Model Boat Mayhem
Mess Deck: General Section => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: Colin Bishop on October 02, 2023, 01:25:06 pm
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Martin has kindly allowed me space to give a 'heads up' concerning changes to the Model Boats website.
As many of you will be aware, Mortons Publishing bought the Model Boats, Model Flying and Model Engineer/MEW titles from MayTime Media a while back.
The Model Boats and Model Engineer forums were embedded in the MTM software platform and in order to keep them running it has been necessary to replicate the old MTM websites on the Mortons servers. Mortons understandably want the titles brought under its house style and sorfware standards. The websites have therefore been rebuilt in Wordpress and extensions have been used to add the forum functionality.
Because of different database structures, not all the old forum data will be transferred over but all the main essentials are reportedly there. It may take a while to get used tothe new format but there will be a FAQ help facility.
Below is the announcement fron Darren Hendley of Mortons IT department setting out the intended timeline. While the forums are offline I will post any information updates in this thread and endeavour to asnswer any questions.
Colin
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This week we will be switching the website and forum from its current server and technology to a modern, mobile friendly platform.
The timeline is as follows:
05/10/23 8am BST – Current site to go offline and a holding page put up.
10/10/23 9am – Moderators given access to new site for checking.
12/10/23 10am – New site online – All being well this will happen before this date.
We will post updates here:
www.mortonsdigital.co.uk/blog/2023/10/02/model-engineer-model-boats-forum-migration-updates/
Please bookmark that page now before this forum goes offline.
When the new site goes live, you will need to log in with your email address and password. If that doesn't work you can do a password reset.
If you don't have access to the email address on your account here, you should change it before Thursday or you may be locked out.
Thanks for your support and patience.
Darren Hendley
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A lot of activity today with testing but there are delays and the new site is not yet ready to go live (11th October).
I will give a further update in due course.
Colin
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Still a lot of technical issues to resolve so today's target date (12 Oct) has been missed. Realistically now looking at next week at the earliest.
Colin
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Thanks for the update Colin. Better to iron out the issues now rather than have problems once it goes live. O0
Ray.
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Who has ever heard of an IT project that was delivered ontime and onbudget?
Lets hope that the problems are easily resolved.
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Who has ever heard of an IT project that was delivered ontime and onbudget?
Lets hope that the problems are easily resolved.
Not me! ..... 40+ year in I T {-)
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The project hasn't been well organised and we are now seeing the consequences.
I will provide updates as and when they are available.
Colin
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We have similar issues at work at the moment - a new mandatory program/platform we have to use but it appears not to be completely compatible. To be fair such changes are extremely complex and have to work with every conceivable configuration of IT architecture across multiple firms.
However it is extremely frustrating and I think I could solve most IT issues in 5 mins - you get the senior IT people in one room and discuss with a baseball bat!!
This stuff should just work which is why collectively we pay a fortune for it but somehow we are getting into the realms of expecting and accepting teething troubles.
Just not good enough - ok rant over, but I still think my idea has merit! :-)
Cheers
Geoff
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Could we please keep this on topic and not turn it into a place to exchange computer anecdotes and omments otherwise updates will be lost in the verbiage!
Martin, could you move or delete the superfluous posts please?
Colin
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Colin
Do we know what the "Unresolved data migration issues being investigated by developer" are?
Mortons have been very good about the reports for the transition but somehow they don't really tell us much except that there are problems. Is it putting pictures into threads by any chance?
"Investigated by the developer" sounds very open ended.
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It's all a bit complicated to explain in detail and I don't have all the details anyway.
Putting photos into posts appears to work OK and it is also possible to create personal photo galleries but the two are entirely separate so you have to import an image into a post directly you can't do it from a gallery (like the old MTM Albums). It would be nice if you could but not essential, being able to load directly into a post is better than having to create an album first.
Basically there are two main aspects to all this this, conversion of the old MTM data by 'mapping' it to a bbPress database and then configuring the Wordpress and bbPress tools and routines to recreate an equivalent but not exactly the same functionality on the new site and link it all in to the Mortons Wordpress website system.
Mortons contracted developers to convert the data over and this has proved to be more difficult than expected or the developer isn't up to the job (probably both). they are on their second developer at the moment. Among other things this has meant having to identify the correct image that goes with a post from the MTM album system and connect them together in the new system. The old albums will not be transferred into galleries at this stage and I suspect not at all. The feature articles with their images seem to have proved impossible to transfer over in an intelligible format and may be lost.
The second part of the job has entailed Morton's IT people doing the Wordperss/bbPress configuration and being unfamiliar with the way bbPress works. Building the new forum system and trying to replicate the essential facilities of the old forum is again proving to be very difficult with all sorts of bugs and anomalies being thrown up.
Finally, there is a speed problem in that the test forum has been very slow although Mortons think they may have resolved it to some extent.
It is acknowledged that the whole project has been ill conceived and badly implemented and this has involved Mortons in more time and money than they expected.
The current position as at midday is that Mortons think they have resolved the (unspecified) data migration issues and made good progress with improving response times. They hope to open up the syestem to myself and the Model Engineer moderators on Monday or Tuesday for further testing and we will see where we go from there.
Colin
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Colin
Thank you for all of that. It is more complicated than I had imagined. I hope all goes well but I won't be surprised if the schedule slips further.
It is a pity that they couldn't use the expertise & software that made a success of the Model Flying forum conversion.
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The original MTM forum was embedded in the MTM website patform and written by Mark Hawkins as a bespoke application. It was actually very clever for its time but things move on and it becomes increasingly difficult to migrate to a new IT platform which is where we are at the moment.
In my view bbPress was probably not the way to go, there are other easier options but it still should have the functionality to deliver what we need albeit in a rather labour intensive way. There are some decent free forum software options out there which have easy to use tools and don't need the programming input associated with bbPress. These could simply have been 'hung off' the main website, no need for direct integration.
It is very frustrating as we are not talking rocket science here. Mortons made unfortunate choices in their partner developers, we are on the second one now and the people at Mortons driving the project made no attempt to involve the users of the system such as myself and my Model Engineer equivalents who could have made some very useful input into the system specification.
Yes, following the Model Flying site was an option and probably a better one but Mortons have chosen not to go down that path.
Hopefully it will still come good but things could have been a lot easier.
Colin
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Thought 'Mess Deck Chit Chat' was precisely that? Strange how some personal observations take precedence. The fact that allegedly knowledgeable 'Experts' in the field seem to have to constantly meddle and update bodes ill for satellite generators.
No matter what eventually appears, no doubt it won't be 'One size fits all', comments on the other forums show, Oh, sorry, pages devoted to complaints are no longer available. Muddle Ingineer and Muddle Ingineers Werkshop sites are same server.
Regards Ian.
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Ian,
As per my first post, Martin agreed this thread to keep people informed of progress while the Model Boats website is down. By all means start another thread if you would like to make general comments on either this particular subject or computer disasters generally, we all have experience of a good few of those.
ME and MEW share the same forum. and MB is on the same server with the same software. Some of the probems being experienced ared due to thr ME/MEW forum being much bigger and with a greater level of activity than the MB one and they also require more facilities than MB such as the need to post computer source code in a 'pure' format with no hidden formatting so it can be used directly in programming computerised tools etc. This has all added to the mix.
Colin
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Sorry Colin but common sense (?) dictates before you change the tyres on a car, you have a new set to change to and the ability to do the job? Seems VERY shortsighted to turn off the mains switch and HOPE new wiring works without a backup.
Regards Ian
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Ian, reverting to the old sites is still an option if this all goes pear shaped. They can be restored. At the moment I and the ME/MEW people are stuck with what the publishers have decided and will try to make it work. We have had no influence on the original decision or the way in which it has been implemented which has been very frustrating.
In the meantime we will just have to see how things play out. This may become more apparent next week.
Yes, it could have been done differently (and better) and I and the others have made this very plain to Mortons but they are the ones in the driving seat and have spent a lot of money! You can guess the rest.
Colin
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Whoever has been managing the spending of "a lot of money" is most unlikely to scrap it & go back to where they were. I don't know much about forum software but wasn't a test / pilot small scale offline changeover possible to make sure that they knew what they were doing?
I don't want to bash Mortons but ""p1ss up" and "brewery" come to mind.
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Colin - it's a shame to hear that the move isn't going as hoped.
As regards the feature articles could these not be "snipped" and saved as PDFs etc. and then the combined pictures and text embedded as one in the new site? How many are we talking about? If the pictures are available surely it wouldn't be too difficult to reproduce the text again as another option.
Is DMs electrical article likely to survive?
Chris
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Chris, the problem is that the way feature articles are held in the old system is quite idiosyncratic and very difficult to relate to conventional data structures. It is very clever but images are pulled in from different sources within the system and these can be mixed and matched in individual articles. Trying to disentangle the links and interpreting bespoke software that was written in the early 2000s is a nightmare! The MTM system was not written with moving data to another system in mind and evolved as bits were added onto the the core website software often using routines that were originally written for another purpose. The MTM forums were essentially code which reached into the main sofrware platform and were entirely dependent on it.
The old forums can be restored but they bring the entire MTM website platform with them which is obviously something that Mortons are not happy with.
From what I have seen, the attempts to bring the feature articles over have been very hit and miss depending on how the articles themselves have been compiled and where the images are stored.
However, virtually all the feature artices on the old MB forum (including Dave's) were originally published in the magazine after 2008 and are available from just a few keypresses to digital subscribers in the Digital Archives so the material is not lost. I also have the raw material supplied by Paul Freshney for many of the articles but it would be a very time consuming job to reconstruct them for the Mortons system and they would only duplicate what is in the archives.
Colin
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Colin
Assuming the articles included on the old web site do not make the transfer I hear what you are saying re them being out of old magazines but many newbies (& oldies) are not digital subscribers to get access to them.
I could easily see an argument to rethink the list and post some articles that would have beginner interest as a hook. If it included the smaller models that had centre page plans then they could be included.
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Ian,
Yes, the articles were simply there as examples to encourage visitors to the sites to buy the magazine and take out subscriptions. Likelwise the forums were only introduced to support the magazines. The MB forum was under threat from MTM for several years as the Managing Director was unconvinced that it was worth the cost of maintaining it. We managed to persuade him that closing it would not go down well in the model boating community. During Covid he was in favour of closing down the magazine and its budget was slashed and remains that way under Mortons.
You may recall Military Modelling magazine. It was closed down as the centre of activity had shifted from the magazine which had to be paid for, to the forum which was free and eating up server storage space. MTM were basically just running a free specialist hobby forum whose members didn't feel any incentive to buy the magazine.
Publishers are not charities and have to weigh up the pros and cons. It is a very finely balanced argument. Thera are other hooks that could be employed such as boosting the decription of the contents of upcoming issues on their websites.
The Digital Archives are a hugely valuable resource. You have access to and can search on every article publshed since 2007. No, the print only subscribers can't see thm but you are still assuming that they can use the internet to read the sample articles so it is their choice.
Colin
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Thanks Colin.
Good to hear that the articles are still available.
I suppose this is an opportunity for the magazine and forum to be more complimentary to each other and be part of a whole rather than the rather fragmented entities that they were?
Chris
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TBH Chris, I'm not sure about that. There will be a 'Forums' button on the website which will take you into into the Forums whih are intended to be similar to any other forum but will have different controls and features such as adding images directly into posts (assuming that it all eventually works!).
From Mortons viewpoint the forums simply remain as a 'hook' to encourage people to buy the manazine and an opportunity for expanding advertising coverage which they can charge for.
Colin
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New date on muddle ingineerin site - 18th ???????
Perhaps they should put the old BBC rider on, 'Normal Service Will Be Resumed - As Soon As Possible'
Regards Ian.
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It is what it is..
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Colin - sounds as though it was a bloomin' good job that Model Boats moved from MTM!
As regards the relationship between the magazine and forum my thinking was that they could mutually benefit though take your point as regards the importance of the magazine taking priority for Mortons. Under MTM the forum understandably had references to the next months magazine and links to subscribe etc. but it was basically a one way street. I don't remember that there (without checking) was much mention, if any, in the magazine of the forum?
Obviously at the moment there won't be any mention of the forum in the magazine.
Perhaps, if access to the new forum is via Mortons web-site, then those taking out subscriptions will see the forum and start using it.
Apart from yourself, Richard and Ray, no other magazine contributers frequent the forum, which is a pity, as on occasions I would have liked to ask a question or comment about an article. I'm not going to write in and wait at least a month for an answer! Even the editor doesn't visit the forum does she, she certainly doesn't post.
I know that the forum can't step on the toes of the magazine but still think there are opportunities for mutual benefit especially as Mortons are financing both. We shall see.
Chris
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Chris,
The forum certainly did used to be promoted in the magazine but without checking I don't recall when this stopped. As far as mentioning upcoming issues on the forum is concerned there needn't be a problem there if I am still running it after the current fun and games. Of course it will be on the main website but I know some forum members use a direct link into the forum as you imply. Whether this method works in the future remains to be seen.
You missed off Ashley in your list of contributors!
It has always been the case that contributors to the magazine do not frequent the forum and indeed a lot of forum contributors, subscribers and readers just don't much use the internet which is why the re introduction of readers's letters seems to have promptd quite a few contributions. Just the way it is. I'm happy to use the forums but have no interest in Facebook, Twitter or other social media.
Colin
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How could I have forgotten Ashley! :o
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I thought he'd Defected to Toys R Us
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The site hs been released for further testing this morning. My initial thoughts are that the basics are working OK. There will still be a lot of bugs to be worked through, especially for the ME/MEW site but many won't affect the MB site where members have less complex requirements.
Some feature articles have come across OK but, as I rather expected, those which used album access to display images seem to have lost these.
Fingers crossed anyway.
Colin
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I see escape date for M/E has now changed to ASAP.
Regards Ian.
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Colin
Is the intention to sort everything out before release or to realease & then titivate as issues arise?
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The plan is to get all the essential basics right to make the site workable and sort out the minor bugs and nice to have bells and whistles afterwards.
No matter how much testing you do the users wiill find things that have been missed!
Colin
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I am pleased to report that the new Forum has at last gone live!
Existing members should login with their original email address and password.
Please note that for technical reasons, any initial new posts will be subject to moderation after which you should be able to post as usual.
Do please read the 'Sticky' Topic which is displayed at the top of each main heading and which explains some of the changes and how to access the FAQ facility.
Colin
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There are some reports of people not being able to gain access. This has been reported. If you are affected then have another go mid morning tomorrow.
Colin
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Colin,
I will try again tomorrow but at this time I get the screen grabbed below and then taken to the holding message that we have had for the last 10 days or so.
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Yes, that is the problem! Hopefully they will fix it tomorrow.
Colin
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Might just be a firewall rule issue, shouldn't take long to fix.
Hope not 'cos I need my ModelBoatsMag fix soon!
Dave.
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I just got that then got its secure and then got the one that has been there bout it being closed for maintenance.
and I'm on a Japanese server at the moment
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Yes, you are both right, there are still some ongoing connection issues which will hopefully be resolved tomorrow. I will give an update when I have it.
The new forum seems to work pretty well as far as model boaters are concerned and I think it will be a good replacement subject to remaining minor issies being sorted out.
The gallery feature is a good place to display your models.
Colin
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There are still login issues this morning. The site was working earlier but is temporarily down again. Problem seems to be associated with the login security protocols. Mortons are working on it.
Colin
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It appears that the problems are due to crawler bots... Message from Mortons ust now:
Hi all,
Here's where we are...
Whenever we make the sites live, they are immediately hit by crawler bots which try to read every post and the database is falling over.
This isn't really a problem for Boats as the database is smaller, but for ME, it isn't coping and it brings both sites down.
So, the plan is to separate the sites for now and get Boats live in the next couple of hours.
ME maybe later today - and it may be slow for a while but we will takcle that as soon as we can get it to stay up.
There is sunshine on the horizon! Andy may say something different!
Thanks
Darren
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Well, the site is now back up again having been moved to a different server. We shall have to see if this has fixed the problem.
Colin
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Can get in yet
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What exactly is the problem.
Can you see the new home page?
You should be able to login with the email and password you used on the old forum.
(use lower case letters - not capitals)
Colin
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Same old site under maintenance
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It's working OK for me but they have moved to another server so your device might be stuck on the old one. I had a problem with that.
Try going into Google, searching for Model Boats Magazine and clicking on that.
Colin
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hi there
At first I had trouble gaining access to the site via the link which was sent to me on the emails - the way I gained access to the new forum was I went via Google Search. Then, when I was onto the Forum, everything seemed to be okay and I logged in no problems at all. Every now and then though I do have a warning saying 'Are you human' 'I am not a bot' and then it allows me onto the forum.
Colin, it was nice to see my 'old' messages from DM still there intact. Happy about that.
John
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I have reported the issue Jaymac mentions. As John says, resetting the link by doing a search may well clear the problem.
These days, browsers seem to hold more information than we realise with logins, cookies and caches and it's not always helpful.
Colin
Here is an extract from the FAQ section.
I can’t remember or don’t know my username!
Don’t worry, you can log in with either your username or email address.
I don’t know my password!
Don’t worry, you can reset your password here, enter your email address and a password reset email will be sent to you. Don’t forget to check your Spam or Junk folder for this email.
Why can’t I change my username?
Once a username has been set this can’t be changed. If your username has been migrated over from our old forum (pre-September 2023) this may have changed due to incompatible characters on the new system.
Why won’t the registration form accept my username/password?
Usernames must be lowercase letters and numbers only. Capital letters, spaces and special characters are not allowed.
Passwords should be at least 10 characters containing a mix of letters, numbers, capitals, and special characters (@, #, *, etc.), some special characters are not allowed such as a backslash ( \ ).
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I've tried accessing the site going via Google search and no joy, just getting the maintenance page still.
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Chris,
Try rebooting your device to clear the cache etc.
Also try this link:
https://www.modelboats.co.uk/
It has just worked for me.
Colin
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After being able to get access (even if with lots of steps) this morning it has gone back to the holding page for me as well.
Colins link is exactly the same.
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hi there, obviously, there will be one or two glitches to iron out on the new forum - but it will take time :-) I noticed when I was on the new Model Boats forum two minutes ago. I had a look to see if there was a place to see who is on line. (Similar to this Forum and the old forum) There is a caption saying 'members on line - nobody' but I do know I am not that important, but, you know what I thought I would have shown up. %% %%
John
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I tend to use my tablet for forums. Restarted it and used Colin's link but still get the maintenance page.
I'll try the PC later.
Chris
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There is definitely a problem. The link works on my PC to bring up a new MB window but only gives the holding page on my tablet.
I have reported it again. Very frustrating!
Colin
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Just heard back from the Webmaster who thinks he has found the issue. The new website is now showing on my tablet with the login and forum options. He says you may still need to clear your cache.
If you do get the login page use your email and password to login as some of the old MB user names have had to be modified as Wordpress doesn't accept them.
Colin
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Colin
Now works but still have all the security questions and mess.
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Once you have logged on a few times it should only be necessary to tick the 'I'm not a Robot' box. There are some connection checks which should be scaled down when they sort out the webspider issues.
The old site was very vulnerable and my first job virtually every day for the last three years was to delete between five and fifteen false registrations, mainly from Eastern Europe and Russia, because they were not intercepted.
Yes, security is a PITA but as the baddies get cleverer and more persistent do the defences have to be bumped up. It's happening everywhere with many sites such as banks insisting on two step authentication via your phone before you can even look at your accounts.
Just the world we now live in.
Colin
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Once you have logged on a few times it should only be necessary to tick the 'I'm not a Robot' box. There are some connection checks which should be scaled down when they sort out the webspider issues................
Colin
Fingers crossed.
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I tried that before I posted Colin it made no difference I used my same old link just now and its fine
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Yes, looks like they overlooked something but I don't know what. Hopefully no more glitches... %)
Colin
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I used Colin's link, got the new page and logged in to the forum. Simples :-))
I have to admit I have not previously been on the site for quite some time (several months)
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Thanks for your continuing efforts on this Colin, much appreciated.
Can access fine now, just got to get used to the different look!!
Chris
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Been onto all three sites. The best I've found and a PERSONAL opinion only was Flying site followed by Muddle Boats and Oh dear, ME/MEW site, what a mess. Not sure about the 'Participant' title under names are very flattering and an age old rant re post numbers still not applied, yes I've seen the multi digit reply numbers. Perhaps it's an 'evolving' problem and will be sorted but as mentioned on a previously deleted posting, if a massive world leading supplier has to keep changing its product after a couple or three years for a 'Better' product, hobby forums are small beer.
Regards Ian.
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Model Flying is probably best as it was developed from scratch pre Covid by MTM with user input. It did take a lot of work and cost quite a bit. The intention by MTM was to convert the ME/MEW and MB forums in the same way using Model Flying as a template.
The crash in income resulting from Covid when the bottom fell out of newstrade sales put paid to that and finances never recovered sufficiently to reinstate the project before sale to Mortons. We were hoping that Mortons would use the Model Flying website as a 'model' for the other two but for reasons that still remain unclear they chose to do something different.
There are still a lot of bugs, fixes and wishlist items being addressed but it will take a while to work through them all. We can expect a lot of these things to be fixed but not necessarily all.
In the meantime, if you are a member of the Model Boats forum then do flag up things you don't like or possible bugs on the New Website Forum Discussion Topic which is a 'sticky' at the head of each subject list. These posts will be looked at and responded to as appropriate either by me or hopefully a Morton's staff member.
Colin
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The Model Engineer website Forum seems to be suffering from a lot of problems including bugs and inability to login.
The Model Boats forum is currently running on a separate server and while by no means perfect, does seem to be functional with regular users posting on it. There are still a number of bugs and issues to be addressed and these will be sorted out although the major effort by Mortons at the moment is going into fixing the Model Engineer site problems.
If anyone has tried to access the MB site and been unable to do so then please let me know. It should be possible to view it as a visitor, login under your old email and password or register as a new member.
https://www.modelboats.co.uk
Colin
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Yes Colin, Mortons have created a non forum to go to. Haven't bothered to try the M/E site since a couple of days after it 'Reappeared' in the new format. Saves ten minutes a day.
Regards Ian.
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Ian,
I have pointed out to Mortons that they need to get the basics right asap as Mayhem is a perfectly acceptable alternative and much bigger although it has a different emphasis to the old MTM forum. There is room for both but only if the Mortons one is good to use.
I think they are having a managerial pow wow tomorrow.
Colin
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Would have though the number of adverse comments would have given enough for them to get their fingers out Colin. You can lead a horse to water, but it takes a well aimed posterior kick to make it drink. O0
Regards Ian.
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i have noticed to my horror that the build of Dave Metcalf's "Liverpool Lifeboat ", the I was using as a guide has apparently gone down the heads and is now replaced with a goofy "We don't know where that has gone banner" Wonder how much more of their archive treasure has gone the same way.
STET Found it , but had to put in full title; The search facility would not respond to Just Liverpool Lifeboat. it only responded to "Liverpool class Lifeboat, a Metcalf models kit. "
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i have noticed to my horror that the build of Dave Metcalf's "Liverpool Lifeboat ", the I was using as a guide has apparently gone down the heads and is now replaced with a goofy "We don't know where that has gone banner"
Was it a feature article or a forum thread?
Colin
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Colin, see my STET above Thanks
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The improvements to the Latet Replies facility being trialled on the Model Engineer forum are now avaialable on the Model Boats forum. There are still some minor inconsistencies to fix but the feature is now workable.
To see it, go to the Forums home page and you will find a Latest Replies button top left above the list of subject headings (forums). This will take you directly to the last 25 posts which actually sit at the end of the subject headings list. You can also get there by simply scrolling down to the bottom of the headings list. The button will also appear on other pages (but not all for the moment for technical reasons).
25 posts are intended to give an indication of recent activity but at the end of this list there is another link, bottom left, which allows access to earlier replies if you want to go back further.
This essentially replicates the latests posts list on the old forum although it is presented slightly differently.
There may be some further layout changes later on but at least we now have a workable latest posts function.
Colin
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The Model Boats Website Forum now seems to have settled down quite well and those using it generally feel that it is better than the old one. The page layout has been revised but the biggest improvements are that it is much easier to add photos and other media than in the old Forum. Images can be inserted directly into posts and it is easy to set up galleries showing your boats or builds. Check out the FAQ help facilitywhich explains how to do this.
There are still a few quirks but these are pretty minor.
As with the Model Engineer forum, the number of posters fell off after the extended downtime, but are slowly picking up again.
If you were a member of the old forum then you should be able to log in under your old registered email address (not user name) and password. Initial posts may need to be cleared but this is usually done quickly.
All members of the MB forum have access to the ME forum either by logging in separately or using the link at the top of the Model Boats page. I often have alook around on the ME forum at the latest posts as some of the subjects are of interest to us boaters.
Colin
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https://www.modelboats.co.uk/forums/ (https://www.modelboats.co.uk/forums/)
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Just logged in to Muddle Injineeers site to reply to a query but gave up cos despite recognising me, couldn't find a reply box. Bar at bottom of post tells me to log in to reply. Seem to have managed before but the site has been tweaked since then.
Martin, DON'T let them try to mod THIS site.
Regards Ian
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Which topic were you attempting to respond to Ian?
Colin
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Tapered pointy things in Workshop bits. They're hole measuring gauges. Used them years ago when printed circuit boards had holes in them, for checking components would fit. Production checking tool.
Regards Ian.
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OK, found it.
This problem has been reported recently and may be a caching issue It has been discussed in the link below and several people have found that a screen refresh brings up the reply box.
https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/topic/unable-to-reply-to-a-topic/
Colin
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Perhaps it's cos there's an R in the month or it's the shortest day? What chance mere mortals if the Geniuses at Microsloth have to keep regenerating revenue and go through a constant debugg**ing? %)
Keep taking the pills.
Regards Ian.
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Tried numerous times Colin, no success. Will try again in about twelve months time, probably a different accountant and/or a different format.
Regards Ian.
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Did you clear your cache Ian?
Colin
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Managed to post this morning but it's gone.
Regards Ian.
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It's back. Something seriously wrong if you've to do a cache clear out EVERY time you log out. Glad I got an affirmation from Super Poster.
Regards Ian.
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Earwigoagain, just when you think it's all over, Sloth announce Doze 12 %)
Regards Ian.
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Yes, more problems especially affecting logins on both MB and ME sites. Nobody home at Mortons until after Christmas it seems.....
Colin
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The trouble with all these problems also means there are fewer people posting fewer posts, so it becomes less interesting and ultimately becomes a wasteland.
I enjoy the magazine, and have most editions of Model Boats back to the 60s and eagerly anticipate the arrival of my monthly subscription, but the forum has a fraction of the number of active posters that this one does.
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It seems if you are not a digital subscriber you cannot access the archived magazines, seems a pity, but no doubt is another revenue stream. The other problem is the articles section you read down, and it states “continued below” and it is not, thus a waste of time even starting.
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My archive is boxes of magazines under the bed!
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Just trying to reorganise all 878 I have %% %%
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I only have 744 - there's no more room under the bed!
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Colin
I have a problem. The Model Boats site is letting me log in but then if I go to post there is no box but a message to say that I must be logged in to post. If I try & re log in it tells me that I am already logged in. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr. :((
There won't be a Model Boats forum left if they don't sort all of this very soon.
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Colin
After a lot of trial & error I have got it to work. The Model Boats forum seems to be very sensitive to the privacy settings on Firefox.
Settings that work perfectly well everywhere else I go (including here) break the Model Boats forum.
Unless they resolve these issues I won't be posting on the Model Boats forum as it is just too much of a mess.
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Programmers (Coders) probably ex Horizon employees.
Regards Ian.
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From Neil Howard-Pritchard ....
happy new year to you, your family and all on Mayhem...........could you please post on the Model boat magazine thread please regarding problems........
"Colin, I have to back up Tug Fanatics statement about trouble on the Model Boat Magazines' new format.
I too have Firefox as my firewall, but unlike Tug Fanatic who seems to me from what I read as a guest that he is totally competant with computors, I am absolutely useless with electronics and cannot navigate my way even to reset my password. There must be a way for those in charge to set this [model boats magazine] site so that totally inadequate idiots like even me can navigate the site. I was an avide poster of my model lifeboat builds and have left 2 builds unfinished on the site, but as the new format is..........with firefox, i just cannot get anywhere on it. PLEASE have words with those in charge of this fiasco and disaster, and get them to sort things out, or I wont be the last to be unable to post even chat in the future. i have had to ask martin to put this on mayhem for me as this morning it wouldn't even let me reset my pasword, never mind past this message. Thank you and thank you martin for being my go between. cheers, and a happy new year to all fellow modellers on Mayhem and Model Boats Magazine. all the best for the new year. "
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Neil (and others affected)
I'm sorry but there is nothing I can do at the moment to resolve the problems with logging into the Mortons Model Boat and Model Engineer Forums.
There have been huge problems over the Christmas period with the Model Engineer forum and which have spilled over onto the Model Boats forum with many people unable to login.
Mortons are really struggling and there are discussions going on between their IT people and senior managment to which I'm not privy. I had hoped for some further information by now but, like the ME people, I am still waiting. As soon as I hear something I will post it on here.
Colin
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Only took years to sort 'Another' site out for those who were supposed to know what they were doing {-) The road to hell is littered with programmer/coders.
Regards Ian.
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Neil (and others affected)
..................Mortons are really struggling and there are discussions going on between their IT people and senior managment to which I'm not privy.
Colin
I can imagine some of the discussion & it isn't comfortable. If they can't sensibly and with certainty fix it then............
Lets hope that they will continue to fund finding a solution before it is too late.
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It doesn't really bother me whether the Model Boats forum survives or not, so long as the magazine continues to be published. They should concentrate on the publishing and let the forum go. It's been far quieter there than it is here for quite some time. Model boating doesn't have the numbers involved that, for example, model flying does. I doubt that there are enough UK based model boat enthusiasts to keep two forums viable.
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I am very sorry, but, there are a good few of us who enjoy the Model Boats Forum as well as this Forum. It would be a very sad loss if it were to go. There are very knowledgeable contributors to the Forum and there are one or two of them who seem to prefer that Forum. So the more Forums we keep alive - it is better all around.
It is like we have neglected the model shops somewhat & we have lost an awful lot of them and see now Hattons have gone down the pan.
For many of us it is easier to go onto the web and buy stuff.
John
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Hi all, Model Boats website (not the magazine) seems to have a lively group.
Roy
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Mortons say they have now applied a fix!
As before:
Log in using your original email address and password. use lower case (no capitals)
It would also be sensible to clear your device cache and remove any cookies relating to Mortons or Model Boats.
Good luck!
Colin
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Thanks Colin :-))
Now working
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Ditto Roy
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New Problem.
If I look at the forum topics list for Today's Boating it shows the last post as being from Richard Simson 2hrs 38 minutes ago but if you go to look at the posts the last one is again by Richard but on the 10th - 3 days ago. I replied to that post but it has disappeared.
I posted this morning to the new forum problems topic reporting this and it appeared to be there OK but I have just gone back to it and it has disappeared. The last post that I can see is from Bob Wilson on 3rd January even though the topic list shows a post 6 days ago which would have been 7th January.
I have no idea what is going on but the problems are not all resolved.
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Thanks for the feedback, I have reported it to Mortons.
Colin
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Not Fujitsu syndrome by any chance ?
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I used to be a member on it now tbh it is a disaster cant even log in let alone join again it is pants now
Mrs Stav
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Those that are using it will be pleased to read that!
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New Problem.
If I look at the forum topics list for Today's Boating it shows the last post as being from Richard Simson 2hrs 38 minutes ago but if you go to look at the posts the last one is again by Richard but on the 10th - 3 days ago. I replied to that post but it has disappeared.
I posted this morning to the new forum problems topic reporting this and it appeared to be there OK but I have just gone back to it and it has disappeared. The last post that I can see is from Bob Wilson on 3rd January even though the topic list shows a post 6 days ago which would have been 7th January.
I have no idea what is going on but the problems are not all resolved.
It is now the 15th & nothing has changed as far as I can see. Do they know what they are doing?
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It is now the 15th & nothing has changed as far as I can see. Do they know what they are doing?
The fix applied last week initially seemed to work but appears to have become unstable again. No, I don't think Mortons do know what the underlying problem is, they are using specialist 'partners' to help them! One of their IT people has described it as a nightmare! Can't disagree with that really. They still seem determined to fix it though...
Colin
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Apart from some initial problems I've been able to stay logged in and post and others are posting.
Seems from some of the comments that it depends on which browser you are using, I'm using Chrome on my tablet.
Chris
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I have Firefox & Brave. Both have exactly the same problems.
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I am able to stay logged in too as do a number of others but some people are having problems for no apparent reason that has so far been revealed.
Colin
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As a follow up I have tried Microsoft Edge Chrome.
I had a full clean reinstall of Windows before Xmas when I replaced my hard drive with an SSD. I never use Edge so I have in no way altered the standard settings yet I have the same problems as I do with Brave & Firefox.
I am not prepared to even try Chrome.
If I go to the web site it is still telling me that Richard Simpson posted 2hrs 38 minutes ago just as it did last week. It is frozen in time although it appears to open normally and I can log in.
My cache is fully cleared.
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I use Microsoft Edge on the PC and aren't having any problems with that either.
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This is weird. I have tried it on my Android tablet running Duckduckgo browser and I have the same problem except the Richard S post is now 3min 32sec ago.
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Finally some success. The Silk browser on my tablet (which I don't use) is coming up with a different answer and shows the Today Boating thread as 197 pages whereas all the others show only the first 196. Richard S post above is the last post on page 196.
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Mortons have been playing around with cookie settings this morning which would account for the changes. See message to me below.
Colin
Hi Colin,
I think the issues some of your users might have been having was down to the categorisation of cookies, I’ve sorted these being in the correct place and cleared the caches.
I don’t think this was the same issue ME has been having, we believe that is something to do with a conflict with our host and plugin settings, though this should be resolved now. Each site is hosted in a different location currently.
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Partial success.
I think that all the posts are now there. :-))
BUT
I now have a repeat of the login problem that I have had before. I can log in OK but if I then go to post something it asks me to log in (again) but if I try it knows that I am already logged in & won't let me log in again.
I could just keep going around in circles. I am very tempted to say that I will leave it all until Easter & hope that it is sorted out by then.
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Hi much the same from me. I will wait but with my memory if it takes too long I will have forgotten.
However on the good side the current issue (Feb 2024 is very good, getting back to what it used to be. Long may it continue!
Roy
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Had an email Mortons Yesterday some crap about Updating my preferences? got another one today apologising the the Button didn't work Now sorted Obviously more important than a forum
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Message to Neil H P:
Neil, if you are having problems in reestablishing your membership of the MB Forum then you have the option of re registering with a different email address and new password. You will then be able to post on the forum and pick up your previous topics.
Colin
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Forwarded Colin :-))
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Thanks Martin.
Colin
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Colin
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
I thought that it was sorted but it isn't. I logged in to Model Boats Forum this morning and posted to your new forums problem thread. All went well and before I left the forum the post was clearly there. I have just gone back to see what else had happened and my post has disappeared. The least post is yours 23rd Jan 16:51 which is on page 7.
I had done a video of my log in etc but as it worked OK got rid of it.
My belief is still that it isn't about the browser that you use but rather about the security & privacy settings within the browser. The Model Boats forum seems very sensitive to this compared to anywhere else that I go.
If it helps I will message my settings but I don't really want to put them on the open forum.
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Use the new green bug report button on the MB forum. The info will then go straight to Mortons.
I have passed on your comments myself, I can't see your post either.
Colin
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Unfortunately my post has now appeared but the previous logging in problem has reappeared.
I can log in but it appears not to know that I have for posting purpses. I have pressed the Green Button <:(
EDIT: I have sent a full message and the site has confirmed it - whether they get it ??????????????????????????????????????
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Mortons want to know your MB Forum login Email address ID. Did you include that in the report? Can you PM it to me anyway please.
I don't seem to be able to see your post but I don't actually know who you are!
Colin
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Colin
Done
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The Model Boats Website Forum now seems to be working OK. Previous members are returning and appear to be able to use it OK subject to getting to grips with the new interface. It remains a bit clunky compared with Mayhem but posting photos either in posts or in your own Gallery seems to work pretty well.
Colin