We added a link in the header today to let you know when you get new private messages. If you have new PMs, you'll see a number next to the Private Messages link. It can take up to a minute for that number to change, so if you don't see an update immediately, that's the reason.

We also changed the cache time on the server from 5 minutes to 1 minute. That will partially address the issue some people have been having with not seeing the most recent "Last Post" listing on the forum pages. To lessen the load on our database server, we cache some of the forum information so we don't have to go to the database for every single page request. The threads were getting updated real-time after someone posts, but the forum view could take up to 5 minutes to update. We changed that to 1 minute now so the changes should show up much faster.

We've also had some reports that people can't get their password reminders if they have forgotten them. Please take this time to make sure your email address is correct on your account. If it is an old email address, you will not be able to get password reminders and you will not be able to take advantage of some of the features on the board, like private message alerts and thread subscriptions.

Hopefully that takes care of the major issues people have been having. Let us know if anything else comes up. Thanks.

good changes - thx

That's appreciated, and I know you've been working on it.  Thank you.  I throw out suggestions and realize that what may seem simple entails a lot of work to accomplish.  Please don't think that your efforts are taken for granted.  You've done a great job with the change.

With all that said, do you really think I wouldn't have a comment? 

I happened to have caught a glimpse of the new header today, quite by accident and came here to make a comment.  I found your announcement only because of that. 

This new site uses up a lot more screen area than the other (and NO, I don't like that at all) which consequently has taught me to scroll down to the message area without looking at the top header.  It's there because it has to be, but it's nothing one looks at.

The PM header would be more user friendly and easier to see if it were just above the posts......in eye range.  I hate to even say this.....but more like the old board.   Scrolling up and down AND to the sides is a whole lot more work than it used to be.  Navigating just to read one post requires many more adjustments than before.  Coupling that with having to scroll up to the very top to see the PM header makes it even more of a nuisance.  It's almost entirely out of eye-range.

With that being said, I really hope there is a way to lower it.  And thank you for listening to us.

Thanks R1, this is a great addition...

Blue Eyes - The issue of scrolling is something that we are still looking at. The new site is geared more for 1024x768 screens and larger. We understand that people with 800x600 screens are having trouble and we are still looking at it. It's a tough item for us to change because it would involve collapsing the header which would mean removing content. And part of the reason for the redesigned site was to be able to fit all that stuff in... A happy medium would be to let the content area shrink while keeping the header the full size, but that also is a technical challenge with the way the site is structured. We've got some ideas though, so once the bugs are gone and the missing features are in, we'll be getting back to it. Thanks for the comments everyone.

I miss the top and bottom buttons. If we had them back it would help with the scrolling issues, wouldn't it?

Thanks bud.

I've noticed that the Private Message count doesn't reflect the number of PM's at all.  Is that due to the lag caused by caching?  I've had PM's and yet the counter stays at 0.