New MAS website and forums. Member comments!!!!

[Ricola]

Here's a place for members to post errata and feedback regarding the changes to the MAS website and forums.

[Deane Clark]

(Copied from the announcements forum.)

Glad to see this go live. I know a lot of work went into this, and no-one got paid for it.

First, the direct link to the forums that works for me is:
http://oldsite.mnastro.org/forums

A few other things I've noticed (using Chrome):
- Link to forums just shows a password field.
- The weather page only has the Clear Sky Charts. I would love the old site weather pages to be carried forward. I especially rely on the convenient links to the ADDS satellite loops.
- The front page text on the left has words missing: "has been making the wonders cosmos".

[Jupiter]

Is anyone else having problems staying logged in? I keep getting logged after some time has passed. Even if I click the keep me logged in button. So something is not quite right.

[Ricola]

Is anyone else having problems staying logged in? I keep getting logged after some time has passed. Even if I click the keep me logged in button. So something is not quite right.

Yeah, me too.

[clayton]

Your url may be flipping between forums.mnastro.org/forums... and <blank|oldsite|www>.mnastro.org/forums/...
This should stop after a dns change that will be applied tonight or tomorrow.

If the problem persists and becomes critical for a lot of users then the server setting in ACP which is http://www.mnastro.org now could be changed to forums.mnastro.org or oldsite.mnastro.org to possibly solve the problem.

[Dave Venne]

It looks great (with one caveat), and the forum is much more responsive!

The home page's central image overwhelms the page, which looks mostly empty on a wide-screen display. The page content below the image(s) can't be seen without scrolling. Maybe downsize the image(s)?

[Wayne]

Thank you Clayton and Web team!

I did notice that the Home page looks good on Firefox, but the drop down navigation headings are arranged vertically, not horizontally, in Internet Explorer 8 and 9.

[merle]

- The weather page only has the Clear Sky Charts. I would love the old site weather pages to be carried forward. I especially rely on the convenient links to the ADDS satellite loops.

How's this Deane??

http://newsite.mnastro.org/facilities/weather/


-

[wkocken]

Weather is a key piece of information for all of us. I like having the CSC for each site visible simultaneously, but I also rely heavily on the Hourly Weather Graphs from the NWS which shows cloud cover, temperature, wind and humidity all in one easy chart. The one you've linked to shows it for Baylor, i think. I'd like to have one available for each site. The way the previous website arranged it was very handy for me. with the sites each having their own weather link.

[Ricola]

?.. The way the previous website arranged it was very handy for me. with the sites each having their own weather link.

I agree.

[magneton]

Weather is a key piece of information for all of us. I like having the CSC for each site visible simultaneously, but I also rely heavily on the Hourly Weather Graphs from the NWS which shows cloud cover, temperature, wind and humidity all in one easy chart. The one you've linked to shows it for Baylor, i think. I'd like to have one available for each site. The way the previous website arranged it was very handy for me. with the sites each having their own weather link.

I also rely on the Hourly Weather Graphs from the NWS. It doesn't matter to me whether it's organized exactly as before. Adding NWS links for the other sites (in addition to Baylor) on the "Weather" page currently under construction would work just as well for me (and maybe a little better for those times when I'm deciding which site to go to).

[merle]

Sure, I can add NWS info for each site.

[Deane Clark]

- The weather page only has the Clear Sky Charts. I would love the old site weather pages to be carried forward. I especially rely on the convenient links to the ADDS satellite loops.

How's this Deane??

http://newsite.mnastro.org/facilities/weather/

-

Much better! But having read some of the other comments, I agree that having a page for each site is a better way to organize it.

And kudos for being so responsive

[merle]

I added NWS links for each of the sites

http://newsite.mnastro.org/facilities/weather/#nws

As far as "having a page for each site"…

Since a lot of the info is the same on each page, (lunar phase, solar activity, satellite images, etc.), I wanted to consolidate it into one page with the info for the different sites, when warranted, within the page. It's also less maintenance for the WebTeam when the links change (and they will change, they always do).

[magneton]

Merle,

It looks great. For completeness in the weather.com section, please add Afton after Kenyon.

Thanks to you and the team.

[magneton]

Is anyone else having problems staying logged in? I keep getting logged after some time has passed. Even if I click the keep me logged in button. So something is not quite right.

Yeah, me too.

Your url may be flipping between forums.mnastro.org/forums... and <blank|oldsite|www>.mnastro.org/forums/...
This should stop after a dns change that will be applied tonight or tomorrow.

If the problem persists and becomes critical for a lot of users then the server setting in ACP which is http://www.mnastro.org now could be changed to forums.mnastro.org or oldsite.mnastro.org to possibly solve the problem.

I continue to have this problem as well. I check the "stay logged in" box when I log in, but if my computer goes to sleep, I need to log in again.

[magneton]

I noticed the Forum page doesn't have a link to the MAS home page as it did before. This would be good to add.

[bhamil]

I really like the work the team has done on the website. I just logged in to place a comment to have you please consider putting back a link on the Forums for the MAS home page, but Jim Knudsen beat me to the punch. It's surprising how often I would bounce to the home page from the Forum section. I would love to see that link return.
Thanks guys!
Brandon

[clayton]

It will be added back soon.

[Deane Clark]

I'm also still having the problem where I don't stay logged in even though I checked the box to do so.

Also, I notice the main page of the forums has the title "Board Index". That makes me think of the MAS Board. Should this be just "Index" or "Forum Index"?

[magneton]

Links to some commonly used pages have gone dead. Some of our partner organizations have these links on their websites to provide information on what MAS has to offer, and they no longer work.

One example is the Bell Museum: http://www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/ExploraDo ... /index.htm
This page uses the link http://www.mnastro.org/events/showonanpublic.php under Onan Observatory to direct people to the schedule for public nights.
It also uses the link http://www.mnastro.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=20 under "where to buy telescopes" to direct people to the marketplace forum.
Both return the dreaded "404."

I wonder if it's possible to maintain some "legacy links," so that old URL's would be linked to the proper pages on the new website. It would certainly help our partner organizations and help them to spread the word about MAS. I'm out of my element, so I don't know if such a thing is possible.

I'm sure there are other pages that various websites have linked to, although only the most common ones would merit such an approach.

[merle]

Links to some commonly used pages have gone dead. Some of our partner organizations have these links on their websites to provide information on what MAS has to offer, and they no longer work.

We're working on it. With the new site forced into service there are potentially hundreds of links that need to be changed. When you find one let us know. Eventually everything will get moved over and the links revised, in the interim we'll be linking to both the new and old sites.

Keep in mind that this could take a while, it will help if our members post any bad links here, so keep looking!!!

I hear there's an all expense paid trip to Hawaii for the MAS member who finds the most bad links, right Jerry…

Be sure to send us the link to the page with the bad link, not just the bad link. It doesn't help if I click the link in your post and it takes me to the 404 error too.

[merle]

Jim,

The links on your post are actually on the U of M Bell Museum website. (I misunderstood and assumed the bad links were on our forums)

I emailed the U and requested the information be revised.

Double bonus points for finding bad links on other websites!!! You're half way to Hawaii…

Keep 'em coming.


Merle

[merle]

Merle,

It looks great. For completeness in the weather.com section, please add Afton after Kenyon.

Thanks to you and the team.

Those weren't on the old site, but I'll look into adding them.

[merle]

Clayton,

If you're working on updating the forums, could you change the name and descriptions of the Onan Observatory Discussions, the Onan Training and Onan Keyholders to the Eagle Lake Observatory Discussions, the Eagle Lake Training and Eagle Lake Keyholders Forums.

Thanks,
Merle