So what you do think?

[LivingInThePast 364]

A little weird. A lot of people have been complaining about the tiny size of the reply box, but that's how it used to be, at least the replied ones were. Glad to see the smilies are back, but this one is still glitchy!

The Web 2.0 Facebook-inspired interface is a bit annoying though.

I'll wait until it improves a bit.

[Sniper296 83]

Speed has improved allot, good job.

Only one more thing from me, please enable HTML, BB code is so fetureless.

[LivingInThePast 364]

Wow, it's built on the same engine that runs another site I go to, HAIF. When it redesigned some months ago (July 2009?), it added HUMONGOUS ads. Plus, it added the +/-, of which everyone (anonymously) voted me down, needlessly. It was cruel, I know, but it was eventually changed to where you can see who voted who down.

[SimHoTToDDy 2,938]

Yes, the STEX needs work, but it has a lot of potential to improve upon the foundation of ST5 and 6. The problems right now are just with how it is organized, I think. Once everything is put where it ought to be, then folks will have less to complain about. The "small" images in descriptions expand to full size images (and you can scroll through multiple images that way), which is nice, putting them in the description was a pain and often resulted in some glitches. The normal category view of the uploads was not too bad. The images was a little small, but still large enough to get noticed. All the information was there and I could see 3-4 listings without having to scroll down. The Search results were frustrating though (no images) which is a real buzz kill when actively searching.

Like have been saying to everyone, Just give it some time. The STEX is down for now, so I'd imagine that things are being worked on as we speak.

[Nego16 26]

Speed has improved allot, good job.

Only one more thing from me, please enable HTML, BB code is so fetureless.

You know, the two languages are very similar. This page on Simtropolis lists some of the many features BB Code has to offer. There are 35+ tags on that page alone.

[_marsh_ 1,117]

Speed has improved allot, good job.

Only one more thing from me, please enable HTML, BB code is so fetureless.

Why? Almost every single forum uses BB code. It is much more "Universial" you can say. With the old one it was also a VERY large pain to copy CJ updates over from SC4D, or vise-versa.

edit* - And there are lots of features of BBcode. As many as there was for html.

  Edited February 27, 2011 by _marsh_  

[warrior 169]

Speed has improved allot, good job.

Only one more thing from me, please enable HTML, BB code is so fetureless.

You don't seem to know the possible security risks with unlimited use of HTML Anything you need to do on a forum is 99% of the time possible with BBCode, annoying things like constantly blinking or scrolling text just get in the way.

Wow, it's built on the same engine that runs another site I go to, HAIF. When it redesigned some months ago (July 2009?), it added HUMONGOUS ads. Plus, it added the +/-, of which everyone (anonymously) voted me down, needlessly. It was cruel, I know, but it was eventually changed to where you can see who voted who down.

Thankfully Dirk was very wise and only enabled positive rep

[chicah 20]

I love it. I really love it. That's all I have to say. Great job!

[Lot Creator 304]

Overall, I like the new site. I CAN now find and post something in the Fourums, which was hard in the other ST, ty dirk. I am still waiting for the chat to reopen so i can go back to the Help desk and the improvements made. I really do not dl as I used to, so I can't say how it is. Overall: *drum roll* 1400/10

ST is getting cooler by the day

LC

[Sniper296 83]

Okay, well here is the first need for HTML I have discovered, say I want an image that is dynamically generated or that needs a custom size specified, can I use [ img ] NO! But HTML has a solution <img href="example.com/image.php" WIDTH="26" HIGHT="12" />, I mean even vBulletin saw a need for specifying size and added to their BB code.

I am not saying enable ALL HTML code, just the basic parts, and even the basic parts are more powerful than BB, keep <embed><object><iframe><script><?php><link>etc disabled.

The reason I would like HTML back is partly because it was previously enabled without peolple abusing it and because my BAT thread has custom CSS.

[chicah 20]

Overall, I like the new site. I CAN now find and post something in the Fourums, which was hard in the other ST, ty dirk. I am still waiting for the chat to reopen so i can go back to the Help desk and the improvements made. I really do not dl as I used to, so I can't say how it is. Overall: *drum roll* 1400/10

ST is getting cooler by the day

LC

The chat is open.

On that note: How come our "personal images" are used in chat, and in a HORRIBLE resolution? Will this be fixed?

[bourneid 13]

It's funny to hear the complaints about the layout... and how 6.0 is wanted back/what was wrong with it..... someone on staff needs to pull up some of the post from when we went from 5.0 to 6.0....... and how folks hated it... wanted the previous version back....

It's funny to hear the complaints about the layout... and how 4.0 is wanted back/what was wrong with it..... someone on staff needs to pull up some of the post from when we went from 3.0 to 4.0....... and how folks hated it... wanted the previous version back....

... rinse, rather, repeat

[djrules5454 5]

The only thing that I don't really like so far is that the light-colored background seems kind of bright, though that is more of an aesthetic thing that I'll just have to get used to.

  Edited February 27, 2011 by djrules5454_simtropolisedition  

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

I do like the update. The site looks great. I will echo the concerns about the lack of pictures right on the first page on the STEX. Also, no more custom member labels? Will they be added later? At any rate, I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished product. Great stuff, so far, and thanks a lot to those behind the upgrade!

[fukuda 351]

Also, no more custom member labels?

Actually, you can just add yourself a custom label in your profile settings

EDIT: Oh wait, it looks like it's no longer possible to do so

[Larks2242 251]

Seems there is a Print and download button at the bottom, haven't tried it yet but it is an intresting feature.

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

Actually, you can just add yourself a custom label in your profile settings

EDIT: Oh wait, it looks like it's no longer possible to do so

Hahaha, I read the esteemed Dirk's welcome thread, and those as well as the awards and such are going to be added eventually. So, I was wrong, eeeeheheh .

[SimFox 802]

I feel that I also must add my voice to the choir ranting about new STEX. It is conceptual step to the wrong direction. The stuff on STEX is by definition visual, not textual. So we need pictures that would speak thousand words, rather than thousand words that deliver no picture, particularly given language issues.

Plus, all the "effects" could be nice if they wouldn't get in a way of usability. However when one is able to see only 4 or max 6 at 1920x1200 monitor it

  Edited February 27, 2011 by SimFox  

[warrior 169]

Another thing about STEX that could and I believe should be done is some sort of form with fields specific for the selected type of upload that would be required to be filled. Say, for a BAT uploader, it would be needed to state basic stats, like pollution, consumption, jobs etc. This may lead to better quality of stuff on STEX without resorting to

[SimFox 802]

^^

absolutely!

[Slashback 136]

The overall impression is good so far, I know that there are still a lot of work to do, so I won't comment on those things.

The new forum system is great, but I think the avatars are a little too big. And it's a relief to have a good text editor.

Good work!

[LivingInThePast 364]

I'm still not convinced how ST7 is a good idea. I liked the old look & feel, and I need a reminder why we had to move the forum to a new system, and broke the signatures, CMLs, Trixies icons, and internal links.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

In a word, right now it is too slow. It clearly needs tuning. I am getting IIS time-out errors when I post something of only a few lines. Perhaps IIS was a wrong choice of platform. I have always had my doubts about Microsoft's software, and when I was running a server under IIS on Windows 2000 I was not impressed.

The new forum and site layouts are very nice, and I like this editor. If I get timed out on this post, I will capture the error and post it here as well.

[Dirktator 2,320]

The site is just slow because it's not finished yet, the homepage will still be added, obviously Dirk thought we'd like the forums back ASAP, rather than wait for everything to perfect. The only issue people (including me) seem to have is with the STEX, I'm sure it will changed in some way or another in the near future.

Yes, precisely. The plan was to get the data converted since the biggest chunk is the forum, and to get what we can up as soon as we can so at least it's usable and you're not staring at a twitter feed.

The rest will come in due time.

The STEX 7 is only a starting place, and will be further rounded out over the next little while -- just like all our previous "upgrades" things change and improve over time -- but we have to start somewhere!

[Travismking 5]

the new layout is really nice. It must have taken a TON of time to mod IP board to look and work this way. It is slow, but I think thats because it hasnt been fully optimized yet. I dont quite think I like the STEX though, also dirk, would it be possible to add a line, similar to the LEX, for if and when you downloaded a file off the stex? I know it would take time, and may not be feasible with the amount of files on the STEX, but just a suggestion

  Edited February 27, 2011 by Travismking  

[Dirktator 2,320]

I'm still not convinced how ST7 is a good idea. I liked the old look & feel, and I need a reminder why we had to move the forum to a new system, and broke the signatures, CMLs, Trixies icons, and internal links.

You might have missed my big memo on ST6 saying that signatures would be intentionally removed in favour of the new signature system as well, the HTML in your old signatures would not work here. I also mentioned that Awards, Icons and CMLs would also appear in due time. All previous forum, stex and city journal links should still work ... the server will automatically convert them to the new counterparts.

[Dirktator 2,320]

I think it would also be good if there were field for dependancies, which ties into File You've Downloaded, and it will tell you when/if you previously downloaded the dependancy. That would go a long way in solving the usability problem of dependancies for users who have't been around since 2003 to download each dependancy pack as it came out.

(It would also be good if the Dependancy field could link to other sites, for dependancies that aren't on the STEX)

This would be a good idea. We should have a discussion on how data in STEX files can be improved.

[Dirktator 2,320]

It's funny to hear the complaints about the layout... and how 6.0 is wanted back/what was wrong with it..... someone on staff needs to pull up some of the post from when we went from 5.0 to 6.0....... and how folks hated it... wanted the previous version back....

It's funny to hear the complaints about the layout... and how 4.0 is wanted back/what was wrong with it..... someone on staff needs to pull up some of the post from when we went from 3.0 to 4.0....... and how folks hated it... wanted the previous version back....

... rinse, rather, repeat

Bang on. If you've been around for every update (as I have ... ) you do see the very same things posted after every single update. Go through our own posting history, from each version to the next, there is always a subset of users who "prefer the old version" even though some or many of them complained about what was wrong with the old version and why it needed to be improved. It was the same song and dance when we launched ST6... almost identical.

Pleasing everyone is not possible, and we're not here to try. But there are certainly legitimate criticisms which I am taking very seriously. As I've said before, the STEX is an important part of the site, and its interface and presentation will be heavily worked on over the next little while. Don't panic.

I really should take advantage of the multi-quote feature.

[un1 41]

I am not saying enable ALL HTML code, just the basic parts, and even the basic parts are more powerful than BB, keep <embed><object><iframe><script><?php><link>etc disabled.

<?php> isnt an HTML tag. It's <?php ?>, and even that isn't an HTML tag, cause it doesn't work when you echo it in PHP code. I would like to see HTML back, I find BBCode confusing somehow, ohwell I can live with it.

[twinsfan14 36]

I'm liking the new site, but the STEX should be changed. It was perfect the way it was, just simple with the newest uploads in chronological order. I don't think we need the "Highest Rated" and "Most Watched" sections. That's WAAAY too much like YouTube, and isn't really necessary.

I do love the new forum interface, however.