be fine if it was split into smaller segments, but a sprawling block ad is distracting.
• The new theme is bright. Can we dial it back with a sand gray or light gray instead of a stark white?
• The spacing between posts is once again handled by means of a white border. Aesthetically, not clear where one posts ends, and where the other begins.

Apart from that, hope the site works soon. Some of the more popular threads have slowed down a lot.

 

[thyname]

Hey everyone, we've got an update for you in relation to the classifieds. It's still a work in progress, but we now have it setup so you guys can change the titles, prices and details for your active listings. We're still working to implement more options like bumping and closing listings, but for the interim we wanted to make sure that Head-Fi'ers could update their content.

To access these options, hover over the new Thread Tools menu (see screenshots in the spoiler). Here you can edit the title and custom fields on the classified to make changes. We appreciate the feedback everyone has given us so far and we're continuing to improve the user experience. We'll be continuing to watch the threads and taking your comments to heart as we continue developing on the new site.

Spoiler: Screenshots

Thanks! Great to hear you are working on the Classified.

Have you figured out the new feedback system? As it is now, anybody can leave feedback for anybody, without referencing any particular item in question. That opens the door for fake feedback, and completely defies the purpose of the system making it untrustable.

Thanks

 

[Rob80b]

Hi All,
I was able to navigate most things on the new site,...........

- I was really taken back by seeing ads like the following (screen shots). ..........
Enjoy your music,
RCBinTN

All I get are Oster food processor adds : ( ..geee....just need to empty ones cookies. : )

 

[RPB65]

How can I make the main window area bigger? At the moment I have unwanted empty space on the LH side of all pages, and the same space on the RH side after all the annoying ads. How can I make the main area larger?

 

[Rob80b]

..........As you're hopefully noticing, bug-fixes and changes are happening regularly, and will continue to. ............

Thank you for your patience and constructive feedback.

Thanks for the update.

 

[Music Alchemist]

Maybe YOU can, but in the new system I can not find any such profile setting. Heck, I can't find ANY profile settings! In my profile page view all I see are four tabs: "Public Messages, Recent Activity, Postings, and Information". Clicking each tab and I still don't see any setting (like it used to be in the old system) that lets me set the default to be "watch any thread that I post in".

Click Account Alerts on the top-right. There you will find your "control center" where you can edit everything. (I think it should be called something more specific than Account Alerts, since it obviously isn't letting everyone know that this is where you're supposed to go.)

To edit your profile, click Personal Details under Settings. Here's the direct link:

https://www.head-fi.org/f/account/personal-details

Other settings (such as preferences) can be accessed via the menu on the left.

• • "Conversations" are now "private messages"

Once we're past the headaches of the initial phase of the transition--once we've fixed most of what needs fixing, and improved most of what needs improving through the first part of the transition--then there's a lot of fun and exciting stuff for the site ahead. We now have a lot more latitude to work with to move Head-Fi forward now that we're fully independent. We've grown our team, and we now have full-time engineering and development in-house.

Thank goodness. The new terminology (which I'm assuming was a default thing with the new software) was confusing and awkward. But posts are still called Messages.

I'm especially glad to hear that control of the site is in-house. That means it's more likely for any problems to be addressed without being held back by infrastructure limitations.

- Surprised but maybe shouldn't be that so many Supremus members are the most POed. You folks use Head-Fi the most, and are the most affected by the change. Lost data isn't cool.

Yeah, I pretty much live on Head-Fi. All the issues that came with the update really stressed me out, but I'm getting used to it and am hopeful for the future.

 

[Mediahound]

Yes, the username capitalization error quoted above was a major bug. It's fixed. As you're hopefully noticing, bug-fixes and changes are happening regularly, and will continue to. We have five people who are working full-time on bug-crushing and iterating in response to the bug reports and user feedback here. Just some of the recent fixes and updates in the past day include:

• Username capitalization (already covered)
  
• Website navigation, including adding subscription links in the header
• Matching XenForo terminology with their previous Huddler counterparts for clarity and familiarity. For example...
  • "profile posts" are now "public messages"
  • "Conversations" are now "private messages"
  • Working on "watched threads" = "subscriptions"
• Highlighting links in threads
• Adding the ability to update details to classified listings
• And more

Joe and AxelCloris will be updating you about fixes and changes as they're made.

I wanted to say a quick word about why we made the platform change: We had to. I love the Huddler forum platform, and still feel it's the best forum platform out there. However, we were informed that Huddler would be phased out over the next months, and so the Huddler platform (along with our long partnership with Huddler/Wikia) would be coming to an end. So, for those of you who suggested that we roll this back to Huddler, now you understand why we can't. I believe someone also suggested we license Huddler: That was not an option.

Simply put, we can't go back--none of the Huddler sites can. But we can move forward, together, and would appreciate your help doing just that.

Transitioning 16 years of content to another platform from Huddler is not a simple task. If you want to keep all the content, formatting, URLs, and functionality intact, it is in fact a monumental undertaking, especially for a small team like ours. Huddler is a proprietary platform (with key components of it customized for Head-Fi), and so there were no pre-configured migration tools like the kind available to get from one open licensable forum platform to another.

We had a transition deadline we had to meet, and we met it, but only with an untold number of man-hours and sleepless nights--and some nights where sleep was had at the office on the cot or on the couch. And we're still not done done--not even close--which we knew, and as is evidenced by this thread. Again, we have five people who are working full-time on bug-crushing and iterating in response to the bug reports and user feedback here.

Once we're past the headaches of the initial phase of the transition--once we've fixed most of what needs fixing, and improved most of what needs improving through the first part of the transition--then there's a lot of fun and exciting stuff for the site ahead. We now have a lot more latitude to work with to move Head-Fi forward now that we're fully independent. We've grown our team, and we now have full-time engineering and development in-house.

First, we fix the bugs, we make the place more livable, we complete the transition of some of the key functionalities from the Huddler platform that we weren't able to finish to our (and your) satisfaction ahead of the transition date. One thing (among many) we're working on now is differentiating logged-in and logged-out user experiences, as we did on the Huddler platform. It won't be long, but, as before, logged-in users will have fewer ad units shown.

I'll leave you with this thought for now: Over seven years ago, when we transitioned from vBulletin to Huddler, the response was...rough (to put it mildly). The first days after the change are always the hardest. Just as we did with Huddler, we'll once again quickly get ourselves situated into this platform, with a lot of work over here, and with the help of your feedback. I promise you'll be seeing continuous adjustments, optimizations, feature restorations, and fixes.

Thank you for your patience and constructive feedback.

Thanks for the updates Jude.

I think the sudden and unannounced changes took a lot of us by surprise and people oftentimes don't like change as it is, let alone sudden unannounced ones

Glad to hear things are being worked on and the site still improving.

 

[crabdog]

How can I make the main window area bigger? At the moment I have unwanted empty space on the LH side of all pages, and the same space on the RH side after all the annoying ads. How can I make the main area larger?

CTRL + MWHEELUP

 

[Ike1985]

The text on the mobile version is WAY TOO SMALL sitewide; reviews, threads, etc. Also emojis are way too small when entered in a thread and when browsing through them.

 

[RPB65]

CTRL + MWHEELUP

Hi crabdog, yeah I know I can zoom my screen, however I wondered if they was a forum setting that I could change.

 

[crabdog]

Personally I would really like to see a sticky header implemented so that after reaching the bottom of a thread we can easily click on the links without having to scroll all the way back to the top!