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Forum Usability & Interface
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2026 7:28 am
by jimboston
WTF is up with the Forum?
The usability / interface has gone downhill drastically while I was away.
It doesn’t refresh in the same way… you have to “force” a refresh using the refresh button on the address bar.
You click post and it doesn’t always go through… a few times I’ve had to “go back” review my post, then try posting again.
The ability to add an avatar image is harder than it was before. It has to conform to some very specific weird standard.
Now I spend 15 minutes typing a reply in one of the threads, and my post is GONE. It appeared to post fine, but then I go back to the thread and it’s nowhere to be found. WTF.
I know I’m not a paying member right now, but I have been in the past and I came back to check the games and forum and see if it might be worth rejoining. I see the adds slow everything down… I accept these pop-ups as the “price” I pay for not being a paid member. That’s fine… but the functionality should not be compromised.
During my two year (estimate) absence one might think the interface and functionality would get better… not worse.
I know the mods are volunteers… but is there a site owner? Is there so little money here that it’s let to just crumble?
Probably disappearing again soon… just wanna see if there’s any answer first… I’d rather not engage at all than spend time typing a message to have it go poof!
Re: Forum Usability & Interface
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2026 8:14 am
by Apatheist
jimboston wrote: Tue Aug 04, 2026 7:28 am
WTF is up with the Forum?
The usability / interface has gone downhill drastically while I was away.
It doesn’t refresh in the same way… you have to “force” a refresh using the refresh button on the address bar.
You click post and it doesn’t always go through… a few times I’ve had to “go back” review my post, then try posting again.
The ability to add an avatar image is harder than it was before. It has to conform to some very specific weird standard.
Now I spend 15 minutes typing a reply in one of the threads, and my post is GONE. It appeared to post fine, but then I go back to the thread and it’s nowhere to be found. WTF.
I know I’m not a paying member right now, but I have been in the past and I came back to check the games and forum and see if it might be worth rejoining. I see the adds slow everything down… I accept these pop-ups as the “price” I pay for not being a paid member. That’s fine… but the functionality should not be compromised.
During my two year (estimate) absence one might think the interface and functionality would get better… not worse.
I know the mods are volunteers… but is there a site owner? Is there so little money here that it’s let to just crumble?
Probably disappearing again soon… just wanna see if there’s any answer first… I’d rather not engage at all than spend time typing a message to have it go poof!
I agree, the manual refresh is irritating, and I've had posts disappear. There were some instances of appalling lags some time ago - I wonder if the fix they put in somehow disabled auto-refresh? Maybe the server couldn't handle the speed or number of hits.
Re: Forum Usability & Interface
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2026 8:17 am
by jimboston
The forum used to work much better and there were way more people posting.
IDK if the games have more players and that impacts the servers…. or if the ads are hurting…. these are both possible.
I’m just talking about the experience. If the owners want people to subscribe they need to make thigns work.
Re: Forum Usability & Interface
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2026 8:56 am
by jusplay4fun
JimB has missed the ENTIRE discussion of hacking of this site and the Technical upgrades (in response) and the resulting "mess" and difficulties and changes.
See what you miss when you are away, JimB?
Try this: PM/Forum issues
viewtopic.php?t=243685
and MORE:
viewtopic.php?p=5370648#p5370648
Re: Forum Usability & Interface
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2026 12:18 pm
by jimboston
jusplay4fun wrote: Tue Aug 04, 2026 8:56 am
JimB has missed the ENTIRE discussion of hacking of this site and the Technical upgrades (in response) and the resulting "mess" and difficulties and changes.
See what you miss when you are away, JimB?
Try this: PM/Forum issues
viewtopic.php?t=243685
and MORE:
viewtopic.php?p=5370648#p5370648
Don’t care… if it was hacked then once you regain control revert back to the interface used before.
The idea that the only “progress” that has occurred in the last several years has been a worsening of usability.
I mean maybe it all comes down to money and they don’t make enough to justify investment. Ultimately if it sucks they won’t attract new users.
Re: Forum Usability & Interface
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2026 7:54 pm
by Dukasaur
jimboston wrote: Tue Aug 04, 2026 12:18 pm
jusplay4fun wrote: Tue Aug 04, 2026 8:56 am
JimB has missed the ENTIRE discussion of hacking of this site and the Technical upgrades (in response) and the resulting "mess" and difficulties and changes.
See what you miss when you are away, JimB?
Try this: PM/Forum issues
viewtopic.php?t=243685
and MORE:
viewtopic.php?p=5370648#p5370648
Don’t care… if it was hacked then once you regain control revert back to the interface used before.
The idea that the only “progress” that has occurred in the last several years has been a worsening of usability.
I mean maybe it all comes down to money and they don’t make enough to justify investment. Ultimately if it sucks they won’t attract new users.
The degrading of forum functionality is annoying to all of us.
In answer to your question, yes, the site does not make enough money to justify any serious investment. It pays a part-time income to one part-time owner and one part-time admin, plus a tired old bunch of volunteers.
In answer to your first point, no, reverting to an older version is not a solution to a hacker's attack. Unfortunately, the only way to fix these is to remove loopholes, and with each loophole some bit of functionality is lost.
It's sad, but it's the way it is.
I personally don't worry about whether my posts show up immediately. I come back and check on them the next day.
Re: Forum Usability & Interface
Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2026 12:29 pm
by 2dimes
It’s not great but it could be worse.
Hate to type this and give off the wrong idea but.. I appreciate that they actually continue to make an effort to fix the things they broke.
Re: Forum Usability & Interface
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2026 7:11 pm
by Dukasaur
Update: A new fix was issued today. The post-delay bug should be fixed. Let me know if there's still issues.