Site Upgrade

[bigdamnhero]

Overall I'd rate most of the changes as either Better or Different-But-Not-Worse. And it sounds like a huge improvement on the back end, so that's cool.

 

The only complaint/question I have is regarding the Manage Followed Content page. I used to use the My Content page as my entry point, as I could see in one glance all the topics I'm following or have commented on and which have updates, with the most-recently-updated thread at the top. The new Manage Followed Content - Topics page mostly does the same thing, except:

1) The threads sort by Last Created rather than Last Updated, so old threads with new updates are buried, and

2) The Go To First Unread Post dot-link seems to be missing.

I don't know if either of those are things that can be changed, either on my end or on yours?

 

Thanks for all your hard work!

[Simon]

Look in the Activity Streams for that -- and note that you can create your own activity stream if any of the presets don't work for you.

[lemming]

16 hours ago, Simon said:

Check your account settings.... particularly the notifications settings.

Went thru and switched nearly everything email related to off.  And added another user that's a bit more active to test with.  I expect success this time.

 

Greywind, make sure to turn all the email switches to off lower down.  There are 19 of them, though I'm leaving a couple of mine on.  (I figure if someone messages me here directly, I can respond...)

[Surrealone]

On ‎11‎/‎2‎/‎2017 at 8:11 AM, Simon said:

Round and round we go.

You are not listening.  So I'll save us both time and frustration:  this "conversation" is over.  You can either read through my responses and take the advice that I gave you, ignore what I've said and simply deal with it, or go away in a huff.

So ... I tinkered around and I'm going to post the solution (which was actually an OS setting issue in conjunction with a brower issue ... and not just a browser issue as Simon kept insisting) ... in case anyone else is/was running in a notification configuration akin to mine (i.e. no notifications to/from the various browsers being run ... ever).  Key to this is that there's a chicken/egg problem that must be dealt with when using Edge  -- which the 'advice' Simon gave failed to address or mention.

 

Problem:
Pre-upgrade the site was apparently not poking Edge with any (or, perhaps, the same sort of) Notification messages that it is now sending post-upgrade.  Anyone who had all Notifications (for all Apps, including Edge) disabled at the Win10 OS level (not site-specific within Edge ... but for all apps, including Edge ... at the OS level) was prompted to enable Notifications post-upgrade.  Simply dismissing the dialog would do nothing (and would not persist).  Trying to tweak settings in Edge or deal with this by addressing it in the browser (per Simon's insistence) would have no results because Notifications for Edge (and all apps) were disabled ... at the OS level ... so there was nothing to tweak (and no way to make Notification tweaks) in Edge.  The net result was that every page load prompted enablement of Notifications for Edge.

Root Cause:
The site's looking to send Notifications to Edge ... and presumably trying to determine if it can/can't.  With all Notifications for all apps (including Edge ... or even just Edge) disabled (i.e. set to OFF) at the OS level, it isn't told yes or no ... instead it gets some sort of reply saying Notifications are disabled ... so it repeatedly prompts to enable Notifications ... something the user has already intentionally turned off ... and presumably wishes to keep turned off.
 

Solution:

OS-level setting changes are required before Edge will even try to respond the way to site expects -- meaning to solve this you must make setting changes that affect Edge, but that are not performed within or specific to Edge.  First, change settings at the OS level (within Win10's Settings) -- specifically by enabling (i.e. setting to ON) Notifications for all apps ... and then making sure Notifications are also enabled (i.e. set to ON) for Edge (this latter cannot be done until the former has been done).  Next, visit these forums again ... because only then will the site prompt the user to allow/deny Notifications (within Edge) from this site.  Select 'No' (since you had all Notifications off, I can only assume you don't want them) when asked if you want Notifications from this site ... and then once done, adjust OS settings again to disable (i.e. set to OFF) Notifications for Edge ... and also disable (i.e. set to OFF) Notifications for all apps.  This will get you back to never being bothered with Notifications for any site.

 

Notes:
Ultimately, this problem manifested solely because of this site's upgrade/changes ... since it wasn't an issue pre-upgrade. Simon's advice for browser-specific adjustments could not resolve the problem because those adjustments could not be made without first making OS-level setting changes.  (i.e. Browser-specific adjustments, alone, could not address the issue -- because you had no access/option to make those changes while all Notifications for all apps ... including Edge ... were disbled at the OS level.) I get the feeling the selection to NOT send Notifications to Edge might be stored in the cookie ... since I've got Notifications disabled again and am no longer being prompted to enable Notifications by something this site is sending ... and I'm hoping I don't have to go through this again if/when the cookie expires.

 

[Simon]

It has nothing to do with cookies, or anything else under the site's control.  It is entirely an issue with your system's configuration.

[Ninja-Bear]

I just wanted to chime in and say that as a primarily a mobile user, the new site looks great and works fine. It seems brighter than the old forum. One tiny problem and I think you already mentioned it Simon is so far when I try to do a search, nothing comes up. And that was a day or two ago. 

[Simon]

2 minutes ago, Ninja-Bear said:

I just wanted to chime in and say that as a primarily a mobile user, the new site looks great and works fine. It seems brighter than the old forum. One tiny problem and I think you already mentioned it Simon is so far when I try to do a search, nothing comes up. And that was a day or two ago. 

Likely the search indices rebuilding -- it's working fine now.

 

Make sure that you're searching at the right level -- using the search bar within a specific forum will search only that forum.  Using the search bar at the top level forum listing will default to searching all forums.

[Ninja-Bear]

Ok, thk!

[Lucius]

On ‎11‎/‎2‎/‎2017 at 11:12 AM, Nolgroth said:

My only "issue" with the site is that where the old "Go to first unread message" link was is a "Start new topic" link instead. I just have to train myself not to click it. I'll also miss that little function. 

 

As far as everything else, the site seems to be working fine.

 

On ‎11‎/‎2‎/‎2017 at 11:21 AM, Simon said:

Within the thread listing for a forum, if you click on the small dot/star on the left of the thread title you'll be taken to the first unread post in that thread.  The same applies when at the top level of the forums and looking at the fluid view, when looking at the activity feed, or any other area where threads are listed.

 

Not sure if this is what you were after...but hopefully it helps.

 

I'm not finding that dot or star to the left of the thread title. All I find to the left of a thread title is the profile of the thread originator.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Did the palindromedary eat my little star?

[Simon]

Look harder.

[Lucius]

 

Thanks, I was looking for it while INSIDE the thread.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

So the palindromedary didn't eat it, I was just looking in the wrong place.

[lemming]

On 11/5/2017 at 9:42 AM, lemming said:

Went thru and switched nearly everything email related to off.  And added another user that's a bit more active to test with.  I expect success this time.

 

Greywind, make sure to turn all the email switches to off lower down.  There are 19 of them, though I'm leaving a couple of mine on.  (I figure if someone messages me here directly, I can respond...)

 

Ok, since I'm still getting notifications when I login here as expected, but none of those resulted in email, this was definitely the cause for me getting a few emails.  So, yay!

[death tribble]

Can an administrator check my user settings as I am getting e-mails even for subjects I am not following. I have turned off notifications and cannot see what I am doing wrong. The site tells me in the e-mail 'Hi Death Tribble, someone posted a comment/reply etc' I am using Google Chrome.

And as the Site is generating the e-mails there has to be something here that is causing the problem.

Beforehand I got one e-mail a week as i subscribed to the NGD but it is more than that. I'm getting Champions forum messages as well.

[Simon]

You have absolutely everything checked under the notifications settings (I just went into your account).  You'll get notifications and emails when posts you follow are replied to, when forums you follow are replied to, when people you follow post, etc.  If you don't want those, turn off the appropriate settings.

[Simon]

In particular, you have only two topics that you follow (both in the NGD), but a slew of members that you're following.  With your current notification settings, you'll receive emails and site notifications anytime one of the members that you're following posts, replies to one of your posts, makes a status update, or does just about anything on the site.

[tkdguy]

I notice I have to sign in every time I visit the site on my phone. I could stay logged in before.

[bigdamnhero]

On 11/5/2017 at 9:39 AM, Simon said:

Look in the Activity Streams for that -- and note that you can create your own activity stream if any of the presets don't work for you.

Works perfectly - thanks!

[Rails]

16 hours ago, tkdguy said:

I notice I have to sign in every time I visit the site on my phone. I could stay logged in before.

 

Is there a "Remember me" box on the login screen on the phone and is it checked?  I only use a PC, but noticed that I had to sign in a couple of times when repeating visits because I'd forgotten to check that box.

[tkdguy]

8 hours ago, Rails said:

 

Is there a "Remember me" box on the login screen on the phone and is it checked?  I only use a PC, but noticed that I had to sign in a couple of times when repeating visits because I'd forgotten to check that box.

 

There is. I keep checking it, but to no avail.

[death tribble]

After receiving over 1,000 e-mails from the system since the upgrade I may finally have sorted the problem out by unfollowing people. Overnight this seems to have been a success.

Before the upgrade I got one e-mail a week. Afterwards I got deluged. I would say that is a glitch in the system. Listing someone as a 'friend' should not have meant that I got notified every time someone did anything on the site.

 

It is worth highlighting as I know that someone else had a lot of friends and may also be getting lots of e-mails now. Particularly as I don't believe he visits that often. Consequently you may get unreliable statistics about what the system is doing and what the users are doing. You don't want to waste your time and we don't want you to waste your time chasing 'phantoms'.

 

I also did not see the 'Notify me of replies' option and am now setting this to No every time I reply.

 

I would say that those with sight problems may find the upgrade beneficial as links are larger than pre-upgrade and putting Youtube video links come up larger as well (other video hosting sites are available).

[IndianaJoe3]

I find myself having to re-login often (but not every time), and, "Remember me" is checked.

[Simon]

1 hour ago, death tribble said:

After receiving over 1,000 e-mails from the system since the upgrade I may finally have sorted the problem out by unfollowing people. Overnight this seems to have been a success.

Before the upgrade I got one e-mail a week. Afterwards I got deluged. I would say that is a glitch in the system. Listing someone as a 'friend' should not have meant that I got notified every time someone did anything on the site.

 

It is worth highlighting as I know that someone else had a lot of friends and may also be getting lots of e-mails now. Particularly as I don't believe he visits that often. Consequently you may get unreliable statistics about what the system is doing and what the users are doing. You don't want to waste your time and we don't want you to waste your time chasing 'phantoms'.

 

I also did not see the 'Notify me of replies' option and am now setting this to No every time I reply.

 

I would say that those with sight problems may find the upgrade beneficial as links are larger than pre-upgrade and putting Youtube video links come up larger as well (other video hosting sites are available).

Unfollowing will work.  OR (and maybe this is just me) you could listen to what I said earlier and turn off notifications for people that you follow:

 

That's your screen, btw.  Not a glitch in the system, your own settings.

 

Rather than remembering to change notification settings every time you reply, you could (again) take the advice I gave earlier and change your settings.

 

 

[death tribble]

Showing the above is far more useful, thank you. I clicked on the e-mail and notification list and did not get anything else so I assumed there was nothing below.

 

And posting that earlier on would have been beneficial to everyone as it was not on the site pre-upgrade. Keeping it there now as a screenshot lets everyone see.

I worked on an IT helpdesk and I know that you never underestimate the ability of a user.

 

Ragitsu is the other user who might now be getting lots of e-mails thanks to the above and I believe is no longer visiting the site on a regular basis. Can I therefore ask that one of the administrators turns the e-mails off for him ?

As I was receiving over 1,000 e-mails from the site, the same is probably true for him. That creates a 'burden' on the site as well.

 

[Simon]

In short: no - that's on him to do.

 

It's basic site usage -- If you're getting unwanted notifications, adjust your notifications settings (what I told you to do early on).  It even states this in EVERY EMAIL THAT IS SENT.

 

Quote

You are receiving this email because you are following the Topic 'Site Upgrade'.
Prefer to stop receiving these emails? Unfollow or Adjust your notification preferences.

 

[death tribble]

As I seem to have been 'spammed' I deleted all the e-mails without reading one.

 

Please explain why e-mail was set to Yes to begin with ?

It would have saved both of us, time and energy. If you would have had to do this for every user, that is understandable. However getting annoyed does not help wither of us.