New Look, New Feel, New Year

[Adminlizzieborden]

When the calendar turns to January, I am eager to make changes. One of the changes is this forum. I hope you will agree with me that it is a decided improvement!

When I sent out the email to the entire membership announcing this change, I received quite a few returned emails from folks who no longer live at those addresses. I will be pruning those members from the list in the coming days.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me here on the forum or by email.

Let me know how you like the changes here!

Cheers,
Stefani

[Kashesan]

Nice Stef!

kash
:0)

[stargazer]

Takes getting used to, and the coffee tastes the same. I will adapt.

[Adminlizzieborden]

I added a new skin in the list. See if you like that one. It is more muted, less bright. Called ProFormell.

Cheers,
Stefani

[patsy]

Takes some getting used to and reminds me of the new IS (used to be Court TV) boards. I really liked the old board better but it's a matter of getting used to change I guess.

[Adminlizzieborden]

If I could have kept the same board but updated the backend I would have. Unfortunately, when they change the coding they have to update everything. The old features don't work on the new backend.

It will get easier to use as you navigate around. Don't despair.

Also, if you have suggestions for features you miss or want, please let me know! I might not know what you liked best about the old forum. If you are missing some feature that you used regularly, I am happy to try to find an update for it so we can have it again.

[patsy]

Thanks, Stef. I changed the skin and I do like ProFormell much better.

Is there a link anywhere to the archives?

Now I get the words Pro Formell in huge bold letters at the top where it should have The society name.

[Adminlizzieborden]

Oh, thank you for telling me this! I can fix that, and yes, I plan to add a link to the archives! I forgot about that. Funny how Harry or Kat didn't bring that one up!

[Constantine]

I like ProFormell too.

I see that my language is British English, which is the only option. Does this mean that I have to start using spellings like "colour," "recognise," "complexion" and "jewellery"?

[twinsrwe]

Hi Stefani,

Well the new version is sure a surprise! I love the new coloring – but then blue has always been my favorite color. I find the color combination much easier to read and more pleasant to look at.

What are the ‘few extra security measures’ that have been add?

Also, what are the ‘many enhancements’?

[twinsrwe]

One of the features I used regularly on the old version was the profile icon that was listed after a user had posted. I found a board style where this icon is listed; it’s the subsilver2. This board style also shows the Avatar on the left side of the page – YES!!! (I don’t think I’d ever get use to it being on the right side of the page).

The other features that I used regularly within the profile icon was the users name. I enjoyed addressing the user by their first name instead of their username. I also felt it was much more enjoyable when members referred to me as Judy, rather than twinsrwe. Granted, I also liked being referred to as Twins, but Judy gives their reply a more personal touch.

I also found it helpful, in some instances, to know if the person posting was male or female. For example: rgreen4411; she did not list her name, but at least we knew we were replying to a female poster.

Although I have not had my birthday previously listed, I did go into a users profile to find out when their birthday was so that I could be prepared to submit a topic wishing them a happy birthday. Actually, I have been contemplating adding my birthday to my profile. I don’t see where this is possible anymore.

[Adminlizzieborden]

Let me start at the end: I see a section in the user profile to set your birthday. It is in your user control panel under profile. Let me know if you do not see it in yours.

I added gender to the modifications last night. You can now indicate that if you wish.

The users name is another issue, however. I had added that modification, with some difficulty, to our old forum, but have not as yet figured out how to do that here. I don't know why adding a users real name to the profile is not standard. When I migrated the contents of the user databases to this forum (sorry for the jargon), I was surprised to see that the passwords transferred accurately. I had read complaints that some forums were all fouled up in terms of passwords. Luckily, everything went great. The user names are still in the database, but are not appearing here because there is no place for them in the user profile area. I will keep looking for this modification---I liked it too.

The profile icon---I will check that as well. Good point. I used it too.

The old board was at 2.0.23 edition. This board, updated 7 years later, is 3.0.7. This bump from 2 to 3 means a major update. With the ability of spammers and people or countries that make it their livelihood to send out malware, worms, and viruses, the makers of the code have to work full time to combat this by making forums as fortified as possible. Part of the update is about that.

The other part of the enhancements are user based. More designs (or skins), greater integration of languages, more stable forums, and faster load time. Plus others. For administrators, it is like learning the place all over again. A completely new design in the backend, with a lot more features and controls. I am still discovering things there.

I have been pruning the forum the last two days as when I first sent out the message about the update, I got about 80 emails returned as undeliverable. I had to search out the user one at a time so that I wasn't deleting a user who had posted, but who may have changed their email. If they have some posts in their record, I left them alone. They may come back some day and change their email. The others, those who had no posts and the email was returned as undeliverable, were deleted.

Keep up the comments. They are a great help!



Thanks for your comments!

[Adminlizzieborden]

Ok, I added the gender and the real name field. Now for the profile button.

[Adminlizzieborden]

The workaround, I think, for your request to add a button for the user profile is to click on the username to the left or right of the post, depending on which skin you are using,. It will take you to that user's profile page. Does this work for you?

[SteveS.]

I like the new look...especially since I changed the skin and got the profile pic back on the left side, where it should be LOL old habits die hard. With the pic back on the left it really is a new and refreshed forum hopefully. Good job!

[SteveS.]

I really like the new look especially after I changed the skin to the first 1 in the list. It puts the profile pic back on the left side where it belongs LOL sorry...old habits die hard. Good job Stef!

[twinsrwe]

WOW, Stefani, you really put a lot of effort into adding the features I had posted. Thank you!!!

I added my date of birth to my profile, which does not show when I go into my profile from any given topic - all that is revealed is my age. This is perfect!!! Also, my age does not show up under in the information below my Avatar; I like this very much! Knowing a members birth date ahead of time is not a priority, and it give us users a bit of security which we didn’t have on the old version.

I added my gender, occupation, and interests. I also added my real name; forum members don’t even need to go into my profile in order to obtain my real name now - This is so cool, and I absolutely love this feature!!!

The profile icon does show up on the skins which have the Avatar appearing on the left side of the page: fidubice2. subAndreas08m, and subsilver2.

The profile icon does not show up on the skins which have the Avatar appearing on the right side of the page: proFormell, prosilver, static, and staticblue. Since users can simply click on the username, to get to a particular user's profile page, I don’t feel it is necessary to create a profile icon for these skins. So, yes, this works for me!

I also want to thank you are letting us know the ‘few extra security measures’ that have been add, and the ‘many enhancements’. This is definitely an improvement over the old version!

[twinsrwe]

Stefani, how can I watch a topic without posting a reply?

[nbcatlover]

I'm sorry to be so dumb...how do I change the 'SKIN." So far, I'm really hating the new look and the color is making me sick as I'm reading the posts. Help!

[Adminlizzieborden]

Judy, Let me check that out. I will get back to you.

[Adminlizzieborden]

Cynthia, if you go to your profile under your user control panel, you have profile settings and board settings. Here you can change the skin from the drop down menu. Hit the submit button at the bottom of that area when you pick a new one so it takes. You can try them all out one at a time and find the one you like best.

[nbcatlover]

Finally found the skins--I'm a subsilver 2 fan as well. Is there anyway to personalize the background color? I love blue, but this isn't cutting it for me...worse than the ever-bland Morse Society forum.

Another issue--I really don't want my real name under my Avatar. Many of our forum posts have ended up on the wider Internet. I'm not comfortable that my name might appear to anyone in the world.

[Adminlizzieborden]

Cynthia, the way you handled it with what you put is just fine. You could also just list your username again there if you wish.

Here's how you find the skins: User Control Panel --->Options --->Board Preferences --->My board style

The drop down is there. I think there are now seven choices.

Sorry, no way to change the background color. If I do so, it will change the color for everyone using that skin.

[twinsrwe]

Judy, Let me check that out. I will get back to you.

Thanks, Stefani.

[twinsrwe]

... Many of our forum posts have ended up on the wider Internet. I'm not comfortable that my name might appear to anyone in the world.

Good point - I changed my real name entry to show just my first real name.

[nbcatlover]

subAndreas08 puts the Avatar on top and changes the background to white. Sorry, my eyes can't deal with the blue.

[Nadzieja]

I like the new look, I just have to learn my way around!!

[patsy]

Oh, thank you for telling me this! I can fix that, and yes, I plan to add a link to the archives! I forgot about that. Funny how Harry or Kat didn't bring that one up!

Thanks for fixing that and I do like the new format very much with this skin. If the link to the archives has been added it is not showing yet on my display. I'm having withdrawal ya know. Hahaaaa

[Adminlizzieborden]

The link to the archives is here:

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=4760

[twinsrwe]

Thanks, Stefani!

[snokkums]

I like it too. It's different, but I am not having any trouble at all.

[patsy]

The link to the archives is here:

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=4760

Thank you very much. Since I seem to have oldtimer's I need to refresh often so the archives are a blessing.

[Adminlizzieborden]

Look to the bottom of the forum. There you will now see the links that were at the top on the old forum~

[patsy]

I can see all the forums except I can't get into the private forum yet. Thanks for the heads up.