Over the past few months, you may have noticed some improvements and upgrades to the forum. The support team has been slowly working on, and introducing, these improvements. Some include:
-The forum migrated from HTTP: to HTTPS: connections, to keep your content secure and encrypted.
-A forum support team was created, with volunteers from the industry. This is the group that is here to answer questions about the forum, and help stimulate (but not stifle) discussion. The management style is very laid back and friendly. If you have a question, these are the folks to help. CONTACT US at the bottom will email all of the support team. Current team volunteers include Ylva Callewaert, Greg Norris, Wally Fay, and Mike Labbe.
Forums:
-Some older low activity sub forums were merged together, and new ones were introduced. Some of the new sections include HELP! Searching For (discontinued mat and moulding finder), Picture Framing Equipment and CMC HELP, Tech Support Squad (software, etc), and Covid-19 Business Discussions (temporary, as a crisis resource)
-Merged 1998-2004 grumble archive with grumble forum and erased archive sub forum (5033 posts)
-Merged 1998-2004 warped archive with warped forum and erased archive sub forum (2525 posts)
-Manually moved thousands of old miscategorized posts to their respective areas.
-Increased security, so less content is viewable to search engines and non vetted folks.
-Added custom images next to each sub forum
-The registration process has been improved, with easier questions, while still protecting from spammers. Some folks had difficulty with the old method, and became discouraged from registering. They either didn't know the answer to the industry question, or their selected username was too short to meet the minimum size. If we see someone having trouble, the support team volunteers are happy to assist. We can always be reached by clicking CONTACT US at the bottom of any page. The system was further modified to email staff members when someone registers.
-A new RESOURCES feature was added. The resource system supports periodic updates from the volunteer who maintains each resource, with each update documented. Each resource also has an associated discussion thread on the forum, for general questions. Resource managers have a special "resource manager" banner on their posts, as a thank you. Some of the featured resources include Larry's database of picture framing equipment manuals, David's list of companies that are re-open since the Covid crisis, previous grumble survey/poll results, and soon there will be The Grumble Cookbook, POS Software, and CMC vendor product lists.
-New coding was added that will let members change their nickname once, and it will update all previous posts with the new name. If you find that you would rather use a real name instead of a nickname, or maybe the CaSe sensitivity isn't what you like, you can now make a one time change. (Click your name on the top right, click ACCOUNT DETAILS, to see the option)
-Forum registration date and number of posts fields now appear on posts.
-Support for PUSH NOTIFICATIONS was added, as you would see from social media platforms. This lets the forum notify you when you receive a PM or a reply to one of your discussions. Notifications can be sent to your desktop browser, phone, or tablet.
-Extended post EDIT TIME from 30 minutes to 90 minutes. This is how long you can make corrections to your posts on the forum.
-Widened how much space the forum will use for desktop computers by about 30%, for those with higher resolution monitors.
-Support was added to directly support linking embedded content to most major platforms, within posts on this forum. Some of the ones we now support include:
8tracks, 247Sports, ABC News, Amazon Product, Anchor, Audioboom, Audiomack, Bandcamp, BBC News, Bit Chute, Bleacher Report videos, Break, Brightcove, CBS News Video, CNBC, CNN, CNNMoney, Comedy Central, Coub, Dailymotion, Democracy Now!, dumpert, ESPN, Facebook, Flickr, Fox News, FOX Sports, Funny or Die, GameClips.io, Gamer DVR, Gamespot, GameTrailers, Getty Images, Gfycat, Gifs.com, GIPHY, GitHub Gist, Global News, GoFundMe, Google+, Google Drive, Google Sheets, Hudl, Hulu, IGN, IMDb, Imgur, Indiegogo, Instagram, Internet Archive, JW Platform, Kickstarter, Kontinental Hockey League (КХЛ), Libsyn, Liveleak, Livestream, Mail.Ru, Medium, Megaphone, Metacafe, Mixcloud, Mixer, MLB, MRCTV, MSNBC, National Geographic Channel, National Geographic Video, NBC News, NBC Sports, NHL Videos and Highlights, NPR, Orfium, Pastebin, Pinterest, Podbean, Prezi, Reddit threads and comments, Rutube, Scribd, Sendvid, SlideShare, SoundCloud, Sporcle, Sportsnet, Spotify, Spreaker, Steam store, Stitcher, Straw Poll, Streamable, Streamja, Team Coco, TED Talks, Telegram, The Atlantic Video, The Guardian (obsolete), The New York Times Video, The Onion, The Wall Street Journal Online, TikTok, TMZ, Trailer Addict, Trending Views, Tumblr, Twitch, Twitter, Ustream, VBOX7, Veoh, Vevo, Video Detective, Vimeo, Vine, VK, Vocaroo, Vox, Washington Post Video, Wistia, WorldStarHipHop, Youku, YouTube, İzlesene.
-Support for full UNICODE was added, to support emojis
-We purchased and added a brand new ad management platform, which is how the forum handles its operating expenses. The forum will always be free for framers. The new ad platform lets vendors set up and manage their own ads, which will randomly display with other vendors between every 5th post. Vendors can also monitor how many impressions and clicks their banners receive, and direct those clicks to any URL they wish. Vendors are also rewarded with a "featured vendor" banner, on their posts. Please support our generous vendor sponsors!
-The forum is now able to accept credit cards and Paypal directly, from vendors and from members who wish to make an optional donation. Folks who donate are rewarded with a special "Forum Sponsor" banner on their posts, as a thank you. The "become a sponsor" link is located in the account settings area, if you click your name on the top right.
-The most current version of the forum software (Xenforo) has been installed, and is updated regularly. The color/layout is periodically changed, to include major holidays.
-We moved to a new server in March, which is using SSD (solid state) faster drives, the newest PHP 7.4, Litespeed / Litespeed Cache platform, Storpool technology (forum is spread across multiple servers and will immediately 'self heal' if equipment fails), etc. Four different backup methods are employed daily, to make sure the databases are safe.
-A new SIMILAR THREADS feature was added, that will list discussions similar to the one you are participating in, down at the bottom of the screen. This is helpful when trying to find information, showing previous discussions with similar content.
-Increased the allowed sizes for picture uploads, to 300% higher.
-Added BOUNCED EMAIL management system, as well as UNSUBSCRIBE email management system, to automate these processes.
That is the short list If you have any suggestions, we are always open to hear them. The main thing we need is your participation, to bring the activity and participation levels up for all areas of the forum.
We appreciate ALL of our members. Thank you for your participation!
-The forum migrated from HTTP: to HTTPS: connections, to keep your content secure and encrypted.
-A forum support team was created, with volunteers from the industry. This is the group that is here to answer questions about the forum, and help stimulate (but not stifle) discussion. The management style is very laid back and friendly. If you have a question, these are the folks to help. CONTACT US at the bottom will email all of the support team. Current team volunteers include Ylva Callewaert, Greg Norris, Wally Fay, and Mike Labbe.
Forums:
-Some older low activity sub forums were merged together, and new ones were introduced. Some of the new sections include HELP! Searching For (discontinued mat and moulding finder), Picture Framing Equipment and CMC HELP, Tech Support Squad (software, etc), and Covid-19 Business Discussions (temporary, as a crisis resource)
-Merged 1998-2004 grumble archive with grumble forum and erased archive sub forum (5033 posts)
-Merged 1998-2004 warped archive with warped forum and erased archive sub forum (2525 posts)
-Manually moved thousands of old miscategorized posts to their respective areas.
-Increased security, so less content is viewable to search engines and non vetted folks.
-Added custom images next to each sub forum
-The registration process has been improved, with easier questions, while still protecting from spammers. Some folks had difficulty with the old method, and became discouraged from registering. They either didn't know the answer to the industry question, or their selected username was too short to meet the minimum size. If we see someone having trouble, the support team volunteers are happy to assist. We can always be reached by clicking CONTACT US at the bottom of any page. The system was further modified to email staff members when someone registers.
-A new RESOURCES feature was added. The resource system supports periodic updates from the volunteer who maintains each resource, with each update documented. Each resource also has an associated discussion thread on the forum, for general questions. Resource managers have a special "resource manager" banner on their posts, as a thank you. Some of the featured resources include Larry's database of picture framing equipment manuals, David's list of companies that are re-open since the Covid crisis, previous grumble survey/poll results, and soon there will be The Grumble Cookbook, POS Software, and CMC vendor product lists.
-New coding was added that will let members change their nickname once, and it will update all previous posts with the new name. If you find that you would rather use a real name instead of a nickname, or maybe the CaSe sensitivity isn't what you like, you can now make a one time change. (Click your name on the top right, click ACCOUNT DETAILS, to see the option)
-Forum registration date and number of posts fields now appear on posts.
-Support for PUSH NOTIFICATIONS was added, as you would see from social media platforms. This lets the forum notify you when you receive a PM or a reply to one of your discussions. Notifications can be sent to your desktop browser, phone, or tablet.
-Extended post EDIT TIME from 30 minutes to 90 minutes. This is how long you can make corrections to your posts on the forum.
-Widened how much space the forum will use for desktop computers by about 30%, for those with higher resolution monitors.
-Support was added to directly support linking embedded content to most major platforms, within posts on this forum. Some of the ones we now support include:
8tracks, 247Sports, ABC News, Amazon Product, Anchor, Audioboom, Audiomack, Bandcamp, BBC News, Bit Chute, Bleacher Report videos, Break, Brightcove, CBS News Video, CNBC, CNN, CNNMoney, Comedy Central, Coub, Dailymotion, Democracy Now!, dumpert, ESPN, Facebook, Flickr, Fox News, FOX Sports, Funny or Die, GameClips.io, Gamer DVR, Gamespot, GameTrailers, Getty Images, Gfycat, Gifs.com, GIPHY, GitHub Gist, Global News, GoFundMe, Google+, Google Drive, Google Sheets, Hudl, Hulu, IGN, IMDb, Imgur, Indiegogo, Instagram, Internet Archive, JW Platform, Kickstarter, Kontinental Hockey League (КХЛ), Libsyn, Liveleak, Livestream, Mail.Ru, Medium, Megaphone, Metacafe, Mixcloud, Mixer, MLB, MRCTV, MSNBC, National Geographic Channel, National Geographic Video, NBC News, NBC Sports, NHL Videos and Highlights, NPR, Orfium, Pastebin, Pinterest, Podbean, Prezi, Reddit threads and comments, Rutube, Scribd, Sendvid, SlideShare, SoundCloud, Sporcle, Sportsnet, Spotify, Spreaker, Steam store, Stitcher, Straw Poll, Streamable, Streamja, Team Coco, TED Talks, Telegram, The Atlantic Video, The Guardian (obsolete), The New York Times Video, The Onion, The Wall Street Journal Online, TikTok, TMZ, Trailer Addict, Trending Views, Tumblr, Twitch, Twitter, Ustream, VBOX7, Veoh, Vevo, Video Detective, Vimeo, Vine, VK, Vocaroo, Vox, Washington Post Video, Wistia, WorldStarHipHop, Youku, YouTube, İzlesene.
-Support for full UNICODE was added, to support emojis
-We purchased and added a brand new ad management platform, which is how the forum handles its operating expenses. The forum will always be free for framers. The new ad platform lets vendors set up and manage their own ads, which will randomly display with other vendors between every 5th post. Vendors can also monitor how many impressions and clicks their banners receive, and direct those clicks to any URL they wish. Vendors are also rewarded with a "featured vendor" banner, on their posts. Please support our generous vendor sponsors!
-The forum is now able to accept credit cards and Paypal directly, from vendors and from members who wish to make an optional donation. Folks who donate are rewarded with a special "Forum Sponsor" banner on their posts, as a thank you. The "become a sponsor" link is located in the account settings area, if you click your name on the top right.
-The most current version of the forum software (Xenforo) has been installed, and is updated regularly. The color/layout is periodically changed, to include major holidays.
-We moved to a new server in March, which is using SSD (solid state) faster drives, the newest PHP 7.4, Litespeed / Litespeed Cache platform, Storpool technology (forum is spread across multiple servers and will immediately 'self heal' if equipment fails), etc. Four different backup methods are employed daily, to make sure the databases are safe.
-A new SIMILAR THREADS feature was added, that will list discussions similar to the one you are participating in, down at the bottom of the screen. This is helpful when trying to find information, showing previous discussions with similar content.
-Increased the allowed sizes for picture uploads, to 300% higher.
-Added BOUNCED EMAIL management system, as well as UNSUBSCRIBE email management system, to automate these processes.
That is the short list If you have any suggestions, we are always open to hear them. The main thing we need is your participation, to bring the activity and participation levels up for all areas of the forum.
We appreciate ALL of our members. Thank you for your participation!
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