This forum software is awful !
Clouds
Member Posts: 1,599
I've rarely come across such a glitchy random unpredictable forum in my life !
: )
It really is guess work as to what the forum software is going to do next - posting is very hit and miss, logging in is a random game of chance, editing your posts if you spot a mistake (and even in the allotted time) is nearly impossible (for me at least).
For example with Firefox on a mac you can go to the forum section to report a bug (Tech Support) click on 'add a discussion' and you are then offered the choice of two categories for your post 'Announce Your Game!' or 'Art & Graphics' - both, obviously nothing to do with reporting a bug.
Try it with Safari and you have to jump through hoops to post something, you aren't offered the 'Announce Your Game!' or 'Art & Graphics' choices but all sorts of crap turns what is a 30 second effort on pretty much every forum I have ever been on into 10 minutes of clicking and logging out and logging in and deleting cookies and logging in again and more clicking and more cutting and pasting to save your post and restarting Safari (etc etc).
: )
It really is guess work as to what the forum software is going to do next - posting is very hit and miss, logging in is a random game of chance, editing your posts if you spot a mistake (and even in the allotted time) is nearly impossible (for me at least).
For example with Firefox on a mac you can go to the forum section to report a bug (Tech Support) click on 'add a discussion' and you are then offered the choice of two categories for your post 'Announce Your Game!' or 'Art & Graphics' - both, obviously nothing to do with reporting a bug.
Try it with Safari and you have to jump through hoops to post something, you aren't offered the 'Announce Your Game!' or 'Art & Graphics' choices but all sorts of crap turns what is a 30 second effort on pretty much every forum I have ever been on into 10 minutes of clicking and logging out and logging in and deleting cookies and logging in again and more clicking and more cutting and pasting to save your post and restarting Safari (etc etc).
Comments
The there was a yellow 'x' with a grey circle next to it, again the same deal, the forum locks up unless you spot it and close it down.
Also today when I opened up Gamesalad forum I was logged in as 'Xibbe 1' !! - That's right I had full access to another users full account, I could check his personal messages, post in his name, check out what he's purchased (and presumably download them for myself without paying) - even change his settings like his password to lock him out of his own account !! (But being a good guy I didn't do any of that).
Sorry for the long moan, it's Christmas, and that's what Christmas is for.
: )
Lee
This post took me 5 minutes to type out and around half an hour to post (seriously) . . . . I finally worked out that if your post is too long you need to chop it into smaller sections and then the forum software accepts it . . . . you get no warning telling you this, you need to spend your time trying all sorts of crap before you work it out.
Please please please get some proper forum software, this is terrible.
(clue: it's in the middle of the purple 'Happy Holidays bar' - good luck to colour blind people !! Lol.
(Don't worry Xibbe I didn't do anything naughty with your account - although I could have)
Also please try and retry to my email; so i can get started on your free promo
". . . . since I am logged in and going smoothly this morning."
The fact that you even need to say that suggests the forum software is inherently problematic.
" . . . It would probably do them well to do a complete rebuild from the ground up"
Why not just throw it in the bin and migrate to one of the many mature, stable and free platforms ? There are - as far as I can see - no advantages whatsoever with using this buggy, crashy, random, unstable and all round awful forum software ?
. . . . (continued)
I can log in at any one of several forums I am a member of, I can guarantee the log-in will work first time, I can make a post and know it will actually be posted . . . and quickly . . . but here, like I say, it's a game of roulette, lots of attempts, lots of logging in and out and resetting and restarting your browser and random things like broken pop ups and progress bars that never stop and a few "There was a problem, please try again" warnings, and jumping between Firefox and Safari to do one thing in one browser (like check to see if you images have posted correctly) anf then back to the other browser to edit a spalling mistake . . .
. . . . yes 'spalling' lol.
: )
I'd rather the forum simply worked well - rather than looked great but didn't work very well.
>"But the fact is Every part of the site works great on its own"
I am only commenting on the forum section, I am sure the rest works great, but the forum is so bad it's often unusable.
I would much rather they go the extra mile to make something nice work right instead of fall back on what everyone else already has done. But hey you cannot please everyone so they have to make a choice that will inevitably leave someone unhappy.
I have been having the same problems as tyrnan with the posting in random categories and the logging in issues. hell i'm logged in correctly on al the pages EXCEPT for the forums. my old name was bluesmurph but when i changed it, it stayed on the forums. oh and every other day i can't access the forums. 3 days ago i couldn't then i could the next day. now yesterday i couldn't but today i can? i hope this can get fixed soon.
oh also i think it would be nice if their were prebuilt buttons that added quotes, bold text, linked pictures, ect. all other forums have this but it seems that we have to write out the html code and everyone gets it wrong so we have weird posts with code.
"But hey you cannot please everyone so they have to make a choice that will inevitably leave someone unhappy"
I am pretty sure what would make most people happy is if the forum was robust and stable, I can't imagine many people would log in to complain that it just doesn't look very cool so they are not going to post anymore, whereas you will find people will log in (if they are able) and complain about a great looking forum that doesn't work, loses your posts, gives away your account details and locks up your browser window on a fairly regular basis.
Just my two cents,
Jack
That's a matter of opinion, my opinion is that it would be better to not sacrifice usability and utility in pursuit of a cool looking forum.
Oh yes, yes it is your opinion
but what i stated was my opinion hence the "Just my two cents" part....
Good luck
JAck
: )
Just my three cents.
No!, you see that is where your wrong, it was a whole conspiracy when you wrote "that's a matter of opinion" because you may not have wrote that, just like we may not have had this conversation..........
That's just my 8 cents
"tyan you can be a real smartass but I totally agree"
Lol ! I know, I can be a regular pain in the ass !
: )
"That's just my 8 cents"
We can take all these cents and give them to Gamesalad to help them buy some decent forum software.
Everything else you mention I have never experienced or even seen reported by others. ie. posting in odd categories. Login into people's accounts, losing posts completly.
>"But that's just it some people will stop coming around if it feels like every other forum.'
I can't imagine that's true, I don't remember anyone - in any forum - ever complaining that they would leave a forum because it looks too familiar, while basic lack of functionality and fairly regular buggy weirdness might put you off posting - but this looks to be heading towards a circular argument, let's just agree to disagree on this one.
>"Everything else you mention I have never experienced or even seen reported by others"
let me quote from this very thread :[Bluesmurph 7:40PM ] - "I have been having the same problems as [Tynan] with the posting in random categories and the logging in issues"
>"Login into people's accounts"
Yep, that was a weird one, I simply opened Safari went to the main Gamesalad website, then clicked on forum . . . . where I found I was logged in as 'Xibbe 1' with full access to his account !?
@Tynan … please keep reminding people when the Emperor is naked … good to be a regular pain in the ass … otherwise we wouldn't know when to get rid of the crap!
@Leonard … straddling fences … may get one some splinters in private places (put in some ¢ for me, please
@tenrdmer … Forums are supposed to look like and behave like Forums … as email pages feel the same … and nobody stops using them …
and, because Forums are primarily for function rather than form … we want high functionality!
MH
"Everything else you mention I have never experienced or even seen reported by others. ie. posting in odd categories. Login into people's accounts, losing posts [completely.]"
T8TRG8TR reported today that he opened the forums and discovered that, like me, he was logged in as Xibbe1 - with full access to Xibbe1's account (as evidenced by his posting under that account name) - as I mentioned above Bluesmurph reports that he also gets the random categories issue when posting (it happens in both Safari and Firefox for me now) - and everyone can agree that logging in can be a bit of a nightmare, as for the things like the weird blue 'x' that locks the forum up (again in both Safari and Firefox) hopefully the screen shot will convince you it's a genuine issue.
So hopefully these other reports might convince you that it's not just me (although I did drink a preposterous amount of alcohol over Christmas). : P
T8TRG8TR post on the subject: http://forums.gamesalad.com/discussion/37212/what-in-the-world-this-isnt-my-account
Us pedantic smartass pain-in-ass never ending whiners are greatly under appreciated. Lol.
: )
As for that logging in as others, i had that once before on the old forums, reported and they fixed it quickly.
… "straddling fences … may get one some splinters in private places" (put in some ¢ for me, please
________________________________________________________________
What does the underlined mean?
• Make accounts deletable by the user. (Once created - they are there FOREVER.)
• Bring users straight to the "discussion" page when they hit "forums". (two clicks to find the forums page gets confusing)
• Edit your own posts any time! (I have to spam people if I make a mistake i spot later)
I've abandoned several attempts to help out people by posting answers to their questions - after 10 minutes of trying to post my response I just forget it and get on with something else, I can well imagine some people are going to be put off interacting with this forum if (depending on the mood of the forum software) your efforts are going to be frustrated or even wasted.
beefy_clyro "As for that logging in as others, i had that once before on the old forums, reported and they fixed it quickly."
Looks like they didn't really resolve whatever is causing it as it still happens.