LD.30-30Today I sign on, go to the Trains forums and get a ''you need to unlock your old screenname'' prompt.OK.... I enter my info and get a ''incorrect password'' prompt.....after 3 more times of the same, I say ''send me my password''...what I get is a jumbled bunch of nonsense numbers and letters but not my password. So I have to make a new screenname, this is progress? Now I have to go and redo all my info and find an avatar.More wasted time. I'll have to wait and see if this new mess is worth the trouble, but right now it's a big thumbs down.
Today I sign on, go to the Trains forums and get a ''you need to unlock your old screenname'' prompt.OK.... I enter my info and get a ''incorrect password'' prompt.....after 3 more times of the same, I say ''send me my password''...what I get is a jumbled bunch of nonsense numbers and letters but not my password. So I have to make a new screenname, this is progress? Now I have to go and redo all my info and find an avatar.More wasted time. I'll have to wait and see if this new mess is worth the trouble, but right now it's a big thumbs down.
Hint: Lot in with the "jumbled bunch of nonsense numbers and letters" (and your old screen name), then you can go and change the password back to something familiar and easy-to-remember.
This is a common security procedure; the passwords are encrypted back on the server in such a way that it is IMPOSSIBLE to recover, only to assign you a new one. This is for your own security- if some idiot cracker (NOT "hacker") manages to break into Kalmbach's servers, they can't get your password (and, as another person stated, the password to all the other sites you access).
Change is the only constant.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
BergieTwo quick things.... First, it was not necessary to lock existing username and we did not do that. We have a message for all first time returnees to the site that says if you have a username all you have to do it logout and login again. (If you've done that, the message is gone.) Next, it's funny to hear a CP fan calling a color scheme nasty. Sorry, that's just funny to me. Sorry for the sarcasm... call me a proud pappa if you must. Bergie
Two quick things....
First, it was not necessary to lock existing username and we did not do that. We have a message for all first time returnees to the site that says if you have a username all you have to do it logout and login again. (If you've done that, the message is gone.)
Next, it's funny to hear a CP fan calling a color scheme nasty. Sorry, that's just funny to me.
Sorry for the sarcasm... call me a proud pappa if you must.
Bergie
I thought the message I received was to create a new username OR click "here" to unlock my "old" username. I guess I read the wrong message. Seems like I was not the only one.
As for CP's colour scheme it does not hurt the eyes like this one does.
As for your sarcasm...it's about all I expect from you anymore.
I've been checking out the new look, like the rest of you have. Overall I think it looks good. It has the makings of a real fine forum.
I understand that things aren't 100% right off the bat. Thats OK, there's always some fine tuning to be done on something so new. I'll let the website techs do their job for a while and most likely my issues will be addressed. If not, they have a big enough work load to contend with right now. I'll let them work through some of that stuff for a while before I make my piddley requests known.
As to the side of the page that many seem so concerned with, I don't have any issue with that. It pays the bills. It's cool with me. It doesn't seem worth it to me to get all worked up about. Even if I had a slow internet connection, I'd have to realize that I'm not footing the bill, so as my old man used to say, "Beggers can't be choosers!"
Thanks Model Railroader crew for all that you do!
Thanks MRR for fixing the Page Back button feature. Now at least I do not have to keep logging off and logging back on to go to the next thread or even to go back a page on the same thread. Now if only you could put the ads as a banner across the top of the thread and widen the thread area to take advantage of the space vacated by the ads as they are now it would be MUCH better. Then all you would have to do is add a little subtle shading in the thread area to get rid of the harshness of the large white area.
Thanks in advance if you could do it.
Blue Flamer.
P.S. I do not know if it is on your end or mine, but the Smilies are very squashed together and small and hard to make out. The Smilies box was about twice to three times the size in the old style.
Thanks again.
B.F.
EDIT.
Sorry, but I lied. I CAN back up to the previous page on the Laptop with Vista Ultimate but NOT on the Desktop running Windows XP. I use the same version of Netscape Navigator for browsing on BOTH computers. I have no problem using the Page Back feature on any of the other Web Sites that I frequent and I NEVER had the problem on the old Forum format. This nonsense of having to log off and then log back on after I read each thread is starting to get old. REALLY fast.
My main screens are 1680 and 1400 pixels wide (desktop and laptop). The forum is about 1000 pixels wide: 300 for the adds, 175 for the users avatar, ~60 for padding, with the left over 465 pixels for the forum posts. On my screen, that is 465/1680 = 28% of the horizontal width used for ACTUAL CONTENT. This is a major step backwards from the old forum.
Its pretty easy to set the main css file or master page and have it as a preference in the users page. You can do both dynamically. As long as you use the same content panel ID's, you can set the this.MasterPageFile in OnPreInit to "~\biggermasterpage.master
I think the overall layout looks great--very clean. It does run a little slower for me, but I don't expect good sites to dumb down to my dial-up standards. I haven't used it extensively yet, but I think the layout and look are very nice.
Ron
Owner and superintendant of the N scale Texas Colorado & Western Railway, a protolanced representaion of the BNSF from Fort Worth, TX through Wichita Falls TX and into Colorado.
Check out the TC&WRy on at https://www.facebook.com/TCWRy
Check out my MRR How-To YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/RonsTrainsNThings
Paul3Secondly, when one hits the "Forums" button (under the pilot of Koester's Midland Route Berkshire above), it only goes to the forums for MR (http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/default.aspx?groupid=8). Before, that same button went to all the forums (http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/). This means that when I'm surfing the MR forum, and I want to check out the Trains forum, I have to click on the "Trains" magazine tab, then click on "Forums" to get there.
Actually, on the previous site there were two Forums links. One was at the very top of the page within at the Trains.com-based links, and it would take you to the very top of the forums. The second was in the specific magazine's navigation bar and if you clicked that one you'd be taken to the specific magazine's portion of the forum.
On this new site, you can get a link back to the very top of the forum by hovering your mouse over the "Resources" tab at the top left of the page and selecting Reader forums from the drop down list. As mentioned, if you click the Forums tab from a magazine's navigation bar, you're going to go into that magazine's portion of the forum.
Thanks for all the feedback, Paul, and thanks for participating for so long. It's greatly appreciated.
Erik
You know it's funny that when some of us complain about certain issues that arise here from time to time, we get no "sympathy" and instead get told to move on to another forum if we don't like how things run around here. These same people are the ones now complaining about the new forum and we're all supposed to sympathize with them? I think the new forum looks pretty neat and I agree with some who've said that it'll take some time to get used to. For the others who are complaining, if you don't like how things are done here, go to another forum or better yet start your own.
TONY
"If we never take the time, how can we ever have the time." - Merovingian (Matrix Reloaded)
Us Norfolk Southern modelers are thinking that white text on a black background might look cool. That would really make things exciting here.
Engineer Jeff NS Nut Visit my layout at: http://www.thebinks.com/trains/
Don,
Thanks. That worked. I hadn't scrolled down far enough to find it. Previously it was at the top.
Im happy with the forums with Firefox. I did discover another issue. The use of the fonts and colors in the forums overall. I find it hard on the eyes and induces headaches.
I never realized how happy I was with the previous version of the forums until this new one was built. Sorry Folks.
Geared Steam Ads pay the bills so YOU can come here and complain free of charge.
Ads pay the bills so YOU can come here and complain free of charge.
That's the way of it when you offer a public forum...
Atlas has their own forum that we use free of charge and there is no ad banners.
I can live with or without the banners.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
LD.30-30 What was wrong with the other setup? Today I sign on, go to the Trains forums and get a ''you need to unlock your old screenname'' prompt.OK.... I enter my info and get a ''incorrect password'' prompt.....after 3 more times of the same, I say ''send me my password''...what I get is a jumbled bunch of nonsense numbers and letters but not my password. So I have to make a new screenname, this is progress? Now I have to go and redo all my info and find an avatar.More wasted time. I'll have to wait and see if this new mess is worth the trouble, but right now it's a big thumbs down. I agree...why can't they leave stuff alone...if it's not broken DON'T FIX IT!!!
What was wrong with the other setup?
I agree...why can't they leave stuff alone...if it's not broken DON'T FIX IT!!!
Exactly. This is a classic case of what my cousin who works on computers calls upgradeitis, where a company upgrades or "new and improves" something just for the sake of doing so.
Bergie Change is inevitable... we hope that this change -- to the site overall and forum -- will improve things over the course of time and that you will continue to enjoy Trains.com... I know change is hard, especially when you're used to the way something works. And that's not just lip service... while I've used this forum software a tiny amount on some of our other sites, I too am very new to this new forum platform. While it's taking some time for me to get used to it (today, mind you), I'm enjoying a lot of the new features.
Change is inevitable... we hope that this change -- to the site overall and forum -- will improve things over the course of time and that you will continue to enjoy Trains.com...
I know change is hard, especially when you're used to the way something works. And that's not just lip service... while I've used this forum software a tiny amount on some of our other sites, I too am very new to this new forum platform. While it's taking some time for me to get used to it (today, mind you), I'm enjoying a lot of the new features.
Bergie:
I am enjoying the new web site along with it's new features. I agree that change is inevitable... Yes, it will take a little time, trial and error to learn the various features; but, we will get use to it, then learn and grow in the process.
There is one feature that appears to be missing or maybe it is not yet enabled. That feature is the subject line in the e-mail notification. The old forums had the thread topic displayed and observed that this is now missing in the new notification.
Could you enlighten us if this will be restored? This feature is important to some us who have tight time tables -- in other words I look very quickly at the subject line to see if there are a number of e-mails about one topic -- If time is short, I pick the few -- If I have large block of time, I pick the most posts -- like WPF!
At the risk of getting flamed by a number of forum members , I will say that I like the Ads. As Model Railroaders we are always shopping for something -- The ads do help the cause -- ours, yours and the advertiser!!
The Tabs in the "Reply to an Existing Message" are really great!!
Oh, yes! I wasn't able to find the "Spell Checker". I had to copy and paste to Word, spell check and then back again! Don't tell me!! I have to take my own advice and "learn and grow ". I'll find it or how -- I really will .
Pennsy
A Model Railroader's Credo: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Paul3This means that when I'm surfing the MR forum, and I want to check out the Trains forum, I have to click on the "Trains" magazine tab, then click on "Forums" to get there.
Paul,
Look directly above the "General Discussion" header at the top of the thread you're in. You'll find a link to the Trains.com Forums. One click and you're out at the list of all of the forums just like you desired.
Don Z.
Research; it's not just for geeks.
Bergie,On the subject of change, I don't think people would object if it were noticably better with more features. On this change, so far that's still up in the air. I visit several other kinds of forums, mostly sports related. Some of these have an "ignore" feature that allows one to filter out posts by certain posters. Others offer picture hosting so one can easily post photos. And so on. So far, what I see are more ads (not complaining...they pay the bills) on a color scheme that's harder on the eyes (black on white).
As for suggestions, what ever happened to the idea of putting the thread's origin date on the forum main page to warn folks about Thread Necromancy? If a thread is 5+ years old, it'd be nice to know about it before I click on the link.
Secondly, when one hits the "Forums" button (under the pilot of Koester's Midland Route Berkshire above), it only goes to the forums for MR (http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/default.aspx?groupid=8). Before, that same button went to all the forums (http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/). This means that when I'm surfing the MR forum, and I want to check out the Trains forum, I have to click on the "Trains" magazine tab, then click on "Forums" to get there. It's not a big deal, but adding clicks to a person's web browsing experience isn't exactly an improvement, IMHO. Oh, and without a highspeed connection, I wouldn't want to wait for the Trains page to load just to change to a different forum.
Lastly, you gotta do something about the smilies page ("Options" tab). That looks very awkward at the moment.
BTW, I was here when Andy Sperando posted monthly questions in a "Guestbook" format (MR's first webforum) back in the mid-1990's, and I was here when it was truly awful (the first attempt at a true forum) when one had to click on each and every post in a thread to read it...and if they didn't sign their name, you had no idea who was posting). This version is far better than the old days, folks.
Paul A. Cutler III*******************Weather Or No Go New Haven*******************
The password thing was a small hurdle but I was taught long ago to not worry about tying my loafers. 'Course I was born well before Velcro was thought up.
The ads are another small hassle but I have always been able to see the cows in the field behind a billboard when driving or riding down the expressway.
It will take a bit to decide if the color scheme is causing me problems as some posts created headaches for me in the old format.
The information is as free as it always was and that's one of the top three things I look for here. The other two are laughs and insight.
Bergie could have saved a thread if he'd just brought the complaint litany forward from the last change. It's not enough to be on the same page, we've gotta be looking at the same book.
Kudos, congrats and thanks for providing a forum at all.
dwRavenstar
Well just more stuff not to like...the color scheme sucks and all that extraneous BS over in the margins make the pages load so slow it's hardly worth waiting on. Not everyone has fancy DSL and Firefox stuff to make it faster to load or delete all the crap. The old forums were fine, this is just a bunch of advertisements and extra junk. I'll check back in a few weeks to see if you've cleaned up your mess or better yet, PUT IT BACK THE WAY IT WAS!
BergieFor example, have you used the new Quote feature? When you're replying to someone's post, their entire post will appear above the Message area where you type your reply. If you'd like to quote their post, you highlight as much or as little of their post as you'd like then click the Quote button and the coding is done automatically for you.
OK so that is definitely cool! And I do like having the spellcheck in Firefox work over here as it has in other places. But I still don't care for the page layout..........
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
BergieNext, it's funny to hear a CP fan calling a color scheme nasty. Sorry, that's just funny to me.
For the record the forums color scheme can be overridden in Firefox by changing the settings under Edit -> Preferences and the Content tab, you will want to change it back to the defaults after finishing.
Black text on white background is too great a contrast for comfort while reading on a computer. A lower degree of contrast is preferrable, the old forum's Light Blue & Lighter Blue was a good example.
Mark Gosdin
I don't mind the ads along the side as long as they remain railroad based.
In terms of "Some people can't leave well enough alone..."
If Athearn had left well enough alone, we'd still be working with blue box locomotives and freight cars. We wouldn't see superdetailed locomotives, steam locomotives, DCC, sound, etc., etc.
Change is inevitable... we hope that this change -- to the site overall and forum -- will improve things over the course of time and that you will continue to enjoy Trains.com. If you've been with us for the past 7-1/2 years, you'll note how far not only the look of Trains.com has come, but also the usability and features offered have improved.
For example, have you used the new Quote feature? When you're replying to someone's post, their entire post will appear above the Message area where you type your reply. If you'd like to quote their post, you highlight as much or as little of their post as you'd like then click the Quote button and the coding is done automatically for you.
Hang in there guys, I'm confident you'll look back a month from now and be satisified with the changes that have been made.
BlueHillsCPR This is going to take some getting used to. The invalid password thing was a pain in the rear...not sure why it was necessary to lock existing user names like that? The color scheme is nasty!
This is going to take some getting used to. The invalid password thing was a pain in the rear...not sure why it was necessary to lock existing user names like that?
The color scheme is nasty!
spectratone I agree about the black and white is a little harsh on the eyes. glenn
I agree about the black and white is a little harsh on the eyes.
glenn
I absolutely agree!
The first thing I noticed was the new format seems to be hurting my eyes.
This seems to be a common complaint here.
The new colors and such may be considered a great improvement, but if my eyes are bothered by reading the forum, I will have to spend far less time here, or I may have to pass on this great forum.
I may be able to adapt to using the new forum features, but can't have my eyes hurting and burning.
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
At least the other forum I visit still feels like home...
We are trying to get the word out as we work thru a few of these bugs. You only have to logout / login -- resetting your password is not necessary.
We will work thru the "My discussions". This option is available at the main forum index. Click Here
** Our Website Has Changed **If you have previously unlocked your screen name and are seeing this message again, you may need to log out and log back in.
Online Publishing Manager, Kalmbach Publishing Co.,