please read How are we doing?

[hippyonenine 1]

Well thank goodness the old library is back. trust after 2 attepmts to change we're now finished with tinkering with soemthing that works perfectly well

 

John

[jbinner 15]

"we're?" You say that like you took a part in it? I spent my holiday weekend installing new hardware for this FREE service we provide to you. The only reason we brought it back was because it swamped our servers. Otherwise we'd still be using it, because it is a better, more feature rich library. It would have been tweaked, just like anything else.

 

I suppose you and others hated every new version of windows when it came out too right?

 

Yeah, I'm DONE holding my tounge.

[hippyonenine 1]

Not at all - install the latest version of windows whenever its available.

 

The overwhelming response to the change was negative so I just wonder whether you guys listen to the community.

 

If you change to a system that works I will fully support that. If there is a new library system which allows people to seach easily all the categories and doesnt say no entry for "lufthansa opensky" for example I have no problems. Not luddite just hope for a functional system - thats my two penny worth.

 

And btw I am sure we all appreciate all the hard work in the new design. I realise the library is free and happy to donate but its very unusual for me to speak my mind as you will see from my posts.

 

Sorry if we are touching a few raw spots here and didnt mean to be controversial.

 

Perhaps we can all bury the hatchet and move on to something which is going to work?

 

And apologies for the use of "we're" - didn't mean to offend

 

Well done for the effort so far

 

John

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

The overwhelming response to the change was negative so I just wonder whether you guys listen to the community.

 

It is that kind of exaggeration, self serving, BS that really get's me going. The response to the change was not "overwhelming". Given the number of people that use the library and the forums, the response was anything but "overwhelming". In fact, it was so tepid actually, that had it not been for the load issues, as John says, we would have left the new library running. The vocal minority, once again, seems to be able to convince themselves that theirs is the only opinion that counts. Sorry dudes.

 

As for features, etc., we had to load it up with numerous users to see how it would do. Only if it performed would we have invested more of our time (and money) to bring those additional features online.

[Swag 0]

The only reason we brought it back was because it swamped our servers. Otherwise we'd still be using it, because it is a better, more feature rich library.

 

I'm a huge fan of any new technology, not least because that is my profession, but the new library is a complete car crash. I'm sorry to say but it's a slow, clumsy, complicated mess. Listen to your users! Listen to the library contributers, without whom this site would be nothing!

 

If you don't believe me then look at what the competition does. Flightsim, Simviation, avsim.ru, just to name a few. Do they use an awkward forum software for their file library? No they don't. Do they have a simple and complete list view? Yes they do. Are their sites fast with no bloat? You bet they are. Is (was) the new AVSIM library any of the above? Nope.

 

Losing the AVSIM library would be a major blow to the community, but you still seem to be hellbent to go ahead and destroy it regardless. If not today then tomorrow. Why? What for? What is the point? Who is asking for all those useless features? Do I really care who was top uploader last November when it takes me ages to scan the files that were uploaded since my last visit, because all the information is scattered on countless pages now?

 

Also, just because it is free (not regarding donations for a second), does that mean that users have no right to care? Either you volunteer your time or you don't, and I truly appreciate your effort, but volunteering doesn't give you the moral right to carelessly kill a major pillar of the community!

 

Sometimes I wonder if any of the AVSIM staff is actually using the library. It seems like it is treated as more of an afterthought of the forum.

 

Yours truly,

a daily user of AVSIM for 15 years (who hasn't donated in a while - mea culpa)

[hippyonenine 1]

Didnt realise this was going to be so controversial. No one denegrates the work you guys have done for the community but lets move on please without emotion.

 

And apologies if I have been over the top Tom

 

You may not remember that we met in London many years ago now on one of your trips over the pond.

 

I am a huge fan of what you have contributed over the years.

 

John

[Joseph29 225]

had it not been for the load issues, as John says, we would have left the new library running. The vocal minority, once again, seems to be able to convince themselves that theirs is the only opinion that counts. Sorry dudes.

 

As for features, etc., we had to load it up with numerous users to see how it would do. Only if it performed would we have invested more of our time (and money) to bring those additional features online.

 

So you would of left the new library up and running even though users were having trouble with simple searches?

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

So you would of left the new library up and running even though users were having trouble with simple searches?

 

 

Part of that "issue" was learning curve. The other part, that you appear to have ignored, is that were there truly issues with that (or any other aspect of the library), we would have addressed it.

[Joseph29 225]

Part of that "issue" was learning curve. The other part, that you appear to have ignored, is that were there truly issues with that (or any other aspect of the library), we would have addressed it.

 

The learing curve for what? How to do searches? I tried to search for a United Airlines paint in the new library (using the advanced search options). I knew the file name and the author of the paint. I searched using the author name and no results, I searched using the file name and no results, I search by putting in United Airlines and no results, I then put in "United" and got like 20 or so pages of results and a lot of them had nothing to do with United Airlines!

 

There shouldn't be a learning curve needed when searching for something in the library.

[n4gix 4,947]

Losing the AVSIM library would be a major blow to the community, but you still seem to be hellbent to go ahead and destroy it regardless. If not today then tomorrow. Why? What for? What is the point?

 

Also, just because it is free (not regarding donations for a second), does that mean that users have no right to care? Either you volunteer your time or you don't, and I truly appreciate your effort, but volunteering doesn't give you the moral right to carelessly kill a major pillar of the community!

Two major points to consider:

 

1. The existing file library is truly ancient, inflexible, and sorely out of date. The person who wrote the system is no longer available to maintain the code, much less make any changes, improvements, or even to fix it should it break entirely. No one else can take ownership of the existing code, for any number valid reasons, not the least of which is the difficulty in trying to unravel a bowl of spaghetti code. I did say it was ancient, remember?.

 

2. Your latter point quoted above is highly insulting. Just who do you think ponied up the money when AVSIM first started up? You would be flabbergasted by just how much Tom has spent out of his own pocket over the past decades.

 

After these uninformed rantings from the very tiny vocal minority don't be surprised if suddenly there is no library at all, that's just how disgusting and morale-killing these rabid screechings have been.

[Geofa 108]

Well said Bill-actually perfectly said!

[n4gix 4,947]

1. What happened to the "View First Unread Post" at the top of each thread?

 

You haven't noticed yet that little icon just to the left of the thread title? That's the "View First Unread Post" function you're asking about... :Thinking:

[738 73]

Well i like it

 

Took me a while to get used to some of the new features and now i have i find the site quicker, easier to navigate, better looking, more informative, ( i could go on & on!) and more fun..

 

Cheers to all involved....Cheers to Avsim! :drinks: :good:

[TPerson 15]

You haven't noticed yet that little icon just to the left of the thread title? That's the "View First Unread Post" function you're asking about... :Thinking:

 

I guess I'm blind because I can't find the "little icon to the left of the thread title" that you mentioned and I've searched for several minutes trying to find it. In this thread on the left side of the thread title all I see is "Please Read". In other thread topics I see nothing.

 

It is that kind of exaggeration, self serving, BS that really get's me going. The response to the change was not "overwhelming". Given the number of people that use the library and the forums, the response was anything but "overwhelming". In fact, it was so tepid actually, that had it not been for the load issues, as John says, we would have left the new library running. The vocal minority, once again, seems to be able to convince themselves that theirs is the only opinion that counts. Sorry dudes.

 

I'm sorry but I don't understand the point of the thread topic. You did ask "How are we doing?" yet it appears that any opinion that strays from "positive" is not really wanted.

 

Todd