Share your thoughts with your friendly admin on some site/app stuff…

[Tony (admin)]

You may have noticed that the home page is currently the standard recent-activity view of the forum, not the more social network-like “threaded” view that has been around for a few years. The short story is after the last DDoS attack I changed it to reduce server load and get the site back running. This current home page view is much more efficient and helps the site run faster and respond better. Doesn’t mean things might not slow down on game days, but hopefully it prevents something worse from happening like failure when traffic spikes. I like both views and both view have their advantages. The threaded view allows the user to read topics and replies without having to click on the topic. They can like topics/replies, and so forth too. That’s part of the reason that view can be a performance killer is because all of the topics, replies, likes and other data has to be loaded. The more replies there are per topic, the worse the performance can get. If you all REALLY want the threaded view back, I’m happy to do it. Still would probably change it over on game day for performance reasons. Let me know on that.

“Why don’t you use AWS or cloud services that are scalable for times when there is more traffic?”

The answer is that I have a dedicated server which is somewhat reasonably priced, and a fixed and predictable price (about $1500/year). If I go to AWS or a scalable cloud solution, costs could skyrocket during high traffic. I don’t have the resources available to do that unless the site brought in a LOT more revenue that the annual fundraisers bring in.

Related to that, I’ve been tinkering with a new design to replace the threaded view. It is kind of a hybrid between the two views. It will have the ability to show the home view in recent topics or recent activity, along with user and category filtering. I may be able to put that up for testing in the next few weeks. It is slick and sharp looking, but still won’t show the replies unless the user clicks the topic.

New Big 12 Category?

With the pending Big 12 move, I thought I’d ask if you all would like me to add a new category for Big 12 discussion. We currently have a Pac 12 category, which would stay. I could also simply rename the existing Pac 12 category instead, and call it something more generic like “Conference Discussion.” It could include Pac 12, Big 12 and beyond. Let me know your thoughts on that too!

Anything new you’d like to see with the site? Bugs? Any app improvements or features you think would benefit the community?

I still have a nasty problem with emails from Ute Hub being blocked by service providers like MSN, Yahoo, and just sometimes gmail. If anyone is or knows a server administrator with experience in email server configuration and debugging, I could sure use some help. Newly registered users about 50% of the time never get their email confirmations because their service providers are blocking them. This hurts the speed at which the site grows because those people just give up…

Still looking for a sponsor for the weekly college football Pick ‘Em game. If you have a product, or cash (about $25/week) to contribute, reach out to me.

Looking forward to the season. It’s going to be an interesting one to say the least.

Tony/Admin

[NarfUte]

Can I get a super secret link to the threaded view? So much more preferable than clicking individual topics, IMO

[Tony (admin)]

Totally feel you on this. It’s also my preferred way (since I built it too!), but it is a bugger in terms of performance.

[TxUte]

I really like the new home page. It took me a little bit to kind of figure it out. Now I can see where the latest threads or replies are at and not waste a bunch of time clicking on a thread only to see that I have already read all of the replies.

[ProudUte]

I liked the old way of viewing and posting. However, I am getting used to the new look.

Thanks, Tony for all you do!!!

[Central Coast Ute]

I use the app and haven’t noticed much difference in looks.

Personally, I’d say just rename the Pac 12 category to a generic conference discussion.

[Tony (admin)]

Yes the app hasn’t changed much. Last big new addition was the Pick Em game. Only other recent changes are under the hood improvements.

[Dallas]

I use the app, and the one issue I have is that it’s hard to tell when a comment is in response to a previous comment or the original post.

[Roy Rangum]

Agree. I mostly use the app, and it’s hard to see who is replying to who (and the order in which replies were made).

That said, on the whole UteHub is fantastic. Huge shout out to Tony for making it happen.

[Tony (admin)]

@dallas and @royrangum the app topics and replies are indented in a threaded fashion, just like the rest of the site. A first reply will not be indented, but a reply to a reply will be. The indentation is slight so it may be hard to make out. It is something I could look to improve. Other boards have a line to the left that connects related posts, which I could also look at, but that is kind of CB-like. LOL. But if it helps I’m fine with it.

[Dallas]

A connecting line would help but so would a more noticeable indentation. No complaints, just a thought.

[Central Coast Ute]

Personally, I have no problem seeing who is responding to who on the app.

[Ghost of the HEB]

I’d like there to be some sort of notification feature for when someone replies to one of your posts or a post you’ve commented on

[Tony (admin)]

@deseretgentlman if you look underneath the comment field on the website there’s a checkbox that says “Notify me of follow-up replies via email” Are you using the app? Also in your profile you can find notifications.

[chinngiskhaan]

You should have a category for idle chat, or maybe even an actual chat that is constantly running.

You MUST call it “sixty-nine by the dumpster”

[Tony (admin)]

@chinngiskhaan the Ute Hub chatroom is running 24/7/365. utehub.com/chat

[chinngiskhaan]

that’s great! It was mostly a joke though.

[chinngiskhaan]

Also, if the chat is hindering site performance when the site is experiencing high traffic, I vote to get rid of the chat.

[Tony (admin)]

Chat is iFramed in from a 3rd party provider and has it’s own database etc. Chat shouldn’t affect performance much at all.

[chinngiskhaan]

In all seriousness, this style is totally fine. Anything that puts less stress on the server is a good thing. The only issue I’ve ever had with this site is the difficulty using it in times of high traffic. If this mode alleviates that in any way, it should stay.

[DrJazzy]

Thanks for all you do Tony, and doe this site!

The change with the online portion of message board was jarring – but then it made me discover how awesome the app is. Very easy to use and smooth.

I think a way for us to get message alerts/notifications, especially on our posts would be nice. And I think it would help with engagement and keeping conversations going about our favorite team.

Goooooo Utes!!!!!!

[bob sacomano]

I’m a vote for the threaded view!

[dleto]

another vote for the old threaded view. But I’ll survive with the current way as well 🙂

[Author]

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