Big huge, massive upgrade - coming soon to a screen near you

[clivehorridge]

Plug and play....

IT stuff leaves me so cold. I don't touch the settings on my laptop from one day to the next. Everything's working perfectly until... well, the day it doesn't.

The company IT guy gets a phone call and he spends an hour typing away bringing up screens that I would never know existed, then it's good to go for another 3 weeks.

How anyone (normal everyday people I mean) can buy a laptop and get it up and running and use it successfully to its full capability for a couple of years, without expert assistance, is beyond me.

Sorry for your troubles Cris. Change is good, maybe. As long as it's not instigated by me. Good luck mate

 

[Dave2000]

This really does suck! Setting up, transferring files, late nights, sore eyes, BTDT! I genuinely know what your going through Crispin, have patience mate, it could be worse, it could be a 1990's modem with dip switches!

regards

Dave

 

[Crispin]

Dave, it certainly is a pain.

I got most of the stuff recovered from the backup so not much lost.

Right, back to work then

 

[TonyP]

Sheesh, are we there yet? Whatca doing between midnight and 2am

 

[Crispin]

Your Mrs

 

[Ian Chuter]

In times of adversity, you've got to keep the humour.
We all (I'm sure) appreciate your work Cris

 

[TonyP]

Your Mrs

Touche

 

[Crispin]

I think we're there!

Managed to get most of the main bits that I wanted working. There are still bits that need polishing but those will be done in the coming days.

• Drag-and-drop image upload! - No more pesky image upload faffing. Simply drag the image into where you type and the magic pixies do the rest.
• What's new - This works as best I can see. I've no doubt though that it will need something else when people start using it. I know people use different ways to see what's new.
• Facebook integration - You can now create an account very simply linking it to Facebook. Does not make much difference to existing users but for new people it's far easier.
• Integration into the Facebook page (yes, we have a page - just not used yet ) is almost done. Posts, comments and pictures made there are automatically fed into the forum.
• YouTube enhancements - Simply pasting a URL now shows an embedded video. Nothing clever needs doing.
• Saving of messages while you type. If something bad happens like a crash then when you come back it asks if you want to reload your previous message. I know some users have been stung by this
• Urm, thinks there was more but the coffee has not kicked in yet.

Still to do before I can switch over:

• Review and test the signup process. I cleaned up some of the rubbish from the old so need to make sure it's not busted.
• Check users have their correct permissions and ability to view the posts (I've noticed some don't which is odd)
• Clear everything down and import it all again

All being well, it should happen over the weekend. I'll put up a notice beforehand but can't yet give a time.

 

[clivehorridge]

Drag and drop photies Cris, wondering how I'll manage that on me iPad.... ?

May be glad of a tutorial or two, is it up and running now, 'cos it looks the same as the old one at the minute.....

 

[Crispin]

I actually wanted to put in a nod towards you and your iPad but forgot

Yes, I don't actually know how you would do that with an ipad etc - I still need to test it. having said that, the normal way of browsing for a pic is still there and will work.
It's a bit better in the new one in that you have a proper gallery now. Just think it's a bit better thought out.

No, not live yet - hoping to get it done over the weekend. Might take a few hours to do the cut over.

 

[clivehorridge]

Thanks Cris, all the hard work and heartbreak well appreciated...

 

[Sag]

Just remember we're all appreciated of all your hard work Crispin

 

[Shayne]

Its probably too late to mention it but i do wonder if the "remove ads" tab is the best way to encourage subscribers , i'm sure many like me don't care about ads and remain pretty much blind to them especially as this forum doesn't have them popping up left right and centre hiding what you want to read .

What is it 12 quid a year or something silly like that ? I save far more than that every time someone points me in the right direction so its money well spent i reckon .

 

[Crispin]

Right folks, it looks like we're ready to go for it.

The last two dry-runs I did took around 14-17 hours (gasp!) as lots of manual fiddling and faffing was needed. It should hopefully be quicker with the real run because I will be turning everything off. Get the cards out - there will be nothing to do while it goes on other than look at a nice pair of legs...

I will hopefully start the process Thursday evening and it should finish on Friday sometime. Keep checking back as I will put updates up on the splash screen.

Once all is done and I've tested a few things an email will be sent to everyone with the juicy news.

That's all for now me thinks.

CP

 

[Ian Chuter]

Good luck

 

[clivehorridge]

Go for it Cris....

 

[Dave2000]

Cruza tus dedos Crispin.

regards

Dave

 

[chadr]

Jeez you took your time!

Good luck and thanks for all your hard work Crispin - we really do appreciate it!

 

[StarCruiser]

Good luck Crispin and don't be tempted to throw the PC out the window like I am about 30 seconds after it all goes pear shaped!!

 

[Crispin]

30 seconds? Admire your patiences