100% Improvement in Forum Performance

I have said for many years that Microsoft's Internet Exploder is by far the WORST web browser available. Your post is one of several on this forum that reinforce that. Google Chrome and Firefox are both far superior browsers in every way.

I'm glad you have seen the light and are now enjoying the new OGR Forum the way it is supposed to be enjoyed.

Same thing happened to me when I installed the latest Firefox on advice from the train brethren here.

Internet Explorer is somewhat of a standard since it comes with all versions of Windows. I maintain two web sites and after making any changes, I check that they work in all of the available browsers. The fact that this new forum has a problem with I.E. 9, tells me that it wasn't checked thoroughly. It is true that Firefox eliminates all of the problems. I have found, though, that Google Chrome has the same problem that I.E. 9 has. Anybody with the latest version of their operating system and browser should be able to view anything on the Internet the way it was meant to be seen. By the way, I.E. 9 is a lot faster than either Google Chrome or Firefox and is my choice over those two.

Right now, though, the one and only problem I see is that when  you are on the home page and try to view the train forums, the names of the forums get blocked out by the video next to the tabs. Expanding the browser to full screen eliminates the problem but I usually don't like my browser filling the full screen of my wide screen monitor. Google Chrome does the same thing but Firefox does not.

I'm sure that many of the users of this forum are not computer experts and except for keeping their software up to date, either do not know about or do not know how to download other browsers. Because of this, the complaints will never end.

I have no complaints about the new forum, but just wanted to rebut some of the statements you have been making when people claim that they are having problems. I usually don't start out on the home page so the problem with the text going behind the video isn't a problem that I would normally see unless I am looking for it.

      0  0  o  o      Carl Benvenuto
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I use Chrome at home and Explorer here at work.  Seems to work equally well for me.

I use IE9 for the forum with no problems.

me too!

I probably shouldn't have said anything. The one problem with I.E. 9 is so minor that it isn't worth discussing. I have no real legitimate complaints about the new forum.

      0  0  o  o      Carl Benvenuto
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Safari performs pretty darn well, too! 

I have both Safari and Firefox on my iMac here at home.

I like the new forum layout very well. Did use Firefox, dropped it, used exploder 7, forum looked lousy, uploaded exploder9, latest version, everything works perfectly.

Ed Mullan

I don't have a problem with ie or safari. The only issue I have is when I click on a recent post in a thread in the sidebar, it takes me to the top of the thread. Telling me to use the end key does no good on an iPad...and little sense elsewise since it's a recent post sidebar and taking you to the top of the thread is an unusual result.

I like the new forum, but mostly because it proposes to have more storage and it works fine, mostly.

 After having a problem with the new OGR format, I tried Google Chrome. It cured the problem on OGR, but then, I then started having all kinds of problems (not related to this forum) and Spybot started finding things that hadn't snuck in before. I have since canned G/C and gone back to a happy, stress free I.E. computer life.

As Carl wrote, with all its quirks, IE is the defacto standard. Any business that puts up a web site that doesn't work properly with IE is doing themselves a disservice.

That written, I use IE 8, and have not had any problems with this site.

I don't see any BIG or 100% "improvement", the new forum IMO is just different than the old one.

I still have Picture Trail as my photo site and I go thru the same number of steps to insert a photo as I did before.

The one feature I found convenient on the old forum was the ability to find a topic I posted to, I haven't been able to find the right button to do so on the new forum yet.

The one feature I notice on the new forum is that I can type my post while being able to see the topic behind it, the old forum sent you to a separate screen that you had to toggle from one to the other to view the original topic/replies.

I also use Firefox and WIN XP and have had no issues.

I'm glad to see the block that listed who's online go away, took up too much space.  The avatar boxes take up too much room too and most of the photos are still to small to see, the posters name is all we need.

But overall the new forum does what I want and it seems like the OGR admins and moderators have more control over how it looks and what can be done to improve/change it than before.

As Carl says, the reality for many businesses is that Internet Explorer is the standard browser (at least in the Microsoft world).  I have done web programming for many clients and the FIRST browser we make sure works with the site is IE.  At the time I worked at one of the major auto companies, we weren't even allowed to use anything else.  That doesn't make it the best browser and it doesn't make it the worst either.  It just means that when someone codes a site, they should make sure it still works in IE because it is the standard and there are a lot of people that use it.

The other point I'd like to make about browsers is that just because a particular version is horrible doesn't mean subsequent ones are as bad.  Just because one is good doesn't mean it is good forever either.  Sometimes, different browsers are better for different jobs.  I usually develop with Firefox and IE but Chrome is faster for some things than either of those two.  Things change.  Products compete and mature.  Advances in one control system, er I mean browser usually get adopted by the others.

Regards,

Eric S.

Saline, MI

I use Firefox and have no problems (and never had any) with the forum.  I recommend that none of you use Google Chrome as it is basically spyware funneling your browsing habits to Google for sale to advertisers and others.  IT and professional security folks know to avoid Google apps (including their phone, the "Droid) like the plague. Check out their policies! 

I have two complaints and one compliment about the new forum layout:

Complaint 1:  The front page is too small so that conversations rapidly get buried.  A lot of folks complained about this years ago and it was fixed in the old forum when the page size was increased.  Why go back to an old problem?  Extend the size of the first page so topics remain there longer.

Complaint 2:  I really liked seeing the number of views listed as part of the heading.  Is there any way to return to that as a default?

Compliment:  Adding photos is a breeze and you can do it directly from your computer without needing some sort of html location.  A great improvement!

I'm sorry I can't make the changes you have suggested. They have been suggested to Hoopla and if they change the code, we may see it happen. Unfortunately I cannot change these parameters via my admin control panel.