New Site

[Woodwalker9]

The new site looks great. It is going to take a little getting use to as it is very different, but we are so thrilled to have it up and running.

Thanks Kevin for all your hard work.

[OldRiverRunner]

One of the features I liked about the "old" site (or format) was the function that allowed me to look at the list of forum posts made since my last visit. I don't that on this new site, or maybe I am looking in the wrong place. Can this feature be added to the new site? I found it very useful and time saving - a quick way to check on new posts without having to look down the full list of forum categories for the last post. I have heard other members mention how useful this was to them also.

[kcackler]

ORR - You should already see a "What's New" link at the top of the page in the tab system. This link should take you to a list of posts that you've not yet seen or marked as "read"

[OldRiverRunner]

Also, I just noticed that under my name, next to my avatar, is the title "Senior Member". Does this mean that I can get senior discounts from ArkGeo???

[OldRiverRunner]

ORR - You should already see a "What's New" link at the top of the page in the tab system. This link should take you to a list of posts that you've not yet seen or marked as "read"

Got it. Thanks.

[kcackler]

...Does this mean that I can get senior discounts from ArkGeo???

You wish :)

I'll get those user titles changed after the hard work is done. It may be awhile.

[fishigfool60]

Like the new site. Will take a little time to get use to it. But big thumbs up and thanks for the hard work put into getting it up and running.

[arkfiremedic]

New look, hopefully less spam. Thank you for all your hard work.

[cateyetech]

Kevin the kackler you RULE !!!! Love the new sight!!!! Thanks!!!!

[kcackler]

Pleased to hear it.

I'm sure the switch won't be all rainbows and unicorns, though (Although I'm hoping)

[idratherbehiking]

I'm Loving the new site. I should be asleep right now but just have to check out all of the great new features. Thanks Kevin for getting it all switched.

[idratherbehiking]

Also, I just noticed that under my name, next to my avatar, is the title "Senior Member". Does this mean that I can get senior discounts from ArkGeo???


Hey Frank, if you go to the edit profile page you can change that "Senior Member" to whatever you want.

[OldRiverRunner]

Pleased to hear it.

I'm sure the switch won't be all rainbows and unicorns, though (Although I'm hoping)

Some pages now are very SLOOOOWWWW in loading up. A by-product of the new site?



Hey Frank, if you go to the edit profile page you can change that "Senior Member" to whatever you want.

Didn't work when I tried to change it.

[kcackler]

Some pages now are very SLOOOOWWWW in loading up. A by-product of the new site?

Nope - A by-product of having some disk issues on this server yesterday. Hoping to have that fixed when I get back (Server guy is working on it today).

It's still faster than it was before, though :)

[Ashallond]

Is there any way to change the icons on the forum page to a deeper shade of blue (or something brighter) when there is a new message in a thread or forum? The blues and the muted blue/grey aren't as easy to denote as the blues and red balls from before.

Other than that one question, this is nice.

[kcackler]

It's on my list of things to do, as I'm in full agreement with you. Having said that - Is the overall color scheme acceptable? I'm trying to bring a bit of professionalism to the look of the website, compared to the old website themes available.

[guwisti]

Looks great! Thanks! :D

[Jffok]

Wow. Thought I was going to have to get the garmin out and put in some cords, but finally found my way here. Once I explore all the features I think I am going to like the new site. Thanks for all the work.

[Ashallond]

I sort of miss the red tones, but that's just me.

Really the forum icons were my only real fuss.

[Gaddiel]

Is the overall color scheme acceptable?

I like the color scheme. Easy on the eyes and has plenty of contrast for me. Of course you could use the old Windows "Hot Dog Stand" colors if you really want to annoy folks... :)

I agree that it's a little hard to differentiate between the old and new messages. For some reason, they chose to use an open envelope icon for unread messages and a closed envelope icon for read messages. That really doesn't make sense to me, but I'll get used to it...

Wayne

[OldRiverRunner]

Regarding the PMs, a couple of days ago, I replied to a PM I received, but I cannot find my response anywhere. I checked the Sent folder, but nothing was there, so I was unsure the message went out. So I sent a second reply. Same result. I noticed that the envelope icon shows that I replied to the PM, but where is the text of my reply?

[kcackler]

Frank - Click "Settings" in the top navigation, and then "General Settings" in the left navigation on the new page. There you can configure all of your forum settings, including the ability to save a copy of sent PMs in your Sent folder.

I'm going to see what I can do to update this setting for everyone.

Edit: OK - This setting is now turned on for everyone.

[SJClimber]

Kevin, was cruising the site and thought about attributes of the old site. There were resource pages with documents and excel files of useful items. Will those things migrate to the site in the future? This may be on your agenda? Thanks for your work on the site. We all appreciate your efforts.

[kcackler]

Yes indeed. All of the old resources are on their way back soon. Due to the general outdatedness of the old scripts on the website, it was necessary to perform the switch sooner than planned.

We just lost our babysitter this week, so I don't have much free time since I'm working when Anna gets home. But it is on my list of things to do.

[kcackler]

Put in a bit of work this evening. I got the FAQ migrated from the old website as well as all of the downloads. Both should be accessible from the top navigation menu at this time.

[MathSeeker]

Where can I find the ArkGeo banner page?

[kcackler]

I've got a temporary banner linking page up at http://arkgeocaching.org/index.php?pageid=link_banners for you now.

[MathSeeker]

Thank you! I am trying to figure out where everything is so I can get the ArkGeo puzzle cache back up and running. It is disabled while the website gets renovated.

[kcackler]

Let me know if anything needs to be expedited to get the cache back up and I'll bump it to the top of my list.

[MathSeeker]

GC2MJTJ is the cache.
Still have not located the ArkGeo email address or the ArkGeo documents. I thought the home page had 'Today's Birthdays' listed the other day, but I don't see it now. Some of the questions I was trying to change to match the updated site.
Thanks!

[Jffok]

I am still trying to figure out how you see just the newest posts? The forum listing comes up and still having to scan the dates for the last post. Also some of my envopes are red and some blue. I am using the What's new option.

[kcackler]

What What's New link shows you every thread with a post that you haven't yet seen. It's what I use for catching up on everything and appears to be working perfectly.

Also, on the homepage, it shows you how many new posts have been made since your last visit. Clicking that link will also take you to the new thread listing.

The red envelopes are for "Hot Threads" while the blue is for threads with new posts. The gray is for not hot, no new. These icons will be changing, because they confuse even me.

[Jffok]

Thanks. I found the right places to click and that works good. This going to be a much better forum. Thanks for all you are doing.

[idratherbehiking]

Hey Everybody. I just wanted to point out that there is now a link to the calendar at the top of the page. :D
I have posted all upcoming events to the calendar. I will try to keep up with them as they are published on GC.com.
There is also a list of upcoming events in the next 14 days at the bottom of the forums page if you scroll to the bottom.

[kcackler]

I hate to be a pain, but maybe we could have the GC code linked in the event descriptions?

Also, another new feature (Minor, but useful) - Did you notice that I've placed a GC button on the new post editor? Write your GC code, then highlight it and hit the GC button, and it will be linked to automatically. Useful, eh?

IE GC2P42A

[idratherbehiking]

I hate to be a pain, but maybe we could have the GC code linked in the event descriptions?
IE GC2P42A

Sorry if I am not as nerdy as you.;) Just kidding. I'll be sure and go back and do that. I just did not have the time when I posted them all to the calendar.

[kcackler]

Yeah, how nerdy of me to think people might want to visit the GC listing in question, huh :D

I was going to take care of them last night, but the bed was calling my name.

Seriously, though - Thanks for populating the calendar. I thought it might be a useful feature addition to the site.

[OldRiverRunner]

OK, I have a complaint. I just tried to look at the forum section and the website gave me a error message, saying that I needed to fill in some information in my profile. It wouldn't let me go any further until I filled in the "required" information. I thought I had already done this. Regardless, why does the website need my address and phone number on file??? And why wasn't my information just automatically transferred over from the previous site?

[Jffok]

Ok I just had the same problem as Old River Runner getting logged in. Would not let me go any farther until I updated my personel information. Good questions ORR

[kcackler]

On the old website, your user information was stored in a custom database setup, written by Bert, and NOT in the forum's database tables. In this setup, it required your date of birth, your full address, and your telephone number. Rather than waste valuable time writing a custom script to copy that information over, I set it up so that you needed to add that information to the new setup.

Why???? Because it's been 6+ years since many people added their information. The chances that the address information had changed is pretty great, most likely. I figured that each member spending 1 minute updating their address information was better than me spending 1 hour importing old, mostly incorrect data. As well, by clearing the data and starting anew, we can see just how many "Voting Members" are actually still active in the organization.

I personally don't see a problem with the setup, since your address is going to be on file anyway. But if it's that big of an inconvenience to edit 5 profile fields, I'll turn the feature off.

[Jffok]

Not a problem for me. Took all of one minute. Thanks for all you do.

[Gaddiel]

Managing and keeping our membership list updated has been an ongoing concern for a while. Sounds like a good solution.

Wayne

[jclaudii]

How does one become a voting member? I know on the old site, you had to "sign up" for it. One of my pet peeves with this method was you never had to renew your "membership" meaning we have a ton of members who at one time were voting members, but have not been active in 2 years...yet we counted these numbers as "voting members". By having a 1 year membership renewal, we can automatically get the updated info like phone/address and get a commitment that you'll be an active member in the coming year again!.

[kcackler]

We haven't discussed that in much detail, but your thoughts pretty much agree with what I have been thinking. Require renewal yearly or you revert back to being a regular member. I will be putting up the member registration form hopefully early next week.

[kcackler]

All registered voter information has now been transferred to the new website. If your information is out of date, please take a minute to update it at http://arkgeocaching.org/profile.php?do=editprofile

I will be working on the voter registration form this evening.

[Cpdenton]

Thanks to the people involved in making this transition. It looks like a lot of hard work is paying off in a great way.

The site seems MUCH quicker and this format is easy to navigate and understand.

I personally love it!

Thanks!

[kcackler]

Update: Voter registration form is up. If your registered voter details are out of date, please update them using the link under the "Voting Booth" dropdown in the top navigation.

[SJClimber]

IRBH and Kevin - I've been watching the improvements and continue to be excited about the site. Colorado overhauled it's site last year, but continues to "tweak" it weekly. One tab there leads to events, both in Colorado, and then surrounding states. On the CO site, the events are listed chronologically, and by state and name, the name is a link to GC.com. Wonder if on the AR calendar, one could color code the AR events vs. events in other states, then link the event back to GC.com?? For instance: AR-GC2NRZ1;ArkGeo March 2011 Eat-N-Greet:Malvern (with the GC code as the link)??

[jclaudii]

note to kcackler, Just letting you know one can update that info over and over, hopefully there is no issue with this.

[kcackler]

That is the intended functionality. We need you to be able to update your information if it ever changes.

[idratherbehiking]

That is the intended functionality. We need you to be able to update your information if it ever changes.
The ArkGeo Standing Rules states "Voter registration will be closed from the day nominations close to the day the election closes (April 1 – June 1 in most cases)."
So registration will need to be closed during that time frame.

[kcackler]

Of course. But until that time, users should be able to update their information at any point, correct?

[OldRiverRunner]

OK. What's with the clock on the new site? I noticed that Asholland posted a reply to my comment on the Geocaching Adventures exhibit at 3 something AM on 3/15/11. As I post this, it is 11:35 CDT on 3/14/11. The time and date on this post are 4:36 AM on 3/15/11. How can that be???

[kcackler]

There are many different timezones in the world. Were you really in London, as your profile settings suggest, the times would look entirely correct. :) But since you're not, I changed your profile settings to be the correct timezone and times should look right for you from here on..

[OldRiverRunner]

Silly me! I guess I just need to go back and review my profile again! But I could have sworn that my previous postings were showing the correct time. I guess I was mistaken.

[OldRiverRunner]

OK. I just looked at My Profile page, and I did not see a setting for the time zone anywhere. The only things I could edit were my biography, location, hobbies, and occupation. I didn't see anything else that I could change. On another post I made regarding the title "Senior Member", IRBH responded that all I had to do was go into my Profile and I could change it to anything I wanted. Again, when I looked at My Profile page, I did not see where I could edit this. Am I looking in the wrong place? If so, please provide specific directions on where I need to be looking. Remember, I am not as familiar with the layout of this new website as you Admin types. Also, are the changes you are suggesting ones that ONLY Admin types and ArkGeo Board Members have rights to? That would explain why you and IRBH could make some changes that I could not.

[kcackler]

http://arkgeocaching.org/profile.php?do=editoptions

[SJClimber]

Odd. Occasionally after login there will be a number next to "new posts." This morning it was 3. Yet when one clicks on the "new post" link, there was one post. There may be a larger number present by that link and when invoked, the message that no posts are present may appear. (That may say: Sorry, there are no new posts to view.) Wonder what the site is doing?? I guess one can avoid this by just going to the "What's new" button..

[kcackler]

If the number is 3 but you only see one thread, that would mean that there were 3 new posts in that thread. That number is showing the total number of new posts made and not the number of threads updated...silly but that's the way it works.

[SJClimber]

Ah, yet that may not be the case as in the posts this morning. It was in a thread about "Adventure needed" where Edieo was responding to ORR about caches on Petit Jean. That was the only comment, not three. Now, as I login to respond this time, there were 3 new posts shown on the login page, yet when I hit the link, there are four results of the search. I have seen the scenario you present with three new posts in a thread, but that has not been the case. Again, it may just be easier to ignore the "new posts" and hit the "what's new" button..

[kcackler]

In that case, how odd.

The link on the home page takes you to the same URL as the What's New link in the header navigation, so use the link and ignore the number of posts, I guess. I'll look into this when I have a bit more time.

[kcackler]

Figured it out. The number on the home page is cached to reduce server load somewhat. So at times it can be a bit inaccurate. I will consider disabling this setting, since it shouldn't present much of an issue for us.

[SJClimber]

Thanks for investigating. Just seemed to odd behavior.. Again, you're doing a wonderful job on the site..

[Ashallond]

i kept getting more posts than I could read.

I figured it was picking up posts that were new in sections of the webpage I can't see.

[jclaudii]

can up update the web header to say something besides "new site and then our browser"?

Let me know still if you need some help weeding this stuff like we talked about! I'll shoot a message to the board to ask if I can help you out from time to time if you need it, and it sounded like you did while back!

[kcackler]

I'm hoping we can talk about it this week at the meeting, actually.

Not sure what you're referring to with the "new site and then our browser"...?? If you're referring to the guest message that shows when you're not logged in - I plan on removing that this month.

[grzz51]

The new website looks interesting. It will take me a bit to get used to it.
Thanks for the hard work.