Some comments after using the new Forum for a little over a week.

If you click on login, you have the choice to choose when you time out, you can choose to always be on and you wont have a problem.
This is done so that if you are at work or somewhere else and forget to logout, no one else can continue using your account if it times out.
As for the pics, the loading times depend on where yo have them hosted, and the image size. Once they have loaded once for each viewer though, they are cached and they download extremely fast.


If during your post, someone else has made a post, the system alerts you of this, you can read the new post, and if you wish, you can still allow your post to go through or change it to reflect a reply to the new updated post, which I find to be an extremely clever feature.


But at the end of the day, not everyone will be pleased, and I understand and respect that.

Sad to see you both go...funny, it was just the opposite for me. I left the old SCWF due to my complete infuriation at the software, posts I had meticulously prepared for weeks dissapearing into oblivion a few hours after putting them up due to a flurry of "banter" posts. Don't get me wrong, I love banter as much as the next (wo)man, but often people in Europe never even saw these posts before they had dissapeared.

With the new software, we are saving a level of information from Japanes watch experts which is nothing short of phenomenal. Seriously guys, take a good look at what we are all contributing to. What would it cost, to go out and amass this level of information, and at the same time have the ear, 24/7/365 of pretty much every knowledgeable Japanese watch geek on the planet? In addition to that we are able to maintain discussions for as long as they are worth discussing, and we have the possibility to quickly skim all recent posts across all forums (while at work ,) on a single page.

Anyway, thats my take. It would be cool to have you look in from time to time, though

I think you are blaming the software for problems caused by user error, so lets see if we can fix that.

TheFastest said:

while writing a post the system can time-out if it remains too long in posting mode (slow typist)

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The forum does NOT time you out, unless you specifically signed in that way. Log in using the lo in tab (not the quick log in. you will see an option to always stay logged in. check on that and log in. you will never get timed out. If you don't check that, the forum will keep you logged in for the number of minutes you specified in the little window above that.

TheFastest said:

it can reset if a new post to the relevant thread is made during composing a post

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Not true. The system does not reset anything. Instead if a post is made while you are in the middle of writting your own, it sends you a notice when you try to post, letting you know that someone else has already posted, and it shows you what they said. The idea is for you to be able to see the new posts and see whether you still want to reply or modify your response. if you still want to reply, your post is still there waiting for you to hit post - the system does not delete it.

TheFastest said:

the "streaming" system of posts in each thread without the old "tree" system makes it WAY too difficult to have a discussion or follow one within a thread, because too many copy and past both text AND PIX needlessly when commenting on a given post, threads become overly combersome and slooooow to load--the same pix load over and over, Finally, the to-the-top system of rearranging the thread listing makes it difficult and time consuming to pick-up where one leaves off after reading a given thread when refreshing the browser.

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While quotting a post is encouraged, I will give you that one. nothing annoys me more than seeing people quote an entire picture intensive post, just to say something like "nice watch". IN all fairness though, this is a common issue of forums everywhere. still, using the NEW feature should streamline post viewing and post loading considerably.

TheFastest said:

However, I do like being able to post pix directly, yet, here the system can do some strange things, like omit a given image (if more than one is uploaded to a single post) or rearrange the pix.

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Incorrect, the system does not do that. The system will load and show what you upload, but it will be literal about it. in other words, it's that old computer saying, "Garbage in, Garbage out". If you are getting this kind of problem, it is a user input issue, not a software one.

TheFastest said:

I know a lot of work went into the new Forum and I'm sure many like using it. Believe me, I've tried to like it... REALLY. But, I don't. I'll stop by and peruse the Sales Forum. I've bought at least 30 watches from members over the year, all of which I still have, btw.

All the best to every one!

TTFN

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We are sorry to see you go. as was said above we have tried, and continue to try, very hard to make the best forum design for the greatest number of people. That said, as you can see from my replies above, many of the issues you've been experiencing have been user related, not software related. We'd be happy to help walk you through the system directly if you are having a hard time figuring things out. IN the mean time, please look at the number of help posts we have done, along with the two user guides save to the forum. If you have any specific problems, just post them to the New Forum Questions, Answers, Feedback & Suggestions where we can address issues directly and get you sorted out. Hopefully once you and others get a better handle on how the system works, you'll reconsider your decision, If not, then we wish you the best in whatever you choose to do and thank you for all your input over the years.

TheFastest said:

One final comment, if you will...

I'm pleased so many are happy with the new system, but the issues are NOT as simple as some might like us to believe, trust me! I"m not a total beginner at this. I have "tweaked" and such my setting as suggested. However, that has NOT fixed the points I've mentioned. I'm not saying that I have not/am not aggravating the situation, but if you know anything about computers, one might realize that simply using a different version of the operating system can affect how a given piece of software performs. It may be that my machine, O.S., and other things are contributing to my issues. Note the "problems" people list with the old system... I NEVER saw them with my setup.

In any event. Have fun and "Thanks for all the fish."

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Fair comment. However, "some" might not have you believe anything.

Since you brought it up, we should clarify that over the several months that we spent testing and evaluating the software, and later once we started modifying it, it was tested extensively on multiple different platforms. We tested performance, stability and consistency of functions on various different operating systems (Windows NT and up, Mac OS, and Linux), and web browsers (IE, FF, Chrome, Opera and a few mobile ones). everything is working as intended and the system is stable across all these platforms. The only one that is still giving us problems is our mobile client, and that is limited to posting and flash animation.

Once again I extend the offer of letting us help you resolve whatever problems you are having. If you still wish to follow the dolphins off-planet, we can't stop you, but Dirk Gently would at least try to find out what's going on.