BlowingWind Forum Upgrade 2009

[HendryTan]

1. We have successfully upgraded the Blowing Wind Forum.

2. Let us just list down a quick laundry list of features.

a. New skin / colour - it was chosen with inputs from our readers.

b. We have enabled embedding of Media like video (Think YouTube) into the forum.

This is one of the most requested feature of the forum.

Over the next few weeks we will further customise it to recognise more AJ video sites like xTube

An example: AFA Anonymous Testing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff_eIKs5lmg

c. With the rise of social media, we are making BW Forum more "social".

Registered members can update status and it will be view-able by all.

Tell members about your latest post, what your are doing and maybe you need some company or a massage

d. We now support Facebook Connect. Guys you can now use your Facebook-ID and Facebook-Password to login to BW forum.

Convenient for people who are lazy to register at BW. For members you can link up your Facebook account and your existing BW account. We will explore more Facebook integration down the line.

e. The system now uses "reCaptcha", an improved version of those wriggly letters to keep out spam. Hope this new capthca will make the forum less spammy and easier for our readers to key in those letters.

f. For Techies, we now support RSS feeds.

g. iPhone & Blackberry users will get a special BW mobile page to make it easier to surf on those devices with small screens.

h. Many more enhancements like the editor, viewer, easier to track forum.

Personal Messaging (PM) has got a major re-work too.

2. Major browsers like Firefox (2,3), Microsoft Internet Explorer (7,8), Google Chrome (1,2) are supported.

(For Microsoft Explorer 6 users, you have to upgrade to Firefox http://www.getfirefox.com or MS Explorer 7/8 to use BW site)

3. Look around and familiarise yourself with the the new upgraded forum. There are still quite a few rough edges. If you cannot find your favourite features at the old place, do post your queries here.

Enjoy !

Hendry Tan

Admin cum Moderator

[amkies]

Nice job, moderators. Looks more refreshing, more organised and more easy on the eyes.

Noticed that there are small + and - signs at the end of each posting. Is it meant for readers to vote whether they like that posting or not?

Thanks once again for spending the weekend improving the forum for readers.

[nicefatboy]

Thanks Hendry for all your hard work, looks good.

[tboy]

Previously there was this link to view all the threads that has responses posted since our last visit, after this revamp does the function still exist? I cant seem to find the link leh. It used to be at the top right hand corner there..

Thanks!

[HendryTan]

Previously there was this link to view all the threads that has responses posted since our last visit, after this revamp does the function still exist? I cant seem to find the link leh. It used to be at the top right hand corner there..

Try the "View New Content" at the topright corner. It is next to the orange RSS button.

Cheers !

[tboy]

Try the "View New Content" at the topright corner. It is next to the orange RSS button.

Cheers !

Oooooh. Oh man, totally missed that out. =s

Thanks, and great job on the revamp! =)

[recklessbootlegger]

Yes, agree with all. Thanks. It does look good.

[alextan_69]

great job, moderator.

1 thought though: previously when u click on any links, it automatically opens in new tab/new window. But now it opens in the current window. Yes, I cld hv right-click open-in-new-window.. much prefer the earlier.

[jtsc]

Swee... love the look and feel of the new layout.

[harylok]

1. We have successfully upgraded the Blowing Wind Forum.

Enjoy !

Hendry Tan

Admin cum Moderator

Hi Henry,

Appreciate the good-effort.

btw: What about double-byte (i.e. Chinese characters)? I see garbled text.

Hary

Edited July 26, 2009 by harylok

[maturemedium]

All the previous page with chinese characters does not show ...(all appears as ?? ??? ?? ? ) how do I set it to show chinese characters

Thank You

[oralb]

Please bear with us, we are still solving the Chinese characters display issue.

A Trick A Day

watch topic - When you click on a thread, look at the top right corner, and you will see a "Watch Topic" field, click onto that and you will be offer a few options of notification whenever someone added a new posting onto that thread, also on the main page of the forum, you will find a box displaying new additions to you watched topic (under the status update box)

Good for those who's awaiting replies or monitoring certain topic...

[HendryTan]

1. Thanks for the supportive statements. Fixed some bugs before I go sleep.

2. Yes, the allows readers to vote UP & DOWN the post.

You can then set your own threshold to NOT display posts that are below a certain votes. A time saving way to avoid reading those no-contents & distracting post.

3. Bugs Fixed

a. Chinese Characters appearing as ?? fixed.

b. Clicking external-links now open on a new window.

4. Post your feedback & bugs here.

Cheers !

Hendry Tan

Admin cum Moderator

[Guest Bokeh]

Thanks for the upgrade! The forum now displays better on Opera Mobile browser. Before there was always unrecognized command dump when viewing the sub-forum, now its displaying properly.

[HendryTan]

Larry, sorry, I don't understand your question. Can elaborate.

[ixmog]

Thanks HendryTan for the hard work !

Also, thank you to all the moderators !

Here's a suggestion ! Besides solving the Chinese character input problem, I hope that a posting can have a mixed mode where one can write in English and Chinese

in a single reply. Thanks !

[oralb]

Larry, maybe certain info wasnt brought over, mine personal statement seemed to have brought over though.

To update your status, either

a. Click on your nick, go to your profile page, you should a box with the word UPDATE

b. Go to the main forum page (where you select which folder, eg main or members lounge, to go into) see the top right corner, you should see a box for your to update your status

c. BW forum is now link to Facebook, you can reflect your status changed once you linked your BW account to your facebook account, thouogh I have to say I didnt try this function yet.

[HendryTan]

1. It is ONE week since we rolled out the new forum.

Hope that everyone is enjoying, exploring and getting used to the upgraded forum.

2. We have fixed ALL the reported bugs since the upgrade.

If we have left out any issues, please post here or PM. Can also email : forum @ blowingwind.org .

3. We have completed several rounds of speed optimization. Latest tuneup just completed half hour ago.

Hope the forum feels more responsive.

Enjoy !

Hendry Tan

Admin cum Mod

[GKS]

Dear Henry Tan

Thank you for your persistence effort to bring about changes and up grading of interactive level in this forum.

Just a suggestion: Perhaps should recruit more IT experts to assist and maintain our Forum.

GKS