Finally, back online again!

[wimg]

13 hours ago, aimi said:

I LOVE dark mode, but the loading image is still bright and it flashes by so quickly it hurts the eyes a bit. Is it possible to change that to something transparent or dark as well when dark mode is on? Appreciate all the work the mods put in, and I understand if this isn’t possible  have a great week!

Unfortunately, that won't be possible, I am afraid. Dark Mode actually is an add-on, and it also only works for the default skin/theme. I already asked the author, but there is nothing that can be done about that, unless possibly if we would have custom development done for this. Even then there si no guarantee.

 

Since we currently cannot afford any custom work other than what is underway right now, we wil first have to replenish our funding, and that is exactly what we are currently working on. Funding at the moment is entirely based on any donations we receive, and people acquiring premium memberships. Unfortunately, on the total number of registered members here, that is only just over 1 per 1000.

 

Warm regards, Wim

 

[aimi]

6 hours ago, wimg said:

Unfortunately, that won't be possible, I am afraid. Dark Mode actually is an add-on, and it also only works for the default skin/theme. I already asked the author, but there is nothing that can be done about that, unless possibly if we would have custom development done for this. Even then there is no guarantee.

 

Since we currently cannot afford any custom work other than what is underway right now, we wil first have to replenish our funding, and that is exactly what we are currently working on. Funding at the moment is entirely based on any donations we receive, and people acquiring premium memberships. Unfortunately, on the total number of registered members here, that is only just over 1 per 1000.

 

Warm regards, Wim

 

I understand, thank you for taking the time to consider it and respond to me, Wim. Love the forum and still very thankful for dark mode. Have a wonderful week!

[SamCapote]

On 1/20/2021 at 8:03 AM, wimg said:

Unfortunately, on the total number of registered members here, that is only just over 1 per 1000.

 

Warm regards, Wim

 

 

Wim, that is heartbreaking!  I have contributed in the past, and bought ink & pens, but I'm going to go get one of those red badges.  Thanks for all those who love this site, but don't realize the time, effort, cost, etc. involved it making it such a great place!

[wimg]

43 minutes ago, SamCapote said:

 

Wim, that is heartbreaking!  I have contributed in the past, and bought ink & pens, but I'm going to go get one of those red badges.  Thanks for all those who love this site, but don't realize the time, effort, cost, etc. involved it making it such a great place!

Thank you, very much appreciated!

 

Warmest regards, Wim

[N1003U]

On 12/16/2020 at 11:31 PM, Astronymus said:

I can't agree more. These ancient layouts where much more reader friendly than those modern clicky candy style text bubbles.

 

Or maybe I'm just getting old. And grumpy. 🧐

Yea. I hear that. I am also an old dinosaur that has trouble letting go too. Sometimes it’s fun to fire up that old Gateway 2000 running DOS, go make myself a cup of coffee while it boots up, dial-in, and type me some old-fashioned BB code.

 

On the other hand, I’d like to think I have a larger and more functional than average dinosaur brain that will give me a better chance of adapting to the new climate when the next big asteroid strikes.

 

Now that I have played with the new platform for a couple of months, using various access devices (regular computer, tablet, and mobile device), for me, the improvements FAR outweigh any loss of the classic “look and feel”.

 

The new software seems to handle mundane tasks (e.g., graphics, text editing, quotes) much more intuitively, and the default behaviors are generally pleasant.

 

For example, I used to avoid FPN like the plague using my mobile operating system devices—now it is a pleasure.

 

I am still not used to the new classifieds, but maybe that will come with time.

 

Overall, great job by the technical team with the upgrades!

 

On 1/20/2021 at 2:03 PM, wimg said:

Unfortunately, that won't be possible, I am afraid. Dark Mode actually is an add-on, and it also only works for the default skin/theme. I already asked the author, but there is nothing that can be done about that, unless possibly if we would have custom development done for this. Even then there si no guarantee.

 

Since we currently cannot afford any custom work other than what is underway right now, we wil first have to replenish our funding, and that is exactly what we are currently working on. Funding at the moment is entirely based on any donations we receive, and people acquiring premium memberships. Unfortunately, on the total number of registered members here, that is only just over 1 per 1000.

 

Warm regards, Wim

 

 

Wow, now I am more impressed. I realize that sites like this typically run on very thin budgets, but what you do here with the resources available is amazing (in terms of function, stability, availability, security, etc.).

 

It is a testament to the skills of the FPN team. Anybody can do this with an unlimited budget. Doing it virtually without resources is very impressive (17k€ is chump change for what is offered here, either free or for very low-priced paid consideration). I am one of those moochers who isn’t currently paying (though I do support the advertisers when I can, and I mention their support for FPN influences my purchasing decisions). I will see if I can do a little more. FPN is a great product.

 

I have seen a lot less done with a lot more elsewhere. FPN must really be a labor of love.

 

Thanks to the team for all you do!

[wimg]

1 hour ago, N1003U said:

Yea. I hear that. I am also an old dinosaur that has trouble letting go too. Sometimes it’s fun to fire up that old Gateway 2000 running DOS, go make myself a cup of coffee while it boots up, dial-in, and type me some old-fashioned BB code.

 

On the other hand, I’d like to think I have a larger and more functional than average dinosaur brain that will give me a better chance of adapting to the new climate when the next big asteroid strikes.

 

Now that I have played with the new platform for a couple of months, using various access devices (regular computer, tablet, and mobile device), for me, the improvements FAR outweigh any loss of the classic “look and feel”.

 

The new software seems to handle mundane tasks (e.g., graphics, text editing, quotes) much more intuitively, and the default behaviors are generally pleasant.

 

For example, I used to avoid FPN like the plague using my mobile operating system devices—now it is a pleasure.

Well, it was rewritten from the ground up, indeed catering much better for mobile devices, but that is what made the transition so much more difficult, as we started with the forum software with version 1.2.1 back in 2004. And the old stuff did not translate too well until fairly recently, going from 3.4.x to 4.5.x

 

Quote

I am still not used to the new classifieds, but maybe that will come with time.

Don't get used to it too much, we will switch to the definitive, very stable (stand-alone) system, probably within the next 3 months, even if that means it is not 100% complete yet. We are workign on gettign it legally compliant right now.

 

We have had it with the different experiences of Classifieds add-ons which are bug riddled and take ages to be fixed. Oh wait, the previous one never got fixed, and the current one is in a similar state as the first one right at its inception ....

 

Quote

Overall, great job by the technical team with the upgrades!

Thank you! It was a lot of work, migrating to a new server, fixing the database software, retrieving and repairing the database, general clean-up, and converting the database and upgrading, which required a data conversion as well.

 

Quote

Wow, now I am more impressed. I realize that sites like this typically run on very thin budgets, but what you do here with the resources available is amazing (in terms of function, stability, availability, security, etc.).

Thank you again!

 

Quote

 

It is a testament to the skills of the FPN team. Anybody can do this with an unlimited budget. Doing it virtually without resources is very impressive (17k€ is chump change for what is offered here, either free or for very low-priced paid consideration). I am one of those moochers who isn’t currently paying (though I do support the advertisers when I can, and I mention their support for FPN influences my purchasing decisions). I will see if I can do a little more. FPN is a great product.

 

I have seen a lot less done with a lot more elsewhere. FPN must really be a labor of love.

 

Well, it is, I guess.

 

Quote

Thanks to the team for all you do!

Thank you, I'll pass it on to the rest of the team!

 

Warmest regards, Wim

[RubenDh]

Thank you for all the hard work being done @wimg!!

 

Any idea when the "feedback" section on profiles will be re-added?

 

Thank you!

 

Ruben

[wimg]

Just now, RubenDh said:

Thank you for all the hard work being done @wimg!!

 

Any idea when the "feedback" section on profiles will be re-added?

 

Thank you!

 

Ruben

No idea yet, I am afraid.

 

We are still waiting for a maoin forums software update to fix the problem, and my idea to possibly get around the problem requires time I do not have currently.

 

We are working hard to get advertising going again, as that has been down since November 4 as well, and it is our main source of funding for the site by far. IOW, we have to have that up and going with the highest priority. We are in the test phases now, but there still are a few fixes to be done, and a fair amount of rather complex configuration items.

 

Once that is done I hope to have some time for the Feedback add-on.

 

HTH, warm regards, Wim

[Paul-in-SF]

Just a note, not a complaint. It might have been some transitory glitch. But I had a little trouble getting on FPN yesterday morning. First I got an internet error message (not a 404 but something similar, sorry I did not make a note of what it said), and when I tried again a few minutes later I got a screen full of what looked like programming code. I left it alone for a while, and when I tried a third time everything was fine. This happened, I think, between 9am and 10am PST yesterday. 

 

I was checking in this thread because I thought this was where it might have been reported, if other people had this issue too. Since I don't see anything here, I assume it was just me. But I thought folks might like to know anyway, just in case.

[mizgeorge]

39 minutes ago, Paul-in-SF said:

Just a note, not a complaint. It might have been some transitory glitch. But I had a little trouble getting on FPN yesterday morning. First I got an internet error message (not a 404 but something similar, sorry I did not make a note of what it said), and when I tried again a few minutes later I got a screen full of what looked like programming code. I left it alone for a while, and when I tried a third time everything was fine. This happened, I think, between 9am and 10am PST yesterday. 

 

I was checking in this thread because I thought this was where it might have been reported, if other people had this issue too. Since I don't see anything here, I assume it was just me. But I thought folks might like to know anyway, just in case.

I couldn't see the board for most of the day (as in daytime) yesterday. Same error message you were seeing (I suspect), followed by a brief period of scamble, and then back last night, albeit with a few glitches - especially to the activity feed. Today has seemed to be normal.

[wimg]

Sorry for that!

 

We actually installed some stuff, resulting in CSS being temporarily disabled. This means that you get a very strange textual view of everything.

If we had known this in advance, we would have gone off-line temporarily.

 

Do note that if you saw this for longer than about an hour, the time it took to upgrade, it likely is a cache problem in your internet browser.

To make doubly sure, it is best to empty your browser cache, temp files and history, and do that every so often, say, once a week, or upon closing your browser at the end of the day or similar.

 

HTH, warm regards, Wim

[KLscribbler]

Just want to take a moment to thank the FPN team for your hard work and dedication in upgrading this site. I have been away for a couple years & just recently returned to find this revamped interface. It will take some getting used to for sure, but basic reading and posting functions feel more intuitive now, especially on mobile devices - the forum is much more readable on my phone today than I remember from 2019.

 

Thank you for keeping FPN going. 🙏

[wimg]

9 hours ago, KLscribbler said:

Just want to take a moment to thank the FPN team for your hard work and dedication in upgrading this site. I have been away for a couple years & just recently returned to find this revamped interface. It will take some getting used to for sure, but basic reading and posting functions feel more intuitive now, especially on mobile devices - the forum is much more readable on my phone today than I remember from 2019.

 

Thank you for keeping FPN going. 🙏

Thank you, much appreciated!

 

We could finally, after 4 years, move to the new software, as upgrades finally did work as we'd expect, and while at it, also upgrade to a faster and bigger server. The latter makes it faster anyway, and the former adds all the fluidity and scalability required,  makes it look much more modern, and allowed for the entire site to be run in https too, rather than just the sign-in screens :).

 

The update/upgrade process hasn't run its course completely yet, we will still be busy for at least another 3 months, but all of the important stuff runs or has a temporary solution right now :).

 

Warm regards, Wim

[Astronymus]

So far all efforts seem to pay off. Surely it will be more attractive to new users now too. 👍

[wimg]

18 minutes ago, Astronymus said:

So far all efforts seem to pay off. Surely it will be more attractive to new users now too. 👍

Yes, thanks, we do think so.

One big advantage for new usera is that we are finally back to automated registration :). Manual registration effectively had becoem impossible woth the influx we had.

The new system is really great at seperating out the chaff od spammers :). No more need to do that manualy, which si an awfully time-consuming procedure .

 

Warm regards, Wim

[wvbeetlebug]

Well done!