Sand Trap's New Look

[Chas]

Erik,

Thanks for all the explanations, they are helpful.  I do find some of the changes to be improvements, e.g. greater visibility for reviews etc. - things I might be interested in and don't hunt around for.  Designing a forum must be a delicate balancing act - you can't please everyone.

Maybe my minor problem with the "edit" feature will cause me to preview my posts more thoroughly before I go ahead and hit the "submit" button.

Charles.

Later: one other advantage of the new software is that you get to go back and edit a post quite a while after you've made it - how long I'm not sure but this edit couldn't have been made with the old version.  I hate knowing that a stupid typo or something is sitting there and I can't get to it ......

[halcon]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

Not too fond of the profile editor or the way the signature seems to work. I tried for 1/2 hour today to get my witb list to work, but no luck.  It all just runs together like it's a single sentence.  I finally gave up.  It's not like I"m some newby either... I've been participating and moderating online DB's in many formats since the mid 90's, and this is a real pain.

+1. I miss the formatting options in the old editor (text size and color); is it possible to have it back, maybe with a few fonts to select from?

In regards to the lists, it can be a good thing, but it can become messy quite easily. For example, I tried to add my MP-57 to my bag, and those clubs are listed as "Mizuno MP-57 with ProjectX 5.5", which is not my shaft, so now I have to add a new item for the same club.

What about defining some ground rules? Like, for example, define only the head of the club (not the shaft, loft or number of clubs owned by any particular person). There is a space to add notes, where each individual can explain the particularities of his/her club(s).

[keb]

Love the recent discussion, reviews, wikis at the bottom of the page.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by halcon

+1. I miss the formatting options in the old editor (text size and color); is it possible to have it back, maybe with a few fonts to select from?

In regards to the lists, it can be a good thing, but it can become messy quite easily. For example, I tried to add my MP-57 to my bag, and those clubs are listed as "Mizuno MP-57 with ProjectX 5.5", which is not my shaft, so now I have to add a new item for the same club.

What about defining some ground rules? Like, for example, define only the head of the club (not the shaft, loft or number of clubs owned by any particular person). There is a space to add notes, where each individual can explain the particularities of his/her club(s).

Please don't add new clubs. Please see the discussion in the "Master 'New Forum'" thread in Announcements and Tech Support.

Short answer - we can change the product details to not list the shaft, but we have to be made aware of them so that we can make the changes. We get product details from an online retailer, so however they have them listed is what we get until we change them.

Originally Posted by keb

Love the recent discussion, reviews, wikis at the bottom of the page.

Thanks.

[Chas]

Yes, that stuff on the bottom is a definite plus.  Another thing I like is the fact that hovering the cursor over the "last post" [or the original thread post] brings up a couple lines very clearly, in a nice little box.  This makes the text very easy to read and helps you to decide whether or not to click on the post and read more.

[WUTiger]

Since Sand Trap has shifted to a new software backbone, I no longer  get "full action" on the ST website. I got a message from my Windows Explorer browser which said the ST was attempting to install "ActiveX controls" on my computer.

Why would my browser flag ActiveX controls?

[iacas]

Originally Posted by WUTiger

Since Sand Trap has shifted to a new software backbone, I no longer  get "full action" on the ST website. I got a message from my Windows Explorer browser which said the ST was attempting to install "ActiveX controls" on my computer.

Why would my browser flag ActiveX controls?

I don't know. I use Safari. I don't know what "full action" is, either...???

[TheOwl]

I agree. Not a big fan yet. I'm just not used to it. Loads fine, but harder to locate things.

[dmnoland]

Is there a way to collapse or make each reply smaller? There is way to much scrolling needed here now. Just look at the post above mine, #26. A one sentence reply takes up my entire 15" screen! While I like the new capabilities I miss the old home page (where did it go?) with reviews, recaps, predictions and whatnot. I also miss the signatures being displayed and again everything is just way over the top too large.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by dmnoland

Is there a way to collapse or make each reply smaller? There is way to much scrolling needed here now. Just look at the post above mine, #26. A one sentence reply takes up my entire 15" screen! While I like the new capabilities I miss the old home page (where did it go?) with reviews, recaps, predictions and whatnot. I also miss the signatures being displayed and again everything is just way over the top too large.

I agree, and I sent them some mockups on how this could be improved - largely by handling the signatures differently.

In fact, the page is still there:

http://thesandtrap.com/b/_space.html

I'll keep pressuring them to make better use of space. Paging keys will help, too - not with the space but at least with the scrolling. It's part of my multi-pronged attack at making the site as useful and clean and efficient as possible! :-)

[dmnoland]

Thanks Erik but I'm not sure what that link was??? Anyway, please just ask them how to minimize everything without reducing text size. Maybe Firefox is messing with things. Should I try another browser other than Chrome or IE?

[iacas]

Originally Posted by dmnoland

Thanks Erik but I'm not sure what that link was??? Anyway, please just ask them how to minimize everything without reducing text size. Maybe Firefox is messing with things. Should I try another browser other than Chrome or IE?

Was just a way to show them how to put the signature area up higher so it doesn't have to "clear" the postbit area. No worries if it didn't make sense to you - it should make sense to them... :-)

I use Safari, which is available on Windows too, but I think the site looks virtually identical on all of them.

[BigMikey]

I agree, it's been a while since I came and posted.  I broke my foot last November and took time away from golf and the forums.  While I do like the new features, your WITB with the little logos was simply 'KICK ASS'.... Bring it back if you can.  The extra step of clicking a list is of no interest to me, but I always thought was cool to see what other posters had in there bags when reading through a topic.

Also, this new post editor completely blocks my firefox spell checker.  Now I have to click the spell check button when I could just right click on any misspelled words.  Again your just creating more work for us.... We're lazy golfers ya know!

[iacas]

Originally Posted by BigMikey

I agree, it's been a while since I came and posted.  I broke my foot last November and took time away from golf and the forums.  While I do like the new features, your WITB with the little logos was simply 'KICK ASS'.... Bring it back if you can.  The extra step of clicking a list is of no interest to me, but I always thought was cool to see what other posters had in there bags when reading through a topic.

First, welcome back. Glad to see you're back and I hope your foot is nice and healed.

I'm aware of the spell-checker thing. It is what it is, and for a WYSIWYG editor I'm not sure if spell-checkers (I like Safari's) can be made to work. The editor takes over the control-click/right-click menu with entirely useless cut/copy/paste stuff.

The signatures can still have images in them... They're still in the smilies. I've added three (Sun Mountain, Adams, Mizuno) and will leave them in there for a little while.

We have some ideas on ways to improve lists in signatures, namely to show the list as a popup menu type thing...