if it ain't broke don't fix it!

i agree, but sure hopefully once people get used to it, and it gets imroved things'll bounce back.

the old technology driving the discussion forums was very updated and no longer being updated.

It was better to make the change before it 'broke', because boy would that be a kerfuffle.

Yeah, this upgrade was very necessary and I knew that it would mean a period of lighter posting but - Garret is right - the software behind the old version of the board was very seldom updated (once a year at best) and based on old (1999) technolgy. This new arrangement gives the entire site (not just the board) greater opportunities and fleixiblity compared to what we previously were using for managing the site. In addition the community behind the technolgy now driving the site is very active and new versions and upgrades are being launched very regularly (eveyr 1-2 months). The benefits of the move will be revealed over time. In the meatniem cheers for the paitience.
Eoghan

I find that half the time the page doesn't load for me. All I get is the Latest Ringtones ad at the top of the screen. So if thats whats happening for other people, I can't really blame them for not bothering.

Our Network connection at work is slow at the best of times, but I have to say that since this website was updated its now like trying to wade through treacle. Some of the topics I just can't access anymore.

Suggestions:

Clutter is the primary problem.

1. Can you turn off Google ads for logged-in members?
2. The Forums>Discussion&Debate>The Soap Box thing doesn't need to be at the top AND bottom of each page - maybe remove it from the bottom.
3. The whole right hand pane (About These Forums/RSS feeds/Moderating Team) could be on a introduction to the forums page - you don't need to see that text every time you click on a new thread - it's rather intrusive.
4. Does anybody use Active Topics/My Profile/Not Read/Unanswered. It strikes me that forum has never been big enough to justify having those- link to them from the main page maybe.
5. Add Reply doesn't need to be at the top of each page - there's already one at the bottom, as well as the quick reply window and the reply button on each post.

offthepost, thanks for this feedback.

The new set up also allows for the server to 'compress' the page before it is sent to the user (i.e. less data to travel to user, so the page gets to you faster). This feature was not at our disposal beforehand. However I have not yet activtated this feature, will do so in the coming days and then you may then see a difference in speed.

Also the next version of the framework behind the site (DotNetNuke version 4.4) is being released in about a month. The changes in this new version focus exclusively on improving performance, so I expect even further improvements for users to come with it. It is because of these sort of ongoing advancements and improvements to the technolgy CLUAS now uses that I believe - long term - we have backed the right horse, despite the short term difficulties the migration has posed.
Eoghan

I too would be keen to continue visiting. However, topics certainly seem to have run aground.

I will be an optimist and suggest that it might have something to do with the time of year; not many new albums, etc. But I dunno...

I get the same problems - some topics just won't open, the page appears to be loading and then just hangs indefinitely.. When I tried to re-register it didn't work the first 2 times, the site timed out and gave a 404 error.

just accessed the forum from Windows 98 on dial up and it loading pretty fast i have to say.........is that the compression stuff turned on?

I've spent the last 15mins trying to log on and reply to a topic. The board is horribly slow, constantly hangs and crashes. If i have another window open and switch to back and forth, the cluas window just crashes. I honestly won't be back any time soon as it's just too frustrating to post and I suspect it's the same with the others who have disappeared from the board

Sorry to hear of your problems Warren. It would help if you can provide details of what broswer type and version you are using, and what operating system.

There is an update to the software that runs the board and i will be implementing it later this week. This I expect to address some of the issues.

As I said earlier in this thread:
a) I expeccted a drop off in activity on the board after the introduction of the new tecnolgy but...
b) ...the update was completely necessary for the site in the long term.

I am more than prepared to have some problems in the short term for some users if it means the site is better equipped for the long term.

Eoghan

I dont have similar problems myself. I wonder if people might possibly supply some useful info that might help narrow down the problem

1. What Operating System are you using
2. What Browser are you using (inc version number)
3. Are you using a dial-up-connection or a broadband connection
4. If Broadband, then what speed connection have you got.

This information might help resolve the problem possibly.

Sorry Eoghan, Hadnt seen your post before replying

I've been finding that right clicking and asking for each page to open in a new window speeds things up enormously. I'd been experiencing the same type of problems with slow load times and crashing pages as have been described here but this, while not a solution, certainly helps to make the new board more usable.

Hey,

Seems to be working a bit better. upgraded my internet explorer and load times are much quicker. I'm using windows xp with broadband. Still a bit of lag when I switch between windows but nothing too annoying. Cheers for the willingness to help out

Nice one Nerraw. Good to hear things are a little better. Very strange that they should be slow with broadband. I use Firefox myself and it seems fine. Havent tried it with IE

Good to hear Nerraw that it's going a bit better now. It should improve even fuirther when I implement two more updates on the CLUAS server, namely:

1) There is a new version of this discussion board technolgy (ActiveForums) that addresses a few issues. This should be in place in a few days.
2) There is also a new version of DotNetNuke (the overall technolgy that drives the new version of the site and that 'ActiveForums' sits on top of). The improvements in this new version focus almost exclusively on performance and speed (which have been issues with previous versions of DotNetNuke, including the version CLUAS is currently running). The word on various DotNetNuke blogs and forums is that this new version is much faster (less calls to the database, more efficient code, etc) and results in notable improvements visible to vistors. This upgrade is a bit more delicate to implemetn so I will need a bit more time to prepare and do it. Give me a week.

Eoghan