Just a quick heads-up about an impending major update to the forum software, which will take us from v4 to v5 - essentially, a whole new platform. Not only will this make wholesale changes to the look and functionality of the site, but the upgrade has to be performed manually (or at least partly so). I'll try to provide you with a specific window during which I plan to perform the upgrade, but I'll need to do a full site backup first, and the forums will probably be unavailable for the duration.

 

One point to reiterate that will affect all members right off the bat is that, once the upgrade is complete, you will need to sign in the your email address (the one associated with your SMPM account) and usual password; using your display name ("Kevin Futter" in my case) will no longer work.

 

More news when there's news!

 

Kev

I've decided to perform this upgrade today, and it should happen sometime in the next couple of hours. I've done a test install on a local copy of the forums, and they're radically different, to say the least, so be prepared for a bit of a shock!

Kev

Well, the forum software upgrade failed completely, and I have no idea why. At least the old version still works! I've submitted a request for help on the software provider's forums (the only support they seem to offer!), so we'll see what comes of that. Right now I'm just frustrated about all the hours I've wasted so far...

 

Kev

Well, this is embarrassing! It turns out I've been uploading the files for the upgrade to our *old* server - no wonder it didn't work! D'oh. Might be time to retire... In any case, I'll be having another go at the full v5 upgrade now, so stay tuned. (And yes, I realise I'm mostly talking to myself, here.)

 

Kev

As you can probably tell, I've been able to successfully run the v5 forum upgrade. So here we are! It's as fresh to me as it is to you guys, so we'll have to figure it out together.

Kev

Well done Kev. Looks good here so far.

Many thanks for your efforts.

Wait a minute, complete change of emojis. I daresay we'ĺl get used to them, but I'll miss the "mad pilot" one.

Thanks still stands, though.👍

4 minutes ago, MikeC said:

Well done Kev. Looks good here so far.

Many thanks for your efforts.

Wait a minute, complete change of emojis. I daresay we'ĺl get used to them, but I'll miss the "mad pilot" one.

Thanks still stands, though.👍

Thanks, Mike. I think it'll take some time for all of us to adjust, and figure out what's what!

Kev

Works fine for me Kev, well done, and please don’t retire! 😂

Max

Looks good Kev, thanks for all your efforts in keeping the site up & healthy

If you're reading this, then I'm sure you will have noticed that I've started to customise some of the forum "header card" images that now adorn each section of the forums. Let me know what you think! I've mainly used images of my own models, just to avoid any copyright issues with "found" images. There are few for which I haven't been able to come up with anything, however, so I'd welcome any suggestions or contributions. We could feasibly swap them out on an occasional or even regular basis, though I suspect that may dilute their usefulness as a recognition tool.

Kev

Just ran another minor software update, so consider this a testing post to make sure everything still works!

Kev

Hi Kevin,

If I may, I think having the categories listed without header cards and in a more traditional fashion makes for an easier browsing.

Most of us are used to LSP, ARC, BM etc and sticking with a familiar layout would, IMO, improve the forum ease of use.

Have a great day.

13 hours ago, cpoud117 said:

Hi Kevin,

If I may, I think having the categories listed without header cards and in a more traditional fashion makes for an easier browsing.

Most of us are used to LSP, ARC, BM etc and sticking with a familiar layout would, IMO, improve the forum ease of use.

Have a great day.

This is actually a user-controllable setting now. Edit your profile from the menu at the top right of the page, and then select "Content Preferences". This will give you something like this:

Enable the "Change layout views" option at the bottom, and you'll be able to select how you view the forums:

Kev

Thanks Kevin, I had no idea that could be changed and I've now reverted back to the classic display.