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Dropzone Site Launch & Bugs Megathread

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5 hours ago, Meso said:

And many of the feedback issues provided are things that will be worked on, if you're finding the site harder to use, don't worry we're going to still use your feedback to fix most of those issues, this isn't the final product by any means.

You guys are doing fine! It takes time to do things like this.

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Thanks Peek!

Here's an update on the bugs and the progress. If you see something not listed below, that is still an issue. Please do let me know, doing my best to source reports from various threads and PMs.

Forums No signature break in forum posts Medium Resolved
Classifieds Not able to post ad due to image bug High Resolved
Forums Unable to edit posts after making them Medium Resolved
Forums Unable to easily tell quoted text from body of message (probably a 'feature') Low Resolved
Forums Mark all threads as read option doesn't exist Medium Pending
Forums Recent Forum Posts gone from old site Low In Progress
Forums Descriptions of forums in mobile but not desktop Medium Resolved
Classifieds Classifieds text running into next ad in carousel Medium Resolved
Forums Incorrect post numbers being shown apparently under "Canadian law.." Medium Pending
Forums No display of amount of new threads & posts in a forum Low / Medium Pending
Classifieds Cannot edit own classifieds High Resolved
Profile No options for selecting certain fields that are tied to gear relationships Medium Pending
Classifieds No return address for people sending email, so unable to contact back Urgent Resolved
Global Image sizes too large, need to pull through thumbs or mediums High In Progress
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On 1/21/2019 at 3:06 AM, Meso said:
On 1/18/2019 at 9:56 AM, mbohu said:

One of my favorite features of the Forum was the list on the bottom of every Forum page, which showed the 10 most recently added-to Forum topics, independent of which category they were coming from. If your current system has the capability to add this feature back in, I think it would be a great one to add. 

Is it essential that it exists on every forum category? This can be done, but don't want to add extra content where not necessary. We've added this back to the main forum page. If you go to the primary forum landing page, you can see that the bottom of the forums will now show the latest 10 posts from across the forums.

It would be convenient if it was on every page, as I was used to just browse it that way:  Click on the first post that was new and had a title that interested me; read it and then just continue to the bottom of the page and click on the next most recent post; BUT: I don't think it's essential. Going back to the main Forum page is just one click, after all.

BUT: I realize that on the old site you must have had a filter, where the listed posts only applied to the strictly skydiving related forums. I never found a political or other post there. It was all skydiving, wingsuiting, safety, gear, etc.
Now most of the posts are campfire or Speakers Corner related. Not why I come to this forum...but that's just me!  ;-) 

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12 hours ago, JerryBaumchen said:

Hi Bryn,

Re:  Here's an update on the bugs and the progress. If you see something not listed below, that is still an issue. Please do let me know,

The line spacing IMO is still a problem.

Thanks,

Jerry Baumchen

Could you perhaps make a screenshot and highlight for me the areas linespacing that seem weird. When looking at the line spacing in the classifieds I don't see anything crazy at all. Are you referring to the height between lines in the same paragraph, or the line space between new paragraphs?

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4 hours ago, mbohu said:

It would be convenient if it was on every page, as I was used to just browse it that way:  Click on the first post that was new and had a title that interested me; read it and then just continue to the bottom of the page and click on the next most recent post; BUT: I don't think it's essential. Going back to the main Forum page is just one click, after all.

BUT: I realize that on the old site you must have had a filter, where the listed posts only applied to the strictly skydiving related forums. I never found a political or other post there. It was all skydiving, wingsuiting, safety, gear, etc.
Now most of the posts are campfire or Speakers Corner related. Not why I come to this forum...but that's just me!  ;-) 

It's not impossible for us to do that, and move it to the other forums too. We just don't want to cause uses excessively more page load on each forum. I'm thinking of perhaps pulling it across to every category, but not to the post level. 

And thanks for the headsup on which forums it selected, that helps as we have the ability to tune it to those skydiving only categories too, which I'll do today.

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9 hours ago, Meso said:

It's not impossible for us to do that, and move it to the other forums too. We just don't want to cause uses excessively more page load on each forum. I'm thinking of perhaps pulling it across to every category, but not to the post level. 

And thanks for the headsup on which forums it selected, that helps as we have the ability to tune it to those skydiving only categories too, which I'll do today.

Cool!

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When viewing the website in 1080 resolution and 100% website zoom setting (normal), the Classifieds menu is not visible. It is rather hidden under the drop down. Could you move it so that the Classifieds menu is located in a place where the one of the red dot is?

 

image.png.eef9ba98f0fdb59dee02974576276d03.png

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On 1/26/2019 at 1:30 PM, skydiverek said:

When viewing the website in 1080 resolution and 100% website zoom setting (normal), the Classifieds menu is not visible. It is rather hidden under the drop down. Could you move it so that the Classifieds menu is located in a place where the one of the red dot is?

 

image.png.eef9ba98f0fdb59dee02974576276d03.png

Thanks for this, I agree with your sentiments and we'll swap the gear and classifieds to cater, as the classifieds are more frequented and makes complete sense in priority.

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42 minutes ago, shorehambeach said:

Maybe i am doing something wrong but i always entered the site via the forums and could see straight away the new posts in each topic. This seems to have gone now so i a pretty lost and am not reading the forums....

I am accessing via computer and mobile...

 

HELP ! 

 

There currently isn't a specific number indicator showing how many new posts there are since the last visit. However, there is an indication that new posts have been made. The icons on the left will be orange when a new post is made inside of a category. When looking at the category level, there will be a blue dot next to topics with new posts.

We are looking at the work involved in re-creating the new posts numbers similar to the old site, as it does seem to hold use.

Is this what you're referring to? Alternatively, there is also an area at the bottom of the forum landing page that shows the latest posts.

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The other piece, that’s there on the PC (I think, but I’ve been without PC for the last week) but not the mobile site, is the title of the last-updated thread at the forum level. Not a show-stopper, but, for instance, if a topical forum had one updated thread and it’s in a topic I’m not following, I’d just blow past it. And, of course, then mark all the forums read with the single item at the top level. 

Wendy P. 

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Google searches are getting redirected to the main forum rather than the actual thread result. Just like on every other website, dropzone.com's search function will never be as good as google's... Not sure if it's a "google needs to re-index dz.com," or if it's something on this site.

 

As an example if I google "HMA vs Vectran Pilot" one of the dropzone results is a thread from 2008 called "Pilot HMA Lineset" but when I click the link address of http://www.dropzone.com/forum/Skydiving_C1/Gear_and_Rigging_F6/Pilot_HMA_lineset_P3240125/, it takes me to https://www.dropzone.com/forums

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1 hour ago, veazer said:

Google searches are getting redirected to the main forum rather than the actual thread result. Just like on every other website, dropzone.com's search function will never be as good as google's... Not sure if it's a "google needs to re-index dz.com," or if it's something on this site.

 

As an example if I google "HMA vs Vectran Pilot" one of the dropzone results is a thread from 2008 called "Pilot HMA Lineset" but when I click the link address of http://www.dropzone.com/forum/Skydiving_C1/Gear_and_Rigging_F6/Pilot_HMA_lineset_P3240125/, it takes me to https://www.dropzone.com/forums

Google's indexes are for the old site. Since the old site is no longer accessible, clicking on the link they supply to the old site goes nowhere and you end up getting redirected to the forums.  It may take some time for Google to index the new site.

Have you tried using the search function in the site itself? Look for the magnifying glass at the upper right of the menu bar

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9 hours ago, Meso said:

There currently isn't a specific number indicator showing how many new posts there are since the last visit. However, there is an indication that new posts have been made. The icons on the left will be orange when a new post is made inside of a category. When looking at the category level, there will be a blue dot next to topics with new posts.

We are looking at the work involved in re-creating the new posts numbers similar to the old site, as it does seem to hold use.

Is this what you're referring to? Alternatively, there is also an area at the bottom of the forum landing page that shows the latest posts.

Yes. Without this function I am completely lost and cant use the site as I will have to manually look at each sub forum 

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8 hours ago, shorehambeach said:

Yes. Without this function I am completely lost and cant use the site as I will have to manually look at each sub forum 

I'm not sure I understand. Is there a reason why seeing the exact number is that imperative to knowing whether you're going to click through or not? Surely if there are new posts in the section, whether they are 2 or 20, you'd still need to click through to see what they are?

I could understand if there was no indication at all on the main page, but there is still an indication, just not an exact number -- you can still see that new posts have been made to that category. So you shouldn't need to manually go into each category that I can think of. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding you.

Also, are you talking about mobile or desktop use?

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3 hours ago, Meso said:

I'm not sure I understand. Is there a reason why seeing the exact number is that imperative to knowing whether you're going to click through or not? Surely if there are new posts in the section, whether they are 2 or 20, you'd still need to click through to see what they are?

I could understand if there was no indication at all on the main page, but there is still an indication, just not an exact number -- you can still see that new posts have been made to that category. So you shouldn't need to manually go into each category that I can think of. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding you.

Also, are you talking about mobile or desktop use?

Hi Meso 

on the old site you’d go to the forums page and could see all the topics and it would show you how many new posts (if any) where posted so you could then click on that topic and go to the last one and read it. 

This was the same for both mobile and computer. 

When I go to the site now (whether mobile or computer) I can’t see this - or the new way of showing it doesn’t make sense to the way I have been navigating it for 6 years 

Perhaps it’s just me !

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12 hours ago, shorehambeach said:

Hi Meso 

on the old site you’d go to the forums page and could see all the topics and it would show you how many new posts (if any) where posted so you could then click on that topic and go to the last one and read it. 

This was the same for both mobile and computer. 

When I go to the site now (whether mobile or computer) I can’t see this - or the new way of showing it doesn’t make sense to the way I have been navigating it for 6 years 

Perhaps it’s just me !

Not just you. My usage of the forums immediately went from daily (or more) to practically zero when the new design launched because of exactly this.

I’m curious how forum page view stats compare before and after this redesign. 

My vote would be to please put the site back just as it was and go back to the drawing board (in a test environment) until a new design is found that adds some value.  Sorry, but at the moment, in my view, it’s a really, really big negative.  I would love to support something new, but this just isn’t it.

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17 hours ago, Meso said:

I'm not sure I understand. Is there a reason why seeing the exact number is that imperative to knowing whether you're going to click through or not? Surely if there are new posts in the section, whether they are 2 or 20, you'd still need to click through to see what they are?

I could understand if there was no indication at all on the main page, but there is still an indication, just not an exact number -- you can still see that new posts have been made to that category. So you shouldn't need to manually go into each category that I can think of. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding you.

Also, are you talking about mobile or desktop use?

Basically we can see what the last post was on and if it was new. However we cant see if there are other new posts or new threads. If the last post is on a thread we don't care about we still need to click on the section to open it and see if there are other posts/threads. If there is only 1 post and we can see its on a thread we don't care about we don't need to open the section.

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12 hours ago, JerryBaumchen said:

Hi folks,

I have things set to not receive any Notifications.  Yet, I still get them.

I have about a 1/2 dozen there; anyone know how to clear them?

Thanks in advance,

Jerry Baumchen

Please PM me about this, as the notifications should get turned off when you choose for them to be. You can PM me a screenshot of your notifications settings just to confirm they're all disabled etc, so I can look into it. What do you mean by needing to clear notifications though? When you click on the notification bell, it will automatically clear the notifications (it will remove the red digit indication how many notifications). 
 

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12 hours ago, philipturneraa said:

Not just you. My usage of the forums immediately went from daily (or more) to practically zero when the new design launched because of exactly this.

I’m curious how forum page view stats compare before and after this redesign. 

My vote would be to please put the site back just as it was and go back to the drawing board (in a test environment) until a new design is found that adds some value.  Sorry, but at the moment, in my view, it’s a really, really big negative.  I would love to support something new, but this just isn’t it.

Me too. I can no longer use the site properly. 

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On 1/29/2019 at 1:40 PM, IanHarrop said:

Have you tried using the search function in the site itself? Look for the magnifying glass at the upper right of the menu bar

Yeah I tried searching for my google search terms as well as the thread title itself, both searches returned 0 results. Google searches were better on the old DZ.com site search too, so if it's just a "google needs to re-index dz.com" then I guess it's not a bug but a waiting game.

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4 hours ago, veazer said:

Yeah I tried searching for my google search terms as well as the thread title itself, both searches returned 0 results. Google searches were better on the old DZ.com site search too, so if it's just a "google needs to re-index dz.com" then I guess it's not a bug but a waiting game.

Thats correct - its going to need to crawl the site for a few weeks to learn all the new URL's and paths to the data. Think of it this way - the old forums used software that made url's in this format: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?jump=forum%3D35 and the new link to get to that same path is now https://www.dropzone.com/forums/. If this was a book we just went from hardback to paperback, you can't say go to page 233 and the second word from the start will be "spaceballs" in both books. The content is there, it just needs to reindexed by google and with the 1 million plus pages in the old site it will take a while to rebuild that. Google also has a time peroid where it crawls a site - they do not do it in real time. This also means that it might take 2-3 weeks for a search term to appear in google off a spider of this site.

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