Potential redesign ideas for v5

[New World Explorer]

On 3/15/2025 at 1:15 AM, Brother_Bliss said:

Of course, the classic looks are still available....

Which is the best in my opinion ..Thanks Bob. 

[Tortuga]

49 minutes ago, New World Explorer said:

Which is the best in my opinion ..Thanks Bob. 

I thought you would have chosen the Krispy Kreme look...🤔

[New World Explorer]

1 hour ago, Tortuga said:

I thought you would have chosen the Krispy Kreme look...🤔

I think Bob is looking for it now 🙈…… LOL 😂 

[daydream]

5 hours ago, Tortuga said:

Krispy Kreme

Spoiler

Krispy Kreme is giving away free doughnuts — if you dress the part.

[Brother_Bliss]

On 3/14/2025 at 2:18 PM, gusdn1 said:

Making the side navigation bar, and feed view the default view for all users while (if available) still allowing them to change it if they want too.

 

The side panel navigation vs traditional header is fixed on a per theme basis. Of course, we can created multiple themes and allow users to choose.

[jwhess]

16 minutes ago, Brother_Bliss said:

 

The side panel navigation vs traditional header is fixed on a per theme basis. Of course, we can created multiple themes and allow users to choose.

Too many options just give us more chances to mess it up.

[Tortuga]

17 minutes ago, Brother_Bliss said:

Of course, we can created multiple themes and allow users to choose.

Does that mean the different themes will be available in the drop menu at the bottom of the page and we can select the theme we would like to use? 

[Brother_Bliss]

33 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

Does that mean the different themes will be available in the drop menu at the bottom of the page and we can select the theme we would like to use? 

 

We can create unlimited themes, lol. To date, I've been the only one working on themes. I've made the default one, and then made a "dark mode" theme as well. 

 

When we move to v5, we will decide on what we want to be the default. Naturally, there will be those who are not ecstatic about the design changes, so we can also create something that looks similar to what we have been using here over the last several years.

 

[Sheep]

39 minutes ago, Brother_Bliss said:

. . . so we can also create something that looks similar to what we have been using here over the last several years.

 

Thank you. That's a nice gesture to those of us who are resistant to change.

[Tortuga]

43 minutes ago, Brother_Bliss said:

When we move to v5, we will decide on what we want to be the default.

Will there be a poll for user input or will it be a Team decision?

[Brother_Bliss]

3 hours ago, Tortuga said:

Will there be a poll for user input or will it be a Team decision?

 

The default will probably just be an admin decision. And then each user will be able to customize their own view in the Account Settings. The sidebar panel vs traditional header can be a theme difference...

 

[LeolaRootStew]

when does the update come out?

[Brother_Bliss]

14 hours ago, LeolaRootStew said:

when does the update come out?

 

It's out now. But before we upgrade JWTalk to IPS 5.0 (currently we're on 4.7) we are waiting for more bugs to be ironed out. A new version of software is typically rebuilt from the ground up, and the early releases will have some issues. They are already pushing 5.0.4 <- that's 4 updates so far to fix bugs. 

 

Then, JWTalk currently utilizes a lot of 3rd party add-ons. Many of these add-ons haven't been rewritten by the authors to be compatible with 5.0 yet. Upgrading means we would lose...

 

• Tapatalk (a mobile app, that we will likely drop because they haven't made a version that works with 5.0).
• Back to Top (puts the little arrow in the bottom right corner)
• Bookmarks (let members save and categorize posts)
• Auto-Welcome (sends new registrants a PM automatically welcoming them and giving them some tips and info)
• Files Tab on User Profile (shows which files that person uploaded to the Library)

 

... which honestly, nobody probably cares about except for the few that utilize Bookmarks.

 

Status Updates have also been deprecated, but some 3rd party's have released apps to preserve that functionality. This and any remaining add-ons that we want to keep using will need to be purchased again, since they all have to be rewritten for 5.0

[Sheep]

1 hour ago, Brother_Bliss said:

... which honestly, nobody probably cares about except for the few that utilize Bookmarks.

 

Yeah. That means me. I have a few Bookmarks. But at least you're giving us advance notice so we'll have time to figure out an alternative. (Do you have any suggestions?) 

[carlos]

On 3/18/2025 at 5:41 PM, Sheep said:

 

Yeah. That means me. I have a few Bookmarks. But at least you're giving us advance notice so we'll have time to figure out an alternative. (Do you have any suggestions?) 

 

A workaround would be to go to each of those posts and save them as bookmarks in your browser. You could create a bookmark category named JWTalk and put them all there.

[carlos]

On 3/18/2025 at 4:25 PM, Brother_Bliss said:

• Tapatalk (a mobile app, that we will likely drop because they haven't made a version that works with 5.0)

 

Tapatalk is dead. The few members still using it can just use their browser.

 

On 3/18/2025 at 4:25 PM, Brother_Bliss said:

• Back to Top (puts the little arrow in the bottom right corner)
• Auto-Welcome (sends new registrants a PM automatically welcoming them and giving them some tips and info)
• Files Tab on User Profile (shows which files that person uploaded to the Library)

 

Not a big loss either.

 

On 3/18/2025 at 4:25 PM, Brother_Bliss said:

• Bookmarks (let members save and categorize posts)

 

Maybe we can purchase this one. Otherwise it can be replaced by saving favorite posts as browser bookmarks.

 

 

[Tortuga]

1 hour ago, carlos said:

Back to Top (puts the little arrow in the bottom right corner)

That one is pretty handy..

[Sheep]

14 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

That one is pretty handy..

 

I disagree, actually. I think it gets in the way.

 

If I use the + at the bottom of a post to quote it, along with other posts I want to quote, it creates a little box at the bottom right with the number of posts you want to quote. Then, at the last minute I decide not to use those quotes, so I click to X on that box to eliminate it. It doesn't delete the box, but instead it clicks the up-arrow behind the box and sends me to the top of the page!

 

At the top of the page I can click that X and delete the box, since there's no more up-arrow behind it.

[jwhess]

I use the 'little arrow' a lot. But I can adjust to using the keyboard "home" button to do the same thing.

[New World Explorer]

Can we rename bottom arrow to "Beam me up Scotty" with appropriate icon? LOL 🤣

[BlaqueCalalilly]

One small request...can we have a reaction emoji that indicates "that's interesting" to a post or comment. I personally find that would be helpful a lot on these forums.

[Tronora]

2 hours ago, BlaqueCalalilly said:

One small request...can we have a reaction emoji that indicates "that's interesting" to a post or comment. I personally find that would be helpful a lot on these forums.

 

I use the thanks-reaction for that  

[BlaqueCalalilly]

Can we also have an option to delete a post that we put up...or comment that we realize we made a serious error and  a forever edit ability?

[Sheep]

2 hours ago, BlaqueCalalilly said:

an option to delete a post that we put up

 

Yes. That could be helpful, especially after we see what a stupid thing we wrote. (Okay, I would use that more than you.) I think we can already delete posts in the Status Update, and maybe in a PM also? (not sure about the last one). At least, the ability to delete a post within the first few minutes after posting it, like we can with editing.

 

2 hours ago, BlaqueCalalilly said:

and  a forever edit ability?

 

That's not practical. What if you edit a post three days after you post it? But meanwhile someone quotes your post (your original post), and comments on what you wrote the first time? We would lose all sense of continuity.

Edited April 4 by Sheep

[carlos]

3 hours ago, Sheep said:

That's not practical. What if you edit a post three days after you post it? But meanwhile someone quotes your post (your original post), and comments on what you wrote the first time? We would lose all sense of continuity.

 

The same thing applies to deleting posts. If posts could be freely deleted or modified, the flow of the discussion would be affected.

That's why it's important to think twice before clicking "Send".