Amended! ops:
Thnaks a lot. Author: wgeoff Time: 15/10/2006 07:40
I am just getting used to the new system and can see some of the benefits in layout etc, probably there are many more including technical of which I am unaware. So this is the good news.
The other news is, as I commented by email when I was unable to get into the system, I'm afraid there may be many users of the old system out there who don't have the time, energy or information to even get through the registration process. It is really frustrating that you cannot ask for help on registration until you have registered - Catch 22. Can you do anything to make it easier to register eg by providing the necessary info and instructions to all members by email?
I also think it is a major loss that all the history files are unavailable, although I see you are now partially overcoming this by including references to the old site, which certainly helps. Also, I hope you can reconsider the 2 photo limit, photos are a real value on this website and to limit to 2 is very restrictive. Is it an option to increase the storage capacity of the system?
Please note this is meant as constructive comments from a user. I appreciate all the hard work that has gone into site construction etc, but if you lose your users, the site has lost all its value.
Geoff Welch Author: fforrest Time: 16/10/2006 02:12 Subject: Please provide your support
Dear all,
Thank you for Geoff's observation and advice.
The new portal/forums is a very powerful program but its functions & operation are very complicate too. We have spent over six months (using the free time after works and our birding time) to study and customize it (providing both the Traditional & Simplified Chinese Interface, adding the HKBWS membership registration function and activities registration function, etc.). However, there are still some features, such as the Album, Links, Knowledge Base, etc., we still don't have enough time to study and make use of them. I hope members can spend some time to get used to the new portal/forums and find out how to use its new functions.
Actually we have tried our best to explain all the registration requirements in the registration page, eg. the HKBWS membership ID should be in 6 digit, the firstname and lastname must be matched with our records, the username should be formed by the 1st letter of last name + firstname, an example of the username (CHAN Tai Man David ---> username should be ctaiman or cdavid), etc. I am pleased if members can have the patience to read through all the instruction while doing the registration.
The necessary information required for the registration is only the HKBWS membership information which is clearly printed in the Membership Card. The registration will be very easy if you have the Membership Card with you. It is expected that members will keep their membership card properly and please don’t tell me that you have lost it or thrown it away after getting the Mai Po permit.
Please note that the retired BBS in fact can still be accessed at the link below and nothing was lost:-
However, sorry to tell that since the new portal/forums (phpBB2) and the old BBS (yabb) are two completely different systems, it is unable to migrate the posted messages from the old forums to the new one automatically unless moving them one by one manually. We really don't have enough resource/manpower to move all the messages manually.
I think members still remember that in my previous messages asking Fred to come back, I had asked members to offer help to improve the website. I am very disappointed to tell that I got no response up to this moment.
The Web Admin Group members are now working hard to move at least some important messages to the new forums. Therefore, I am pleased if members can help reposting their important messages to the new forums so as to reduce our workload as well as to maintain the value of OUR forums. The forums and all the knowledge contributed are actually belonged to OUR members instead of just owned by the Society.
Although only 2 photos are allowed to be uploaded to our server for posting onto each message, members can still post more photos in each message by using their own website through the image link. We will review the limitation of uploading photos after running the new portal for a period , say 2 months, and see whether it can be afforded by the limited storage capacity of our web server. I think members would understand that the web storage space is very expensive.
At last, I must say thank you to my teammates and the following members/persons who have provided great support in construction of the new portal/forums:-
CHENG W K
CHAN H L Alan
OR Carmen
LEE Eling
HUNG Mark (Beta’s student)
CHAN Sammy (Beta’s student)
TANG Tommy (Beta’s student)
Webcreeper
IT Group members
Webmaster – LEE Kwok Shing
CHAN Dominic
CHAN Jacky
CHIANG Owen
KOO Kitty
NG Karl
WONG Sophia
YIP Beta
Without their voluntary support, I don’t think the new portal/forums could be launched.
We all understand that a successful forum should rely on the full supports from all our members. By spending a lot of effort to launch the new portal/forums, I hope the value of the website can be maintained and even enhanced with more and more members to support.
If you would like to offer your help to make the website more valuable, please give me an email ff orrest@hk bws.org.hk or a call at 94805233.
Thank you very much.
Regards,
Forrest FONG
HKBWS IT Group
Welcome to HKBWS Forum 香港觀鳥會討論區 (http://hkbws.org.hk/BBS/)
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