ScimitarWeb Developments

[Ian]

You may notice over the next few weeks that the appearance of the ScimitarWeb header and menus change.

Oh no, not change, I can't cope

For a while there will be two top level tab menus visible at the same time, the existing one and a new one. This is to enable thorough trouble shooting of the new menu system before removing the existing one. The Wiki and the Shop will retain the existing menu appearance for some further time. The new system will enable re-development of the ScimitarWeb pages that are not forum, wiki or shop.

I hope it doesn't cause too much disruption, but let me know if there are significant problems.

[Ian]

Well, that bit of work went more quickly and more smoothly than expected. I wish work on the car would go that way!
The new top menu is in place and shouldn't change for a while unless unexpected problems are reported.
The next stage is to apply the same style to the wiki and shop pages but that will be delayed for a while.

[Ian]

BTW the breadcrumb menu has also slightly changed, with a link to the homepage in front of the Board Index link.

[scimjim]

Looks good - if a little bland. Will there be a background picture later?

And the apostrophe in the Club name is AWOL (you kind of expect it on the Facebook page (despite it being pointed out) but not on the forum)

[Coupe Racing]

When I click on the home page now I get the page shown in the picture.
From that page I can no longer see this site .
However after a lengthy scroll down the page I see the Board Index ..... Just not at the top of the page
BTW this is via my mobile

[Ian]

When I click on the home page now I get the page shown in the picture.
From that page I can no longer see this site .

This is how the new menu system appears on mobiles as it is designed to be mobile friendly. Just tap the Navigation panel to see the menu in dropdown form.

[philhoward]

Likewise rotating your phone to landscape mode will magically bring the menus back.

If I read it another way, “Home” now means the homepage- “Board Index” is now the start of the forum.

[Ian]

If I read it another way, “Home” now means the homepage- “Board Index” is now the start of the forum.

Yep. The start of the forum has always been "Board Index" on the breadcrumb menus. A link to the homepage has now been added to those breadcrumb menus. The top menu has the same functionallity as the previous tabs but is fully generated within the forum software.

The reasons for these changes are manifold but the main one is that I am not going to be able to continue as webmaster for ever. The existing homepage and all the pages accessed by the homepage menu are all in a software package that I wrote myself because I couldn't find anything suitable at the time. This means that only I know how it works (and sometimes doesn't) and only I can maintain it. The present work is to remove all reliance on my bespoke code and move to platforms and systems that are supported by communities of web developers. Things have moved on a lot since the early days and it is now possible to use the forum software, phpBB, to power a complete website, not just this forum. The move to the new menu system is the first step in this direction.

And in answer to the Apostrophe Police , I'm concenratiog on function, pretty stuff can come later. I wouldn't respray a car with a rotten chassis and a seized engine. Might even be someone else to pretty it up.

Hope that's given you a little more idea of what's going on.

[philhoward]

Things have moved on a lot since the early days and it is now possible to use the forum software, phpBB, to power a complete website, not just this forum.

Sounds like you were a pioneer when we started the “new” website and the greater community has now caught up

[Ian]

There were a lot of people doing a lot of different things with different approaches, just nothing I could find that fitted our requirements. Since then the trend towards more and more mobile access has focuused development into a more consistent track. My earlier work didn't consider mobile access at all, as can be seen from Coupe Racing's screenshot. The new system will allow that to be addressed as well. It's bringing the whole thing more up to date.

[philhoward]

..and a damned fine job you are doing of it too, Ian!

[peter freeman]

My notifications have "gone off" - I have not received any today or yesterday and when I try to bring up he notification page it does not work - just a blank page. Anyone else lost them ?

[peter freeman]

I have just noticed that I also get a blank page when trying to look at a subject I have not looked at previously - just tried to look at Sparkless and get a blank page

[TrevorG]

If your blank page is a black page, try scrolling up. If the page magically appears it's sometimes due to a download deficiency in your device....sometimes called 'running short of memory'

[peter freeman]

White