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Has the 1 week downtime & move to vanilla killed this place?

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Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 499 ✭✭noplacehere


    @Arghus I think the difference is that I’ve been signed up to Reddit for a few years now but never ‘got’ it. But because boards was offline for so long I ended up finding an app I liked for it. I started organising my subreddits and I’ve created multireddits for myself. It’s now my go to before boards because of the downtime and now because of how inaccessible mobile is.

    When I pop onto boards now I scan the first page. If nothing interesting I leave. I can’t deal with trying to find anything and even as I type this the draft saving pops up in front of what I’m typing. It’s infuriating. I love boards for being Irish, discussions related to ireland and for getting specific help. Reddit doesn’t quite fill the gap but it’s helping and has opened up other areas for me to read

    It doesn’t take many like me who find a new normal (sorry I couldn’t resist!)



  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,027 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    And a week or so of using r/Ireland made me think that the place is terribly overrated. It's not that bustling with activity, most of the threads aren't that interesting, discussion isn't great overall - the format sucks for it - and whatever about the many user unfriendly features of this version of boards it's still better to look at and has far more functionality than reddit. Reddit is just plain ugly. Boards isn't what it was, that's for damn sure, but it's still streets ahead in terms of what it offers than r/ireland.


    Yeah I really don't get the reddit love and I'm on a few subs there. Not r/Ireland though. I don't think I've ever posted there. Read it a fair bit down the years. I could be wrong but always got the impression it was a bit Politics.ie revamped as far as the vibe went. Which is grand if that's your bag. Though it seems to have had an uptick in popularity in the last fortnight.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



  • Registered Users Posts: 11,926 ✭✭✭✭titan18


    Ya, boards is a lot quieter since the update, and whilst some will say the weather is the cause of that, that wouldn't have lead to this amount of a drop. To me the week offline and then this abomination are the cause of it, and I don't think you can fix this site fast enough to stop it. It's rollback or this site is done for imo.



  • Registered Users Posts: 6,036 ✭✭✭Mister Vain


    I always found reddit very difficult to use. The posts just seem to be all over the place. Much easier to read the posts here, even with the recent change.



  • Registered Users Posts: 176 ✭✭thehairygrape


    I got promoted as well. Don’t know what it means either. Very pleased for some reason, but now worried that relegation is an option😄.

    Finding it hard to navigate new site, but I’m not great at that sort of stuff anyway. Probably work it out is six or seven years so I’ll keep at it.



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  • Registered Users Posts: 18,069 ✭✭✭✭fryup


    one hour downtime today,

    fingers crossed they'll just revert to the old Boards.ie

    (any management reading this? - please do)



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Ok I'm getting cross with it now 😡



  • Registered Users Posts: 160 ✭✭Zaney


    I find that I naturally skim read posts now and they seem very uninteresting. Think it’s a combination of the layout, colour but also how quoted posts are shown - much harder to follow a thread unless you invest time. Or maybe it’s that some good posters haven’t come back.



  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 12,592 Mod ✭✭✭✭riffmongous




  • Registered Users Posts: 14,715 ✭✭✭✭Earthhorse


    If they can fix the following:

    • a decent way to access your subscribed forums
    • a decent way to access your subscribed threads, especially notifications about new content in them
    • bringing you to the last post you were at in a thread when you click on it again
    • bringing back the visual cue of normal vs. bold text for threads you've clicked on

    Then I think they'll have restored the key functionality that will see use increase again. If they don't then I'm sorry to say I think the place will see a decrease in traffic.



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  • Registered Users Posts: 6,587 ✭✭✭Feisar


    I can't exactly put my finger on why it's so bad.

    Normally if the content is there I'd be happy enough and wouldn't be one to get overly upset about a few click extra here and there. A forum I read and post in a fair bit has definitely slowed down and I'm not coming here as much. I feel oddly distanced from the discussions now for some reason?

    And it's not r/ireland that's winning me over. I don't get the format at all.

    First they came for the socialists...



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,416 ✭✭✭embraer170


    Unfortunately the new format is far less intuitive and I find myself connecting far less.

    Many forums are dying (I guess replaced by Facebook groups or other social media), and I fear the new Boards format will not help at all.

    Was any user testing done before (such as through a focus group)?



  • Registered Users Posts: 13,574 ✭✭✭✭josip


    Is there any way to go to the first unread post in a thread? That's vital for any enjoyment of the site for me.

    Maybe it's there somewhere and I'm just too old to find it.



  • Registered Users Posts: 726 ✭✭✭Vita nova


    I can see the comments section on the mobile version but not on the PC version (Chrome browser), maybe my browser needs updating or that feature is off on the PC version at the moment.



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Have they made it impossible to close your account ?



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,472 ✭✭✭archfi


    It's not available in settings anywhere yet.

    They've said an email to hello@boards.ie will start the process manually.

    The issue is never the issue; the issue is always the revolution.

    The Entryism process: 1) Demand access; 2) Demand accommodation; 3) Demand a seat at the table; 4) Demand to run the table; 5) Demand to run the institution; 6) Run the institution to produce more activists and policy until they run it into the ground.



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,472 ✭✭✭archfi


    Desktop here mainly - no list of my comments available.

    The issue is never the issue; the issue is always the revolution.

    The Entryism process: 1) Demand access; 2) Demand accommodation; 3) Demand a seat at the table; 4) Demand to run the table; 5) Demand to run the institution; 6) Run the institution to produce more activists and policy until they run it into the ground.



  • Registered Users Posts: 710 ✭✭✭TefalBrain


    Is it not just possible to revert to the old interface? This is horrid



  • Registered Users Posts: 6,039 ✭✭✭The Continental Op


    Weird one here? You have just made two posts. If I hover the mouse over your username on the second post the View Profile/Send Private Message drop down appears below your username on your previous post.

    Wake me up when it's all over.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,731 ✭✭✭mrslancaster


    Hopefully the shutdown later today will fix some of the issues, still prefer the old boards.



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  • Registered Users Posts: 40,060 ✭✭✭✭ohnonotgmail


    It is not just a new interface. All of the data has been moved to a new platform. One that is based outside the EU so god knows what the GDPR implications of that are.



  • Registered Users Posts: 26,555 ✭✭✭✭Creamy Goodness


    my thoughts:

    A week was enough for me to lose my muscle memory habits of just checking boards when I have a spare minute during the day.

    I don't mind the new layout per se, I can see potential in it, for example "Save Draft" looks like an interesting feature.

    However things are just harder to find, I replied to a thread on latest threads earlier this morning, and I cannot find it now. Following Forums/Threads are completely broken (hoping fix comes soon) and marking threads/forums as read is compounding this. TBH if that was fixed, it would help 99% of the problems I have with it.



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,472 ✭✭✭archfi


    The issue is never the issue; the issue is always the revolution.

    The Entryism process: 1) Demand access; 2) Demand accommodation; 3) Demand a seat at the table; 4) Demand to run the table; 5) Demand to run the institution; 6) Run the institution to produce more activists and policy until they run it into the ground.



  • Registered Users Posts: 26,960 ✭✭✭✭GreeBo


    I find it impossible to know if its dead or not, so overly difficult to navigate around!



  • Registered Users Posts: 26,960 ✭✭✭✭GreeBo


    You gotta jump through some manual hoops!

    Not ideal, but still looks a lot better imo




  • Registered Users Posts: 20,026 ✭✭✭✭neris


    crap layout and not user friendly especially on mobile with no option to switch to desktop. No drop down menus/list of categories and topics



  • Registered Users Posts: 379 ✭✭Tilden Katz


    I miss easily being about to find out who has quoted me so that I can reply. If they've gone to the trouble of replying to me, I generally like to reciprocate unless they are one of my very small list of ignored users. I also miss being able to search for my favourite forum members easily. These things actually do matter to me when using this site and I'm not finding either that easy. And I only like using the site on my laptop. My phone - I'll use it reluctantly but it looks awful and is not easy to use. So that's pretty much out for me.

    Maybe the things I miss seem petty but the internet is a tough town. It doesn't take much to lose one's attention.



  • Registered Users Posts: 710 ✭✭✭TefalBrain


    No idea but i won't be hanging around to find out.



  • Registered Users Posts: 8,833 ✭✭✭Gregor Samsa


    The Vanilla software running Boards is made by a Canadian company, but according to the footer down there 👇️, it's still hosted by Digiweb, who are Irish, so I don't think there's any changes in this regard to when it was running on vBulletin (a US company).

    To those saying roll back, that's clearly not going to happen. The fundamental architecture behind the old system was crumbling, something had to be done. The issues we're seeing now are mainly interface ones. They're the ones users notice the most, but are also easier to fix. There's also a certain amount of getting used to anything new to contend with.

    I've certainly been frustrated by a few things (some glitches when posting, no way to delete a post, no Subscribed forum list, threads aren't automatically bookmarked when you post, some layout issues), but there are some positives too - uploading images is much better now, there's more icons, posts you're writing get auto-saved as drafts. I'm willing to give it some time for both the team to fix things and for me to get use to it.

    I'm on a few specific, what are they, subs?, on Reddit - but only because they're the only active places with up-to-date discussion about the particular topics that I've found. I've never posted there - I don't even think I can. I don't like the interface at all, and the general atmosphere there doesn't appeal to me. I don't look in the r/Ireland bit at all, no interest.


    Oh, one thing Boards need to fix is the "Like" button. I know things are a bit quieter at the moment, and that could be the downtime, the migration, the weather or a combination of all 3, but I definitely think there's less "thanks" being given out by people, and I think that's at least partly down to the button being called "Like" now, with a Facebook thumb-up. It make it look like if you click on it, it'll somehow post to FB, which may be making people wary of doing so. I think they should rename it "Thanks" and change the icon - it's the Boards way. I think they should also get rid of the Twitter and FB sharing icons. I know they're almost obligatory, but we're all here because it's not Facebook or Twitter.

    Also, I'm a little sad that all the attachments and thanks from the old site are gone. That's a lot of Irish internet history lost. Maybe they can migrate them back over at some point.



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  • Registered Users Posts: 854 ✭✭✭beveragelady


    Don't like it. I am naturally averse to change so I kept reminding myself to give it a chance and I'll get used to it and it'll all be fine.

    Here's what I still don't like:

    ... Totally disconnected from previous contributions. Old posts are lost. I'm sure they're there, but I can't find them. 'Thanks' etc are all gone. (I can find the threads where I posted, but have to trawl through to find posts.)

    ... Much harder to get to the little corners I used to visit.

    ...Peering at small text while arctic vastness occupies huge portions of the screen.

    ... In general, in a way I can't quite pin down, the site seems much bigger. Everything is further away, harder to see and less personal. It's like being lost in a massive hypermarket in a foreign country in the fog.

    ... There seems to be a general lack of traffic to generate anything to read or respond to. I think this is the biggest difficulty. I'm sure all the "where's my stuff" and "how do I..." difficulties will be resolved, but when I glance down the front page nothing asks to be clicked.



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