RMweb global announcement. Updated forum test ground.

[Neil]

Change will happen, the best we can do is to make sure it works for us. I find that the best way to cope with a new thing is to launch myself at it and work through any problems as they crop up, however I know that not all approach matters the same way. I've noticed that some engage in far more preparation and worry away at the theoretical issues before ever making a move. Will there be some guidance notes on the new features/layout or is the intention that it'll be a largely intuitive process?

[rilksy]

I've been a long time lurker/stalker on this forum, before plucking up courage to become a member in April this year. I look forward to reading my regular favourites on my desktop and/or tablet, I don't have a phone that does the internet, it's a coalfired version. This morning, I switched on and 'shock horror' something was different ????? I'm not exactly a computer wizard but I get by quite well, in all honesty, I think the changed format and all the additional features will be, given time, an improvement. There I've said it. controversial or what! I'm now going to see if I can understand what the hell is going on. As someone said, 'The more things change, the more they stay the same'.

 

Please note, this is my first post so I don't know if I've done it correctly or if it will come out as gibberish.

 

More pressure!

[BWsTrains]

Andy,

 

looks great, as per my question some time ago about improving the Blogs area, tracking favourite blogs for new posts etc. are those changes in this roll out?

 

Colin W

[Colin_McLeod]

Also can we have say 60 seconds to correct typos on a post without "Edited" appearing in such a prominent way. I

[Colin_McLeod]

I don't know if this is possible but there is an increasing trend to include long long quotes of a post, sometimes even when the quote is on the next post.

 

I agree with selective quotes but it is sometimes overdone so if the size of a quote could be automatically limited, perhaps with a link to the quoted post, it would really tidy up many threads.

[Reorte]

I'm happy to vote for a fresh new look to the forum.

 

There are always those who are staid and conservative and don't like change - that's fair enough and not unusual. Unfortunately platitudes like 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' are usually quoted by those who fail to see or understand the benefits that change can bring. Things don't have to be broken to warrant improvement (so long as it happens). And besides the forum has had change in the past and migrated previously IIRC.

Such "platitudes" are generally given in reply to people who trot out ones like "embrace change!" Once again change does not bring benefits or improvements. Improvement does, which is of course change, but "change" just implies different. And "fail to see or understand the benefits" is merely being dismissive - "I think there are benefits so there must be soemthing wrong with you if you don't." Often enough if I'm already happy enough with something then yes, you could say I fail to see the benefits because there aren't any I find a benefit, although the downsides are visible. In any case it often seems that the people saying something new is great and necessary are next year saying that same thing is rubbish and out-of-date and really needs updating and are never satisfied for more than a few minutes when they get their improvement. There's nothing wrong with being satisfied with how something already is.

 

By all means defend something you believe is an improvement but sentiments like calling people "staid" or "fail to understand" are just taking a default "I'm right, you're wrong." Some things I find better nowdays than I used to, but overall during my lifetime at least the world has become less of a place I'd like to live in, not more, so I find resistance to change entirely rational.That doesn't mean I'm against everything new, but it does mean I'll default to being against any changes until convinced otherwise.

Edited September 9, 2018 by Reorte

[Free At Last]

Can there also be the facility to view hidden posts and/or edit history as it can make responses look gibberish if the post they are referring to has 'disappeared' or has later been edited.

Edited September 9, 2018 by Free At Last

[Ian J.]

Also can we have say 60 seconds to correct typos on a post without "Edited" appearing in such a prominent way. I

 

Or, force the preview mode to come up before the actual posting, with a publish now button once reviewed.

[Neil]

....   Some things I find better nowdays than I used to, but overall during my lifetime at least the world has become less of a place I'd like to live in, not more, so I find resistance to change entirely rational.That doesn't mean I'm against everything new, but it does mean I'll default to being against any changes until convinced otherwise.

 

That's not an uncommon view but I wonder if it's as commonplace as it is because we take a lot of the good change for granted? I'm in my late fifties so I reckon that I've sufficient history to make a similar judgement about change during my lifetime and my take is that it's been an overwhelmingly positive experience. There have been huge advances in medical science and best practise since my childhood. Things which would have killed most in the sixties are now survivable. We now know how bad smoking is and benefit from smoke free public spaces. Cars are safer and more fuel efficient. Women are now entitled to equal pay. It's no longer lawful to discriminate on the grounds of gender, race, religion, sexuality or disability. Now all these things trundle on in the background of our lives, unless we encounter them through a specific event and we tend to refer to them as 'advancements' and view them as part of the natural progression of society. Really they represent change for the better, and they far outweigh those instances of change which has a disadvantage.

Edited September 9, 2018 by Neil

[Reorte]

That's not an uncommon view but I wonder if it's as commonplace as it is because we take a lot of the good change for granted? I'm in my late fifties so I reckon that I've sufficient history to make a similar judgement about change during my lifetime and my take is that it's been an overwhelmingly positive experience. There have been huge advances in medical science and best practise since my childhood. Things which would have killed most in the sixties are now survivable. We now know how bad smoking is and benefit from smoke free public spaces. Cars are safer and more fuel efficient. Women are now entitled to equal pay. It's no longer lawful to discriminate on the grounds of gender, race, religion, sexuality or disability. Now all these things trundle on in the background of our lives, unless we encounter them through a specific event and we tend to refer to them as 'advancements' and view them as part of the natural progression of society. Really they represent change for the better, and they far outweigh those instances of change which has a disadvantage.

I take your point, and I certainly wouldn't say that there haven't been big improvements in some areas. But at the end of the day I really do find the world becoming a less pleasant place to live in despite that. How do you measure the importance of those improvements? A medical breakthrough that makes something survivable that once was not is unquestionably something to be celebrate but how much difference that actually makes to your life in a positive sense though depends upon how likely you are to be affected in the first place, and I therefore don't believe that it's possible to claim that they far outweigh the instances of change which have been a disadvantage.  They may do for your personally, and that's fine, but you cannot hand on heart claim the same is true for everyone. I find life today to be getting ever more hectic, stressful and impersonal in ever more bland and uninspiring surroundings.

 

It seems that I find a lot of the improvements are due to things that have been removed, and find very little to welcome in a lot of what's been added. Some of those will be mutually exclusive, not all. Many of them, particularly the positives, are about changing social attitudes which I thing doesn't make them that dependent on others.

 

Are people happier now? Certainly seem to hear a lot more about stress and depression, although care needs to be taken of observation bias there (they were issues that once wouldn't have been talked about much).

 

To cut to the point, it is probably fair to say that for some people now is the best time to be alive, for others it most certainly isn't, and for themselves both groups may well be right. It's usually a mistake to think you can be definitive about what someone else should or shouldn't like and value.

Edited September 9, 2018 by Reorte

[Captain Kernow]

Can there also be the facility to view hidden posts and/or edit history as it can make responses look gibberish if the post they are referring to has 'disappeared' or has later been edited.

Alternatively, if one writes gibberish in the first place, will the new software automatically translate that into something sensible?

[Oldddudders]

Alternatively, if one writes gibberish in the first place, will the new software automatically translate that into something sensible?

Dum spiro spero.

[F-UnitMad]

Can all Threads that get locked be moved into a seperate Section, so they're easy to find, & we don't miss any juicy arguments and tantrums?

 

The RMweb version of rubbernecking road accidents yeah I'm a ghoul

 

Edit: +1 for the '60 seconds to edit spelling' too!! D'oh!!

Edited September 9, 2018 by F-UnitMad

[BWsTrains]

"...all progress depends on the unreasonable man" JBS

 

Not that I'd ever suggest our Andy fits that description but it seems apt after 5 pages of Yeas and Nays.

 

Without change we'd not have the computers that allow us all to communicate so well in our hobby, share our little gains, post videos, trade quips etc. so I'd suggest get over it, change is inevitable. Otherwise we'd all still be living in caves.

 

Being open to change is something that IMO can help us stay young in spirit rather than slipping slowly into GOG status.

 

Colin

 

 

 

 

[Ian J.]

It's not change per se that's the problem, but the speed of change. In the present day, change can be very fast, and seemingly without enough reason other than vanity. That can fox most human brains, which evolved to deal with gradual change over generations, not rapid change within one generation.

[BWsTrains]

It's not change per se that's the problem, but the speed of change. In the present day, change can be very fast, and seemingly without enough reason other than vanity. That can fox most human brains, which evolved to deal with gradual change over generations, not rapid change within one generation.

But the last change was nearly 10 years ago!

[Ben Alder]

And remember the fuss and tantrums that accompanied it then... ...

 

It all worked out in the end......

[Clearwater]

Personally I think Rmweb would be vastly improved if functionality allowing users to auto post comments without having to go through the tedious, and frankly outdated, process of typing in their views.

 

I’d suggest the following posts should be accessible and postable by clicking control then the appropriate number:

 

1) ... but frankly these prices are off the scale. No-one is going to pay £x [im sure your programmers can build in an algorithm to insert a price 20% above last year’s list price]. It’ll kill the hobby.

 

2). I would have brought [insert manufacturer from thread title] but it’s clear from the. CADs that angle of the drivers cap is at a jauntier angle than the GWR would ever have tolerated. I’m afraid therefore I won’t be buying this otherwise flawless model

 

3). MRJ is not available in [insert user location] branch of WH Smith. [obvs the fact that by the time of posting, even MRJ is only available as a fingerprint enabled pdf download and Smiths went bankrupt 20 years ago shouldn’t influence users ability to post{

 

4). Rucksacks at shows should be banned. And let me tell you another thing, those shower dodgers...

 

5). I’m not going to Warley myself but I think it is a giant waste of time

 

6). .. oo gauge is not a prototypical representation of track gauge [snipped on grounds of space etc]

 

Obvs to above is a wishlist...

[Andy Y]

Personally I think Rmweb would be vastly improved if functionality allowing users to auto post comments without having to go through the tedious, and frankly outdated, process of typing in their views.

 

 

Some contributors have developed this advanced technique where they post without thinking.

[Clearwater]

Some contributors have developed this advanced technique where they post without thinking.

Some?!?

[Colin_McLeod]

But the last change was nearly 10 years ago!

 

But that was only yesterday.

 

Too soon. Too soon.

[Mallard60022]

I take your point, and I certainly wouldn't say that there haven't been big improvements in some areas. But at the end of the day I really do find the world becoming a less pleasant place to live in despite that. How do you measure the importance of those improvements? A medical breakthrough that makes something survivable that once was not is unquestionably something to be celebrate but how much difference that actually makes to your life in a positive sense though depends upon how likely you are to be affected in the first place, and I therefore don't believe that it's possible to claim that they far outweigh the instances of change which have been a disadvantage.  They may do for your personally, and that's fine, but you cannot hand on heart claim the same is true for everyone. I find life today to be getting ever more hectic, stressful and impersonal in ever more bland and uninspiring surroundings.

 

It seems that I find a lot of the improvements are due to things that have been removed, and find very little to welcome in a lot of what's been added. Some of those will be mutually exclusive, not all. Many of them, particularly the positives, are about changing social attitudes which I thing doesn't make them that dependent on others.

 

Are people happier now? Certainly seem to hear a lot more about stress and depression, although care needs to be taken of observation bias there (they were issues that once wouldn't have been talked about much).

 

To cut to the point, it is probably fair to say that for some people now is the best time to be alive, for others it most certainly isn't, and for themselves both groups may well be right. It's usually a mistake to think you can be definitive about what someone else should or shouldn't like and value.

Generally anytime is a good time to be alive, however I accept your points and agree.

Phil

[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]

Ive enjoyed RMWEB since its first incarnation when there were only a few hundred members, it has changed a lot since then, for the better, I may add.

I am sure if we were to change the forum back to its early format there would be complaints about functionality etc.

Accept the reasons given for change, they don't do it for fun

[Oldddudders]

Change is inevitable. Struggle is an option.

[Stubby47]

Change is inevitable. Struggle is an option.

"Change is an option. Struggle is inevitable".

 

Sign on the changing room wall at Jacamo / Evans shops...