Voice your opinions (Change IPB 3.2 Now)

[XiuzSu]

I've taken the time to read over some of the feedback topics so that I can condense them all into this.
I believe I can say that at this time I'm speaking for most of the IPB customers.

Before I continue I would like to the let the IPB staff know that I'm not in any kind of way attempting to cause unrest in the community beyond a civil and polite disagreement.

While a lot of your members like the changes done to IPB in the 3.2 version there are quite a large number which do not like the way its headed (I'm also speaking for myself).
Though changes aren't always bad, when you change IPB to something completely new and without really hearing your customer your bound to make quiet a few unhappy.

The List:
(Add) = We want it back
(Rem) = We don't need it / Remove it
(Acc) = We accept the change

Features Removed:

Avatar Galleries: (Add)
I think that deleting this was unnecessary, the images are already in the board, and they could of been used by anyone while lowering bandwidth (since you now force them to upload them to the board).

Linked Avatars: (Add)
IPB no longer allows users to use externally-hosted avatars. This pretty much forces users to waste disk space and bandwidth, which is a big deal in big boards. Some of the boards I've been on don't allow the uploading of avatars for this reason. And, yes, the users could use Gravatar, but why force users to use a third-party service which I don't even use myself? That just adds more steps to be taken just to use an externally-hosted avatar. I don't even think you can specify avatars for individual sites using Gravatar. Furthermore, users can no longer use dynamic avatars regardless whether they use Gravatar or not.

Animated Avatars: (Add)
Most of the members think... "Well now we are going backwards".
We all know that during the very few days of IPB 3.2 Beta testing there where a few members using flashing avatars, they where quiet annoying I will agree to say but was this your only reason? Please note that any forum moderator is able to remove an avatar, if in any community this was not allowed moderators have the power to remove them.
Now because of this incident you are stopping a ridiculous number of non-annoying GIF(Animated avatars).

Status online/offline: (Acc)
Though some of you dislike the idea of this being remove, I sadly have to agree with IPB.

Does the user being online or offline impact how you reply to the topic? I don't see how it does especially when you also allow users to login anonymously meaning they will always show offline.

The point of a forum, as opposed to a chat room, is that you don't have to be "online" to participate in a conversation. For example, I am often online but not on our forums here. Yet if someone posts a reply to a topic I am tracking I get an email and instantly read the topic. I would not want someone choosing not to post because the little indicator next to me name shows offline.

To summarize: the online indicator on a forum is misleading to the average user. The average user does not understand that, unlike your instant messenger application, the user could have signed off 15 minutes before and it would still show them online. So, in the end, the online indicator is not really telling you what you think it is nor is it bringing any useful information to you that will impact how you interact with the topics.

Topic Description: (Add)
While you've fail to find a reason to keep this (I've personally have too) a few of our members don't feel the same.
I find it possible to alter easily the system of Tags for Descriptions (Just how you have "Likes/Reputation").

IPB 3.1 Skin: (Add)
Out of all the boards I've seen using IPB about 90%+ of them are using the default 3.1 skin. I personally think that skin is excellent and why most of them feel no need to get a custom because its just that great. I've actually purchase 2 custom skins and I'm still using the 3.1 skin as default. We are not asking to pick one of the two. We are not asking to have the 3.1 skin instead of the 3.2 skin. We are only asking to release 3.2 with an upgrade 3.1 skin (We know it won't be 100% like it was in 3.1 since the forum has changed and we are OK with that). Most of us find the 3.1 skin to be "too plain" for our taste, you can never go wrong with giving us a choice!

Member Viewing: (Add)
You can no longer see what a member is doing/viewing while in their profile.
This is now only possible by viewing the full online list which might not even be enabled on some boards.
I find this to be something necessary to have... after all... it is their profile.

Cute Little Images: (Add)
Now I know that most of them where part of the skin, but now it just feels like we are going back.
For example: The forum images seem to have extremely low quality compare to the previous forum images, they look choppy and unprofessional.
Even the "Edited by" image looks unprofessional or "done in a hurry".

Features Added:

ACP Dropdown Menu: (Rem)
I've fail to hear anything good about it (Maybe I'm not reading in the right place but I think so too).
It seem to be so troublesome, and very much like "In your face" kind of thing. Now I'm not talking about the color cause I know that can be changed as well but just the dropdown menu itself. Unless you know where something is already by heart, you will find that using this its very tedious work.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

(My attempt to talk some sense into IPB Dev's)
I'm sure you guys will let me know about other people making hooks and apps to do these that have been removed but fact of the matter is this...
We don't want to rely on a 3rd person to have a functional board how we want it to (Not saying they aren't reliable but often than not the hook author vanishes or stops supporting the hook when a new IPB version comes out and then your left in the air). We pay you a renewal fee so that we can stay up to date with these things and so that we don't have to rely on other people for things that most boards have as default.

We aren't 100% happy with all these changes and we can cope with some but if you don't want/like a certain feature you should at least give us the option to enable/disable it!
Removing features is very counter productive, we know you have your reasons but you should take the time to listen to us.

From all:

Give the power of choice back to Admins and communities not tells us what we want.

Thank you for reading and thank you guys whom I've quoted to make this topic possible.
Here are a few of these customers below.

Just don't like the direction its gone. Little things that make forums more attractive have been taken away because they 'serve no purpose'. The new skin design is nice and clean but clean isn't everything, the board index and forum view especially is boring, very bland. Look at the board index for example, the avatar overload is simply too much. You've got them on the right of every forum under last post, and every part of the sidebar has them too. Whilst adding these avatars everywhere, you've taken away all little images that such as [img]

[/img] in the sidebar that make it abit more attractive. (online statuses, folders etc and I could go on but I've done enough of that over the months).

Even the bullet points that signalled if a sub forum has new posts in it by turning green has gone from the board index. Now that was useful, you know...

I love the new functionality but the whole look means I don't get to have that. Can you make a 3.1 skin available? Afterall, this is still 3.x, we shouldn't see a complete overall in the design, especially if we don't want it. Have used this software since 1.3 and this is the first version that makes me :sad:

Personal experience so far I would have to say I doubt very much I will upgrade until I have no other choice, now I fully understand it is a very competitive market and I fully respect the amount of work thats gone into it.

Some features I can see as being very handy especially within the ACP side like making skinning easier etc but I feel there is also things I would class as "bloatware" that 99% of members will never even notice far less use.

I've spent nigh on 2 years work and a lot of money on custom made mods, a couple which were never public release and now find that most mods have errors or skin problems which will mean more time and money to rectify.

For some reason the entire look keeps screaming out facebook to me and although I know this will probably please a lot of customers, I am one of the few that it won't as I completely detest facebook and anything that remotely looks like it.

I still would never run any other forum software as I have always said IPB was the dogs since my 1st account back in I think it was 04 but I will be in the 1% that are not a fan of this latest generation.

Sorry and no offence intended,. John

After surfing here for a few days on this version I got to say I really don't like it and it's not going to be a good fit to my forums. It was said earlier "bland", that's a very good way to say why. And I'm not one to want to "customize" much more than applying a skin and being good to go. I'm sorry, but I don't like it at all. Please don't do this to us!!!

I have been with IPB since 2003 and 3.1.4 will probably be my last upgrade. I really like "some" small things that have been done in 3.2 like the login (which I had a similar one for 3.1.4) but i really don't care for the look and the brightness and the squareness of everything. I have been playing with 3.2 since yesterday and I really don't find modifying it any easier than 3.1.4, but that is just me. I don't like how everything is so hidden and you have to hover over it for it to appear as my forum caters to seniors and they won't like that one bit. I don't like that the topic "description" was removed as my users use that all the time. I don't like that the editor will not display the emoticons on the side anymore. I have asked for a contact form for years and always falls on deaf ears, and still no contact form. I could go on and on but won't for now.

There have been so many great new features added, some of them I will never use, but there have been necessary features removed *sighs*

Apart from that, I'm not quite sure if I'll renew my license and upgrade to IP.Board 3.2 or use another software in the future. It now heavily depends on IP.Content. If it's still only usable by myself and my users don't get it because it's too complicated for them I'll leave IPS behind.

And the list goes on...

Change IPB 3.2 before its too late, support this topic by liking it!

[Michael]

I believe I can say that at this time I'm speaking for most of the IPB customers.

No, I don't think you can. People don't realize how small of a percentage of IPS's customers actually visit the feedback forums. And even based on what's been posted, just because 15-20 people respond saying they support a particular topic, there are likely at least as many if not more people who have no problem with the topic and thus don't even bother to come into the topic to talk about it.

In addition, these 'cram a bunch of things into one topic' topics are always a bad idea. There's never any organization to them, people go off into their own little tangents, and it's impossible to maintain a coherent message. Just talk about the individual issues in the existing individual topics.

EDIT: To clarify, I'm not saying there's no merit to any of these, but each issue needs to be discussed separately, and just because a handful of people agree does not mean it's a sweeping popular movement among the entire customer base.

[Andrej]

I agree with Michael.

[invisiblex_merged]

Status online/offline is needed. Dont make up your own things. Its a must.

Topic description not needed.

IPB 3.1 skin not needed. Its the worst theme ever.

[Divine Forces]

The only things i'm a bit annoyed about is the inability to have animated avatars/gifs in your profile picture on Topic View. Index View I accept it would look silly, but topic view I think it should be restored. (Note: I actually think this is just a bug but if its not then ye). I also wouldn't mind seeing topic descriptions coming back, but someone's already offered to create a hook for it so it's not really a big issue.

As for everything else, I'm not too fussed tbh. The board seems a lot cleaner to me now, and I have no doubt that some of the extra features you want can be customised via a hook (In fact, for two of your problems, the online/offline icon and the ACP Dropdown menu already have hooks released for them for the users who disagree with the default!)

[JahLion]

I find this topic pointless because there are so many already open talking about the same things already that OP is talking about,why copy and past people post to make a new topic to talk about the same things that's already talk about make no sense.

[ᴡᴅツ]

The edited by button can be fixed (minor issue)
I didn't notice the avatar issue. IMO this should be an admin setting. (maybe it is)
Online/offline is still available in the hover-card. You can likely copy the code and place it in the topic view yourself if you wish.

And aside from the pink color scheme in the ACP, I think 3.2 is looking good. Hopefully bug testing goes smoothly and we see 3.2.1 around the corner :D

[Andrej]

Hopefully bug testing goes smoothly and we see 3.2.1 around the corner :D

You mean 3.2.0 Gold?

[invisiblex_merged]

If showing online/offline was a stupid idea .. then why IPB kept it for 1 , 2 , 3.1 versions ?? Makes no sense.

[c u l8er]

No, I don't think you can. People don't realize how small of a percentage of IPS's customers actually visit the feedback forums. And even based on what's been posted, just because 15-20 people respond saying they support a particular topic, there are likely at least as many if not more people who have no problem with the topic and thus don't even bother to come into the topic to talk about it.

In addition, these 'cram a bunch of things into one topic' topics are always a bad idea. There's never any organization to them, people go off into their own little tangents, and it's impossible to maintain a coherent message. Just talk about the individual issues in the existing individual topics.

EDIT: To clarify, I'm not saying there's no merit to any of these, but each issue needs to be discussed separately, and just because a handful of people agree does not mean it's a sweeping popular movement among the entire customer base.

agreed.

/thread

[Andrej]

If showing online/offline was a stupid idea .. then why IPB kept it for 1 , 2 , 3.1 versions ?? Makes no sense.

Because it was simply much more used at that time, or was considered useful? Makes sense.

[invisiblex_merged]

Because it was simply much more used at that time, or was considered useful? Makes sense.

Because of these type of silly replies ..people becoming terrorists or going to courts. Basically human relations fall down with these type replies.

[.Ian]

Are we not going around in circles here?

If showing online/offline was a stupid idea .. then why IPB kept it for 1 , 2 , 3.1 versions ?? Makes no sense.

So use a hook that I think is already available :) solves your problem.

[CalendarOfUpdates]

If showing online/offline was a stupid idea .. then why IPB kept it for 1 , 2 , 3.1 versions ?? Makes no sense.

It is still there. As of the time of this post it show you are online and viewing this topic.

[Aisha]

What the heck? Isn't the first post completely 100% just your opinion? I agree with michael.

Because of these type of silly replies ..people becoming terrorists or going to courts.

:logik:

[Michael]

Because of these type of silly replies ..people becoming terrorists or going to courts. Basically human relations fall down with these type replies.

Adapting to the current environment will cause people to become terrorists? I've heard of some leaps in logic before, but, just, wow...

[Andrej]

Because of these type of silly replies ..people becoming terrorists or going to courts. Basically human relations fall down with these type replies.

I am afraid I am not going to be a terrorist, so your point failed.

[Aisha]

Guys maybe if we say the word terrorist enough times the FBI will pick up on this thread.

[Andrej]

Guys maybe if we say the word terrorist enough times the FBI will pick up on this thread.

:frantics:

[invisiblex_merged]

It is still there. As of the time of this post it show you are online and viewing this topic.

remove online status from hover too as it serves no purpose. Online/offline status should be only in IP.chat,messengers like charles told.

[XiuzSu]

wtf? Isn't the first post completely 100% just your opinion? I agree with michael.

Its actually not if you look around. Only points I actually care about is the IPB Skin the ACP dropdown menu (which there's a hook for it already).
Geez people... so hostile, but its funny cause I can tell only a few read the whole thing.
Also Michael I kinda forgot to add something to what you've quote and that was "... whom want these features back." or "...whom doesn't completely agree with these changes."

remove online status from hover too as it serves no purpose. Online/offline status should be only in IP.chat,messengers like charles told.

I really think you have no idea what the hell you are saying cause now your contradicting yourself.

[.Ian]

remove online status from hover too as it serves no purpose. Online/offline status should be only in IP.chat,messengers like charles told.

If you wish to remove it from there, you can edit the template. I will dig out the template for you to edit :)

[Aisha]

Its actually not if you look around. Only points I actually care about is the IPB Skin the ACP dropdown menu (which there's a hook for it already).

Geez people... so hostile, but its funny cause I can tell only a few read the whole thing.

Also Michael I kinda forgot to add something to what you've quote and that was "... whom want these features back." or "...whom doesn't completely agree with these changes."

What I mean is that he decided what should be brought back/removed/accepted.

[Amy T]

I agree with Micheal.

[Heyhoe]

I have to agree with the second post concerning feedback on 3.2

The majority of people giving feedback will be people who are unhappy with it. People like myself who are completely happy with it very rarely voice thier opinions as it is usually not needed.

At the end of the day, i do not think IPS is going "backward" with 3.2 but quite the opposite. Things like ditching icons for replying etc... Just look at facebook and count how many buttons/images they have on there(lots of very small icons but no bloating images).. Yes i understand facebook is not a forum, but its a very successful platform. People can see past pretty images these days and they want genuine functionality. Just look at how sites have rid themselves of animated GIFs over the years.