• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Your Feedback Requested - XenForo

Status
Not open for further replies.
I'm familiar with Xenforo from a forum that changed from vbulletin. I personally prefer vbulletin for simple reasons, I'm old school and liked the friends listed in profiles with avatars, Xenforo just has followers. Avatars in VB are nice and large as they are here, the other software has smaller round avatars, not as nice, IMO. Blogs weren't part of XF, so groups and blogs were gone after the change. There were some good things, seemed to be faster, easier to upload larger photos, videos showed on forum in Full Screen (which I love), forum easier to use on smartphone, etc.

Private messages are called conversations, and other members can be invited to join in them if desired. Moderation is easier, if a spammer joins, they can be identified easily and their content and account can be deleted in one click. It takes a bit of getting used to, but once you get the hang of how to do things differently like multi-quote, upload photos, embed videos, it becomes second nature. No problems with slow loads or lags like experienced sometimes with vbulletin.

Overall, I think it is more modern and needed to keep up with a very active board like this. Vbulletin is becoming a dinosaur, like Internet Explorer for browsers. I'm really a technophobe, was late to start using computers and never had a geek around for any advice, but even I was okay with the change. Good luck to the admin here....good move!
 
Looks OK, but the issue with me is that I have No Script on my FF browser and XF seems to require javascript. Any possibility of keeping it turned off?
 
As has been discussed previously, we are seriously considering changing the forum software from vBulletin 4.x to XenForo 2.x. vB doesn't have the features we're wanting to add, it's a bit outdated and support is almost non-existent. We've done some testing (and still have more to do), but I wanted to get some feedback from our DP community as a whole. With that in mind, I have created a demo for everyone to join and play around with. It will be up and running until Tuesday evening. Test out some of the features (mentions, embed video from multiple sources, embed tweets, etc...). So far, I've created just a few generic forums for the purpose of this test environment. If we decide to go with XenForo, everything from here will be moved to the new software.

Website - XenForo demo

I ask that everyone behave yourselves and please post any feedback concerning the software here in this thread. Please keep in mind that the settings are mostly the default settings, some of these will need to be tweaked (for example, the default setting for new thread creation was 3 minutes).

Thanks

I haven't signed up for the forum you linked to, so keep these comments with that in mind.

Generally speaking, I think this (the one I am using now) forum is good, but, yes, this forum could really use an upgrade with embedding external content. The news media world has changed quite a bit with Twitter becoming the de facto place where reporters, journalists, and photojournalists spend their time (heck, they even tease their readership with "news incoming" tweet, which precede a Twitter post or a full release of their piece). Taking a brief look at the forum you linked to, I think you're going to get way better use from that.

Another problem with this current forum is that attaching images is a bit difficult, and I am continuously having an issue while uploading images from your own computer where the upload box goes blank after I try to upload the file. Now, let's say there's a feature out there that allows people to quickly and easily access a vast library of animated gif files to attach to posts. Even better!

I can't quite tell yet if the software you're linking to has it, but I would suggest trying to find software that continues to make use of signatures. While people can just litter this section with blah, it does allow people to link to things that may be of use to forum users. As an example, something that I did years ago that I dumped was making a thread containing some of the better pieces of literature on American right and left wing thought throughout its history. Linking that in signatures can be useful. If this has that feature, bully for you.

On the minor side of things, some things on this website could be a tish more intuitive. It's easier for me to recover who quoted me than recall who or what liked me, when it may make more sense to have the two in very similar locations. Now, I think that getting to who quoted me is far more important than finding who liked me, but when I can see who quoted me in one tab and what I wrote in another tab, maybe it would be intuitive to have the "who liked me" near one of those two. That is...unless it was somewhere simple the whole time and I couldn't remember it. Related to that is the difficulty linking quote directly back to the post that is quoting me. I'm sure you've heard that a million times and whatever have you. But there it is.
 
Last edited:
Not sure. I like vBulletin, I'm very used to it in other forums too and I actually find their customer support decent. Not sure why the need to switch. I'd rather not. But hey, whatever you guys decide is fine with me.

A question: will the migration put everybody in equal footing like everybody starting with one post? I find it helpful to see for how long users have been here. Posting history will also be lost, right? That, for me is a big downside as sometimes one needs to fish out an old post to make or prove a point.
 
Another problem with this current forum is that attaching images is a bit difficult, and I am continuously having an issue while uploading images from your own computer where the upload box goes blank after I try to upload the file. Now, let's say there's a feature out there that allows people to quickly and easily access a vast library of animated gif files to attach to posts. Even better!

I never had this problem. I upload pictures easily and fast, and there's never a glitch. I suspect it is something local in your computer, like some sort of script block.
 
I haven't signed up for the forum you linked to, so keep these comments with that in mind.

Generally speaking, I think this (the one I am using now) forum is good, but, yes, this forum could really use an upgrade with embedding external content. The news media world has changed quite a bit with Twitter becoming the de facto place where reporters, journalists, and photojournalists spend their time (heck, they even tease their readership with "news incoming" tweet, which precede a Twitter post or a full release of their piece). Taking a brief look at the forum you linked to, I think you're going to get way better use from that.

Another problem with this current forum is that attaching images is a bit difficult, and I am continuously having an issue while uploading images from your own computer where the upload box goes blank after I try to upload the file. Now, let's say there's a feature out there that allows people to quickly and easily access a vast library of animated gif files to attach to posts. Even better!

I can't quite tell yet if the software you're linking to has it, but I would suggest trying to find software that continues to make use of signatures. While people can just litter this section with blah, it does allow people to link to things that may be of use to forum users. As an example, something that I did years ago that I dumped was making a thread containing some of the better pieces of literature on American right and left wing thought throughout its history. Linking that in signatures can be useful. If this has that feature, bully for you.

On the minor side of things, some things on this website could be a tish more intuitive. It's easier for me to recover who quoted me than recall who or what liked me, when it may make more sense to have the two in very similar locations. Now, I think that getting to who quoted me is far more important than finding who liked me, but when I can see who quoted me in one tab and what I wrote in another tab, maybe it would be intuitive to have the "who liked me" near one of those two. That is...unless it was somewhere simple the whole time and I couldn't remember it. Related to that is the difficulty linking quote directly back to the post that is quoting me. I'm sure you've heard that a million times and whatever have you. But there it is.

Have you tried the basic uploader? You can switch to it right from the popup box.
 
Yes, we will incorporate lean and change color schemes. This is just the default layout. I will play around more with it over the next day or two.

I think we implicitly trust your knowledge, and appreciate the chance to see the possible new look. :)

My only concern would be that stark white; the gentle blues here are absolutely perfect & would ideally be part of the new site's skin.
 
Lots of folks probably enjoy the "thread information" feature at the bottom of threads here.

There are currently 3 users browsing this thread. (2 members and 1 guests)

Wonder if new site would have a similar display, allowing members know whether they have an active audience or not.
 
If it's not broke, do not fix it
 
I suggest tweaking the sig feature, if possible.

I didn't really push the limits, but I included a pretty big picture AND a video in my sig line in this thread: Testing My Sig Line | XenForo demo

I can see that stuff getting out of hand VERY quickly...or everyone will be forced to turn off seeing sigs in their preferences.

That's all I've done so far, but I have no complaints. I've used xenforo in other forums. Not hard to get used to.
 
It looks pretty decent but I too am not a fan of the tiny round avatars but then again that seems to be the way everything is going. Facebook adopted the same format :(

Also a very minor nothing issue, do we lose all the cool emoji/smileys that we have here?
The default smileys on the XF site are also just like FB...dull.
I want to be able to :beatdeadhorse while sit and relax and have an enjoyable :eek:uch: while the :popcorn2: is in the :nukeum:...but that's just me.
 
I suggest tweaking the sig feature, if possible.

I didn't really push the limits, but I included a pretty big picture AND a video in my sig line in this thread: Testing My Sig Line | XenForo demo

I can see that stuff getting out of hand VERY quickly...or everyone will be forced to turn off seeing sigs in their preferences.

That's all I've done so far, but I have no complaints. I've used xenforo in other forums. Not hard to get used to.

Yikes! That would really pollute the forum.
 
Until nudged from family and friends, I spurned cell phones. Seriously, it took an intervention before I acquired one. Advancing beyond a flip phone became another obstacle. Why bother to text? Besides, my phone plan use to charge per text.

Patient family and friends forced me to change. They insisted I keep up with the times. Fortunately, and to my benefit in countless ways, I caved in.

Today, I tend to accept the new iPhones and Apple devices thrust upon me. I bitch until I adapt. Change or get left behind.

Bring on the XenForo! I trust and appreciate RedA and the staffs' stewardship of the DP Forum.
 
Yes, we will incorporate lean and change color schemes. This is just the default layout. I will play around more with it over the next day or two.

Ref preferences/alerts and what some entail/user tips??

If it comes with a how to for dummies, pls sign me up

My friend also asked for a copy
 
Polls

Love the upgrade for that puppy- waited approx 51 mins to add one

From changing votes, to it appears an unlimited time to add a poll, not sure

Often situations change as more info comes available, and makes polls flexible

Will check later in the day to see if other vote options can be added
 
Until nudged from family and friends, I spurned cell phones. Seriously, it took an intervention before I acquired one. Advancing beyond a flip phone became another obstacle. Why bother to text? Besides, my phone plan use to charge per text.

Patient family and friends forced me to change. They insisted I keep up with the times. Fortunately, and to my benefit in countless ways, I caved in.

Today, I tend to accept the new iPhones and Apple devices thrust upon me. I bitch until I adapt. Change or get left behind.

Bring on the XenForo! I trust and appreciate RedA and the staffs' stewardship of the DP Forum.

I also appreciate the administrators/moderators here, they are busy with such an active forum, but they do a good job....thanks!

Trippy, I'm like you, didn't get a home computer until 2000, didn't do away with my Tracfone and switch to a smartphone until a couple of years ago...still don't text or post on forums with it, only short calls...it gets shut off when I come home and I use my landline only.

Another nice thing about Xenforo, is you can just highlight a couple of sentences from someone's post, you'll automatically get a quote or reply option, click reply and there's no editing needed to get rid of parts of the post that you're not addressing. Click quote on multiple posts and you can add all those quotes to your message, as in multi-quote. CS, from all I've seen, the crappy smileys come with the new software unfortunately....unless Red can work around that, not sure it's possible.

I think all the old posts/threads should transfer over with the new software, but not sure. A lot of forums are switching to the more modern Xenforo, as I said vBulletin is outdated and so it is "broke" and needs to be fixed to keep up with the demands of a high traffic board.
 
Polls

Love the upgrade for that puppy- waited approx 51 mins to add one

From changing votes, to it appears an unlimited time to add a poll, not sure

Often situations change as more info comes available, and makes polls flexible

Will check later in the day to see if other vote options can be added

I believe you're right on the polls, I like that you can change your vote, sometimes we accidentally choose the wrong option and now you can't go back. Another thing that's good is you can edit your thread title without having to Go Advanced.
 
I believe you're right on the polls, I like that you can change your vote, sometimes we accidentally choose the wrong option and now you can't go back. Another thing that's good is you can edit your thread title without having to Go Advanced.

Appears to be quite versatile

That is a net positive in my eyes
 
It has more than 10 posts per page.

I hope we can keep that. It really hurts the conversation when the it's a new page every few posts. Your posts get buried and nobody ever sees them.

I'd like to see 30 to 40 posts per page.

You can change that here!
 
I dunno. I like having the option of changing the format colors, as I tend to go with LateNight (at the bottom).
 
Is there any risk the forum contents could be lost with the change? Would members post count and join date remain intact? There is value in knowing if the other poster is a newbie or been on the forum for years.
 
Is there any risk the forum contents could be lost with the change? Would members post count and join date remain intact? There is value in knowing if the other poster is a newbie or been on the forum for years.

From what I read, all is transferred over
May have to update setting / alerts and such as there are new ones
 
Keerist, three years and I haven’t figured out all the whistles and bells here.........
 
I'm in :)

I like so far.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom