Soon: improved Area platform

[Hirazi Blue]

The following was plastered all over the Area:

In early May, the AREA forums will be moving to an improved forum platform in order to improve forum functionality on AREA, based on your comments. Here are the main enhancements that will go live:

- Ability to track threads and reply to post by email
- Improved search
- Improved ability to manage your posts
- Easier access from mobile phones
- Kudos: Kudos is a new content rating system that lets you vote for the messages you think are the most useful or important
- Accepted solutions: Accepted Solutions is a way for you to choose the reply that best answers a question that you’ve posted

As part of the migration, the forums will keep most of the AREA look and feel, with improved features to navigate and search the forums. All existing posts and attachments will be migrated, and you will keep your current identity as well. For any questions or comments please use our feedback form

(Quoted from here or in Softimage part of the Area alone potentially from 14 more places)

An improved forum platform truly is much needed over there, but their attempts to "Web 2.0" the whole forum (Kudos/Accepted solutions etc) makes me somewhat fearful that they probably focus on that stuff too much and once again ignore/overlook the real problems that plague their current forum platform.

I do hope I'm wrong...

[xsisupport]

I think the new AREA forums will be Lithium forums like at forums.autodesk.com, but with an AREA skin.

[Hirazi Blue]

As I haven't worked with those forums yet, do you perhaps know if this will mean improved posting tools and a functional notification system? The notification system always ignored "inserted" quick replies, which always was my main problem with their forums (and I hated the quick replies as a concept also), apart from some additional minor bugs...

[xsisupport]

As I haven't worked with those forums yet, do you perhaps know if this will mean improved posting tools and a functional notification system? The notification system always ignored "inserted" quick replies, which always was my main problem with their forums (and I hated the quick replies as a concept also), apart from some additional minor bugs...

Improved posting tools? That can mean a lot of things. You can check it out for yourself, there is a test forum. Basically, you get a Rich Text Editor.
You get notifications for replies. I don't know about Quick Replies. Go to my test post in the test forum, do a quick reply, and I'll tell you

[Falam]

The new Area is a much needed improvement step in the right direction.

[luceric]

I do hope I'm wrong...

no you don't ;)

[TwinSnakes007]

Can we croudsource the repair of that freakin bus so we can get some post for SI on the AREA?

[Hirazi Blue]

I do hope I'm wrong...

no you don't ;)

Yes I do...
And if you really think that I don't, that simply shows, how bad you know me!


edit:corrected a too ambiguous statement

[AceMastermind]

I can't even log in to the Area anymore, they seem to have wiped my account.

[grahamef]

I can't even log in to the Area anymore, they seem to have wiped my account.

Try clearing your browser history.

[Letterbox]

One thing the Area needs apart from the makeover, is the commitment of staff to post there, too often to coin a phrase it's... 'Left for dead' vs. other places.

[gustavoeb]

this has surfaced at the Area, for anyone who might be conceirned

IN ORDER TO KEEP YOUR POST HISTORY ON THE NEW FORUM PLATFORM, AND IF YOU HAVE NOT LOGGED IN TO AREA SINCE JANUARY 5TH, PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU LOGIN ONCE BEFORE THE END OF MAY IN ORDER TO LINK YOUR AREA ACCOUNT TO AN AUTODESK ID AS PART OF THE NEW LOGIN PROCESS. OTHERWISE WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO LINK YOUR OLDER POSTS TO YOUR AUTODESK ID. For more information please see our FAQ

[Falam]

The new Area forum, is now Live. Compared to the old one, this one is better.

[Hirazi Blue]

Well, I really don't think it's an improvement and I won't be visiting the new Area much I'm afraid.

• For one thing the messed up the "linking to the Autodesk ID", as my "Hirazi Blue" alias did lose all its posts & its avatar, and a "Leendert68" "(corresponding, you guessed it, to my Autodesk ID) account got all my (337) posts. I did log in on "time" like the message quoted by gustavoeb mentioned.
• They deleted my signature! (Probably because it linked here).
• My most recent posts do not show up in my recent posts list
• Another thing: on a per board basis (i.e. the Softimage forums as a whole) I cannot find a ""new topics/active topics" kind of page.

Could be that I merely missed that last one, but it's quite academic, 'cause the Area has now pretty much lost another visitor anyway due to sloppy housekeeping (which raises questions about privacy and security as well, BTW). The only one messing with my account should be me...

I'm just happy there is a very good replacement to the Area.
Now what was its name?

[mattmos]

My login has crossed over ok, not that I will visit that much though, they've taken it to the other extreme of being pared down too much - definitely missing the most recent posts/topics option.

[Hirazi Blue]

Visiting the Area once more ( ),
I noticed this beauty on the landing page for the Softimage forums.
I added the sloppy yellow highlight myself...