Site Upgrades

[Stonehenge]

It's been almost five years since Ground Trades Xchange was launched, and we've been running the same version of software with virtually the same layout for those entire five years.

That will change in the very near future, as we update the site to the most current version of vBulletin, just before we move to a new server.

With these upcoming changes, you can expect that for the next few weeks the site might be acting a little funny and might look a little unusual for awhile.

When it's done, the site will have greater functionality, a new look, and the same trusted information you've come to rely on.

[Stonehenge]

Update:

We'll be changing over to the new forum system in the next 48-72 hours. When we do, here's what you can expect:

The site will not accept new user registrations.

The site will not accept new posts.

Then, the site will be shut down altogether. You might get a "we've shut the site down for upgrades" page, or you might get bupkis. If things go well, the period of time that the site will simply be "off" will only be a few hours.

Then, the new site will appear in place of the old. When it does, some big things will be missing, like the Headline page. Don't worry, it'll be coming back - it's just easier to make that upgrade/change after the upgraded site has been put in place.

This is also true for several other changes to the new site, which will take place over the next few weeks.

But before those next few weeks can happen, we'll also be making a change in servers, which will happen some time next week (likely Monday or Tuesday). The new server is bigger and faster with more memory, which is good news for those of you who visit the site in the evening, when it seems the resources are taxed the most. You should see a noticeable improvement in the speed of the site during those times.

I may be bald from pulling my hair out and shaking from caffeine intake, but I hope the end result is a site that's easier on the eyes, faster and more useful.

[Stonehenge]

Here we are, on the other side of the upgrade. I hope you like the new look.

There are tons of new features to the site that I'll need to explain and lots and lots of adjustments that still need to be made, but beyond that, we're back in business. So feel free to continue posting away as had before.

[Hamons]

Great Job Jeff -- Thanks for the hard work!

[jamesn162]

jeff site looks great much easier to use.

[dan deutekom]

I think it is time for you to get some sleep judging by the posting times and how when you get into these projects time gets away from you. Good Job

[4seasons]

Now thats what I'm talking about! much much better.

[BigD]

Exciting stuff Jeff...Now go play some lincoln logs or candy land!!!

[dan deutekom]

Jeff

One thing that I am noticing now is that I now have to use my lower scroll bar to read the posts because they are too wide on my monitor to fit. Is that an easily changed thing that is different from before? I changed my monitor to more pixels and it solved things but then everything is too small for me to see.

[Stonehenge]

Thanks for the positive feedback everyone - part of my goal in the new look was to make it easier on the eyes for those of us who visit regularly. I may still tweak the colors a bit to make the tans just a tad darker, as everything looks a bit whiter than I expected.

@ Dan - I had done some research into the screen resolution of the visitors of a few of my sites, and 2% or less had a screen resolution that would require sideways scrolling, so I took a gamble. That gamble, unfortunately, included some layout stuff that is not easily changed. Check your PM's.

[dan deutekom]

I have been playing with the screen resolution on my system and when I make it so this site works well just about everything else on my computer is messed up. I will fiddle with the settings some more and see what I can come up with. It would be just like me to be in the 2%. I hate being a conformist

[Mau]

Dan - If things are too small when you change your resolution, press the Advanced button and try increasing the DPI.
Or, as the DPI dialog box says, you may just need to increase the font size in Properties | Appearance.

[dan deutekom]

Been all through that. The problem is that it is a very small monitor and you can only fit so much on the screen due to physical limitations. When I change font size or other things everything just ends up running together and making an unreadable mess

[Stonehenge]

What I'm going to end up doing for those of you with 800x600 monitor resolution is to create a second style for the site. When it's ready, you'll be able to switch back and forth between this style and the second style via a drop-down menu at the bottom of every page (I think), and whatever style you choose will be the one you're greeted with each time you visit the site, unless you're logged out or you decide to switch back.

[dan deutekom]

Jeff

Now that you have "fleshed" out the layout with the Google adds down the right side, the actual posts fit on my screen perfectly without any side scrolling. I still have to scroll for the adds, logout button and Quicklinks button but that really isn't a bothersome thing. Now it is not irritating to read the posts because of sidescrolling. I don't know if you should even bother to create the second style.