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The new version of the software allows people to vote members reputations down. This caused massive problems in the past, that's why we only have Greenies, no Reddies TURN IT OFF!!! Richard

I do get it but not sure it is that relevant. Before, you gave people a greenie. Why? Presumably due to the post they made. Or did you give people greenies regardless of the content of their post? So not a cataclysmic change really! What I do like is that, same as on a certain other canal forum, you can see who awarded the merit points, where as before it was anonymous. And of course for a long time one could award oneself greenies. I see the identification of the people "commenting" on the post or person, to be a good thing.

I have a bit of sympathy for this post - for which Rog was firmly slapped around the head with a damp haddock. Perhaps he could have been more sensitive to the crew's feelings, but perhaps also he doesn't have the technical knowledge to be more constructive. To me, the 15 year old comment (so long as it's a generalisation rather than targeted at individuals) is quite a good description of the way this development in particular feels, whilst his observation about the rate of change is surely entirely valid. I'd love to be more constructive myself but, as I've said before, this is the only forum I've ever used where the average member even needs to give the workings a thought, let alone needs to spend time fiddling with lots of settings and trying to think of erudite ways to suggest how the forum software should operate. I made a similar point recently and Rich M did ask me for further info, particularly about types of software on other forums I use. I'm not sure I'd be much help because Vbulletin is the only name I know (a good thing on a vehicle which should be transparent to the user, surely) but I've not been able to respond since I haven't seen that particular thread since. This is a common issue for me, and undoubtedly in part my own fault for not spending more time trying to work out the underlying issue of my 'once read - never seen again' black hole. It was not, however, an issue previously, and I'm no more a luddite now than I was when I first encountered this forum. I have nothing but admiration for the site crew who give their time and expertise to provide and service this forum. In no way do I intend to be critical of their efforts or to knock the results. Reading between the lines, however, I get the feeling they're as frustrated with this software as some of the users. Having made these comments, I suppose I'll now have to watch as something reminiscent of Pacman chomps it's way through my hard-earned stock of old fashioned 'Greenies'. My only consolation may be that the music and sound effects weren't included in this latest iteration of upgrade!

Personally I like the the new additions and don't really see a down side to it. If someone wants to continue giving greenies only, there's nothing stopping them from doing so is there? Those of us who will choose to use the new opitions will do so. No harm done as far as I can see.

I'm sorry, but has a 15 year old taken over this place? The rate of change is mind blowing, for no reason I can understand. I suppose the next change will be constant 'selfies' with superimposed animal ears. Was the format previously 'that bad'. I was unaware of anyone complaining. It's becoming barely worth the effort of logging on. Rog

Were there a large number of 12 year olds which demanded the change, possibly? Too slow, too shit, FFS bite the bullet and move to vBulletin board sooner rather than later, Invision are taking the piss and have been doing for a while now, time to vote with your feet.

Hey, brilliant, we can vote reputations down again! Where's Carlt, ISTR he was collecting negative reactions to show how pointless it is Richard MORE: Yes, just checked, I've knocked two points off MtB's reputation. EVEN MORE: Just a reminder, this caused a hell of a lot of friction years ago, which is why it was removed

YOU CAN BREATHE NOW!! & so can I....am about to be water bound!!....so get those fenders out. Following all the expected last minute excitement I am finally the proud new owner of my very own Narrowboat! it is currently out of the water for some work, including blacking and due to work I am unable to get aboard until mid-August but routes being planned for the first journey. Now!!....... I know the traditionalists will consider me amoeba amongst the nb owners club but I'm happy - 1) It is a cruiser stern....35% gone 2) It is an ex-hire boat ...another 40% gone 3) It has pump-out toilets..... 20% more gone .....the other 5% are probably just like me Unlike my earlier experience the sales support at Sanley Bridge were and still are providing fantastic support!....can't thank Andy and the team enough, and the hire company have been very helpful. Can't wait to get on board and last week of August I'll have my 3 kiddies on board for a holiday together....so get the rain gear out, as it is bound to rain. Look forward to meeting some of you on the cut, and hope you don't get fed up of my questions....I will research first Will be back a bit later...got to go Fender and rope hunting for real now.....no window shopping any more?

I'd like to 'react' to your post but I'm torn. SOO MANY fekkin options it's ridiculous and indecision reigns....

Because, as mentioned by the OP, it has in the past been shown to cause a lot of problems with bullying etc. If you disagree with a post, just reply to it offering your alternative view, pointing out your perception of the flaws in that person's view (always remembering that other people are entitled to have a different view from you). Just disagreeing with a post without explaining why or offering an alternative, is pointless (and rude!). If you agree with it, there is nothing more to be said except that a "greenie" or whatever shows your agreement in one single act.

There is also the option of friction ''push and go'' powered cars using a very heavy flywheel. Aircraft carrier style elastic band or steam powered catapult launchers could be installed instead of battery charging points which will give enough shove to reach the next elastic launcher before the flywheel loses its inertia. Again, like clockwork propulsion no electricity whatsoever is needed, with all its complications and expense. Oil or gas lamps, rubber bulb hooter, clockwork wipers, wind up radio and wind up clockwork gramophone for music. Special roadways would have to be built as any stoppages would be a problem if there's no launcher handy.

The problem as I see it is a version works for everyone just fine. Along comes a new security threat no-one imagined could exist and Invision release a new version with the security hole plugged. Fine so far. BUT... Invision have, at the same time, been writing a load of changes to the 'user experience'. These generally make a lot of sense to the coders who live and breathe forum software but are not well accepted by users who would frankly, far rather have a stable, consistent and intuitive interface they have spent weeks or months or years learning the ins and outs of. THEN... Instead of implementing the security patches by themselves (the professional way to do it), they bundle massive unwanted user interface changes in at the same time with no explanation or documentation of what the changes are. Very unprofessional.

Hovering the pointer over the green arrow exposes the other options.

The changes are minor, and surely the most important thing is the security fixes that the update brings, the visible changes are small. I work on enterprise sortware, which is used by some of the biggest engineering companies in the world, and we put updates out roughly monthly for similar reasons. It is the world we live in, and Rich has to do this. I missed the point that the reputation points chage did introduce the way reducing someone's points, but that has been fixed so all the positive ones are the same as a "greenie", and you don't have to use them it you don't want to, and it in no different to Facebook for example.

I think there is such a thing as providing too much choice, particularly when it makes the system overly convoluted for people with different levels of tech-savvy and willingness to play about with things. Most people just want a simple to use platform that is intuitive to use and works as it should. I totally get that things need fine-tuning on occasion, but implementing additions and changes just for the sake of it does not necessarily enhance the user experience and may have the opposite effect. In my personal view, seeing who votes a post up is a good idea, but I can also see why some folk may not like this-and/or may have given reputation previously under the assumption of the prior anonymity, which has now been removed. Has the ability to see who is viewing and/or in process of commenting on a thread that used to be in effect gone? It seems to have. Why?

You have at least one back

Its still berserk. I'm not on it anymore and I seem to have lost two rep points into the bargain. .

Wave a pair of pants, red for preference, on a stick.

http://www.visitthames.co.uk/dbimgs/Cruising Guide.pdf has loads of info including all bridge heights

I don't very often read this forum anymore, partly as so busy and partly because I find some people's attitudes to others dire. I can't face reading all of the horrible things some of you are saying so sorry if repeating what others have said. We love Burton on trent. It's a very handy mooring for the nearby lidl and the railway station. It just isn't a destination for restaurants or even meals in pubs. It's a fair walk into town but if you take the trouble you'll be rewarded by simply amazing victorian buildings. The brewery owners had some fine houses right in the town centre. If you venture a bit further you'll reach the trent. It just isn't a tourist destination or a twee village like Alrewas. It's just a town where people live and work and we love it.

Well I was only an amateur! I corrected my impression above after seeing the pic with the sawn-off piece held up to the stump.

Yes, that's another interesting spot; I always like to spend at least an hour or two here, enjoying the solitude and gazing out at the Ship Canal.

I see that there is a subtlety I haven't explained properly. We used to award greenies to a person for a post. Hence all those 'I'm giving you a greenie' comments. Not I'm giving your post a greenie Adding a 'Love', 'Happy' or 'Haha' to a post is not the same as giving something to another person, in this case a Greenie Richard Never could for a moderator

He's fixed that now Richard

Same here for the icon. srk@julia:~$ wget http://canalworld.net/forums/uploads/reactions/react_up.png --2017-07-29 14:13:07-- http://canalworld.net/forums/uploads/reactions/react_up.png Resolving canalworld.net (canalworld.net)... 176.56.61.81 Connecting to canalworld.net (canalworld.net)|176.56.61.81|:80... connected. HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 404 Not Found 2017-07-29 14:13:07 ERROR 404: Not Found. Firefox/Linux. For the Avoidance of Doubt, I'm refering to the image of all the reaction types that RichM posted. That's a png and displays here fine. The greenie up arrow icon is broken here.

Here is a fascinating YouTube video showing how bad weight distribution can impact trailer stability If this link does not work Search YouTube for "Trailer weight distribution"

... twice

Absolutely. And a £50k car with a 300 mile range ain't it.

Members signed in list at the bottom of the home page has disappeared, for me anyway.

Curiously my complaint was the opposite. That fiddling with one's controls had become essential to get the board into a usable working condition. This should never have been necessary, and hasn't been so far for me with this latest update. Anyway in the past Rich 'fiddling with the controls' has been Rich installing a madatory update supplied by Invision, not a response to users having a moan. But I agree with your general thrust, don't fix stuff that is already working.

What's going on again, things have gone berserk. I wish members would stop arsing about and fiddling about with their controls and then complaining, which then causes poor old RichM to fiddle with his controls to try and appease them. It was all working fine for me.

The greenie arrow is missing for me - there's just a placeholder. And the mods have turned a mustard colour!

Well she has moved down to Wales now .... flock lining on ceiling is solid & is a right baa-stard to remove to be honest, but that's flock lining for ewe ! Ram-packed with plenty of the old character ! The Starship Enterprize on our little welsh canal !

That must be a "baa stard" to maintain.

Perhaps CRT should run a number of metal rods inside the beam (full length), let them start sawing then hit the metal.

Is she still 'flock lined throughout'?

Very true, I once specified the generator set for some 100kVA mobile generators when working for BT and project managed the build and roll-out to the field operatives. BT Fleet specified the trailers they went into. The whole shebang weighed 3500kg so that it could be towed by a Land Rover Defender, and deployed by local field people. Previously the largest mobile generator they could tow was 44kVA. As the rig was on the legal limit for towing I insisted that the field operatives passed a specialised towing course before being allowed to take them back with them. In the first week two turned over, so I put a ban on them until we had found out what was going wrong. Various theories were put forward, including being disturbed by the draught when overtaken by LGV's and 7.5 tonners (which can legally do 70mph on a motorway). To get to the bottom of it, I booked Bruntingthope vehicle proving ground, and took the trailer designer, a 42 tonne artic and a 7.5 tonne van from BT Fleet. Turned out that BT Fleet had specified a 50kg nose weight (more appropriate to a caravan), and this was the cause of the instability, especially when subjected to the side draught from a fast moving large vehicle, exacerbated by the official advice to slow down when the trailer starts snaking. (We found it was better to accelerate hard to pull the trailer straight, and then slow down when it had stopped snaking). The fix was to move the axles back a couple of notches (there were bolt holes for several positions), to increase the nose weight to 150kg, the maximum permitted for a Land Rover Defender. Interesting work, which took me a long way from comfort zone, but learnt a bit about trailer design and towing, as well as having a go at towing and driving the artic.

Just moored behind them and gave sue the bad news . Station boat (her favorite) yarwoods our favorite. Lister ha favorite engine. Fenny proceeded to blow a smoke ring and go aground hard... i do not need an unconverted pair. Repeat.

is this tonight or tomorrow night? Midnight tomorrow is so ambiguous !

My preference would be to leave the thing as sealed as it possibly can be, that is to say without an inspection hatch. Should you ever need to get inside the thing in the future, that's the time to.... get someone else to remove it and fit a new one, also without an inspection hatch!

Anyway, if you take my advice re: a AH counting SoC meter in addition to the SG, it will indicate the correct SoC (if you adjust the battery capacity and get to 100% SoC from time to time). Use the SG to know the actual capacity.

I think your post has the potential to confuse! AGM batteries are not synonymous with VRSLA, rather they are a subset. VRSLA includes AGM, gel cell, and wet types, each of which have different characteristics.

Marine alternators tend to be insulated return. Not too sure why really. Marine as in for use at sea. Narrowboat alternators tend to be common/case return. So no reason not to use it. Just connect the -ve wire to some convenient bolt near the alternator (paint scraped off etc)

In our limited time on the cut, I used ViewRanger to record a trip from Napton to Knowle (2 day trip). At the end of the run you can view graphs of speed, distance and height with time. Quite interesting. All free on Android. I mainly use it for walking but seems to work very well on the cut.

I have that

Also, while we're doing requests, can we have an option to turn off images please? Images in posts (especially in quotes of preceding posts), and avatar images please. I have signatures turned off, and being able to turn off avatars would allow us to further de-clutter our screens. I guess I'm asking for a text-only iteration of the site for those of us on a slow/expensive connection. Many thanks if you can...