New web site updates

[Matt2]

We have been working hard to make some changes to the Whisky Magazine web site and much of this is now online.

We hope you like the improvements and will continue to finish up the changes over the next couple of days.

Certain forum and subscription features may not be working (Tokens, Articles and My Whisky) but we will have these fixed tomorrow along with any missing content and tastings.

Thanks, and we look forward to your comments.

[Matt2]

Ps.. I will be changing the forum templates soon so don't get too comfortable with it

[anationonfire]

Awesome, Not that I really had any thing to complain about before but it does look a little more tidy so far.
Really enjoying the new lay out for the Tasting Section.

Thanks for your hard work guys!

[Dubois]

First impression: very nice lay-out !
Great job, thanks !

[Matt2]

C57 - I think the news forum doesn't allow bbcode in replies, and it shouldn't let you put it in.. will look into it. Active topics still not working..

Lots of other tweaks to get done today, like making sure the online subscription activation works so you can read all the articles online.

We also have the systems in place now to keep it all upto date, no more missing issues or tastings etc..

Glad you are liking the new look, should be much easier to navigate and find what you want.

I will let you all know as the forum bits get finished.

[Matt2]

There will be more announcements about this later but for now...

Subscribers to Whisky Magazine can now access ALL articles from ALL back issues online.

Simply enter your Surname and Subscriber Number in the box provide in your Profile / Control Panel. It should look something like SURNAME1234567.

We are currently uploading the subscriber data and this may take a few days before all subs are active.

To help us test this feature you can email me (matt@whiskymag.com) with your Surname and Subscriber Number and I can activate it for you now.

[matteo]

"Remember me" function doesnt work properly

[matteo]

"My Whisky" list error page:

SQL ERROR [ mysql4 ]

Unknown column 'Whisky.whisky_locid' in 'where clause' [1054]

[johan brugge]

I really like the new lay-out! Well done!

[les taylor]

[quote="Matt Page"]There will be more announcements about this later but for now...

Subscribers to Whisky Magazine can now access ALL articles from ALL back issues online.

Simply enter your Surname and Subscriber Number in the box provide in your Profile / Control Panel. It should look something like SURNAME1234567.

We are currently uploading the subscriber data and this may take a few days before all subs are active.

To help us test this feature you can email me (matt@whiskymag.com) with your Surname and Subscriber Number and I can activate it for you now.

:smoke:[/quote]



Matt it must be me being a bit thick I'm having trouble finding the box to put in my subscriber number.

[Matt2]

Hi Les,

It's on your profile page in the control panel
ucp.php?i=164

Well I hope it's there, it was last night ....

Cheers

Matt

[Matt2]

Active Topics is now working and so is New Post.

[Matt2]

And I've added some of the active subscriptions to the system so you should be able to get all the articles now...

If it still says your code is inactive then email us and we will add it in.

[les taylor]

[quote="Collector57"]It was there when I looked Matt. It's Les being thick :P[/quote]


Okay done that. Entered my number. I'm still thick nothing happened.

[Matt2]

Visit the Magazine section and you should see that you can read all the articles.

[ClubSmed]

What time zone it the forum supposed to be on?

[kyorke1]

New design looks good Matt, Cheers.

[DavidUK]

Listings of members who have a particular expression seem to have disappeared.

[lockejn]

The only thing I don't like so far is the courier font in the test box when I'm writing a post. Fixed fonts just don't really work for me. But that's a very small thing in the scheme of things.

+1
In general, a really nice overhaul, though.

[pkt77242]

Matt,

topics in the bar don't seem to show up in active topics, is that due to it going away soon? Thanks

[Secesh]

Am I missing:

1. Finding a whisky anywhere besides the home tab? Don't see it anywhere.
2. It was nice having recent forum threads along with the whisky listings & reviews. Maybe I'm one of the few who use this area to search out expressions I find and haven't tried before.

[Matt2]

Hi,

The Bar will not show in active topics, and I still don't know whats happening to it...

1. Finding a whisky anywhere besides the home tab? Don't see it anywhere.

You can try the Tastings tab (I think it should be called Whisky but others liked the word Tastings)

2. It was nice having recent forum threads along with the whisky listings & reviews. Maybe I'm one of the few who use this area to search out expressions I find and haven't tried before.

These will all be added back in, and will be appearing in new places as well. The tasting page has it back, just working on Brands etc..

DavidUK - It's coming back with the other bits

C57 - Courier font will go soon

ClubSmed - It's in the Whisky Magazine timezone, can't fix everything, it just wouldn't be whiskymag.com then

[Secesh]

Thanks Matt

[Spirit of Islay]

I don't know , i go away for a fortnight and everything changes !
As nice as the new format is , any chance of centring the thing as it looks even odder now being to one side and a great white space to the right ?

[Mr Fjeld]

The new forum design looks really good. I have one small suggestion though; the forum should be IPhone native. Many of us use smart phones and accessing the forum is s lot easier throug an app such as "Tapatalk" rather than the usual browser. I know this might be stretching it but still...

[pkt77242]

The new forum design looks really good. I have one small suggestion though; the forum should be IPhone native. Many of us use smart phones and accessing the forum is s lot easier throug an app such as "Tapatalk" rather than the usual browser. I know this might be stretching it but still...

I
I somewhat 2nd mr field that it should be mobile phone native. About half the time i sign on and post it os from my droid x.

[Mr Fjeld]

The Bar is gone with all its threads? Surely this is just a mistake?

[mikeymad]

If you don't give anyone a place to post a random topic then I guess that you are free to post it anywhere.

Just with the knowledge that if it is not whisky related they will probably remove it in the future...

I don't mind the purging of old (dead for a long time) non-whisky related threads... but to kill active threads because they are not whisky related is not very nice.

Oh well..

[pkt77242]

The Bar is gone with all its threads? Surely this is just a mistake?

I don't see them either but I was under the impression that they were getting a slight name change and moved to a different area? Matt are they coming back?

[dramtastic]

The Bar is gone with all its threads? Surely this is just a mistake?

I hope not becuase it'll mean that I will have to write ANOTHER 200 posts to get to triple gold member for the 4TH TIME in the last few months!!!!!!!

[lockejn]

Perhaps if it were more precisely communicated what the magazine hopes to gain from these forums we could more effectively accommodate.

[Matt2]

Yes, as announced over a month ago The Bar has gone. Kept some of the topics but really can't see where they fit into the site. Will see what happens over the next week or so.

Other changes are - Website reviews has gone, because no one really reviewed any web sites. Wanted and Valuations have moved back into Collectors Corner. Cask Buying Club has been removed (if anyone needs the info in that forum let me know ASAP before it's all binned later this week)

Coming changes - Distillery Images, not sure whats happening but it will change or go. Live Tastings will be revamped or merged back into Whisky Tastings. Whisky Polls will either merge with Q&A or be revamped with only polls. Post ranks and counts will probably go, and theres a bucket load of old posts and stuff to delete from various forums.

Mikey - If your posts aren't whisky related then they probably shouldn't be here, and will get deleted very quickly.

Lockejn - They want a whisky forum where people can come and talk about whisky.

There are so many other places, forums and sites where people can chat in general about anything and everything. This forum is just for whisky now, there aren't enough hours in the day to run a general chat forum and the headaches it causes.

There won't be an iPhone specific site, however there are discussions about a generic mobile site which will work better on small screens and many phones. It may be a Subscriber only service depending on what's offered.

And someone mentioned RSS feeds for the forum , these won't be activated anytime soon, want people to actually visit the site not just get the content stripped out. Again would probably be a Subscriber only feature if it is done.

[bcrossan]

I love the new format and layout

Is there any way in the Private Messages notifications to actually get the message in the email alert and not just tell you there is a PM? Other forum board systems are able to do this and I was wondering if it could be enabled here as well. It helps greatly when trying to get the message from a phone.

[Mr Fjeld]

There are so many other places, forums and sites where people can chat in general about anything and everything. This forum is just for whisky now, there aren't enough hours in the day to run a general chat forum and the headaches it causes.

I hear what you're saying and it's your forum - and I have no problem understanding that running and moderating a forum is a tedious task. I've always enjoyed being here; talking about whisky, films, food and other things not pertinent to whisky. And that is precisely what defines whisky drinkers as we are multi-faceted social beings.
I'm sure it's still going to be a nice place for many whisky drinkers - but I don't think it's interesting enough for me unless there is room for a non-whisky conversation.

[Matt2]

Glad some of you are enjoying the updates and changes. There are a few more to come over the next couple of weeks (well, mainly fixing My Whisky, Live Tastings and a few other bits).

Now, some of you will be a little too happy about my next bit of news, but I do like putting a smile on your faces ....

I have now finished Rob's forum training and he is now a fully fledged Administrator. This means I can finally be released from the asylum and back into the general population. I will be giving up my Admin status tomorrow and will have very little to do with the forum from now on.

However, before you all get too excited and kick off, Rob has also been trained on the use of the BAN button and is eager to give it a go. All rules still apply and existing hidden Admins still remain to boot people off without warning or explanation. Some of the existing bans will also remain permanent as we appear to still have problems from a certain corner of the web, but most have now been lifted.

So, I wish you all the best and hope you can enjoy the forums just as much without your favourite Admin around to keep things interesting.



Good luck Rob and a fond farewell to the forum members. I'm now off to find out what to do about all the grey hairs I have acquired over the last few years.