[Andrew Field]

There is a major new upgrade to the forum software that we use - one that completely changes how the forum 'looks and feels'. I've upgraded another of my forums at http://www.effectiveict.co.uk/forum/ but I think the changes might be a bit dramatic for here. What do you think?

The forum adds features to make the whole thing easier to use, as well as including less impressive things such as 'status updates' akin to Facebook. We will need to move to the new version eventually, but something is telling me to wait before upgrading this one. I'm not sure I like the new PM system either - it supports wider communication, akin to mini-discussions between chosen people.

Please do let me know your thoughts. The full rundown of the features can be found at:
http://www.invisionp...products/board/
http://www.invisionp...lookandfeel.php

[Lou Phillips]

People may grumble at first, but I'm sure we'll all get used to it!

[Dan Moorhouse]

Would the upgrade allow us to reinstall the chat feature? Had a browse through the invision site and didn't see anything about that feature which would be nice to have back.

PM features and functions - I'm assuming that there'd be an admin feature to enable / disable different elements of these so that we could have exactly what we wanted...

Status updates... what do members think? Also, what do people think of the feature that could enable automatic linking to the facebook group? (I don't like the idea of that myself but can see why others might like it)

[Nichola Boughey]

It's different - I'm not keen but it will probably be the way that we have to go.

A chat function would be nice if possible.

I will go with what people want.

[DaveStacey]

Seems fair enough.

I suspect some features simply won't get used, and we cope ok with the theme changes at those 'special' times of year, so the new theme for the new board should be ok (I'm guessing that this current theme won't survive the change)

I'd add a vote for the chat, but looking at the info it doesn't seem to be there. Perhaps we can look at facebook / msn / skype or whatever to restart friday evening chats?

[JohnDClare]

Call me a Luddite, but for the LOOK of the thing, I think I prefer the old/current version.


The thing I would REALLY like to see is a better search facility.

[Andrew Field]

Thanks for all the ideas - for now I think we'll stick with this version. I'll give the new one a try on my EffectiveICT.co.uk site and try to find all the features and benefits. I certainly don't plan on introducing the Facebook logins but some of the new features, such as PM discussions - where PMs are shown as mini discussions (optionally between groups of people) - and Status updates - where you could make positive use to share current teaching ideas etc. could be useful.

An online chat module is available - I removed this a few years ago when I didn't feel the £99 charge justified its usage. What might be good instead is some form of agreed get-together based on FlashMeeting or something similar.

[Dafydd Humphreys]

JohnDClare, on Jul 21 2009, 07:51 PM, said:

Call me a Luddite, but for the LOOK of the thing, I think I prefer the old/current version.


The thing I would REALLY like to see is a better search facility.

Here hear and ditto!

[mikel]

Dafydd Humphreys, on Jul 21 2009, 09:28 PM, said:

JohnDClare, on Jul 21 2009, 07:51 PM, said:

Call me a Luddite, but for the LOOK of the thing, I think I prefer the old/current version.


The thing I would REALLY like to see is a better search facility.

Here hear and ditto!

I'm a Luddite, too.

At my age, too much change makes me feel dizzy...

[Nick Dennis]

Andrew Field, on Jul 21 2009, 08:36 PM, said:

An online chat module is available - I removed this a few years ago when I didn't feel the £99 charge justified its usage. What might be good instead is some form of agreed get-together based on FlashMeeting or something similar.

I think this would be an excellent idea and after going to meetings on the use of technology in education, I always thought it would be a brilliant way to share ideas about teaching history.

[D Letouzey]

No simple answer to Andrew.

One thing is the content.
The standard Schoolhistory is working well, with simple boards and topics.
I prefer it to the SLN geography 's single board.

John, do you use the advanced search ?
http://www.schoolhis...x...ch&mode=adv
Google is working well :
type " PLTS site:www.schoolhistory.co.uk/forum/ "
You will get 19 answers.


The other thing is the interface.
It is "une affaire de goût personnel".
At 'special' times of year, invision allows a choice.

I do prefer the standard Schoolhistory soft blues to the Effective very dark blue
which put the text information too far away.
There may also be a police size issue (try the - with Firefox)

At Dennis' http://www.edtechroundup.com/
the EdTech graphic seems too spacy.
We have just avoided the ning's mention
"23 minutes ago Charles has made friend with Alicia"

Again, A huge thanks to Andrew.
And a special thank for the 20 ICT ideas in 10 mn.
A detail : you must register to use some "cloud computing"

Excellentes vacances à toutes et à tous
Daniel

This post has been edited by D Letouzey: 22 July 2009 - 12:14 PM

[Andrew Field]

The makers of the forum software have now released a new skin / forum look that is based on the one we currently use. This is much better and will mean we can now upgrade to the next version. The major issue I did encounter with the EffectiveICT.co.uk one is that the PMs seem to get messed up a little. You cannot reply to any previous PM - you have to send a new one. This has turned out to be a minor annoyance, but still a bit irritating. However, I'm told this is because PMs are now more 'Private Conversations' where you can involve more than one person. It displays more like a forum discussion, which is an improvement.

I plan to upgrade sometime later next week, unless there is any major opposition. The plan is that the look will stay as similar as possible but with minor improvements in the interface and usability.

[Nick Dennis]

Looking forward to it.

[Andrew Field]

You may see that the forum has now been upgraded. Do bear with me while I put things in place and get the look we're after.

[Andrew Field]

Ah looks like having got the new version uploaded the 'traditional' skin isn't available yet. Will be very soon - so the moment it is we'll get it. For now, I'm afraid we're stuck with this one.

There are quite a few new features to play with though. As mentioned above, the PM system is much improved but if you will find that you cannot reply to older messages, you'll just need to copy the name to reply. This is a bit annoying, but the new system is worth it - honestly

I'm still tweaking all the options to make sure that things are setup as required. If you spot anything, please do let us know.