Nice.

This takes me back

...out with the old, in with the new.

Weekends are better for these types of things

Speaking from 38 years IT experience

That way they have a couple of weekdays on both sides. This isn't some mission critical medical or financial infrastructure, however important it is to us individually. If this was a bar I'd want any painting or refinishing away from the end of the week. It's a similar situation with this.

Just open a bunch of tabs before the downtime and be patient that you won't be able to rec or comment during the downtime. I browse that way normally, open a bunch of tabs then work through them.

I’m sure he knows what he’s doing.

particular date and time was when DU was least visited.

Weekends are normally when wholesale updates are done, especially at night, off-hours, because that is how most businesses worked then.

However, an online site, that could have people visiting at any time and day, weekends could actually be one of the periods when DU is visited most.

although I have a paltry 27 years of IT experience. Planning a deployment window depends entirely on the type of business or activity. I trust EarlG and Elad to have done their homework.

All of your hard work has not gone unnoticed! This will be a fabulous upgrade!

Software is not easy. There are more variables than even the best developers can possibly imagine, let alone account for. We do our best to place safety rails around our products, but testing in any kind of alpha or beta setting will never be able to fully replicate a production environment. Things will happen. Bugs will be found. And the bigger the changes, the more issues will be found after (or during) deployment. Please be patient, report bugs or issues, and understand that we’re all working to give you the best experience possible.

Thanks EarlG and Elad for not just keeping the lights on, but working to make DU an ever-evolving oasis of humanity and truth in a world that so often seems dominated by the angry, hateful, and gullible.

Will I be able to still use the current DU?

However, since you are a Star Member, there is an option in Account Settings on DU4 which will "re-skin" the site to make it look as close as possible to the way it does now, if that's the look you prefer.

I assume like everything else, I'll eventually get used to it. Here's to adaptability, even if we do it kicking and screaming.

People like me haven't yet used the DU4 new system well I guess I will have to now. You will have support for those of us who may be less tech savvy. But I welcome the challenge.

What are you specifically having a problem with?

when I start using it. I'm just being paranoid!!! Thanks for your post.

like DU3.

And you'll find settings under "My Stuff" - one of two large buttons on every page. The other large button is "Navigate."

See this old thread, including the replies, for some screen shots:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/101312895

I will bookmark this thread.

trust me, you're gonna love it.. I'm not at all tech savvy and had no problem.. Have fun..

I'll do fine.

I know migrations can be a pain in the ass.

All went perfectly

Hope I can....

But - thx for all your diligence.

When is DU5 being released?

Just kidding. Thanks for all you do.

I almost always access DU on my phone. Does this only effect the web on computers? I know I still access the site with a browser but it is a mobile edition l see.

It has been better optimized for mobile devices and should look better on your phone than the current DU does (with the caveat, again, that some users may experience unanticipated issues after launch, but if that's the case we will work to resolve them as quickly as possible).

to inform us all.

A slight cosmetic problem I noticed was that some 'signature' lines were scrunched up (technical term of art), making them harder to read or clipping the ends off some.

It will only be a few hours of news blackout. We'll survive.

Good luck!

as an old person I was sure it'd be hard.. but no! totally user friendly. So happy you're switching..

Thanks for all your hard work and for providing this site for all of us!!

psssssst, EarlG . . . . . . how about a name change window after all is up and running

But whatever I guess no choice in the matter

“Skinner Mode” during the beta test, but it makes DU4 look as close as possible to the current layout.

Thanks for making that choice available - and above all, for everything you do.

One of my Rules to Live By will be tested: "To err is human, to really screw things up requires a computer."

for a place that keeps me informed and sane, sort of.

that you've tested. And tested more thoroughly than my employer did during a recent "upgrade improvement".

Looking forward to the big reveal. Hoping a smooth transition awaits.

Glad to hear you are making sure this place is a safe zone for us all.

I still recall that night in 2016 when it began to sink in exactly what we could expect from the Putin Puppet Party.

There must be a reason for it so Mahalo for that! It sounds like an epic endeavor. One question I was wanting to ask so thanks for offering to hear them: I noticed that on do you for notifications flashed visually. Will that be remaining? I really hope not.

I think democratic underground really makes a difference. Thank you!

Aloha

If you look in Account Settings on DU4, you can find six different notification styles to choose from. Some are animated but others are not. Hopefully you'll find one that works for you.

.

I trust that whatever you’re doing is a good thing.

Exponents and subscripts are back!

...may not work.

This is how the letter "mu" which shows up correctly in the editor, looks when one posts: ?

It shows up as a question mark.

[?]

i think it’s giving me the phone version on my ipad. i get 1 column, no side bars at all.
is there a setting for this?

While it is true that "Science" is a culture, I would argue that it is more of an issue.

Hi guys. I'm a lurker. I look at DU daily to see what the hot button issues are. Very seldom do I login and comment but the update does need an objective comment or two so here I am. First, on a small handheld phone, you are wasting too much white space for prompts, reply buttons, and junk. The old format was more info dense that fits the phone format better. 2nd, the old phone format page was far more information dense. It was easy to spot stories and discussions of interest. The new format just shows ONE! DU is NOW HARD TO READ. Sorry, but the pretty GUI needs more consideration about usability on a phone and info density presented to users.

For example, DU > Trending discussions has huge fonts for number of recs. What's up with that? Everything else is white space mostly. Definitely I like your older GUI.