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Tom Admin
Joined: 15 Dec 2001 Posts: 17854 | TRs | Pics
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Tom
Admin
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Wed Aug 03, 2016 6:01 pm
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Just wanted to give folks an update on future plans for NWH.
Forum software
We have been using phpbb2 for 10+ years. It has been very stable for us over the last decade but the time has come to upgrade to something more compatible with the times and mobile friendly. I'm leaning to xenforo which is regarded as one of the best. It isn't free, but we have enough in the kitty to cover the cost (thanks to all who remember to use our amazon link). Upgrading to phpbb3 is another option, but it seems dated and I'm not really a fan of the cluttered forum look and over-complicated user control panel. I was initially considering flarum but they are a long way away from a stable release and I just don't think it will work for us, particularly trip reports with a lot of pictures (which would benefit from a wider field of view than flarum offers). There are other free and paid forum software options out there but none have really impressed me as much as xenforo.
Images
One of the most useful features we have here is the ease of embedding external images in trip reports and the automatic thumbnailing of images with side by side display and optional captions. We plan to retain this but will be improving things so larger sizes expand on the same page rather than a new window. The lightbox we are leaning to is photoswipe which is mobile friendly and looks great on desktop too. I particularly like that when someone hits the browser's back button it's smart enough to close the image rather than navigate away from the page. The only tricky part will be integrating the wiki labeling feature (which will require tweaking the lightbox to render a specific zoom to view/edit labels as the labels will only render properly if everyone is viewing the same size image).
Other features
If there is something you would like to see retained let us know. The gmap integration is something that comes to mind and would be a trivial addition. Similarly, if there is something you've seen implemented on another board and/or would like to see here, let us know. For any features that involve more than a trivial effort, I will be asking for volunteers with requisite experience to implement and maintain.
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Magellan Brutally Handsome
Joined: 26 Jul 2006 Posts: 13116 | TRs | Pics Location: Inexorable descent |
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Magellan
Brutally Handsome
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Wed Aug 03, 2016 7:55 pm
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Great news, Tom. Thanks for all the volunteers and work in advance.
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Ski ><((((°>
Joined: 28 May 2005 Posts: 12831 | TRs | Pics Location: tacoma |
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Ski
><((((°>
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Wed Aug 03, 2016 8:49 pm
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thanks Tom!
"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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trestle Member
Joined: 17 Aug 2008 Posts: 2093 | TRs | Pics Location: the Oly Pen |
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trestle
Member
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Thu Aug 04, 2016 8:42 am
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Thanks for the updates Tom and the hard work.
"Life favors the prepared." - Edna Mode
"Life favors the prepared." - Edna Mode
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marta wildflower maven
Joined: 07 May 2003 Posts: 1761 | TRs | Pics
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marta
wildflower maven
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Thu Aug 04, 2016 9:07 am
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Thanks for all the hard work. I like the choice of xenforo. One of friends who has administered forums for many years has that on her site now.
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jdk610 Member
Joined: 21 Aug 2012 Posts: 330 | TRs | Pics
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jdk610
Member
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Thu Aug 04, 2016 12:06 pm
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Just wanted to put in my thanks too!
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christensent Member
Joined: 05 Nov 2011 Posts: 658 | TRs | Pics
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Tom wrote: | We have been using phpbb2 for 10+ years. It has been very stable for us over the last decade but the time has come to upgrade to something more compatible with the times and mobile friendly. |
Just curious, what is the basis for this conclusion? I don't know the exact statistic, but no doubt the vast majority of web forums run phpbb. Old does not mean bad, it often means tried and true. It also has the tapatalk mobile app (although I've never used it).
Always sad to see sites move from a platform that works great already because I've seen it absolutely destroy forums such that the entire user base and content changes just because the platform shifted. Granted, you can't use the same thing forever and innovation does drive a change.
Learning mountaineering: 10% technical knowledge, 90% learning how to eat
Learning mountaineering: 10% technical knowledge, 90% learning how to eat
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moonspots Happy Curmudgeon
Joined: 03 Feb 2007 Posts: 2456 | TRs | Pics Location: North Dakota |
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moonspots
Happy Curmudgeon
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Sun Aug 07, 2016 11:52 am
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christensent wrote: | Just curious, what is the basis for this conclusion? I don't know the exact statistic, but no doubt the vast majority of web forums run phpbb. Old does not mean bad, it often means tried and true. |
That's the way I see it also. This forum is easy to use, and "mobile access" means little to me. I like that it's stable, (almost always), and as I see it, uncluttered. However if/when you change, PLEASE don't go to anything even remotely like cascadeclimbers.com uses. That site is my least favorite due to the clutter and the sidebar Facebook links that follow you down page and get in the way. I couldn't care less who likes what on FB.
And thanks for this site as it is, it is my "go to" for all things mountain related (and more).
"Out, OUT you demons of Stupidity"! - St Dogbert, patron Saint of Technology
"Out, OUT you demons of Stupidity"! - St Dogbert, patron Saint of Technology
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Tom Admin
Joined: 15 Dec 2001 Posts: 17854 | TRs | Pics
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Tom
Admin
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Sun Aug 07, 2016 2:46 pm
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christensent wrote: | Just curious, what is the basis for this conclusion? I don't know the exact statistic, but no doubt the vast majority of web forums run phpbb. Old does not mean bad, it often means tried and true. It also has the tapatalk mobile app (although I've never used it). |
We are running phpbb2 which is a 5-10 year old version of phpbb. We're not really sure what caused the database crashes last week but could be due to our oudated phpbb2 software not playing nice with new mysql (database software) and/or php releases so upgrading the forum software has become a high priority. Most phpbb forums are running phpbb3. We could upgrade to phpbb3, but it's more cluttered than xenforo IMHO.
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Joey verrry senior member
Joined: 05 Jun 2005 Posts: 2797 | TRs | Pics Location: Redmond |
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Joey
verrry senior member
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Tue Aug 09, 2016 12:31 pm
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Tom wrote: | The gmap integration is something that comes to mind and would be a trivial addition. |
Bueno!
Please let me know if you need anything from my end.
Joseph, the Gmap4 guy
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iron Member
Joined: 10 Aug 2008 Posts: 6392 | TRs | Pics Location: southeast kootenays |
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iron
Member
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Sat Aug 13, 2016 7:55 am
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on hearth.com, after you become a member and remain logged in, any time you revisit a topic and click on the topic link, it takes you to the place that you stopped reading. for example, if a topic has 43 pages of responses, and you read through page 35, it'll take you back to the end of page 35 the next time you view that topic.
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Jaberwock Member
Joined: 30 Jan 2013 Posts: 722 | TRs | Pics Location: Bellingham |
Would be cool to have a page that was just a page of tiled recent images from everyone across all forums. So you can quickly scroll through hundreds of photos and see photos of places. Like the photo view of individual profiles but of everyone.
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Gwen LO Girl-of-the-Month
Joined: 14 Feb 2010 Posts: 1673 | TRs | Pics
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Gwen
LO Girl-of-the-Month
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Thu Sep 01, 2016 11:05 pm
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Thanks Tom and all hidden geeks for all that you do. I'm not always here and I don't always have input, but I have come to rely on the stability of nwhikers over the years. When I need to know about something obscure (which is more and more frequently), this is my go-to. So yeah, thanks for keeping us up and running in the past and into the future.
Tomorrow's not promised to anyone, so be bold, scare yourself, attempt something with no guarantee of success. You'll be amazed at what you can achieve. -Olive McGloin
Tomorrow's not promised to anyone, so be bold, scare yourself, attempt something with no guarantee of success. You'll be amazed at what you can achieve. -Olive McGloin
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zephyr aka friendly hiker
Joined: 21 Jun 2009 Posts: 3370 | TRs | Pics Location: West Seattle |
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zephyr
aka friendly hiker
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Mon Sep 05, 2016 8:32 am
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christensent wrote: | Always sad to see sites move from a platform that works great already because I've seen it absolutely destroy forums such that the entire user base and content changes just because the platform shifted. Granted, you can't use the same thing forever and innovation does drive a change. |
This and this:
moonspots wrote: | That's the way I see it also. This forum is easy to use, and "mobile access" means little to me. I like that it's stable, (almost always), and as I see it, uncluttered. However if/when you change, PLEASE don't go to anything even remotely like cascadeclimbers.com uses. That site is my least favorite due to the clutter and the sidebar Facebook links that follow you down page and get in the way. I couldn't care less who likes what on FB. |
Just happened upon this post today. I also realize that moving forward in time forces change upon us i.e. technology, upgrades and such. But this site is so-o-o-o-o-o-o comfortable to use. So dependable and easy to navigate, post and research for trail beta. I hope the transition goes well. But I am dreading this. I love the site just like it is. The format and styling may look a little old-fashioned to many. But I love it. It's classic. It's homey. It's comfortable and a sweet refuge in this ever imploding/demanding cultural landscape we live in. Sigh. It's been such a wonderful part of my life these past seven years or so. Hoping for the best on this. Thanks, Tom and crew. ~z
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Scrooge Famous Grouse
Joined: 16 Dec 2001 Posts: 6966 | TRs | Pics Location: wishful thinking |
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Scrooge
Famous Grouse
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Fri Sep 09, 2016 4:22 pm
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What matters.
>>> "Our users have posted a total of 990915 articles".
That's "articles", not just posts. Almost one million separate subjects brought up for discussion by the members of this forum over the last 15 years.
Don't risk that base, Tom. Just keep on refining this one, making it better and better and better, as you've done over all those years.
If you feel you need something different to keep up with all the mobile apps, make it a spin-off. ..... There's no place in the frantic, fragmented mobile world for the (usually) quiet, comfortable, extended exchange of experiences and ideas that has made NWHikers so successful (one million articles) and so well loved.
Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you....... Go and find it. Go!
Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you....... Go and find it. Go!
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