New board issues

[Gator & H (GA)]

The insulin support groups are not visible on the new board? If so I really think they should be. Any comments here about this?

Also the font sizes are WAY WAY WAY to small. I'm not even 35 and have a hard time reading the small fonts. I've had to turn up the font size in my browser many sizes. Also I'm not a fan of the font itself. Why do we have to have something less readable than Arial?

And what's up with all the hyperactive and distracting smilies? They are cute yes but darn distracting!

Also I'm still not sold on the description of the PZI group. My feeling is that it should list all the PZI's that are in:
http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/PZI#ProZinc

Anyway, I really think PZI should be viewable to everyone. Anyone else have any thoughts?

 

[Joanna & Bix (GA)]

Hey Gator, nice to see you around!!!

There are a couple font possibilities - there are some tips over on Tech, but the short version is that you can change the board style to the other one (somewhere in User Control Panel). Some like it better, and the font I think is a bit easier to read. And/or, if you are using the default style, there is a hard to see "A" surrounded by up & down carats above your username in the top right (below the darker blue banner). You can use that to increase the font size for the board, without having to use the browser control. (I love it with the small font, so I don't know what looks best, but others have had the same problem).

Smilies I think are a work in progress - last night from some Tech posts it looked like Rebecca was going to see if she can move the bigger ones to the "View more smilies" page.

Not sure about the viewable thing - do you mean for people who are not registered & logged in? I think they can only see a couple forums. I think everyone who is logged in can see everything...?

For the description, you might want to message Rebecca. I agree that if some PZIs are specifically listed, they all should be. She has been modifying the forum descriptions along the way, so I would imagine she is open to fine-tuning. There has already been some confusion about what is discontinued, what isn't, etc., which prompted some updates to the description a couple days ago.

 

[Gator & H (GA)]

Not sure about the viewable thing

If one is not logged in, one cannot see the Insulin Support Groups nor the Think Tank I think these should be viewable to all. Any thoughts on this?

A to the description the description of PZI makes it seem like this is the EOL group or something - like PZI is not alive and kicking. An automatic and unneeded discouragement from the start. Is the description really the place to be talking about discontinuations?

Also I notices that in the Member Control panel the Lev and Lan groups are listed under memberships but PZI is not?

I appreciate your input. This will help me write Rebbeca with one good targeted list of things to work on.

Is her user just "Rebbeca"?

Also now it appears one does not get notified when a thread one has posted to is updated? That's a real bummer. I've worked with phpBB before and it had a number of "plugins" available that I can suggest to Rebecca if anyone else has any input.

 

[Sarah and Buzz]

You can change your board style under User Control Panel, then choosing Board Preferences, then My Board Style and changing it to "subsilver2" rather than "prosilver". This makes it look a BIT more like the old board.

If you stay under Board Preferences, and choose "edit posting defaults" on the left side (rather than "edit global settings", which it defaults to), you can then choose "yes" under "notify me upon replies by default" and I believe that will notify you via e-mail when someone replies to a post of yours.

Also, one really nice new feature is that there is a little page icon out to the left of the thread title. If it shows up and you click it, it will take you directly to the first post you haven't read in that thread, rather than you having to scroll through pages of replies to get to the new-to-you ones. It really is quite handy.

 

[Karen & Pearl]

You can change your board style under User Control Panel, then choosing Board Preferences, then My Board Style and changing it to "subsilver2" rather than "prosilver". This makes it look a BIT more like the old board.

If you stay under Board Preferences, and choose "edit posting defaults" on the left side (rather than "edit global settings", which it defaults to), you can then choose "yes" under "notify me upon replies by default" and I believe that will notify you via e-mail when someone replies to a post of yours.

Also, one really nice new feature is that there is a little page icon out to the left of the thread title. If it shows up and you click it, it will take you directly to the first post you haven't read in that thread, rather than you having to scroll through pages of replies to get to the new-to-you ones. It really is quite handy.

And in addition, you can always click on the lick "View Your Posts" up at the top right to see all posts you have been active on and ones with new posts will be right at the top, so you can quickly view where there has been activity.

 

[Gator & H (GA)]

Wow, the change to the other theme helped a lot! It even made the posting preferences obvious to me - for some reason I could not see them with the default theme. So I got that changed. Sill though this goofy font - at least it is a Sans Serif font. And the compose window uses Arial which is a big improvement.

Thanks for the tips.

 

[Karen & Pearl]

Wow, the change to the other theme helped a lot! It even made the posting preferences obvious to me - for some reason I could not see them with the default theme. So I got that changed. Sill though this goofy font - at least it is a Sans Serif font. And the compose window uses Arial which is a big improvement.

Thanks for the tips.

yeah, I find the other skin to be VERY unreadable. Subsilver is way preferrable.

 

[Joanna & Bix (GA)]

If one is not logged in, one cannot see the Insulin Support Groups nor the Think Tank I think these should be viewable to all. Any thoughts on this?

Also I notices that in the Member Control panel the Lev and Lan groups are listed under memberships but PZI is not?

Is her user just "Rebbeca"?

Mmmmm, I kind of like it that if you don't register, you don't get to see everything.

The group memberships thing I think is still a work in progress - it's unclear to me what the groups actually do, and how they will be used. I think there is a thread or two on Tech with people's questions about it. For that, and a lot of stuff, I'd give it a little time and see where things land. I think Rebecca still has a long to-do list, and is experimenting with different options & settings.

She's "webmaster".

 

[Ele & Blackie (GA)]

You guys are so smart! I learned a lot from all of your posts. Thanks!

 

[Gator & H (GA)]

Apparently I have another one to add to the list:
The login timeout. With the old board I was able to stay logged in until I logged out and now it appears there is a auto timeout on the session.

[just putting all my noted in one place so I can collate them later]

My feelings on the insulin groups being public [viewable]:
There is a ton of important info that comes up in the Insulin support groups. When we were first diagnosed and I was in the research stage, I found the PZI group to be very helpful. As well as to go to other groups and see for myself the issues with other insulins. Also the search engines will never be able to get to those groups and the important info in them. No one would even know they existed if they did not become a user. In terms of drawing anyone to this board to begin with I think their view-ability is important. Also I will say that initially I did not become a member because I did not [and sometime still do not] agree with the tone of some posts. I knew what I was doing was different and I did not want to hear 'it' but I still found the info in all the groups to be very valuable. Later, when I had some experience under my belt [and felt confident enough to potentially defend myself if necessary] I became a member. I can't believe I'm the only person like that.

Further, the Health group is so active that when I was in the research stage it was hard to glean the important info from.

I kind of like it that if you don't register, you don't get to see everything.

What are your thoughts on this Joanna?

 

[Joanna & Bix (GA)]

I kind of like it that if you don't register, you don't get to see everything.

What are your thoughts on this Joanna?

For Think Tank, I feel like that is internal discussion among members. So... want to see what people are debating? Join the forum.

For ISGs, I guess it feels more personal to me here. Just don't like the idea of lurkers I guess. There are some types of boards (like a software tech one for instance) where I want to search for answers, never join, and know that I will never post. It's just information gathering, so I'm not going to bother registering. Here, it's more a community thing - you can do some information gathering, but it's not like there are official questions & answers. So again, if you want to see what people here are discussing, get an account and join in.

All of that said, I can't say I've ever thought on this before, so this is just off the top of my head stuff, and gut reactions...

 

[Sarah and Buzz]

I kind of like it that if you don't register, you don't get to see everything.

What are your thoughts on this Joanna?

For Think Tank, I feel like that is internal discussion among members. So... want to see what people are debating? Join the forum.

For ISGs, I guess it feels more personal to me here. Just don't like the idea of lurkers I guess. There are some types of boards (like a software tech one for instance) where I want to search for answers, never join, and know that I will never post. It's just information gathering, so I'm not going to bother registering. Here, it's more a community thing - you can do some information gathering, but it's not like there are official questions & answers. So again, if you want to see what people here are discussing, get an account and join in.

All of that said, I can't say I've ever thought on this before, so this is just off the top of my head stuff, and gut reactions...

I have to say that while I haven't ever thought about it either, my gut reaction is the same as Joanna's. I think that Health should be available to anyone, regardless of whether or not they have registered. I feel (again, this is just my opinion) that Health is more of a general forum, as well as an emergency forum. So for a newbie who might be having a crisis, I believe it would be really beneficial for them to have access without maybe having to register. For Community, and the ISGs, and Think Tank, I consider that to be more "in-depth". Not being able to see the ISGs without registering isn't going to prevent anyone from getting insulin-specific advice. They will post about it in Health, and those with knowledge of that particular insulin can step in. The poster can be told that there are specific groups for specific insulins and if they would like to be part of those discussions, they can register with the board.

I do see your point, Gator, and I am partially swayed by it. I just wanted to post my first-impression thoughts as well.

 

[LynnLee + Mousie]

i don't think all the forums should be visible to those not registered, to be quite honest. there is too much "advanced" stuff that goes on in the isg's and people who are serious about this stuff will register and end up with access to it anyway. those who are not serious enough or maybe not ready to handle it, should not have access to info that, if not understood, could harm their cat.

 

[Karen & Pearl]

To be honest, I was scared to go into any forum but health in the beginning anyway.

 

[Robert and Echo]

OK, Gator, I am waiting for that new description of the PZI group that you want! I just kind of tossed some quick info into those descriptions of forums, just to get them up. I need help! :dizcat

Also, if you want a logo on the PZI forum, let me know and preferably send me a jpg!

Groups will be formed only at request- if you think a group is needed, tell me, and I will get it set up. The main purpose of the groups, IMHO, is so you can email and PM the group as a whole about your interest. For example, Venita asked for a transporter group, by request only, so that she can send out details about cat transports to the group, but keep details private from others not involved.

On the old FDMB, guests could look at some forums. Never the think tank. too controversial, not enough data helpful to a newbie. Most people seem to value privacy over total access to the forums. Unfortunately, I don't see a why in the admin panel to make a list of forums/subforums available to guests but still keep data & posts private.

Now, guests can see the following forums:
Announcements
Health Links
Navigation Links
Feline Health

As a browser, I think being able to see the entire Feline Health forum is enough. If that get more into it than that, they can register. Simple, free, and other users feel more comfortable.

By the way, I updated Board Settings in the Announcements forum so you can see some of the board parameters.

Best,
Rebecca

 

[Gator & H (GA)]

Rebecca,
LOL! Put up or shut up right ;-)

So the old group read:
"Insulin Support Group for PZI including PZI Vet, BCP PZI, Insuvet PZI, etc."

So how about:
"Insulin support group for PZI (Protamine Zinc Insulin) including ProZinc, PZI Vet, BCP, VPOA, Summit, Hypurin, Insuvet, and other compounded PZI."

The title of the group should maybe be just "PZI" or "PZI (Protamine Zinc Insulin)" rather than "PZI/ProZinc"

Just some ideas. Other input is welcome.

I may be able to help you with the Admin panel. I actually administer another phpBB so ...

In my phpBB admin panel under Forum Admin I click on "Management." This shows the list of forums and sub-forums called "Forum Administration." At the far right of each forum/group you can click on "Permissions." This takes you to the Forum Permissions Control center. Set "ALL" to the "View" permission then "Reg" permission to read etc. Sticky and Mod would most likely have "MOD" permission.

At the very least folks should be able to see that these forums even exist. As I mentioned, I found it very important to access these forums when I wan not registered. But it seems option is not with me on this so please maybe at least make the sub-groups visible, but not readable.

Hope this helps.

 

[Joanna & Bix (GA)]

Ooooh ooooh ooooh, we can have a PZI logo?!? flip_cat Yippee!!

Any volunteers? I am graphically-challenged, but I am ever the PZI cheerleader! :RAHCAT

 

[Gator & H (GA)]

PZI logo

Hi Rebecca,

I've attached a very quick logo for the PZI group. This was just done very quickly and I have no attachment to it - it is far from art. So if anyone else has a better one or wants to make a better one, I encourage them to.

Careful what you ask for ;-)

Also, any chance I can convince you to move the PZI group up below to just below Lev & Lan?

 

[Karen & Pearl]

Hey that is a very cool logo.

 

[Joanna & Bix (GA)]

Love it!!! We are almost official now!

 

[Sarah and Buzz]

I like the logo and I like the idea of moving us up to below Lantus and Lev. flip_cat "Movin' on up....."

Now that I look at it, this is a pretty pathetic post, but I just wanted to join in. Joanna is a WONDERFUL cheerleader, and if you ask her nicely, she might even wear her outfit!

 

[Joanna & Bix (GA)]

Joanna is a WONDERFUL cheerleader, and if you ask her nicely, she might even wear her outfit!

Be careful what you wish for! dancing_cat

Ok, that smilie doesn't make a lot of sense, but it's so cute, isn't it????

 

[Joanna & Bix (GA)]

Wow, I LOVE the new feature that you can get directly to PZI from the main board index, and even can tell when there are new posts. Of course now I will never see our brand new icon because I'll probably never look at the subforum page ever again... sadly, laziness trumps cool logos.

but not cool smilies, hehe! party_cat I really need a job *sigh* and fewer late nights goofing off with kitty smilies, LOL. The smilies get more attention right now than my real live kitties, hmmm, what's wrong with that? confused_cat