Forum Upgrade Pending

[bradl]

A substantially revised version of the forum software was just released. For security and supportability reasons I keep the forum upgraded to be as current as possible. As this new release includes significant changes I will probably wait for one or two minor bug-fixing updates to solidify the release before installing it. I imagine Cairn Talk will upgrade later in the summer, or early Fall.

[bradl]

Upgrade is very near ... possibly following the holiday weekend.

You will definitely notice some visual changes - the new layouts are more open and "friendly" by design, meaning more open space and larger fonts. When I first started using the new version elsewhere it felt less "dense and tidy" and a little "open and cartoonish" to me, but I quickly came to prefer it. It seems to make for lighter, easier reading.

There are also some changes in the post editor. Most changes seem straightforward or fairly obvious; others may take a test post or two (in the Test forum, please) to figure out. A couple of customizations may take a week or so for me to find and add back in.

Embrace change

[KShep]

Looking forward to it!

[Newman]

Dam.. IPB Still rolling these days.. I used to use the old 1.3 version back in the day.. rofl

[bradl]

IPB does keep rolling along. Cairn Talk converted to IPB at version 1.3 (from phpBB). I converted to the paid version when that happened and have been pleased with each new advance (although there are always hiccups and adjustments to be made). I would say I'm disappointed in the gallery, but not so much that I'll do anything about it

I like the look and direction of XenForo and was briefly tempted by it recently, but it's still early in their development and at this point Cairn Talk has been stable for so long I'm reluctant to rock the boat that much.

[Newman]

IPB does keep rolling along. Cairn Talk converted to IPB at version 1.3 (from phpBB). I converted to the paid version when that happened and have been pleased with each new advance (although there are always hiccups and adjustments to be made). I would say I'm disappointed in the gallery, but not so much that I'll do anything about it

I like the look and direction of XenForo and was briefly tempted by it recently, but it's still early in their development and at this point Cairn Talk has been stable for so long I'm reluctant to rock the boat that much.

Yes sir!! Stable is the best, I think a little logo upgrade could happen if somone wants to spice it up.. but then again it still looks good/fine, good work brad!

[bradl]

I won't make any commitment to use submissions, but if any graphically inclined members happen to submit a same-size replacement rendition of the board logo that tickled my fancy, I'd definitely consider a change. I'm a terrible (unskilled, and lazy) designer so have only done the minimum necessary to mildly brand the default skin.

Here are the logo image and background gradients from the upcoming version to use as starting points.

logo image (358 x 64 px) -- I think the most important dimension is the height at 64 px.

background gradient

Bonus points if no change is required to the gradient :-) By happy accident the default skin backgrounds match the CTCA site pretty well. That said, I'm open to new background colors too.

Leaving aside 'branding' changes until some indeterminate future, unless something else comes up to interfere I think I may attempt the software upgrade late Sunday afternoon.