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New website FAQ and impressions?

So what do you think of the new forum?

  • Friggin Outstanding, what took you so long?

    Votes: 12 21.4%
  • Great!

    Votes: 20 35.7%
  • Good - Still trying to figure it all out!

    Votes: 12 21.4%
  • Bad - Still trying to figure it all out!

    Votes: 2 3.6%
  • Eh, no real impact to me

    Votes: 5 8.9%
  • Um, there was a change? Just registered!

    Votes: 2 3.6%
  • Horrible, can we go back?

    Votes: 3 5.4%

  • Total voters
    56
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webmaster

The Grass is Greener!
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
AN OVERVIEW OF CHANGES TO THE FORUM AND NEW FEATURES

SEARCHING FOR NEW POSTS: So, what happened to Active and Recent Topics? Well, this forum handles it a little differently, but once you get the hang of it, there is a lot more here for you to track threads and posts. Also, the forum tracks whether or not you view a thread and when. So, it will bold a thread if you haven't read it. To start off with you have two choices at the top of the page for looking for new or recent posts:

NEW POSTS: Will show all the new posts/threads since you were last on the forum.
TODAY'S POSTS: Will show all the posts/threads over the last 24 hours.​

You will also notice that any icon that has the black dot over it, represents a thread you have posted in.

SUBSCRIPTIONS: This is your third option for tracking threads and posts, and probably one of the greatest things about this forum software. Think of it as bookmarks on steroids. It is a tool for you to track the threads you have posted or are interested in. Like a "favorites" list.

Go to USER CP > EDIT OPTIONS

Under DEFAULT THREAD SUBSCRIPTION MODE, you can set how you want subscriptions to work when you post a new thread, or post a reply in a thread. This is useful if you want to track all the threads you have posted in. For instance, I have mine set to:

NO EMAIL NOTIFICATION

So I don't constantly get emails about people replying to threads.

On your SUBSCRIBED THREADS page, you can organize your threads you are watching into folders if you wish, and you can display them in a variety of options. At the top of a forum or thread, you can also click on THREAD/FORUM TOOLS to SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE to a thread, even if you haven't replied or posted in it.​

THREAD RATINGS You can now rate a thread, and how usefull the information is. At the top of a thread, click on RATE THREAD to be provided with different rating options. You may find a small menu on thread pages which allows you to 'rate this thread' with a number between 1-5. Casting a vote for threads you view is entirely optional, but if you think that the thread is superb, you might rate it as a 5-star thread, or if you think that it's unspeakably dismal, you might choose to rate the thread with a single star. Once enough votes have been cast for the thread rating, you may see a set of stars appear with the title of the thread in the thread listings. These stars reflect the average vote cast, and can allow you to quickly see which threads are worth reading if you are on a very busy forum with a lot of threads.

THREAD DISPLAY OPTIONS When viewing a thread, you will be able to view the thread from a choice of four modes.

Linear Mode (Oldest First) - In this mode, posts are displayed chronologically from oldest to newest. Posts are shown in a flat mode so that many posts can be viewed simultaneously.
Linear Mode (Newest First) - This is the same as the above mode, except that posts are ordered in an opposite way (newest first).
Threaded Mode - In this mode, a tree is shown along with every post. This tree allows you to see the relationship each post has to others, in terms of who responded to whom. Only one post is shown at a time.
Hybrid Mode - This mode is a mixture of the linear and threaded modes. The post tree is displayed like in the threaded mode, but multiple posts are displayed simultaneously like in the linear modes.​

USER REPUTATION You can now add/subtract from a graphical representation of a user's reputation. Beneath their name, there is a small check/x box. You will be asked to enter a reason (good post, bad information, etc). This will be recorded on for the admin and moderators to review. You also can't hit a person's (either adding/subtracting) reputation more than once in a certain time frame. To start off with, everyone has been given a positive reputation.

RANKS User ranks, the stars next to a user's name are the same from the last forum:

Red - Admin
Gold - Super Moderator
Blue - Moderator
Silver - Senior Member (# of stars determined by # of posts)
Bronze - Junior Member (# of stars determined by # of posts)
No star - Haven't made 10 posts yet​

WHAT HAPPENED TO ACTIVE USERS? Well that is now called WHO'S ONLINE. It can be accessed in the following ways:

TOP OF PAGE > QUICK LINKS > WHOS ONLINE

- or -

HOME > NAVIGATION BAR ON LEFT SIDE > WHOS ONLINE

ATTACHMENTS You now are allowed to use the attachment feature of this forum, which gives you the ability to attach files of certain types to your posts. This could be an image, a text document, a zip file etc. There will be a limit to the file size of any attachments you make, as the forums should not be used as an extension of your hard disk! To attach a file to a new post, simply click the [Browse] button at the bottom of the post composition page, and locate the file that you want to attach from your local hard drive. Only certain types of files may be attached: these are the valid file extensions for files to be attached to this forum: bmp doc gif jpe jpeg jpg pdf png psd txt zip.

After posting, the attachment will show up in the body of your message. To view the contents of the attachment (if it is not already displayed) simply click the filename link that appears next to the attachment icon

CUSTOM TITLES You now can have a custom title under your name, instead of REGISTERED USER, etc. I have enabled this feature for EVERYONE, just go to your profile page, and update the text box that says Custom User Title. Now, there is ONE caveat to this, if you abuse this priviledge with questionable/objectionable titles, then I will disable this feature for you. The title should be used to give an indication of where you are at/doing right now:

SNA
SNFO
OCS 20FEB04
S3 Pilot
SNA Spouse
NROTC UF MIDN
Applying for OCS
You get the idea, I am going to be pretty lenient with the titles.

BUDDY LISTS? You also have a BUDDY LIST, basically a feature for making it easier to PM ppl that you send message to. It will also show in a nice format when they are on the forum or off of it.

QUICK LINKS > BUDDY LIST

MERGE USERS If for some reason or another, you ended up with two accounts on this forum, I have the admin ability to merge multiple user accounts under one username. I can also change your username if ever wanted to switch to a different handle.

CHAT At the top of the page, chat is available for you to go chat in, I am going to add a counter display to it like before, so you can see when members are in there chatting. It is MUCH better than the previous one we had.

SMILIES The smilies have been updated, all the smilies that we had on the previous forum are now available, click on the [more] link when writing a post to see the rest of them.

AVATARS Avatars are now updated, all the ones that were available to select on the old forum are now available. You still have the option of uploading your own avatar.

GALLERY The new gallery is back on line, about 70% of the old pictures are back up.

For a more detailed listing of features, take a look at the FAQ section.

SO WHAT IS NEXT ON THE TABLE?

GOUGE - Post the gouge online in the new forum to download.​

So, what are your impressions so far?

John
 

webmaster

The Grass is Greener!
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
cricechex said:
Is it possible for me to upload photos to the gallery? If so, how?
I am debating whether or not to make the gallery available for member's use. With that in mind, if I do make it for member's use, then the software I have up now now (coppermine), is probably not the best solution (photopost ties directly in to vb3)... You also get into the whole manageablitiy/content aspect that comes with that.

Anyone else have any thoughts on the matter? Want the ability to post photos?

Now, unlike the old forum, you have the ability to post photos or add attachments (upload) to your posts/threads. So you don't need to have another online storage location...

Thoughts?
 

T-man

Registered User
webmaster said:
CHAT At the top of the page, chat is available for you to go chat in, I am going to add a counter display to it like before, so you can see when members are in there chatting. It is MUCH better than the previous one we had.


Just a suggestion. I noticed there was a private aviators chat room set up. What about setting one up for our well deserving spouses. I'm not a spouse, so might be worth taking a pole to see if they want one. It was just something I thought of when I saw the private aviators chat room.
 

Kathy

Reservist Wife
Contributor
Great idea! I just created one. I will post the password in the Private Spouses Corner Forum. :)
 
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