# ASF Website Redesign



## Joe Blow

I am starting this thread for all feedback and discussion relating to ASF's upcoming website redesign.

The internet continues to evolve and the software platform ASF uses is getting dated and I have decided that it is now time to make some changes. When ASF migrates to a new platform I will be taking the opportunity to rework the website to improve the design, and to add more content and features. One of my primary aims is to improve the usability of ASF on mobile devices such as phones and tablets.

There is not too much more to add at the moment, but suggestions are always very welcome. If there is a specific feature you would like to see added to ASF please feel free to mention it in this thread. I have taken on board all the feedback from others threads (and the recent survey) where suggestions have been made, but you are welcome to make them in this thread also.

I will update this thread when I have some more news to share.


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## Value Collector

Will we be getting a "like" button


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## Joe Blow

Value Collector said:


> Will we be getting a "like" button




You most definitely will, amongst other things.


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## galumay

Out of interest, what platform are you going to use Joe? 

The existing site is pretty functional, so I don't think it needs too much tweaking!

I use SMF for the forum I run and a couple of other I am admin on, its certainly easy to use from that side of the fence!


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## Joe Blow

galumay said:


> Out of interest, what platform are you going to use Joe?
> 
> The existing site is pretty functional, so I don't think it needs too much tweaking!




ASF will be migrating to Xenforo. After a lot of research I have come to the conclusion that Xenforo is the forum platform with the brightest future. I agree that ASF is functional as it is, I just want to make it better and more user friendly, both for desktop PCs and mobile devices.



galumay said:


> I use SMF for the forum I run and a couple of other I am admin on, its certainly easy to use from that side of the fence!




I'm not familiar with SMF's back end but Xenforo is a lot easier for forum administrators than vBulletin. Although I'm sure it will be a steep learning curve, I'm looking forward to the challenge.


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## qldfrog

Joe,
while in IT, I am not a fan of the latest blocky low information, big icons latest trends, yet I have to admit that having an html5 compatible version with automatically handle mobile/tablet and desktop without any extra work from your part  9unique common version) should be a must have.
I trust yopu in making sure that we will not loose too much functionality and will increase ease of use.
All the best for this project
Olivier


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## Joe Blow

qldfrog said:


> Joe,
> while in IT, I am not a fan of the latest blocky low information, big icons latest trends, yet I have to admit that having an html5 compatible version with automatically handle mobile/tablet and desktop without any extra work from your part  9unique common version) should be a must have.
> I trust yopu in making sure that we will not loose too much functionality and will increase ease of use.
> All the best for this project
> Olivier




Thanks for your support. The current design was introduced in late 2010. At that time, tablets and smartphones were largely in their infancy and were not part of the equation when the design was conceived of and put together. In the intervening five and a half years, the use of mobile devices has exploded and the current software is very difficult to build upon with a view to the future. It has largely been abandoned by the developers. What I'm trying to do with this upcoming redesign is get all my ducks in a row for the future and ensure that ASF is using a platform that is flexible and has continuing support, development and innovation. At the same time I'm trying to improve the user experience in every way that I can possibly think of, but especially when it comes to mobile. I think it's going to be a bit of a case of trial and error, but these sort of large scale changes tend to be that way. Hopefully with a lot of input from the ASF community we can build a new ASF that is an improvement on the current website in almost all areas. That's what I'm hoping for anyway.


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## shouldaindex

I like this design, I've used it on desktop / ipad and it's fine to me.  I don't like the idea of like buttons and turning it into a social media popularity contest.  Text and the odd graphic or link is more than enough to get any point with substance across.  I even like there's usually 10-20 posters a day, as you dont have to sift through rubbish to read something worthwhile.

I guess the question is though, are you wanting to grow it as a business, then you'd have to consider broadening it out with various strategies, if it's run as a non-profit hobby I'd like to think maintaining quality posters and posts should be the priority.


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## myrtie100

Hi Joe,  I'm often using my mobile to read your forum. 
One thing I have noticed is some uploaded charts are viewable and others aren't. 
For example peter2's are viewable but porper's on the qantas thread isn't.


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## Joe Blow

shouldaindex said:


> I like this design, I've used it on desktop / ipad and it's fine to me.  I don't like the idea of like buttons and turning it into a social media popularity contest.  Text and the odd graphic or link is more than enough to get any point with substance across.  I even like there's usually 10-20 posters a day, as you dont have to sift through rubbish to read something worthwhile.




While I'm not trying to turn ASF into social media - there is plenty of that on other websites - I want to integrate it a little better in a couple of ways. Firstly, I want to give people the option of sharing more of ASF's content via social media which I think will expose more people to the great content that can be found here. I also want people to be able to like the posts of others, not to turn ASF into a popularity contest, but as a way of letting others know that their post has been read and appreciated. Not drastic changes, just small incremental ones that will hopefully make ASF better.



shouldaindex said:


> I guess the question is though, are you wanting to grow it as a business, then you'd have to consider broadening it out with various strategies, if it's run as a non-profit hobby I'd like to think maintaining quality posters and posts should be the priority.




ASF needs to be a business. I have a drawer full of legal threats and two legal battles that I have had to fight in the courts, one of which is still ongoing. The time where ASF could be run just a hobby has long since passed, and it needs to mature as a business in order to both grow and to protect itself. However, I definitely want to maintain the quality of posters and posts, that is one thing that will never change. That's why I started ASF in the first place and it is the reason I am still doing it 12 years later.



myrtie100 said:


> Hi Joe,  I'm often using my mobile to read your forum.
> One thing I have noticed is some uploaded charts are viewable and others aren't.
> For example peter2's are viewable but porper's on the qantas thread isn't.




Yes, I'm very dissatisfied with the current mobile style. It is buggy and not something that is user friendly enough. It can be a lot better and that's what I'm hoping to achieve. I am happy to hear that someone uses it though.


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## noirua

XenForo is a commercial Internet forum software package written in the PHP programming language using the Zend Framework. The software is developed by former vBulletin lead developers Kier Darby and Mike Sullivan. The first public beta release of XenForo was released in October 2010. XenForo 1.0.0 Stable was released on March 8, 2011.[1] XenForo has several SEO features built in. Its popularity is growing, according to feedback from various community forums and weblogs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XenForo

https://xenforo.com/

https://www.facebook.com/XenForo

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/xenforo.259644/


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## galumay

Joe, if you need any help let me know, I run an IT business and while I haven't used Xenforo I am familiar with the better known platforms like VBulletin and particularly SMF.


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## Joe Blow

galumay said:


> Joe, if you need any help let me know, I run an IT business and while I haven't used Xenforo I am familiar with the better known platforms like VBulletin and particularly SMF.




Thanks galumay, I appreciate the offer. It's still very much in the early stages but I will be sure to get in touch should I have any questions for you.


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## Craton

How about a spell checker Joe?

FWIW: here's a list of forums that uses Xenforo: https://xenforo.com/community/threads/the-big-forum-list.26352/


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## Joe Blow

Craton said:


> How about a spell checker Joe?




I will see what I can do. I thought most spell checkers were browser based these days? There is a spell checker built into Firefox that I use.


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## Craton

Joe.
Hmm, that's funny coz I use FF above all other browsers but spell checking doesn't work as expected here, am now also suspecting elsewhere too. I've checked the settings both within FF and Win 10, all looks OK for spelling checking. 

Tested here using IE and spell checking works as it should and will change misspelt words automatically.

I'll have to dig a little deeper...


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## CanOz

I noticed that Firefox crashes allot when ASF is one of the pages i've got up. There's a slow/stopped script error that comes up. Google Chrome work fine though. Any one notice this? It happened a bit in China, but its very frequent here.


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## pixel

CanOz said:


> I noticed that Firefox crashes allot when ASF is one of the pages i've got up. There's a slow/stopped script error that comes up. Google Chrome work fine though. Any one notice this? It happened a bit in China, but its very frequent here.




Could be some of your settings or add-ons? What script is it?
I've been running Firefox for yonks and never had - or have now - a problem with ASF.
Can't think of any other pages either that would give me grief.


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## JJZ

I'm on FireFox 45.0.2  ASF runs fine for me...


JJZ


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## CanOz

JJZ said:


> I'm on FireFox 45.0.2  ASF runs fine for me...
> 
> 
> JJZ





Thanks mate, i'm on the same version.


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## Joe Blow

Just a quick update on this. The website redesign is moving forward and I am hoping to bring the new website online around the end of August. ASF will be moving to an entirely new software platform so everyone will be required to manually log in again once the migration has occurred. 

On the positive side there will be many new features, the forums will be much faster and ASF will be on a platform that I will be able to build on for the future.

I will update again just before the migration occurs, which I am planning for a Friday night to give me the weekend to ensure everything is working properly.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask.


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## qldfrog

Thanks for keeping us informed.And thanks for your efforts


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## DefiniteIntegral

By the way, since the re-design the "forgot password" feature is broken. It is still possible to get the password reset email sent out. But the link contained therein just goes to a "page not found".


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## Joe Blow

DefiniteIntegral said:


> By the way, since the re-design the "forgot password" feature is broken. It is still possible to get the password reset email sent out. But the link contained therein just goes to a "page not found".




Yes, I accidentally changed a setting that I shouldn't have a few hours ago and incoming links have been sent to the wrong URLs. Search engine traffic hasn't been getting through to the correct URLs for the past few hours either. 

However, everything should be fixed now. If you encounter any further issues please let me know in this thread.


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## DefiniteIntegral

Cool thanks for the quick fix


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## Wysiwyg

"Show your online status

This will allow other people to see when you are online.


[*] Show your current activity
This will allow other people to see what page you are currently viewing."

Hello again and thank you.
1. I have unchecked online status but can still be seen in the who's online window.
2. No quote option (icon) in the above Rich Text Editor menu.


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## Joe Blow

Wysiwyg said:


> 1. I have unchecked online status but can still be seen in the who's online window.



You can see yourself in "Who's Online" but others can't.



Wysiwyg said:


> 2. No quote option (icon) in the above Rich Text Editor menu.



To quote a specific post you just click "Reply" on the post you wish to quote. To reply to multiple posts you click the "+ Quote" button on as many posts as you wish to respond to. To post without quoting any other post you just type away in the text editor without clicking any buttons at all.


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## Wysiwyg

Joe Blow said:


> You can see yourself in "Who's Online" but others can't. Okay
> 
> 
> To quote a specific post you just click "Reply" on the post you wish to quote. To reply to multiple posts you click the "+ Quote" button on as many posts as you wish to respond to. To post without quoting any other post you just type away in the text editor without clicking any buttons at all. Okay with click on the +.  thank you .


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## tech/a

Daffy has lost his duck?


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## pixel

tech/a said:


> Daffy has lost his duck?



plenty to choose from https://www.google.com.au/search?q=...JAGQQ7AkIPQ&biw=1315&bih=1040&dpr=0.9#imgrc=_


	

		
			
		

		
	
  or


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## tech/a

pixel said:


> plenty to choose from https://www.google.com.au/search?q=...JAGQQ7AkIPQ&biw=1315&bih=1040&dpr=0.9#imgrc=_
> View attachment 69212
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> or
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 69213





Daffys happy


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## Bill M

There is one part of the forum I use a lot, that's the new posts button.

With the new format when you post on a thread that thread does not appear in the new posts. I think what is happening is that the software thinks you have read that thread and your post does not make it new because you made it. The old forum did not do this, new remained new whether you posted in it or not. For example, I posted in a thread, it does not appear in the new posts but all the others do. Is this a problem?


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## Joe Blow

Bill M said:


> There is one part of the forum I use a lot, that's the new posts button.
> 
> With the new format when you post on a thread that thread does not appear in the new posts. I think what is happening is that the software thinks you have read that thread and your post does not make it new because you made it. The old forum did not do this, new remained new whether you posted in it or not. For example, I posted in a thread, it does not appear in the new posts but all the others do. Is this a problem?



Hi Bill, I will look into this issue and get back to you soon. If you could reply to this post when you read it that will help me with my investigations. Thanks!


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## nulla nulla

When you open a thread on a forum list you don't automatically go to the last post?


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## galumay

nulla nulla, if you click on the date of the last post in the right hand column it will go to the last post.


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## Bill M

Joe Blow said:


> Hi Bill, I will look into this issue and get back to you soon. If you could reply to this post when you read it that will help me with my investigations. Thanks!



Replying now, let's see how we go.


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## Bill M

Bill M said:


> Replying now, let's see how we go.



OK, I replied and then I clicked new posts and it was not in there. I have to click the forums main page in order to find it via the right pane "new posts" or "recent posts." It does not show the thread at the green "new posts" tab next to competition.


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## Joe Blow

Bill M said:


> Replying now, let's see how we go.




Yes, it seems that once you reply to a thread it disappears from your New Posts list for the reason you suggested; the software assumes that the thread has been read. Once someone else posts in the thread it reappears as it now contains unread posts. This is different from the way vBulletin did things but actually seems a little more logical to me as a New Posts list should only contain threads with new posts.

This new software has a Watched Threads feature where particular threads you would like keep track of are added to a list that you can easily access and review. This is an alternative, but complementary way of accessing content of interest, both old and new. To add a thread just click the "Watch Thread" link at the top right of each page of a thread. To review your watched threads click the "Watched Threads" link in the "Forums" tab.


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## Joe Blow

I forgot to add, you can choose to receive an alert when threads in your Watched Threads list are posted in. In fact, receiving an alert is the default setting. Alerts can be customised by adjusting the settings in your Alert Preferences.


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## galumay

Your post has made me realise there is another way to use the watch function, I am only interested in a few of the forums and by making them 'Watched Forums" and having alert notifications I can sort of do the reverse of blocking the ones i dont want to see.

So I am watching the ASX Stock Chat, Medium/Long term Investing and Announcements and Site News Forums only! That way I get alerts about new posts only in the forums that interest me.

EDIT - also poking around I realised that i needed to reset my ignore list, that didnt carry across from the old forum.


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## Quant

Joe i cant upload images anymore , would i be right in thinking ASF doesnt host images anymore or is this just a glitch in the ' matrix  '   ?


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## Joe Blow

Quant said:


> Joe i cant upload images anymore , would i be right in thinking ASF doesnt host images anymore or is this just a glitch in the ' matrix  '   ?



Must be a glitch in the matrix. I've been uploading images without any issues, as have others. Are you receiving any error messages?


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## Quant

Joe Blow said:


> Must be a glitch in the matrix. I've been uploading images without any issues, as have others. Are you receiving any error messages?



no error messages but when i click on image tab i only get the option to post a URL , no option to upload a file like old ASF  , im using google chrome by the way ... TIA


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## Joe Blow

Quant said:


> no error messages but when i click on image tab i only get the option to post a URL , no option to upload a file like old ASF  , im using google chrome by the way ... TIA




The image tab is only for when you are linking to images hosted elsewhere and you have the URL of the image. To upload an image, click on the "Upload a File" button just below the post editing box to the right of "Post Reply". Hope that helps.


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## Quant

Joe Blow said:


> The image tab is only for when you are linking to images hosted elsewhere and you have the URL of the image. To upload an image, click on the "Upload a File" button just below the post editing box to the right of "Post Reply". Hope that helps.





Thanks Joe , bit like getting a new car , buttons in different spots , " reading " now buttons , no more assuming  ;-)


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## Wysiwyg

Bill M said:


> OK, I replied and then I clicked new posts and it was not in there. I have to click the forums main page in order to find it via the right pane "new posts" or "recent posts." It does not show the thread at the green "new posts" tab next to competition.



Yes at the moment we have to go to Home page and then to Latest Replies which has a limit of 7 latest replies. "Today's posts" was a great option because one could go there and see all today's posts whether they were read or not.


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## Joe Blow

Wysiwyg said:


> "Today's posts" was a great option because one could go there and see all today's posts whether they were read or not.




Your wish is my command. Please see new "Recent Posts" link in "Forums" tab. It's not strictly "today's" posts, but it serves the same purpose.


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## Wysiwyg

Thank you Joe.


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## peter2

Hello Joe, does this new software have an option to create a thread that can only be read by members, not guests?

If I start a weekly portfolio thread, I'd like it to be for logged in members only.


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## Joe Blow

peter2 said:


> Hello Joe, does this new software have an option to create a thread that can only be read by members, not guests?
> 
> If I start a weekly portfolio thread, I'd like it to be for logged in members only.



Hi Peter, I'm not sure but I will do some investigating today and get back to you when I know more.


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## nulla nulla

Previously we had to option of only looking at Stock specific threads in "new posts" and were able to side step the general threads we may not have been particularly interested in. Will this option be included in the new forum format?


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## Joe Blow

nulla nulla said:


> Previously we had to option of only looking at Stock specific threads in "new posts" and were able to side step the general threads we may not have been particularly interested in. Will this option be included in the new forum format?



The functionality that allowed threads in the General Chat forum to be excluded from search results was coded for the old ASF and it has not been brought across to the new software as the code is incompatible. Although it was useful, the problem I had with it was that it was somewhat limited in scope as it only applied to one forum. I am currently investigating existing functionality for this software in the form of an add-on that enables forum members to ignore not only whatever forums they want but also whatever threads they want. This is far more useful as it allows people to customise their forum experience to a much great extent. If this add-on works as intended I will be implementing it as soon as possible. I will keep you updated.


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## Lone Wolf

Hi Joe,

In the "New Threads" section on the front page, the "last post by" name appears to actually be showing the original poster name. The time is correct for the last post, just the name is from the first post.


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## pixel

Lone Wolf said:


> Hi Joe,
> 
> In the "New Threads" section on the front page, the "last post by" name appears to actually be showing the original poster name. The time is correct for the last post, just the name is from the first post.



It does indeed, but only on the home page.




All other lists - under Forums and New Posts, even "Similar Threads" below this post - are okay.


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## Joe Blow

Lone Wolf said:


> Hi Joe,
> 
> In the "New Threads" section on the front page, the "last post by" name appears to actually be showing the original poster name. The time is correct for the last post, just the name is from the first post.




Thanks for the heads-up Lone Wolf! You are correct. I will get the designer to take a look at it when he returns from his Christmas break.


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## Joe Blow

peter2 said:


> Hello Joe, does this new software have an option to create a thread that can only be read by members, not guests?
> 
> If I start a weekly portfolio thread, I'd like it to be for logged in members only.



Hi Peter, I have given this some thought and the simple answer is to create a Members Only forum that only registered ASF members can access. I've been a bit reluctant to create such a forum in the past, simply because I assumed that it would not see much activity. However, I guess that doesn't really matter. If it results in more content creation and is a feature ASF members will find useful then it makes sense just to go ahead and do it.


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## Joe Blow

I'm messing with the "Recent Posts" sidebar widget and am interested in some feedback. Do people prefer a post preview as I currently have it set, or no post preview?


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## Wysiwyg

The 'Recent Posts' link above is what I use because I prefer to look at all recent posts and read by choice a thread. There may be more than one recent post in that thread so a preview of the most recent post doesn't make a difference to me.

Also do others prefer having the message reply box above or below the posts on this page? Much cleaner if it were at the bottom of the page I think since replies are usually done from within the post.


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## galumay

Joe Blow said:


> I'm messing with the "Recent Posts" sidebar widget and am interested in some feedback. Do people prefer a post preview as I currently have it set, or no post preview?




I think its better without the previews for me, I just want to see the threads - thats enough info in a sidebar widget for me. It gets a little busy with the preview IMO. Could just be a personal thing tho'?


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## galumay

Wysiwyg said:


> Also do others prefer having the message reply box above or below the posts on this page? Much cleaner if it were at the bottom of the page I think since replies are usually done from within the post.




I am not understanding which message reply box you refer to? On my screen the reply box in a thread is below the posts??


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## Joe Blow

galumay said:


> I am not understanding which message reply box you refer to? On my screen the reply box in a thread is below the posts??



Wysiwyg reverses the order of posts in the thread (newest post first) and unfortunately this functionality is not part of the core Xenforo software so I had to install an add-on to do it, and the result is somewhat inelegant. You can give it a go yourself by selecting the option in "Preferences".


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## Wysiwyg

Screen shot for Galumay ....


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## peter2

Joe Blow said:


> Hi Peter, I have given this some thought and the simple answer is to create a Members Only forum that only registered ASF members can access. I've been a bit reluctant to create such a forum in the past, simply because I assumed that it would not see much activity. However, I guess that doesn't really matter. If it results in more content creation and is a feature ASF members will find useful then it makes sense just to go ahead and do it.




Thanks for the reply. Personally if I'm to post additional educational content then I'd prefer it to be available only to members. I see 10x more guests than members reading the forum. I know many of these guests are members. They don't log in because they can read the posts without doing so. I do it also. 

Continuing as is will lead to stagnation. Respected members are posting less often. I miss them.
How does ASF plan to differentiate itself from the others?


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## galumay

Wysiwyg said:


> Screen shot for Galumay ....




I see, and Joe's explanation tells me why! I agree its a bit odd.


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## Joe Blow

peter2 said:


> Thanks for the reply. Personally if I'm to post additional educational content then I'd prefer it to be available only to members. I see 10x more guests than members reading the forum. I know many of these guests are members. They don't log in because they can read the posts without doing so. I do it also.
> 
> Continuing as is will lead to stagnation. Respected members are posting less often. I miss them.
> How does ASF plan to differentiate itself from the others?




Hi Peter, I'm not sure how members not choosing to log in to read posts will lead to stagnation. The advantages of logging in are being able to search the forums, view attachments, private message other members as well as accessing other forum features that those who remain unregistered are unable to take advantage of. There are definite advantages to registering and participating as a member.

I see your point about providing additional member benefits though and I am willing to open up a private members only forum as an experiment. In the past I have doubted that a private forum would see much activity but I am happy to be proven wrong. I will set it up this evening.


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## Joe Blow

Joe Blow said:


> I will set it up this evening.




OK, well I just went ahead and created it. Can everyone see it?


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## Modest

I see it


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## captain black

Joe Blow said:


> OK, well I just went ahead and created it. Can everyone see it?




Yep, can see it here 

Great opportunity to add some extra content to ASF. My suggestion would be that it be trading/investment related content only. I have a few ideas but if it just becomes another general chat forum with the same intolerant postings in it then I'd lose interest very quickly. Just my 2c.


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## So_Cynical

Joe i searched for ALL Aristocrat yesterday expecting the ALL thread to be in the first couple of results and was surprised to see it on page 2, also how do i do bullet points and how do i make an image display like on the old forums?

Thanks


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## Joe Blow

So_Cynical said:


> Joe i searched for ALL Aristocrat yesterday expecting the ALL thread to be in the first couple of results and was surprised to see it on page 2, also how do i do bullet points and how do i make an image display like on the old forums?




1. Check the box that says, "Search titles only" and it will be in the #1 position.
2. For bullet points, click the "Unordered list" icon immediately to the right of "Alignment".
3. When you upload an image file you should be given the option of inserting it as a thumbnail or a full size image. Choose the full size image option if you'd like it to see more of it in the post.

Please let me know if you have any further questions or require any further clarification.


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## skyQuake

Hey Joe, noticed _Last Posted by_ and _Thread Created by_ are now always the same user


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## Joe Blow

skyQuake said:


> Hey Joe, noticed _Last Posted by_ and _Thread Created by_ are now always the same user



Yeah, that's one of the last few remaining bugs... well, of the ones that I already know about. 

I'll get the designer onto it as soon as he's back from his Christmas/New Year break.


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## Gringotts Bank

​


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## Gringotts Bank

Anyone use Firefox and find they can't post since the upgrade?  All Add-ons disabled, cache cleared, cookies, restart PC etc etc.

I'm posting this using Chrome but far prefer FF as a browser.


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## pixel

Hi GB,
I'm using Firefox exclusively; several add-ons, pop-up blocker, cookie restriction (authorised sites only) and many more. As you see, I can post and have uploaded heaps of files as well.

Platform is Windoze 10, kept updated; AVG (free version) and Malwarebytes (for control scans)


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## Lone Wolf

Using Firefox version 50.1.0 here with no issues. Windows 10, bitdefender for antivirus.


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## PZ99

I'd recommend trying FF in safe mode or with add ons disabled.


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## Miner

At last, you made some serious changes Joe. Job well was done.
I could not log in for a couple of days on and off. But the new look is sexier. The fonts are louder and 'like' is similar to Facebook but I dare say, that will reduce the ability to comment or know what it means. Traditionally human is lazy.
However, like any sex doll they appealing and their functionality depends on how much they are good at bed !!!
So as I use the new site I will share my experience. But at the moment, H*appy New Year to Joe and all of my ASF colleagues*. I am heading off to overseas for a three weeks holiday with family in cold front of the largest democracy of the world.


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## galumay

Miner said:


> ... of the largest democracy of the world.




Is that NZ? I couldnt think of any bigger countries that were still proper democracies!


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## Logique

Joe, attempting to upload an image into a thread, I found that the Image button just asks for a URL, so I'm a bit lost on how to upload from computer as before.

Also, there doesn't seem to be Quote button, although posters can add their own tags.  However when Replying to a post, there is an auto quote feature applied.


----------



## Bill M

I hope I'm not too much of a nuisance if I answer that Logique. If you left click and highlight a sentence and then click reply you will see the reply box open. Just underneath there is a "upload file" button, click that and it will allow you to upload an image from your PC. 

If you are not quoting anything then underneath the last post you have the reply box where you can upload a file. It seems to work ok for me.


----------



## Joe Blow

To upload an image file, click the "Upload a File" button below the text box. The "Image" icon in the text editor is for linking to images hosted elsewhere.

To quote a post in reply, simply click the "Reply" button on the post itself. To quote a smaller part of the post, just highlight the text of the post you wish to quote and then click the "Reply" button that pops up when you let the left mouse button go.

Hope that helps.


----------



## Logique

Bill M said:


> I hope I'm not too much of a nuisance if I answer that Logique. If you left click and highlight a sentence and then click reply you will see the reply box open. Just underneath there is a "upload file" button, click that and it will allow you to upload an image from your PC.
> If you are not quoting anything then underneath the last post you have the reply box where you can upload a file. It seems to work ok for me.



Thanks Bill, that worked! The thread in question is the All Ords going nowhere one


----------



## Logique

Joe Blow said:


> To upload an image file, click the "Upload a File" button below the text box. The "Image" icon in the text editor is for linking to images hosted elsewhere.
> To quote a post in reply, simply click the "Reply" button on the post itself. To quote a smaller part of the post, just highlight the text of the post you wish to quote and then click the "Reply" button that pops up when you let the left mouse button go.
> Hope that helps.



Thanks Joe, success. I realized just now that there is a Q&A thread which I'll read through.  It's a challenge here in the remedial class!


----------



## pixel

Hi Joe,
I just stumbled across an oddity on the Home page:




It sure is great to have this kind of stats, but 2237, or even a mere 1081, appears a teensy bit overstated. 

oh, and while I have your attention: Would it be possible to change the default ticks in the Search function to search "only in titles", but not just in the Forum that happens to be currently open? I don't know about others, but ASF being a *Stock* forum, I predominantly search for the thread about a 3-character stock code. When I was looking for "iot" the other day, the default setting resulted in hundreds of posts, including ones referring to id-iots


----------



## kermit43

I just started signing on to ASF and was amazed that the first menu pages of the blog refers to 2006 blogs - most people want to view the latest relevant information.


----------



## Joe Blow

kermit43 said:


> I just started signing on to ASF and was amazed that the first menu pages of the blog refers to 2006 blogs - most people want to view the latest relevant information.




This should be showing more recent topics but it isn't working as intended. I hope to have a fix soon.



pixel said:


> It sure is great to have this kind of stats, but 2237, or even a mere 1081, appears a teensy bit overstated.




Yeah, this also isn't working as intended. I will hopefully have it fixed soon.



pixel said:


> oh, and while I have your attention: Would it be possible to change the default ticks in the Search function to search "only in titles", but not just in the Forum that happens to be currently open? I don't know about others, but ASF being a *Stock* forum, I predominantly search for the thread about a 3-character stock code. When I was looking for "iot" the other day, the default setting resulted in hundreds of posts, including ones referring to id-iots




The search function on the new software works like this, when you are on the front page or the forums home it defaults to a sitewide search. However, when you are in a particular forum or in a specific thread it ticks "Search this forum only" by default. To do a sitewide search from within a thread or a forum, this box needs to be unchecked. The "Search titles only" box is never checked by default. I know this is a little different to the way things were with the previous software but I think it is a better design in spite of all the checking and unchecking of boxes because the search can be more targeted.

I will do some further investigation on the topic and see if the search feature can be customised more by individual users. I'm still pretty new to this software as well.


----------



## pixel

Thanks Joe,
yes, I realised that's how the Search function works; it would be nice to be able to customise the defaults, but there are far more pressing jobs.


----------



## Parse

This isn't important, but I was wondering if it would be possible to have different styles available for the forum. I notice other XenForo sites sometimes have this. All I prefer is a "wider" page, the default page size of the forum is obviously made to suit mobile devices. I was just wondering if a full width page style would be available for those of us viewing from PC's, laptops etc. These styles (if available) are usually selectable from one's account preferences.


----------



## explod

Hi Joe, I cannot find a private message icon.  Till I'm able its just to let you know that my banking details are unchanged in reference to Jan tipping comp.  Thank you. Explod


----------



## Joe Blow

Parse said:


> This isn't important, but I was wondering if it would be possible to have different styles available for the forum. I notice other XenForo sites sometimes have this. All I prefer is a "wider" page, the default page size of the forum is obviously made to suit mobile devices. I was just wondering if a full width page style would be available for those of us viewing from PC's, laptops etc. These styles (if available) are usually selectable from one's account preferences.




Parse, I'll check into this and get back to you about it.



explod said:


> Hi Joe, I cannot find a private message icon.  Till I'm able its just to let you know that my banking details are unchanged in reference to Jan tipping comp.  Thank you. Explod




The private message icon is the envelope icon just above the search box.


----------



## skc

Joe,

The search function seems to require the user to put in * as the wildcard for partial search strings.

For example, if I type Telst it won't find any Telstra news. It would only work if I type Telst*.

Is this deliberate or can (should) it be changed?


----------



## pixel

skc said:


> Is this deliberate or can (should) it be changed?



It is a widely-used standard for text searches.
? for any single character, * for multi-character strings.
Try it in a Google Search: poli* suggests all kinds of police stuff, also polio. But poli?y begins with policy etc.


----------



## PZ99

Reminds me of the old DOS commands. 
I just searched for del*.* and the second result was "*The World is on the brink!*" LOL


----------



## pixel

PZ99 said:


> Reminds me of the old DOS commands.
> I just searched for del*.* and the second result was "*The World is on the brink!*" LOL



(shhh! You're showing your age!)


----------



## Joe Blow

skc said:


> Joe,
> 
> The search function seems to require the user to put in * as the wildcard for partial search strings.
> 
> For example, if I type Telst it won't find any Telstra news. It would only work if I type Telst*.
> 
> Is this deliberate or can (should) it be changed?




A few weeks ago I moved from the regular forum search to a version of Elasticsearch as it is widely regarded as a far better solution for larger databases. However, I haven't actually done much other than get it running as I haven't had the time to explore it in any depth.

The wildcard search is deliberate as Elasticsearch is a full-text search engine. I'm not sure it can be changed but I'll look into Elasticsearch in more detail this weekend.


----------



## Wysiwyg

Got a search function observation not a complaint. I searched with keyword 'property' and thought the most frequented posts or most recent posts in property would be on the first page. It seems the order is not based on chronology or frequency. There could be a way to search with the new system.


----------



## skc

pixel said:


> It is a widely-used standard for text searches.
> ? for any single character, * for multi-character strings.
> Try it in a Google Search: poli* suggests all kinds of police stuff, also polio. But poli?y begins with policy etc.




Ha I didn't know about the ? operator. You learn something new everyday.



PZ99 said:


> Reminds me of the old DOS commands.
> I just searched for del*.* and the second result was "*The World is on the brink!*" LOL




Good old DOS... c:\dir/w



Joe Blow said:


> A few weeks ago I moved from the regular forum search to a version of Elasticsearch as it is widely regarded as a far better solution for larger databases. However, I haven't actually done much other than get it running as I haven't had the time to explore it in any depth.
> 
> The wildcard search is deliberate as Elasticsearch is a full-text search engine. I'm not sure it can be changed but I'll look into Elasticsearch in more detail this weekend.




Thanks. It's not a big deal... just that I was sure partial string search worked before - so now it makes sense as there was a change. Perhaps a simple note to remind the pre-DOS generation how this search engine operates would more than suffice.


----------



## Joe Blow

Wysiwyg said:


> Got a search function observation not a complaint. I searched with keyword 'property' and thought the most frequented posts or most recent posts in property would be on the first page. It seems the order is not based on chronology or frequency. There could be a way to search with the new system.



The Default Search Order can either be set to "Most Recent" or "Relevance". I initially tried "Most Recent" but the search results didn't seem as relevant as those generated when it was set to "Relevance" as many of the most commonly searched for threads (i.e. those with high post counts but started years ago) didn't seem to be located near the top of the search results.

You can read more about the theory behind Elasticsearch relevance scoring here: https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/guide/current/scoring-theory.html


----------



## Joe Blow

skc said:


> Thanks. It's not a big deal... just that I was sure partial string search worked before - so now it makes sense as there was a change. Perhaps a simple note to remind the pre-DOS generation how this search engine operates would more than suffice.




I've tried to find a guide online but everything I've found so far seems to be aimed at those installing the Elasticsearch software rather than those doing the searching. I will keep digging and see what I can find.


----------



## Wysiwyg

Joe Blow said:


> The Default Search Order can either be set to "Most Recent" or "Relevance".



Okay, the drop down menu v beside More I thought not to look at. Thank you.


----------



## Parse

Parse said:


> This isn't important, but I was wondering if it would be possible to have different styles available for the forum. I notice other XenForo sites sometimes have this. All I prefer is a "wider" page, the default page size of the forum is obviously made to suit mobile devices. I was just wondering if a full width page style would be available for those of us viewing from PC's, laptops etc. These styles (if available) are usually selectable from one's account preferences.




I don't think Joe has advertised this yet but he did add a "wider" style to the site. If anyone's interested it's located down the bottom left of the page where you can select Aussie Stock Forums - Fixed or Aussie Stock Forums - Fluid.

If you are like me and like seeing the site take up all the browser window, then give it a try.


----------



## tech/a

Must say I love the new format Joe.


----------



## Trembling Hand

Has this got a glitch?


----------



## pixel

would you by any chance have deselected general topics?
I haven't found out (nor been looking too hard) how to do that. I get my full load of all the wailers...


----------



## Trembling Hand

pixel said:


> would you by any chance have deselected general topics?
> I haven't found out (nor been looking too hard) how to do that. I get my full load of all the wailers...



yeah I have. But that kinda sucks. I've been having trouble finding a page to land on without having to be confronted with the worst of ASF.... and there is more and more each day. 

There seems to be no page I can find that has a decent list of new market posts.


----------



## pixel

Trembling Hand said:


> There seems to be no page I can find that has a decent list of new market posts.



Same here.
I've tried to revive some stock-specific topics, but the result was mostly silence. And I'm not senile enough to enjoy talking to myself all the time. (Or maybe I'm so senile to find only those stocks interesting that everybody else doesn't.)
I don't know how other places handle it; sure, every list of "Latest Posts" has a few gaps in the Codes column, but the ratio of stock-related posts to political/social/opinion ones is better than 2 to 1; here it's the other way around. 
Mind though, quantity doesn't give an accurate measure. There's a gulf between, say, Howard's hints or Daffy's alerts, and the one-line ramps that fill pages elsewhere. And that's why I put up with "the usual suspects", even though, at times, I get drawn into an argument and just have to give a troll some shtick...


----------



## galumay

Trembling Hand said:


> Has this got a glitch?




In what way, TH? Like me you have the general topics deselected. It is disappointing there isnt more detailed discussion on specific companies and less of the 'other stuff'. I dont know of any way to narrow it down more without missing out on some of the more interesting threads that are not company specific.

What would be good would be if you could set up "Recent Posts" to only see new posts in the "ASX Stock Chat" forum.


----------



## Joe Blow

Hi guys, I've been a bit busy this weekend and have only just caught up with this thread. I am aware of the shortcomings of the current situation with the Recent Posts function and I am making plans to improve it. I have been giving it a lot of thought over the last couple of months and think that ideally each ASF member should be able to decide which forum's posts show up in Recent Posts, and I think the best way to achieve this is for people to be able to individually select and deselect forums that are included in the Recent Posts list. However, I have not yet found a reliable coder for this new software so it may take a little while to realise this kind of functionality. Please let me know if you have any other ideas or suggestions. I appreciate and value all feedback so don't be shy in letting me know what you would like to see.

With regard to the stock specific threads, please keep posting. I realise that sometimes it appears that the General Chat forum is too dominant, but that is all the more reason why we need more posts in stock threads. Even if there is no reply to specific posts, they are being read and they do add value so please keep it up. Every post helps.


----------



## Joe Blow

The new forum software and design has now been in place for six months, so hopefully everyone has had a good chance to adapt to both.

Now that we are six months down the track, I'm interested in finding out if anyone has any feedback about things they like, dislike, would like to see changed, added, or removed? I'm interested in how we can make ASF a better and more useful place to visit. So if you have any feedback or suggestions to offer, please feel free to do so.

Thanks!


----------



## PZ99

I think it's much easier to use than the previous design 

One thing I noticed is when viewing the boards as a guest I have to scroll through the last page to view the latest post. I'm not able to click on the latest post link (as pictured). No biggie though


----------



## Trembling Hand

How the hell do I stop the general chat crap showing up in the front page of ASF?

I have the sub-forum on ignore but it still comes up. Why?


----------



## nulla nulla

Any chance the "Forums" Tab links could be added to the Home page?

ie "Search Forums", Watched Forums", Watched Threads" & "Recent Posts"


----------



## Joe Blow

Trembling Hand said:


> How the hell do I stop the general chat crap showing up in the front page of ASF?
> 
> I have the sub-forum on ignore but it still comes up. Why?




Unfortunately, much of ASF's functionality is from third party add-ons, some of which do not necessarily respect the functionality that other third-party add-ons provide. The "Recent Posts" widget is one of the problem areas in that it does not seem to respect ignored forums. I agree that this needs to be resolved. I will check with the coder I have been using and see if he can fix this issue once and for all.



nulla nulla said:


> Any chance the "Forums" Tab links could be added to the Home page?
> 
> ie "Search Forums", Watched Forums", Watched Threads" & "Recent Posts




I will check with the designer this week and see if he can do this.


----------



## Joe Blow

nulla nulla said:


> Any chance the "Forums" Tab links could be added to the Home page?
> 
> ie "Search Forums", Watched Forums", Watched Threads" & "Recent Posts"




This has now been implemented. TH's request is going to take a little longer to sort out unfortunately. It's a much more complex coding task.


----------



## nulla nulla

Thanks Joe, makes it easier and faster to get around.


----------



## Joe Blow

Parse said:


> I don't think Joe has advertised this yet but he did add a "wider" style to the site. If anyone's interested it's located down the bottom left of the page where you can select Aussie Stock Forums - Fixed or Aussie Stock Forums - Fluid.
> 
> If you are like me and like seeing the site take up all the browser window, then give it a try.




Just a quick note for those using the "Fluid" or "wider" style. There has been an update to this style and the old version has now been deactivated, so you will need to re-select it  again. You can find the style selector down towards the bottom left of the page where it says "Aussie Stock Forums - Fixed".

Please let me know if you require any further assistance.


----------



## dutchie

Hi Joe
I would like my post(s) to appear in "new posts" straight after I post it.


----------



## Joe Blow

dutchie said:


> Hi Joe
> I would like my post(s) to appear in "new posts" straight after I post it.




I'm not sure which way to go on this issue but ultimately the decision is one for ASF members to make. This is the difference between *New Posts* and *Recent Posts*.

*New Posts* contains a list of threads that have unread posts in them. This list will be different for everyone as everyone reads different threads, so it is a more customised list. Once a thread that you have read has a new post in it, it will re-appear in the *New Posts* list of threads. Because it is assumed that you have read the first post of any thread that you have created, it will not appear in this list until someone else has posted in it.

*Recent Posts* contains a list of all recent threads. Threads that contain unread posts will be in bold typeface and threads that contain no unread posts will be in regular typeface. There is a "View All Recent Posts" link at the bottom of the *Recent Posts* sidebar to the right of the forum list.




So it is currently easy to access both lists. However, I am happy to alter the current system if people would like it configured differently. Those who feel strongly about it, please express your preference in this thread. I'm interested in any feedback on this issue and am happy to answer any questions.


----------



## PZ99

Hi Joe. My personal preference is to swap the buttons so that "Recent Posts" is in the green box and vice versa


----------



## Trembling Hand

PZ99 said:


> Hi Joe. My personal preference is to swap the buttons so that "Recent Posts" is in the green box and vice versa



Yeah I'm a +1 on that.


----------



## IrishDigger

When I log in I automatically click on New Posts and continue browsing from there; what is the difference between New Posts and Recent Posts?


----------



## noirua

There should be a tab marked 'New Competition' and also 'Current Competition'.  The 'New Competition' tab should flash slowly when members can enter for the following month.  At present the 'Competition' tab always goes to the current competition.  Probably the reason there are not 100 entrants each month.


----------



## Joe Blow

IrishDigger said:


> When I log in I automatically click on New Posts and continue browsing from there; what is the difference between New Posts and Recent Posts?




You can read about the difference between *New Posts* and *Recent Posts* here: https://www.aussiestockforums.com/threads/asf-website-redesign.30931/page-6#post-955681


----------



## McLovin

Trembling Hand said:


> Yeah I'm a +1 on that.




+2. If that removes the general chat threads from the front page when I logon.


----------



## Joe Blow

Trembling Hand said:


> How the hell do I stop the general chat crap showing up in the front page of ASF?
> 
> I have the sub-forum on ignore but it still comes up. Why?




Just an update. This is currently in development and the functionality should be implemented next week sometime if all goes to plan.


----------



## Joe Blow

Another quick update. This is now 50% complete. The reason it's not 100% complete is because the coder who is doing it had scheduling issues and completion will be delayed by a few days.

If you ignore forums or threads those ignored threads (including all threads from ignored forums) will now not display in the Recent Posts widget in the forum sidebar. However for the moment they are still showing up in the Recent Posts widget on the home page. In a couple of days the Recent Posts widget on the front page should also be working.

Thank you for your patience.


----------



## galumay

good work Joe!


----------



## Joe Blow

galumay said:


> good work Joe!



Thanks galumay.

I'd really appreciate it if those who would like to ignore forums or threads could give the new functionality a good test to make sure it is working correctly. It is possible that there may be bugs that both the coder and mys are unaware of. If someone does find any issues, please report them to me in this thread.


----------



## PZ99

Would it be easier for the coding to just have the widgets in question ignore General Chat by default? People who want to post in General Chat will find it easily enough when they hit the "New Posts" button.


----------



## Joe Blow

PZ99 said:


> Would it be easier for the coding to just have the widgets in question ignore General Chat by default? People who want to post in General Chat will find it easily enough when they hit the "New Posts" button.




I've gone too far down this path to turn back now, so we'll see how the new system works out when it is complete. Other options can always be explored at a later date if the new system proves to be inadequate or flawed in some way.


----------



## PZ99

Fair enough. Just as a quick test I have Gen chat on ignore and it shows on the Recent Posts + Trending Topics widgets on the home page.


----------



## Joe Blow

PZ99 said:


> Fair enough. Just as a quick test I have Gen chat on ignore and it shows on the Recent Posts + Trending Topics widgets on the home page.



Trending Topics will be unchanged but the Recent Posts widget on the home page should be working soon. Hopefully, threads from the General Chat forum will no longer be showing up in the Recent Posts widget in the forum sidebar for you. It's difficult to get things working according to everyone's preferences (as good as it is I wish the forum software would make this a little easier) but I'm doing my best.


----------



## Joe Blow

Joe Blow said:


> the home page should be working soon.




It looks like I spoke too soon. I am glad I used the word "should" though. This one relatively small job has become a giant headache with ongoing issues and delays.

I just wanted to let everyone know that it hasn't been forgotten, is being worked on and should be finished soon. I will provide an update once all the niggling issues have finally been ironed out.

Thank you for your patience.


----------



## Joe Blow

Update: This is finally functional. Those ignoring threads or entire forums should now not see any of those threads in the Recent Posts widgets on the home page or in the forum sidebar. If anyone comes across any issues with this functionality please let me know in this thread.


----------



## Cam019

Great work Joe. Thanks!


----------



## PZ99

One possible side effect from this change is the Mod Squad random chit chat thread is showing up in the "recent posts" widgeee on the home page  



Spoiler



_The good news is the YES voters can't actually read i_t


----------



## Joe Blow

PZ99 said:


> One possible side effect from this change is the Mod Squad random chit chat thread is showing up in the "recent posts" widgeee on the home page
> 
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> _The good news is the YES voters can't actually read i_t




Ooooops! Thanks for letting me know.

Will see what I can do about that.


----------



## Modest

@Joe Blow What's up with the right hand side column? All the text is centred - it's triggering my OCD


----------



## Joe Blow

Modest said:


> @Joe Blow What's up with the right hand side column? All the text is centred - it's triggering my OCD




Yesterday afternoon I was making some forum template modifications and I accidentally messed up somehow, resulting in the text of the sidebar widgets being centred. Unfortunately I can't figure out what it is that I did to cause this to happen, so now I'm waiting for the freelance designer I use to fix it for me. Unfortunately he resides overseas so he's in a vastly different time zone. I was hoping I'd wake up this morning and it would be fixed, but sadly that did not occur. Rest assured that as soon as it can be fixed, it will be fixed. I prefer it the usual way as well.


----------



## Joe Blow

Modest said:


> @Joe Blow What's up with the right hand side column? All the text is centred - it's triggering my OCD



Everything is back to normal now.


----------



## pixel

Since Firefox 59.0, code-named "Quantum", the Competition Leaderboard is only showing the first place.
It's not ASF's fault, I might add. I have found cases where other sites won't show anything; on one or two occasions, attempts to open a new page have even sent Windows into what looked like endless loops trying to find something on my HDD that didn't seem to exist.
Has anybody else had a similar experience? Maybe even found a solution?


----------



## Joe Blow

pixel said:


> Since Firefox 59.0, code-named "Quantum", the Competition Leaderboard is only showing the first place.
> It's not ASF's fault, I might add. I have found cases where other sites won't show anything; on one or two occasions, attempts to open a new page have even sent Windows into what looked like endless loops trying to find something on my HDD that didn't seem to exist.
> Has anybody else had a similar experience? Maybe even found a solution?



Hi Pixel, I'm using Firefox 59.0 and I'm seeing the complete stock tipping competition leaderboard. Do you have an alternative device such as a laptop you can double check this issue with? 

Anyone else experiencing the same issue as Pixel?


----------



## pixel

Joe Blow said:


> Hi Pixel, I'm using Firefox 59.0 and I'm seeing the complete stock tipping competition leaderboard. Do you have an alternative device such as a laptop you can double check this issue with?
> 
> Anyone else experiencing the same issue as Pixel?



Thanks, Joe, for the quick reply.
It's a pity: no, I no longer have a second computer. My only backup is an Android.

What I do notice though: Firefox is one of only a few apps using GPU0 - 3D
In some cases, I have found that swiping the mouse cursor over blank spaces will show some of the missing graphic and text. So, that is possibly a track worth investigating.



Weird ...


----------



## Cam019

No problems here, although I am using Google Chrome. What is a shock though is seeing myself in 3rd (now 4th place). Who would have thought I could pick a stock with a positive monthly return!  (I've probably spoken too soon)


----------



## pixel

Now, mine is also back to normal. Weird...






I'll probably have to restore Windoze back to the before the change.


----------



## pixel

At last!
I found a remedy, albeit not the cause:
If a page fails to display text, Ctrl + or Ctrl - will fix the problem. It seems that the new Firefox has only a limited set of font sizes built-in. Even while typing this, I can make the text disappear by attempting to make it smaller (Ctrl -) or larger (Ctrl +).
*Problem solvered *


----------



## Joe Blow

PZ99 said:


> Hi Joe. My personal preference is to swap the buttons so that "Recent Posts" is in the green box and vice versa



I've recently added some additional functionality so that this now hopefully works for everyone. You may have noticed that there are tabs now when you click on "New Posts" so you can access a variety of new content. These all default to the "New" rather than "Recent" view where only threads with posts in them that you haven't read are listed. However, over on the right just above where it says "Last Post" you will notice a "Recent Posts and Threads" link that when clicked will switch to the "Recent" view where all threads, irrespective of whether you have read them or not, are displayed. To switch back to "New" just click on the tab again.

All the four tabs have this link over on the right so you can easily switch between "New" and "Recent" views of each content type.

Hope that makes things easier. If you have any questions, just let me know.


----------



## PZ99

Thanks Joe...

There's my button right there


----------



## Zaxon

@Joe Blow  I've noticed that the 
	

		
			
		

		
	



	

		
			
		

		
	
 is only available right at the end of the page. Is it possible to add that link also to the top?  If you decide on a particular occasion, that you're going to read all messages, there's a lot of page up / page downs to toggle this.


----------



## Joe Blow

Zaxon said:


> @Joe Blow  I've noticed that the
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 94783
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> is only available right at the end of the page. Is it possible to add that link also to the top?  If you decide on a particular occasion, that you're going to read all messages, there's a lot of page up / page downs to toggle this.




This isn't a feature of the software by default. However it may be possible to achieve something with some custom coding. I'll look into it this week.


----------



## Zaxon

@Joe Blow I thought you were suppressing general chat from the main page?  I'm not concerned about it personally, but I thought you'd taken to the decision to suppress non finance posts from the home page.


----------



## Joe Blow

Zaxon said:


> @Joe Blow I thought you were suppressing general chat from the main page?  I'm not concerned about it personally, but I thought you'd taken to the decision to suppress non finance posts from the home page.




Unfortunately I'm unable to exclude specific forums from that particular widget, so it will continue to display General Chat threads. General Chat is excluded from most other places. 

Once I can afford it I'll be upgrading to the new version of this forum software, so the front page will be changing. Not sure exactly when this will be happening but it shouldn't be too far away.


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## qldfrog

Joe, i am overall very happy with the site as is, except for the fact that my inputs are terribly mangled when i i e my phone..see here the i i e where i typed use.
This does not happen from the laptop nor if using the phone in any other messenger wechat whatever apps
Seems to be a combinaison of auto correct, word suggestion and edition window.it is quasi impossible for me to correct existing text for example
If i try to move the cursor into previous entry text, it usually appears but the delete removes in another location and any new entry is mangled.it is abysmal and the result....
My first language is not english but believe me, this is not my standard
I use chrome on Android phone, Huawei..probably the Chinese Government spying on my entries...
I seem to be the only one affected so i i carry on..see just here...


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## Joe Blow

qldfrog said:


> Joe, i am overall very happy with the site as is, except for the fact that my inputs are terribly mangled when i i e my phone..see here the i i e where i typed use.




I struggle with posting from a mobile device as well frog. In fact, I rarely do it. I almost always post from a Desktop PC or a laptop. I just find a full keyboard easier to use. Using the tiny keyboard on a mobile device gives me too many fat finger moments and is endlessly frustrating.


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## bigdog

Joe what are your thoughts on poster declaring interest in posting for company!


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## Joe Blow

bigdog said:


> Joe what are your thoughts on poster declaring interest in posting for company!
> 
> View attachment 98585




Anyone who has an interest in a company they post about, should disclose that fact. All they need to do is post "I hold" in one of their posts. If that interest ceases then they should indicate that they have sold or no longer hold.

The issue I have with a feature like the one you have posted a screenshot of is that people can deliberately not tell the truth. Who will ever check if they have lied? Nobody. Silence is less misleading than a lie.

Those reading posts in stock threads should assume that those posting have an interest in the company being discussed. They may not, but until they disclose that they do not hold an interest then it should be assumed that they do.


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## SirRumpole

Joe Blow said:


> I struggle with posting from a mobile device as well frog. In fact, I rarely do it. I almost always post from a Desktop PC or a laptop. I just find a full keyboard easier to use. Using the tiny keyboard on a mobile device gives me too many fat finger moments and is endlessly frustrating.




My tablet has voice recognition which I've found to be quite accurate.


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## rnr

Joe Blow said:


> Anyone who has an interest in a company they post about, should disclose that fact. All they need to do is post "I hold" in one of their posts. If that interest ceases then they should indicate that they have sold or no longer hold.
> 
> The issue I have with a feature like the one you have posted a screenshot of is that people can deliberately not tell the truth. Who will ever check if they have lied? Nobody. Silence is less misleading than a lie.
> 
> *Those reading posts in stock threads should assume that those posting have an interest in the company being discussed. They may not, but until they disclose that they do not hold an interest then it should be assumed that they do.*




That's interesting that you say that Joe as *I do not hold* any shares (either personally or through related entities) where I have posted a chart in an ASX equity thread.
These charts come to my attention through the development of EOD or EOW database scans and as such I post them up for the benefit of the Forum members in an endeavor to provoke some discussion on the equity concerned.

Cheers,
Rob


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## qldfrog

Problem is not the actual typing for me, i spend my life typing in wechat with my chinese startup
 it is the auto replacement mixed with i i thi a wrong signal as per where the entry character is..see just now i definitively did not type" i space i spacethi", i typed " i think"

Anyway does not matter, i changed phone keyboard and same behaviour..very weird


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## Joe Blow

rnr said:


> That's interesting that you say that Joe as *I do not hold* any shares (either personally or through related entities) where I have posted a chart in an ASX equity thread.
> These charts come to my attention through the development of EOD or EOW database scans and as such I post them up for the benefit of the Forum members in an endeavor to provoke some discussion on the equity concerned.




Hi Rob, I think that a large percentage of people who post on stocks are like you and do not have an interest but post for the purpose of engaging in discussion. This is something that I wish to encourage.

Bigdog brought up the issue of a feature where those posting on stocks are compelled to declare that they either have an interest or do not have an interest in the stock they are posting about. My feeling is that in circumstances where someone has not specifically stated that they do not have an interest, it should be assumed that they do. I assume that the purpose of such a feature is to help people identify any agendas others may have in posting about a stock. In the absence of a declaration that someone does not have an interest, I think it's probably safer to assume that they do. 

I don't think it really matters much either way to be honest and I don't think there is much utility in such a feature as there is no way to determine if people are being honest about their positions.


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## barney

Joe Blow said:


> Once I can afford it I'll be upgrading to the new version of this forum software, so the front page will be changing. Not sure exactly when this will be happening but it shouldn't be too far away.




With that thought in mind Joe ….. Please put my $50 from last months comp towards something for the site if it helps .. Cheers


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## Joe Blow

barney said:


> With that thought in mind Joe ….. Please put my $50 from last months comp towards something for the site if it helps .. Cheers




Thanks barney. Your support is sincerely appreciated.


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## barney

Joe Blow said:


> Thanks barney. Your support is sincerely appreciated.




Cheers M8.  Its not much but hopefully every little bit helps ….. 

Plus you deserve it for putting up with all us boofheads


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## bigdog

Joe Blow said:


> Bigdog brought up the issue of a feature where those posting on stocks are compelled to declare that they either have an interest or do not




Suggest "I Hold" and Do not Hold" buttons and not mandatory or nor compelled to declare

I post lots of important news items related to many companies which I hold and do not hold.  I sometimes make my hold declaration!


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## Chronos-Plutus

Joe Blow said:


> Hi Rob, I think that a large percentage of people who post on stocks are like you and do not have an interest but post for the purpose of engaging in discussion. This is something that I wish to encourage.
> 
> Bigdog brought up the issue of a feature where those posting on stocks are compelled to declare that they either have an interest or do not have an interest in the stock they are posting about. My feeling is that in circumstances where someone has not specifically stated that they do not have an interest, it should be assumed that they do. I assume that the purpose of such a feature is to help people identify any agendas others may have in posting about a stock. In the absence of a declaration that someone does not have an interest, I think it's probably safer to assume that they do.
> 
> I don't think it really matters much either way to be honest and I don't think there is much utility in such a feature as there is no way to determine if people are being honest about their positions.




Hi Joe,

Do you think a data-link to the ASX website would be good to get market prices and information?

Also, dedicated pages for each stock where the threads can be found?

Hope it helps.

Chronos-Plutus


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## Joe Blow

Chronos-Plutus said:


> Hi Joe,
> 
> Do you think a data-link to the ASX website would be good to get market prices and information?




ASX data is unfortunately a little too costly for a community our size. International exchange data, no problem. Same with forex data, commodity price data etc. However, ASX data is subject to very expensive licensing fees courtesy of the ASX. Well out of our budget I'm afraid.



Chronos-Plutus said:


> Also, dedicated pages for each stock where the threads can be found?




Not quite sure what you're seeing in your head here, but if you could elaborate a little further I'd appreciate it. I'm actually working on a forum software upgrade at the moment, so if anyone wants to throw some ideas at me about how things would be better organised here, now is the time to do it.

I'm happy to make any design changes that will make ASF more useful to its users. Just let me know what ideas you have.


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## Chronos-Plutus

Joe Blow said:


> ASX data is unfortunately a little too costly for a community our size. International exchange data, no problem. Same with forex data, commodity price data etc. However, ASX data is subject to very expensive licensing fees courtesy of the ASX. Well out of our budget I'm afraid.
> 
> 
> 
> Not quite sure what you're seeing in your head here, but if you could elaborate a little further I'd appreciate it. I'm actually working on a forum software upgrade at the moment, so if anyone wants to throw some ideas at me about how things would be better organised here, now is the time to do it.
> 
> I'm happy to make any design changes that will make ASF more useful to its users. Just let me know what ideas you have.





Thanks for the quick response. OK, I wasn't aware of the ASX data being so costly. Maybe a broker like Commsec, Bell Direct might let you get access to some market data in exchange for advertising their services?

As for the stock pages; I was thinking like a search list A-Z where you select the stock and click on it. Then you're directed to a specific stock with information of the company and where the discussion threads and posts are on that particular stock. That would be under a tab called equities/stock.

Then you can have a tab for commodities where you search a list A-Z where you select the commodity and click on it. Then you're directed to a specific commodity with information and where the discussion threads and posts are on that particular commodity.


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## Dona Ferentes

I think you're doing a great job.

Doing stuff on the phone, works OK if no editing needed. But if it is,  watch out...best to go to the computer/ laptop to make changes.

Also, one really minor thing: on the smart phone, when moving between pages, an ad can crop up. Hit the X to delete, and often I'm logged out. It sits directly underneath. Leads and lags of downloads, I suppose. Not big issue, just something that happens when bandwidth isn't fast !!

at least on the site there aren't any of these errors that creep in : *"*_in ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œsafe modeÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â operations_*"  *where dashes (-) and or _*"*companyÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s solution*"*_ for apostrophes (') go rogue.

Keep up the good work. I haven't blocked adverts, a minor inconvenience (and a good _BS reset awareness _exercise, most of the time)


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## Joe Blow

Chronos-Plutus said:


> Thanks for the quick response. OK, I wasn't aware of the ASX data being so costly. Maybe a broker like Commsec, Bell Direct might let you get access to some market data in exchange for advertising their services?




I'm actually in discussions with a broker at the moment. I won't mention their name just yet as nothing has been finalised but data has been one of the topics discussed. If there are any updates I'll let you know.



Chronos-Plutus said:


> As for the stock pages; I was thinking like a search list A-Z where you select the stock and click on it. Then you're directed to a specific stock with information of the company and where the discussion threads and posts are on that particular stock. That would be under a tab called equities/stock.
> 
> Then you can have a tab for commodities where you search a list A-Z where you select the commodity and click on it. Then you're directed to a specific commodity with information and where the discussion threads and posts are on that particular commodity.




I think I understand what you mean. Is there another website that does this well? Would be interested in seeing a live example of what you have in mind.

The way threads are organised, especially stock threads, is one of those topics where its hard to get a handle on what layout or user interface would work best for everyone, or at least the majority.

I guess a good place to start is to ask what is difficult about the way things are organised at the moment? What are the biggest pain points for those trying to find thread on specific companies or commodities or forex pairs? Or anything really?

What are the things that irritate you the most about the current setup? What would make your life easier? Those question is addressed to anyone with an opinion on the topic. If you do have an opinion now is actually a good time to let me know.


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## Joe Blow

Dona Ferentes said:


> I think you're doing a great job.
> 
> Doing stuff on the phone, works OK if no editing needed. But if it is,  watch out...best to go to the computer/ laptop to make changes.
> 
> Also, one really minor thing: on the smart phone, when moving between pages, an ad can crop up. Hit the X to delete, and often I'm logged out. It sits directly underneath. Leads and lags of downloads, I suppose. Not big issue, just something that happens when bandwidth isn't fast !!




One of the big focuses of the upcoming software upgrade is to really improve things for phones and tablets. The newer version of this software does things much better.

I promise that the mobile experience at ASF will be much better very soon.



Dona Ferentes said:


> Keep up the good work. I haven't blocked adverts, a minor inconvenience (and a good _BS reset awareness _exercise, most of the time)




Thanks. The adverts make upgrading stuff possible. Without them, there would be no hope of anything changing, or improving. There would be no stock tipping competition and... well, there would be no website at all actually.


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## Dona Ferentes

promise ?


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## Joe Blow

Dona Ferentes said:


> promise ?




About an improved mobile experience? Yeah, I promise.


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## Dona Ferentes

then I should get an improved mobile. 

(Naw, Nokia 6 works fine)


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## Joe Blow

Dona Ferentes said:


> then I should get an improved mobile.
> 
> (Naw, Nokia 6 works fine)




Not saying it's going to be perfect. But it will be better. Obviously the bigger the screen the better the experience will be. So choice of device will definitely be a factor.


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## Chronos-Plutus

Joe Blow said:


> ASX data is unfortunately a little too costly for a community our size. International exchange data, no problem. Same with forex data, commodity price data etc. However, ASX data is subject to very expensive licensing fees courtesy of the ASX. Well out of our budget I'm afraid.
> 
> 
> 
> Not quite sure what you're seeing in your head here, but if you could elaborate a little further I'd appreciate it. I'm actually working on a forum software upgrade at the moment, so if anyone wants to throw some ideas at me about how things would be better organised here, now is the time to do it.
> 
> I'm happy to make any design changes that will make ASF more useful to its users. Just let me know what ideas you have.




The company information is free because you can get it from their shareholder reports and financial sta


Joe Blow said:


> I'm actually in discussions with a broker at the moment. I won't mention their name just yet as nothing has been finalised but data has been one of the topics discussed. If there are any updates I'll let you know.
> 
> 
> 
> I think I understand what you mean. Is there another website that does this well? Would be interested in seeing a live example of what you have in mind.
> 
> The way threads are organised, especially stock threads, is one of those topics where its hard to get a handle on what layout or user interface would work best for everyone, or at least the majority.
> 
> I guess a good place to start is to ask what is difficult about the way things are organised at the moment? What are the biggest pain points for those trying to find thread on specific companies or commodities or forex pairs? Or anything really?
> 
> What are the things that irritate you the most about the current setup? What would make your life easier? Those question is addressed to anyone with an opinion on the topic. If you do have an opinion now is actually a good time to let me know.




So there isn't really a good example but what I have in my mind is like the company search function on the ASX or a broker. The stock comes up with just the financial basics though, like a chart, market price, company announcements and past financial metrics.

So you will have something like this on one side




https://www.asx.com.au/asx/share-price-research/company/ASX

Then you will have the dedicated stock threads, posts and discussions on the other side


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## Chronos-Plutus

I think the past financial metrics from the financial statements are important to have on the page somewhere


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## Joe Blow

Chronos-Plutus said:


> I think the past financial metrics from the financial statements are important to have on the page somewhere




OK, thanks for the feedback. I will do what I can to include some basic financial information on each thread about an ASX listed company.


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## Chronos-Plutus

Joe Blow said:


> OK, thanks for the feedback. I will do what I can to include some basic financial information on each thread about an ASX listed company.



Thanks Joe,

I think it will help with the discussions as we will have visibility on market price and some basic stock financial metrics over the last few years maybe.


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## Chronos-Plutus

Joe Blow said:


> OK, thanks for the feedback. I will do what I can to include some basic financial information on each thread about an ASX listed company.



Hi Joe,

ADVFN forum in the UK is pretty big, maybe they can help you guys to become Australia's top stock forum, enter into some sort of arrangement or loose alliance with them perhaps: https://uk.advfn.com/cmn/fbb/threads.php3

Hope it helps mate.


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## Chronos-Plutus

Joe Blow said:


> OK, thanks for the feedback. I will do what I can to include some basic financial information on each thread about an ASX listed company.




Also some sort of arrangement or loose alliance with https://stockaholics.net/ in the USA.

ASF will have a 3 way alliance with the USA and UK stock forums. Share traders and investors can gain entry to opening brokering accounts, move between the dedicated country based stock forums etc etc

Big vision, big idea.


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## Joe Blow

Chronos-Plutus said:


> Hi Joe,
> 
> ADVFN forum in the UK is pretty big, maybe they can help you guys to become Australia's top stock forum, enter into some sort of arrangement or loose alliance with them perhaps: https://uk.advfn.com/cmn/fbb/threads.php3
> 
> Hope it helps mate.






Chronos-Plutus said:


> Also some sort of arrangement or loose alliance with https://stockaholics.net/ in the USA.
> 
> ASF will have a 3 way alliance with the USA and UK stock forums. Share traders and investors can gain entry to opening brokering accounts, move between the dedicated country based stock forums etc etc
> 
> Big vision, big idea.




Cheers. Thanks for the ideas.


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## Chronos-Plutus

Joe Blow said:


> Cheers. Thanks for the ideas.




No problems, happy to help the forum if I can.


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