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User Friendly

Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 6:49 pm
by mrafi
I feel that the old Forum was more user friendly. The Forum seems to have dried up. Even I found it difficult to access. I believe a similar Forum was introduced some years back with similar result

Re: User Friendly

Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 9:16 pm
by DrShabbir
Yes, Sir! I completely agree with you. I still do not understand how to navigate the forum. Well, old parrots never learn 8-)

Kindly share your thoughts and ideas with our blessed webmaster, Azizam Yusuf Desai, Texas.

cell 469-733-8748, ydesai@prodigy.net

Re: User Friendly

Posted: Sat Apr 03, 2021 12:27 pm
by jawaidahmed
The old forum was much more user friendly but this one is much better organised.
I do not like change, but I can find topics of interest easier without having to troll through years of posts in this forum and would prefer this to stay with everyone giving it time to become accustomed to all of its idiosyncrasies.

The old parrot is a wise owl so learn a new trick!

Re: User Friendly

Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2021 5:15 pm
by Adilsidqi
It takes time to get use to new formats.
Microsoft Windows when change to new one it takes time to become friendly. I am still not very comfortable with Win10, the current one.
Regards to all.

Re: User Friendly

Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 7:31 am
by yoube
Why did they even change? This new format is is totally wrong for this kind of forum

Re: User Friendly

Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2021 4:04 pm
by ualis123
SalamunAlaikum,

It is really hard to navigate this forum and you cannot search the topics as it was so easy to do so in the old forum.
My request is to keep the old forum up just for searching the topics as it really helped to extract the information and discuss it with my family and friends.

Jazak Allah

Re: User Friendly

Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2021 6:18 am
by admin
mrafi wrote: Thu Apr 01, 2021 6:49 pm I feel that the old Forum was more user friendly. The Forum seems to have dried up. Even I found it difficult to access. I believe a similar Forum was introduced some years back with similar result
Thanks for your feedback on the new forum.

The forum is not dried up, we are already seeing members registering and signing up with no issues. Not exactly sure what difficulty you had registering with a simple username and a password. Feel free to navigate and explore around to make best use of your forum. All questions and feedback are welcome. Improvements and enhancements will be continual.

Here are some of the new forum features:
• Categories: Categories are organizational containers which house the individual forums.
• Password Protected Forums: Require a unique password to be entered in order for any user to access a single forum.
• Sub-forums: Allows for an unlimited number of sub-forums in the hierarchical structure.
• Last Post: Will list who made the last post in a particular topic and when it was made on the forum's page.
• Display Active Topics: A list of the most active topics in a forum can be displayed in a separate container at the top of the forum.
• Subscribe to Forums & Topics: Users have the ability to subscribe to individual topics or entire forums so that they can be notified of any new topics or posts made.
• Bookmark Topics: Users have the ability to bookmark topics that interest them for quick access at a later time.
• Topic & Post Sorting: Users have the ability to change the order in which topics and posts are displayed, such as oldest to newest, alphabetical order, or by the number of replies.
• Topic Participation Tracking: Users will see an indicator next to topics in which they have posted.
• Print & Email Topic: phpBB creates a custom formatted page that is printer-friendly. Users also have the option to email a topic to their friends.
• Robust Search Engine
…and many more!

As for the old forum style, we cannot go back to it since the platform and infrastructure it was limping on has become obsolete and is no longer supported. Not to mention hundreds of spam messages flooding storage, cache memory, etc. requiring hours in administration on a daily basis.

Re: User Friendly

Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2021 6:22 am
by admin
jawaidahmed wrote: Sat Apr 03, 2021 12:27 pm The old forum was much more user friendly but this one is much better organised.
I do not like change, but I can find topics of interest easier without having to troll through years of posts in this forum and would prefer this to stay with everyone giving it time to become accustomed to all of its idiosyncrasies.

The old parrot is a wise owl so learn a new trick!
Thanks Br Jawaid,
Introducing fresh technology almost inevitably comes with some teething issues or conflicts with established systems and practices. However, adaptability is necessary as change is constant.

Re: User Friendly

Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2021 6:23 am
by admin
Adilsidqi wrote: Sun Apr 04, 2021 5:15 pm It takes time to get use to new formats.
Microsoft Windows when change to new one it takes time to become friendly. I am still not very comfortable with Win10, the current one.
Regards to all.
Thanks for your feedback Br Sidqi. While change can be scary and intimidating, we can accept it and look at it as an opportunity to improve, learn, and grow. This also means, however, being open to the thoughts and opinions of everyone with different perspectives.
We welcome your suggestions and ideas.

Re: User Friendly

Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2021 6:25 am
by admin
yoube wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 7:31 am Why did they even change? This new format is is totally wrong for this kind of forum
Not sure what you mean by ‘wrong’. There are over a million installations for this kind of forum worldwide.

Re: User Friendly

Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2021 6:29 am
by admin
ualis123 wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 4:04 pm SalamunAlaikum,

It is really hard to navigate this forum and you cannot search the topics as it was so easy to do so in the old forum.
My request is to keep the old forum up just for searching the topics as it really helped to extract the information and discuss it with my family and friends.

Jazak Allah
Have you tried the built-in search engine on this new forum?

The powerful search system lets users find topics, posts, and users. Here are some of the salient features:

• Customized Topic Search: Users can search for a particular post from within a topic using various filters and sorting options.

• Customized Forum Search: Users can search for a particular post or topic from within a forum using various filters and sorting options.

• Fulltext Native: Database fulltext native is the built-in search backend used for searching the forum.

• MySQL Fulltext: phpBB includes a fully functional MySQL fulltext plugin which allows for improved search capabilities in MySQL databases.

• PostgreSQL Fulltext: phpBB includes a fully functional PostgreSQL fulltext plugin which allows for improved search capabilities in PostgreSQL databases.

• Sphinx Fulltext: phpBB includes a fully functional Sphinx fulltext plugin which allows for improved search capabilities.

• Author Search: Search for a list of topics or posts by a particular author.

Advanced Search:
• phpBB's search system allows for a full range of filters and options to be set when performing a search, such as timeframe, post author, or within multiple forums. Wildcard searches are also supported.

• View Unanswered Posts: phpBB's search system can find a list of all topics on the board or in a forum which have no replies.

• Active/New Topics: The search system can find topics which have been very active or have a certain number of replies.

• Posts Since Last Visit: Shows users a list of posts and topics which have been made since their last visit to the board.

• Search Flood Control: phpBB can be configured to limit the number of searches that can be performed in a specified time interval.

Re: User Friendly

Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2021 9:55 am
by 1RationalThinker
Gentlemen/Ladies:

Actually phpBB is a free (open source) software. It is easier to use and has a better looking interface than the previous one. Just go to the top ribbon on the left where it says Quick links. There you have 5 options and a search magnifying glass. Use this to search for any topic that is in the database. May be our friendly IT admin can post a one page "instructions" to use this new forum interface.

My humble request is to keep this forum and give it some time for the users to learn. Maybe I will put out a set of instructions to use this forum in very near future. Trust me this is one of the top 5 or 6 forum softwares available today.

Thank you. :D