Can Announcements Be Removed ?

[Alan de Enfield]

Once 'Announcements' have been read can they be removed either automatically, or, by some action by the reader ?

On other forums I frequent, there is normally an "x" in the top right hand corner of each announcement allowing you to delete it at will.

 

The 'set-up' now takes up a full screen on y 15" laptop screen - it must be problematic for small-screen users.

 

 

Screen Shot.docx

[dor]

Seconded.

[RichM]

13 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Once 'Announcements' have been read can they be removed either automatically, or, by some action by the reader ?

On other forums I frequent, there is normally an "x" in the top right hand corner of each announcement allowing you to delete it at will.

 

The 'set-up' now takes up a full screen on y 15" laptop screen - it must be problematic for small-screen users.

 

 

Screen Shot.docx

Do you know the software that is used for the forum you refer to? I've not seen this as an option in IP.Board but will have another look.

[MtB]

Exactly that facility exists on https://www.diynot.com/diy/forums/plumbing/

Check out the compact and blisteringly fast interface too, puts Invision to shame. Can we change to whatever package they use perhaps?

[GoodGurl]

50 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Exactly that facility exists on https://www.diynot.com/diy/forums/plumbing/

Check out the compact and blisteringly fast interface too, puts Invision to shame. Can we change to whatever package they use perhaps?

also full of ad's which use data if on limited data allowance.

[Keeping Up]

It's all going very slow for me now. The "New Content" page takes about a minute to load or reload. It's not anything to do with my internet connection, it's only on the Forum and only on that page, and it's getting very frustrating.

[MtB]

On 18/03/2017 at 20:42, GoodGurl said:

also full of ad's which use data if on limited data allowance.

 

Ah didn't realise, such is the power of AdBlock!

[MtB]

On 18/03/2017 at 20:59, Keeping Up said:

It's all going very slow for me now. The "New Content" page takes about a minute to load or reload. It's not anything to do with my internet connection, it's only on the Forum and only on that page, and it's getting very frustrating.

 

Me too. This is why I keep mentioning other forums having a fast interface.

The new version took a long time to load but with the new IPDFocus skin its even slower on a PC.

Reasonably quick on a phone though.

[Jerra]

1 hour ago, Keeping Up said:

It's all going very slow for me now. The "New Content" page takes about a minute to load or reload. It's not anything to do with my internet connection, it's only on the Forum and only on that page, and it's getting very frustrating.

That is very odd.  After reading your post I tried to time it on mine, somewhere in the region of a second (can't be too accurate just using a wrist watch).

[Alan de Enfield]

2 hours ago, RichM said:

Do you know the software that is used for the forum you refer to? I've not seen this as an option in IP.Board but will have another look.

"vBulletin Solutions"

[RichM]

8 minutes ago, Jerra said:

That is very odd.  After reading your post I tried to time it on mine, somewhere in the region of a second (can't be too accurate just using a wrist watch).

Same here and I'm sat aboard a boat using a flaky 4G connection due to the weather.

8 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

"vBulletin Solutions"

Not surprised. I'm also a big fan of vBulletin also but if we were to migrate to it, it would be a significant change for all users and I don't think the wider community would appreciate that too much. We would also lose some functionality in doing so so I don't think it's likely anytime soon. 

[Keeping Up]

I just did a quick comparison. Hitting Refresh on the New Content page

On my Samsung phone using 4G it took 45 seconds

On the same phone using WiFi and Broadband it took 45 seconds.

On my Hudl tablet using the same WiFi and Broadband it took 45 seconds.

On my PC using Windows 10 and the same Broadband it took 2 seconds.

 

When waiting for it to load on the phone, everything seems to be there but the announcement at the top is there in full. In this state you can't do anything. You can't stop the page loading, nor can you select a topic. It didn't do this immediately after the upgrade and it's making the Forum almost unusable as just taking a quick glance at say 10 posts takes 10 minutes even though the topic pages themselves take only seconds to load.

[mross]

I deleted all my temporary internet files (cache) and cookies and CWDF loads in about one second.  It takes about 1-2 seconds to sign in.  This is on Win10 on an Asus Transformer with a basic spec.  I don't think my Android phone is much different.  If a page is taking 45 seconds to load it might be worth trying a different DNS server.  I often use OpenDNS as it is quicker than using the DNS of my ISP.

[mross]

I have found that Complete Internet Repair is a very clever utility when internet connections are playing up.  I use only the first five options.  I wonder if some antivirus is slowing access for some users.  Windows own antivirus is enough for people who don't visit 'dodgy' sites.

But do follow their advice and set a 'Restore Point' first!

Edited March 19, 2017 by mross

[Alan de Enfield]

9 hours ago, RichM said:

We would also lose some functionality in doing so so I don't think it's likely anytime soon. 

But (and a personal view) I don't think the 'poster of the day', gold / silver/bronze cups, 'green hearts' etc. really add a great deal to an 'adults' forum.

I have only a 'users' knowledge but the 'usability' is not unlike the 'old' forum and much more user friendly than this latest version.

[Debby]

10 hours ago, Jerra said:

That is very odd.  After reading your post I tried to time it on mine, somewhere in the region of a second (can't be too accurate just using a wrist watch).

Same for me. Slightly slower on my phone than on the laptop, but it doesn't bother me!

 

31 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

But (and a personal view) I don't think the 'poster of the day', gold / silver/bronze cups, 'green hearts' etc. really add a great deal to an 'adults' forum.

Agree.

 

[Keeping Up]

Before doing my tests last night I had deleted the cache and temporary files on all my devices, also checked that loafing speeds were fine on sites other than CWDF. I had assumed that the phone would use a different DNS server when on 4G from when it was on WiFi but maybe that was wrong?

This morning everything is back the way it should be, loading quickly on phone and tablet. Perhaps it was just a temporary effect of the maintenance work on the site.

[RichM]

22 minutes ago, Keeping Up said:

Before doing my tests last night I had deleted the cache and temporary files on all my devices, also checked that loafing speeds were fine on sites other than CWDF. I had assumed that the phone would use a different DNS server when on 4G from when it was on WiFi but maybe that was wrong?

This morning everything is back the way it should be, loading quickly on phone and tablet. Perhaps it was just a temporary effect of the maintenance work on the site.

Last night I noticed errors which suggested the hard drive was failing and swiftly moved the site to a different server overnight. I doubt the hard drive issue explains the speed issues some report as it performed fine for many. 

However the server was previously in a data centre in France (yes, I know  - it was only a temporary server) where as the current temporrary one is in a data centre in London, so it's on a completely different network which could explain why it's loading faster. Ping times are some 40ms quicker testing from here.

I am going to look further into caching to improve performance. 

Keep the feedback coming

RichM