Upgraded Site

[frstplce]

This announcement is a bit overdue, since the update was done more than a day ago. But there was much work to be done, so I put this off while getting things set up properly.

I know some of you will like it, others won't. I've tried to keep at least the general color theme of the site similar to what we had, though the layout has changed. This is totally new software; it was written from the ground up as a replacement for some very old code.

Unfortunately, time was not on our side. The previous software was only going to be supported by the developer for a few more months. After that, we would no longer get security updates. I don’t like running potentially at-risk software and I don’t want to create any extra opportunities for the site to get hacked. Moving forward was the only option.

The previous version we were running was introduced in 2009, around the same time as the iPhone 3GS. Things have changed a bit in the past 7 years, including how we access content. The new SoccerShouts theme is designed around content access from every device. Open the site on a PC, tablet or smartphone and the theme adapts to you. Work in portrait, or flip the device into landscape and the theme will adjust accordingly. No more ugly, half-functional mobile site.

While there are a number of nice new features, one I feel needs attention is the followers system. This replaced the friends system, and it's actually useful now. Follow someone on the site, and you will get notifications about new content they create. You can further improve your experience by adjusting your notification settings to just see them on the site or get emails sent to you at regular intervals. So go ahead and follow @Footballars account, and get updates on his latest video posts.

There will be more coming in the following days, but for now, take a look around and see what you think. If there's something you really don't like or anything appears out of place, let me know so I can take a look. Considering the last major update was six years ago, we'll probably be working with this software for a while. So might as well do it right.

[The Next Berbatov]

Okay just saw a few things 

Tags are now limited to maximum 15 characters which wasn't the case earlier.  Also have Prefix been removed from the video forums and need to be reconfigured again as it was an addon? 

 

[frstplce]

1 hour ago, The Next Berbatov said:

Okay just saw a few things 

Tags are now limited to maximum 15 characters which wasn't the case earlier.  Also have Prefix been removed from the video forums and need to be reconfigured again as it was an addon? 

 

RE: tags - I limited it to 15 characters. Give me a more reasonable number if you wish. Tags are most useful when they are similar, so the longer the tag the more opportunity for variability. Here I was thinking 15 might have been excessive.

Prefix - That's more or less gone. It was an addon before, and the price for the new version is now more expensive to maintain than the cost of the forum itself. Without it, prefixes are just as open-ended as the tags. Probably more valuable to concentrate on thread naming so the search system is most effective.

[The Next Berbatov]

I thought so. Only problem with 15 limit is I wasn't able to use "Manchester United" completely as a tag. Anyway, I'll use ManUtd in the future. 

[frstplce]

Site may be temporarily slowed while massive pruning of the member database takes place. As previously announced, old unused accounts are being removed. Any account that has 0 posted content and has not logged in since Oct. 7, 2015 will be included in the purge. This affects (sadly) the majority of accounts on the site. Approximately 20% of registered accounts will remain.

[Toño]

Time to clean the house!

[frstplce]

1 hour ago, Toño said:

Time to clean the house!

Exactly. Now that we aren't requiring registration just to view links, registrations will be much, much lower. But hopefully those that are taking the time to register prefer to participate, letting guests hit & run if they were only interested in the downloads.

[frstplce]

Individual league discussion boards have been combined into a single Teams & Leagues discussion forum. Should post activity warrant an expansion again in the future it will be considered. But recently there has been little to no actual discussion.