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Community Announcement: New Site Update

3K views 22 replies 10 participants last post by  DrivingZiggy 
#1 ·
Dear Community Members,

Over the past year or two, there have been updates to the environment that have introduced challenges in usability and performance. Efforts to improve the technology, user interface and site performance has revealed weaknesses in the platform and outdated software this site uses. This has made it increasingly difficult and frustrating to support and upgrade to more modern reliable standards that users deserve. Our advertising experience and certain ad partners have further degraded the functionality of the site. This is not the experience we want for the members of this community.

Members want a fast site that performs well across all devices, to be able to find relevant and interesting content, and easily share through text, images, video, and messaging on a secure platform. Our goal is to provide this ultimate user experience to all members.

We will be implementing a new platform to better meet the needs of this community and allow us to provide support more efficiently. Our focus is to create a sustainable platform that performs well and loads faster on all devices while offering seamless ways to search and connect. Technology is constantly innovating - by creating an environment that we control we can maintain the site with more frequent improvements and maintenance updates.

Although change can be difficult, we are here to support you through the process. We make every effort to review existing settings and make the changes needed so the migration goes smoothly. If you notice something doesn’t seem correct once the site goes live, don’t panic! We’ll have a dedicated person monitoring as the site goes live to answer any questions and provide support through this change.

What’s next?

I bet you’re thinking, “What does this mean for me and the community?” It does mean change, but it will help solve a large majority of the issues that this site may have been experiencing. We have reviewed reported issues, site statistics, traffic data, and user feedback to help us prioritize the changes and improvements. Uploading an image or video will be easier and streamlined. Ad formatting will change with a new site layout. The site will be more responsive - there is no need to use a mobile skin or special app! Security and user privacy will continue to be a top priority.

When will this be happening? Soon! We recognize the user experience is slow and there are bugs from the outdated software. The sooner we can change that the better we can make the experience for you. You’ll start to see activity related to cleanup in preparation for migration very shortly. We will post an announcement to the community prior to starting the actual data migration. Once the migration begins, the site will go into maintenance mode and will be read-only while data is being migrated.

We appreciate each member’s contribution to this community and look forward to an improved experience for you all.

- Community Support
 
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#5 ·
Hi!
Hope you all have a nice day today!

Well, with all due respect, I believe that updates and changes means a positive evolution. Or at least, an intent to make something better. That's the reason I prefer to give changes a try. Otherwise, we still would be living as caveman, wouldn't we? Anyway, this is only my opinion. I might be wrong, of course.

All the best, take care and be good!
 
#6 ·
Well, with all due respect, I believe that updates and changes means a positive evolution. Or at least, an intent to make something better. That's the reason I prefer to give changes a try. Otherwise, we still would be living as caveman, wouldn't we? Anyway, this is only my opinion. I might be wrong, of course.
i was just playing around, adding a little curve-ball into the mix to keep it lively
 
#12 ·
Get rid of coloured tees entirely.

It encourages members to chase post count over quality/relevance and risks turning the forum into a chat room (at best). Or a peeing contest at worst.

Post count means nothing in isolation. There are plenty of very long standing knowledgable members here with only a couple of hundred of posts to their names, but every post is helpful and to the point.


This place used to be the 'font of all wisdom' for the garment print industry. Too many experienced members have stopped contributing and too few new members hang around.
 
#13 ·
... a peeing contest at worst...

...This place used to be the 'font of all wisdom' for the garment print industry. Too many experienced members have stopped contributing and too few new members hang around.
Oh fine! Make fun of my shirt color!
:p

It's not just this forum. I'm on a number of other forums that have entirely different subject matter, but have become just as you say. Old timers fading away; the majority of newcomers looking for a quick fix to a specific issue, and then they're gone.

I can only speculate, but part of it might be people going straight to YouTube for the video version of whatever info they're after, all the better if delivered by some perky interweb-star personality type (or not). There are so many "social media" platforms in 2020 that most peeps aren't looking for another online family to join, "Just the facts, Mam" and they're gone.

Remember the modem going "boing, boing" as you waited to get on your favorite BBS? TikTok, times up! ;)
 
#21 ·
Any more news on this yet?

I've just had a hell of a time trying to upload just 3 images. The img tag don't work and just pasting the urls into the post doesn't work as the forum wraps media tags around them and Highslide JS doesn't display the images.

I ended up having to paste the urls into a code block! Not good!

Also, I'm getting the cookie consent popup flashing up every time I visit a new page aven though I've accepted cookies every time and I'm logged in.

The new forum can't come soon enough for me.
 
#22 ·
I want to give you an update on the process I use once the site goes live with the new platform.

The night before the site goes live you will see an announcement from that the site will be going live soon. Once the actual process starts, the site will be in read-only mode while the team does the migration from the old platform to the new one.

Once it does goes live you will see an announcement thread created (under the admin account) here in this section. All questions and feedback about the new platform should be posted ONLY in that thread. You will see me reply to that thread to introduce myself to y'all.

I will add a new signature to the admin account along with updating the admin account avatar.

What should you be doing now before this happens?

  • Make sure your email address is up to date in your account. If you don't remember your password, now would be a good time to reset it. Save the information.
When Will This All Happen?

t-shirtforums.com is currently scheduled for September 28th. HOWEVER, the schedule is very fluid, so that could change depending on any complications or schedule changes. I am simply giving you a heads up.

As your dedicated support, I will be here with you multiple times a day once the site goes live with the new platform, answering questions, and listening to feedback.

My only request is that you remain patient with me while we work through the changes. :)

- Cricket
 
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