(21 Dec 2013, 3:01 pm)Dan wrote Since Brandon's departure from North East Buses, Liam and I have jointly taken on the main role which he played on NEB - the managing of the Bygone Era.

The main problem we have been faced with since Brandon's departure is determining which content needs to be added, and which content has already been added.

While we admire the amount of time and effort Brandon put into the creation of the Bygone Era which is a valued part of NEB today, we do think it is time to freshen it up.
A great deal of content has been added to multiple 'operator threads' now, within the 'Bus Operators' section of the Bygone Era. Because of this, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the user to easily find a specific document which they may be searching for on the Bygone Era.

Liam and I have been working on a few ideas over the past few weeks, and we have finally come up with an idea that will work - which will also allow a lot of pressure to be taken off Liam and myself. Our proposal is given below:

We remove the Bygone Era from the forum - it is given a page of its own like our fleet lists, news and photo pages. Visually, we expect the Bygone Era to change completely.
Rather than content being listed and separated by bus operator and later categorised, we will introduce a search facility.
Every single file available for download would be added to a database, and each file would be given a title and description documenting the content of the file. A user will search for content they are looking for, and relevant files will be returned to the user.
We could also allow members to contribute too, sourcing files from external sources to add to the Bygone Era. This will increase the volume of material, and allow for the Bygone Era to branch out into other areas besides the North East which has previously been requested on the forum.

This can be achieved relatively easily, but it will take a while to complete. We could still actually offer a list of all files too, which would be grouped into sections similar to how they are at present. First, we would like to ask for your opinions - whether you agree that we should go through with this or not.
While this work is being carried out, the Bygone Era which is on the forum will still be available.

Any feedback is welcome, and I welcome you to answer a quick "Yes" or "No" poll above.

(21 Dec 2013, 3:14 pm)andreos1 wrote In principle I like the idea, but the set up, accessibility etc needs taking into account.

I tend to not bother with what is a very good resource, because of the number of pdf's in there.
On the ipad or laptop, it isn't an issue - but if I try looking on my phone, it means downloading docs that might not even be the file I am looking for (in the case of a timetable split over several pdf files).

(30 Dec 2013, 10:41 am)AdamY wrote I voted 'Not Sure'.

I like how the layout appears now, however, a search facility would be useful for users hunting for specific timetables. The Go North East section is pretty comprehensively listed with details of what's included in each file set, but there is much room for improvement in the DCC section where detailed listings have seemingly been abandoned even though they're still available for download. Will this be rectified under the new system? - Only if the moderators have the time or motivation to do so, just as it is now.

The PDF files do need to be significantly smaller though. I understand the quality argument, but as most of these files contain mostly text and numbers, are high quality PDF files really necessary? Smaller files sizes reduce the amount of storage space and might encourage more users to download what is there. For example, people might be deterred from downloading the 400MB 1949 Northern Timetable, however a 28.8MB (which I created from the original document) version might be more appealing to users.

(21 May 2014, 8:14 pm)ifm001 wrote Service 555 Bedes World Jarrow to Souter Lighthouse. Operated by Northern Chester depot for some reason. While Northerns. Shields depot was just up the road.