Board Upgrade in Progress

[jtx]

Hello, everyone. You may have noticed that the site looks a little different now. As recently announced, we are in the process of upgrading the software that runs the boards. In additional to offering greater stability and security and more efficient database functionality, it also opens Jazztalk.net up to use on tablets and smartphones. Try it out!

You'll also notice a couple of things missing at the moment, such as the collection of handsome Google fonts. These will be brought back as soon as possible over the next few days. If there is anything else critical that you see missing, or if you have any general thoughts on the design or usability, please post them here!

- Justin (jtx)

P.S. No smilies were harmed in the updating of this board.

[BFrank]

Good luck with this!
Organissimo just went through an upgrade which sounded like it was more work than expected.

[jtx]

The advance work on this move was pretty extensive, but fortunately the steps were well-documented. Since the database was kept intact, the main complexity is in restoring any custom elements that were not stored within the original site configuration files, as all of the site code was removed and replaced. So far, so good, but it won't be completely surprising if something subtle but unpleasant occurs in the interim.

[Ron Thorne]

Justin, I'm checking the appearance and functionality of the new software on our tablet, and my initial reaction is that it's definitely more legible, overall.

Noted GB spelling.

More comments soon.

[jtx]

Although the US English language pack was installed for the site software, anything specific to the site theme template may be shown in UK English. We'll need to correct those as they are discovered.

Attaching a screenshot of the site as it appears on my Android phone.

Screenshot_2015-06-29-13-31-40.png (355.8 KiB) Viewed 18970 times

[Ron Thorne]

If you're missing your avatar after the launch of our new software, we'd like to know. We noted the absence of avatars where we thought that were some prior to our upgrade, so please let us know if yours is missing. We'll do our best to reinstall it for you as quickly as possible.

Thanks!

[walto]

Avatar check.

ETA1: something weird across the top left corner, but it's there.
ETA2: Hey, no more courier font!?

[bluenoter]

Avatar check.

ETA1: something weird across the top left corner, but it's there.

I can elaborate on that; the same artifact is on my avatar and the area nearby, but it's easier to see. (Justin and Ron, since the upgrade began, it's been on both of your avatars too at times, but it isn't currently.) Only certain avatars to the left of users' posts are affected; in those users' Profiles, the same avatars have a normal appearance.

It's a ghosted-out diagonal ribbon or sash that bears the word "Online" in very faint white letters. In the screenshot below, it appears between the green lines:



In addition, at a certain point in my vertical scrolling through the posts in a thread (that point being almost impossible to relocate on purpose), two extraneous black marks have appeared in my avatar area. In the screenshot below, they're circled in red:



The diagonal ribbon inscribed with "Online" isn't marked in that screenshot, but it's still there. In fact, it may be obscuring a short black bar of which the two extraneous black marks are two of the corners.

I happened to be scrolling through "Name Three People" in the Alley.

Me: Desktop PC, Windows 7, Firefox 38.0.5. Slowest Verizon DSL. About a 20-inch monitor, screen resolution 1600 x 900 ("recommended"). I have cleared my cache, logged out of JT and logged in again, deleted my avatar and uploaded it again, etc., several times.

(Justin, I'm planning to save the rest of my feedback until after you've finished upgrading.)

ETA2: Hey, no more courier font!?

Sure there is, walto! See? In post #1 of this thread, Justin (jtx) explained:

You'll also notice a couple of things missing at the moment, such as the collection of handsome Google fonts. These will be brought back as soon as possible over the next few days.

Meanwhile, you could type in the opening and closing codes for the Courier New font manually:

[jtx]

Yes, to be clear, all of the original fonts that were supported on the previous version of the software are now supported again. They just aren't presented as a dropdown option in the posting page yet, but you certainly can use BBCode to add them in right now.

Example:

Code: Select all

[font=Lobster][size=150]Wonderfully Lobster-y[/size][/font]

Will display as:
Wonderfully Lobster-y

On the "Online" overlay, I am thinking the best solution might be to eliminate it or change it. Not sure if it offers that much, and I find it a little bit visually distracting as it looks currently.

[bluenoter]

Only certain avatars to the left of users' posts are affected; in those users' Profiles, the same avatars have a normal appearance.

Correction re the diagonal ribbon, faintly inscribed with "Online," that appears on and near some people's avatars:

The avatars have a normal appearance on the Edit Avatars page of a Profile, but the diagonal ribbon appears in the avatars on the "main page" of a Profile.

[jtx]

Justin, I'm checking the appearance and functionality of the new software on our tablet, and my initial reaction is that it's definitely more legible, overall.

Noted GB spelling.

More comments soon.

So, the extra wrinkle in the language situation is that on the previous version of the software, only UK English was available, so every user account is set to use UK English by default. You have to go into your profile and manually change your language preference to US English, which I've just done for my account and your account. So, you should be set for US English now.

[jtx]

Only certain avatars to the left of users' posts are affected; in those users' Profiles, the same avatars have a normal appearance.

Correction re the diagonal ribbon, faintly inscribed with "Online," that appears on and near some people's avatars:

The avatars have a normal appearance on the Edit Avatars page of a Profile, but the diagonal ribbon appears in the avatars on the "main page" of a Profile.

The diagonal ribbon should be removed across the board now. If you reload the page you are on, you should see the overlay disappear from your avatar.

[bluenoter]

The diagonal ribbon should be removed across the board now. If you reload the page you are on, you should see the overlay disappear from your avatar.

Thank you!

What a difference in User Experience---all walto and I, to name two, could see was some kind of ghost image that was messing up the top left corner of our avatars. I spied the faint white word "Online" only because I was scrutinizing that area of the display.

The first of my two screenshots again:

[jtx]

The diagonal ribbon should be removed across the board now. If you reload the page you are on, you should see the overlay disappear from your avatar.

Thank you!

What a difference in User Experience---all walto and I, to name two, could see was some kind of ghost image that was messing up the top left corner of our avatars. I spied the faint white word "Online" only because I was scrutinizing that area of the display.

Certainly not the best presentation style, and it makes it harder to see the avatars clearly, so removal seems best.

[jtx]

The font selector is back on the posting window. Video embedding has also been upgraded, with greater support for numerous sites across the Internet.

[walto]

Thanks, Justin. You da MAN!

[walto]

And thanks to you too, BN. You da WOMAN!!

[Ron Thorne]

Man, I just took the new search engine for a spin, and it really works well and f-a-a-a-a-st. What an improvement over the earlier model! Give it a try.

[bluenoter]

 What a difference in
  User Experience . . .

A vow to Justin:

[jtx]

Its okay, I don't mind.
I'm liable to use it, too.

[bluenoter]

Its okay, I don't mind.
I'm liable to use it, too.

Thanks, but you use it, whereas I'm apt to misuse it (and Googling it didn't help me a bit).

[bluenoter]

Video embedding has also been upgraded, with greater support for numerous sites across the Internet.

And now Justin has added a button/icon that we can use to get the opening and closing codes for posting .mp4 videos (thanks, Justin!) ---



Questions:

Might we encounter an online video whose "shareable" URL has the extension .mp4? I don't think I've ever seen one be provided or obtained one by opening a context menu, etc.

If not, how do we find out that we're dealing with an .mp4 video, and how do we locate the URL that has the extension .mp4?

I hope you're of the opinion that there's no such thing as a stupid question.

[jtx]

The usage of the mp4 BBcode will be pretty limited. It is only useful when you are aware of the direct link to the MP4 file, either because you received it (or figured it out by reviewing the site source code), or you uploaded it yourself to a web-accessible location. For the vast majority of video clips hosted online, the primary BBvideo BBcode will still be best.