Upgrade 2012 - Problems & Help

To all,

the admin and tech staff (both of them) are trying to re-create some of the problems but can't without a bit more information.

Would you please report issues in the format set out between the lines below (copy and alter it to suit), it will make finding problems much easier and save PMs to and fro to try and sort it out.

---------------------------------------------------
Operating System: Windows
Operating System Version: 7
Browser: Internet Explorer
Browser version: Version 9.0.8112.16421

Date and time of the problem: 2 Oct 12 0930

Description of the problem and other relevant information. Clicked on Reply to Thread but could not edit in the reply box, it was 'greyed out'. Happens all the time (or occasionally, whatever)

-----------------------------------------------

How to find your Browser version number, it will look like the red text:

Internet Explorer: Help->About Internet Explorer - Version 9.0.8112.16421

Firefox: Help-> About Firefox - 15.0.1

Chrome: Settings-> Help - Version 22.0.1229.79 m

For those missing iSpy, try this link and put it in your favourites:

Activity Stream - Woodwork Forums

It does not automatically update, you need to refresh (I think)

I'm having a minor drama that I don't think anyone else has listed yet...

When I reply to posts (including this one!) I keep having to save the text into notepad first...because as soon as I hit the "Post Quick Reply" icon it freezes. I get the "woodworking forums not responding" message and I have to reload the page; often several times, and of course it loses my text-hence why I save it in another program first. Last night I tried to reply to a post and it took 7 attempts.....

Maybe it's me, maybe my software (W7 & IE), I don't know....computer luddite.

I would like to offer my gratitude to the moderators who are trying to herd all the cats required to get this upgrade online and working.


Oh, has anyone mentioned the colours yet? :rolleyes:

Is anyone else having issues with being logged off? I am getting logged after a while (can't give an exact time frame)

OVERLAPPING SCREEN TABS:
Sorry about the overlapping tabs not being fixed last night but there was a much more pressing problem with the mail server putting us out of action. Hopefully the tabs problem will be fixed today some time.

For now an easy fix may be to use Firefox or instead of IE or if the eyesight is good Ctrl - (that's Ctrl and the minus key) will reduce the screen size and fix it.

ADS AND POPUPS:
If you see ads at the top of the screen you ere not logged in to the forums. There is only one ad block on the forums for for logged in members. It is a trial ad block found right down at the bottom of the page and when it is just text it is almost impossible to see. When it is a graphic ad (it switches between text & graphic) you can't miss it.

The ads on the Guest view of the forum and in the Archive are there to help pay to keep this site FREE (some people seem to have forgotten it's all free and run by unpaid volunteers) and are hopefully are annoying enough as to act as an incentive for guests to sign up and become contributing members.

Popups.... What popups? There are no popups installed on these forums (other than those in the tabs etc which have been here for ever including on the old forms). If anyone sees a popup ad on these forums it will most likely be coming from your own computer infected with a tracking virus or similar.

What's happening:
Steven and I are still hard at it trying to get all the fixes in place but having businesses to run and is slowing us down a little. Since last Sunday I have been working until 2 & 3 am in the back room every night updating the counters and trying to do stuff to cause the least disruption and Steven is endeavoring to do things whenever he gets a few spare minutes.

It is happening albeit slower than anticipated. Mostly because of the massive size of this beast we call Woodwork Forums. There are around 15 million items that need to be updated, The Search Engine update took a little over 32 hours, attachment thumbnail update run yesterday went for around 10 hours until it in conjunction with the mail serve made the forums fall over due to the load on the server.

I'm off to the factory for a late start and will be working there all weekend trying to catch up on many lost hours over the past weeks due to shows, forums, and other bloody annoying stuff like 30+ emails a day from disgruntled members demanding immediate responses as to why the forums are stuffed and how it is inconveniencing them and why they will never be back again, and how dare we.... etc etc, etc.

It's free people. Suck it up or leave. Bit harsh but some people just don't seem to get it.

Anyway as they said during another great conflict:

Attachment 235314

Personally I prefer this one

Attachment 235315

Cheers - Neil :U

There is only one thing that is starting to really annoy me about the new format.

If I navigate away from the forum to another website for more than just a few minutes the forum logs me out and I have to resubmit username and password.

With the old format, I could stay logged in for days or weeks at a time and just click on the forum tab and carry on where I left off.

Is there a reason for this, or a setting i haven't found yet?

Doug

For those having problems staying logged in I have done some tinkering and maybe... MAYBE it has fixed the problem if not you may need to clear your cache. Below is info on how to do this:

Internet Explorer

• 1 Launch Internet Explorer.
• 2 Click the "Tools" menu and select "Internet Options."
• 3 Select the "General" tab and click "Delete" under Browsing History.
• 4 Check the boxes next to "Temporary Internet Files," "Cookies" and "History," and click the "Delete" button.
• 5 Click "OK."

Mozilla Firefox

• Launch Mozilla Firefox.
• Select the "Firefox" menu, choose "Options" and choose "Options" again from the menu that slides out.
• Click the "Privacy" tab and choose "Settings."
• Check all the boxes under the History section and click "OK."
• Choose the "I Close Firefox" option in the Keep Until drop-down menu.
• Click "OK" and Close Firefox.

No guarantee it will work but it is an option.

Fred,sorry if I seemed abrupt in my earlier post. Except for a couple of years in the late eighties, when I used Netscape, I have been using Internet Explorer in various versions. In the past 20 or so years I have had only one serious viral infection and that was my own fault for visiting a site that SWMBO would not have approved of :-.
I now use IE8 and have no problems with it either security wise or speed wise. With the various version of vBulletin the compatabiliy mode tab was not enabled therefore I assume there were no issues between vBulletin and IE8. Since the upgrade the compatability mode tab has appeared and there are slight differences with the forum depending what mode I am using.
I don't believe that this is the forum to be discussing the pros and cons of the different browsers. I use what I use because I like it, I've tried Firefox and Chrome and I didn't like them.
I'm not criticising the forum, I'm just posting what I see in the hope that small problem like this can be rectified and everyone gets the best out of the forums. I don't blieve that I'm the only one having these issues, I'm probably the only one anal enough to to bother posting :D.


With compatabilty mode off

Attachment 235313 Attachment 235310


With compatability mode on

Attachment 235311 Attachment 235312

I'm still having trouble with the screen freezing after I've written the reply and pressed the "submit reply"; so much so that I've been coping the reply to word before I submit it. Sometimes it uploads but mostly freezes and I have to redo it 2 or 3 times to get the reply to work. I'm using Win7, IE8, compariable mode. It's worse in the late afternoon evenings and there are a few of the toymaking blokes having similar issues to the point of frustration too [I've had emails saying this]. Appreciate all the work by the computer people & admin staff BUT please can this issue be addressed before we loose members, thank you. Cheers, crowie
PS – happened as I was trying to do this reply 3 times…..woodwork forums not responding…..even saw the "auto save flash!!!

Starting yesterday afternoon, I have been logged off 4 times. This is happening even though I keep my browser session running. ie. I haven't closed the browser, and keep the forum running in one tab. I can't recall this ever happening before. I am using IE 9, on a Windows 7 64bit machine.

To all,

the admin and tech staff (both of them) are trying to re-create some of the problems but can't without a bit more information.

Would you please report issues in the format set out between the lines below (copy and alter it to suit), it will make finding problems much easier and save PMs to and fro to try and sort it out.

---------------------------------------------------
Operating System: Windows
Operating System Version: 7
Browser: Internet Explorer
Browser version: Version 9.0.8112.16421

Date and time of the problem: 2 Oct 12 0930

Description of the problem and other relevant information. Clicked on Reply to Thread but could not edit in the reply box, it was 'greyed out'. Happens all the time (or occasionally, whatever)

-----------------------------------------------

How to find your Browser version number, it will look like the red text:

Internet Explorer: Help->About Internet Explorer - Version 9.0.8112.16421

Firefox: Help-> About Firefox - 15.0.1

Chrome: Settings-> Help - Version 22.0.1229.79 m

The thread is now open for posting. A few requests, please...

1. Please read the posts already copied here.

2. To give us some idea of how widespread the problem, please post "Same problem as Post #6 etc", then list your configuration details.

3. Keep the chatter to a minimum so readers don't have to scroll through dozens of off topic posts.

4. Use this as the ONLY thread to put your feedback, do not create new threads in other forums.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by corbs

Is anyone else having issues with being logged off? I am getting logged after a while (can't give an exact time frame)

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by chrisb691

Starting yesterday afternoon, I have been logged off 4 times. This is happening even though I keep my browser session running. ie. I haven't closed the browser, and keep the forum running in one tab. I can't recall this ever happening before. I am using IE 9, on a Windows 7 64bit machine.

---

Are you ticking the Save? box when you log on? If you don't tick this box, your cookies expire, which then logs you out.

Operating System: Ubuntu
Operating System Version: 10.04
Browser: Firefox
Browser version: 15.0.1

Date and time of the problem: 2 Oct 12 1710

Description of the problem and other relevant information.
1) Despite always clicking the "Save" box, my logon details were not remembered.
2) After logging on, was taken to the blue colour scheme vBulletin "FORUMS HELP DESK" page where I had to scroll down, down, down to click the "Full Site" button to get to what I think is meant to be the new forum.

Simultaneously accessing via Chrome under Ubuntu, and from my android phone, had me logged in automatically, so in this instance it only appears to be a Firefox issue.

Operating System: Windows
Operating System Version: XP SP3
Browser: Firefox
Browser version: Old
Attachment 235369
I keep getting this new posts section on the right hand side of the forum lists.
It is the section that then goes and hits Googlesyndication over and over again.
It seems to be related to the error you can see on the top line where is says sidebar=right as it does not show when I go into the metal or boat forum tags.

Browser: IE
Browser version: 8

This new posts section does not appear in IE.

And this is what my router tells me is being hit, You can see the mutilple hits everytime I go to FORUMS tag.
[www.woodworkforums.com] Source: 192.168.1.2 Wednesday, 03 Oct 2012 08:41:53
[googlesyndication.com] Source: 192.168.1.2 Wednesday, 03 Oct 2012 08:41:56
[googlesyndication.com] Source: 192.168.1.2 Wednesday, 03 Oct 2012 08:42:05
[googlesyndication.com] Source: 192.168.1.2 Wednesday, 03 Oct 2012 08:42:11
[googlesyndication.com] Source: 192.168.1.2 Wednesday, 03 Oct 2012 08:42:45
[googlesyndication.com] Source: 192.168.1.2 Wednesday, 03 Oct 2012 08:43:17
[googlesyndication.com] Source: 192.168.1.2 Wednesday, 03 Oct 2012 09:00:38
[googlesyndication.com] Source: 192.168.1.2 Wednesday, 03 Oct 2012 09:00:46
[googlesyndication.com] Source: 192.168.1.2 Wednesday, 03 Oct 2012 09:01:08
[googlesyndication.com] Source: 192.168.1.2 Wednesday, 03 Oct 2012 09:01:17
[googlesyndication.com] Source: 192.168.1.2 Wednesday, 03 Oct 2012 09:01:58
[googlesyndication.com] Source: 192.168.1.2 Wednesday, 03 Oct 2012 09:02:09
[googlesyndication.com] Source: 192.168.1.2 Wednesday, 03 Oct 2012 09:03:03



How can I kill it off?
Peter

Last night uBeaut did a lot of testing with various browsers. The outcome was:

Firefox - excellent

Internet Explorer 8 - slow but seems to work

Internet Explorer 9 - has known problems (worldwide) and caused a lot of problems when attempting to use it to create posts on the forums. Inserting smilies caused a number of crashes. It is recommended members do not use IE9 as this is not a forum upgrade issue.

No doubt uBeaut will add some more when he has had a snooze.

To anyone having a problem here is the simple fiX for almost everythig.

GER RID OF IE9.

Over 2 hours of testing last night showed that IE9 was the cause of most of the problems encountered by members.

I logged in with another members registration info (with his approval) and if I get approval from him I will put the entire series of tests in this forum for all to see. If not I can assure you that the major problem is definitely IE9.

My recommendations:

• Download Firefox, install it and use it. Not a glitch to be found.
  
• Use IE8 in preference to IE9 it doesn't appear to have the same problems
  
• DO NOT upgrade to Internet Explorer 9
  
• Use Google Chrome in preference to any of the later IE's
  
• Use Firefox in preference to any other browser
  
• Do regular updates to Windows and it's components
  
• DON'T USE IE9

Finally:
Just in case no one got the message above.......
GET RID OF IE9
GET RID OF IE9
GET RID OF IE9
GET RID OF IE9
GET RID OF IE9
GET RID OF IE9

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ubeaut

To anyone having a problem here is the simple fiX for almost everythig.

---

A link or explanation on how to uninstall ie9 back to ie8 would be useful for those that don't know how to rollback.

And my firefox still does not work properly (I've posted in this thread).

Peter

Operating System: Windows
Operating System Version: XP SP3
Browser: IE
Browser version: 8

The slideshow viewer is still not working properly.
Won't advance to second pic and won't close without refreshing the page.

So, we have to stick with IE8 forever if we wish to see this site properly, or will the other incompatibility issues be fixed at this end eventually?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by _fly_

A link or explanation on how to uninstall ie9 back to ie8 would be useful for those that don't know how to rollback.

---

This should help those that want it. Revert from Internet Explorer 9 to Internet Explorer 8 on Win 7

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by fly

A link or explanation on how to uninstall ie9 back to ie8 would be useful for those that don't know how to rollback.

And my firefox still does not work properly (I've posted in this thread).

---

You say your firefox is OLD.... So update it to the latest version 15.0.1. Help yourself and maybe things will work better for you. Please don't bringing any more problems in here until you have fixed your end. Then at least we'll know if it's a problem with the program or with the users. Most appear to be with users either through IE9 or in your case old programs. You need to keep up to date at your end to make things work at this end.

Neil :U

PS If you don't want the side column to show hit the little tag to the right of it.

I have rolled my Windows 7 back to IE8, and will report back any mitigations of Forum issues.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ubeaut

You say your firefox is OLD.... So update it to the latest version 15.0.1. Help yourself and maybe things will work better for you. Please don't bringing any more problems in here until you have fixed your end. Then at least we'll know if it's a problem with the program or with the users. Most appear to be with users either through IE9 or in your case old programs. You need to keep up to date at your end to make things work at this end.

Neil :U

PS If you don't want the side column to show hit the little tag to the right of it.

---

The little tag to the right does not work in my firefox (and doesn't show in IE) and the reduce tag still collects all the data, it just doesn't show it.
Tell ya what, don't worry about it.
Peter

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by _fly_

The little tag to the right does not work in my firefox (and doesn't show in IE) and the reduce tag still collects all the data, it just doesn't show it.
Tell ya what, don't worry about it.
Peter

---

Like I said in the previous post please upgrade your Firefox and don't use IE9.

Then come back and tell us what happens. Even if the problems are fixed come and tell us. No one can fix what's not working at your end. Only you can do that and until they are it's a waste of time reporting or commenting on problems as there will be nothing that can be done from this end.

:U

Is there a way of not showing all the reputation info in "Settings"? I don't see anything that will collapse it.

Windows XP
Firefox 15 (latest release)

Thanks
Brett

Settings > General Settings > Reputation Level > Hide Reputation > Save Changes.

You can't turn off the reputations you see on your Settings screen. If you do you won't know when the mods or admin or anyone else reckon you've done the wrong thing.

You know... green for good :D red for bad :((

Cheers - Neil :cool: blue for couldn't care less

Neil,

I replied to your email re using the info you gained and said by all means use it if it helps others, then noticed at the bottom it said don't reply to this email?? Anyway, if you need to use it do so.

I have changed from IE9 to firefox and this is the third straight post with no sign of the original problem. Well done to the team.

Cheers,

Ned

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ubeaut

You know... green for good :D red for bad :((

---

Green? What Green?:U

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by iron bark

Neil,

I replied to your email re using the info you gained and said by all means use it if it helps others, then noticed at the bottom it said don't reply to this email?? Anyway, if you need to use it do so.

I have changed from IE9 to firefox and this is the third straight post with no sign of the original problem. Well done to the team.

Cheers,

Ned

---

Thanks for that. Will put it on in a while.

Cheers - Neil :U

PS Pood to see your problem has been fixed. Now all we need is for all the others with problems to do the same.

I was logged in to the forum and was actively composing a reply to a post just this evening. when I hit reply, I recieved the message: " you need to be logged in to reply. While I was composing the reply the system logged me off!

Fortunately, I an mow treating the woodworkforums software the same as I treat the crappy software I have to use at work and had blocked on all text and hit [ctrl]c before hitting [submit post] so I was able to log back in and click [reply to thread] and [ctrl v] to repost the content.. It is sad that it has come to that stage.

Is it possible to roll back to the old software until the new providor gets their $#!t all in the one sock?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by doug3030

Is it possible to roll back to the old software until the new providor gets their $#!t all in the one sock?

---

This is the real fix. The problem isn't the browsers, it's the poorly-written/poorly tested vBulletin software.
Sooner or later, IE users will have to upgrade to IE9. And Firefox - no way, as far as I'm concerned. I won't change browsers especially to suit just one website. Never had to do it in 14 years of using the internet and won't do it now.
Personally, I'll just learn to live with the minor problems i'm experiencing.

As far as I can see IE9 is known all over the world to have some pretty major problems. My partner says that at TAFE, where she is studying Web Design, they all wanted to roll back to IE8. As it turns out this is impractical because they have to test their sites for IE9.

Sooo, the problem ain't with vBulletin, who are apparently using latest software, but rather with IE9.

Are there compelling reasons to stay with IE9 rather than using Firefox across the board? I started using Firefox 2 years ago, and wild horses wouldn't get me back to IE of any kind. Adblock, Auto-refresh, Fox Gestures are jst a few of the benefits.

Oh yeah, and the forums work perfectly and as described.

If it's only a matter of Favorites then surely there is some way of copying them over to Firefox bookmarks??

I do find it hard to fathom why, when there is not just a solution but a far better solution available, people steadfastly refuse to try something new (even if it's just to see what they think of it). I can't see why anyone would even bother to ask for the software to be rolled back. It just ain't gonna happen, and must be as aggravating as hell to all the Admin who have worked so tirelessly on this project, and when they can identify that the problem is IE9 (as it is elsewhere) and people still can't take that on board.

Just as well I didn't put my hand up for the Mod job - I reckon the constant, incessant carping is banning material.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

As far as I can see IE9 is known all over the world to have some pretty major problems. My partner says that at TAFE, where she is studying Web Design, they all wanted to roll back to IE8. As it turns out this is impractical because they have to test their sites for IE9.

Sooo, the problem ain't with vBulletin, who are apparently using latest software, but rather with IE9.

Are there compelling reasons to stay with IE9 rather than using Firefox across the board? I started using Firefox 2 years ago, and wild horses wouldn't get me back to IE of any kind. Adblock, Auto-refresh, Fox Gestures are jst a few of the benefits.

Oh yeah, and the forums work perfectly and as described.

If it's only a matter of Favorites then surely there is some way of copying them over to Firefox bookmarks??

I do find it hard to fathom why, when there is not just a solution but a far better solution available, people steadfastly refuse to try something new (even if it's just to see what they think of it). I can't see why anyone would even bother to ask for the software to be rolled back. It just ain't gonna happen, and must be as aggravating as hell to all the Admin who have worked so tirelessly on this project, and when they can identify that the problem is IE9 (as it is elsewhere) and people still can't take that on board.

Just as well I didn't put my hand up for the Mod job - I reckon the constant, incessant carping is banning material.

---

I'm using IE8 and will continue to do so. I did try Firefox - didn't like it.

As for banning, you're not a mod, and should keep that particular opinion to yourself. Bloody rude.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

Sooo, the problem ain't with vBulletin, who are apparently using latest software, but rather with IE9

---

I do not have IE9 on my computer, let alone use it, yet I am still having minor problems with the new forum. I think you are oversimplifying it.

Doug

As posted earlier, these were the only consistent issues that I was having with IE8. I have since installed Firefox and these issues no longer occur. I didn't particularly want to install FF but I decided to go with the flow. As posted earlier, I don't believe we should have to change a browser that has been working perfectly well with the previous version of vBulletin. I assume that vBulletin is not free and that there is support for any initial changeover issues. What has been the response, if any, from the developers of the software being used to host the forum?


With compatibility mode off
Attachment 235313 Attachment 235310


With compatibility mode on
Attachment 235311 Attachment 235312

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by doug3030

I do not have IE9 on my computer, let alone use it, yet I am still having minor problems with the new forum. I think you are oversimplifying it.

Doug

---

Ditto. I am running Firefox on Windows 7 Professional and I keep things updated automatically or, where necessary, manually on a weekly basis yet I have been having on-going issues with the forum makeover despite checking for software updates daily during the recent upheavals. The majority of the problems no longer occur (well done Neil, Steven and team!), but one significant glitch persists: I am unable to mark the forums as read.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

Just as well I didn't put my hand up for the Mod job - I reckon the constant, incessant carping is banning material.

---

Just as well for us too. We don't find out about problems unless someone tells us.

---------------------------------------------------------

Some people are pig headed and won't change and will continue to blame everyone but themselves. Some will do what's best and change and the experience on here will all of a sudden be a lot better.

To those who are saying the change to Firefox doesn't fix everything. You are right.... But it does fix the problem that has been plaguing a good number of members on forums world wide.

We are still working on fixes for other problems but Steven and I who are the fixers are both using either Firefox or chrome and we don't have any of the problems and can't duplicate any of the problems no matter how hard we try. So it's pretty hard for either of us to knock the browsers we are using or fix something that to us isn't broken.

1. Please read the posts already copied here.

2. To give us some idea of how widespread the problem, please post "Same problem as Post #6 etc", then list your configuration details.

3. Keep the chatter to a minimum so readers don't have to scroll through dozens of off topic posts.

4. Use this as the ONLY thread to put your feedback, do not create new threads in other forums.

To all,

the admin and tech staff (both of them) are trying to re-create some of the problems but can't without a bit more information.

Would you please report issues in the format set out between the lines below (copy and alter it to suit), it will make finding problems much easier and save PMs to and fro to try and sort it out.

---------------------------------------------------
Operating System: Windows
Operating System Version: 7
Browser: Internet Explorer
Browser version: Version 9.0.8112.16421

Date and time of the problem: 2 Oct 12 0930

Description of the problem and other relevant information. Clicked on Reply to Thread but could not edit in the reply box, it was 'greyed out'. Happens all the time (or occasionally, whatever)

-----------------------------------------------

How to find your Browser version number, it will look like the red text:

Internet Explorer: Help->About Internet Explorer - Version 9.0.8112.16421

Firefox: Help-> About Firefox - 15.0.1

Chrome: Settings-> Help - Version 22.0.1229.79 m

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Woodwould

Ditto. I am running Firefox on Windows 7 Professional and I keep things updated automatically or, where necessary, manually on a weekly basis yet I have been having on-going issues with the forum makeover despite checking for software updates daily during the recent upheavals. The majority of the problems no longer occur (well done Neil, Steven and team!), but one significant glitch persists: I am unable to mark the forums as read.

---

WW. If you go up to the address bar at the top and look on the right there is a little circular arrow (refresh button).

After reading the post/s,forum/s click that and it will mark them read.

I agree that the old FF was better in that respect. It does it on all Forums. :shrug: