A new look Talk forum: Coming Fri 6th June

[Craig]

I'll get this one in before the football starts

Likes

A much missed feature of the old forum is 'Thanks'. We're pleased to announce on the new forum that these will now return in the form of Likes. Although I know me of you aren't keen on the name change, in terms of features it offers a much better overall experience.

To run through the basics:

• Liking a post is much faster than previous incarnations of the thanks mod
• You can now like posts and see who's liked posts inside TapaTalk
• You can now see your individual posts which have been liked
• You'll now have a count of how many likes you've received

Liking posts on the main forum is pretty self explanatory, and very similar to the thanks system but is much quicker and sleeker than the old additional mod we had on the old forum. Simply click like to like a post, unlike if you clicked by mistake.

Liking posts from Tapatalk

To like a post, tap the post and then tap the thumbs up icon at the top of the screen. To view who's liked the post, click the 'like bar' underneath the post to see who has liked it already.

Viewing your likes received

To view the likes you've received, highlight your name at the top of the forum and select 'Likes You've Received'.

You'll then be taken to the below page where you can see a summary of your posts which have been liked

Viewing your like Count
Your like count is displayed on your profile page, again accessed from your profile card by highlighting your name at the top of the forum.

And that's pretty much it, overall we now have a system that's much better integrated into the forum than anything we've had previously .

 

[DiogoJ42]

*presses an imaginary "like" button on Joel's reply*

That sounds like it could be rather useful, I often wish I could hide some topics I have no interest in from clogging up the list of new posts.

Just to clarify, when a new topic is started and you haven't posted in it yet, Will it be "watched" by default, so that it shows up? Or will we have to revert to the old fashioned "search through each sub forum one at at time on the of chance of finding something new" method?

EDIT: Yay for the return of a personal "thanks / like count"! (Not that it has any real meaning or worth, of course )

 

[Alastair]

Lightbox Image Feature

One of the more subtle, but equally progressive features on the new forum is the lightbox image function. On the current forum, large images are scaled down, however clicking on them often scales them up whilst simultaneously cutting off the right hand side (as the image might be larger than the width of the forum window).

The new version handles pictures a lot more intuitively. Large images will still be scaled down as per normal, but hover over the image and you'll see a little box appear at the top:

Click on this and you'll see the image scale up (along with a cool animation) to full size:

Click on the image again and it'll scale back down. This also works in quotes:

Also works on mobile

This was one of the most useful features I found when using the new forum in comparison with the old. It makes picture heavy pages a lot more manageable!

 

[Craig]

Just to clarify, when a new topic is started and you haven't posted in it yet, Will it be "watched" by default, so that it shows up? Or will we have to revert to the old fashioned "search through each sub forum one at at time on the of chance of finding something new" method?

*Think I'm understanding this right *

New topics posted by others won't be watched by default as that only works for topics you've participated in. It will however show as unread on the forum by way of a different icon and text style. You also the New Posts option at the top of the forum to pull up any new posts on the forum.

 

[DiogoJ42]

Ah right, cheers. Sounds like all should be fine then.

Speaking of images and the width of the forum etc, by any chance does the new site take better advantage of the fact that most people now have widescreen monitors? What I'm looking at right now on the current forum seems to waste a lot of space:
http://prntscr.com/3po05g

 

[Joel]

It is slightly wider, I believe we've gone from 950px up to 1080px, so you'll notice a bit of an improvement.

Having much much wider might make posts and forums quite difficult to read because they have too much space between elements, so we've still gone with a maximum width option for now.

 

[DiogoJ42]

Woop

 

[benvincer]

Similar Posts

Similar Posts
We love making life easy at Towers Street and we know how important it is that our forum is well organised. This means that we can all quickly find threads and information which all share a common theme.

Moving Between Threads with a Common Theme
The first purpose of the Similar Posts feature of the new forum is designed to help you move quickly between threads which have a common theme.

An example to show this in practice:
I am reading the thread about ‘The Flume’ in the Future Discussion Forum.

After reading this thread, I want to see what is happening to other log flumes around the world. By scrolling down to the bottom of the page I can find a list of threads which have a similar common theme (that of log flumes or other threads about the Alton Towers Flume). This is at the bottom of every page and is created automatically when you enter a thread.

From the list, I can then select the thread which seems most appropriate to what I would like to find out, or post on, and can immediately skip to it, regardless of where it is on the forum.

Avoiding Duplicate Threads
The second function of the Similar Posts feature avoids the occasional issue of duplicate threads by immediately suggesting similar threads which are already in existence when you go to create a new one.
Obviously this one won't be appropriate for all, but it makes it easier for you to decide whether or not a new thread is needed without having to search manually!

An example to show this in practice:
I am creating a thread about Disneyland Paris.

When I am faced with the Create Thread page I enter the title and immediately underneath a list of similar threads appears. I can then either continue as normal, or if a similar thread already exists simply click on it and join in!

A very useful tool which requires no additional input from you, but makes it very easy to move around the forums!

 

[Andrew]

The Shoutbox

The new forum features a new and improved Shoutbox! The original mechanics are there but some new features have been thrown in to make those Shoutbox discussions that extra little bit more fun!

Firstly, the new Shoutbox features a much fresher feel that its predecessor and is of a larger size to keep track of posts more easily.

A new feature of the Shoutbox is that gifs work using the handy ''image'' tag button, allowing gifs and images to be posted and seen without the need to click a link. The gifs run on both PC and mobile and can be enlarged for your viewing pleasure.

Another, improved feature of the Shoutbox is the ability to highlight selected words in bold, italics, and even colour! This is a development from the original Shoutbox in which you could only put the whole sentence in bold or italics.

There is now also the ability to add links into the Shoutbox much as you can do in posts so that the discussion is not cluttered with a long pasted link!

The Shoutbox also runs on the mobile site too making it easier to access wherever you are. It is in a condensed form to make it easier to read so that there's no scrolling across to be done! Just scroll down to read the message.

 

[James]

I see there's a running theme of team members each covering a different aspect of the new forum.

Looks amazing so far! Only slight worry I have is the thanks (likes) counts being viewable on profiles (as it hasn't panned out well with past thanks systems). Other than that it all looks pretty perfect so far. Looking forward to it being unleashed upon us on Friday!

 

[Dave]

Multiquote

So if your anything like me (thick) you might often struggle if you want to tackle the opinions of more than one member in a single post. Currently getting the quote codes for all of those posts can be a little bit tiresome. But never fear.... Multiquote is here!

Step One

Read the forum

Step Two

Disagree wish to discus something with someone.

Step Three

Go to the bottom of their post and click "multiquote"

Step Four

Find someone elses stupid alternative opinion and repeat step Three

Step six Five

Go to the reply zone and click "Insert Quotes..."

Step Six

Review the order you wish to tackle the quoting and then click "Quote these messages"

Step Seven

Compose your message as you would do normally around the quoted text, removing any bits you don't want to quote

Step Eight

have some gin

 

[Dan]

Will you still be able to see all unread posts in Tapatalk or will you also have to go into each individual sub forum inside the app?

 

[Joel]

Will you still be able to see all unread posts in Tapatalk or will you also have to go into each individual sub forum inside the app?

There seems to be options for "Subscribed" and "Subscribed (unread)", and "Participated" and "Participated (unread)" on the app still for the new forum, so I think that covers them - not sure though as I don't use the app lol!

 

[Craig]

Friday is almost upon us, so just a few more things to cover before we switch

Conversations

One of the more substantial changes in the new forum is Conversations, in other words - personal messages. This is very much a feature you'll need to play with to get used to, but I'll run through the basics here.

Accessing your conversations
The inbox link at the top of the page will show your conversations. Hovering over it will show the latest conversation, clicking it will take you to your inbox. You can also go to create a new conversation straight from this window. You'll find an alert when you receive a new conversation or new messages within an existing conversation too

Creating a conversation

You can type in the names of your participants and the forum will automatically search for those members as you type. You can then add your title for the conversation and type your message. You can add a maximum of ten participants to a conversation. We may review this if there's demand for more, however the limit is in place to prevent potential spamming.

You'll also find an option to prevent others from being invited to the conversation. More on that in a second...

Adding people to a conversation

Let's say you're planning a trip to a park and you're now wanting to add others in to see what they think. You can now instantly add people to your conversation. When they're added, be aware that they'll be able to view all previous messages, not just the ones posted after they've been added. To add people, click on the invite more link on the right hand side of the conversation.

A box will pop up, simply type in the new members you want to add. Again, the forum will automatically search for members as you type.

When you're done inviting, simply click the invite members button.

Once a member has been added to a conversation, they can't be removed.

Leaving a conversation

And finally, you can choose to leave a conversation you're part of if you wish. When you're viewing the conversation, simply select Leave Conversation. Simple! You'll also notice one more option which will be available to the person that started the conversation. Edit conversation lets you amend the conversation title and also to lock any further members being added.

 

[Blizzard]

Not sure whether It was worth starting a new topic on this, but here goes;

First off i'd like to say that all you guys on the team have done an incredible job of making this site into possible the best theme park fan site ever! The amount of effort that goes is every day to keep this site running the way it does is just amazing!

So as a graphic design student, as good as the site looks, I think (in my humble opinion) that it could do with some modernization and simplification of graphics such as the logo and text to make the site more visually appealing and quicker to load. The forums are fine the way they are of course couldn't ask for much better!

So I have been tinkering around making a very quick mock up of a possible new update to the current logo that could carry the same graphics and style throughout the main site:

So yeah something like that would be nice! (obviously better quality than my draft)

 

[Burbs]

Trying not to be rude, but that logo looks a tad amateurish. Don't get me wrong, the Towers look fine, but the name and plaque need a lot more work, and anyway, I think the logo looks fantastic the way it is!

 

[Danny]

Not too keen on the font or the background colour of the plaque, but other than that I quite like it.

 

[TheMan]

To be honest, I like that new logo idea. There's some faults but it's pretty stylish and current.

However, is the site?

It's not really is it? It's loud, it's brash, it's garish, it's pink, it's rainbows and thunder, it's often drunk, it electrocutes itself on light switches in foreign theme parks, it's controversial at times, it's feisty but most of all - it's friends.

Does that need a modern minimalist look? I am not so sure it accurately reflects the feel and point of the site.

 

[thefatone]

I personally feel the current logo is fine - I really, really, like the whole sign thing going on where it says TowersStreet. It just smells of quality.

 

[djtruefitt]

I personally like the current logo, we aren't even that old! That one posted above just looks a bit too plain and boring. In general when we use our logo it is usually just the TowersStreet sign or even TS on FB/Twitter.