Issues with this website and some new ideas

I think the perceptions of clarity and ease of use in forum format and design are highly subjective. I love the SI format, and can't stand the FotF forums. CARM? Booooorrrring.

I like Crosswalk- but I've been posting there for at least a decade, and have gotten used to site again every time they upgrade.

I do understand that if you're accustomed to the styling of the boards you linked to that you'd have some difficulties with the SI format.

Susan, I agree with you. It may be because I have primarily viewed SI over the last year or so regularly, but I do find it very user-friendly, especially with the recent updates. I checked out the other sites mentioned. I thought the 48 days site had some neat features. But one can always find new ways to present information in a better way. I think the team here has done a great job on creating an enjoyable site.

As I said, preferences are subjective. People like what they like for reasons of personal taste, and styling should fit the purpose.

I'm not sure who you're talking to when you say "I think you like it better because you are used to it, and do not like change." I don't think you can assume that people don't like change just because they prefer the SI format- last year we migrated from vbulletin to Drupal, and then last week we did a major site upgrade. Liking or not liking change is not the issue.

You can tweak the font size by going to your browser menu bar, choosing View, and if you are using Firefox, you can Zoom In or Out to increase or decrease the font size. I forget what IE looks like.

Most websites credit the software they are using at the very bottom of the page. Ours says "Powered by Drupal, an open source content management system.".

What features in particular are on your wish list?

It's true that vBulletin, SMF (Simple Machines Forum), PHPBB, and lots of other forum packages are available out there and they do tend to have a few bells and whistles we're lacking here--though not a whole lot.

The reasons we moved away from vBulletin and didn't chose another "forum software" package...

• SI isn't just a forum, so we were looking at a way to blend the article content with the forum content
• Blending them either meant using two content management systems (a standard cms and a forum) that we link with custom applications, etc. or finding a single content system that could provide both.
• The two-systems linked together proved to be unwieldy and hard to maintain in the past (at least from my POV).
• Drupal offered the best single-cms set of tradeoffs (Trade-offs were unavoidable. CMS's are not designed to focus on forum features... forums are not designed to serve up "front page" type content.)

Having said all that, if there are specific features you're seeing in vBulletin/SMF/PHPBB forums that you would like to see here, tell us about them. There is a good chance we can get them added in the future if there is alot of interest.

But in looking at the sites linked in the OP, we are talking mainly about visual stying. One item I forgot in my "list of reasons" above... I've always thought vBulletin forums were pretty ugly out of the box and I spent several months trying to figure out how to beautify ours before going to Drupal. I've seen it done, so I know it's possible, but I do not possess the magic. In general, the vB look is just not appealing to me.

In Linux you can run Windows, too. Do it every day. But I don't know if I can virtualize Mac OS. For what it costs, I'm not sure I'd want to but it's cheaper than buying a Mac, that's for sure.

If Macs just work, then why did you start this thread?

{/evil grin}

I'd take it... then sell it.

More seriously, web developers have to focus on what most users are using and then try to accommodate the variations as much as possible from there. SI doesn't work worth beans in Internet Explorer 6 (it works, but way ugly). Well, at some point one has to ask: is this worth more time to try to remedy?

Fortunately, from what I hear, Safari is a solid browser which means there is very little that has to be tweaked to make it happy. Stuff does not have to be developed specifically for it.
It handles standard CSS just fine... unlike IE, which tries to follow its own rules and tell everyone else what the rules ought to be. (If you think you hear some resentment there...yes, you do. )

(FWIW, SI readers are 41% IE, 32% Firefox and 16% Safari... Chrome is at 10% but growing)

But as someone who IS in IT full time, it is worth noting that Apple builds their computers in such a way as to minimize the 'threat' of people modifying the hardware. They have reason to do so, and yes, you *might* be able to add RAM or swap the HDD, but if a major component goes (like the cracked screen issue from last year), we're down a full computer. I can't do anything to it other than call Apple and return it for repairs or truck it to an Apple Store. That's a MAJOR problem in terms of efficiency and workflow.

That, coupled with the fact that Apple drives the market in terms of hardware and peripheral adoption (by which I mean that they insist on eliminating legacy hardware quickly), makes Macs a nightmare to support for an average IT guy.

I suppose we COULD junk the new server and new PC's that we just bought....but then we have to run PC-Specific software (which there is a lot of out there) in a virtualized Windows environment, which means I have to train the end-users on PC's anyway.

/rant

Parallels was recommended highly, and although I didn't think it was the easiest to setup and use, it does the job well. I'd recommend it as well.

That being said, I'm off topic, so I'll drop it now

How are you managing to lose posts?
Perhaps there is some gap we can fill in.

People- I appreciate your explanations, but I really don't care what computer you use. I don't have a preference, as I've used both PC and Mac and think they're both great and have their place in the free market. For homeschooling it is much cheaper and easier for us to use PCs. Don't take those images seriously ya'll. Laugh a little. Eat some fudge.

There now. Does everyone feel better?

"Everything's a trade-off". So you go with what works best for you, ignoring or at least tolerating the down side because the down side is worth the up side.

I'll never understand, however, why some people have so much trouble with their home PCs. I've had a PC of one kind or other for umpteen years- no viruses, no crashes (that weren't entirely my fault), and I don't need to take time to run maintenance because all of my free maintenance programs run on schedules at night, along with other automatic updates.

Work PCs are a different game entirely, however. You don't get to control how the computer is used or programmed... Macs have a definite advantage in the workplace, IMO. But no way am I buying a Mac for my 8 year old- he has a little Gateway netbook for school that cost about $30. With my school budget, that price was perfect.

Jay- My experiences with Macs date to before networking capabilities were what they are today... and the Mac was great for all the accounting needs of the company I worked for.

Ability to afford something is a function of, as you say, priorities. Paying too much for what I can do for less would only make sense if the Apple aesthetic (which is superb) was a higher priority. As it is, I can't afford to pay extra for the good looks. And, hey, my Dell isn't exactly ugly.

Any time we spring for a major purchase something else suffers. There just isn't anything I want to suffer so that I can own a mac.

Since I use Linux, I don't have the security hassles of Windows. And I can upgrade the OS a couple times a year...all for free. About 90% of the software I use is free.
Since I believe profit is a good thing (it really means "wealth creation"), I don't really believe free software makes a whole lot of sense. But nickels being in short supply... I'm glad it's an option!

The cost of a mac would cover my kids' tuition for several months.

You are correct, as far as it goes -- I can't make assumptions about other places of business that I have no knowledge of. However, I have been working in the technology field since 1988, have worked at 6 companies, visited others for training and business trips, interviewed at a number of others, and spoken with those who work at many I haven't visited. For my segment of the business world, I believe I have a pretty good idea of what is expected now. (And by the way, you don't have to work in my field to know about it -- I have run into people who have noticed my dress coming back from work and have asked if I worked in software. When I replied in the affirmative, they responded that they "could tell" by the way I dressed. Work dress in my industry is well known.)

What has changed is time. In 1988, many software engineers where I worked still wore shirt and tie, and jackets were used only for customer trips or interviews, except for managers/sales etc. In 1991, at a different company, most days were nice shirt/slacks, with Friday being "dress down" day where jeans and t-shirt were OK, but nothing sloppier than that. As time has continued to progress, dress at most software engineering firms has continued to progress (some might say "regress") until it is where it is today.

I might agree that engineering is not the best way to tell, since something can become ingrained at a particular company, and engineers don't often "get out much" in comparison with the support, sales, marketing, etc. types. However, since these positions have also gone away from "business dress" in our industry (and companies depend on how well the people that interact with customers and potential customers do their jobs and make an impression), it's a much better indication of the expectations.

It wouldn't matter so much if I only needed one Mac, but I'd've needed four- I've already graduated one child, and have three to go. I'm not going to discuss my husband's income, but I would not assume, or sound like I'm assuming that the PC owners on this forum make 40-90K or spend frivolously and thus can't afford a Mac. What's up with that?

Bottom line is that I've gotten great deals on PCs, and I've not missed not having a Mac for a nanosecond. I don't need one for what we do.

John, I would be careful how you are coming across when talking about your pay. Just sayin.

In regards to cost of living, I know some people who plan how I do, I have multiple savings going on at the moment, saving for a house (garbage forclosures that you would have to invest another 50k in, that are in a livable neighborhood in the Twin Cities go for about 150k, so you can take a guess at a non-forclosure), a car for 2013, car maintenance, dental expense coming up (Yes, I have dental insurance, but it is still going to cost about 6k out of pocket), this next year I will start one for a new computer (another Macbook pro FYI), etc. In the end, all my money every paycheck is going to an expense somewhere, so in one way I am living paycheck to paycheck. So for some people, yes they make more than you, but as a result they are also putting aside more for other things. Like you said, priorities. So take it or leave it, it doesn't bother me, just thought you might want to know you may come off to some people in a different tone than you meant it to be understood.

I like the Mac hardware, but Linux as the OS. Current lineup in our home, Macbook Pro (10.4. I am too cheap to upgrade), Asus Netbook, and Asus Nettop both running Ubuntu 10.04. IMO opinion, there is a trend towards the Nets over a full blown computer. In most ways, they are able to run every piece of software, but with more physical flexibility. (hook your netbook up to your HDTV when home, disconnect when you travel. I do this, and one of my friends did, and I am a coworker to do it as well.)

Back to the computer stuff. I work in IT as well, as a result we sit in a number of discussions on the future of computing. The old days of thinking about software in terms of specific to an OS are dieing. Take SAP, they are coming out or have come out with a mobile app. Or Google and all their web services. I casually play a game called minecraft, which is a java web based application able to run on all modern browsers and OS, and it is still in Alpha release. OWA, is practically a full email client with a lot Outlook has. Instead of OneNote there is Evernote, which is touted with the ability to run on almost any device. There is a web based app instead of Visio, but the name slipped me.

The list could go on and on about software being produced for the web. And it is not just that companies are making these apps for home users, in the end, companies like my employer will either be proactive or reactive to this change.

All that to say, the notion that one needs a Windows computer, let alone it emulated to run specific software is evanescent, and more so once HTML5 and CSS3 are supported.

I guess I will find a different thread for what I was actually going to post here.