• Welcome to the Lightroom Queen Forums! We're a friendly bunch, so please feel free to register and join in the conversation. If you're not familiar with forums, you'll find step by step instructions on how to post your first thread under Help at the bottom of the page. You're also welcome to download our free Lightroom Quick Start eBooks and explore our other FAQ resources.
  • Dark mode now has a single preference for the whole site! It's a simple toggle switch in the bottom right-hand corner of any page. As it uses a cookie to store your preference, you may need to dismiss the cookie banner before you can see it. Any problems, please let us know!

Forum software upgrade

Status
Not open for further replies.

Victoria Bampton

Lightroom Queen
Staff member
Administrator
Premium Classic Member
Premium Cloud Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2007
Messages
24,656
Location
Isle of Wight, UK
Lightroom Experience
Power User
Lightroom Version
Cloud Service
Hi guys

It's nearly time to run the forum software upgrade, so I just wanted to warn you in advance. Most buttons are in the same place, but the new software has a more minimalistic modern look, so it'll probably take a couple of visits to adjust to the changes. I've attached a couple of screenshots so you know the sort of thing to expect.
main.png post.png

The software upgrade has some very nice improvements. Many of the improvements are focused on mobile browsing, including a menubar that scrolls down as you do. There's also a new Quick Thread option to help new visitors figure out how to post a thread.

At the same time, we're making some changes to comply with the upcoming GDPR data protection regulations. This will include removing most of the custom user profile fields. There are now custom fields for the threads themselves, which will allow us to collect current system information at the time of posting a thread, whereas profiles were often out of date.

And, of course, most important reason that we keep the software up to date is for your security.

The software upgrade was released last September, so it seems quite stable at this point. I've already been testing the upgrade on a staging site for a few weeks and it's looking good, although I'm sure you guys will find a few bugs ;)

The upgrade will happen early in the morning UK time over the next couple of days, while most of you are asleep. I'm hoping the forum will only be down for an hour or two at most, as I've already done the majority of the preparation.
 
Just curious how the GDPR will hit the site?

Tim
 
Just curious how the GDPR will hit the site?

Oh it's great fun. :confused: I've spent days on it already and I've still got work to do. So far I've mapped out where all personal data comes from, where it's stored, who could potentially have access to it (because that includes all third parties like Cloudflare, Dropbox, the web host, some plug-in developers, and the list goes on) and then chasing them to sign new data processing contracts to confirm they're looking after data just as carefully. There's a new privacy policy up already which is still being tweaked.

As far as the forum goes, I need to add a registration checkbox for EU members to give explicit consent because the forum is hosted on a US server. We're not meant to ask for or keep more data than is essential for the purpose, hence removing the required custom fields, but they'd had their day anyway. Even date of birth and gender disappear as they're not necessary. I'm still looking into whether sending spammer IP's to the Stop Forum Spam database is ok, but let's be honest, if they spam us, they deserve it! ;) I still need to find out how Tapatalk fits in as well.

I was already handling personal data very carefully, so a lot of it is formality, but the scope has extended to even include things like IP addresses now. I'm no lawyer, and I'm sure I still won't be perfectly compliant even after all this effort, but data protection is important, so I'll give it my best shot. I've had my own identity stolen and it's not fun.
 
Oh fun. I am kinda glad I am no longer dealing with international eCommerce.
The overhead for a lot of this is just crazy and brutal. And seeing how it can be abused (recent news) I understand where the law comes from, on the flip side what is not getting as much press is how the same information has helped track a serial bomber....

I really need to win the lottery so I can retire and just play with my camera.

Tim
 
And we're live! Everything went smoothly. I'm sure you'll find a bug or two, and I'm still tweaking odd bits, but hopefully nothing too major.
 
Thanks.

Testing the improved drag/drop image attachment.

profile.png
 
Any chance you could put the Thread Title beside the date on the top line of each post. It would save me a lot of scrolling to the top of the thread to make sure I am responding to the correct thread on iPad and iPhone, especially if I have several threads open. Not an issue when using my main Windows web client.



1521719769528.png
 
Nice clear and concise look. I particularly like the fact that the date/time of a post is so easy to find. :thumbsup:

P.S.: There used to be a "New posts" link at bottom right of pages... :confused:
 
P.S.: There used to be a "New posts" link at bottom right of pages... :confused:

I think they removed it as it now stays stuck to the top of the screen (the little arrow next to the Forum menu item has new posts). If loads of people miss it, I'll see if I can put it back though.
 
P.S.: There used to be a "New posts" link at bottom right of pages... :confused:
It's back. That one turned out to be an easy swap.

Any chance you could put the Thread Title beside the date on the top line of each post. It would save me a lot of scrolling to the top of the thread to make sure I am responding to the correct thread on iPad and iPhone, especially if I have several threads open.
Gnits, you've been heard, but that one's not proving so easy!!

I don't want to mess with the page layout too much, as all of the templates have to be manually upgraded every time there's a software update.
 
Printing? Did we lose the PRINT function in the latest update?

Phil
 
Looks great. First impression is its nice and tidy and uncluttered and I managed to navigate my way round first time.
 
Any chance you could put the Thread Title beside the date on the top line of each post. It would save me a lot of scrolling to the top of the thread to make sure I am responding to the correct thread
Found a compromise. Rather than on each post, the thread title is now shown just above the reply box.

Looks great. First impression is its nice and tidy and uncluttered and I managed to navigate my way round first time.
Excellent, that was the aim.
 
Printing? Did we lose the PRINT function in the latest update?

We lost the printer-friendly version button, but looking at the stats, hardly anyone was using it. None of the print friendly plug-ins have been upgraded, I guess because they also found it wasn't really being used. Your browser can still print as normal though.
 
I like it too - clean and easy to navigate.

Incidentally, I also like having the Forums integrated with the rest of the LQ resources, even if it wasn't initially a free choice.

Dave
 
We lost the printer-friendly version button, but looking at the stats, hardly anyone was using it. None of the print friendly plug-ins have been upgraded, I guess because they also found it wasn't really being used. Your browser can still print as normal though.
I guess I was one of the "hardly anyone" who liked the print function because the result was more compact than simply printing a web page. However, in the big scheme of things, printing is not that important. So be it.

Again, in the big scheme of things, the new website is a real improvement.

Phil
 
@PhilBurton

Have you tried "reader view"? It does a fair job of removing the clutter.

@Victoria Bampton

In the dark style, when you are editing a reply, it is really difficult to see what you highlight. Any chance we can change the background for selected text to something a bit more visible? Based on the theme, a black, or blue (to match the buttons) would be a nice change.

Tim
 
@PhilBurton
In the dark style, when you are editing a reply, it is really difficult to see what you highlight. Any chance we can change the background for selected text to something a bit more visible? Based on the theme, a black, or blue (to match the buttons) would be a nice change.
Better?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top