4-16-10: Regarding the messed-up look of the forum...

[Steve Simmons]

Sorry for the messed-up look of the forum. I've done a bunch of security updates which included files that control the look of the forum section of the site. The new files weren't entirely compatible with the old ones so I have a bit of work ahead of me to make things look right again. Stand by...

SITUATION UPDATE AS OF 8:00 PM PST:

As it turns out, I have an entire group of files that aren't compatible with today's updates. This may not be fixed tonight so hang in there. The forum should still function perfectly, it will just look a bit odd. If you find anything other than appearance-related items not working, please notify me!

SITUATION UPDATE AS OF 1:00 AM PST:

I know things are a bit crazy - the color is off, text is too big, etc. But... this is all for the best! You will begin to notice new features as you post and browse the forum. I'm going to extra lengths to ensure all this work will pay off by making the forum better, and easier to use. Hang in there, it may take all weekend to get back to the new and improved normal!

SITUATION UPDATE AS OF 4/17, 12:00 PM PST:

Ok, now we're getting somewhere. I've spent a few hours cleaning things up and I think we're to the point where I can walk away for a while. I'll get back on it tonight.

In the meantime, please let me know if there is anything not working, or anything that looks so bad that you can't stand it. I know the header area is bad, it will be fixed later.

[tannyo]

Do I need help?

[Steve Simmons]

Do I need help?

I don't know, do you? LOL!

I know what you meant. I just got back from scrubbing the driveway after an oil change "incident" on the '25. I'll get to work on this now...

[malcolmr18zoy]

Hi Steve,
Thankyou for all of your hard work on the forum, I hope you know that we all appreciate it.
Malcolm

[Jimmy]

According to your own poll, 56% of us think you should've left well enough alone. So there.

Oh, never mind. Public opinion doesn't matter these days, I've noticed.

[Steve Simmons]

The poll was whether or not to change the name of the Vendor section. Besides, this change wasn't intentional! The updates were only to improve security on the site against hackers, spam, etc. The visual elements of the site were using some older code that didn't play well with the new files I uploaded.

So, I got to stay up until 3:00 AM trying to fix things to the point that it looked and worked ok. There is still a long ways to go.

At least someone appreciates my loss of sleep! (thanks Malcolm)

[HealeyBN7]

Steve,

You are doing a tremendous job. This is one of the few sites I visit on a daily basis. Keep up the good work it is very much appreciated.

Dean

[Jimmy]

Dean, don't give him a bigger head yet.
If so his cowboy hat won't fit anymore.

[Martin Keller]

Steve,

You are doing a tremendous job. This is one of the few sites I visit on a daily basis. Keep up the good work it is very much appreciated.

Dean

Have to agree with Dean as I also check this forum at least once a day also.

[Steve Simmons]

Don't you guys know that flattery will get you everywhere?

Gotta agree with Jimmy though, don't give me a big head or I'll have to get lower seats in my convertibles to keep the bugs out of my hair.

[max71]

Ugh. I never thought I'd say this but I'm with Jimmy. Bring back the old site! Who's going to hack a site with a small bunch of MG nuts? That is nuts.

Hate it Steve - its a mess and hard to read. You've done a horrible job and as punishment you have to trade me the MG blower engine on your floor for mine.

[Steve Simmons]

The old style can't come back. It isn't just a matter of security against deliberate hackers, it's also to protect the server, and the loss of our database from attacks on other sites. And more importantly to everyone here, the new code improves security against spiders and bots which try to harvest email addresses from sites like this. We've had a perfect track record so far and I'd like to keep it that way! The old code was very old and on the verge of becoming a risk, so I couldn't put it off any longer.

Now, mister whiny pants... It could be beautiful again with some constructive criticism. Better to help improve things than to have to agree with Jimmy, don't you think? Technically the site could look almost identical to to how it did before but it would take a lot of effort. I'm an admittedly crappy graphic designer, so unless we put together a team effort it will likely never happen.

You do seem to be enjoying the new color palette tool already. Big improvement over the old drop-down menu!

[max71]

The dirty secret I didn't want out in public is all the design help I have provided on this site and the uber nuts site. There you go. You could've had all the credit to yourself but you had to open it up to the public. I was happy to be a ghost designer.

I understand. We'll email back and forth until it looks purdy like the old one.

[Larry Kluss]

Steve, you've spoiled us far too long, so a little shake up in the interest of internet security is something we can all appreciate. I must admit that my first reaction was, "What the &%$@!"

The only problem I have is the page does not fit width-wise on my screen now.

Thanks for your continued efforts...

[Steve Simmons]

Larry, what screen resolution are you running?

[Larry Kluss]

I'm not sure, I think 1024 x 768 but I'll have to check. That was my home computer and I don't view this forum very often on that machine. I rarely have that problem with other sites. Here at work, it's fine.