Renamed: Upgrade Discussion Thread

Awesome update guys! I didn't know where to put the: "nice job!" So here it goes. Thanks again! I should donate!
 
errors related to the new patch.

hey there, i've noticed a few time the "quick reply" box at the bottom of each thread was a darker shade of grey and wouldn't let me post to the thread. (I wasn't in a closed thread, just browsing in the lounge.)

and secondly the button there in the toolbar doesn't recognized my pictures. they are .jpg format. (things from tinypic, etc). soo what I had to do to be able to post my pictures is I have to do the oldschool .[img&/img] style.


only two things i've ran into at the moment..
other then that the site looks great, gj chr1 and the others<3
 
I've had a few quick reply problems. Often gives a pop-up asking if i wish to navigate away from the page.
 
I'm on a mobile and saw you're still working on the skin. The device worked w/o skin before, but now I repeatedly get error messages - 'insufficient memory', 'malformed url' - I can go virtually nowhere. It will be a miracle if I can get this to post. I can log in, but am told 'you are not logged in' when attempting to read and post. My trusty CP is missimg, too. :(( Anyway, you've gotta be swamped with Qs. Whenever you get a chance to respond, any help you can would be much appreciated! :))
 
My point exactly.

And as to the original complaint of this thread - the forum has been up for a few hours and we're still tweaking things under the load of new users. There will be faster and slower times during the next few days. :)
K thx
 
Ugly as sin and slow, too.

WTF?

The mind boggles 8(

The old setup wasn't broke

Why fix it?

I wasn't around very much, and this is really likely to make me come around even less.

Sad day for the forum.

The alleged "improvements" listed on the front page aren't much either, given the disadvantages.

Just because a allegedly slick but actually quite hideous Web 2.0-ish update existed from vBulletin doesn't mean it should have been actually implemented ... much less it was actually paid for? Sickening and makes me regret having donated money. I hope that the response is quick and swift and we get our old forum back.

new_coke_great_taste.jpg
 
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dtp - for now at least, 'settings' will take you to the user CP (it's the same address though). My stored links to User CP work fine (where I am on mobile right now as well as on my computer). We should be able to put another link to the User CP where it used to be. You're probably getting logged out because you didn't check 'remember me'.

See you later, Korn :p If you find and purchase another skin, we can probably accomodate but c'est la vie, kid. No matter what, some people aren't going to like whatever changes happen but most would rather have this than constant lags, timeouts, etc.

We're still working out kinks (many we couldn't foresee prior to the site going live) and very shortly the site should be running wonderfully. :)

A number of people (primarily hoptis, Chr1.5 and TheLoveBandit) spent COUNTLESS hours over the last week trying to make BL better and still people just whine about the look not being to their tastes. If you want a pretty forum, there are plenty out there - BL focuses on bring harm reduction information.
 
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I'd just like to say firstly thank you very much to the high eschalons of the Bluelight staff for all the hard work they put in upgrading Bluelight :)

I have noticed that the text is a bit wonky is some places. Like this:



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

I don't know if it's just my browser :? Anyway I'm sure you'll get it all ironed out soon enough!

:)
 
i also agree. i can't stop puking from the new theme, and i've straight up left forums before because the new format they switched it too was so unappealing. part of the reason why i came to BL the most was because the forum was so crisp looking, uncluttered, and the dark shade of blue was nice and easy on the eyes. the old BL literally had the perfect theme enabled.

i used to hate the way the opiophile forum looked, but as of now the opiophile forum looks better than this one.

sorry to dish out so much hate, but i honestly can't stand the way it looks now. everything is too "big" and cluttered now, and if you zoom out it's slightly too small.

please please please, do something about trying to get the old theme back, or the one that matches it the best. honestly i think the forum shouldn't have been updated at all, if that's the only option that allows us to get the way things back to where they used to be. something has to be done.

also that annoying yellow "auto saved" annoys the fuck out of me too when i'm thinking during my posts.

fuckin A... it's always a matter of time before a good forum tries to change something to "upgrade" it, that ultimately makes it unappealing and repulsive. i loathe the new look so much i'll definitely not be stopping by as often.

Awesome. Bluelight gets a new look and we get rid of a douchebag at the same time. That weeks wait was worth it.
 
^^
ok, so i apologize for my comments maybe being slightly harsh, but considering what a lot of people post on the internet, my post was pretty mild. No unappreciation was meant towards the people who spent the time trying to make everything run more smoothly. I was only referring to the site's new appearance.

also, to straight up call me a douchebag when you don't even know me is uncalled for. 99% of my posts on BL are geared towards harm-reduction in OD or BDD and i've done nothing but try to share knowledge and try to help others while learning all that I can here.

and Cane2theleft, i hope you really don't wish me not coming around as much. we've had a few good PM's during my time here, and I hope my initial, harsh feelings for the way the site looks doesn't change your opinion of me for the worse.
 
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someones butt hurt


im not feeling the white background..the set up and everything else im not feeling but this is the first day i suppose it will grow on me once i get used to it but i would really like to have a choice on the color of my background like we did on the old version..

also like tally said you cant just click the go button to go back to the main page on the forum...the whole having to scroll threw the list everytime just to ge to the main page is getting old and lame already

also im not feeling the timestamp at the top of every post, like its part of the post...put it back to the corner above our names like the old ones...theres space for it

other then that though i havent noticed anything but ive been on this for 30mins so far
 
I liked having the Blacklight skin, but that's about the only thing I miss.
Good work guys.



@TALLY:
The quick navigation is still at the bottom of the screen, look below the right had corner of the last post.
 
FWIW, it's working a lot faster than it was an hour or two ago.

But still, I don't get why this was done. I find the new layout to be awkward, more cluttered (particularly in the text editor), more difficult to navigate, a greater strain on the eyes, most of all less elegant ... and I don't see what the benefits of the change are.

Hey, I'll put my money where my mouth is and offer cash money as a donation if a theme which is less bandwidth-heavy, more elegant, and more like the old one is on offer.

But really, honestly, I don't think the old system was broken ... I don't get why it was fixed. Newer is not necessarily better.
 
please please please, do something about trying to get the old theme back, or the one that matches it the best. honestly i think the forum shouldn't have been updated at all, if that's the only option that allows us to get the way things back to where they used to be. something has to be done.

What part of "the told skin does not exist for this version of vBulletin" do you not understand? If you'd like to employ a team of graphics designers and engineers familiar with vBulletin and port it to our version, that would be fantastic. Otherwise, theres nothing than can be done about it.

fuckin A... it's always a matter of time before a good forum tries to change something to "upgrade" it, that ultimately makes it unappealing and repulsive. i loathe the new look so much i'll definitely not be stopping by as often.

Upgrading the version of vBulletin (among other things) was absolutely necessary to keep the forum and its members secure. We don't control (or even necessarily like) some of the changes vBulletin puts in their new releases, but thats what we're left with. As has been said repeatedly, if you find another compatible skin that you'd like to purchase for Bluelight, get back with us. Otherwise, its just going to take some acclimation.

I'm on a mobile and saw you're still working on the skin. The device worked w/o skin before, but now I repeatedly get error messages - 'insufficient memory', 'malformed url' - I can go virtually nowhere. It will be a miracle if I can get this to post. I can log in, but am told 'you are not logged in' when attempting to read and post. My trusty CP is missimg, too. :(( Anyway, you've gotta be swamped with Qs. Whenever you get a chance to respond, any help you can would be much appreciated! :))

The User CP is still there, vBulletin just changed the name to "Settings" instead. Its right at the top of your page. The mobile skin/version is high on the list of features we intend to implement.

Ugly as sin and slow, too.

WTF?

The mind boggles 8(

The old setup wasn't broke

Why fix it?

I wasn't around very much, and this is really likely to make me come around even less.

Sad day for the forum.

The alleged "improvements" listed on the front page aren't much either, given the disadvantages.

Just because a allegedly slick but actually quite hideous Web 2.0-ish update existed from vBulletin doesn't mean it should have been actually implemented ... much less it was actually paid for? Sickening and makes me regret having donated money. I hope that the response is quick and swift and we get our old forum back.

Its hard to even respond to a message like this - you obviously know nothing about the "setup" we had before nor the "setup" we have now. We were running an old, out of date version of vBulletin (among other things) and the upgrade was absolutely necessary to ensure the security of the site and its members. There was a lot that was "broke" and a lot that is now fixed.

You can bet that our engineers will be putting in countless more hours into correcting issues and improving user experience as much as possible within the new version of vB. I'd like to remind you that our engineers are professionals and volunteers, spending countless hours behind the scenes to make this place work. The value of their labor alone is tremendous and we all owe them a debt of gratitude for what they've done and are committed to continue doing.

Awesome update guys! I didn't know where to put the: "nice job!" So here it goes. Thanks again! I should donate!

Thanks so much for the <3 :D Most of the thanks is owed to hoptis and chr1.5 and the vast amount of time, money, and effort they expended to make this happen.
 
Whilst I am very appreciative of the time and effort that hoptis, chr1.5, and thelovebandit have spent upgrading to a new server with faster disks etc, I have to somewhat agree with what people are saying about the new application's skin being a tad cartooney, but that is only minor issue of preference. Cane, if anything this new look seems more 'pretty' so to speak than it was, which is probably the basis for the complaints, since the old app was very fast and slick in it's aesthetic and operational simplicity. I'm not trying to knock what the guys have done either, I appreciate that there wasn't the option to install the old interface on the new app. Maybe we'll have the option in the future to upgrade or retrograde the interface though. Maybe it's just a comfort thing of getting used to a new pair of shoes. I'm sure the bug-fixes will iron out most of the sluggishness and other faults.

So you think that they should accommodate the way that bluelight looks, because you have a shitty little computer? Guess what? Not everyone has a 2 dollar computer they got in a happy meal from mcdonalds.

You've got it wrong though I believe, things should actually be catered to people with the least power under their hood. It's actually a case of "not everone has a core Sandy Bridge with 4GB of DDR3 2113mhz RAM and an SSD hard drive". I don't believe people should be left in the dust because they are working on netbooks and other smaller devices, especially with a forum such as this where accessibility is key.

I'm already getting used to the new apllication though, so all in all I really like it :) Anyhow, big thank yous are very much in order to the staff. I'm sure everything will settle in soon enough!




By the way:

TALLY 2.0 said:
I like the theme. The only things I dont like is that yall took away the shortcuts at the bottom of the screen. Now I have to scrool back to the top to get out of the thread.

chinky said:
also im not feeling the timestamp at the top of every post, like its part of the post...put it back to the corner above our names like the old ones...theres space for it

I just thought I'd mention that you can click the "Top" button at the bottom of the thread to take you immediately to the top, there is no scrolling involved.
 
I'd just like to say firstly thank you very much to the high eschalons of the Bluelight staff for all the hard work they put in upgrading Bluelight :)

I have noticed that the text is a bit wonky is some places. Like this:



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

I don't know if it's just my browser :? Anyway I'm sure you'll get it all ironed out soon enough!

:)

It must be the way IE is handling the new vB software... I'm using Chrome and this is what the same screen looks like to me:

4Xdlw.jpg
 
the IMG problem using the button is definitely an issue, and I will make sure its escalated and added to the list of things to fix :)
 
Its hard to even respond to a message like this - you obviously know nothing about the "setup" we had before nor the "setup" we have now. We were running an old, out of date version of vBulletin (among other things) and the upgrade was absolutely necessary to ensure the security of the site and its members. There was a lot that was "broke" and a lot that is now fixed.

As far as security goes, correct me if I'm wrong, but don't patches correcting security problems come out for older versions of vBulletin? I too run a forum, albeit a phpBB one, and one that is an order of magnitude smaller than Bluelight, and honestly it's kind of the dead these days, but hey, I'm not exactly entirely ignorant of such matters. Perhaps an explanation of what, exactly, has been improved might make this bitter pill a bit easier to swallow on the part of your users? The announcement of "Welcome to the new Bluelight" doesn't have much substance to it with regard to what benefits are actually afforded to the users other than a few mostly cosmetic changes. If there are serious security issues that are addressable only by the upgrade, then so be it; it's a necessary thing, but if not, then why is it necessary? Who really benefits? Was this honestly the best use of the valuable time of the engineering staff--who's work I'm not knocking, but who's aesthetic preferences I can't deny that I take serious issue with.

Survived Abortion said:
You've got it wrong though I believe, things should actually be catered to people with the least power under their hood. It's actually a case of "not everone has a core Sandy Bridge with 4GB of DDR3 2113mhz RAM and an SSD hard drive". I don't believe people should be left in the dust because they are working on netbooks and other smaller devices, especially with a forum such as this where accessibility is key.
^this...

Furthermore, this isn't just a matter of not digging the color scheme; not everyone is working with a top of the line machine or a great deal of bandwidth. And one of the things that I always really liked about the site was the clean and elegant interface, a notable contrast to a number of sites in our genre, and now it's gone, although at least we haven't gone the way of garish colors and black background. Of course, the most important thing is the content, and not the aesthetics; but honestly, it's important, especially if now it becomes an issue of the forum being difficult to use for some.

Frankly the new look gives me a headache, it is distracting, and makes it more difficult for me to read the discussion that is going on. It is just way too busy, which leads it to be harder to navigate, which detracts from the ability of people to interact with the forum in a natural way, which is the core of having a successful community.

Is this all petty? Maybe. I still have love for the admins here, but really, I think the change, unless totally mandated by security needs or something of the like, was a bad one, and I think "New Coke" is a succinct and accurate comparison.
 
Just an update - things should be running fairly quickly now. We coordinated with our host and optimized some settings to get things moving along better.
 
SKL and former-fetus, thank you for the thoughts and civility. I appreciate the sentiment, tally but keep it in the lounge ;)

Korn, I certainly hope you don't leave - I was playing around (hence the tongue-sticking-out face).

To everyone who has any glitches, complaints, etc. - please let us know! Some of these things we can tweak, adjust and address. Many of these issues we knew about but decided that it was more important to go live sooner with a few wrinkles we could iron out later rather than delay the site going live even longer in a futile attempt to achieve perfection.
 
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