What's new
Van's Air Force

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Van's Air Force 2024. A new era.

Here's what's new:
  • Mobile friendly (ex: turn your phone from portrait to landscape and watch it give you more detail).
  • There's an app.
  • It's easier to upload/edit photos from your phone/tablet.
  • A 'Like' button.
  • Light and Dark themes (look for crescent moon and lightbulb)
  • In-House Article Publishing: In addition to a friendly what-you-see-is-what-you-get text editor, the forums now allow file attachments to be dragged into place, images to be precisely edited and located, links to be unfurled for a useful preview, and media to be embedded. In the right hands, posts can become full fledged articles. Some very intelligent and talented RV folks in the community might find this an efficient way to painlessly publish their work.
  • News feed. Users can construct an activity feed tailored to their own preferences by selecting other community members to follow.
  • Improved security, search and server horsepower.
  • So much more!!!
Changes going forward:
  • No more front page ... the Off-Topic will live on though, don't worry! <g>
  • The 'who has donated' page has left the building. To the wonderful folks who donated in ’23 and have already donated in '24, thank you! Going forward, if you donate use the link in the forums.
  • For subscribers, a badge will appear next to your username. It may take a bit to get all this set up and squared away.
  • Ads from the old site will be coming online in the next few days.
  • Subscribe with benefits ... such as an ad-free viewing experience and access to an all new exclusive forum: The Ready Room (what happens in The Ready Room stays in ... well, you know the rest)
There will most likely be some hiccups along the way, but we’ll get the bumps ironed out. Hang tough and welcome.

One last thing, please feel free to post questions in this thread and thank you to those who take the time to respond and help users adapt to the changes.

v/r,dr

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Here are some thoughts from someone who helps run a different forum...

-This migration was probably a huge job for the staff, and if it had been me doing it, the project would have been extremely stressful. On the whole, it looks like the migration was a resounding success, and I congratulate them on pulling it off

-For some folks, especially some pilots, the only thing worse than change is "the way things are". Not complaining, it's just the way it is.

-Many users might not understand how obsolete the software was that VAF was running before the migration. VB4 was replaced with VB5 like 10 years ago and now there is such a thing as VB6. At the speed software and computers move, the old forum was multiple generations behind in many ways. This impacts efficiency, security, spam mitigation, stability, utility, and so many things, many of which are behind the scenes.

-The folks who don't like the change should give props to the staff for keeping the old system running as long as they did, and not putting you through three other major interface changes in the past 15 years. Doing so would have been totally justified from a developer's standpoint, but I suspect they knew that the audience here has a limited capacity to learn a new interface and worked harder than necessary to keep things the same for as long as possible.

Thanks to Doug and everyone else who keep the lights on around here, even in dark mode!
 
I've decided I like it. Was used to seeing the front page since 2008, but actually don't miss it. What I do like on this new system is dark mode and the dynamic screen that shows big on my desktop and these features are much easier on my eyes. Otherwise, yeah, there are more menus and button pushes to get around and there's more bells and whistles. It's a bit like going from steam to glass.
 
jaredyates said:
This migration was probably a huge job for the staff…
Click to expand...

The staff? Never has so much been owed by so many…to so few.

At least that’s how it seems to me. Which makes it all the more impressive.

Keeping track of read threads alone is well worth the price of admission subscription.

Well done!
 
Tony_T said:
yeah, there are more menus and button pushes to get around and there's more bells and whistles. It's a bit like going from steam to glass.
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Good point. Amazing how many people are commenting on needing to learn something new with the fact many have very complicated glass displays to learn, and use software (like Foreflight) and instruments (like autopilots) that have complicated menus. Functions can be buried deep that causes us to continually review the help manual/menu. Also our rules for flying are continuously changing and force us to read complicated government document that have no definite interpretation.
A new look and feel with more menu option on an internet forum ought to be like falling off a log. I wonder if ForeFlight gets this many opinions when they change a menu.
 
odome said:
Where do I find classifieds?
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Click on the 'Forums' drop down list along the top banner, then click on 'Forum list'. All the sub-forums are available there. Scroll down to 'Classifieds'.

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I understand the need for change, but I still miss the home page if you can provide us a link to it. Thanks for all that you've done for us over the years keeping the RV community so close.

N702PL.png Jim in SC
 
The new Conversation utility is a huge upgrade over the former PM utility. The envelope icon upper right of the screen. Makes me want to do a little happy dance.
 
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