The New Odt

[rbstern]

Gents, I advise patience. Change is usually unsettling.

I've been working behind the scenes with OS for a number of years now, and my experience is that he is an excellent custodian of the ODT members' interests. In fact, of the dozens of community boards I've had experience with, as a software developer, a web host and an end user, I don't think I've ever met a site owner more committed to doing right by his members.

I've been working with vBulletin sites for over a decade. Unfortunately, the folks who created that software made a lot of mistakes as the software matured, creating a messy, hard to support product. Xenforo (the new ODT board software) is written by a group of former vBulletin developers who understood the mistakes and broke off to do it right. I worked with OS to implement another site using Xenforo, (my first experienc with it), and it was a choppy transition for me, too. But once I "got it," I've never looked back.

Xenforo offers a much brighter future for this community, and OS will be able to steer the ship much more readily with this new platform. I say that with 37 years of information technology/software development experience behind my opinion.

 

[MaconGuns]

Description of my experience ODT new update on my Apple iPhone 5 in one word. Awesome.

Id rather eat worms than own an apple product.

To ODT. If its not broke don't fix it.

 

[Studiogene]

I have no doubt OS is committed to making OTD as state of the art as possible. I just think the new format is visually distracting. IMHO, there's no natural eye flow and it's just too much information to digest when you simply want to scan until finding something that piques your interest. Functionality may be superior now, but it came at the cost of ergonomics.

Being able to better steer the ship is terrific, but you may find less aboard if they get frustrated and spend less time on the site.

Less activity x less patronage usually = less ad revenue

I realize change is difficult and some of the old dogs would rather give up than adapt, but change doesn't always yield the results you desire. I may very well be in the minority opinion here, but the new look quite honestly gives me a headache and I'm finding that I can't stay on longer than a few minutes... a far cry from my usual time on site. I'm sure OS is able to track his members average time on line. There will be two ways to extrapolate the data if time spent on ODT declines. Perhaps members will find what they're looking for quickly and this will be interpreted as successful. Or the data could be interpreted as frustration by members who just give up, especially given the issues apparent with smart phone useage.

I can only speak for myself. I want OTD to succeed and have always found it to be a very fun experience. I will give it more time to see what happens. But I'd be lying to tell you I'm enjoying the changes thus far.

 

[Studiogene]

Gents, I advise patience. Change is usually unsettling.

I've been working behind the scenes with OS for a number of years now, and my experience is that he is an excellent custodian of the ODT members' interests. In fact, of the dozens of community boards I've had experience with, as a software developer, a web host and an end user, I don't think I've ever met a site owner more committed to doing right by his members.

I've been working with vBulletin sites for over a decade. Unfortunately, the folks who created that software made a lot of mistakes as the software matured, creating a messy, hard to support product. Xenforo (the new ODT board software) is written by a group of former vBulletin developers who understood the mistakes and broke off to do it right. I worked with OS to implement another site using Xenforo, (my first experienc with it), and it was a choppy transition for me, too. But once I "got it," I've never looked back.

Xenforo offers a much brighter future for this community, and OS will be able to steer the ship much more readily with this new platform. I say that with 37 years of information technology/software development experience behind my opinion.

 

[Studiogene]

I have no doubt OS is committed to making OTD as state of the art as possible. I just think the new format is visually distracting. IMHO, there's no natural eye flow and it's just too much information to digest when you simply want to scan until finding something that piques your interest. Functionality may be superior now, but it came at the cost of ergonomics.
Being able to better steer the ship is terrific, but you may find less aboard if they get frustrated and spend less time on the site.
Less activity x less patronage usually = less ad revenue
I realize change is difficult and some of the old dogs would rather give up than adapt, but change doesn't always yield the results you desire. I may very well be in the minority opinion here, but the new look quite honestly gives me a headache and I'm finding that I can't stay on longer than a few minutes... a far cry from my usual time on site. I'm sure OS is able to track his members average time on line. There will be two ways to extrapolate the data if time spent on ODT declines. Perhaps members will find what they're looking for quickly and this will be interpreted as successful. Or the data could be interpreted as frustration by members who just give up, especially given the issues apparent with smart phone useage.
I can only speak for myself. I want OTD to succeed and have always found it to be a very fun experience. I will give it more time to see what happens. But I'd be lying to tell you I'm enjoying the changes thus far.

 

[sniper22]

Can we get the "cancel" option back in the list where we post replies? I like the saved draft feature but can't find a way to cancel it.

 

[Okuma]

I have no doubt OS is committed to making OTD as state of the art as possible. I just think the new format is visually distracting. IMHO, there's no natural eye flow and it's just too much information to digest when you simply want to scan until finding something that piques your interest. Functionality may be superior now, but it came at the cost of ergonomics.

Being able to better steer the ship is terrific, but you may find less aboard if they get frustrated and spend less time on the site.

Less activity x less patronage usually = less ad revenue

I realize change is difficult and some of the old dogs would rather give up than adapt, but change doesn't always yield the results you desire. I may very well be in the minority opinion here, but the new look quite honestly gives me a headache and I'm finding that I can't stay on longer than a few minutes... a far cry from my usual time on site. I'm sure OS is able to track his members average time on line. There will be two ways to extrapolate the data if time spent on ODT declines. Perhaps members will find what they're looking for quickly and this will be interpreted as successful. Or the data could be interpreted as frustration by members who just give up, especially given the issues apparent with smart phone useage.

I can only speak for myself. I want OTD to succeed and have always found it to be a very fun experience. I will give it more time to see what happens. But I'd be lying to tell you I'm enjoying the changes thus far.

Just give me two weeks to work my magic, that's all I ask Seriously though, we are slightly above a beta site right now when compared to where we will be in a week or two.

 

[bambam]

I just clicked on "animated smiles" and it open up a zoo!!!!!!!

 

[DogLegArms]

Very nice!

 

[Studiogene]

Just give me two weeks to work my magic, that's all I ask Seriously though, we are slightly above a beta site right now when compared to where we will be in a week or two.