Beta Testing New Thread Layout

[John Robinson]

I'm testing a new thread layout. On latest posts, you will see a "beta" link for each article. Click it to read the article in the new thread style.

"Why fix it if it ain't broke?"

Well, it is broken, and it needs to be fixed. The old style Free Republic threads on average consumed 65 kilobytes per view. Multiply that by 600,000 articles served per day and that adds up to a big chunk of bandwidth.

I believe this new format will consume less resources. An eyeball estimate would put that average at about 15-20 kilobytes per view. You may have noticed how bandwidth starved Free Republic has been lately. It's been real slow during the morning. This new software, when fully implemented, should alleviate that problem.

[xm177e2]

I am posting my CSS on my profile page, it works with both new and old styles, if anyone is interested.

[Rosencrantz]

Looking good.

Change the main table width from 100% to 98% and you'll lose the horizontal scroll at 1024x768...

[francisandbeans]

I copied your style sheet to a style.css file. I uploaded it (at least the screen told me I did) and nothing has changed....am I missing a step?

[facedown]

As are most creatures, I am change-averse but if this format will speed things up as much as you infer, I'll get used to it.
Thanks for your tireless efforts.

[Jefferson Adams]

One thing that I found interesting is that in paging down through the replies I sometimes had to page back up to see who the reply was posted by. I spoze it's a damned if you / damned if you don't thing, but the poster's screen name on the bottom of the reply rather than on the top works better for me, especially on long replies.

Otherwise, I do like the old format better, but bandwidth improvement is a Good Thing, and I'd probably get used to it :)

[steveegg]

Got an uber-style sheet ready for NS6/IE6 based on the original wallpaper/3D effects. Even have BLOCKQUOTES correctly formatted in the beta (question; is fr_quote meant to replace BLOCKQUOTE when Forum 3 goes live?). Only have one problem; I either lose the fr_page_here/goto formatting in the beta (and had to change the color of the _here to red) or the A: formatting outside the text of the posts in Forum Classic.

Don't get me started with Nutscape 4.x. With style sheets (at least with my limited testing), images block text. Without style sheets, however, they don't.

[francisandbeans]

can you tell me how to make the style sheets work?

[ArGee]

I took one look at the beta format and liked it fine, but when I posted a reply the reply took me back to the old format - so I can't give you a full evaluation.

Shalom.

[steveegg]

FReeper George W. Bush (not to be confused with President Bush; one runs the country, the other is a wiz with style sheets) has some good instructions on his web site. Once you have a style sheet (either one of those there or your own), save it as a text file, head here, and upload it. It should then work.

One important thing; if you have Netscape 4.x (especially 4.7x), there are significant compatibility problems that can break entire threads. I do have a couple of style sheets for the current forum there, but I will not guarantee that they work on every thread. I also won't be posting style sheets for NS 4.x for the Forum 3.0 until I can figure out how to make images behave. The "good" news is that not having style sheets won't prevent you from seeing the threads in their entirety, though you won't have the cool stuff.

[steveegg]

I don't think the posting method of Forum 3.0 is quite done yet. From what I know of it, there are a few enhancements from 2.0 (an endless number of people you can flag with one post and a resizable text box are the 2 main improvements you don't already see; the new buttons and the semi-colon requirement are already implemented here).

[francisandbeans]

thanks...it worked this time

[Database]

Most of my thoughts on the new format have been mentioned in one or more replies. I'd prefer to see the article appear at the top of each page rather than linking to the first page of the thread. Perhaps this could be an option on the preferences page? Aside from bandwidth issues, my IE 4.x browser gets unusably slow when threads get much over 150-200 posts. Pagination is a big win for me, but I second the call for an "entire thread" button.

[Revel]

That bright Blue, and light black text is not something my eyes can take for long. What stands out is the link stuff. The text of the article is what you have to strain to read in this beta format. I Tend to just keep hitting the scrolling button rather than read text that is so light it hurts the eyes. As for the rest of the changes...I really have not had a a chance yet to check them out. As I am -I don't like changes...So I have to be careful. I realize why you are doing this and that is noble and good. I wish there was some other way to reload threads with out having to reload the whole thread(The part already read). Even if this involved some kind of software download. I remember when the changes were made to this current format a long time ago. Remember how long it took to make most people happy.

Well there are a new kind of people here now. They have different views about the constitution, the government, and corruption. They are willing to compromise on all of them...So why not the looks of this forum that is so Unique and so pleasing that I am sure it has hooked many at first sight. Ever try reading the others...YUK!!!! John you will probably not find too many decenters so I am sure I would be wasting my time crying about whatever I don't like. I have my theory's as to all of that, and why most people currently posting on FR have such a changed value system, but I will keep that to myself.

Like I said...I understand that you are trying to save bandwidth. I kind of looked forward to your new software as long as it did not drastically affect the appearance of FR. I will try to keep my complaints limited to the mere fact that the new text colors and fonts or whatever it is that makes the new format so hard to look at...let alone stare at for endless hours...Well that is my biggest concern. If I am in the minority then I will just have to accept the fact that I am viewing handicapped and will have to suffer the loss.

[Revel]

"Ah, you must not have a style sheet aware browser. If you have style sheets, the header information is indeed shaded. Hrm. "

On some other sites I have visited the sytle sheets only work if you have Java turned on. Since i don't leave Java turned on then style sheets are no option to me.

[ozone1]

Love it, faster and I can down load more articles via avantgo on my palm.

[xm177e2]

I copied your style sheet to a style.css file. I uploaded it (at least the screen told me I did) and nothing has changed....am I missing a step?

I had some problems with this, is the file "style.css" (or "whatever.css"), or is it "style.css.txt?" It's hard to tell sometimes, because in windows the file looks like it's called "style.css," when it's really "style.css.txt"

If you want to intstall your own custom css, download GWB's, then copy it with windows (using right-click and drag). You should have "copy of style.css" (or whatever Bush's is called), then you can rename it to "style2.css," edit it with a text editor, and then DON'T click "save as," just click "save" to save the changes, then upload it.

John, are you going to make a page on FR where people can post their own custom css's, and make it really easy for people to choose their own from the available options, rather than the current process, which is so technical?

[Aristophanes]

I clicked on the "beta" tag to see what it was.

If this is how FR is going to look from now on (stripped down and UGLY with a capital G) then I bet you'll get a whole lotta bandwidth back just from people who no longer visit. I don't know what a "style sheet" is and don't intend to find out. (And I'll be there are a whole lot of other people just like me. The internet thing seems to be regressing lately -- its getting harder to use, not easier.)

Sorry to be a wet blanket. But that's my opinion and I'll bet its a bunch more valuable than all of those people telling you how great your new suit of clothes looks.

[Some hope remaining.]

That bright Blue, and light black text is not something my eyes can take for long. What stands out is the link stuff. The text of the article is what you have to strain to read in this beta format. I Tend to just keep hitting the scrolling button rather than read text that is so light it hurts the eyes.

Yeah, what he said!

[Some hope remaining.]

Update. I normally read FR using Netscape on Unix. I just tried it using IE on a laptop PC and the bright blue was much less offensive.

Can the new color be toned down a bit to be more like the old darker blue? That way it might be tolerable even in Netscape.

[blackbart1]

How about a link after the last post that reloads the page & anchors down to that lates post, so I can pick up where I left off?

I have wondered about that as well. It sure is a time waster.