Airliners.net Site Upgrade Announcement & Discussion

Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:06 pm

jaybird wrote:
The subscription fees we paid to be a First Class member - all gone?

As for the changes - it's the readability that's an issue for me .. small, gray font on a white background .. not the easiest on the eyes.

First Class was disabled long before the site upgrade. Some have had it to the end since we didn't change even if they expired, and those that did expire we changed to Premium. From now on there is just one type of membership, the free one.

Cipango · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:06 pm

PA110 wrote:
It would appear that the Site Related forum no longer appears in the Forum drop-down list. If it weren't for the welcome banner, I'm guessing users would have never found their way here.

Edit: It would appear that despite the presence of a SUBMIT button, the old format of previewing and then submitting must be followed. Any attempt to Submit on first draft simply refreshes the screen. At least that my experience just a moment ago.

The site related has always only appeared when logged in.

ZSOFN · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:07 pm

Great to finally see a new site! As a long-time user and visitor since the late 90s, this is long overdue despite the fondness I have for the old site.

However in particular as a photographer with a few photos on here (not all that many admittedly), the fact that so far no redirects have been put in place and all old links to photos are returning 404s is a big issue that'll cause significant damage to Google rankings for the site in general and with it a lot of its traffic. I hope it's rectified soon.

derekf · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:09 pm

New fora look good- modern and clean.
Front page not so good, difficult to find things.
Photo pages are good.
The whole thing is a little pale and tricky to read sometimes - black lettering would be better than grey.

Photo upload page much nicer but sadly returns a "500" error , whatever that means and doesn't work.

Boeing74741R · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:10 pm

First of all, fair play to the a.net team for making a big decision to relaunch the site. As a moderator on a railway forum that's on its fourth incarnation, some people don't like change but it's often done for the right reasons and most/all people will get used to it. I had become used to the old forum as it had been around for so long, but as others had mentioned it had its drawbacks and I'm sure the site team look forward to maintaining a forum using a more up-to-date language than whatever the old board was running on.

Anyway, I would like to report a bug which I think others may want to check their profiles for...

When I checked my profile bio details, some very old data from a long time ago had appeared again despite it being deleted by me many years ago. I've gone and deleted it, so until the site team get round to fixing this bug, some folk may want to check their profiles in case some very old information has re-appeared in their bio's.

sandyb123 · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:12 pm

Umm sorry has first class membership gone? I posted earlier about ads but if this is now the status quo then I want the balance of my membership back and I am leaving this site for good.

larshjort · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:14 pm

Another thing I'm missing is the post number. I want to know if I am reading post 54 or 136. That way I now where I left of the last time. I don't care how many post's there are totally on this site, I am not going to remember that I left of at post #145.456.457.568.798.670.657.

Cipango wrote:
PA110 wrote:
It would appear that the Site Related forum no longer appears in the Forum drop-down list. If it weren't for the welcome banner, I'm guessing users would have never found their way here.

Edit: It would appear that despite the presence of a SUBMIT button, the old format of previewing and then submitting must be followed. Any attempt to Submit on first draft simply refreshes the screen. At least that my experience just a moment ago.

The site related has always only appeared when logged in.

I'm logged in, and the only way I can get there, I've figured out, is by clicking on the banner for this thread and then clicking site related. It doesn't appear in the drop down list

andrej · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:19 pm

Can we now get the E.U. flag? :geek:

It's a huge change and I will need get to use to it, however I liked the old forums setup better.

EDIT: And now we not only have friends, but also foes! :twisted:

No more flame wars?

Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:21 pm

larshjort wrote:

I'm logged in, and the only way I can get there, I've figured out, is by clicking on the banner for this thread and then clicking site related. It doesn't appear in the drop down list

Click on the word FORUMS in the top banner and you will see all sections, including Site Related. I think the desicion was to only show the most frequently visited ones in the drop down

Edit: might be wrong since it has 9 out of 10 sub forums

Airplanes4life · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:22 pm

Will there be an option to use the old format?

Thanks!

bapilot2b · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:23 pm

RIP Sweet Child, yet another poorly executed change to add to the long list of changes made since the take over by Demand Media years ago.

scbriml · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:25 pm

JohnKrist wrote:
jaybird wrote:
The subscription fees we paid to be a First Class member - all gone?

As for the changes - it's the readability that's an issue for me .. small, gray font on a white background .. not the easiest on the eyes.

First Class was disabled long before the site upgrade. Some have had it to the end since we didn't change even if they expired, and those that did expire we changed to Premium. From now on there is just one type of membership, the free one.

Wait, are you saying there's no paid subscription option so we can't do anything to get rid of the ads?

JimJupiter · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:26 pm

jorge1812 wrote:
aviation facebook

That's precisely what it feels like.

Yikes.

1g · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:27 pm

I like the new design better overall but I still see some annoyances.

Personally I would prefer if the posts were on a different background colour than the websites main background colour, differentiating seems to be a bit difficult.
And second of all does every reply need the huge bold "RE: Title Name" above the post content? The default subject of replies seem to be in the "RE: Title Name" format but I think it would be better if that was simply left blank by default.

But I still welcome the new design change overall, finally the forums look modern and not something that was literally from the 90s :lol:

LatAmFlyer · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:28 pm

Seems that the body text is waaaay to wide, from one edge of my screen to the other. Pull in the margins a bit (or a lot

)

Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:29 pm

scbriml wrote:
Wait, are you saying there's no paid subscription option so we can't do anything to get rid of the ads?

As far as I know, that's the way it is. However the ads should be a natural part, not intrusive. We have already acted on the report of an annoying 50 Cent ad.

axelesgg · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:29 pm

How do I open a photo full size, not fitted to screen?

N1120A · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:30 pm

The new site is awful. Absolutely awful. The forums look like any other boring PHP forum. The experience is absolutely terrible. For its flaws, the old layout and look was absolutely the best from a raw forum perspective that exists. Now it is the same junk as everyone else.

Fix it.

Airplanes4life · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:31 pm

Forgive me if this has been mentioned, the "Region" box in advanced search doesn't accept an entry.

-A4L

fhrx · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:31 pm

Question; is there anyway to get the legacy site back? Say a URL with 'classic' in the querystring for example; that'll display the photos via the old facade?

Aircellist · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:32 pm

Have we lost our photo albums?

william · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:33 pm

Like the fact that the pics are now big enough to use as wall paper

JetboyTWA · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:34 pm

I'll gladly pay a membership fee to go back to the old layout if this is all motivated by advertising and affiliate revenue.

foxtail · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:38 pm

Disappointed. A-net had the style, new design looking some sample. Plus to me became more inconvenient.

airkas1 · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:39 pm

Darker/lighter themes as well as more blue are on the wishlist. So hopefully that should be implemented on a short term, which I hope will fix some brightness/bring back the 'old school' color.

Aircellist wrote:
Have we lost our photo albums?

They should all be in place. I can see mine.
Try: https://www.airliners.net/user/Aircellist/profile/albums

Airplanes4life · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:39 pm

Aircellist wrote:
Have we lost our photo albums?

No, they're still there.

AlphaBravo · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:40 pm

Hi,

Is it possible to see how many pictures are in the queue?
It was a good hint how long I have to wait untill my pics will be screened.

Also missing the old photgrapher ranking. it was for me easier to scroll and to look pics of other photographer.

Currently cannot upload pics. Get "500 Internal Server Error".

I also missing my photo statistics.
I hope that more features will be availiblie soon.

Kind regars, Anto

SabreHog · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:40 pm

Speaking strictly as a photographer, this change is so drastic, and ruins so many things that I loved about this site, that I'm not really sure if I want to share my photos here anymore.

Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:41 pm

Aircellist wrote:
Have we lost our photo albums?

No, you can find them under your Airliners.net profile, top right corner and choose My Profile. On mobile devices a menu should slide in where you can choose "My account"->View Profile, and choose Albums in a dropdown

larshjort · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:42 pm

JohnKrist wrote:
larshjort wrote:

I'm logged in, and the only way I can get there, I've figured out, is by clicking on the banner for this thread and then clicking site related. It doesn't appear in the drop down list

Click on the word FORUMS in the top banner and you will see all sections, including Site Related. I think the desicion was to only show the most frequently visited ones in the drop down

Edit: might be wrong since it has 9 out of 10 sub forums

Got it now, but as you say, all sub forums but the site related is in the drop down menu.

Indy · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:43 pm

The problem when you do something like this to a site and cover it with ads and make it absolutely ordinary is that you give people no reason to subscribe or to stay. Why should or would anyone stay now? What makes this site special? Welcome to the most generic looking site on the net. Make that your new slogan.

Indy · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:44 pm

BTW everyone... AdBlock Plus cleans out ALL of the ads.

LukePL · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:46 pm

Wow...that is a huge change. And not for the best I'm afraid.

I always came here for aviation news, interessting discussions and great pictures since the early 2000's and because of it's unique and recognisable design and layout A.net felt unique as well. After a hard day it kinda felt like coming home.
Now it looks like every other website and forum. It reminds me of Facebook. I'm not reluctant to change but it should be a well thought and done change and this clearly isn't. It feels strange and looks awful. Don't know if I'll be able to get used to this. It looks ungainly but even worse...replaceable.

I'll come back every now and then to see if this new design will be further developed or if there will be an option for the old design for all the "oldschoolers" but for now...that's it. A sad day!

trevisan26 · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:47 pm

Will take some time to get used to the new site. Not able to upload pictures right now and 3 of my queue are missing the images, not the data.

I'm missing the Queue status and a dark color in the background, its very annoying this bright white.

Cheers

D L X · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:49 pm

A350 wrote:
The headers are very big at least at my laptop, overall they take more height than the posts themselves.
Furthermore: how can I switch off the pagination?

Agreed.

As I make a response to this post, I see that it appears I can only respond to one post at a time. is that correct?

Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:49 pm

Indy wrote:
The problem when you do something like this to a site and cover it with ads and make it absolutely ordinary is that you give people no reason to subscribe or to stay. Why should or would anyone stay now? What makes this site special? Welcome to the most generic looking site on the net. Make that your new slogan.

Indy, we have heard your input, no need to repeat yourself. We are listening to all our users and this is the first iteration of the upgrade. There are bugs, there are issues in the design that we will evaluate after the many messages we have received here.

flymia · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:53 pm

Seems it will be hard to quote other users.

Don't like the separate page to reply, even though most forums are like this its a major negative.

Getting a headache with all this white light. Forum layout seems very messy but also very boring, trying to hard to be innovating, while actually it seems like its a cheap try at improvement, when its not at all. The look of it.

Layout is just messy IMO.

Anet forum just became any old other forum. Instead of improving a classic design they became like any other forum. For that I can spend more time on reddit or flyertalk.

Probably will spend less time on the site given the layout. Seriously way too much light, hard to read the comments, and look MORE add space! How nice for you guys.

Edit:
After spending a few more minutes on this site, wow, its a mess. I will give it a few days to get the bugs out, but adds everywhere, the top "tool bar" whatever we call it drags down everywhere I scroll. Its horrible. Its literally giving me a headache, its hard to follow threads, hard to read users, hard to respond to users, but I guess easier to make money.

Traffic will go down drastically after a few weeks. Its a mess, and the great thing about this site is easily connecting, responding and reading comments from specific members. That is gone now. What's the point now. There is none.

Bad move Anet.

Sorry, but that is just my honest opinion. We will see if the getting used to period and changes you make help save the site. But it just looks cheap and generic now, all about the advertisements and not about the users you should be trying to keep.

Indy · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:54 pm

JohnKrist wrote:
Indy, we have heard your input, no need to repeat yourself. We are listening to all our users and this is the first iteration of the upgrade. There are bugs, there are issues in the design that we will evaluate after the many messages we have received here.

Sorry to say but with this design it is unlikely you listened to your users or even asked users for input. Certainly should have had a panel of users evaluate the site before relaunch. Certainly should NOT have done something as cheap as use phpBB3. You have no real option but to undo this mess. The site will take a huge traffic hit if you don't. This is just the harsh reality that comes with the decision Airliners.net made.

D L X · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:55 pm

"RE: AIRLINERS.NET SITE UPGRADE ANNOUNCEMENT & DISCUSSION" appears at the top of every post in this thread. We know the topic of the thread, so this takes up valuable space. Any consideration to removing it?

kulverstukas · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:58 pm

Oh my God! It's worst thing I seen in decades!

maggo309 · Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:58 pm

The new site is complete nonsense and horrible. I cannot believe it. As a 1000+ photographer i think i will not share any photos on a site like this anymore. Either there is a possibility of using the old platform or a "downgrade" to it or a lot of photographers will leave. I am quite sure.

The old a.net was the most user friendly siteand design you can imagine and a pure cult. Many informations at once. A pure beauty in the internet and a joy to visit and to upload photos. Now its awful, a lot of clicks and scrolling, no information, really horrible design and i dont really care, if it will be upgraded in the next days yet. The basic concept is already obvious and its a catastrophe. Who had this glorious idea? Excuse my open words, but it has to be said.

You guys should be careful not ruining a great site. You are very close to it....

FlyPIJets · Tue Jun 14, 2016 10:00 pm

Man no help text for airline and airport codes is a big miss. I'd find a way to add that back in.

Tue Jun 14, 2016 10:01 pm

Indy wrote:
Sorry to say but with this design it is unlikely you listened to your users or even asked users for input. Certainly should have had a panel of users evaluate the site before relaunch.

Doubt that's a common way of running a website. If you ask ten persons you will get ten different looks. The crew represents a user group, and we have given our input, some have been changed, some hasn't. But the developers are monitoring this thread, and are taking a lot into consideration. As an example the number of replies per page has already changed.

Cubsrule · Tue Jun 14, 2016 10:02 pm

Putting aside aesthetics, the two big things I want back from the old forums (fora?) are starred topics and a more focused quote option that does not require that I quote the entire post. For all of the "new and improved" hype--and there are some things, like pagination, that are better--the forums are now less functional.

flymia · Tue Jun 14, 2016 10:04 pm

FlyPIJets wrote:
Man no help text for airline and airport codes is a big miss. I'd find a way to add that back in.

Wow, that better be a bug issue, because if they forgot that feature or decided to get rid of it, it shows you what this "improvement" is really about.

FlyPIJets · Tue Jun 14, 2016 10:11 pm

flymia wrote:
FlyPIJets wrote:
Man no help text for airline and airport codes is a big miss. I'd find a way to add that back in.

Wow, that better be a bug issue, because if they forgot that feature or decided to get rid of it, it shows you what this "improvement" is really about.

Oops sorry they are still there, just took a while to show up. whew - I need that feature, I can't remember all of the codes.

ArmitageShanks · Tue Jun 14, 2016 10:12 pm

I knew you guys were pretty terrible at updates and what not but you really outdid yourselves with this crap. Years of work for this? Amazing.

My Xanga page in 2004 looked about the same.

dfwjim1 · Tue Jun 14, 2016 10:13 pm

blueangel5 wrote:
Not happy at all about seeing ads in forum view.

Why so many ads and pop ups? Very annoying!

airkas1 · Tue Jun 14, 2016 10:14 pm

AMS LAX IAH GRQ

KL KQ U2 BA IB

Testing codes.

canyonblue17 · Tue Jun 14, 2016 10:16 pm

Where did the photo upload que go?

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