Hi all!

So this week I've been working on renewing the forum pages, something I've wanted to do for a  while.
Link: https://www.bikermatch.co.uk/sites/bm/forum/search.asp

I've started by combining the forum categories + topics + active topics + search pages all into 1 nice clean interface, which is also mobile-friendly.

It's not yet perfect, plenty buggy enough, but I'd like to throw it out to you guys now to take a look at and give me some feedback on (good and bad).  In any case it's an improvement over what we now have lol.

Thanks!

Matt                                                                                                                                                                              

You can also hide the search bar, handy on your mobile phone if using a small display. Some items automatically disappear also when using a smaller screen.

It should also be very fast, each search taking approximately 1 second to complete (even when searching for multiple items of text within a time-frame)

An extra search criteria I added was "my posts" which will show you all the topics that you have posted in (and allows you to search with text within your posts)                                                                                                                                                                             

Am sure a few of us can try to break it lol                                                                                                                                                                             

Hi Matt
Each icon I clicked on worked, and fast.
I don't understand the categories part, standard, none, all. Would you explain that please?                                                                                                                                                                             

ok no problem.  Thanks for testing.

All = All categories are selected.
None = No categories selected.
Standard = All minus general chat, birthdays, jokes                                                                                                                                                                             

Now changed the links to all point to the new search.
The old "Categories", "Topics", "Active topics" and "search" pages have now been replaced.

Part 2 coming up this week: New "Posts" display.                                                                                                                                                                             

I like it , very easy to use                                                                                                                                                                             

Wow, looks different, but easy to use                                                                                                                                                                             

Just one point tho, can't see chat unless you pick a forum.                                                                                                                                                                             

I'll give more info about the chatroom shortly.  I'm considering turning it off until I can make it more mobile-friendly (which shouldn't take too long).  It's not really functional anymore as more and more people use BM from their mobiles.

Also when it's quiet it looks bad on the site                                                                                                                                                                             

I was looking at the old familiar forums pages earlier and have just got in from work to be confronted by the new style forums. I must admit I was a bit confused for a bit but after only 10 mins managed to navigate my way around.

66                                                                                                                                                                             

Thanks Matt.
                                                                                                                                                                             

I don't like it,but will persevere for today,if i can't get the hang then i'll stop posting...:(>                                                                                                                                                                             

Took me A WHOLE 28 minutes to get used to the new format...hope i'll get a discount on next lot of subs...:)> .....heavy sigh.                                                                                                                                                                             

when chats quiet just means folk are bizy not a problem
probly beter if chat was at top of list perment                                                                                                                                                                             

If chat doesn't appear on top of the page maybe introduce a chat button somewhere so it's easier to enter else the chat room will be even more deserted?                                                                                                                                                                             

Jinx, I'm really interested to know what took so long to understand.  Are you using your phone or a PC?

Surely it's obvious... you select the categories at the top (green = included, red = removed) and the results below show you all the topics in the selected forums.

And then there's some filters which are also self-explanatory... filter the results by last post date (so remove old topics), enter a keyword if you want to search for some text, tick a box if you only want to see topics that you have previously posted in, and select how many topics you want to be shown per page.

I honestly did my best to put everything together on one page and keep it user-friendly.  I'm really bummed now hearing that it took you so long to understand it - it means I've done something wrong, and I really need to know what.

Someone find JP, he's my ultimate test lol                                                                                                                                                                             

it's filtering through now...i'm on a pc doing this ,so it seems i really am a dim duffer...just got so used to the old formatt,matt..i'll cope somehow...hahhahhahahh                                                                                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                                                                             

have to say the only thing I don't like is not being able to see chat unless I'm in a thread.   I understand that it may make the site look quiet if its at the top, but equally you can't see whose in there if you fancy a chat.