[Gamergtx260]

Honestly, I felt the older platform way easier and better. Of course, I will learn to use the new one.
But this move without prior warning, is like one of the Audeze's revisions.

 

[Dino2000]

I did, since you requested. Based on long-held experience (going back to 1994 with online groups and almost as long with workplace computer systems) the difference would be that there wouldn't be a bunch of "Why didn't you tell us?!?" posts that there are now. The "This new software sux", "I can't find anything" and "XYZ is broken" posts would still be here. Maybe there'd be a bunch of posts instead saying "Why didn't you tell us even earlier/ask for our help/beta test with members/something else" instead.

I agree that a bit of warning that some functionality wouldn't be available straight away might have helped, but I'm pretty sure that the people who are very vocally unsatisfied would have posted their satisfaction in some form or another because the transition wouldn't have 100% satisfied them. Welcome to human nature.

I have been through many application migrations at work. Sometimes it works out to be a last minute/time crunch sort of situation. In those situations we get (or give) a heads up and a statement that there is neither the resources nor the time to respond to questions prior to the migration and information will be forthcoming when it is possible. People are confused when the new application is active but are expecting this, because they have been warned.

I have been involved with some of these migrations. I have never heard anyone suggest something like "I feel the best course of action is to surprise them.".

The transition has happened. We're here now, not back then. Let's move on.

Jude has said something to the effect of "If I were to do it again, I would do it the same way." That seems to encourage commentary for the future as well as the past.

 

[Ninhalem]

All these responses feels like Jude is caught in a Catch-22. Frankly this change here isn't that big of a deal. Just takes a little bit of getting used to and re-learning. The new format looks fantastic from my point of view and much more modern/professional. The various regions of the Internet are ever changing; it's better to be flexible and adaptable than stagnant. I would rather Head-Fi be Apple than Blackberry.

 

[Double-A]

The transition has happened. We're here now, not back then. Let's move on.

I agree with @Dino2000 . . . Normally, I would listen to your advice and tell myself "the past is the past and there is nothing that anybody can do about it, so I need to move on", but @jude said that, given the same choice, he would make the same decision again. So how are we to know that this won't happen again in the future?

It is ALWAYS better to communicate with your customers versus leaving them in the dark. Period!

Amen! Have you guys never worked in the customer service industry?

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

I am sorry that you guys have to deal with so many upset users. I do not envy you. But at the same time, you guys brought this upon yourselves.

 

[jude]

I agree with @Dino2000 ...jude said that, given the same choice, he would make the same decision again...

That is correct. Given the same circumstances we were in, and the timeframe we had to deal with all of it, I'd make the same decision. Just saying "Let's this discuss this later" wouldn't work--it'd have been discussed right then and there, and ongoing. Again, we did not have the time to put anything out to committee beyond our transition team, nor did I want the team distracted by a discussion we had absolutely no time to deal with. That's how tight our timeframe was, given how much work needed to be done.

I accept that some of you don't agree with me. If you could walk a mile in our shoes, I think some of you who don't agree would at least better understand.

...So how are we to know that this won't happen again in the future?

You don't know. I don't know. If something happens to this forum platform--if it becomes unsupported, for example--then perhaps it could require a transition in the future. Trust me when I say nobody would ever want to do this. Nobody. It's a tremendous amount of planning and work...and disruption.

This has happened only once before in Head-Fi's 16-year history, so I'm not going to wring my hands worrying about another platform change--there's plenty else to deal with in the here and now.

 

[Dino2000]

That is correct. Given the same circumstances we were in, and the timeframe we had to deal with all of it, I'd make the same decision. Just saying "Let's this discuss this later" wouldn't work--it'd have been discussed right then and there, and ongoing. Again, we did not have the time to put anything out to committee beyond our transition team, nor did I want the team distracted by a discussion we had absolutely no time to deal with. That's how tight our timeframe was, given how much work needed to be done.

The transition has happened. We're here now, not back then. Let's move on.

No time to discuss this beforehand and don't discuss it now. I am confused why this thread exists.

 

[longbowbbs]

Jude, I just read through the thread. Whew!!

Good luck with the changes. I very much appreciate your time and the Head-Fi team's herculean efforts to move the (Head-Fi) world in a short time!

All the best!

Eric

 

[winders]

That is correct. Given the same circumstances we were in, and the timeframe we had to deal with all of it, I'd make the same decision. Just saying "Let's this discuss this later" wouldn't work--it'd have been discussed right then and there, and ongoing. Again, we did not have the time to put anything out to committee beyond our transition team, nor did I want the team distracted by a discussion we had absolutely no time to deal with. That's how tight our timeframe was, given how much work needed to be done.

I accept that some of you don't agree with me. If you could walk a mile in our shoes, I think some of you who don't agree would at least better understand.



You don't know. I don't know. If something happens to this forum platform--if it becomes unsupported, for example--then perhaps it could require a transition in the future. Trust me when I say nobody would ever want to do this. Nobody. It's a tremendous amount of planning and work...and disruption.

This has happened only once before in Head-Fi's 16-year history, so I'm not going to wring my hands worrying about another platform change--there's plenty else to deal with in the here and now.

Then it appears you don't view the members here as valuable. Only your time is valuable. Only what concerns you is valuable. I guess we are all just cash cows to you.

However, if you did view us as valuable, you would have taken a few minutes to inform us what was going on. It didn't have to be a dialog. Not doing so is outrageous and saying you would do it the same way again is insane.

At least we all know where we stand......

 

[gugman]

head-fi was my favorite place, after the platform switch I almost never come here anymore, it is that bad. sorry

 

[jude]

Then it appears you don't view the members here as valuable. Only your time is valuable...

You couldn't be more wrong. Anyone who knows me personally--and that includes many people in this community--knows I care about this community deeply. We had a job to do, and the most important thing was to get that job done. The single most important duty we had was to make sure that this community's 16 year's worth of community-generated content (text, graphics, photos, etc.) made it over to the new platform, and that's what our focus was and had to be. It wasn't 100% successful, but we'll keep working until we get it as close to 100% as reasonably possible, including custom-coding where necessary (which we've done plenty of, and which there's still plenty more of to do).

Everyone's time is valuable, especially when there's not enough of it.

...I guess we are all just cash cows to you...

You shouldn't come here if you feel that's true. I'm serious--if that's your honest conclusion, it should be your personal moral imperative to not be a part of this place.

You know who else wasn't notified because we didn't have the time? Most of the sponsors and advertisers. We still don't have the billing system fully set up, so we haven't billed a dime since the transition. Obviously, we have to get to that, and soon, but we haven't finished that yet either.

...However, if you did view us as valuable, you would have taken a few minutes to inform us what was going on. It didn't have to be a dialog. Not doing so is outrageous and saying you would do it the same way again is insane.

At least we all know where we stand......

Again, our most important duty in the transition that we had to make was to honor the community's content by making sure it all came over and is where it's supposed to be.

Yes, I now know where you stand. I wasn't being a smart-aleck earlier in this post when I said what I said--you should choose to not be party to this place with the conclusions you've come to.

head-fi was my favorite place, after the platform switch I almost never come here anymore, it is that bad. sorry

I'm sorry we lost you, @gugman. You're a veteran member (here since 2011). I do hope you come back, as you'll find we've been updating and fixing things constantly and will continue to do so.

There's a pretty substantial update scheduled for today.

 

[Midgetguy]

That is correct. Given the same circumstances we were in, and the timeframe we had to deal with all of it, I'd make the same decision. Just saying "Let's this discuss this later" wouldn't work--it'd have been discussed right then and there, and ongoing. Again, we did not have the time to put anything out to committee beyond our transition team, nor did I want the team distracted by a discussion we had absolutely no time to deal with. That's how tight our timeframe was, given how much work needed to be done.

I accept that some of you don't agree with me. If you could walk a mile in our shoes, I think some of you who don't agree would at least better understand.



You don't know. I don't know. If something happens to this forum platform--if it becomes unsupported, for example--then perhaps it could require a transition in the future. Trust me when I say nobody would ever want to do this. Nobody. It's a tremendous amount of planning and work...and disruption.

This has happened only once before in Head-Fi's 16-year history, so I'm not going to wring my hands worrying about another platform change--there's plenty else to deal with in the here and now.

If this ever happens again, (and I'm sure we'd all prefer it not to) could you guys perhaps maybe put this one line in the maintenance message? "We have to change the forum (aka make a new site). Some current functions may not be available at launch."
I think that's where much of the backlash is (from an outside perspective). I find that sort of statement would at least prime users for the obviously jarring transition between the old platform and the new one. Things like this are more well-received if there's notice of any sort, even if not fully explained. I took that maintenance message when you guys were making the transition to mean that there was a lot of backend changes going on, but I didn't know it was a complete change in platform which would entirely change the underlying function of the site instead of just the UI layout. Based on how time-crunched this sounded on the first page, I understand why there wasn't anything regarding suggestions or a dialog created; it was a necessary change, not an optional one. I just wish there was even some mention of the change in platform in that day-long maintenance message.
In light of information about the circumstances after the change (aka page 1 of this thread), I don't think you guys could have done much more technically. Platform discontinuation on short notice with subsequent transition to a completely different platform? Incredibly difficult on everyone involved. I don't personally work in a web dev environment, but I know enough about the various moving parts to know how difficult it is. So pat on the back to your web dev and DB team.
Also, happy to see some of things from the old site trickle back into the new one. Smaller somewhat less important details like "subscribed threads" instead of "watched threads" and the number of likes (aka rep) bring back more familiar surroundings by word association alone. One of the things I hope to see back eventually is a better search (hard to find IEM reviews, for example) and it would be nice to see something like the "reviews by user" link in the user profiles again, maybe under the "showcases" link.

 

[jmotyka]

I have a background in IT. I know first hand how hard it is to change platforms. Converting databases is a real pain if there aren't any migration tools available from either platforms. I've had to do this myself a few times over the years it isn't fun. I remember accidentally corrupting a database during a conversion without properly backing it up. It was a nightmare going through the database and manually fixing errors, it took weeks.

So Jude no sweat bud! I know how tough it is! We headfiers will adjust.

 

[jude]

I have a background in IT. I know first hand how hard it is to change platforms. Converting databases is a real pain if there aren't any migration tools available from either platforms. I've had to do this myself a few times over the years it isn't fun. I remember accidentally corrupting a database during a conversion without properly backing it up. It was a nightmare going through the database and manually fixing errors, it took weeks.

So Jude no sweat bud! I know how tough it is! We headfiers will adjust.

Thank you, @jmotyka, for your message of understanding.

---

To be clear, everyone, I didn't post this thread looking for atta-boy messages (though, admittedly, the occasional atta-boys were appreciated by me and the rest of the team).

I posted what I posted because I knew the change obviously merited an explanation to you all. I understand my choice not to open the discussion ahead of the change was a controversial one, and I expected understanding from some, (understandable) arguments from some, and derision from some--and I got what I expected.

The change had to happen, I made my decisions, we've hashed this out and don't all agree (again, to be expected). It's time to push forward now, and I'm not going to further debate this, especially when it's something that's done and in the past, and especially when it's about something (a forum platform migration) that has happened only twice in 16 years. I'm now closing this thread.

We have a lot of updates to do, a lot of bugs to fix--a lot of work still to be done, and that's what I'm going to focus on with our growing full-time staff, and with the additional help of feedback and bug reports from everyone.

As you can see below, @AxelCloris has posted about a rather major UI update we just made based on feedback from the community. I will continue to work with @AxelCloris, @joe, @warrenpchi (who recently joined our team full-time from Cavalli Audio), and Michael (the only full-timer here who's not a diehard Head-Fi'er) to keep pushing out updates, fixes, and improvements.

Thank you for your understanding and patience, everyone.

 

[AxelCloris]

05/08/17 Update

As you’ve likely already noticed, we pushed an update to the site today. This update is a collection of the the Head-Fi community's most commonly requested features and changes. We’ve been listening to everyone’s feedback since we switched to the new platform, and we’ve been working to implement as many community requested changes as we reasonably could. This is not a comprehensive list, but here are some of the biggest changes in this update:


(Updated header and navigation bar)

Search:
We received overwhelming feedback that Head-Fi’ers wanted the ability to search within a thread without leaving the page. We made this one of our highest priorities for this update. A new search bar with additional functionality, including “search this thread only,” has replaced the previous one. The advanced search page is still available for those who want to fine tune their searches.

Private messaging:
We’ve added a PM link next to the avatars (visible in the mobile screenshot below) to make it easier for Head-Fi’ers to quickly PM one another. You can also access PMs by clicking someone’s avatar and choosing “Start a Private Message.” These options are in addition to the methods already in place, so no matter how you prefer to start a PM, you can use whatever method feels most comfortable. You can also view your most recent private messages directly in the navigation bar.


(Account settings)

Navigation:
The navigation bar is now a permanent fixture at the top of the browsing window. Many of you remembered this from the Huddler platform and requested it. Now, navigation will always be available at the top of the page on both desktop and mobile view.

We’ve added easy access to account settings via a new dropdown in the navigation bar. Simply click on your username (as seen in the screenshot above) to access. This is replacing the Quick Navigation page.

Those who use the site primarily on mobile devices should have an easier time browsing the forums with the navigation changes that were made. Head-Fi’ers can now directly access their subscriptions from mobile view using the new persistent navigation bar.


(Updated mobile view and navigation)

Layout:
There is no longer a need to choose between mobile and desktop view by clicking “go to mobile site” or “switch to desktop view.” The site now scales automatically to the device you’re using. Those who were frequently switching between desktop and mobile devices should appreciate this change (I know I certainly do).

Another area where we received a lot of feedback was that the site didn’t take advantage of a display’s real estate when viewing full screen. We’ve configured the site to display full-width, resulting in less negative space when viewing fullscreen on widescreen monitors.

Reputation:
We’ve pulled the numerical reputation data from the Huddler platform and ported it into XenForo’s Like system. You’ll now see the collective number of “+1”s received on both Huddler and XenForo. Note: We do not currently have the ability to add comments to likes, but we’ll look into the possibility of adding this functionality later.



We’re far from done making improvements to the new platform, but we wanted to make sure that our community had access to all of the new features and improvements as quickly as possible. Over the coming days you’ll continue to see adjustments as we hear your feedback and work your suggestions into the platform. We won’t be able to accommodate every single request, but we’ll try our best to implement as many as reasonably possible. We’re currently working on adjustments to the site’s look (including the addition of a highly requested dark theme) in order to improve the overall feel on the new platform. We want Head-Fi to feel inviting to all who visit.

Head-Fi wouldn’t be what it is today without the community, and we’re working hard to make sure that everyone finds the new platform not just as welcoming as it was when we were on Huddler, but even more so.

From everyone here at Head-Fi, thank you so much for the patience you’ve shown us so far. We know this hasn’t been as smooth a transition as we’d like, but we’re getting there. Thank you for all of the feedback you’ve provided to help us get where we are today, and we’re going to continue listening to that feedback as we push forward.

We’ll see you on the forums.