New version of SAS for testing

[Drew]

As promised, the time has come to get your feedback on the new version of SAS I've been working on.

The new version of SAS is available for testing:
http://dev.socialanxietysupport.com/
Login: dev
Pass: s4st3mp

Things to be aware of...

For the Forums part of the site:
1) You will need to reset your password as it was not possible to import it to vBulletin. You can do that by emailing me using the "Contact Us" button at the bottom of the site or by using this page: http://dev.socialanxietysupport.com/for ... ?do=lostpw
2) The import of the forum is about a week old, so you won't see many recent posts
3) Any posts made or changes made to your profile WILL NOT BE SAVED for the final import when we switch over the new version.
4) Avatars were not imported and need to be added again. Note that if you add your avatar now, it will NOT BE SAVED for the final import when we switch the site over to the new version.
5) That being said, feel free to test out your profile and utilize the Testing Forum to make test posts.

For the Treatment Experiences part of the site:
1) You CAN post treatment experiences and they WILL BE SAVED for the new site.
2) You can't log directly into the treatment experiences part of the site. To log in a post a treatment experience, log in on the forum part of the site and then browse over to the treatment experiences section and you will stay logged in.

All feedback and bug reports are welcomed and appreciated.

Thanks,
Drew

[njodis]

Hmm, well, I realize you're trying to make money from the site, but the Google ads right after the first post on each page are a bit jarring. I'm just sayin'.

Oh, and I hope we can get some custom forum skins to use. I'm sure there are probably tons of free ones out there.

Other than that, it's okay. I'm assuming other addons and whatnot will be added to the message board in time. =p

edit: Well, nevermind about the ads then. v =p

[Drew]

Once you log in those google ads go away.

[Bon]

Forum blogs are back!!! Good thing.

[WineKitty]

Forum blogs are back!!! Good thing.

What forum blogs?

[Bon]

What forum blogs?

We used to have a blog area in the forum's. It's back. Check the new board out;-)

[WineKitty]

Well I glanced at it...I am not much of a fan of change for certain things, so I am not the best person to ask.

I dont see what is wrong with the format we have now (or even the one we had before) that it needs to be altered.

[Drew]

Originally Posted by Penny

Well I glanced at it...I am not much of a fan of change for certain things, so I am not the best person to ask.

I dont see what is wrong with the format we have now (or even the one we had before) that it needs to be altered.

If you're willing to share them, I'd like to hear what those certain things are.

Drew

[Drew]

Also I'd like to add that you can PM me any comments as well

The changes you see on the new site are both for regular users of SAS and for new users. I understand many of you are used to the current site, but looking at the statistics I've found that around 40% of people are not sticking around past the first page and missing out on the great community that SAS is. I hope the new homepage will give people a better idea of what's going on at SAS.

Drew

[meghanaddie]

so all recent posts will be lost? :(

[Thunder]

Originally Posted by meghanaddie

so all recent posts will be lost?

Only on the development site.

[~Jessie~]

Well I glanced at it...I am not much of a fan of change for certain things, so I am not the best person to ask.

I dont see what is wrong with the format we have now (or even the one we had before) that it needs to be altered.

I'm feeling the same way about it and I'm not too sure I like the idea of this at all. I just find this format we have currently is nicer than the new version. I posted in the polls about the skins for it and I don't know. I'm not much of a fan of VB styles that's why I had come here. I like the way phpBB is, it gives everyone a "home" type of feel(to me anyways).
I find the more sharper that features or style/layout of the forum is, the harder it is for me to really get into the community. Its a bit hard on my eyes, this current one has a much softer theme and I'm sure there is a way around that but I don't know. I feel like... we're kind of being forced to use ALL the features with the new one as with this one, we discover more as others post and try it out. Not I'm saying that it won't happen with the new version but I don't know... I don't know where I'm going with this post anymore.

I guess i'll give it a go but if there was a choice between this phpBB style and VB style... I would choose the first one and not because its been like that for awhile, it just find it easier for me to navigate and post on, and I've been to many different forums. I like the phpBB style much better than any other version, that's just my personal preference though. I don't really see why this has to be altered at all, just my two cents.

[matt404]

I understand many of you are used to the current site, but looking at the statistics I've found that around 40% of people are not sticking around past the first page and missing out on the great community that SAS is. I hope the new homepage will give people a better idea of what's going on at SAS.

Then why not simply redesign the homepage but keep the forum the way it is? I don't really see why the whole forum has to be imported into a new format. I, and I believe many other SAS members, seem to like it the way it is. This seems like change just for the sake of change.

Anyway, just my 2 cents.

[Drew]

As I stated in another thread...

There are actually quite a few reasons I plan to switch over:
- Features - The feature set of the newest version of vBulletin is just incredible, the most notable being cool social networking features that integrate in without becoming the focus. I understand that some people may not be interested in these. What's great is that they are not the focus of the site, but they are in the background for the people who want to use them.
- Stability - I've found vBulletin to be very fast, stable and efficiently coded. phpBB isn't bad by any means, but I think vBulletin does a better job taking into account the features included.
- Security - phpBB has had a notoriously poor record on security. They're better now, but it's not something I'm as comfortable using in that sense.
- Integration - the new site is going to have a new interactive section focused on treatments and that software integrates with vBulletin better.
- Modification System - it's much easier to add modifications to vBulletin than it is to phpBB
- Familiarity - I'm more familiar with vBulletin. I've been using it for almost 8 years.

I understand that some of you may feel resistant to a switch over, but it's going to happen. I'll do my best to work on a skin(s) that the members of the community feel comfortable with.

Drew

[millenniumman75]

People witrh anxiety don't like change more than non-SAers.
I don't think it will be that bad. I have seen other forums with these kinds of skins that Drew presented.

Don't mess with my post count! .

[Drew]

I promise I won't touch your post count.

[CoconutHolder]

I can't log in.

[Drew]

Originally Posted by CoconutHolder

I can't log in.

As mentioned earlier, you'll have to do the "Forgot Password" form to reset your password as phpBB encrypts them in the way that makes them nontransferable.

[CoconutHolder]

lol sorry

i bet you are so sick of repeating yourself. :P


Okay thank you. I'll have to check that out later.

I saw the other poll with the link for the new page and the 3 different polls. See, I missed this when it started because I very rarely click on "polls" or much other than Just for Fun/Supplements stuff. Actually I find that I hit "view your posts" more often then not because they are the places I mainly post. I end up missing things by doing this. Sometimes I remember to check other things like today.

Also I get a kind of ADD sometimes when I have to read things.... skip over stuff, read something but it doesn't sink in, stuff like that.

*holds up "Thanks" smilie sign*