Prepare to say goodbye to the real DPR

MoreorLess · Sep 21, 2025

If this is about losing the threaded view I must admit I struggle to see why people care THAT much about it to the point of leaving the forum.

I can see some advantage in it allowing spilt off discussions but honestly but honestly the big difference seems to be if you just want to post your own opinion to OP's without reading anyone else's.

Ken53 · Sep 21, 2025

Hike Pics said:
I'm preparing to say "Hello" to the new site.

There seems to be a good bit of updates going forward, a few I'm glad to see....finally! The back-n-forth threaded/flattened thing is really going nowhere. Whatever the update brings as far as that is concerned is probably a small thing in the grand plan of the build.

I think it is very premature and unfair to diss the DPR plan right now.

Many are forgetting, DPR staff was asking for input. Dissing is more fairly described as answering the staff's call for help. It makes me wonder what the staff was expecting for feedback.

Ken53 · Sep 21, 2025

MoreorLess said:
If this is about losing the threaded view I must admit I struggle to see why people care THAT much about it to the point of leaving the forum.

I can see some advantage in it allowing spilt off discussions but honestly but honestly the big difference seems to be if you just want to post your own opinion to OP's without reading anyone else's.

It really isn't a big deal. Ask yourself this. If the flat view being taken away. How big a deal would it be? My bet is the flat view taken away would bring many more complaints than we see now. In the real big picture of everything else, photography and their forums are miniscule.

One more thing. When Amazon decided to have its own photography forum, they had no limits, they chose DPR over any others worldwide. It's that good.

J A C S · Sep 22, 2025

Ken53 said:
Ruby Rod said:

Purveyors of doom and gloom stifle progress. Sure, it's been a great site, but that doesn't mean it can't be better.

Click to expand...

We will see how that progress works out when the Thread View disappears. User interaction significantly dropping is my bet.

Or increasing. No more mini echo-chambers.

Quarkcharmed · Sep 22, 2025

Ken53 said:
Quarkcharmed said:

Ken53 said:

Some web designers and operators believe a well-designed web site should keep visitors on site longer. A new site with a slower layout, can accomplish this by not allowing the visitor to efficiently move on thru. In short, "follow the money trail".

The current legacy DPR website is one of kind, which has clearly stood the test of time. It still is the most user friendly and has the most efficient flow unmatched by any recent forum-based sites. Trashing this time proven site, for yet to be explained in any real detail, shows no logic and raises more questions than answers.

Click to expand...

The DPR forum engine is not user-friendly by modern standards - I appreciate many people got used to it and got attached to it, but it is really outdated. The desktop version lacks many important features, the mobile version lacks some important controls present in the desktop version etc. etc.

The highly regarded (for unknown reason) threaded view is the worst implementation I've seen on the web. Compare it to Reddit. on DPR, you can only see one message displayed on the top, you don't see the context and previous messages, and in order to navigate or check where you are, you have to scroll down quite a bit.

The list goes on, I won't bother you with details you already know.

Click to expand...

We are all different, life is short. Why are you still here? No disrespect. There is site out there that should meet your expectations.

I was responding to your statement that this forum is "unmatched by any recent forum-based sites". It's not unmatched.

My default view is 'flat'. I use the threaded view sometimes to check on sub-threads, but it's only usable in relatively short threads.

Try navigating here https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/68444187

But community and information are more important than the forum interface, that's why I'm staying here.

24Peter · Sep 22, 2025

Ken53 said:
Ruby Rod said:

Purveyors of doom and gloom stifle progress. Sure, it's been a great site, but that doesn't mean it can't be better.

Click to expand...

We will see how that progress works out when the Thread View disappears. User interaction significantly dropping is my bet. Longer times on site for those willing to tolerate the slower layout.

FWIW - I've been on DPR since 2005 and have never used Thread View (in Mobile or Desktop mode.)

Mark B. · Sep 22, 2025

24Peter said:
Ken53 said:

Ruby Rod said:

Purveyors of doom and gloom stifle progress. Sure, it's been a great site, but that doesn't mean it can't be better.

Click to expand...

We will see how that progress works out when the Thread View disappears. User interaction significantly dropping is my bet. Longer times on site for those willing to tolerate the slower layout.

Click to expand...

FWIW - I've been on DPR since 2005 and have never used Thread View (in Mobile or Desktop mode.)

I've been here since 1999 and have never used Flat View

Dick Dastardly · Sep 22, 2025

But let's be honest, someone already promised DPR will disappear and they lied, so this time I am assuming DPR will continue to function as always, not going to get my hopes up.

Ken53 · Sep 22, 2025

Quarkcharmed said:
Ken53 said:

Quarkcharmed said:

Ken53 said:

Some web designers and operators believe a well-designed web site should keep visitors on site longer. A new site with a slower layout, can accomplish this by not allowing the visitor to efficiently move on thru. In short, "follow the money trail".

The current legacy DPR website is one of kind, which has clearly stood the test of time. It still is the most user friendly and has the most efficient flow unmatched by any recent forum-based sites. Trashing this time proven site, for yet to be explained in any real detail, shows no logic and raises more questions than answers.

Click to expand...

The DPR forum engine is not user-friendly by modern standards - I appreciate many people got used to it and got attached to it, but it is really outdated. The desktop version lacks many important features, the mobile version lacks some important controls present in the desktop version etc. etc.

The highly regarded (for unknown reason) threaded view is the worst implementation I've seen on the web. Compare it to Reddit. on DPR, you can only see one message displayed on the top, you don't see the context and previous messages, and in order to navigate or check where you are, you have to scroll down quite a bit.

The list goes on, I won't bother you with details you already know.

Click to expand...

We are all different, life is short. Why are you still here? No disrespect. There is site out there that should meet your expectations.

Click to expand...

I was responding to your statement that this forum is "unmatched by any recent forum-based sites". It's not unmatched.

My default view is 'flat'. I use the threaded view sometimes to check on sub-threads, but it's only usable in relatively short threads.

Try navigating here https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/68444187

But community and information are more important than the forum interface, that's why I'm staying here.

Thanks for the reply. I agree, the community is more important than the software that supports it. I do have to disagree with your criticism of the software. In a nutshell I feel we have the most user-friendly interface right here in our grasp. This highly subjective of course. These recent few days with all the hard feelings being distributed is what has always made DPR interesting. I just wish that, if our present owner can't maintain it, they would just sell it to some who can. The discission seems to have been made weeks ago. It's a done deal. Trashing this rare piece of software is selfish on their part. DPR will survive only because the world is huge with enough people to keep any and all the worst managed forums alive. After all it comes down advertising. Follow the money trail. We never mattered.

Smaug01 · Sep 22, 2025

I used to be a moderator here.

Amazon used to own the site, they wanted to pull the plug, didn't really have their act together and kind of treated moderators as disposable, so I left.

Awhile later, and the site still seems to be doing OK, and the reviews seem more impartial, which I like. (I don't like all the pop-up ads, though.)

Some buyer showed up and bought the site.

They kept the forum software, which I agree is the best. (because it's custom)

Now they're going to a different platform because it's custom. Too expensive to maintain; I get it.

When there was all this fear before, several other fora grabbed DPR forum members. I went to this one, and it is well-run by a former DPR member, Dirk. He has really done a good job in my opinion, even to the point of hosting galleries and such. (you wouldn't know it by looking at the landing page, but give it a shot)

https://dprforum.com/

OR...

Have an open mind and stick around to see what happens here. DPR has good staff. If the parent company treats them well enough for them not to seek greener pastures, I'm sure it will be fine.

Or both, and decide later!

Ken53 · Sep 22, 2025

**** Dastardly said:
But let's be honest, someone already promised DPR will disappear and they lied, so this time I am assuming DPR will continue to function as always, not going to get my hopes up.

Thanks for the reply. This would nice, fingers crossed.

Ken53 · Sep 22, 2025

Mark B. said:
24Peter said:

Ken53 said:

Ruby Rod said:

Purveyors of doom and gloom stifle progress. Sure, it's been a great site, but that doesn't mean it can't be better.

Click to expand...

We will see how that progress works out when the Thread View disappears. User interaction significantly dropping is my bet. Longer times on site for those willing to tolerate the slower layout.

Click to expand...

FWIW - I've been on DPR since 2005 and have never used Thread View (in Mobile or Desktop mode.)

Click to expand...

I've been here since 1999 and have never used Flat View

From 2008 here. I use both. We don't have to change anything. They need new hardware. Thats all. Amazon ran this software with rocket speeds and with far more users. The software is fine.

Sagittarius · Sep 22, 2025

Ken53 said:
From 2008 here. I use both. We don't have to change anything. They need new hardware. Thats all. Amazon ran this software with rocket speeds and with far more users. The software is fine.

Amazon did not run this site with rocket speed. Sometimes it was even worth than now.

bodeswell · Sep 22, 2025

Bob A L said:
Guess we will all just have to wait and see. I wish them the best, but if I were a betting man would bet good money on this being the final nail in the dpr coffin. It is already so far down from what it was even recently that it won't take much more of a reduction in participation to make it not worth the time.

Oh, c’mon! So many over the top posts about threading. I occasionally switch to threaded mode, but I always switch back. Most of us haven’t seen the new look yet. Maybe you will be able to follow what you want to follow without a threaded view. Maybe you will encounter new features you like. I hope we will be able to test drive the new software soon.

Ken53 · Sep 22, 2025

Sagittarius said:
Ken53 said:

From 2008 here. I use both. We don't have to change anything. They need new hardware. Thats all. Amazon ran this software with rocket speeds and with far more users. The software is fine.

Click to expand...

Amazon did not run this site with rocket speed. Sometimes it was even worth than now.

I never experienced that.

tbcass · Sep 22, 2025

Ruby Rod said:
Purveyors of doom and gloom stifle progress. Sure, it's been a great site, but that doesn't mean it can't be better.

It doesn't mean it will be better either. Based on the link provided to another site that uses the same format they want to use for me it would be a lot worse. Newer isn't always better and if it ain't broke don't fix it.

tbcass · Sep 22, 2025

J A C S said:
Ken53 said:

Ruby Rod said:

Purveyors of doom and gloom stifle progress. Sure, it's been a great site, but that doesn't mean it can't be better.

Click to expand...

We will see how that progress works out when the Thread View disappears. User interaction significantly dropping is my bet.

Click to expand...

Or increasing. No more mini echo-chambers.

Eliminating "mini echo chambers" equals less user interaction. Web sites thrive on traffic even if it's 2 people carrying on with a senseless argument. One thing nice about threaded view is when there is an ongoing back and forth between 2 people it's easy to see and easy to ignore and avoid.

--
Tom

tbcass · Sep 22, 2025

M4Mobility said:
Alan Sh said:

M4Mobility said:

Alan Sh said:

My observation is that the slowness of this site (taking 10-15 seconds to change posts, for example) is a server/network issue not a code issue.

Click to expand...

How did you observe that? Those things are often connected.

Click to expand...

I've been in IT for over 50 years. You get a feel for why things are the way they are.

Alan

Click to expand...

feelings .... ok.

His experience and knowledge makes his "feelings" worth listening to. Your observations are also based on feelings. Do you have his expertise?

J A C S · Sep 22, 2025

tbcass said:
One thing nice about threaded view is when there is an ongoing back and forth between 2 people it's easy to see and easy to ignore and avoid.

You are missing most of the fun!

bjn70 · Sep 22, 2025

I go to a lot of different forums on the internet, this is the only place that uses this software. It works but I don't think there is anything special about it. I'll reserve further comments until I see the new software.

Prepare to say goodbye to the real DPR

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