Beemaster 2015 - a new look, easier to navagate, image storage and more.

[beemaster]

Well, it is time to start cluing you all in on the changes coming to Beemaster Forums for 2015.

I have made a few hints here and there and now is the right time to announce we are upgrading to the Latest version of the forum software we currently use. They have made the important buttons you push, like post, reply, etc, more pronounced and the layout is slicker using a color palette near the classic brown and tan colors.  for those of you who have used our The updated forum will be going into effect soon, so you may see some short downtime - but you will see great improvements in the look of the forum when done.

This includes new logos, post and no post buttons - a major look but easier to maneuver interface. The unburdened software is much smaller and more logical then prior. The current version we use has been trimmed down and faster.

We will also have "Member Image Storage" ON-SITE: no more imageshack types of issues. Keep a copy of all your beekeeping photos right here in one place. Many other improvements we'll cover soon!

And even more announcements - stay tunes and join us welcoming in 2015 with a new look and many more features.

[BeeMaster2]

John,
Sounds really good, looking forward to seeing it in action.
Jim

[Chiefman]

Yes looking forward to the updates  :-D

[beemaster]

Yes, we're tweaking and moving things about to make the interface as natural as a forum can be.. As said, most people use the check new post since last visited option or the reply to my posts choice - these two are easily featured next to your username when logged in.

If you are familiar and like our classic honey and wood color scheme, then this is a cleaner looking, easy to navigate version.

This is happening soon - I can only warn members that if you cannot connect to Beemaster, then it is likely the software and files being put in service. We tested the smf2 which has been out for awhile, but there have been updates and tweaks, now it looks ready for us to apply it.

I really like the member image storage that is coming - locally hosting the images you share takes away from the forum having to post images from elsewhere and although we haven't totally figured out the
Limit of storage per member, tossing ideas around, but it's an exciting time.

[Richard M]

Hi Beemaster - it looks really good - well done!

[thewhiterhino]

Much more user friendly, Thanks

[BeeMaster2]

John,
Looks good. Just need to learn how to copy and paste inside of this new system. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not.
Jim

[beemaster]

All praise goes to Robo as always. He has the right mojo that "technically" keeps our forum going. It looks great, runs great and we think we have all the bugs tweaked from all views.

Jim, I believe all the cut/paste/copy stuff should work without the need for the code buttons in the post box.

Can't wait to get home to try the DRAFT option again, to us long winded writers being able to pause and later resume a post us golden stuff.

[Chiefman]

Looking good so far....may i suggest some light guide lines or tabled in the front main page. i should make it easier to line up the topics and what the latest post is.

[beemaster]

Chiefman - and everyone.

If you haven't figured out what happen to NEW POSTS SINCE LAST VISITED: and REPLIES TO YOUR POSTS they are now at the top LEFT, next to your member name and called [ Unread ] and [ Replies ] this allows for a much slicker forum that is less top (content) heavy on every page.

So it's always easy to find:
 
UNREAD posts since last visited
REPLIES to your posts.

Also, noted on a separator line - the issues might be VISUALLY with posts in bold, and less fluff on the main page of a forum - a guide line MIGHT look too busy, but we appreciate and try all requests behind the scenes to see if they can 1) work with the software 2) improve or worsen the look or function of the layout. Thanks.

Just an example of lightening up the top of the pages, your icon is no longer at the top - your MEMBER NAME is, but no image. Simple change that allows people to see posts right away.

[AllenF]

I like the new look.  It just took me a bit to figure out what my password was since I had not used it in years.   

[BeeMaster2]

I like the new look.  It just took me a bit to figure out what my password was since I had not used it in years.   

Allen,
I had the same problem, I had the right words, wrong capitalization.
Jim

[Michael Bush]

I have no complaints.  Everything works fine and I can still find everything so far.  But I'm not doing anything I wasn't already and I'm doing it the same way...  I often hate upgrades because they often force me to relearn the entire system... but this seems to work the same.  You didn't hide everything (a common thing that happens with upgrades).  You didn't change everything to some meaningless icon (a common thing lately) that I cannot for the life of me guess.  So I think it's fine.

[shif]

It looks like it works pretty well.