New, upgraded and mobile friendly WoV

Quote: Chereya

Welcome to Seattle! You just happen to be coming for some of the hottest weather we have historically ever had. :/ Sounds like you'll be staying cool in the lake but the sun will feel pretty brutal. Seafair is going on this weekend, too, and the Blue Angels are in town for that (US Navy's fancy jet fighter squad for demonstration and performances). It's pretty exciting for most of the residents here and could be something pretty cool for you to see being from Europe. :)

cheers ! my 3rd time here . staying at the lake sammammish for a week of wakesurfing with friends.

saw the jets few times already , practicing for the show. really impressive stuff

Quote: Zuga

cheers ! my 3rd time here . staying at the lake sammammish for a week of wakesurfing with friends.

saw the jets few times already , practicing for the show. really impressive stuff

Lake samwich? Vegas is waiting, but then Vegas "is always waiting for you"

I really just tuned here to see any update to the ongoing improvements,
Well and to see if Dodsferd has posted,,,...ahem.... Any new words of wisdom ;-)

Quote: TwoFeathersATL

Lake samwich? Vegas is waiting, but then Vegas "is always waiting for you"

I really just tuned here to see any update to the ongoing improvements,
Well and to see if Dodsferd has posted,,,...ahem.... Any new words of wisdom ;-)

Spending the evening with friends, alcohol, and games. I don't expect to be coherent enough to browse the forums tonight.

The website has been "upgraded" and the ads have been more prominently featured, which was to be expected being that the new owners dropped a good chunk of change for the Wizard's sites. It wouldn't be good if the sites didn't make them multiples of that amount of money back.

The "new" site is clunky and not as easily navigated; I hope some changes can be made to make it better. The way it works seems to make people want to post less; that is not a good thing.

It is also time to change the information on the site to reflect ownership correctly...this is still on there:

"The owner and primary writer for the site is Michael Shackleford,"--this has been corrected on the "Odds" site; it should be corrected here kind of like it was there:

"In 2014 after realizing that this site was in financial trouble I decided to start fielding offer to sell Wizard of Odds. I ended up negotiating with Australian site developer Joshua Chan, and after a few months I struck a deal with him to sell this site as well as my other sites.

As of today, Wizard of Odds is a part of the Latest Casino Bonuses network of sites, but I remain the main content supplier for this site. I am under contract to work for the LCB network for the next three years, and during that time (and hopefully much longer!) I will continue to write analysis of casino games, strategy guides, and much more."

https://wizardofodds.com/site/about/

Sometimes upgrades take a while to get used to; we shall see what happens.

Took 35 seconds to pull up this thread. We need to have date/time stamp on top thread lists. To not have to wait and wait to find out there is nothing new.

Hi Guys,

We have purchased a new dedicated server to host the wizard sites and are in the process of migrating them, although the process should be relatively seamless, there will be a brief period of database inaccessibility.

We did this because the old server did run out of resources a few days ago. It was purchased in 2011 and was significantly slower than the slowest dedicated machine the hosting company offers now.

Good news is the new machine is many times faster and will lead to a much better experience for everyone that visits the sites.

Please be patient over the next few days as we migrate to the new server.

j

It took 32 seconds for this post to load,
anything would be faster.

Quote: EvenBob

It took 32 seconds for this post to load,
anything would be faster.

Seems to be getting slower and slower every day.

I notice the outage for a couple hours earlier today. Now, it seems slower!

Let's hope the new system really is faster, just needs some configuration tweaks...

Quote: Ibeatyouraces

Seems to be getting slower and slower every day.

It's been very slow all day. A little while ago I checked the site and received a error. After it has come back online it's been really fast. Maybe the new server switch has helped.

Much better so far. Riding the snail instead of surfing was getting tiresome.

We apologize for the down time, migrating this database took it's toll on the speed of the sites.

Now that it is complete, it does feel snappy, even the recent threads page.

We do have more speed tweaks to do, so fingers crossed they go smoothly.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

I notice the outage for a couple hours earlier today. Now, it seems slower!

Let's hope the new system really is faster, just needs some configuration tweaks...

I must have hit a bad connection, because now it's faster.

DT was also out earlier today. It's faster too.

Quote: joshua.chan

Now that it is complete, it does feel snappy, even the recent threads page.

Time will tell. We had an upgrade a couple
years ago and it was real fast for about a
week and then slowly went downhill again.

loading times are super fast for me right now. I don't understand why the fonts can be light and dark for read and unread threads if you click on the recent threads link and view the list of threads that way, but on the main page all the links are the same color.

It would be nice if that could be fixed.


ZCore13

Quote: Zcore13

It would be nice if that could be fixed.

That and the nauseating blue color are my
biggest complaints. Black is better than
blue, what's wrong with black. This shade
of blue is the same color blue they used
in leisure suits in the early 70's. Shiver..

Quote: EvenBob

That and the nauseating blue color are my
biggest complaints. Black is better than
blue, what's wrong with black. This shade
of blue is the same color blue they used
in leisure suits in the early 70's. Shiver..

I don't mind the blue. Another thing I don't like is that the topics are not collapsible on a pc. It takes forever to scroll down on a pc because everything is so narrow for mobile optimization.


ZCore13

I only see one ad on my IPhone. It's for Bovada.
That's much better than the right side taken up with ads on the pc.

The background is easier to take on my phone too. I'm thinking I may only use the mobile site from now on.

I'll add that high lighting the not read threads would be nice. But if the speed will remain as fast as it is now, maybe that won't be that big of a deal either.

Yeah, much faster now, even when logged in. I normally read the site not logged in, as it was so slow when logged in.

The only issue i have now is that on a mobile (android), i still cant pinch the screen to make it bigger.

Been out and busy all day, so just looked at forum, read this thread and a couple others.
Noticed 4-6 seconds to go from a thread back to Forums, another 4-6 seconds to get to expanded recent threads page. Tried several times from different threads.

Not blazingly fast or anything, but a whole lot better than the last few days, or weeks.
On IPad, don't know if that is considered mobile or not. Not using it mobile, though out of town on a different WiFi at moment.

Sooooo, my take is they are working on it. I can live with that.

Liked the old look better, don't like the two step process to get to 'recent threads' with highlighting or Bold, don't like that Blue. Background still too white, though it has changed a bit in some places, not enough.
The ads take up a lot of room, but....really.....this thing got to pay for itself somehow. The Avatar thing takes up a lot of room on the left but I can still read posts. Those posts are just a lot lines longer now ;-!

Someone said raspy cough, add stubbed toe.

If there is a lot of outcry for varied color schemes, would it be outrageous to suggest the addition of themes to the site? Just pick whatever theme you like, and everyone is happy.

Quote: Dodsferd

If there is a lot of outcry for varied color schemes, would it be outrageous to suggest the addition of themes to the site? Just pick whatever theme you like, and everyone is happy.

I think that was already stated somewhere previously that they are working on that.


ZCore13

Super fast for me now.

Quote: Zcore13

I think that was already stated somewhere previously that they are working on that.


ZCore13

God, I hope so..

Much better now; still not sure about the ease of navigation...but it is faster.

First of all, there has been a significant improvement in response speed as of yesterday, so it appears that the new server may be a success. However, I don’t have much success to report in regard to what I see in the new site design.


Note: the following comments are specifically related to reading a forum thread, though they may also apply to other pages at the site. I haven’t checked everything out, but I thought I would report what I see in the new design, in case others haven’t noticed or perhaps see something different.


When I use a computer (in my case, a Mac with a Firefox browser) to view the thread, I get three completely different page layouts depending on the width that I make the window. I suspect (though don’t know for sure) that these are intended for computer, phone, and tablet users. I don’t really know which layout is intended for which users, because I do not find any of these to be particularly suitable when using a computer. (I also haven’t been impressed with what I have seen in limited trials on my phone, and I haven’t even tried my tablet since all of this started.)

Here are the three layouts that I have seen and the shortcomings that I have found when using them on my computer:

(1) With a narrow/normal window, I get what I will call layout #1. Perhaps the easiest way to identify it is to say that it includes a single ad for a “Recommended Online Casino”, near the top (just under the title of the thread) and centered in the window. Currently, that ad is for Bovada, but I don’t know whether every viewer sees the same ad or not.

Layout #1 has zero blank space to the left and right. In fact, on the left hand side some small amount of info is always obscured. The only thing I can be specific about missing is part of the letter “P” in the word “Page” when it is telling me which page number of the thread I am viewing. As I make the window narrower, the text is gradually wrapped to narrower lines to accommodate, but eventually some additional info begins to be obscured, such as poll results. As I make the window wider, eventually it shifts to layout #2.

My major objection to layout #1 on a computer is the excessive waste of vertical space. This is due primarily to two, window-wide, mostly-blank bands for each post. One of these is the space above each post with the poster’s avatar and name to the left and history to the right, separated by a sea of white. The second is below each post, with the huge buttons for “Quote”, “Reply”, and “Flag Post”. The size of these buttons may be needed for finger-touches on some phones, but for a computer they should be much smaller – just the size of the words in a small font would be suitable.

Since this set of two window-wide bands separate each post from the next, they make for a lot of wasted vertical space and what seems to be a lot of scrolling to get through a thread.

(2) As I make the window wide enough, there are several simultaneous changes in going to layout #2. At the very top of the page, faint icons for Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Youtube appear, along with the word “Search” next to the magnifying glass that is also repositioned. (Those icons are available in full color at the bottom of the page in layout #1.) There is also a new menu line for different sections of the site that appears at both the top and bottom of the page. With the available width, this layout presents two ads instead of one, still near the top and center. At present, I see ads for Bovada and Miami Club.

In terms of the thread info, the major difference in this layout is the repositioning of info about the posters. The avatar, name, and history of each of them are grouped to the left side of the post. This appears to save on the wasted vertical space (although the huge buttons and their associated white space remain), but in reality it just moves it to be wasted horizontal space on the left side of the window. For a very short post, this is not an issue; for a longer post (such as this one) there is a lot of blank margin to the left of the post text.

I have no idea how difficult it would be to have the avatar, name, and history of the poster appear in a small block in the upper left corner of the post, with the text wrapping around that I.D. block if the post is long enough to warrant that. This would reduce the wasted space and (I believe) make the thread easier to read and to scroll on a computer.

As I make the window even wider, layout #2 just has additional blank space on the left and right sides. If I make it wide enough, it shifts to layout #3.

(3) In the third layout, the ads shift from top-center to the right hand side, and they continue to shift vertically to stay in view as I scroll down the thread. I currently see four on-line casino ads for Bovada, Miami Club, Lincoln, and Las Vegas USA.

For some incomprehensible-to-me reason, the Facebook/Twitter/Google+/Youtube icons at the top of the page swap places with the Search label and magnifying glass.

As I make the window even wider, I find that there are different “standard” widths for the text column of the posts, with sudden (rather than gradual) re-wrapping as I make the window wider. I have no idea whether there is a fourth, ultra-wide layout that I cannot see on my computer.

I guess I find layout #3 the best on my computer, but only if I use it in a particular way: if I make the window just wide enough to get this layout without too much blank margin to the left and then move the entire window to the far right on the screen, so that the ads are completely off the screen and hidden from view, then it’s not really too bad. Now I know that the advertisers and perhaps the owners don’t likely want me to be hiding the ads, but this might be OK for me. I think my main annoyance might be that the scroll tab would be hidden off-screen beyond the ads.

There would also still be the wasted horizontal space if the post text isn’t revised to wrap around the avatar/name/history and wasted vertical space associated with the quote/reply/flag buttons, but this method might just work as an ad-free site on my computer. ;-)

I have no idea which of these three layouts shows up on a phone or tablet, but I might check it out later, including how it behaves there. Someone has already mentioned that they cannot re-size on their phone, so I don't know whether there is any way to check such behaviors as I have seen on my computer.

Speed for me is super fast. 1 and 2 second load times as compared to 30 seconds before.

Forum groups are now collapsible on the pc. Huge improvement!

Things are getting better...

EDIT - Damn it. Almost fixed. When you collapse topics and then come back they are not collapsed anymore on the pc. In mobile they are. Still needs a little tweak...



ZCore13

Quote: Zcore13

Speed for me is super fast. 1 and 2 second load times as compared to 30 seconds before.



EDIT - Damn it. Almost fixed. When you collapse topics and then come back they are not collapsed anymore on the pc. In mobile they are. Still needs a little tweak...



ZCore13

we did not change it for the desktops yet. It is in the process though .

Quote: Zuga

we did not change it for the desktops yet. It is in the process though .

Zcore13 please check now after you refresh the page couple times

Quote: Zuga

Zcore13 please check now after you refresh the page couple times

All forums were collapsed and I opened up the gambling forum. Then read a thread or two. Came back to the main page and all forums were collapsed again. It did not hold my preference.

I'd prefer it to hold my preference, but having them all collapsed to start is better than all expanded in my opinion.


ZCore13

Pages are loading in about 1/10 of a second. Very nice. Thanks, guys!

Quote: Zcore13

All forums were collapsed and I opened up the gambling forum. Then read a thread or two. Came back to the main page and all forums were collapsed again. It did not hold my preference.

I'd prefer it to hold my preference, but having them all collapsed to start is better than all expanded in my opinion.


ZCore13

that is the next step we will work on :)

Quote: Zuga

that is the next step we will work on :)

Well done.


ZCore13

Noticed that this AM, on 'Forums' page under 'Recent Threads' banner, that the threads I HAVE NOT read since they changed are bold. That is a change, not sure when. I might have gotten so used to the Texas Two Step that took me to the expanded Recent Threads page that I missed this tweak for a couple days. Nice tweak, more like old format now.
Still in Blue....
I caveman.
Caveman like thick black charcoal writing on light or medium grey cave wall.
Maybe I can evolve, maybe not. I may be Neanderthal line of descent rather than Cro-Magnon ;-)

Keep it up!

Quote: TwoFeathersATL

Noticed that this AM, on 'Forums' page under 'Recent Threads' banner, that the threads I HAVE NOT read since they changed are bold. That is a change, not sure when.

was fixed early this morning :)

Quote: Zuga

was fixed early this morning :)

And a fine job it was,
Carry on....

Quote: Zuga

was fixed early this morning :)

Thank you and Thank you!

Quote: DeMango

Thank you and Thank you!

Just change the blue font to black or dark grey
and it'll be so much easier to read. I know that's
easy to do. Leave the horrible blue at the top
if you have to, the blue font color is why I can't
look at the page for longer than a minute.

Do a poll on how many want a dark font and see
what you get.

The current colour and design are here to stay and will be a default to all users. However and as already stated, we are working on few other colour backgrounds which members will then use to customize according to their own preference.

P.s.

Someone somehwere in this thread mentioned an issue with blocking members. This is now fixed but please report us if any additional bugs.

Cheers
Zuga

Quote: Zuga

The current colour and design are here to stay and will be a default to all users. However and as already stated, we are working on few other colour backgrounds which members will then use to customize according to their own preference.

P.s.

Someone somehwere in this thread mentioned an issue with blocking members. This is now fixed but please report us if any additional bugs.

Cheers
Zuga

Hey Z,

I noticed that on posts seemingly responding to each other that one poster can make a post hours before the post they are referring to?

Wasn't it set up so all posts [at least in eastern time zones] all transferred to Vegas time? It just seems out of place to have it this way that somone on the right coast can be responding to a post but several hours later than it is now in Vegas. TIA, and thanks for this forum as well.

Quote: Zuga

The current colour and design are here to stay and will be a default to all users. However and as already stated, we are working on few other colour backgrounds which members will then use to customize according to their own preference.

P.s.

Someone somehwere in this thread mentioned an issue with blocking members. This is now fixed but please report us if any additional bugs.

Cheers
Zuga

Crap! They can block me again now? (Joke, maybe not)
It's a little grey in most places now, much better than bang-in-your-face-white-very white.

Carry on,
Caveman

Quote: TwoFeathersATL

Crap! They can block me again now? (Joke, maybe not)

dont worry, u wont know u been blocked :p

Quote: petroglyph

Wasn't it set up so all posts [at least in eastern time zones] all transferred to Vegas time? It just seems out of place to have it this way that somone on the right coast can be responding to a post but several hours later than it is now in Vegas. TIA, and thanks for this forum as well.

we did not change the default time format for the forum...ill see if we can introduce customized time zones, so everyone can set their own .

btw glad u like the forum! :)

cheers

Quote: Zuga

Quote: petroglyph

Wasn't it set up so all posts [at least in eastern time zones] all transferred to Vegas time? It just seems out of place to have it this way that somone on the right coast can be responding to a post but several hours later than it is now in Vegas. TIA, and thanks for this forum as well.

we did not change the default time format for the forum...ill see if we can introduce customized time zones, so everyone can set their own .

btw glad u like the forum! :)

cheers

Either you toned down the white background or my eyes are adjusting. Seems less white.

Also, I think what he was trying to say is that the time stamp on posts is not using one standard time zone. If someone posts on the East Coast and then someone posts on the West Coast an hour after, the time stamp on the post will say it was before the post above it because it's using the local time of the poster. Most sites use a standard time like EST for all posts.


ZCore13

ah ok, thanks for the clarification Zcore13. is there an example od such posts that i can send over to our techs?

as far as the white background we did initially change it but not as of recently. So yes it seems u r getting used to it ;)

petroglyph, the first paragraph is all you. :) I was just explaining your comment. I don't even look at dates and times.


ZCore13

Quote: Zcore13

If someone posts on the East Coast and then someone posts on the West Coast an hour after, the time stamp on the post will say it was before the post above it because it's using the local time of the poster. Most sites use a standard time like EST for all posts.

I really don't think it's working that (erroneous) way here. I am making this post from NC at 10:12PM EDT, and I expect it to appear in the thread with a timestamp of 7:12PM PDT. You can check the result yourself.

Quote: Doc

I really don't think it's working that (erroneous) way here. I am making this post from NC at 10:12PM EDT, and I expect it to appear in the thread with a timestamp of 7:12PM PDT. You can check the result yourself.

And it did. To me it shows Pacific Time for the posts. I was just trying to explain what I thought the earlier post was saying was happening.


ZCore13

Quote: Zcore13

petroglyph, the first paragraph is all you. :) I was just explaining your comment. I don't even look at dates and times.


ZCore13

You explained it well.

I think it is working now and everybody's posting in Vegas time? I'm in AZ. as well, and although time doesn't change as you know,[ except for the big res.] we still have to deal with the rest of the country observing DST.

I think Zuga fixed it? thanks

I thought it had always used Vegas time.

Although I would like a local time conversion option in the profile...