Feedback from the Members

[Country Campers]

I know that there has not been much activity on this new forum yet but I wanted to ask a couple questions.

How do you like the Forum set up?

Do you find navigating this site fairly easy?

Do you like the layout?

Are there any changes you would like to see?

Any other input would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Brian

[boyscout]

Hi Brian,

I was pleased to see the number of sub-forums reduced dramatically compared to another forum we know. I like the choices of headings and think they cover the ground well without a lot of unnecessary fractioning.

Then I was disappointed to find that each of those sub-forums was broken into four sub-sub-forums. Upon visiting the site I see that new activity has occurred in a sub-forum, but then have to click one or more times to enter the sub-sub-forum(s) in which the new activity has occurred.

I'd find this annoying even if the site was very busy. However since it's not it seems even more laborious. Couldn't the sub-forums run unbridled - all chatter about Electrical in one sub-forum "free-for-all", at least for a while until (*IF*) they become really unwieldy that way?

So, that's my main comment so far.

I have one more, but it's likely way too late for this and may seem like nothing more than an annoyance... sorry about that. However I'm a veteran of bulletin boards and (eventually) forums from the very earliest days of the internet, mostly as a user but a couple of times as a builder/owner. IMO one of the slickest and best-evolved forum software packages around is Xenforo, a low-cost system that offers very nice usability features that this forum doesn't have... even the other place doesn't have them. In particular, the lack of a couple of them chafe when I visit other forum sites:

1. Xenforo does a GREAT job of keeping track of where the user last read in a sub-forum. Enter the sub-forum and each of the threads that have been updated since last visit are clearly listed by bolded titles, as the other fourm does. However Xenforo also knows which POSTS are new since the user last visited, and upon entering the bolded thread it jumps the user directly to the first new post. No clicking on a "View First Unread" link that doesn't always work well, no hunting, it just takes the user to the obvious place to continue reading the thread. I miss this in my GDRV forum experiences.

2. Xenforo does a very nice job with Likes and Quotes, and especially with Notifications about same. I haven't yet had a notification here, but the other forum provides a very temporary notification of a like / quote / mention, which I've often clicked and then lost track of because it disappears after it's been clicked once. After using a Notification to view something, if I want to go back later (sometimes after doing some research) to respond it's gone. Xenforo keeps all "Alerts" (Notifications) in a table for days... I can go back and review all Likes / Quotes / Mentions, day by day, for days, even if I've previously used them to view the related posts, and can start or return to responding when it's convenient. Xenforo also shows, on each message, the names of the first few people who have Liked that message, which is sometimes useful context.

As someone who frequently visits the other forum (and hopefully eventually this one) at least several times per day and often more, these seemingly-small features loom large. Xenforo also does other things better than the other place or here.

So, a lot of words, probably unwanted, but if you're interested have a look at Xenforo. I truly have no connection with them whatsoever, just as a user, and certainly won't be getting any rich commission (or any commission!) out of recommending that you look at the ~$200 software. However I would find the forum easier to use.

Thanks for asking, and listening.

P.S. OK, here's a third one: Xenforo lets me edit my message for five minutes before flagging it with a "last edited by..." warning. I hardly get ANYTHING right the first post, and frequently return to tweak. I wish this failing wasn't always so quickly highlighted here and in the other forum.

P.P.S. OK, here's one more, just noticed this here. As I read the sub-forums the indicators of unread messages are going off as they should. Except... the Exterior sub-forum is not. It's continuing to indicate unread messages even though non of the sub-sub-forums are indicating unread messages. OK, more on this, just revisited and saw a post about attaching the bumper cap with a brass rod. Through several looks in that sub-forum, none of the sub-sub-forums contained that message or an indication that an unread message existed. Then I noticed that an unread message simply appeared below the sub-sub-form listings.

Mark

[Guest]

Brian I have one small area for feedback. Under the new member area you will see a member wrote something like "Hello from sunny central Oregon". I believe this was Brian and Kellie. The page will state that it is By MidwestCamper when in fact I was the last that welcomed the couple. The "By" term should be by the OP I believe.

[Country Campers]

boyscout
I think i understand your meaning with the sub-forums. You can click on any sub-forum with out clicking on the main , like instead of clicking "Electrical" just click the "repair" under the "Electrical" this will take you right to the posts in that section.
I also have been using the "New Topics" tab to see the new posts since I last logged in. This takes me right to the new posts and I do not have to search down thru the home page.

Guest

This is a good find that I had noticed but did not think about. I will have to inquire about this. It is similar to the old in that it shows who has posted last in that post.

Good info and hopefully will get some more feed back. I know there is not much happening but the site has not officially "launched" yet so we are taking some time to get things figured out before that.

Brian

[TENN22]

I would like an option to tone down the brightness, the background of bright white is a little overwhelming, especially for those of coming from other applications that are running in dark mode. Sounds petty, but really is an eye strain for some of us. Thanks

[Guest]

Not trying to be a wise @$@ but have you tried the brightness buttons on your PC? This is the F2 and F3 keys on my laptop. Some do have challenges with eyesight like my Dad with macular degeneration so some can also see things differently than others.

[Canyonlight]

Brian - As with anything new I and I suspect others too are trying to figure out how to navigate around and learn a new system.

I just added a new post to the Plumbing section and see the pictures are at the top of the post and large than necessary. It seems to the text s/b first with pictures following but I do not know how to accomplish that. I see a size can be selected before posting.......can the post be edited to change size after posting the thread ?

Also, I added a total of four pictures (I thought) but only the two are showing ?

I tried using the blue camera tab in the upper left area (as I think we are suppose to ?) to include pictures but it does not work for me. I used the "image" icon and worked through the steps not really sure of what I was doing.......at least this time.

At some point will really like the feature to add a video. That ought to be interesting !

Dan

[Country Campers]

Dan

Yes we are all learning. I will try to play with your pics and see if I can do anything with it. You may be able to just edit it yourself. I have not tried to upload any pics into a post yet but will try.

The feed back has been great so far , I am sure there will be more to come. The site admins have been a little busy with other things so hopefully soon we can get some of these worked out or find out that there may be nothing can be done.

Brian

[Canyonlight]

Thanks, Brian - I will add another post tomorrow on back flushing the holding tanks to clear (maybe) valves which won't close or are leaking abit.. Will see if I can add picture more correctly and if all show up and I can have the text show first with pictures later in the post.

Dan

[Canyonlight]

Guys - forgot to mention but the times seem listed for the post seem to be out of wack. none of my post times are even close to when I did so. Seems to be true for other posters as well. I recall seeing a time setting for the time zone we are in (maybe ?) and I thought I set that but possibly not.

Dan

[Country Campers]

Guys - forgot to mention but the times seem listed for the post seem to be out of wack. none of my post times are even close to when I did so. Seems to be true for other posters as well. I recall seeing a time setting for the time zone we are in (maybe ?) and I thought I set that but possibly not.

Dan

Yes in your settings there is a place to choose your time zone. Check this , I had mine wrong at first also.

Brian

[Canyonlight]

Brian - I did see this when I joined and did set it to central time zone. Will see what time shows on this post and if it changes later on.

Dan

[Johnww]

New member here and I wanted to say I am disappointed the new forum has chosen to exclude any discussion regarding tow vehicles and hitches. I guess I was looking for a "one stop shopping" site and avoid having to jump from site to site. On a positive note I like the organization of the site and I look forward seeing how this new forum evolves.

[Country Campers]

New member here and I wanted to say I am disappointed the new forum has chosen to exclude any discussion regarding tow vehicles and hitches. I guess I was looking for a "one stop shopping" site and avoid having to jump from site to site. On a positive note I like the organization of the site and I look forward seeing how this new forum evolves.

We are working on this topic. It is unavoidable in my opinion.

Brian

[Canyonlight]

Brian - I am not seeing the"like' button any more. I did see threads with like(s) given but do not see the button any longer.

Dan

[Paul & Deb]

New member here and I wanted to say I am disappointed the new forum has chosen to exclude any discussion regarding tow vehicles and hitches. I guess I was looking for a "one stop shopping" site and avoid having to jump from site to site. On a positive note I like the organization of the site and I look forward seeing how this new forum evolves.

I have to agree and even take it a few steps further in that there is no discussion of the use of our GD rigs just the maintenance or upgrades. Gosh, there's so much more to discuss. I suspect this forum, for me, will be an occasional visit and not a regular place to be. That's a shame. There will be a few folks, with impeccable resumes, here to offer sound repair and maintenance guidance, and the rest will be working on their post counts with "welcomes" to new members. There's no way I would be qualified to answer these types of technical questions so why be here? I'm not trying to be facetious or mean, I think it's a valid question.

Just one guy's opinion and you know what that's worth.

I guess the only thing else to question is why GD went this direction rather than letting it all hang out?

[Cate&Rob]

I have to agree and even take it a few steps further in that there is no discussion of the use of our GD rigs just the maintenance or upgrades. Gosh, there's so much more to discuss. I suspect this forum, for me, will be an occasional visit and not a regular place to be. That's a shame. There will be a few folks, with impeccable resumes, here to offer sound repair and maintenance guidance, and the rest will be working on their post counts with "welcomes" to new members. There's no way I would be qualified to answer these types of technical questions so why be here? I'm not trying to be facetious or mean, I think it's a valid question.

Just one guy's opinion and you know what that's worth.

I guess the only thing else to question is why GD went this direction rather than letting it all hang out?

Hi Paul,

I think we need to give this forum a chance to begin to fill in the the various sub-categories. We're all brand new to this venture which is why most of what you see so far is members welcoming other members that they recognize. We are purposely limiting discussion to technical issues. (Much as another forum did when it started out). You will note our operation/maintenance/repair/modification format for each section. Grand Design has put no restrictions on whatever we want to discuss in all these areas.

There are many places to discuss the non-technical aspects of RVing. GDRV4Life has (or will have) places for those discussions.

Just as you, Johnww and others have noted, all the moderators have expressed our concern to Grand Design about their one restriction which is discussing hitches and tow vehicles. We believe that we can discuss all the pertinent things about this topic, like where is your payload number found?, how does UVW relate to GVWR?, how does a slider hitch work?, etc, etc . . . without ever endorsing any particular brand of product. We are waiting on feedback from Grand Design on this proposal.

I expect this forum to be as active and up to date as any other, on new learnings, repair advice and modification projects. Things like your disc brakes, broken spring, power cord problems, solar installations, etc would be welcome here and of interest to others on this forum. There will be "nearby" places to discuss campgrounds, dogs, etc.

We will try to solve the technical issues amongst the moderators and forum members . . . but when we run out of ideas, we can call on GDRV tech support for their ideas.

Rob