Triumphrat

DEcosse · 07-15-2007

For those of you new to VB here are some useful features in the new forum software platform
See the toolbar immediately above the text input field for the editing tool icons. If you run your cursor over them it will highlight what the tag does - see also the image attachment below for some of the key ones you will use frequently.

First, in your user options, select WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) option in the editor mode - this will then give you the visual directly in your text field of how it will appear, without displaying the UBB code.
For example, type as normal, then highlight a word with your mouse and select the "B" icon - your text will be bolded in the field without displaying the UBB codes.
Note that you can toggle the editor mode by using the A/A icon in the top right corner.

You can then insert hyperlinks directly using the hyperlink icon - the easiest way to use this is to type the display name for your link in normal text e.g. Joes Motorcycles, then highlight it & click on the hyperlink icon where a new field will pop up to allow you to insert the link location.
Note also that if you just type an h t t p address in the main field, it will automatically insert as a hyperlink anyway.

To insert an image, you now have two options -
1) you can use the 'insert image' icon to input the URL address of the host location where your image is already stored; by clicking on the icon it will open a new window where you can paste your URL
2) You now have ability to upload pictures directly from your own PC
You can use either the paperclip icon on the toolbar, or the "manage attachments" field below the main text field.
When you click on this a new window will open & you can browse for an image to upload directly from your pc. Note that there is limitation in size for this feature - it will inform you if your file is too large. Limit is ~ 90K - if your image is too large, edit it locally by reducing the resolution & try again. You can use this feature for multiple direct uploads, typically or whatever the webmaster has decided.
Once posted, these will appear as clickable thumbnail links below your main post text - see example below. I used this method to attach image of the editor screen.

Quotes - you can of course quote as before by using the icon directly below the post you wish to make reference to, before you even enter the editor field - or simply use the 'quote' icon to paste the content you wish. One thing that users should consider is not to just quote an entire post just to create a reply - if you have a specific part you wish to comment or respond to, use the editor to delete the content that is not directly relevant to your reply. It takes up a lot of space when someone just hits quote on string of 10 pictures, they are displayed all over again & the reply is something like "nice!"

Another nice & very useful tool is the spell-checker (abc icon at top right) - many of our members will benefit greatly from this one!

It is always a good idea to use the 'preview' feature, but if you go ahead & submit & see a mistake, you now have a few mins to be able to edit your post without it immediately displaying the 'post edited' appendage. When you click the edit icon it will now allow you to edit the main thread for a 'quick edit' with some of the main edit feature icons still available; however for more advanced editing, click on 'advanced' icon after you get in the quick edit mode, to go to the full post editor screen.

Private Messages
These are now much more functional with full text editor utlizing all the features mentioned above.
One thing that may not be immediately obvious is where your sent items folder is - simply click on the "inbox" pulldown menu next to "Private messages in folder" and it will give you option to display your sent items folder. To return to inbox, toggle it again.
Note also that you now have option to download your Private Messages to your local drive to save for posterity. You can save them in either txt or csv or xml format. see that option at the bottom right of the PM folder screen.

Thread & forum tools - note these menus at the top of the respective forum or inidvidual thread. You can do things like subscribing or unsubscribing from these tools, as well as other features. Check them out!

In any post, put the mouse cursor over the creator screen-name at the top of a post and left click and you will get an option menu where you can view the members profile, send an e-mail or PM or view all their posts or even add to your Buddy List.

There are a lot more, but these are some of more useful to get you going

Enjoy!!

greyplague · 07-16-2007

Congrats on the new layout!

Question: I noticed my last visit dated from 12-31-69 ?!!

I'll blame Murphy...

Grtz, Thieu.

scrape · 07-16-2007

Is there a setting somewhere to increase the default fourm topic count per page? Currently it looks like 20 topics can be viewed per page (not including stickies), can it be set to a higher amount per user (say 50?)

DEcosse · 07-16-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by scrape

Is there a setting somewhere to increase the default fourm topic count per page? Currently it looks like 20 topics can be viewed per page (not including stickies), can it be set to a higher amount per user (say 50?)

Sure!
Click on the "User Control Panel" link on the left margin;
Then "Edit Options" from the new menu on the left.
Scroll down to the "thread display options" & select your preference.
Current max choice is 40.

There may be some other custom features you'd like to set up with your personal preferences while in this screen.
As suggested above, one good one is the one at very bottom - select the editor interface to be WYSIWYG.

BorgCymru · 07-16-2007

Brillaint new forum, many thanks for this set up.

DEcosse · 07-16-2007

(Just to be clear I'm responsible for absolutely none of this great stuff happening - I merely put together this brief users guide as this thread, to help explain some of the new features and happy to answer any 'how to' questions while Shawn does the important stuff!!)
All Kudos belong to Shawn for his efforts in integrating the new platform.

CommandoRdster · 07-19-2007

I don't see any tool bar above the text. What am I doing wrong??

Nevermind! I just figured it out

.

Where did the rest of our smilies go?

Cheers!
Bruce

DEcosse · 07-20-2007

Note that in the 'options' for PM's you can now select a 'read receipt'
This will do as suggested & confirm for you when the message has been read by recipient. You can review that through your 'track messages' link in the left margin while in your messages menu.

Some other notable features in PM: as you address your recipient's name while creating a PM, after you fill in the first three letters, it will give you auto-fill suggestions of names beginning with those three letters - just click on the one you want from the available list & it will auto-complete. You can now address up to 5 individuals in a single PM if you have a group message.

Shawn · 07-20-2007

The smilies weren't migrated. I converted all of the text (in every post on this site) into a format that will auto-configure when the replacement smiley is re-installed.

I'm going to improve the smilies a bit with newer versions, but some of the originals will come back as they were.

DEcosse · 07-21-2007

Just in case anyone hadn't noticed, a red + appears next to a user's screenname when they are logged on to the forum.
That is useful to know if you want to catch someone's attention with a quick pm.

Note that you can also create your own "buddy list" to keep an eye on when your particular favourites are logged in. There is also a preference in your user options to only allow pms from your 'buddies'

As an aside Shawn,but somewhat related, once you get all this conversion under way, perhaps a nice feature would be to include a live 'chat' program. 'FlashChat' is a decent medium for that.