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Sep 7, 2016 7:44 PM CST
Garden.org Admin
Name: Trish
Grapevine, TX (Zone 8a)
I helped beta test the Garden Planting Calendar Charter ATP Member Region: Texas Roses Herbs Vegetable Grower
Composter Canning and food preservation Hosted a Not-A-Raffle-Raffle Organic Gardener Forum moderator Hummingbirder
As I mentioned many months ago, we have been working on a new site design.

The first step was importing all of NGA's content onto our platform. Thanks to Dave's incredible programming skills and Jon's tireless work, that's been accomplished. Whooohooo!

The next step has been a total redesign of garden.org. Our desire is to bring the NGA into the next season of it's life. While ATP's focus was mainly forums, with the addition of NGA, we are so much more than a community with the largest database- we are now a juggernaut of information. Our desire with the redesign is to showcase all that NGA has to offer to the millions who visit every month. We've worked hard, and I'm confident that you will love the results.

Yes, things will look different- very different! But, at the core, things will be the same, just updated. We'll be right here, as always, helping everyone make the change and fixing those rare bugs that may pop up. I've been using the updated site for several weeks now, so I can vouch that it works.

As a huge bonus, Dave has worked just for you all to make the new site very customize-able. I don't want to build it up too much, but I think you will be very very happy!

Our hard goal for relaunch is the end of the month, but we're hoping for sooner. I wanted to make sure that our core members are well informed and ready! Trust me, you are in for a treat!
NGA COO, Wife, Mom, and do-er of many fun things.
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Sep 7, 2016 7:56 PM CST
Name: Jay
Nederland, Texas (Zone 9a)
Region: Texas Region: Gulf Coast Charter ATP Member I helped beta test the first seed swap I helped plan and beta test the plant database. I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database!
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant Identifier Tip Photographer Garden Sages Garden Ideas: Master Level Hibiscus
Thumbs up Hurray! Looking forward to the new and improved NGA. Very interested in seeing the customize-able part.
wildflowersoftexas.com



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Sep 7, 2016 9:03 PM CST
Name: Sandy B.
Ford River Twp, Michigan UP (Zone 4b)
(Zone 4b-maybe 5a)
Charter ATP Member Bee Lover Butterflies Birds I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Million Pollinator Garden Challenge
Seed Starter Vegetable Grower Greenhouse Region: United States of America Region: Michigan Enjoys or suffers cold winters
All the changes to date (from day #1 of ATP) have been positive, as far as I'm concerned -- so I'm looking forward to whatever comes next!! Thumbs up
“Think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight." ~ Albert Schweitzer
C/F temp conversion
Avatar for RpR
Sep 7, 2016 9:40 PM CST
Name: Dr. Demento Jr.
Minnesota (Zone 3b)
Not to be negative which I will be but: I have been on a lot of forums, for well over a decade, that changed format, Grumbling Crying Confused Blinking Thumbs down NOT ONE has ever been an improvement.
Last edited by RpR Sep 7, 2016 9:41 PM Icon for preview
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Sep 7, 2016 10:06 PM CST
Name: Sandy B.
Ford River Twp, Michigan UP (Zone 4b)
(Zone 4b-maybe 5a)
Charter ATP Member Bee Lover Butterflies Birds I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Million Pollinator Garden Challenge
Seed Starter Vegetable Grower Greenhouse Region: United States of America Region: Michigan Enjoys or suffers cold winters
LOL, RpR -- withhold your judgment until you see what is in store... Dave does not (or at least has not in the past many years) make changes that are bad for the site members!
“Think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight." ~ Albert Schweitzer
C/F temp conversion
Last edited by Weedwhacker Sep 7, 2016 10:08 PM Icon for preview
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Sep 7, 2016 10:06 PM CST
Name: Rosie J
HILLSBOROUGH, NC (Zone 7b)
If it sparkles - I'm there!
Bookworm Dragonflies Garden Art Region: North Carolina Plays in the sandbox Deer
Get out your baby book, it is important to record all the firsts!! Thumbs up
Don't squat with yer spurs on!

People try to turn back their "odometers." Not me. I want people to know 'why' I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved
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Sep 7, 2016 11:02 PM CST
Plants Admin
Name: Suzanne/Sue
Sebastopol, CA (Zone 9a)
Sunset Zone 15
Plant Database Moderator Region: California Cottage Gardener Garden Photography Roses Clematis
Daylilies Houseplants Foliage Fan Birds Butterflies Bee Lover
@RpR, you are pretty new around here, I've been along for Dave's site changes since 2004, NOT ONE has ever NOT been an improvement. And if something is wonky or a problem, he ALWAYS listens to the members and then often makes improvements to those improvements.

Enjoy the ride! nodding
My NGA gardening Blog!
Handmade quilts, new & vintage fabrics in my Etsy store. Summer Song Cottage
Instagram Sewing posts
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Sep 7, 2016 11:23 PM CST
Name: Marilyn
Kentucky (Zone 6a)
Laughter is the Best Medicine!
Region: United States of America Rabbit Keeper Hummingbirder Salvias Charter ATP Member Birds
Echinacea Butterflies Tender Perennials Bee Lover Container Gardener Million Pollinator Garden Challenge
Sounds great Dave and Trish! Hurray! Thumbs up
Welcome to the Agastache and Salvias Forum!

Hummingbirds are beautiful flying jewels in the garden!


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Sep 7, 2016 11:46 PM CST
Name: Susan
Torrington, Alberta, Canada (Zone 3a)
World Famous Gopher Hole Museum
Charter ATP Member Dahlias Region: Canadian Container Gardener Ferns Garden Art
Vegetable Grower Lover of wildlife (Black bear badge) Enjoys or suffers cold winters
I agree - been around for many years........ before 2009, but can't remember when Rolling on the floor laughing
Dave & Trish have never done things without considering how we feel.
As uncomfortable as I am with change, this is ONE change that I'm looking forward to seeing, just because it IS Dave & Trish making the change Smiling
Susan
Our lives are like quilts - bits and pieces, joy and sorrow, stitched with love.
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Sep 8, 2016 3:50 AM CST
Name: Thomas
Deep East Texas (Zone 8a)
Bee Lover Vegetable Grower Tomato Heads Region: Texas Plant Lover: Loves 'em all! Greenhouse
Farmer Butterflies Birds Lover of wildlife (Black bear badge) Garden Ideas: Level 2
RpR said:Not to be negative which I will be but: I have been on a lot of forums, for well over a decade, that changed format, Grumbling Crying Confused Blinking Thumbs down NOT ONE has ever been an improvement.


I have to agree with @RpR with my experiences. I have been ( past tense ) a member of one Forum for almost 30 years and they "upgraded" their entire website / forum and it was / still is terrible. Soft color background with small (I mean small) font in a soft color made it almost impossible to read. Despite all of the request by a huge number of members, no changes were made. I for one simple left the Forum.

This is not to say the forth coming changes for NGA will be that way.

Too many times changes are made just for the sake of change or for financial reasons. The new website / forum becomes really "cute" and "too busy" and looses it's intended design and use. I strongly believe in the "KISS" system. Keep it Simple Stupid.

I also understand and agree that no one should make any kind of pre-judgment.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day. nodding
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Sep 8, 2016 4:00 AM CST
Name: Vicki
North Carolina
I helped beta test the Garden Planting Calendar I sent a postcard to Randy! Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Forum moderator Region: United States of America
Purslane Garden Art Region: North Carolina Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Ideas: Master Level Million Pollinator Garden Challenge
@RpR and @Thomas75 - I have been on Dave and Trish's websites for well over 15 years. I'm an absolute idiot on all things computer and technology and I can promise and assure you that Dave will make this very easy to navigate. Thumbs up
NATIONAL GARDENING ASSOCIATION ~ Garden Art ~ Purslane & Portulaca ~
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Sep 8, 2016 4:22 AM CST
Name: Lin Vosbury
Sebastian, Florida (Zone 10a)

Region: Ukraine Region: United States of America Bird Bath, Fountain and Waterfall Region: Florida Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database!
Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Birds Butterflies Bee Lover Hummingbirder Container Gardener
I'm really excited and looking forward to the new design changes! Those of us who've been around for quite awhile know that every change made is going to be great.

@RpR and @Thomas75, No need to worry ... this site and all of it's members are in the Best and Most Capable hands of the Whitinger family! I've been a follower since 2006 and there is no better gardening related site on the web than right here.

~ We are all Family family here at NGA's garden.org Lovey dubby
~ I'm an old gal who still loves playing in the dirt!
~ Playing in the dirt is my therapy ... and I'm in therapy a lot!


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Sep 8, 2016 5:06 AM CST
Name: Jay
Nederland, Texas (Zone 9a)
Region: Texas Region: Gulf Coast Charter ATP Member I helped beta test the first seed swap I helped plan and beta test the plant database. I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database!
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant Identifier Tip Photographer Garden Sages Garden Ideas: Master Level Hibiscus
With over 50,000 members, it's inevitable that there are going to be people that will not be happy. But it's sad to see negative comments before the changes ever start to take place.
wildflowersoftexas.com



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Sep 8, 2016 5:36 AM CST
Name: Ronnie (Veronica)
Southeastern PA (Zone 6b)
Count your blessings, be grateful
Region: Ukraine Organic Gardener Keeps Goats Zinnias Dog Lover Morning Glories
Annuals Bee Lover Dragonflies Butterflies Hummingbirder Birds
Looking forward to see what's coming Hurray!

One thing I can say, the difference with the other sites that made "improvements" is, the don't have @Dave, @Trish and @Jon on their side Lovey dubby
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.
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Sep 8, 2016 6:24 AM CST
Garden.org Admin
Name: Dave Whitinger
Southlake, Texas (Zone 8a)
Region: Texas Seed Starter Vegetable Grower Tomato Heads Vermiculture Garden Research Contributor
Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Garden Ideas: Master Level Region: Ukraine Garden Sages
Long post alert!!

For those who are interested in some technical details, I have spent approximately the last month rewriting the HTML for Garden.org. The last time I did a full rewrite was back in 2012, when I rewrote it to make it smartphone-friendly. I wrote it 100% from scratch and it worked very well in most browsers, but had some serious limitations.

This latest update moves us away from my custom solution over to a platform called bootstrap, which is a really nice set of open source CSS and Javascript libraries that allow really nice mobile web development. Moving Garden.org to this framework means that I'll have better tools to continue the development of the site. The web is always evolving, and it's important to continue to evolve our website along with the web. Moving to bootstrap enables me to do exactly that.

The left navigation bar will be removed, replaced with a navigation bar at the top of the page. There will be pulldowns for the major sections of the site (Articles / Plants Database / Community / Tools & Apps).

The look of the site will also be toned down a little bit, so that the actual content stands out better. We're experimenting with different header images. In the past we feature a daily new image in the banner at the top, and we will probably change to have that part only appear in the community part of the site. The rest of the site will have a more consistent (from day to day) look that doesn't change each day.

Other than the navigational parts of the site, much of the look won't change. The threads will remain looking almost the same as they do now. Same with the plants database. Over time we will likely improve the layouts of the various features of the site, but I don't foresee dramatic changes. I'm pretty happy with the way our threads look right now.

One really exciting thing is that I have developed a dashboard feature, where you can customize what you want to see, and where you want to see it. You drag and drop sections into columns. So right now you go to the homepage and you see the items that I chose for you, in the order that I chose them. After the redesign launch, you will be able to use the dashboard feature to only see exactly the new items you want to see.

For example, maybe you care more about seeing new photos, so you'd put the "Recently Uploaded Database Images" at the top-left of the page. Then "Recently Uploaded Multi-Plant Images" at the top right of the page. Fun random images can go on the right side. You get the idea.

I've been using the dashboard for a few days and I absolutely love it, and I know you all will, too. This site redesign has enabled me to develop this feature, and many more really nice ones like it are in store for the future. I'm actually quite excited to show you all what we have made for you.
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Sep 8, 2016 6:45 AM CST
Name: Lin Vosbury
Sebastian, Florida (Zone 10a)

Region: Ukraine Region: United States of America Bird Bath, Fountain and Waterfall Region: Florida Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database!
Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Birds Butterflies Bee Lover Hummingbirder Container Gardener
It sure sounds like exciting and wonderful changes are ahead, can't wait to see the results of your hard work! Thumbs up
~ I'm an old gal who still loves playing in the dirt!
~ Playing in the dirt is my therapy ... and I'm in therapy a lot!


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Sep 8, 2016 7:20 AM CST
Name: Rick Moses
Derwood, MD (Zone 7b)
Azaleas Hostas Tender Perennials Ferns Garden Photography Plant and/or Seed Trader
Forum moderator Region: United States of America Region: Mid-Atlantic Region: Maryland Million Pollinator Garden Challenge
@Dave ,

Glad to hear you're moving in the open source direction. Having done a lot of programming over the past 35 years, it's great when you don't have to re-invent the wheel each time you need a wheel.

I think I have a not so unique concern that the site will become too mobile friendly and leave those of us using a desktop platform with older browsers out in the cold. With Firefox, Chrome and now MS Edge dropping support for older hardware/software at a rabid pace, there are fewer and fewer sites that can be used as their latest versions won't run on the older systems. Especially when you're on a very limited income/budget. Buying new hardware, etc. just to keep up with the newer browsers isn't an option.

Just me $0.02 .
LLK: No longer by my side, but forever in my heart.
Pal tiem shree tal ma.
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Sep 8, 2016 7:23 AM CST
Garden.org Admin
Name: Dave Whitinger
Southlake, Texas (Zone 8a)
Region: Texas Seed Starter Vegetable Grower Tomato Heads Vermiculture Garden Research Contributor
Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Garden Ideas: Master Level Region: Ukraine Garden Sages
Actually Rick, right now Garden.org officially does not support the older browsers. When people have problems, I tell them to stop using IE and move to Chrome.

After the redesign, I expect the site will work with MSIE and other ancient browsers, for the first time.
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Sep 8, 2016 7:28 AM CST
Name: Ken Ramsey
Vero Beach, FL (Zone 10a)
Bromeliad Vegetable Grower Region: United States of America Tropicals Plumerias Orchids
Region: Mississippi Master Gardener: Mississippi Hummingbirder Cat Lover Composter Seller of Garden Stuff
Over the years that I have been an All Things Plants, and now National Gardening Association subscriber, I cannot remember an instance that either Dave or Trish did not make changes that benefited the site and we, its subscribers. They both have always been open to suggestions and when I have ever had complaints (very few) or concerns (few), they always responded to me quickly. I sincerely believe that whatever changes they have in mind will be well thought out and will be positive. I think a lot of the concern I read is simply because human nature makes us a bit uncomfortable with change. But let's see what the site becomes and then make judgments whether we like what we see or don't.
drdawg (Dr. Kenneth Ramsey)

The reason it's so hard to lose weight when you get up in age is because your body and your fat have become good friends.
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Sep 8, 2016 7:48 AM CST
Name: Rick Moses
Derwood, MD (Zone 7b)
Azaleas Hostas Tender Perennials Ferns Garden Photography Plant and/or Seed Trader
Forum moderator Region: United States of America Region: Mid-Atlantic Region: Maryland Million Pollinator Garden Challenge
Thanks Dave, that's what I'm hoping for as well.

My system runs Windows 2000, which I need to keep for legacy software that either no longer exists or is too expensive to upgrade. I run Firefox 12 and IE 6. Chrome isn't an option at all. While the hardware would probably run Windows 7, the legacy software won't run on anything beyond XP.
LLK: No longer by my side, but forever in my heart.
Pal tiem shree tal ma.

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