The DU4 beta is now open again, this time for all registered DU members

[EarlG]

This discussion thread was locked by EarlG (a host of the Announcements group).

After a successful test and a round of bug fixes from August 21 through last Friday, we're now ready to open the DU4 test site again, this time for all registered members.

Here are some useful links to get you started.

To access DU4:
https://du4.democraticunderground.com

Original announcement about DU4 testing:
https://du4.democraticunderground.com/101312923

DU4 Bug Reports forum (no general questions please):
https://du4.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1319

DU4 Questions & Answers forum (no bug reports please):
https://du4.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1320

DU4 feature list:
https://du4.democraticunderground.com/13204

We hope you enjoy it! Please remember that this is still a test and things are likely to go wrong. If you experience any issues please use the DU4 Bug Reports forum to let us know.

[Doc Sportello]

1. Really clean, stylish look

Navigation was easy. Not a big deal to change over for me.

[malaise]

2. DU4 Beta

is better

[Alexander Of Assyria]

34. Yes. Needs a little brain cell adjustment...able to Rec. Replies!!

And poster subscribe..you are my first, Jamaica!

🏝️

[Pluvious]

3. LOVE LOVE LOVE Night Mode !

VERY first thing I tried

Thanks for ALL you angels do for us !

-Pluvious

[Brother Buzz]

4. I read the DU4 Feature List before I squawked

I'm a slowpoke, but I'll get a handle on it in a short order.

[TeamProg]

5. In all honesty (can't we get flagged for criticising DU?) I cannot stand the FLASHING "MY STUFF" button! Why the new format?

Is it re-designed to create more hits since the layout is less chronological?

[Ptah]

8. If you go to your account settings, you can disable the flashing.

https://du4.democraticunderground.com/?com=myaccount

[EarlG]

9. You can change the flashing button

Click the My Stuff button at the top right and then go to Account Settings, then scroll down to "My Stuff" notifications and you can select a different style. Make sure to hit the "Save all settings" button after you change it.

I'm not sure what you mean by "the layout is less chronological"? The layout of things like the Latest page, forum listings, or the way threads are displayed, have not changed. Things should still be in the same chronological order as they were before...

[TygrBright]

17. You can turn off the flashing. I didn't like it either. Now it's gone on my interface.

Under the "My Stuff" button click on "Account Settings" and scroll down to "visual appearance." There's a ton of ways to customize.

Poke around, try things. Click buttons. Check stuff out.

There are still things I like DU3 better for, but overall DU4 is a huge upgrade in a lot of ways. I adore Dark Mode. And the "Latest Videos" button under the "Navigate" button unleashes a whole lotta cool.

helpfully,
Bright

[TeamProg]

18. Thank you! nt

[electric_blue68]

48. I definitely got rid of the flashing My Stuff style, then...

then left it blue.

Now I have it on "fade".
I kind of like it bc it reminds that that's where all "my stuff" is; without being obtrusive. 👍

[electric_blue68]

6. Hey, Earl & Co

Over the weekend I remembered that DU4 would now be available.
Forgot, then saw the blue banner. Yay!

Like this boldish look. 👍
I guess, I'll poke 👀 around. I did read people's reactions earlier last month.

Ty. 👍

[electric_blue68]

7. If my long time experience on another site is an example: you'll find the Strike feature become a good snark tool 😄 nt

[Hortensis]

10. So glad to have it back! :) Ability to delete read posts in "subscriptions"

would be very helpful. Or just to show posts for just one selected subscription forum or name at a time. Posts load and move down pretty quickly.

Thanks for DU4.

[RKP5637]

11. DU4 is great, very clean! Works nicely in Firefox Linux. n/t

[Pluvious]

12. Re the new feature - rec individual replies !! Nice 👍

So many times I’ve wanted to upvote a reply, and not just make a “+1” reply that really just wastes space (and database storage)

Very nice addition, I think most people haven’t noticed it yet lol 😝

[LiberalFighter]

13. Would prefer it being a bit more compact like the regular DU.

Not a fan of the flashing My Stuff.

Seems to be larger font size. At least in the Subject section.

I'm looking at this on the computer.

[IcyPeas]

15. See posts 8 and 9 above re: flashing

[Merlot]

46. Agree with you on liking the more compact style better

The new style takes more time to scroll through, especially videos.

On a different note, I miss the "video & multimedia" link where the other links are:

Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge

Would be nice to have a quick "video" link here, instead of having to go to navigation pulldown.

Other than those two things, I like the clean look and the ability to set so many preferences.

[Demsrule86]

14. Wow Just Wow

You guys did a remarkable job...really nicely organized and attractive too.

[demmiblue]

16. So far, so good... with one main exception:

The blue used for threads/links is a little jarring to my eyes, making it more difficult to read. I like the more subdued blue on DU3.

Thanks for all the hard work!

[EarlG]

21. Ah, interesting

I was about to write that DU4 uses the exact same blue color as DU3, but then I remembered that on DU3, link colors are actually not defined at all (one of those things that makes me realize how long ago it was developed). So DU3 links (in most places) will display as the browser's default color.

On DU4 I specifically defined the link colors, and as a Chrome user, I picked the same blue color that I see on Chrome (without really thinking about it). But of course, on other browsers that color may be slightly different.

Other than that, wherever possible I've tried to keep the same colors on DU4 as exist on DU3. The "Navigate" and "My Stuff" buttons are a new color, but I've tried most everywhere else to use the same colors.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

29. The ability to Rec individual replies in a thread is a winner...needs more advertising!

[progressoid]

19. The Greatest Page keeps defaulting to Most Rec'd rather than Most Recent.

I'm using Firefox if that matters

[EarlG]

24. Ideally it should remember your setting

I’ll add this to our list of bug reports, this is something we should hopefully be able to fix.

[progressoid]

26. Thanks!

[WarGamer]

20. I'm seeing hints of the software from Discussionist.

I always thought you guys produced such incredible BB software you should have packaged it and sold it as a Vbulletin competitor.

[hueymahl]

22. Needs some work

Maybe I am just used to the other, but it seems flat and harder to move around. Harder to read at a glance. Plus, I miss the old home page.

[EarlG]

23. The home page still exists

Just click or tap the site logo at the top of any page.

[hueymahl]

25. I see that it exists

I should have been more precise. I like the layout of the current home page better. Makes more logical sense to my brain to have Trending Now, Greatest Threads and Latest Breaking News at the top. I would push the Left Column back down and restore Latest Breaking News.

Just my two cents. I'm sure I will get used to whatever you end up doing.

[HuskyOffset]

27. Good lord, what a mess

Last edited Tue Sep 5, 2023, 05:49 PM - Edit history (1)

Too much white space. On the front page, the body text is too small relative to the header text for each article. If I increase the zoom so that the body text is large enough, then the headline text is insanely large. And why intersperse videos in between the various forum panes? I want the videos to appear together, like they used to.

I know a bunch of people worked hard on this, and you can't please everyone, but damn. It's just so disorganized.

Edit: OK, who has some condiments? I may have to eat some of my earlier words.
After looking a little more closely at the current DU vs DU4, I think my criticism of "too much white space" is incorrect. On the current DU home page, there are grey horizontal & vertical dividing lines between columns & articles. DU4, I believe, basically just removes those. The perception is that there is, on DU4, a lot more white space, but it actually has about the same spacing, just no vertical & horizontal lines to break it up.

For now, I'm going to stand behind my other two complaints, although it's possible that the difference between the headline & body text size might be because I'm seeing current DU & DU4 in different fonts.

I'm sure I'll eventually get used to the new layout. Old dog, new tricks & all that.

[EarlG]

30. With regard to font sizes

This has been tough to figure out -- some people are saying they're too small, others are saying the opposite. Hopefully fairly soon we will have an Account Settings option to user larger fonts across the site, although that option would only increase general text size, NOT headlines -- so you should be able to get something closer to what you're looking for.

Just for the record, a "bunch of people" did not work on this, it was one person (me) with one other person (Elad) doing all the backend programming. There are only two people that work at DU

I'm very aware that it's not possible to create something that will immediately be approved of by all, but I do want to make clear that if there are specific problems that people have that *can* be fixed, I will do my best to fix them.

At the same time, I would definitely appreciate it if people would take a little time to get used to it -- as you have. It's obviously not always easy going from something you're used to to something new. With that in mind I've tried hard to make sure that while the layout has changed somewhat, as many things as possible are in places where people are used to finding them.

[birdographer]

28. When will we have to make the change?

I like it and of course would get used to it in a matter of days, but for now I am a creature of habit. How long will the old version still be available to use?

[EarlG]

32. This test is going to go on for a while

We still have a lot of work to do. We want to keep both versions running as much as possible, for testing, but also so that people can get used to it.

So there's no deadline for the eventual launch, but we still have a ways to go. I would rather not even try to give an estimate just because so much is still up in the air. Every time we run a test though, we get closer to a finished product.

Going forward, there will be periods of a few days to a week where we keep it open for people to play around with, followed by periods of downtime lasting a few days while we fix the bugs that came up previously.

So for now, I'd encourage everyone to feel free to use it as much as they can. The more you use it now, the easier the transition will be when it finally arrives

[Torchlight]

31. It's got a very clean, crisp look to it.

Also, insanely easy on these old eyes. It looks like the same typeface, but there's something... different about it (good different, I mean). My instinct is the leading between lines has increased ever-so-slightly, but I've long forgotten anything about page layout I used to know.

Regardless, it's a smooth look, unobtrusive, and easy to navigate. So, for what it's worth, my hats off to you guys.

[BlueSky3]

33. Is there a way

to increase the font size? It’s a lot smaller than old DU on my screen.

[EarlG]

36. There will be a larger font option

A number of people have asked for this so I'm going to work on it.

Funnily enough DU4 should already have slightly larger fonts than DU3, but some people aren't experiencing that. I think it might have to do with the way DU3 displays its fonts -- it's possible that they have been displaying too large for some people, depending on their device, all this time. So for those people the switch to DU4 makes it seem like the fonts have shrunk, even though for other people they look roughly the same.

Nevertheless, enough people seem to be having a problem with this that I'm going to work on an optional setting to increase font sizes.

[BlueSky3]

39. Thanks!

I know this has been a lot of work.

[fantase56]

35. Love it...

and to be able to recommend posts is tops. You all do great work!!

[iluvtennis]

37. Thanks for the early peak at the DU beta page. It's a nice new UI, but going to take some getting

used to.

Thanks to the team for all of the work to give DU an updated look and feel.

[budkin]

38. Awesome!

Love the dark mode and readability!

[PlutosHeart]

40. I like the flashing

Last edited Wed Sep 6, 2023, 04:03 PM - Edit history (1)

mostly because I am old and it helps me get right to it.
My second degree is/was in computer but being older it takes me a while to figure things out although I think there are many improvements.
I think the larger text option would be nice and the site looks pretty clean. A little complicated at the moment for me. LOL. But I will get there.
After some time I sort of miss the nice red banners highlighting Titles/Sections and the overall coloring.

[Hekate]

41. Night Mode just popped on! This should be really good for me, because I read DU in bed. ❤️

[littlemissmartypants]

42. I tried it. Everything was lovely until I tried to go to my subscriptions,

Specifically the NC Group to check my NHC automatically updates post. Magically, all of the lovely formatting disappeared and reverted to a long list of hot links sans any other formatting.

I tried reloading several times...nada. Total reload from the start...no change.

I really want this to work for you because I know you put loads of work in it. It's just not working for me right now but I'll continue to try.

FYI, Firefox is the browser I'm using.

[ClearSky24]

43. Hey, this actually looks better than the old website.

Love the look and feel of it.

[quaint]

44. Great job, easy transition.

Especially appreciate a chance to back out of mark all as read. And reccing replies. And the clean look.

Thank you!

[ZenDem]

45. I really don't like it...

I'm not sure what it is, but it's killing my eyes. I noticed someone said it's easier to read on their phone. Maybe that was the goal?

The font is funky, the front page is a wall of text and difficult for me to navigate. I feel like I'm looking at a calendar. Not sure why the "recs" need to be so prominent. IMO the subject is WAY more important than how many recs the OP has received. Also, IMO...Latest Breaking should be more prominent than "Trending" or "Greatest". I think the whole focus is all off. For the most part, when I come to DU the first thing I look at is the Latest, then Trending, then (rarely) Greatest.

I'm obviously in the minority and I rarely post anymore, so...carry on.

[Takket]

47. is there any plan to add BlueSky integration to DU the way Twitter/X is now?

Bluesky is not public yet, but will be soon....

https://bsky.app/profile/safety.bsky.app/post/3k6odpy2qpo2e

[EarlG]

51. Probably

When it's ready, and when we get around to it.

[Takket]

53. That's awesome! I look forward to it

Thank you.

[WhiteTara]

49. Okay, two things.

One Would you please stop the flashing on My Stuff. It is very disturbing to my mind and eye. I don't go there first thing and it won't stop!

Also, what happened to Greatest?

Thanks so much

[EarlG]

50. Please see post #9 above

This will explain how to change the flashing button:

https://du4.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1013&pid=13071

You can find the Greatest page by clicking the "Navigate" button. You'll find a lot of other pages there too. You can also find a lot of pages by clicking the "My Stuff" button.

[WhiteTara]

52. Thanks EarlG

I'm finding the buttons to navigate to greatest. Thanks so much for the way to stop the flash. It gives me a headache and made me want to stay with DU3. hahaha You guys are wonderful. Thanks for giving me a home.