I took a look around, it has lots of pretty colors lol, but it seems a little over complicated. The discussion board area looks like all other forums now.
First time I've seen it, aesthetically it looks more interesting...I like some of the dashboard features but would prefer to see "New Reviews" instead of the top 100...we all know who the Top 100 are in our area.
It's tough to teach a new dog old tricks (or something like that) if it was all that was available i wouldn't have a problem using it but as long as its still in beta I'll stick with the old version.
Up and Down is good for somethings but not for Web GUI.
I especially don't like the way the discussion boards are just like everyone else's.
The current way, you can keep track of discussions within discussions. In the beta, it's just one long serial.
I hesitate to be critical, because I have created a lot of websites myself. I know what an undertaking it can be to make a major website, and really detest being criticized by people who have no conception of what is involved.
But I DO have such a conception. I know all about the thousands of tiny details.
The beta site is ugly and unrefined in appearance. It looks like it has been made to a cookie-cutter specification using drag and drop buttons and graphics.
It adds a couple of nice features -- like when you do a review search, you get to see average scores before bothering to click.
But the price is that it looks like a large-print book for the sight-impaired.
And, again, the beautiful and complex threading currently available in the discussion forums disappears. This will serve to reduce the quality and depth of conversation.
From a purely aesthetic and functional perspective, the beta site is, IMO, inferior to what it will replace.
It has some nice features as noted, but those can be added to the current interface as both are clearly driven from the same database.
A lot of people bitch about the current site and I'll tell you its predecessor was a real dog. Boards that are all over the place and in many pieces are very hard to administer. Hence, downtime, lots of internal errors and more. Go with it, you don't really get a vote you know.
I concur with John specifically regarding the discussion forum.
Beta testing is just that and serves a multitude of purposes, not the least of which is feed back or hearing the "voice" of the members (we hope).
Of coure beta is also to work out the bugs. Perhaps John and I are the cockroaches in the crowd.
Provider ads will not be bumped to the top of the boards.
Discussion posts have a box that has to be checked for all provider ad posts which makes the thread not bump to the top.
If I understand correctly. The provider has to check a box when posting an ad
So, what stops the provider from not checking the box and making her ad post just a regular discussion board thread to make it jump to the top.
Also providers are going to simply create more "theme day" posts which is essentially advertising in disguise and respond to these threads together in bunches. Eventually these "theme day" threads would be bumped up to the top and stay on top all the time.
Also, any provider that doesn't check the box is gonna find herself moderated. If the mods have to check it for her too many times she may find it difficult to post an ad for a while.
If there's a box to check, does that mean we'll be able to click a box and pull up ONLY provider ads when we visit for only one purpose? I don't see an option like that in the current search function.
Sometimes I want to browse the conversations. Sometimes, though, I'm just looking for the opportunities being offered.
Looked at the source, HTML 1.0 and CSS. Web 2.0 standard doesn't include CSS and Web 2.0 is HTML 5.0.
Gotta agree with the threading issue on the new beta site. I hate not being able to see what thread I am clicking into, but I do like the fact that when you click a posting it pulls up the whole thread.
I think the new board structure is great. Sure, it's just like everyone else's, but at least if someone replies to a topic that is on page 3, their response ends up on top and the topic could stoke up again.
In the old format, you have to scroll down and find the topic to see if it has been replied to.
I like the new format alot.
Thanks to the OP for posting the link.
thread- the discussion within the discussion. The ability to enter the thread anywhere, like I just did with this post, makes it much more interesting and versatile.
I've used other sites with the type of linear posts shown on the TER beta site, and in all cases, I've just quit posting because they're so limiting. They're also very confusing, because your responses are always out of synch and responding to something that's no longer the latest post. It's virtually impossible to follow the type of discussions we have on TER.
The beta discussion board software is a HUGE step in the WRONG direction. The current TER discussion format is perfectly suited to the type of free-form discussions we have on this site. Please don't eliminate one of the best features of this site.
-- Modified on 6/21/2010 1:40:55 PM
At first it didn't bother me at all. I had the different home page but I could basically navigate the same by going to site map and the discussion boards were in old format. It seems to be going back and forth from old to new..
I don't like the new format at all with only the heading of posts listed..Didn't see that before when you all were discussing.If it continues like that I'm looking at the the bright side. I'm due for a vacation and my lap top is broken.
I can't see that it adds any advantage. Why change for the sake of changing?
and found them confusing due to the discussion boards being exactly like the new version that we are going to be stuck with. The other sites discussion boards had no continuity or sense of order. Conversations, as we know them now, with the threads we have will cease to exist.
...so hopefully after a month or so, TER goes back to their more popular recipe (this format).
Some change for the sake of change is not always needed.
Welcome to the 90s!
I always hated the fact on TER that no matter how popular a thread is, it will eventually fall off the first page, thus ending the conversation.
With the new site, the thread with the most-recent posting is at the top. As it should be.
That by itself is worth what I paid...
....an attempt to keep their ads on top of the board all week.
This new site is "All about the Clicks", making users having to click open the thread to read & see related posts or respond. The design is based for More Revenue for the Clicks on the site for the advertisers. More Clicks = $$$.
Screw the users & paying VIP's!
1. "Any provider that responds to her own ad will be banned for x number of weeks." Problem solved. How does the new format make the problem of providers posting their own ad multiple times?
2. I much prefer seeing an orderly list of threads, rather than EVERY post in EVERY thread. I open the threads I am interested in, the others stay closed. I no longer have to skip 20, 30, or however many rows of some thread I could not care less about.
And like I said, popular threads stay on the top. It never made sense to me that threads where many people want to contribute, end up falling off the first page. This makes an artificial end to the conversation, sometimes before people have even had a chance to chime in. It makes no sense that 10 threads about "falling in love with a provider" should push down a truly valuable thread.
Most of anything worthwhile will be added to a thread in the first two days or so....then it's off to something different. Anyone who has been on a board with the "new" (old everywhere else) layout has certainly seen numerous posts...some from years ago...brought right back up to the top with nothing more to add than a "me too" response.
If the change takes place...I think all you're going to see is the same as other message boards with the same setup. A VERY small number of posters who are so bored that they don't mind clicking and scrolling all day. (Yes...even a smaller number of die-hard "regulars" than we have now)
I guess that's your opinion, that nothing worthwhile is added to a thread after 3 days. I happen to disagree.
For example, I frequent a "golf" board. A thread about the US Open was created two weeks ago. Using current TER software, that thread would have been on page 12 by now, even though the US Open just finished yesterday. With modern software, the thread stays active as long as people have something to say, and it dies when there's nothing left to say.
You do sometimes see old threads brought back to life needlessly, but that is not the norm. And think about the alternative. Using current TER software, you can't bring an old thread back to life. Instead what happens is the SAME thread topic gets recreated over and over (and over) again. Instead of one thread about "falling in love with a provider," there are probably 1,000 separate threads on TER, all saying the same thing.
...we had the option of popular threads being bumped to the top when someone posts on them (an advantage of the beta version), while the threads still looked like our current ones. I like how with the current thread structure I can follow the conversation.
For example, I went back on a MN thread I read earlier today. When I looked at it on the current site, it was quite evident who one person was replying to with a red face. However, when I went back to that same thread on the beta version, I realized that looking at the long line of replies; I would have never been able to tell who the red face was geared at had I not originally seen it via the current version.
I enjoy knowing who is talking to whom in a conversation.
Overall, I like that the new look is clean and clutter free (very important to me), I just wish we could have the option to view threads as they currently are, while also allowing popular threads to be bumped to the top as new replies are added to them.
Thanks for listening.
Xoxo.
in the boards.
Some may applaud this however lol
Hate it. Absolutely can't find a single good thing to say about it. Honestly. The home page is much too busy. Had to sit there and study it for a while just to spot the known links, and sift out extra garbage that doesn't need to be there.
I hate links that pop up simply by moving my mouse over them. The link format to the discussion boards is annoying. Having a menu to the side is simple and easy. Accidentally mousing over the drop down for discussion boards is highly annoying. I loathe sites that use that format.
Finally, I utterly abhor that format for discussion boards. First off, allowing posts to recycle to the top when a new post is added just keeps train wrecks going...and going......and going.......and goind. Since this forum is already heavily addicted to train wrecks, all this will do is just make them even worse. Furthermore, this is one of the few discussion boards remaining who displays all replies to a thread. I like that. I can run down the replies and decide if I even feel like clicking on the thread at all. And the way replies are shown, you can't tell who is replying to which poster. There is no organization to it at all. That format is a massive turn off.
PLEASE keep what you have, exactly as you have it. I've said for 4 years that no other site equals TER. And that opinion has been largely based on a website that was elegant, classy, organized, and easy to navigate, and discussion boards that in spite of the content were easy to follow, and very simple to navigate. Your new beta system is none of the above.
Just my .02
Threads under a discussion forum are now clasped instead of showing all the following posts -- this made it easier to see all the newer threads. One suggestion: within a thread, instead of showing all following posts, show a small number of posts such as 5, then show page jump links on the bottom.
Shitty canned software. Conforming to shit that every other site uses is not progress. Cheap to maintain, but a step backwards.
rofl..Seriously ..I noticed some background color and got here by site map like always.I thought the extra background was the holiday.
I wouldn't have noticed since it went over my head..Well maybe I would in a week or two .
and a discussion about interesting topics to banter about back and forth. Words and conversation are or should be carried out in a way that you can comment about another persons opinion. I to found the beta a little less desirable and hard to follow.
I post on a UK board occasionally but it's harder to follow. One of my first posts there was about a subject from months before and it went right to the top of the list. Nothing spells idiot and newbie more than that. I like the format we have now much better and keeps things moving.
I'm no software whiz but hope they stick with what we have and improve features already established here.
Kisses Haley
Like it or not. I guess we'll just have to get used to it.
Like we have a choice....
You can't choose your own format? I've seen it on other sites.
THE DISCUSSION BOARD FORMAT OF THE NEW TER SUCKS ASS!!!
The thing that has made TER more than just another Escort site is the discussion boards, and the format that you can see EVERY POST ON A PARTICULAR THREAD FROM THE MAIN DB PAGE AND PICK WHICH POSTS YOU WANT TO REPLY TO.
This change would destroy that and make the DB's like every other site...worthless. You will see DB activity freefall.
But that will be much cheaper to maintain and take less time for employees and voluntary moderators.
If there ever was a sign that TER's golden days are over, this would be it.
Just another nail in the coffin, boys.
We all hate change but within no time you get used to it and the old board will seem so old fashioned.
Topics bumped up when responded to– Good
Quoting people - Good
Can it include Avatars and be able to preview our posts please.
...although I would rather be piling onto a provider right now! lol
I like the provider summary ratings. But that's about all that I like. The rest of the new version makes TER look like every other "cookie cutter" escort site - and those are just about all dead due to lack of participation. A big part of TER's success is the unique format that allows discussions to actually look like back-and-forth discussions, not some serial listing of inputs. Please do not change to the new discussion format!
Now, where's that provider??? lol
I like the look of the new site and I hope TER decides to go with it. I agree with the points made defending the current layout of the discussion forums. Maybe TER can adapt the new look to that format.
I am not sure if I like the new format or not yet. We will see.
However, I keep clicking on the ter messenger and nothing is happening...Guess a bug...grrr...
its piss poor. some features on ter are no longer present in the new beta version. navigation seems messy. can't people just leave well enough along.
I do like how popular discussions remain atop; I don't like the linear flow and I don't like the fact that we still can't ignore users a la VBulletin or other discussion board software.
As far as the general site goes the "Top 100" of each city on the main page makes me a little bit nervous.
Didn't see this thread before I posted about it on my regional board. Oh well, maybe they haven't noticed the Beta version yet anyway.
so much so that I have only attempted it once and reverted to the old version. Sorry TER...Beta sucks!!