This website is beautiful. But so disorienting for me. I have to find things and everything is unfamiliar.

[[...]]

I haven't been here in a while and this change is beautiful but hard for me to navigate. I also don't remember who's who here because used to rely on familiar avatars and things. And now everything is disorienting.

I know we are not allowed to talk about politics here. Trying to keep track of all the rules. But what's going on right now in the news is affecting me in a huge way, and symptoms shooting up. Plus my main support person, I've discovered, is on the opposite side of me with these specific politics. Falling apart.

Edited October 31, 2023 by [...]

[[...]]

News is always bad since time began. Don't watch it.

[[Ka...]]

Oh same here, I feel so disoriented on this new website too, not finding a lot of things that I knew so well before

[[Ta...]]

Hi Nony,

I am with you! I am finding it very disorienting and tough to navigate but I know I managed to figure out the old site, so I think tis will just take time. Keep plodding around and trying all the tabs and hopefully it will get more familiar. The news is really upsetting to me as well and I find that I can only watch it a couple of times a week and early in the morning so I have the rest of the day to process it or distract. It is very scary though. I am sorry you're friend is on the other side of you politically...it really has been tough on friendships when you can no longer talk about those things. 

[[ja...]]

Is it me or is it really hard to see drug histories?  Or maybe people are not adding them....

[[Co...]]

10 hours ago, [[j...] said:

Is it me or is it really hard to see drug histories?  Or maybe people are not adding them....

We are looking for a solution. Signature lines were carried across from the old forum software, but they ruin the mobile experience. I enabled them for a short time - the complaints came in thick and fast.

There is a major upgrade to the forum software scheduled for release early in the New Year. We cannot be certain, but there are some hints that it might provide a solution for us (so that 'History' information is readily available from the popup mini-profile card available with posts). Failing this, we will investigate a bespoke solution. There is no point in us exploring a bespoke solution now because it will not work with the new version when it is released.

[[Co...]]

[[Co...]]

On 31/10/2023 at 18:33, [[K...] said:

Oh same here, I feel so disoriented on this new website too, not finding a lot of things that I knew so well before

12 hours ago, [[T...] said:

Hi Nony,

I am with you! I am finding it very disorienting and tough to navigate but I know I managed to figure out the old site, so I think tis will just take time. Keep plodding around and trying all the tabs and hopefully it will get more familiar. The news is really upsetting to me as well and I find that I can only watch it a couple of times a week and early in the morning so I have the rest of the day to process it or distract. It is very scary though. I am sorry you're friend is on the other side of you politically...it really has been tough on friendships when you can no longer talk about those things. 

It takes time to adjust - and we are continue to adjust. But this software offers so much more than the old - and we have still only scratched the surface of it potential. There is an updated version of SMF available, but even this is way behind the competition and what's expected these days. SMF is an open source software, and support has dropped away dramatically over the past decade - it is a dying project.

Conversely, Invision Community (also known as IPS) woks great with mobile access, has a solid notification system, and lots of other inbuilt bells and whistles. SMF had some third-party addons, which potentially could have worked for us, but increasingly these addons were not maintained. Invision continues to innovate, and being a commercial software, it is likely to continue to grow and be maintained for the foreseeable future. It was a good move for us.

[[jo...]]

I usually find it easy to block the news out but I feel very invested in it at the moment. I’m following it all day and I know it’s bad for me and affecting me but can’t stop. It’s so hard to heal in this world 

[[...]]

On 02/11/2023 at 10:29, [[C...] said:

Maybe we could encourage members to use avatars. But by having one yourself - hint - it helps to encourage others to create an avatar.

Yeah. We tried a Current Affairs subscription-only forum some years ago - it did not work out. No matter how we try to might try to frame it, it would cause unnecessary friction. It is near impossible to discuss anything (even remotely) political on the Net these days - everything is hyper-partisan.

Hi, Colin. My avatar from the previous website disappeared, and I want that one. Almost became my identity here. Wish I could have it back. 

[[Co...]]

[[La...]]

Hi Nony,

I just want to welcome you back. I slightly changed my avatar, but it's still the blue dog -- this time, with a little heart, since we could all use a bit more of that! I agree that the news can be very upsetting, and I've had to find a way to stay informed but also to limit the amount of time I watch news videos or read about what's going on. I try to balance it out with upbeat or more pleasant things. Last night, I watched some news clips, but then I watched some great music videos that changed the tone. I find music to be helpful and soothing -- depending on what I listen to. Maybe you can find something that soothes you so that you can balance all the negativity with something positive.

Take care!

[[...]]

On 02/11/2023 at 08:51, [[C...] said:

We are looking for a solution. Signature lines were carried across from the old forum software, but they ruin the mobile experience. I enabled them for a short time - the complaints came in thick and fast.

There is a major upgrade to the forum software scheduled for release early in the New Year. We cannot be certain, but there are some hints that it might provide a solution for us (so that 'History' information is readily available from the popup mini-profile card available with posts). Failing this, we will investigate a bespoke solution. There is no point in us exploring a bespoke solution now because it will not work with the new version when it is released.

Thank you so much everyone, for your input.

Thank you Colin - I see my avatar is back up and I appreciate what you said re this new format. I understand that is necessary. The old one was 'old'. Will have to figure this website out.

[[Mu...]]

The old site was about perfect. Easy to navigate. I have tried and tried and still don't like the new site. Music 60

[[Co...]]

18 hours ago, [[M...] said:

The old site was about perfect. Easy to navigate. I have tried and tried and still don't like the new site. Music 60

It is different. And we have made changes to how we organise content too. I takes some time to adjust. However, the old software was not suitable for mobile devices. And although there was a newer version of that software which worked better, it was still far from optimal. Further, that software (SMF) is probably in its death spirals, and has been for a long time now. We needed to make the change.

There are many other positives to this software too, such as the @mention and notification system. There are some things I preferred about the old software too. But in the round, this is much better and should sustain us into the future.

[[...]]

I want to thank you, Colin, for all the work you do behind the scenes. I'm sure if you made the change, it was necessary. Definitely looks more up to date. Will just have to learn it.