What's new
Van's Air Force

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Van's Air Force 2024. A new era.

Here's what's new:
  • Mobile friendly (ex: turn your phone from portrait to landscape and watch it give you more detail).
  • There's an app.
  • It's easier to upload/edit photos from your phone/tablet.
  • A 'Like' button.
  • Light and Dark themes (look for crescent moon and lightbulb)
  • In-House Article Publishing: In addition to a friendly what-you-see-is-what-you-get text editor, the forums now allow file attachments to be dragged into place, images to be precisely edited and located, links to be unfurled for a useful preview, and media to be embedded. In the right hands, posts can become full fledged articles. Some very intelligent and talented RV folks in the community might find this an efficient way to painlessly publish their work.
  • News feed. Users can construct an activity feed tailored to their own preferences by selecting other community members to follow.
  • Improved security, search and server horsepower.
  • So much more!!!
Changes going forward:
  • No more front page ... the Off-Topic will live on though, don't worry! <g>
  • The 'who has donated' page has left the building. To the wonderful folks who donated in ’23 and have already donated in '24, thank you! Going forward, if you donate use the link in the forums.
  • For subscribers, a badge will appear next to your username. It may take a bit to get all this set up and squared away.
  • Ads from the old site will be coming online in the next few days.
  • Subscribe with benefits ... such as an ad-free viewing experience and access to an all new exclusive forum: The Ready Room (what happens in The Ready Room stays in ... well, you know the rest)
There will most likely be some hiccups along the way, but we’ll get the bumps ironed out. Hang tough and welcome.

One last thing, please feel free to post questions in this thread and thank you to those who take the time to respond and help users adapt to the changes.

v/r,dr

IMG_8813-X3.jpg
 
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newt said:
Links of the form https://vansairforce.net/community/showthread.php?t=94420 and https://vansairforce.net/community/archive/index.php/t-211173.html will all be broken now.

i.e., approximately 100% of Google searches for VAF thread content :(

I don't know if you have a mapping between old thread (or post) ID and new URL, but if you do it might be possible to add a community/showthread.php URI which returns a redirect to the new thread (or post)

- mark
Click to expand...
I see this was fixed by Bill, a suggestion from another member in another post, awesome!
 
Cth6 said:
For Apple it is easy. Choose the Share up-arrow, and select Add to Home Screen. Pic of the share arrow is below. Really a misnomer this is an app. It is just a shortcut to the web instance without the web browser wrapper.
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Exactly. It's more like a widget on the Home Screen so you don't have to open the browser then type in the url or google the forum. Here I was searching the App Store for an app. :LOL:
 
Pilot135pd said:
Exactly. It's more like a widget on the Home Screen so you don't have to open the browser then type in the url or google the forum. Here I was searching the App Store for an app. :LOL:
Click to expand...
Unfortunately there are some navigating shortcomings with the implementation on iPadOS. Not a VAF issue, but more with Apple‘s implementation.
 
Setting up my profile. Seeing people with patriot, Bill has testing,…. Is that a status we can set like ”out flying“ or something?
 
Manchu16 said:
Setting up my profile. Seeing people with patriot, Bill has testing,…. Is that a status we can set like ”out flying“ or something?
Click to expand...
Those colored badges from the the new account upgrade (donation) system ... but you can set some of the text below your avatar somewhere in there.
 
OK then! VAF has been updated. I've been poking around in here and maybe getting a little more aquatinted
with the where and how's of the site. So this is my test post with a picture of my plane attached... hopefully.
Edited: Also added a pic with my name. Success!
 

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Paul 5r4 said:
OK then! VAF has been updated. I've been poking around in here and maybe getting a little more aquatinted
with the where and how's of the site. So this is my test post with a picture of my plane attached... hopefully.
Click to expand...
You nailed it! Beautiful plane
IMG_5656.jpeg
 
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Would love to see the post/read count from the last week of the old VAF compared to the first week of the new site. Seems much more active. Hopefully that keeps up in the weeks/months to come.
 
DeltaRomeo said:
Here's what's new:
  • Mobile friendly (ex: turn your phone from portrait to landscape and watch it give you more detail).
  • There's an app.
  • It's easier to upload/edit photos from your phone/tablet.
  • A 'Like' button.
  • Light and Dark themes (look for crescent moon and lightbulb)
  • In-House Article Publishing: In addition to a friendly what-you-see-is-what-you-get text editor, the forums now allow file attachments to be dragged into place, images to be precisely edited and located, links to be unfurled for a useful preview, and media to be embedded. In the right hands, posts can become full fledged articles. Some very intelligent and talented RV folks in the community might find this an efficient way to painlessly publish their work.
  • News feed. Users can construct an activity feed tailored to their own preferences by selecting other community members to follow.
  • Improved security, search and server horsepower.
  • So much more!!!
Changes going forward:
  • No more front page ... the Off-Topic will live on though, don't worry! <g>
  • The 'who has donated' page has left the building. To the wonderful folks who donated in ’23 and have already donated in '24, thank you! Going forward, if you donate use the link in the forums.
  • For subscribers, a badge will appear next to your username. It may take a bit to get all this set up and squared away.
  • Ads from the old site will be coming online in the next few days.
  • Subscribe with benefits ... such as an ad-free viewing experience and access to an all new exclusive forum: The Ready Room (what happens in The Ready Room stays in ... well, you know the rest)
There will most likely be some hiccups along the way, but we’ll get the bumps ironed out. Hang tough and welcome.

One last thing, please feel free to post questions in this thread and thank you to those who take the time to respond and help users adapt to the changes.

v/r,dr

IMG_8813-X3.jpg
Click to expand...
I prefer the old format it allowed me to see all different posts at a glance
 
The first day the new website worked great but since yesterday when I go to VansAirForce.net it takes me to the “Forums”. No matter how I try to direct it to the “Home” page I end up at “Forums”. Is this a glitch or something I’m doing wrong?
 
While certainly prettier and presumably more functional, this change makes VAF less relevant for me. I viewed it as a news source and checked it every day. Without the front page or any editorial effort to highlight threads it becomes just another forum to check on occasion. There's way too much volume to dig thru without a specific purpose. As Yogi said "it used to be popular but now it's too crowded."
 
Would it be possible to make “Threads below have not been updated since your last visit.” more obvious. Maybe a larger bold font or different colour?
 
Micro151 said:
The first day the new website worked great but since yesterday when I go to VansAirForce.net it takes me to the “Forums”. No matter how I try to direct it to the “Home” page I end up at “Forums”. Is this a glitch or something I’m doing wrong?
Click to expand...
To add, for me clicking on home, vs an extra click on forum list seems to have changed as well. Was thinking the main forum list was "home". Or do I have something set wrong, doing something wrong?
 
bkervaski said:
The App can be installed on supported devices (iPhones, Android, iPad) from the menu, just follow the instructions.

On iPhone/iPad, be sure you're using Safari to install the App. Probably have to use Chrome on Android. It's just a "Progressive Web App" or "PWA". Kind of cool. Haven't tested the push notifications yet.
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Please advise how to install the app on iPad. Using Safari as advised I see some but not all of the menu items at the top of the screen and I don’t find the app there.

Somehow I found a button on my Anroid phone at the bottom of a VAF page viewing in Chrome and got the app installed, can’t find that button now but don’t need it until I get a new phone.

I don’t find the app in the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, perhaps for monetary reasons, especially with Apple.

BTW I’m having a better experience on iPad with Chrome versus Safari and the app on Android is even better. One aspect of this is I can see all the pull-down menus at the top of the screen with Chrome whereas with Safari I cannot.

Thanks
 
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johnbright said:
Please advise how to install the app on iPad. Using Safari as advised I see some but not all of the menu items at the top of the screen and I don’t find the app there.

Somehow I found a button on my Anroid phone at the bottom of a VAF page viewing in Chrome and got the app installed, can’t find that button now but don’t need it until I get a new phone.

I don’t find the app in the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, perhaps for monetary reasons, especially with Apple.

BTW I’m having a better experience on iPad with Chrome versus Safari and the app on Android is even better. One aspect of this is I can see all the pull-down menus at the top of the screen with Chrome whereas with Safari I cannot.

Thanks
Click to expand...
See posts 53 - 60 this thread. Seems to work for all Apple iPads/phones
 
Phyrcooler said:
See posts 53 - 60 this thread. Seems to work for all Apple iPads/phones
Click to expand...
Thanks Phrycooler. What is described is posts 53 - 60 is adding a link to the iPad screen. The result seems to have less funtionality compared to the app on Android. I wonder if there is a VAF app for iPad or maybe the link on the iPad screen opens a thing called Progressive Web App which is a surrogate for an app and its functionality is under development. The link includes “/?_pwa=1”
 
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I always enjoyed the ease of the previous home page, where I could browse a few highlighted topics, as well as an overall WEATHER picture, and link to the postings. Not sure I like this new format. It is just not that user friendly.......
 
johnbright said:
Thanks Phrycooler. What is described is posts 53 - 60 is adding a link to the iPad screen. The result seems to have less funtionality compared to the app on Android. I wonder if there is a VAF app for iPad or maybe the link on the iPad screen opens a thing called Progressive Web App which is a surrogate for an app and its functionality is under development. The link includes “/?_pwa=1”
Click to expand...
You’re asking questions above my pay grade. Yes, as I understand, the link/“app” that it creates on your iPad is WYSIWYG. (What you see is what you get). It functions quite well so far for me. I’m not missing any features. Maybe not a true “App”… but it rides like one.

Curious - What are you missing that you’re finding on Android?
 
well, I like the functionality and it is clear the team has put a lot of work into this. But it is just not as pretty as the old site; too sterile so far.
 
I like the look. Seems well organized from my perspective. Just sayin'.

Still noodling around to get things figured out and sorted out.
 
I've come to the front page every morning, as long as VAF has existed, and have been a supporter. It's been my favorite way to start the day. With the front page going away in its original format and becoming an occasional thing I suspect I'll no longer visit. I'll keep monitoring as the new format evolves and hope that some return to the original front page happens. If not, I'm gone.
 
DavidBurton said:
With the front page going away in its original format and becoming an occasional thing I suspect I'll no longer visit.
Click to expand...

David - and other folks who really enjoyed the front page - maybe you could set your bookmark (or shortcut icon or homepage or whatever) to https://vansairforce.net/forums/news/ . The "front page" is just one more click (or tap) from there. (Maybe the admins could create a URL that takes you straight into the most recent "The Vans Air Force News" thread? Worst case, a redirect that's updated by hand each time Doug posts a new thread? This may be a ridiculous thing to ask, but people seem to have really liked the old front page...)

To me, the update feels like the first time I sat in an all-Garmin airplane after having only ever flown steam gauges. This was an early-model Cirrus, no touchscreens, you move the cursor (and change what's in each field, and change what the screen shows...) by turning a knob, except certain things (altimeter and some radio and autopilot settings) which get their own knobs (and all the knobs look basically identical and are often not located near the displayed parameter being adjusted)... At first, I was totally lost, "This is no fun". But after an hour or two, it was doable. A couple hours after that, it was easy (and I was signed off to solo). A couple hours after that, it was great, I wondered why I had put up with steam gauges for so long.

Regardless of the change in interface, I appreciate that this was a major overhaul of the whole system, and I really appreciate the hard work that went into it (and how it should make the site easier to maintain, and to keep secure). Thank you for your hard work!
 
Phyrcooler said:
… Curious - What are you missing that you’re finding on Android?
Click to expand...

Some things I've noticed anecdotally re iPad progressive web app:

The Filters drop-down menu at the top right of a list of threads does not open.

I don't find a back button to return from wence I came for instance from a thread I'm viewing back to the list of threads it's in or to climb back up a menu tree. The Android app has a back button and it has good advantage in many other cases. Also, on the Android app, touching the main screen outside of a pulldown menu acts as a back button in a home sort of way if that makes sense.

The pull-down menus at the top of the screen are different which I'm not going to try to analyze but in any case they are not all visible. The one called Members is just barely clickable if you look closely although its name is not readable, and Links is completely overwritten by the Search box… edit 01/22/2024, oh, now I see the menus are a tape you can touch and drag to the left to reveal the ones that seem to be hidden under the search box. The pull-down menus in the Android app are a better experience. The three horizontal bars at the top left of the screen open the menu tree as a panel on the left of the screen.

In the iPad PWA when I reply to a post I only see three lines in the text edit box whereas in the Android app and PC I see thirty or forty lines.

The iPad, whether browser of PWA, shows signatures whereas the the Android app does not.

The PC experience is also superior to the iPAD PWA IMO.
 
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I noticed that the search function is worse than it used to be... previously it allowed words as short as 3 characters, which was useful given the proliferation of TLAs in aviation. Now it seems to have a longer minimum string length, and quotation marks don't seem to apply either. For example, searching for GAD 27 gives the same error message as searching for "GAD 27".
 
I've been exploring the new site trying to understand how it all works and I believe I'm now teetering on the brink of comprehension! Even though I hate it when I have to learn everything all over again on a site I think I'm leaning towards liking this new site. And one of the things that I like is the like button :). Interesting thing about updated sites is that there will always be a period of sorting out all the little glitches and things that fall through the cracks - ya just can't get away from that. So while I was exploring all the new stuff here I re-read the posting rules (as one does ;)) and discovered one tiny inconsistency. It's pretty insignificant really but you know when you have OCD you notice this stuff. Anyway, for Doug, in the posting rules it says under RE: Social media sites, "There are no 'Like' buttons ..." Please don't hate me for being so anal and please don't remove the 'Like' buttons. ;)
 
mburch said:
I noticed that the search function is worse than it used to be... previously it allowed words as short as 3 characters, which was useful given the proliferation of TLAs in aviation. Now it seems to have a longer minimum string length, and quotation marks don't seem to apply either. For example, searching for GAD 27 gives the same error message as searching for "GAD 27".
Click to expand...
Yep, default search word length is 4, agree it should be 3. I'll look into it when I get a chance and see what the options are.
 
johnbright said:
<snip>
I don't find a back button to return from wence I came for instance from a thread I'm viewing back to the list of threads it's in or to climb back up a menu tree. The Android app has a back button and it has good advantage in many other cases. Also, on the Android app, touching the main screen outside of a pulldown menu acts as a back button in a home sort of way if that makes sense.
Click to expand...
FYI - The “Back” button appears in the bottom left corner of the screen when you stop scrolling on my Apple devices.
 
Phyrcooler said:
FYI - The “Back” button appears in the bottom left corner of the screen when you stop scrolling on my Apple devices.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I see "Prev" and "Next" but the back button has a different function, it takes you out of the thread and back to the list of threads with one click.
 
I use to read / browse VAF daily and will now change to either weekly or when needed. I don't understand fixing something that isn't broken....
 
Phyrcooler said:
Are you seeing this back button? View attachment 54334
It appears when you stop scrolling.
Click to expand...
Thanks Phyrcooler,

It’s a curious thing, I do see that back button now that I look at the PWA on iPad Mini. And the PWA on iPad Mini has other good things in common with the Android app. These are iPad Mini 5th gen and iPad Air 4th gen, both running the latest OS 17.2

Viewing VAF in a browser on either iPad there’s the browser’s back button in upper left and the editing box for posts has many lines of text versus just three in the PWA on iPad Air. For now I will use PWA on iPad Mini and browser on iPad Air.

I figure in the IT world oftentimes it’s… just wait, it’ll fix itself.

[ed. Depending on the device you have and whether you are holding it in portrait or landscape dictates how much information you are shown. Think of the site now as a mobile site that adjusts to bigger monitors if you have them. The more screen real estate you have available the more information will be displayed. v/r,dr]
 
Regarding the PWA, it's just more or less built in to the forum software, not really something we planned or have any plans to modify. Kind of cool, fairly useful, definitely not perfect.
 
bkervaski said:
Regarding the PWA, it's just more or less built in to the forum software, not really something we planned or have any plans to modify. Kind of cool, fairly useful, definitely not perfect.
Click to expand...
Thanks Bill, maybe it’s best to use a browser on iPads and PCs and the app on Android. Or maybe a browser is the way to go on Android also… I like that in the browser there’s the refresh button. I don’t have a Mac so I can’t speak to that.
 
I'd really like to see the "home" page change to the "forum list" view. It think it would be a lot less confusing for people using these forums.

If Doug's latest "spotlighted post" could then sit at the top of that page (vs a link to the forum that contains all of these posts) that would be the icing on the cake!
 
ClayR_9A said:
I'd really like to see the "home" page change to the "forum list" view. It think it would be a lot less confusing for people using these forums.

If Doug's latest "spotlighted post" could then sit at the top of that page (vs a link to the forum that contains all of these posts) that would be the icing on the cake!
Click to expand...
Most want the new posts, you can link to either with your browser's favorites.
 
acroboy said:
I like the new look. I totally get the monumental effort and overwhelming need to transition to modern software. That said, I mourn the loss of the front page. The front page has been an essential part of my nightly routine for a very long time. I hope it finds its way back someday. RIP.
Click to expand...
I too will miss the front page. That's where I always started my daily views. But I'm sure it takes Doug a significant amount of time to create it each day, so with his "paper route" requiring more of his time, I understand the desire to eliminate this from the website. Perhaps Doug could do a weekly review as the front page, so his workload is reduced, but those of us who "need" a home/front page are satisfied?

By the way, a giant thank you to bkervaski for all of his work on moving VAF to new software and answering everyone's questions. Great Work.
Thanks
 
DRMA said:
I too will miss the front page. That's where I always started my daily views. But I'm sure it takes Doug a significant amount of time to create it each day, so with his "paper route" requiring more of his time, I understand the desire to eliminate this from the website. Perhaps Doug could do a weekly review as the front page, so his workload is reduced, but those of us who "need" a home/front page are satisfied?

By the way, a giant thank you to bkervaski for all of his work on moving VAF to new software and answering everyone's questions. Great Work.
Thanks
Click to expand...

Dave, thanks for the kind words. I'm still doing the 'front page', only in its own dedicated subforum up at the top of the site. You can set a bookmark if you like, but it will show up in the what’s new, and the new posts results also: https://www.vansairforce.net/forums/news/

Even the Off Topic <g>.

I may not do it daily like I have for the past 28 years (and nearly 6,000 editions), but it will come out often enough. Your thoughts were correct - working this as my full time and two extra part times was really eroding me quickly. This new format will help.

v/r,dr
 
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Doug, if you donated for 2024 already, will you become a "subscriber" based on the amount of that donation? Or must you "subscribe" separately from donation?

[ed. First off thank you for the donation. I’ve already spent it on this upgrade :). Yes, consider January 11, 2024 a cut off date. From that date forward the only way to publicly see if you’ve donated is if you have a badge under your username, meaning you’ve donated using the account upgrade button under your avatar. There is no more “who has donated“ list. With multiple methods of donating it became far too complicated and time-consuming. I had to trim things down. v/r,dr]
 
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