*** Your thoughts on the CowboysZone Upgrade so far? ***

[Fmart322]

It's just different right now. Need time to use it to get used to it.

 

[Reality]

Oh on mobile they’re there when my phone is sideways. I guess vertically it’s goes away. My bad.

They should still show .. they are just not listed out completely due to space.

On my phone (vertical) they show right below the thread title and at the bottom just below the last post.

 

[LovinItAll]

Now that the move to new software and new servers has been completed and I have designed the still-work-in-progress Light theme for the site, what are your thoughts on it so far?


Common Questions

*** NOTE: I will continue to add questions and answers here as they get asked multiple times.

Why did you upgrade now?
We were having issues with a couple of things and the older software and servers were limiting our ability to add new features that we have planned.

Are you done with the new site design?
No, not even close. I keep finding things that need to be updated or improved.

Will there be a dark theme?
Yes, once everything else gets settled, I will work on creating a dark theme for the site.

Will there be a chatroom like the old site had?
Yes, we will be adding a new chatroom system, but it will be a few days before we work on that.

Will member stats be added back below the avatar/username/title area of thread posts?
Yes, hopefully. It will have to be manually implemented so it will depend on what is available and possible.

It's fine. I kicked in some ridiculously small amount of money years ago and don't feel entitled to render an opinion on a free site that provides me with entertainment. Just do your thing and we'll all fall in line.

 

[jsb357]

does not fit on my phone well at all...

i do admit i have an old old phone.

 

[CWR]

Sounds like the well-known android issue with Rich Text editors.

Click on the .. [ ] .. icon in the editor menu bar to switch to "BB Code" mode.

Thanks again, I'm about 5 minutes from dropping Androids.

 

[ICP]

So far not a fan, but give it time I guess

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

I will say this, it is much easier to read.
Had a cataract removed a few years ago and had the lasik lens put in,
Although prior to the cataract showing up I had 20/20 vision but the Doc did
say that after the surgery and due to age I would probably start needing to
wear some generic reading glasses for close up or small print.

I have noticed lately I have had to use the chrome zoom in feature to be able to read the posts a little better.
However when using that it would alter the size of the pages requiring me to side scroll on occasion.

I just notice I can read it on a lower zoom easier than before....however even if I increase the zoom to see better it does not change the page requiring side scrolling to view it all. It seems to adjust to the change,

 

[EST_1986]

Anyway to get more posts on a page?

 

[RJ_MacReady]

Seems ok. Where are the dark themes? You or another mod said that that was an upcoming option.

 

[Reality]

Seems ok. Where are the dark themes? You or another mod said that that was an upcoming option.

Read the Q&A in the first post.

 

[Diehardblues]

It’s looks a little different . The last upgrade a few years ago was much improvement. What all can we look forward to with this one? New features .

I’m not a tech guy but a few things I’ve noticed like it tells you when your time has run out to edit. 10 minutes it said. I never knew how long we had. But I thought I had longer.

I haven’t tried to load or copy post a pic yet but hopefully it’s the same. I didn’t see the the same options . And I haven’t seen signatures or post and likes count. Guess those are all coming back. And or the fans who have donated.

I do like you can see what the first part of response is before you open it. I’m sure like most upgrades it will be much improved. Just take awhile for some us more tech challenged to figure it all out.

Awesome that the owner and administrator is also the IT guy as well. You’re obviously very talented to put this all together. Thanks

 

[gmb1]

I like the old like button, but outside of that it's not that dramatically different.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Seems ok. Where are the dark themes? You or another mod said that that was an upcoming option.

Read the Q&A in the first post.
And more importantly, watch out for Childs....

Spoiler

HE IS THE THING

 

[triplets_93]

I have been a member of (another) forum that uses XenForo.

What I like about that forum, is that there is a Search tab and Search Box. Inform me again pls, as to why Cowboys Zone does not provide a search option within the site. I don't know of any other forum that does not have a search function within the site.

 

[Reality]

It’s looks a little different . The last upgrade a few years ago was much improvement. What all can we look forward to with this one? New features .

I’m not a tech guy but a few things I’ve noticed like it tells you when your time has run out to edit. 10 minutes it said. I never knew how long we had. But I thought I had longer.

I haven’t tried to load or copy post a pic yet but hopefully it’s the same. I didn’t see the the same options . And I haven’t seen signatures or post and likes count. Guess those are all coming back. And or the fans who have donated.

I do like you can see what the first part of response is before you open it. I’m sure like most upgrades it will be much improved. Just take awhile for some us more tech challenged to figure it all out.

Awesome that the owner and administrator is also the IT guy as well. You’re obviously very talented to put this all together. Thanks

Yeah, I have a wide background of experience beyond the tech stuff, but the tech stuff is a big part of it. The original version of CZ actually launched on a forum service I developed before eventually moving it to commercial software.

There are legal issues for hosting images, which is the main reason we have not offered it. We may offer it at some point, but a lot of planning will have to go into supporting it.

That's cool that it tells you how long you have. I wish more sites did that.

I am not sure what new features will be added, but I am sure there will be some along with hopefully some improvements on traditional features.

The post bookmark feature someone mentioned earlier is new, but I am not sure how many people will use it yet.

As I get more familiar with the software behind the site I can start looking to see what improvements I can make. Most of my time so far has been spent on trying to make this site look and operate as closely to the old site as possible.

It's not the same of course, and there are a few areas that need improvement, but I think I made really good progress on it the last few days. Hopefully it will continue to improve.

 

[Reality]

I have been a member of (another) forum that uses XenForo.

What I like about that forum, is that there is a Search tab and Search Box. Inform me again pls, as to why Cowboys Zone does not provide a search option within the site. I don't know of any other forum that does not have a search function within the site.

I will look into it but the problem is the XF search system (at least in the old software) was horrible. When people would perform obscure searches it brought the site to a standstill for everyone despite running on enterprise level servers.

The main issue is that databases are traditionally bad with searching millions of records, so you need to use a search indexing system rather than a database search.

I plan to spend time testing the search system in the new software, but if has the same performance issues, I will consider writing my own search indexing system for CZ.

 

[SloMo_Joe]

Fine on my computer, almost intolerable on my phone.

 

[SuspectCorner]

It’s … well … different.

Just have to get used to the formatting. It will happen. Codgers like me are ‘change averse.’

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

So far so good

 

[buybuydandavis]

Staff, can we PLEASE get a dark/night mode already. I know I already asked this, I almost need to wear sunglasses to use the site right now.

Dark mode in Brave works ok for cowboyszone.