Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by xantia_v6 »

Paul-R wrote:I don't like to carp but there's been a change (this afternoon I think) to the layout which has reduced the number of items on the page list. I don't know if this as a result of changing the font size for mobiles/pads (I'm using my laptop at home now) or what but it's a pain as it means more scrolling down to see the titles of the posts/subjects.

I'm all in favour of the creative use of white space but this is just annoying. It's very much like a lot of "modern" sites which require page after page of scrolling down. I don't like them either.

Sorry about that, it was operator error here. A configuration file was accidentally uploaded to the live server rather than the test server. It should be fixed in a few minutes.
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by Paul-R »

Definitely not on any test forum. You can see the difference in the screenshots as I have three tabs open (For Sale, Citroen and Peugeot) so after the For Sale page visibly changed I screenshotted (is there such a verb?) the Citroen page before and after refreshing.

The before is from this morning before I went to work. The after is after returning home. I haven't knowingly changed anything.

The daytime posts by me were using my works computer.
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by Paul-R »

xantia_v6 wrote:Sorry about that, it was operator error here. A configuration file was accidentally uploaded to the live server rather than the test server. It should be fixed in a few minutes.
Yes, it's back to normal.

Now delete that configuration file so it will never trouble us again.
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by myglaren »

Paul-R wrote:I don't like to carp but there's been a change (this afternoon I think) to the layout which has reduced the number of items on the page list. I don't know if this as a result of changing the font size for mobiles/pads (I'm using my laptop at home now) or what but it's a pain as it means more scrolling down to see the titles of the posts/subjects.

I'm all in favour of the creative use of white space but this is just annoying. It's very much like a lot of "modern" sites which require page after page of scrolling down. I don't like them either.


I haven't seen any changes.
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by superloopy »

DickieG ... what 'spam' are you talking about with regards to TT and how do you access the forum these days? I agree with you that some membership decline is most probably members moving on their car ownership. More than likely a change of marque altogether (what is it you're running these days?) away from 'frenchies'.

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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by daviemck2006 »

I know I said i was going to say no more, but,,,,,
This is the second time I have typed this. I don't know what happened but when I tried to post it, it disappeared. That's more than once it has happened on this browser. It's crap.
The increase size option will help me considerably to read it.
After reading the posts by Mr Hellrazor James the method of how we were told of this could have been much better. Instead of the draconian seeming tapatalk is getting turned off cos we decided it is bad, a post explaning why tapatalk is bad and why it should be shut off may well have been better. I still don't see why tapatalk is bad. What will happen if we keep using it? If I got a decent explanation of why it's bad I may well manage to accept the total ballache I am experiencing over this. As said I have no laptop, I don't want a laptop I want one device I can comfortably shove in my pocket to do everything easily wherever I am. The admins, and other people are maybe computer literate and up to changing things about with no problems but I am not, so I don't understand why you have to shut off which for me is the most convenient method of accessing the forum and making it difficult for me to access and near impossible to post photos.
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by xantia_v6 »

After doing some more research, this time into the issue of uploading photos directly to the forum, I have discovered that it is possible to change the forum configuration to eliminate the problem.

Previously, image files which were too large would be rejected. With the new configuration, images that are too large will be automatically re-sized before being added to our database. The current limit (before resizing) is 1600 pixels on the long side of the image.

The image below was taken and uploaded at 5132x2988 (about 5.4 MB) but on uploading it has been scaled to 1600x900 (about 1.6MB). Clink on the image, and then click on it again to see the available resolution.

I have made this reconfiguration to the live forum, so you can try it here now. The configured image size limits may be altered later after review.
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by Hell Razor5543 »

I am going to make another suggestion, and maybe also make a point.

Several of the forum members who will be affected have stated that other forums they are members of do not have any issues with Tapatalk. Would it be possible for those members to (if they feel it is worth the effort) contact the moderators of those other forums, and ask how they have dealt with this issue? It may be possible they are not aware of the security implications, or may not be able to pass on that information (either due to NDAs or they had to pay for the information/work), or do not want to help. It may also turn out they are all too willing to help. Unless somebody asks we will not get information that could help resolve this issue (even if it turns out that Tapatalk should be removed).

This thread has, it is fair to say, become somewhat strained in atmosphere. While Tapatalk is not an issue to me, I do not like how members have been talking here, although I do understand why feelings are running a bit high. Would it please be possible for people to step back for a moment, and think? Everybody here on the forum joined because they needed assistance, or were capable of offering such assistance. The atmosphere has normally been very friendly and helpful (unlike stories I have heard of other forums, in that if a new member asked a technical question they were told to go away, as they would not understand the answer). This thread is bucking the trend.

Years ago I worked for a different support company. One of the senior technical support guys was a dour Scotsman called Alex. Some of the engineers, if they called T/S and got him on the line, would hang up and try again. I did not do this, as I knew that his knowledge was extensive, and he was fair with his bluntness (as I once put it Alex was as blunt as a hammer). I had occasion to receive a blunt opinion from him, and another occasion where he was equally blunt about himself. If you do not mind, I will explain.

One of our clients used a Chip and Pin device that that connected to their system via a network interface. When we had to replace a faulty device the replacement unit should come out with a crib sheet with the relevant settings. Unfortunately this did not always happen, and a call could fail because of this. I like solving puzzles, and I tried to solve this one, and succeeded in spotting a few common factors. Of the six parameters, two were common to the estate, two were common to the site, and two were unique to the device. Of the latter, I found that there was still a pattern that meant these could be deduced. I then wrote a set of instructions explaining how to do this, and asked for somebody to check my findings. In hindsight I should have spoken to Alex, but I did not do so.

A few days later I got a phone call from Alex. After he asked me if I had done what he thought I had done (and I confirmed it) he was VERY blunt towards me. It turned out that the company had an ISO rating, and part of this was due to properly managed documentation (which my instructions circumvented). While I felt upset about the language that was used, I knew that Alex was not being personal; he was chastising an engineer who had done something wrong (I had), and that (unless I did it again) it would not go any further.

A couple of months later I was visiting the client with a replacement Chip and Pin device, only to find Alex was at this site working on a different problem (the company made sure their technical support engineers kept their skills current by sending them out on problems that had stymied the normal engineers). He offered to take the call from me, and I was happy to accept (as I had several other calls to do, and Alex would get the job done). A couple of hours later I got a call from him, asking if I knew what the correct password was for a certain function in the device. I gave it to him, and it worked. He then asked if that information was in the instructions I had written. I confirmed that it was, and he was then somewhat acerbic about himself, and that he should have read them before shooting me down in flames. He now asked if I still had a copy of the instructions, and, if I had, could I send him a copy. I did so, and then, a month or so later, updated instructions came out. There was a new section that explained how to work out the settings, and (in the author section) my name was in there. While Alex had an acerbic tongue, he also had the honesty to admit when he was wrong, and correct his mistakes (in this case, reading my instructions first).

My point is that, due to a break in communication (initially mine, for not explaining my idea to Alex (which could have lost the company it's ISO accreditation), and then his for not asking me about them (he was right to read me the riot act)) useful information could have been lost, and feathers were ruffled. Fortunately circumstances allowed for Alex and I to sort things out, and work together properly again.

There are some members on the forum who do not get on with others (normally because of a difference in attitude). I know of a few, but I also try to accept them for who they are. Everybody has something to offer, if only they are given a chance. I try to get along with everybody I meet (in person or on forums), and that is part of my makeup. Going back through my Mothers' side of the family the men have had what the Boothby women describe as "that damned Boothby charm" (and developed a bloody mindedness in self defence). Part of it is the willingness to try and get along with people. Please do not assume that those with an attitude different from yours is wrong, as they may well have a different and valid perspective.
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by daviemck2006 »

This is the photo I have trieb and failed with before
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by daviemck2006 »

Ok I will accept now that my phone will post photos. I do appreciate that admin are working to resolve the issues. Getting the font bigger and being able to post photos directly off my phone is getting there. I would still like an explanation in laymans terms (for thickos namely me) why tapatalk has issues, because aithough its getting better via the browser on the phone which i am using right now it will never be as simple as tapatalk for me when forum hopping, which I do frequently
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by Sloppysod »

I have been away from here for a while are just scanned this thread and basically there are a lot of people who like TapaTalk, but not me. There's another advertising app I can uninstall!! :-D
I have just logged on the forum on my Andriod phone (LG G2) using the Opera browser and it looks great, with Opera you can even add it as a shortcut (Speeddial) to your browser desktop! so what the problem?

To all that have moaned and abused the administrators of this forum should apologise and leave. I used Tapatalk to view this site mainly because.....I could, but will now enjoy the lack of intrusive adds and accessing the forum exactly as I do on my PC.

However - admin team - I have a gripe can you make the banner smaller, all I can see is the Peugeot lion - I drive a Citroen other than that good work!! :(
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by daviemck2006 »

Sloppysod wrote: To all that have moaned and abused the administrators of this forum should apologise and leave. I used Tapatalk to view this site mainly because.....I could, but will now enjoy the lack of intrusive adds and accessing the forum exactly as I do on my pc(

I have moaned, but dont think I have abused any admin in fact if you look at my previous post you will see that i appreciate what they are doing to resolve my issues. I do not own a pc, and onky have a very basic samsung smartphone and a Samsung tablet. I use the phone for everything and losing tapatalk without the improvements that admin has or are implementing to the browser side of it I would have been unable to use the forum. So I am not apologising to anyone and I certainly do not want to leave. If I had wanted to leave I would just have disappeared quietly.
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by superloopy »

Bl**dy hell James, that's war & peace you've just posted. I'll read it tomorrow if i have time. Got an abridged version? DavieM ... i'm with you, do i want to leave, no. Will i leave, definitely as i use my phone across multiple foruns using TT and they aren't dictating its use to me. Only our admins seem to be pushing this issue. Ask yourselves why.

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Re: RE: Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by daviemck2006 »

xantiamanic wrote:Bl**dy hell James, that's war & peace you've just posted. I'll read it tomorrow if i have time. Got an abridged version? DavieM ... i'm with you, do i want to leave, no. Will i leave, definitely as i use my phone across multiple foruns using TT and they aren't dictating its use to me. Only our admins seem to be pushing this issue. Ask yourselves why.

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I have asked for an explanation why tapatalk is bad, as I dont know why. Would someone, preferably admin tell me please?

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Re: RE: Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by xantia_v6 »

daviemck2006 wrote: I have asked for an explanation why tapatalk is bad, as I dont know why. Would someone, preferably admin tell me please?


In simple terms, Tapatalk works in a way that is quite similar to a "Trojan" malware, it takes control of parts of our site out of the control of our administrators. It is a sitting duck for a future malware attack.

For those who say that other forums use it, here's a little( :-D ) snippet from the Admin of the Tesla Motor Club regarding Tapatalk:
I haven't been able to read this whole thread, but seriously guys. Some of you need to get a grip. Ask most forum admins and they dislike using tapatalk. It's been a pain for sooo many reasons and so many little things over the years I'm very happy to no longer have it installed.

Main reason for me is security. We've had incidents where info that was supposed to be restricted to a certain group was exposed to unintended parties. One particular incident we had a troll reported in the private moderator forum. (The mod forum is where we get reports and discuss how to handle whatever particular situation.) A moderator quoted the troll and it turned out tapatalk was giving that person notifications about what was supposed to be a private thread. Yeah, no thanks. Now we are spending a lot of time building out the Groups functionally (a work in progress) particularly for private groups, where we have a whole new layer of user permissions. I have no idea if tapatalk is going to deal with that correctly. I don't intend to risk it and add to the complexity. That and other custom features are not supported by tapatalk.

Here are a few other issues off the top of my head:

Certain user registration controls we had were bypassed by those registering via tapatalk, allowing in spammers.
New TMC is full SSL. You can login from public wifi and be reasonably sure that your password isn't getting stolen. Tapatalk sends passwords out in the open. No support for 2-factor.
A couple incidents of racy photos showing up on TMC in tapatalk that aren't actually on our site. Never got a proper explanation.
Putting in ads that look like normal threads (except obviously completely off topic). Something I didn't explicitly agree to.
Opting us into other various things we never agreed to.
Poor/slow support response, particularly for bug fixes.
Annoying pop up on mobile devices telling users to install tapatalk. I had to hack their code each time I did an upgrade to remove that.
It's a bad security in general to give access to a third party if you can avoid it.

I could go on, but most things require more explanation than I'm willing to spend the time typing out here.

Bottom line, I have no plan to install Tapatalk on our current system. Current TMC has responsive design that most people have no problem using on mobile. I find it quite enjoyable actually. We will work on our own mobile app, but it's not the highest priority. Only thing really missing was push notifications, and Pushbullet does a good job with that.

TMC really has been a labor of love for the past 10 years and we're spending a lot of time trying to sure up its foundation to endure another decade. We have to prioritize and you can't please everyone.

I understand that many of you reading this thread prefered using Tapatalk. I apologize that we will no longer be supporting that platform, and I appreciate your understanding.
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