Forums

[C&O Fan]

noticed my old bookmark now gives an error message

and there is no email notification of an entire thread only my single post

[chad tm5000/trainstation]

i need help by posting in the forum in classic toy train since the update i dont see any where to post please help

[pennsy-gg1]

Bob:

Glad to see that I am not alone with this frustration! I too, only want to subscribe to certain individual  threads. This is driving me crazy!! I have an eye problem, and now am using way too much time on reading posts just to keep up with a very full inbox !!!

I will try your solution later this evening; but, there MUST BE A WAY to only subscribe to one thread at a time.

If anybody has a solution -- PLEASE, PLEASE  -- let us know SOON !!!!

Thanks in advance to you and anyone else that comes up with a solution.

P.S.: Miss the bird & frog! Did the frog finally let go... GULP...!

[rtraincollector]

Well one complaint we had with the old one that they corrected is that you don't have to go to the top to goto the next page or to go back to the index you can do it from the bottom of the page where you end reading. Me I still have to save the index and go from there so it has to be something with my putor and the firewall or something like that

[EIS2]

It would be nice for the folks who wrote the software to start a thread explaining some of the features of the new design.  I have found a few, but I am sure there are more.

Earl

[gregc]

when creating a new post

• can you include the previous posts from the thread on that page so that you can scroll down and see that rather than have to open a new window to see the thread
• add the preview button
• use a consistent approach for things that can be done.   At the bottom of the post are: 1) a Reply button, 2) linked text to "Edit tags" and 3) pencil icon to edit the text.   A consistent approach would use either buttons, text, or icons.   And some space could be saved if they were all in the same box (e.i. table row)

[vsmith]

I can tell you all one major reason for the change, its what I am typing this reply on...my Smartphone! On the old forum posting via smartphone was a royal pita, I had to HTML to post anything, it was a major headache. Its far easier to navigate and post now. I'm sure that was a big reason, its still very basic, still can't post pics, but it is far easier on a mobile.
As for the rest, good or bad it is what it is, no amount of gnashing of teeth will bring it back so we better get used to it.

[baberuth73]

What doesn't kill me makes me stronger.

 

[baberuth73]

I'm kinda glad it's gone. Now when someone posts he/she will genuinely have something to contribute, not just post to see their post count increase. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[hon30critter]

VSMITH

I politely disagree. We don't have to get used to it if we chose not to. As another poster has suggested, we can vote with our feet.

Personally, I think Kalmbach has missed an opportunity here. Had they taken the time (and yes - the cost) to create a tutorial on how to deal with the new format, and put it front and center on the new website, then I think there would be a few less disgruntled forum users, or maybe a whole lot fewer less happy customers.

One thing I notice on the forums is that a post will be viewed by a whole lot of people, but very few will post a comment on the post. That means there is a silent majority out there who choose to keep their opinions to themselves. That is their choice and I respect it. However, in the case of the changes to the forums, I would ask those mostly silent members to speak up - please.

Dave

 

[Kevin C. Smith]

Well, there is one thing that bothers me. It bothered me on the old format and it bothers me on the new format. It's not earth shattering, it's not deal breaking, it's not life or death...but it bothers me, none the less.

I think the plural of "forum" should be "fora".

There, that brain cramp is done with.

[steinjr]

pennsy-gg1

Bob:

Glad to see that I am not alone with this frustration! I too, only want to subscribe to certain individual  threads. This is driving me crazy!! I have an eye problem, and now am using way too much time on reading posts just to keep up with a very full inbox !!!

I will try your solution later this evening; but, there MUST BE A WAY to only subscribe to one thread at a time.

 You mean like clicking on this thingy, which is located right next to your post in the right margin when you are looking at the posts of a thread (you have to scroll down past some advertizing crap to find it) ?

 

 If you do the same while looking at a list of threads in a forum, the corresponding box is called "FORUM options", and you can subscribe to messages about forum updates.

 If you don't want to get your email inbox flooded, and still want notifications as new messages come in, install some RSS client, and subscribe via RSS feed instead.

 Is that what you were asking - how to subscribe on update notifications for one thread?

 Or were you really intending to ask about something else - like "how do I turn off update notifications for a forum"?

 Smile,
 Stein

[steinjr]

hon30critter

Personally, I think Kalmbach has missed an opportunity here. Had they taken the time (and yes - the cost) to create a tutorial on how to deal with the new format, and put it front and center on the new website, then I think there would be a few less disgruntled forum users, or maybe a whole lot fewer less happy customers.

 Yes, it possibly would have helped quite a bit just to post a sticky in every forum pointing out that the help page is located in the box under your forum name:

 

 Explaining why the upgrade was done, and pointing out some new and cool features (like much improved functionality for the photo gallery, where you can upload your pictures to Kalmbach's server), would possibly also have made for fewer rants and more content users.

 Then again - I am probably being overly optimistic - quite a few Americans go into ranting mode instead of looking for or reading user guides anyways, and a lot of people just "know" that an upgrade wasn't necessary, without having any information whatsoever on why the upgrade was done.

 In the absence of information, I prefer to make the assumption that most people are reasonably rational (I know, I know - I am being an optimist), and that no corporate IT department would throw significant work into deploying a newer version of some piece of software for a counterproductive reason like deliberately trying to piss off some users of these forums.

 Even if the main driver was just "let's make the forums easier to read on smartphones" or something like that, then that would seem to be a rational business decision - more and more people have smartphones. Add "let's make it possible for people using the newer versions of IE to post without having to figure out the backwards compatibility button" seems to be a sensible business reason to do an update. "Let's get the forums faster" seems to be a rational reason.  All of these are conjecture - I have no more information than anyone else.

 Anyways - I agree with you on Kalmbach having dropped the ball on the information front, while also strongly suggesting that people who have trouble finding their way in the new user interface try clicking on "Help" and reading the help page.

 Smile,
 Stein

[pennsy-gg1]

Stein:

"Is that what you were asking - how to subscribe on update notifications for one thread?"

Yes, YES, AND YES!!!!...Thank you, Thank YOU, ... and THANK YOU !!!! Perfect !! I'll look into the -- Forum Options -- tomorrow ( later today ) and also see if I can learn about "RSS."

 I really appreciate your input. Thanks again. 

[balidas]

Like the above poster, I always liked to see where members were from, but also, members post counts were taken away.