Bright Sparks

[#1]

On Plus net forums I was a bright spark for the last year will this be transfered over and do they still exist?

[#2]

I think so, I think James is fiddling with the admin panel to set it up

[#3]

I believe James_H was looking in to Bright Sparks earlier on today, but until people have registered over here, there's no account to add it too 🙂

[#4]

What about those of us who registered directly on these forums when they were in Beta and therefore the link doesn't exist yet? Will that mean a delay?

[#5]

Another problem is that you may register on  here under a totally different username.
This then makes it very difficult to identify you from the old forum.
Im sure we will sort it eventually and I would suggest to everyone  that if you were a bright spark on the old forum and have changed username then let us know and we will reinstate you.  

[#6]

Quote from: jelv

What about those of us who registered directly on these forums when they were in Beta and therefore the link doesn't exist yet? Will that mean a delay?

We can match those usernames against the account usernames fairly easily. Not sure when it's being done though.

[#7]

Showing my ignorance again.
What is a bright spark?
That is, within the confines of the forum.
Gee, looking at the rows marked - Add BBC;Tags;
but alas, No spell check.
Because if you don't need it ,I do.
Regards,
sixpence.

[#8]

Just to ask another question which will no doubt be construed as troublemaking...
Why on earth were simple things like this not sorted during beta testing?
Colours and layout, useful stickies, unread marks, post count, bright sparks status - beta was live in April and these things are still being discussed in August?

[#9]

This is called a phased approach.
Some things are absolutely essential. Some things are very important. Some things important, some things not important and so on...
Importing old posts and stuff is very important but doesn't stop us launching. Likewise changing colours is good and useful but doesn't stop the site *working*.
It's a choice between do you try and fix *everything* and launch goes out another month or do you get it live, accept it's not perfect and add the important things post-launch in order of priority.
I'm sure Colin or Kelly will be able to explain more but a check through the bugs forum will show that the beta phase was about resolveing issues that made the Community site unusable or unstable / insecure / not resilient. Those are the absolutely essential things in my book. Importing post count really isn't essential on day 1.

[#10]

I would agree that some things are not essential and do not prevent a site from functioning.
However, when there is a perfectly functional solution already in place, and that has been in place for 4 years or more, why launch a different platform before all the niggles have been resolved - including possible trivial items as listed above.
Every one of these issues is a negative for someone on the forum and should have been resolved before going live in my opinion.
This just feels as though there was a deadline set for release of the new community site, and that was going to be adhered to regardless of whether the site was finished or not.  The bright spark status is just one of many points.
I really shouldnt let something as simple as a forum wind me up so much, but at present I defy anyone to show that these forums in their present state are a step forward for the PN and other vISP communities.

[#11]

From my perspective, having a centralised location for all vISPs is an advantage but you'll probably disagree with me on that one too

[#12]

Quote from: sixpence

Gee, looking at the rows marked - Add BBC;Tags; but alas, No spell check.

I suggest you have a look at Firefox which has a English (British) dictionary available which highlights misspelt words in messages as you type.

[#13]

Quote from: James

From my perspective, having a centralised location for all vISPs is an advantage but you'll probably disagree with me on that one too

No that is an advantage I will agree, but so much more could have been done to make this a fully integrated community site before launch, a true part of the whole portal/ISP experience.  At the moment it would seem to new members or customers as some sort of bolted on after thought.

[#14]

Quote from: chesterfield

Quote from: James From my perspective, having a centralised location for all vISPs is an advantage but you'll probably disagree with me on that one too No that is an advantage I will agree, but so much more could have been done to make this a fully integrated community site before launch, a true part of the whole portal/ISP experience.  At the moment it would seem to new members or customers as some sort of bolted on after thought.

I think it's only fair to say if we waited until everything was absolutely perfect with the Community Site, then it would never have happened.
Let us know of any issues you do feel we should be looking at then please check the list of known Bugs first (see Bugs button in top menu bar), and if necessary raise new ones. Feature requests and ideas are welcome too!
Thanks.

[#15]

I've just fixed a permissions problem with the Bright Sparks Membergroup which would have meant they wouldn't have been able to see most of the forums or have any options for contacting anyone, posting threads, altering their profile etc.. etc...
Should now be fixed.