17 replies to this topic

[Chairman LMAO]

Sort it out, moderators.

This new forum is pathetic. Don't think I'll bother until it's fixed.

[Chairman LMAO]

Might be something to do with opening this site up in IE. Just opened it up in Google Chrome and it's fine.

[RPH]

ive had no problems once i found the forum, but it took ages to find it,
i would imagine anyone having the old forum on their favorites, will be having trouble getting back here.

[Sir Jekyll Stocking]

ive had no problems once i found the forum, but it took ages to find it,
i would imagine anyone having the old forum on their favorites, will be having trouble getting back here.

No real trouble... Favourites just links to totalrl home page. Couple of clicks to find the forum.
Create a new "favourites" link.
Just a pain. Why tinker?

[bazbulldog]

ive had no problems once i found the forum, but it took ages to find it,
i would imagine anyone having the old forum on their favorites, will be having trouble getting back here.

I had no problem with loading from favourites on internet explorer but i can't say i like the new site,
why change something that works? still i suppose we will get used to it, didn't get to the Cas game but
was pleased with the report,augurs well for the season ahead.

[BOLTON ROUGHYED]

I'm with you mate. It's shockin....I can't get it to load properly, and for some reason when I scroll down a page it takes ten minutes to get to the bottom, and I find that other posters posts have one word per line.

Hope the administrators are listening/reading. Whoever is responsible needs to be sacked....

[Batley Bob]

for what its worth , this site works ok on my lap top with windows 7 and IE , but on desktop with xp and IE its terrible , you have to scroll down forever to get to 2nd post

[Blind side johnny]

Moan, moan, moan. This forum never changes does it?

[frank]

Moan, moan, moan. This forum never changes does it?

How come you spend a lot of time on here then Johnny, if that's the case?

[Blind side johnny]

I like to see how the other half live Frank.

[Piggy's mate]

I like to see how the other half live Frank.

BSJ - The grass is definatly Greener on this side of the hill

[Tom Coates]

The decision to revamp the forum wasn't taken lightly, and it certainly isn't a case of changing it for change's sake.

Calls for the company to upgrade the website were becoming increasingly more difficult to ignore so a significant investment of time and money has been made to enhance the forum experience for users. There are a few kinks left to iron out and the inevitable snags that come with a project this big are being worked on. John, who carried out the work to update the site in his spare time, was up until 4am last night addressing issues reported by users.

The most noticeable difference is the 'new look'. The forum width has been increased to make better use of the space on a computer screen, and we've added a collapsible sidebar to the portal page (click the 'X' to get rid of it).

What might not be immediately apparent is the changes that have been made 'under the hood', many of which were urgently needed. The software that generates the forums has been upgraded to the latest version. The site is now less vulnerable to attacks from hackers, meaning data entered by users when they signed up (like email addresses) are much safer than they were before. The update also guards against server crashes, which can take the whole site offline and result in posts going missing.

The old forum engine, which did a good job for us, had been in place for almost eight years and was becoming increasingly open to attacks from hackers, and more susceptible to server crashes. Remember, prevention is usually cheaper than the cure.

Another advantage the new forum has over the old one is that it is optimised for access from iPhones and other mobile devices. If you have an iPhone, a Blackberry or any other mobile phone with a web browser, type totalrl.com/forums into your phone's browser to give it a try.

Also in the new update is the facility to connect your Facebook and/or Twitter account to the forum. This opens up the message board to thousands more people and allows current users to update their facebook/forum status from one place. You can now also approve and disapprove of posts by clicking the + and - buttons beneath each entry (similar to 'like' on facebook). A running tally is kept for each user, which makes life a lot more difficult for trolls (people who post with the sole intention of provoking a reaction from others).

...and that's only scratching the surface.

John Drake (the webmaster) and myself are still working through all the features and you can expect new things to be added over the coming weeks. You will see a gradually greater presence of the forums on Facebook, including the ability to make posts without leaving the site, and a few other surprises on this website designed to enhance the forum experience.

Fundamentally though, nothing will change. Users start threads and reply to messages the same way they always have, under the same user name and with the same password. The Facebook/Twitter functionality may not be for everyone, and that's fine. It's optional, and nothing that the old forum had has been taken away or replaced.

Yes, the new look may take a bit of getting used to but the least you can do is give it a try for a few weeks first. I'm sure you'll learn to accept it in time!

Those of you experiencing problems should email either myself at the address below or John (john.drake@totalrl.com). Please include details of the operating system (Windows XP, Mac OS etc) and the name of the browser (Internet Explorer, Google Chrome etc) you are using. This will help us pinpoint where the issues are. I recommend installing Google Chrome as your browser (click here).

Thanks.

[BatleyFanAndy]

The decision to revamp the forum wasn't taken lightly, and it certainly isn't a case of changing it for change's sake.

Calls for the company to upgrade the website were becoming increasingly more difficult to ignore so a significant investment of time and money has been made to enhance the forum experience for users. There are a few kinks left to iron out and the inevitable snags that come with a project this big are being worked on. John, who carried out the work to update the site in his spare time, was up until 4am last night addressing issues reported by users.

The most noticeable difference is the 'new look'. The forum width has been increased to make better use of the space on a computer screen, and we've added a collapsible sidebar to the portal page (click the 'X' to get rid of it).

What might not be immediately apparent is the changes that have been made 'under the hood', many of which were urgently needed. The software that generates the forums has been upgraded to the latest version. The site is now less vulnerable to attacks from hackers, meaning data entered by users when they signed up (like email addresses) are much safer than they were before. The update also guards against server crashes, which can take the whole site offline and result in posts going missing.

The old forum engine, which did a good job for us, had been in place for almost eight years and was becoming increasingly open to attacks from hackers, and more susceptible to server crashes. Remember, prevention is usually cheaper than the cure.

Another advantage the new forum has over the old one is that it is optimised for access from iPhones and other mobile devices. If you have an iPhone, a Blackberry or any other mobile phone with a web browser, type totalrl.com/forums into your phone's browser to give it a try.

Also in the new update is the facility to connect your Facebook and/or Twitter account to the forum. This opens up the message board to thousands more people and allows current users to update their facebook/forum status from one place. You can now also approve and disapprove of posts by clicking the + and - buttons beneath each entry (similar to 'like' on facebook). A running tally is kept for each user, which makes life a lot more difficult for trolls (people who post with the sole intention of provoking a reaction from others).

...and that's only scratching the surface.

John Drake (the webmaster) and myself are still working through all the features and you can expect new things to be added over the coming weeks. You will see a gradually greater presence of the forums on Facebook, including the ability to make posts without leaving the site, and a few other surprises on this website designed to enhance the forum experience.

Fundamentally though, nothing will change. Users start threads and reply to messages the same way they always have, under the same user name and with the same password. The Facebook/Twitter functionality may not be for everyone, and that's fine. It's optional, and nothing that the old forum had has been taken away or replaced.

Yes, the new look may take a bit of getting used to but the least you can do is give it a try for a few weeks first. I'm sure you'll learn to accept it in time!

Those of you experiencing problems should email either myself at the address below or John (john.drake@totalrl.com). Please include details of the operating system (Windows XP, Mac OS etc) and the name of the browser (Internet Explorer, Google Chrome etc) you are using. This will help us pinpoint where the issues are. I recommend installing Google Chrome as your browser (click here).

Thanks.

Tom the forum doesn't work properly on my Blackberry. For some queer reason the screen bounces round everywhere on my device and occasionally l'll be typing along and half of the letters are missing from words when check. This is very perculiar and only happens of the forum. i even checked it on a friend's BlackBerry and my brothers iPhone but it just acts in the same way.


I hope the wrinkles are ironed out swiftly. The old one was fine!

[Tom Coates]

Which Blackberry model are you using Andy? I'm making this post from my Blackberry Curve and it's working ok.

The old website may have appeared fine on the surface, but the framework supporting it was less than stable.

[BatleyFanAndy]

Which Blackberry model are you using Andy? I'm making this post from my Blackberry Curve and it's working ok.

The old website may have appeared fine on the surface, but the framework supporting it was less than stable.

Mine is a Torch and also tried it on a Bold

[London Dick]

Works fine on android

[John Drake]

I'm with you mate. It's shockin....I can't get it to load properly, and for some reason when I scroll down a page it takes ten minutes to get to the bottom, and I find that other posters posts have one word per line.

Hope the administrators are listening/reading. Whoever is responsible needs to be sacked....

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

Try using an alternative web browser or updating the one you have to the latest version. See link below. Cures most problems.
http://www.totalrl.com/forums/index.php/forum-341/announcement-49-new-look-forum-help-with-bugs-errors/

[frank]

I am having no problems with the new forum.No complaints at all.