[rdsok]

I guess by now all of the forum regulars may have noticed the new look on the forum... if not, its time for new glasses...


Hopefully everyone will enjoy the new features of the board. There are still some changes needed to complete the update since its a major version update on the software. For instance a minor issue you may have noticed is that some of the old emoticons are currently missing... For now please be patient and perhaps Steeltrepid will get those addressed quickly ( slammed ya Ben, got ya ) ( I'll probably regret that one later )


I've also got to address remaking the logo so it fits the new format... so you can slam me for that one until I get it addressed.

But you can't call me a slacker... ( yet )

First for the "pretty stuff"...

The board by default, includes two color themes that you have seen at least one of by now ( the old ones would not import because of the number of underlying changes makes them incompatible... you have to love progress ). I've added 6 more to bring the total color theme count up to 8 now. The added color themes include Brown, Maroon, Olive, Teal, Violet and a Black and White theme as well just in case you either don't care for the others or you have a colorblindess issue that makes the others an issue for you.

To change which color theme you want... simply scroll to the bottom of the forum page and in the lower left corner you should see the drop down that will allow you to select another theme. Depending on your browser, it will automatically load after you switch it or on some you must push the Go button next to it.

Some of the other features I've noticed ( and I've been far too busy under the hood to look around very much yet )... for the browsers that support these features...

The forum now supports a two column mode with the main forum areas listed on the left and on the right can be a second column you can have showing ( if selected ) a "Recently Added Topics" area awith a "Watched Content" area below it. If you look at the top forum area on the right then below the logo/banner area you will see a "View New Content" and then just below that depending on your browser there is either an "X" or a "<" showing... clicking on this will toggle the second column on or off. ( again I remind you that your browser must support that option for it to work ).

In the main forum area where the forum subjects are listed is a similar feature. Look at the "Announcements & Info" forum subject header... On the far right you should see a "-" sign, if you click it that area will colapse down and the sign will change to a "+" sign instead. Clicking it again with then expand that area back again.

While we are on the subject of that little "-" and "+" signs... If you see little white corners around that symbol or on any other image areas of the forum... Then it is time for you to consider updating your browser to one that also fully supports PNG images and their transparency element. Internet Explorer 6 ( as one example ) supports PNG's but not their transparency. So if you see those little white corners on the images, just don't blame us it isn't our fault you are stuck in the past

Next, lets go back to that "View New Content" that I only briefly mentioned a moment ago. This replaces the old "View New Posts" feature and the results it shows are... lacking a better word for it "intellegent". When you click on the results in the list, it will take you to the next post in the thread that is new since you last saw it. The old method took you either to the first post of the thread ( if clicking on the subject ) or to the last post in the thread if you selected that link. Of course if you do want to go to the last post in a thread, you can still do that from the main forum area.

I suspect you've noticed that there is also a place for your picture up in the upper right corner of the forum. You can customize that in your profile/settings area. BTW, there are now two images you can add, one is called your picture and one is the old standard avatar. So if you have an avatar and are wondering why the other picture is still the generic image... that is because you haven't yet added a picture for it yet. Personally I just used my avatar for mine, I already have to look at my ugly mug in the mirror when I get up in the morning and that is more than enough already for me...

Hope you enjoy the new forum and its new layout...

Randy aka rdsok

[hilander999]

I'm not impressed with having all the buttons moved, but must say that I do like the new forum software.

First Complaint and Fix...

"View New Content" was giving me 48+ pages of new content with over 11,000 posts and that was taxing the server to the point where it was taking a couple minutes to return the new posts. To fix this, press the "View New Content" button, then press "Mark forum Read" (located at the bottom of this page) and this finally resets this function to where it works fast and only returns posts that are new since your last visit.