• March 27, 2023, 9:32 p.m.

    Bob and I have been discussing how we want the overall site to look. I've put together one idea which you can see here
    penninescouts.org.uk/cameras/index.html
    Now, this comes with LOTS of caveats.

       The site above is temporary. It may go away at any time (I do web design for scouts and I've 'borrowed' some space - but I do own it, so it should be OK for a while). The end landing space will be on DPREvived, but that isn't ready yet.
       The look and feel can change completely - some depends on feedback from you.
       The menu items can change - or go away. This is just one idea I dreamed up in about 20 minutes (and then spend 3 hours tidying up).
        It is not final, it is not official - it may break!
        It shows both forums - obviously, that is only temporary until DPRevived gets sorted properly.
    

    So, feel free to browse around. Give me feedback here. Tell me what works and what doesn't. It SHOULD work OK on mobiles and tablets, but if any page doesn't, let me know (the forums are outside my control).

    Cheers for now. Time for a G&T I think.

  • Members 676 posts
    March 27, 2023, 10 p.m.

    Interesting .. Ambitious .. and I do like it as a candidate, or whatever, for an opening screen ...

    I've been away from software development too long to contribute anything except my admiration for how fast and how well this site has come to be ….

    However, I was wondering about the forums tab that allows us to choose from multiple forums which now seem to duplicate each other .. what is the intent here … also the Photo Gallery looks like a large disk space requirement to start .....

    WhyNot

  • March 27, 2023, 10:29 p.m.

    Whynot,

    Thanks for the feedback. In the fullness of time, there will be ONE forum, not two. I think we've mentioned this in the past. Mine was set up quickly to get people to realise we had something to offer while Bob was doing his wizardry in the background. His was actually released too early (as he will admit) as he needed to do something that could only be done online and by the time he'd done that, people had found it and logged in.

    Photo gallery - no, each image is actually only 1920 x 1024 - and, as I said before, these are just examples. We have enough disk space to support a reasonable number of decent pictures and one idea (mine) is that user uploads will be links, so those will be hosted in their own space. [This is not final - it's just one idea]

    Anyhow, this is just one idea that I had over a tuna sandwich and a chat with Bob. It might all change - we want this DPRevived home to be a collaborative effort and all feedback and ideas will be considered.

    Alan

  • Members 510 posts
    March 27, 2023, 11:37 p.m.

    Both DPRevived .com and all of the pages on your temporary site work great on iOS (smartphone),
    except for the MyBB forum which you have alluded to. Like phpBB forums, lots of pinching and zooming on a small screen.

    The auto scrolling images are annoying on a desktop computer (motion-sickness), but work okay on my iPhone. lol

  • Members 2 posts
    March 28, 2023, 12:03 a.m.

    My suggestion is to make forum layout and subforums as close to DPREVIEW as possible to entice people to come over and make a smooth transition. Keeping the community together now is the most important part; other enhancements can come later.

  • Members 5 posts
    March 28, 2023, 12:45 a.m.

    I don't understand the question? The site you linked to doesn't look like a forum at all, it's just a bunch of pictures?

    I like the current design as it is.

    One idea for user photo hosting is to make people register for a site like Backblaze B2 or such that provides an S3 API. Make people provide their own API key and have the forum upload their photos there. Maybe do that after someone uploads to a cutoff, like 200MB or something.

  • Members 2 posts
    March 28, 2023, 12:59 a.m.

    I think the site he linked is a landing page. In menu on the top you have links to this forum and to PHPBB version. I like phpbb layout better. My concern with 2 options is that user base will split and quit... need to pick 1 and stick with it.

  • Foundation 32 posts
    March 28, 2023, 9:38 a.m.

    The idea for DPReview is much more than a forum. This example is just a prototype idea I made yesterday. The forums (both this one and my other one) can be accessed through the menu at the top. As can other things like galleries, contact forms, articles etc.

    I don't think anyone will get API keys and keep them around just for uploading to be viewed. A nice thought, but we need to keep it as simple as possible.

    Alan [my test account with no privs]