New Tom’s Forum Announcement & Feedback

[jpishgar]

Just an update, this appears to have been resolved.

Glad to hear!

They are gone, they have been merged into this forum (it was actually all the same forum anyway). This was actually announced a few months ago.

We did, however, preserve the UK General Discussion category for posterity's sake. You'll find it alive and well in the listings.

We're working on addressing the font issue.

 

[wpgwpg]

I can confirm seeing the same issue. I am sure the devs are on it.

Where do you go to attempt font and other settings now? I can't find it - it sure doesn't work like it used to.

 

[Rogue Leader]

Where do you go to attempt font and other settings now? I can't find it - it sure doesn't work like it used to.

Scroll to the top of the page and click on your username on the top right, a menu will pop up, click preferences. Its a few lines down then.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Day 1 people had 0 points and they indexed over time, once those finished (after my post) JPs info is correct.

Thanks for the update. So just to be clear, the Expert/Authority/Master badges will have to be earned again?

 

[Rogue Leader]

Thanks for the update. So just to be clear, the Expert/Authority/Master badges will have to be earned again?

I believe a lot of things are still indexing, so we don't have an exact answer to that just yet

 

[Deleted member 2720464]

I just noticed google login is no longer an option. I only logged in via google.

 

[Graybush]

I just noticed google login is no longer an option. I only logged in via google.

You should be able to log in using the native form now with your credentials. If you don't remember your password, use the 'reset my password' option.

 

[jpishgar]

Thanks for the update. So just to be clear, the Expert/Authority/Master badges will have to be earned again?

That depends entirely on the count of your previous Best Answers. Case in point, if you previously had just enough Best Answers to have earned the Authority badge, but lost a Best Answer as a result of the tags to category recalculation, you'll still have the Expert level trophy, and most of your progress towards Authority. The points themselves didn't change, but the calculation as to the goals is more fair and equitable now.

 

[norcalsc2]

I cant login still with my original username NORCALSC.
even with a password reset request. any chance getting some assistance? used to log in with google now I can't access my real acct

 

[Frag Maniac]

Frag Maniac said:


BTW, I hadn't noticed before when you go to your desired forum subheading (PC Gaming for instance), when you click on the Unanswered filter, it shows unanswered threads for ALL sub forums. Is there a way to get the Unanswered filter to show only the unanswered threads of the sub forum you're on when you click it?



isn't that the idea of the "watch" list? if you go to the subforum you want. top right corner of thread list has watch button. then from the left you can select "unanswered threads in watched forum" i may be misunderstanding but seems like what you're asking

Yet another mod above said he thought what I was hoping it would do (show Unanswered threads of just the sub forum you're on when you click the unanswered threads filter), would be added in. Keep in mind the old supposedly antiquated forum compared to this one required ZERO extra clicking to see Unanswered threads. They were clearly visible on any forum you surfed.

And btw, after trying what you suggested, putting a thread on watch does NOT in fact show a Unanswered threads in watched forum option, just Unread threads. I also tried both manually putting it on Watch status and setting all content I interact with to automatically be on Watch. Still no Unanswered threads in watch forum option.

I'm also still wondering why some settings like font size and pane configuration (collapse), don't stay. Plus choosing Large font size bolds them instead. This I actually prefer, but clearly the forums preference settings and filters need work.

 

[Barty1884]

That depends entirely on the count of your previous Best Answers. Case in point, if you previously had just enough Best Answers to have earned the Authority badge, but lost a Best Answer as a result of the tags to category recalculation, you'll still have the Expert level trophy, and most of your progress towards Authority. The points themselves didn't change, but the calculation as to the goals is more fair and equitable now.

I'm assuming that data hasn't fully migrated for all, as of yet?

Just at a quick glance, I have "expert" in ~7 categories and nothing beyond that, so somewhere >10 and <50 BAs per.
With the recalculation, dropping TG answers etc..... Still looks to be a ways short of what it likely should be.

Not a big deal, and I assume the data is still migrating.... Just seems a little strange to what I assume to be partial credit in some categories and not others.

 

[Frag Maniac]

There's an extension called Stylus (Chrome, Firefox) which makes it easy to customise the layout of sites and even individual pages if you have a bit of CSS knowledge. It shouldn't bog down your browser at all as it simply does a pattern match on the current URL and injects additional styles into the page. The font can be improved in most places by "simply" adding these styles for forums.tomshardware.com:

html {
    font-weight: normal;
}

Some things won't change (eg. thread titles in the thread list) a they have more specific styles applied which need to be overridden, but it would be possible to change those too with a bit more work. Of course it would be nice if the font weight wasn't light to begin with, but this is a decent workaround for now I think

Can't do much about differences between browsers. It's mostly up to the browser/OS how it renders a font. CSS can only influence it.



I'm surprised this ever worked. Browsers usually squash redundant space. Maybe the old forum replaced multiple consecutive spaces with non-breaking spaces (which are exempt from squashing), but if anything that's unusual, not expected.

I frankly don't see the sense of forum software that's supposed to be far advanced having overly faint fonts to begin with. Literally NONE of the other forums I go to have this problem. Nor should forum members have to take a class in CSS code and use a 3rd party extension to solve the problem. Lastly, the font size selection in preferences makes Large fonts look bold, not larger. This makes it look just fine, but the setting won't stay

Maybe you guys need to be more aware of ZenForo's many quirks, or the way someone at Tom's has set it up, instead of suggesting we look elsewhere to fix it on our own. Just a thought.

 

[Deleted member 2720464]

the R_2 account is using the google credentials now. where is R_1? can you merge the accounts or something?


update: sorted thanks

 

[Colif]

Maybe you guys need to be more aware of ZenForo's many quirks, or the way someone at Tom's has set it up, instead of suggesting we look elsewhere to fix it on our own. Just a thought.

The forum software is just as new to us as it is for users. Mods aren't staff, we don't get to see months in advance what is coming next. Its not a complaint, its just how it is. So we try to help you before anyone like jpishgar comes in, who does have the details, and can correct our statements.

we are just trying to help.

 

[Rogue Leader]

The forum software is just as new to us as it is for users. Mods aren't staff, we don't get to see months in advance what is coming next. Its not a complaint, its just how it is. So we try to help you before anyone like jpishgar comes in, who does have the details, and can correct our statements.

we are just trying to help.

In addition a lot of this is still being worked on. You're complaining about a suggestion made if you want a fix RIGHT NOW. If you don't then be patient, in many cases it will be fixed and changed shortly.

 

[Frag Maniac]

The forum software is just as new to us as it is for users. Mods aren't staff, we don't get to see months in advance what is coming next. Its not a complaint, its just how it is. So we try to help you before anyone like jpishgar comes in, who does have the details, and can correct our statements.

we are just trying to help.

Fair enough, I guess I just don't like advice based on guesses and speculation. Had there been more transparency on the knowledge and skill level of the mods responding, it had been more clear to begin with though, so thanks for the heads up.

Suffice it to say it's going to take some patience, as this seems to be an indefinite work in progress.

 

[randomizer]

Maybe you guys need to be more aware of ZenForo's many quirks, or the way someone at Tom's has set it up, instead of suggesting we look elsewhere to fix it on our own.

I did not suggest that you fix it yourself. I posted a...

...decent workaround...

In case you don't want to wait until it gets fixed properly.

 

[Jsimenhoff]

Our moderators are some of the toughest, baddest, tech support gurus on the planet. They are not to be trifled with and their knowledge far exceeds mine or Joe's in terms of computer hardware and software knowledge. I wouldn't take any other volunteer team as my back up. They have been crucial in beta testing the new platform and squashing bugs, and are responsible for keeping the forum running all these years. If anybody is skillful on these forums, its our moderators.

this seems to be an indefinite work in progress.

Not indefinite, no, there is a pretty clear timeline ahead of us. The new forum launch and migration of data is Phase 1. Phase 2 will begin once we squash our most serious and pressing bugs. In regards to your original query, I noticed that increasing the font size in preferences increases the boldness in thread listings, but that option does not seem to have an impact on messages. There are other issues that have to do with font sizing, namely the BBCode does not seem to work. The two could be related.

The good news is that we are working on this and new themes are also on the way! You may find a fix to your aesthetic issues sooner than expected

 

[superninja12]

Any more plans for the forum to promote user activity?

some examples

• Would be cool to have a daily featured review from a forum user below the trending post .
• A "could you solve this'' notication below the trending post if heralds/mods couldn't solve the thread .
• Some forum theme unlocks by good behaviour. I really think is more important than best answers

would have posted it under the viddyvane post but its locked?

Looking forward to what the community/staff will bring in the future !

 

[Colif]

Notices its already much easier to read forums...

 

[superninja12]

Notices its already much easier to read forums...

and to write a comment instead of remembering what you've written...

 

[Frag Maniac]

Our moderators are some of the toughest, baddest, tech support gurus on the planet. They are not to be trifled with and their knowledge far exceeds mine or Joe's in terms of computer hardware and software knowledge. I wouldn't take any other volunteer team as my back up. They have been crucial in beta testing the new platform and squashing bugs, and are responsible for keeping the forum running all these years. If anybody is skillful on these forums, its our moderators.



Not indefinite, no, there is a pretty clear timeline ahead of us. The new forum launch and migration of data is Phase 1. Phase 2 will begin once we squash our most serious and pressing bugs. In regards to your original query, I noticed that increasing the font size in preferences increases the boldness in thread listings, but that option does not seem to have an impact on messages. There are other issues that have to do with font sizing, namely the BBCode does not seem to work. The two could be related.

The good news is that we are working on this and new themes are also on the way! You may find a fix to your aesthetic issues sooner than expected

"Trifled with" seems kind of harsh given Colif's comment I was responding to.

"The forum software is just as new to us as it is for users. Mods aren't staff, we don't get to see months in advance what is coming next. Its not a complaint, its just how it is. So we try to help you before anyone like jpishgar comes in, who does have the details, and can correct our statements."

Anyway, as I said I'm looking for transparency, not a fight. I'm just trying to offer feedback, and asking whether the problems I'm mentioning can be fixed. Thanks for at least acknowledging the font problems. I'm finding more of them all the time. The above I posted showed the font size code instead of larger type, so I had to edit it to colored text. As Colif more or less indicated, a lot of this stuff is likely going to take a webmaster IT pro type to fully fix. As I'm editing and submitting this post, I noticed the fonts have gone back to showing bold as I prefer. I know it's supposed to be Large instead, but hey, at least it looks better (than faint or large IMO).

At this point I'd like to add more feedback. I was assuming when one mod stated the embedded content needs to be manually changed to the new BBC code that ALL media content could be changed back from links to embedded videos. That has not been my experience. I just tried to convert all 15 videos in my TEW Akumu No Upgrades tutorial, and it kept saying only 5 media items can be added. I thought maybe it meant five at a time. So I waited well over 20 minutes, and it still says only 5 can be added. I certainly hope this is on the radar for things that need to be fixed.

 

[R_1]

got it sorted thanks guys.

...but now I have a rogue account and cannot find a way to delete it.
not a pressing matter

 

[randomizer]

That has not been my experience. I just tried to convert all 15 videos in my TEW Akumu No Upgrades tutorial, and it kept saying only 5 media items can be added.

We have limits on images and characters for each post. I wouldn't be surprised if we also have a limit on media. I think we should adjust these if they're unreasonably low.

 

[Jsimenhoff]

got it sorted thanks guys.

...but now I have a rogue account and cannot find a way to delete it.
not a pressing matter

Glad you're fixed up and back online! Can you PM me the details of your rogue account? I'll be happy to delete.