New Features and Changes

I have deleted the fields tempoarily. Sorry.

No need for apologies Mike I know how hard your working on getting the site right..

You will have to re-enter the details

Changes for the 23rd of January

Changes that some members have requested have been addressed tonight:

• The theme of the website has been modified so that it is easier to locate the login and password boxes on the front page. Other minor changes were also made to make visibility and usage easier, such as the color of links and small modifications.
• Computer Specifications and custom user information have been reintroduced as an option for members to fill out and/or make completely private.
• The Water Cooler has been completely removed from "What's New" so that members and non-members alike have a better chance of finding Windows-related information.
• The forums Terms of Service has been updated to ban Post Counting. Post Counting is the idea of just posting anything to raise your reputation or number of posts. This is no longer valid on the forums, but what constitutes post counting is something we will look at in the future.
• A problem has been isolated with the search engine that will likely be addressed in vBulletin 4.0.2.

These changes have been made in response to concerns from forum members, and we will continue to work on these changes over time. There are many changes we are working on, and would like to have implemented, but they will take time. We did not expect the latest version of vBulletin to be a problem, which it clearly has become quite a bit of a situation. Nonetheless, we are committed to working through those problems and providing Windows 7 Forums members with the best possible service and support on any forum.

Just to add to Mikes post.. If you do come across something that you've mentioned but has not yet changed then please be patient. We are systematically going through the forum making changes as soon as is possible. So if something hasn't changed, chances are is that we just haven't got to it yet..

fantastic job, Mike. I love items 3 and 4 - been waiting (patiently, kemical - lol) weeks for it. I have encountered one script error but I will have to try and reproduce it and come back to you.

Later. OK. See if this works for you. IE in use and the advanced option for script debugging.

Open "New posts" or "what's new" or just select a random post from the home page.
Select the forum options and mark it as read. I get this:

Link Removed due to 404 Error

Changes for the 24th of January

• "Search for My Posts" within a thread if they were posted.
• "My Threads" and "My Posts" added as a navigation bar option.
• Further link color changes thanks to Digerati.
• Ability to alter theme to show at 85% width added to avoid clutter.
• "Thank You" option added. You can thank people (giving 10 rep.).
• Translator code updated with bug fixes.
• Several annoying advertisements banned from the website following up on old requests.
• After a discussion with whoosh and cybercore, the Water Cooler has been re-designed to be more user-friendly. Videos will be posted in the videos section, and old posts have been archived in the Water Cooler Archive.
• The search engine has been re-built to incorporate threads from all forums. You can still filter out individual forums from advanced search. The Water Cooler and their sub-forums will not appear in What's New by default.
• The News bot will now announce new members who verify their e-mail address in the Water Cooler. Please give them a warm welcome!
• Thread Prefixes:

The following thread prefixes have been added:
Global (All Forums):
The Water Cooler (specific):
Thread prefixes can be used to describe the nature of a thread. But the functionality may NOT exist to change a thread pre-fix once it is added, so be warned.

~ Thumbs Up ~

Is the thanks option the same, in the members CP, the same function as the previous reputation level? I would prefer to leave mine disabled.

bcarroll said:

Thats great!

I got my Thanks button! woo hoo!

Click to expand...

Thanks for reminding Ben, have just given my 'Thanks' to Mike. :}

drew said:

image backgrounds in member profiles?

Click to expand...

I repeat, once again, the functionality to personalize a profile with custom css image backgrounds and other modifications is not available in the forum software yet. This has been quoted directly from the vBulletin Development Team, which develops the backend software for profile customization.

This is the first time I have been able to log on since the forum came back up. Below are my thoughts on the site as I am very frustrated.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I would love to use the forums but find I am unable to log on....I can change my logon information but the system does not recognize my username. I have tried for days to logon but my username is 'never' recognized. I created a new username and password but the same thing happens with that account. I am completely unable to log on.

When I first joined all worked just fine but something changed. I hate your logon method!!!!!!!! It has the user name and password boxes side by side and the user name text in the box and RoboForm will not fill it in and neither will Firefox till you click in it to blank it out. But nothing will let it recognize my user mane and password.

I can find no e-mail address or way of contacting anyone there without logging on but I can't logon to get the info! Its way To difficult to log on anymore.

Jim

jtpcamp said:

I hate your logon method!!!!!!!! It has the user name and password boxes side by side and the user name text in the box and RoboForm will not fill it in and neither will Firefox till you click in it to blank it out. But nothing will let it recognize my user mane and password.

Click to expand...

I'm sorry to hear about this problem, Jim. For Roboform, clear out your existing entry for Windows 7 Forums and re-save it when you log in. This is confirmed to work in the latest version of Roboform and I have no problems logging in using it. I hope this helps you with the problems you've been having.

Not a very important issue, but is there a "TodaysPosts" anywhere?

One other small bug(?) Maybe not(?) Before, if I posted, and wanted to put a picture attachment nto the post, Previously I could make a space after my text, with space or whatever. Then, when I inserted my picture, it would jump to my cursor in the text. Now it always jumps to the beginning of the text. It is a simple procedure to Ctrl x it and paste, but am I applying a wrong technique in the new format? I hope aomeone can follow my rambling explanation!

I found that I have to more careful about where the cursor is but as long as i make sure it's where it's supposed to be and of course where I want the picture, it runs fine.. Otherwise like you I've found it can appear anywhere lol..

Thanks, kemical. I'll have a few more attempts. Ignore if you see some deleted, empty posts.

Hmm..ok. I'll address this issue to Mike next time we speak. Also as for the 'Todays Posts' tab, I think that will be included in a future update as we may not have the software for it yet.. Mike will know for certain.
As for your grandchidren RAK.. You are certainly blessed there my friend..

Got the email. Positive changes.

Hey Loathe! Good to see you man!

Changes for the 1st of February and Upcoming Plans

Once again we have introduced some changes!

• Style changes: A bit of a throwback to our old look, we have re-instated the old background from our previous site design, while expanding the width of the site to be completely fluid to accompany the expansion of the site over time. It will look a bit different on each monitor, but should look well designed nonetheless.
• New tabs: Some new opportunities for our members: RegistryBooster, Spyware Doctor, and our Forums Toolbar. This is to eliminate the need for so many notifications.
• Ad Changes: Some of the ads on the site have been made a bit bigger to fit in with the overall largeness of the site on wide-screens. Advertisements have been removed from inside the actual posts.
• Content Management: Upgraded our CMPS (Content Management Portal System) to the latest version (still in beta).
• Member Profile Fields: Added new profile fields to search on in the Memberlist.
• Search Time Restriction: Find what you're looking for faster. Changed search time from 20 seconds to 2 seconds.
• PM Character Limitation Lifted: Limit on private messages characters has been removed.

Free Software Promo: We will probably be planning to offer our users a promotion for a program called SpeedUpMyPC, a new product from Uniblue. Uniblue's products are really good and they are helping us keep the site up and running with their products. Plus, if we can help some people fix their computer with their products, it only makes sense to offer these incentives. There will likely be a contest held for free licenses for the software. Contest details will be posted soon.

Awards/Leveling System: An idea on bringing back the awards/XP system is in the works. Although it will be hard to match our old (and now defunct) awards system, an attempt will be made to bring one back very soon. For those unfamiliar with this, an awards/point system calculates everything you do on the forum and gives out accolades for those achievements. (Complete)

"Downloads" section may return as well, depending on how many people want it. We will conduct a poll.

Premium Member Perks: Premium Supporters will be given access to special downloads even if the Downloads section doesn't return despite any poll results.

Future Site Goals: From an administrative perspective, we are now focused on making the site as interesting and as usable as possible for our members again. This includes new features now that we know the server is stable and very accessible.

Custom Pages: Outside of blogs, custom pages may be introduced. What exactly will be on these pages, we're not sure. It will be something useful, undoubtedly so.

Certification Recognition: We need more IT pros to write in the blogs and Tweaks, Guides, and HOWTO's area to document their general expertise with Windows 7. We want to also recognize people who have Microsoft and CompTIA certifications, so if you have them, please e-mail or fax a copy of your certification to admin@windows7forums.com. (Complete)

Feedback Accepted: We need honest feedback on what you want to see here. Besides asking and answering questions, we want to make the forums fun again. This can be in the form of games and other things that don't necessarily fit in with the Windows 7 theme. But we can add these things if there is a demand. Unlike many sites, feedback that is given here often times results in small to big changes on the site, sometimes within hours.

THIS WILL TAKE TIME!!!




Other areas of feedback we are looking for:

• Are you getting the type of help from other people on the site? Is it from our moderator staff mostly, other people?​
• Do you feel satisfied using the site? Why or why not?
• Do you like or dislike the look of the site? What can be done better?
• What feature or addition would you love to see on the site (within reason).

Update Feb. 3. '10: Requests:

• Fix QuickReply (in progress- feature currently disabled)​
• Request for more images per post (in progress)​
• Avatar option appears to be broken in UserCP (looking into)​
• Hyperlink colors aren't immediately apparent on some monitors, or appear to be the same color as the text (looking into)​
• Search Engine Results not relevant enough: (will try to fine tune the search relevancy quotient after Feb 4 patch -- please try using advanced search in interim)​
• IE6 compatibility (looking into - expect more fixes Feb 4th)​
• Slow rendering for some browsers/machines (looking into)​
• System specs in postbit (in planning phase)​
• Fix admin e-mail address (complete)*​
• Can't access thread: Printer page comes up when "print" is last word of the title (complete)*​
• Sitemap doesn't work anymore for any search engine (complete)*​
• Facebook Connect (complete)*​

• Translator code has been updated. (complete)​
• Windows Experience Index has been added as a profile field. (complete)​

* Should be fixed, working, or otherwise improved.

Major Patch Rescheduled Again: