Could someone at Naim pls. tell Hoop.la to stop messing up the forum...

Just heard something on R4:

"Ask not what your country can do for you but what can you can do for your country".

Then substitute forum for country etc.

So the forum is as good as our contributions make it IMO.

Chris

Stu,

Good to hear from you.  I am fine, but my wife has been battling cancer for the last year and my energies have been directed into supporting her.  Kind of puts stuff into perspective, if you know what I mean.

Cheers

Brad

My thoughts exactly.

I find the forum much more egalitarian than a year ago. There was a "private club" feel that intimidated me immensely, but it seems to be largely gone now. As far as I'm concerned, this feeling of inclusivity is worth far more than how the forum looks and feels (although it works fine for me on Safari and Chrome).

Nigel

Hi George -

Obviously, this forum means different things to different people.

In my opinion, those who have left would have done so regardless of Hoop.la.  Those who post only minimally today were, as you say, heading in that direction anyway.

But at the end of the day, this is the Naim forum, and its health will be a reflection of the health of Naim's business...and nothing more.   You do realize, George, that lots of people have stayed away from this forum in the past because of its cliquish nature, right?   As evidence of that, I have received private emails from eight different guys here in the US who would rather correspond directly because they feel like outsiders here on the Naim forum!  Isn't that a shame?  Who knows how many smart people out there are, for example, taking a look at this thread and thinking....nah, I'll spend my time elsewhere...

In my opinion, the membership of this forum stayed way too stagnant for way too long, and the majority of threads were dominated by far too few contributors.  This place needs more new members and, fortunately, I think that is what we are seeing.

My view on this forum mirrors my views on immigration policy.  I would prefer this forum to be an open door for diversity and fresh ideas.   And I believe that despite how poorly the implementation has gone, that encouraging new membership (through the social networking links, etc.) was one of Naim's main goals in the redesign.   This clearly rubbed a lot of old-timers the wrong way, but certainly not all of us (that is, if I can claim old-timer status after only three short years!).   And while I too miss the contributions some of people who have left, I am delighted by a lot of the new thinking!   If the debates are not quite yet up to your high standards, then please help them get there!   Nobody becomes a writer like you after just a couple of posts!   We all need to encourage new members to expound on their thoughts.  Why not take advantage of these teaching moments?  It will be like mining for gold!

Unfortunately, your dour predictions do nothing to encourage new energy, new threads and/or new debates.   But George, I need only remind you of your post from the "Thoughts on Stereo" thread from only one week ago:

"...Thanks to all who read the thread and posted replies here. It has been a great pleasure to read the posts containing varied views in the topic..."

88 replies, some serious thinking, and some fine debate!  And over a subject you hold dear!  C'mon pal, world events not withstanding, has this place really gone completely down the crapper in just seven short days?   I don't think so.

Yes, we are all human, and we all have our ups and downs.  But I hope you won't mind me saying George, that there are many of us who are counting on you to remain a forum thought leader, and to continue launching new (interesting, charming, weird ) threads!   There is no good reason to stop....unless, of course, you have run out of ideas..........yeah, right!   

Anyway, you got me thinking about why I even bother to post here.   I've been more verbose than usual as of late.   I wonder why?   Must be getting some kind of return on the investment.....hmmm.....maybe I'll start a new thread, ask others why they post, and see where it goes....

Hook

So sorry to hear what your Mrs. and you are going through Brad.   Not that it compares to a wife, but my dear brother-in-law who I've known for 44 years, is battling prostate cancer.   And even though he supposedly has an eight in ten chance of survival, his way forward is life-altering.  

The best advice my Dad ever gave me was to cherish the times in life that are simply....normal.   Because when something bad happens, you will wish for a return to normalcy with all your heart.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mrs. DBL.   I hope she kicks the big C's ass, and is 100% free of the disease in the very near future! 

ATB.

Hook

Thanks for your kind comments Hook. Unfortunately the cancer has spread so the best we can hope for is containment, not cure. It has however provided an opportunity to look at life differently. Each day is approched on its own merits and joy is taken where ever it is found.

Your comments above make sense: by all means start a new thread on why people post.  I would be happy to add my 2p about why I used to post and why I stopped.

Cheers

Brad 

Dear Hook,

Lots on at the mo' quite apart from tragic saga from Norway. Bit weighed under to tell truth, but will keep trying to "KBO" and that means Keep Bug//ring On in WS Churchill's parlance.

Currently I suupose my thoughts on the Forum are rather less than charitable as it appears a long way down the list of prioities to sort out ...

The Carlton restiration, however, seems a constant source of pleasure ...

ATB from George

8 days and counting... nothing has changed! Makes you wonder who is in charge??

Are they just going to leave it as is, not giving a to*s about all people using IE 8 or below?

Seems like a pretty dumb strategy, and a reckless one too...

But never mind, it's only customers, nothing to worry about!

Potential customers, naah, why would we want those? Nasty lot, they only cause trouble...!!

Totemphile

I know, I know, I said I would be looking in here again!, but just popped in to see if anybody had responded to my comments.

What's all this nonsence about this only applying to users of IE7 and older? I use the very latest bang up to date IE9 (version 9.0.8112.16421) and as I said before, this forum is total shit. There are only a few places you can put the cursor without the whole text diappearing.

Gary

Is there no way of editing anymore? I meant to say "IE8 and older?)

Now that's interesting. Initially I had assumed that the problem of comments disappearing when you put the cursor onto the page, etc. was due to the fact that I use IE vs. 7. Peter then mentioned that he is using vs. 8 and has the exact same problems. Therefore, I assumed it must be anything below the current version.

Now you are telling us you use version 9 and it is still the same mess?? Bloody hell, that puts the entire update into an even worse picture, basically Hoop.less messed it up completely and they have left it like this for the past 8 days. If it wasn't so sad, you'd be laughing out loud.

You have got to ask yourself, what a bunch of complete imbeciles the people at Hoop.less are? As they are based in the US Naim should sue them for damages to its reputation and perception in the market. And I am being serious too! I mean it's the land of plenty, plenty went wrong, should mean plenty of compensation. Fair in my book...

Ahh, you see, that's another beauty of the recent update, can't do it in IE.

You can edit in Firefox and Safari though...

Please fix this mess up - the forums are broken with both IE8 (at my work) and IE9 (at my home), despite what the top warnings say. This is a complete and comprehensive balls up. The site has gone from the dog's bollocks to the dog's breakfast overnight.

It would be interesting to see if traffic to the forum has dropped since the change over.

Jono

....... and what the take up of the whole Naim ethos has been among those who use social media.

Chris

Perhaps if Naim upgraded to a decent forum provider we would not have problems like that Frank.

I find it incredible that three weeks have now passed since the fabulous "downgrade" and that the forum has simply been left all messed up without any communication regarding the reason why or that the issue is being addressed, no apology from Hoop.less or Naim.

You'd be forgiven to think that quite frankly nobody gives a shi* 

The whole thing couldn't have been handled worse even if you tried. It's just staggering.

I think the forum works just fine....

Very strange, i've just posted to the music room...

it's been listed as posted but when i click on it, it isn't there to be seen.

Perhaps i need new glasses!

My main gripe with this hoop.less style forum is takes such a long time to change page.

I don't have this problem on any other site or forum.

Does anyone else here have to wait an age after clicking?

Debs

Debs, something in your post triggered the naughty word filter so it went to moderation.  It's fine and I've approved it.

TP, its been Naim's Summer break this last week.  Next week I'm going to the factory and will be discussing the state of the current forum.  My personal view is that I'd like to see a better use of the real estate available.  It works just great for me on Firefox but it would be good if it worked just as well on other browsers.  Hoop La have to get that right at the very least.  At least it works much better on Safari on my iphone now. 

Obviously, I like to trash the forum as much as the next guy, but in all fairness, I must say I am getting used to the new format.

Yes, the threads are not using the entire width of my screen, but it is a bit like reading a column in a newspaper. My impression is that it is easier to read instead of having to move the eyes from right to left along the entire width. Somehow I feel I am able to go through the posts faster with this format.

I would recommend to test the UI changes with a small group of volunteer, not by asking their opinions, but by measuring in lab conditions how fast the users are able to read and navigate.

Interesting  comment by Alamanka about the similarity between the forum layout and the columns of a newspaper. I quite like it too and it is similar to some of the columns of the paper I read. (But not the one I work for).

Chris