My fellow BWEers...

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 12:48 am

We are back up and running.
Thank you Jacques and Tom for taking the lead, Jacques was able to get a fellow to help us out.
We are working on upgrading to a better site.
Our main priority has been to get the forum back up and running.
More details to come.

BD

DavidG · Post by **DavidG** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 12:57 am

Thanks and congratulations for bringing us back. Looking forward to the next iteration.

Tom In DC · Post by **Tom In DC** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 2:30 am

Five thumbs up!

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 2:59 am

Looks like your guy did a great job, Jacques, I think if we get our home page back we are pretty much up and running, other than a few little tweaks, no?

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 3:00 am

Testing the photos function.

jal · Post by **jal** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 3:16 am

Jim, what used to be the home page is now under the "Welcome" tab. I asked Mark to make that the Home Page.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 3:18 am

Ah I see, well done, Jacques.

Racer Chris · Post by **Racer Chris** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 11:22 am

Good deal.

Comte Flaneur · Post by **Comte Flaneur** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 12:17 pm

Good to see the site is back up and running well done Jacques and Tom

Comte Flaneur · Post by **Comte Flaneur** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 12:21 pm

I just tried to add a photo ‘file too large’ - it would be good if we could add photos without out shrinking them down to a small size.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 12:34 pm

AKR was having that problem with pictures before the site went down, I wonder what is causing it.

We were discussing upgrading the site the other night with Stefan and Jal, we all agreed we like the simplicity of this site. I think I like the site even better with the tweaks made by Jacques since we got it up and running

Other than issues like not being able to post pictures, I’m wondering whether there is a need for any major upgrades.

DavidG · Post by **DavidG** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 12:53 pm

Don’t know that anything major is needed. Some things that would be nice:

Return of the quick reply box.

A secure site (https) might encourage more to participate.

Automatic resizing of photos so that large ones don’t get rejected and they show without requiring scrolling or blowing up the page.

Ability to post PDF, Excel, Word files (with size limit?).

Retrieval of original BWE site posts.

Better search engine (or lessons from Arv!).

Update and maintain the retailer list or delete it altogether.

Ability to post avatars (or point me to how).

dstgolf · Post by **dstgolf** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 12:55 pm

Well done guys. Sorry that I couldn't have offered any help to get back up and running but with my neanderthal IT knowledge I've always relied on tech support and thankfully Tom and Jal were able to pool resources on everyones behalf. It was starting to get a little lonely up here recovering from hernia surgery. My thrice daily dose of BWE has made being stuck inside a little tougher than usual. Thanks again and welcome back.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 12:57 pm

All good suggestions David. I think with those types of additions/changes/fixes, we should be in good shape. I think we have lost the chat room but I don’t think anyone ever used that anyway. And the photo montage on the home page, which was time for an update anyway.

DavidG · Post by **DavidG** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 1:01 pm

Speedy recovery Danny!

jal · Post by **jal** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 1:23 pm

We were running a 13 year old version of the software. A lot of the modifications originally made by Phil were no longer supported (i.e. we lost the wine glasses next to each post, filled by the number of responses, that was cool) not to mention some security issues. There have been numerous updates that were not implemented.

No one here had the expertise or the time to upgrade to the newer version, we were lucky to find someone who could do it on a short notice. We thought it was more important to get the site back up quickly, we focused on retaining the "look and feel" of the old site and on speed.
Like the old saying goes: we wanted fast, good and cheap but could only get 2 out 3.

Now we can do some homework and try to get it right with all the goodies we want. Maybe this platform allows it, I don't know, but we're no longer under pressure to get something done while the site was not up.

Good to be back, there was a void in my life without BWE.

greatbxfreak · Post by **greatbxfreak** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 1:39 pm

Great work to get BWE website back on!

I'd also like to have the possibility to put pictures in the posts. It's been so difficult.

jal · Post by **jal** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 2:22 pm

DavidG wrote: ↑Sun Feb 14, 2021 12:53 pm Don’t know that anything major is needed. Some things that would be nice:
Ability to post avatars (or point me to how).

David, we had this discussion about Avatars back in the day:
http://www.bordeauxwineenthusiasts.com/ ... vatar#p642

It probably is an easy fix but I don't know if it's needed. It may be better than that big square with a question mark. I will also ask the guy to help with bigger photos, Excel attachments, etc...

I don't know if I have time to do it today, but I'll get this done this week.

stefan · Post by **stefan** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 2:41 pm

Looks great, guys; wonderful job. I was shaking from BWE withdrawal.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 2:43 pm

I'm fine either way with avatars.
It's not a huge must for me, but, like you said, it might be better than the empty box with a question mark.
I really like how clean and crisp the new site looks!

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 2:47 pm

dstgolf wrote: ↑Sun Feb 14, 2021 12:55 pm Well done guys. Sorry that I couldn't have offered any help to get back up and running but with my neanderthal IT knowledge I've always relied on tech support and thankfully Tom and Jal were able to pool resources on everyones behalf. It was starting to get a little lonely up here recovering from hernia surgery. My thrice daily dose of BWE has made being stuck inside a little tougher than usual. Thanks again and welcome back.

Get well soon!

jal · Post by **jal** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 3:15 pm

Feel better Danny!

William P · Post by **William P** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 3:28 pm

Thanks to Jacques and Tom for their work in getting this back up. And thanks to Jim also for his dedication to the Board.

Bill

SF Ed · Post by **SF Ed** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 3:47 pm

Glad to see we are back up!

Racer Chris · Post by **Racer Chris** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 4:47 pm

Since there's only one discussion foum, the Return buttons need to take us back to the Forum, not to the Board Index.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 5:21 pm

Yeah I think we'll approach Jacques's guy to make a few tweaks on stuff like this.
But overall, I'm very happy with the little upgrade here, it's very "clean" and "pure," "light on its feet."

AKR · Post by **AKR** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 7:50 pm

It's great to see the site back up and running!

I was wondering why no one had any comments on the 2020 vintage !

(I was sure it will be a VOTC!)

jckba · Post by **jckba** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 8:21 pm

Liking the updated look and feel, well done!

jal · Post by **jal** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 8:49 pm

JimHow wrote: ↑Sun Feb 14, 2021 5:21 pm Yeah I think we'll approach Jacques's guy to make a few tweaks on stuff like this.
But overall, I'm very happy with the little upgrade here, it's very "clean" and "pure," "light on its feet."

Ok, I'm sending an email to Mark with all the requests from David and Chris. FYI, he's not my guy, I found him through a Google search Friday, but he seemed very capable. We hired him because we were so pressed for time and I feel we got very lucky.

Nicklasss · Post by **Nicklasss** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 8:59 pm

Good to see the site is back and running. Thanks to you guys.

Yes, life would have still go on, but without BWE , something would have miss me.

dstgolf · Post by **dstgolf** » Mon Feb 15, 2021 10:58 am

Looks like the spammers have attacked and security needs to be addressed on the site. I don't know the purpose or joy the arseholes get out of annoying people for licks!!??

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Mon Feb 15, 2021 11:01 am

Yes, looks like our spam filter didn’t make it over to the upgrade.

jal · Post by **jal** » Mon Feb 15, 2021 12:40 pm

Yes I just deleted 5 spam messages. If I understand correctly our old spam filter is not compatible with the new version, but there’s a built in spam bot in this version. Obviously it’s not doing a great job. I’ll ask if there’s a way to add a a new spam mod.
Another way to avoid spammers is to have people apply to be members. I leave that decision to Jim.

jal · Post by **jal** » Mon Feb 15, 2021 1:10 pm

There are different ways (I’m learning this on the go) to make sure only interested wine lovers joined and that’s to have them answer a quick question when they apply. Maybe that’s a good way to go.

JCNorthway · Post by **JCNorthway** » Mon Feb 15, 2021 1:18 pm

Glad to have the site running again. Thanks to all were worked on making it happen.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Mon Feb 15, 2021 1:34 pm

There are different ways (I’m learning this on the go) to make sure only interested wine lovers joined and that’s to have them answer a quick question when they apply. Maybe that’s a good way to go.

Interesting,Jacques, I wasn’t aware that’s an option. Why don’t you try setting that up, see if it stops the spammers.

jckba · Post by **jckba** » Mon Feb 15, 2021 2:04 pm

Maybe also a way to rotate a picture within the photo editor.

jal · Post by **jal** » Mon Feb 15, 2021 3:11 pm

So I am now an administrator along with Jim,
I changed the setting to post pictures to 3 MBs
I added a question for new members to block spammers:

What is your interest in this board?
The answers are:
wine lover
Wine
Bordeaux
Not case sensitive, any other answers would not allow posting, if that doesn’t do it, we can always try captchas

Working on more requests

s*d*r · Post by **s*d*r** » Mon Feb 15, 2021 3:22 pm

A big thank you to Jacques, Tom and anyone else who got the site running again. The withdrawal symptoms were getting bad. The new look is quite attractive, too.

Stu

JCNorthway · Post by **JCNorthway** » Mon Feb 15, 2021 3:26 pm

Couple of questions on the new layout/functionality:

1) If I close the browser for this site, do I need to login the next time? I think there used to be an option to be automatically logged on.

2) Is there a way to visually see that you are logged in? It used to display your user name upper right if you were logged in.

Also, it looks like the server or the software is on daylight savings time - or else the time zone just off the east coast.