Okay, one last item before I hit the sack...
Keeping the Old SI
First of all, yes, I've read the petition thread - not every post, by the way, but enough to get the general drift. :)
So let me start with, I guess, the bad news. In short, we will not keep the old SI site available forever. There are a number of reasons for this, but a couple of key ones. First, it doesn't make economic sense to continue to support two sites, which are provided on two different infrastructure platforms. Maintenance costs would be very high, and it would also significantly slow down our ability to add new features (such as those mentioned in my earlier post).
Also, as mentioned previously, we made a number of necessary infrastructure upgrades to the new SI. These enhancements allow us to expand SI both from a scalability perspective as well as from a feature/functionality perspective. In short, the old SI has some technical constraints that prohibit us (or make it very difficult) from providing certain types of enhancements, including many of those requested.
So, even *if* we kept the old SI alongside the new, it would never change, never evolve, never grow. And, I don't think anyone wants that.
We have *not*, however, set a firm date on when the old SI will be turned off. We are playing that by ear, and right now our ears are ringing.
Which brings me to the good news...
We have read and re-read and discussed and re-discussed this issue ad infinitum. As I understand it (and I know you'll correct me if I'm wrong), the chief issues for those who favor the old SI are that they prefer the old user interface (for many different reasons, depending on whom you ask) and they feel that the message is the primary focal point. Many suggested that we just keep the old SI and add new features to it (i.e. tweak it).
So, what are we gonna do?
No promises yet, but...
We are exploring an option that would essentially allow members to mimic the old SI user interface within the StockTalk area via a customization option. I *might* even be willing to call it the Classic SI StockTalk option. :)
The underlying technology and functionality would all be working from the new SI platform, but we'd apply a different "wrapper" that looks and feels like the old SI. If we can pull this off correctly, the best part will be that when we add new features (like view 10 messages or ignore), they'll automatically appear in both variations - the Turbo SI and the Classic SI. (If I'm giving you "Classic", then you gotta let me have "Turbo" - <vbg>.)
As I mentioned above - no promises yet, but we're working on it. In fact, I almost didn't write this post, but then I thought about all the PM's I'd get at the office in the morning, asking why I didn't address this issue. :) So, I decided to at least tell you this much.
Hope this lets you know where we stand, and that we're working hard on a win-win solution.
Let me know if you have any questions, and I'll keep you posted as things develop.
Thanks,
Bryan |
