Should PN upgrade to a new forum ??

[#1]

Quote from: chrcoluk

Plusnet dont have staff to manage this or not enough staff, as so many things on plusnet's software side seem left unattended with no fix/maintenance.  The only things I see changing on plusnet's site is their marketing/produict pages.

This makes PN no different to any commercial company in what is a highly cost driven industry.  Everyone wants everything but is only prepared to pay next to nothing for it.  Like it or not, it is we the users who drive that business model.
One one in any IT services delivery organisation can deliver what everyone wants when the list of wants far out-strips what people are prepared to pay for the capacity required to deliver it.  I know, having spent 35 years delivering IT services for which client expectations were always driven by a more for less mentality rather than a this is what I need, how much will it cost?
The only way of surviving is to get more people using the same sacred solution, hence the primary focus on marketing.
If users want change, then we change our attitude to cost of service.

[#2]

Of course not everyone is as we.  So dont refer to as we please, as I am not included in that. eg. I have the pro addon.
Not everyone wants broadband as cheap as penny sweets, just marketing people think that.
But regardless I doubt employing someone to manage the forum, api etc. will break the bank and affect pricing, there is far bigger costs then that involved in supplying uk dsl.

[#3]

Sorry no offence was intended - generalisations can be dangerous.  I do though believe that this is the expectation of the majority.  What does need to be considered is that only a minority of PN users use the forums.
Cost a lot or a little, there is a cost - one has to ask is it truly a priority?  Will forum modernisation really attract more customers, deliver more margin?
Cheers,
Kevin

[#4]

It would go a long way to show customers that PN are 100% serious about (DOING US PROUD) & are not prepared to drop standards on anything they say or do
That said
It costs no more than the wages that are already being paid, if they utilise the same staff to review all option(s) available
If PN want / need to employ new staff for the job, then that is out of our hands, & will clearly be a PN's decision

[#5]

It is a question of priorities using the available manpower with the requisite skills

[#6]

Thats clearly a no brainer, hence the last sentence

[#7]

Just to wade in here. Upgrading/fixing the forums is absolutely something we want to do, however it really isn't as simple and just clicking an upgrade link, or installing a new version. The forums, blogs and library all use the same login. There's also the link back to our CRM when you sign up that needs to be considered. Doing all this takes resource, and as with any company we have finite development time that are currently working on higher priority things. That's not to say we won't get these fixes/upgrades in place, just want to set expectations that it's not as easy as some are making it sound on here.

[#8]

Correction:

Quote from: Chris

The forums, blogs and library all work together under the same login.

The library hasn't worked properly for some time - hence the notice on it's front page!

[#9]

Corrected my post to clarify.

[#10]

Speeds are dire again - worst for some time!
What happened to the update - Community site maintenance 15/04? Everything was good after this.
Even the Community News page is dead slow. So I assume upgrading the forums won't make any difference.

[#11]

You've hit the nail on the head there. No matter how good the forum software, if the hardware/environment it's running on is crap, the forums will be affected.

[#12]

Currently some forum pages are taking more than a minute to appear  :o,  all other websites working as normal !

[#13]

What's the actual issue? Is it the hardware the Community Site is run on, or the software/scripts?

[#14]

From my discussions behind the scenes I don't think that they know
I suspect that there isn't a single cause but several things conspiring together to make the life of Moderators difficult 

[#15]

If they have not got a clue
& I think it is a mixture of the old outdated coding standards, on old server(s) =====> modern browser(s) incompatibility
Best place to start is get the server updated to the latest software
If already done
Then look at if any of the hardware is not up to par
If & when that is completed
Then
Look at bringing the forum software up to date
In the long run will save a lot of time & resource(s) in trying to patch old outdated soft / hardware
I am not saying it will be easy, however it will be easier than trying to patch & make it worse
For those that think that upgrading will make it cloud based (that will depend if PN would want to go that route) (I very much doubt that PN will want the cloud))
That said
More device friendly may be a viable option later down the line (yes I did say later down the line)