Hmmm it's nice, but being the typical human that I am, I don't like change, but I'll get over it. One thing though... It's not really important, but it might mess things up a little. I noticed that the calendar is off a day somehow. Mine and two other's birthdays are on April 6 which is a Tuesday this year. However this calendar has it on the 5th but still on a Tuesday. Strange things are afoot at the BD Calendar. But anyhoo, I don't care that much how it looks, just so long as it's got all the normal content. Heck this place could be laid out like word document, I'd still come. (It just wouldn't be as cool) ;)

That's just the way the calendar looks. The day is at the top left of the (imagined) box for the day, the number on the top right, colliding with the next weekday.

Avatar
 

This question may have already been asked but how do I change my avatar? I looked everywhere on the CP and I don't see where to put the URL in for a new one. Other than that I love the new graphics and everything. This forum is almost like using a word processor now instead of a message board.

Just a question...

Next to all our post counts, there's a little green box that shows the phrase "X has started on the path to adventure" (X being the person's nickname). What's that all about?

Little Green Box...
 

Or methinks it means that if you -the guest - don't join, you're missing out on a lot.

Green Box here too.
 

In some cases it says "X is unknown" (Firefoot, I've seen such a thing on yours). How do you mean, unknown? We see the name, we see the post... ;)

Ahh... I see now. Well that's a strange way of doing it, but it makes sense to me now. Thanks!

I've made borders around the monthly calendar, so it should be easier to tell which day is which.

Confuzzlation...
 

Yes, I find the 'reputation' thing very confusing as well. How do you know how you've been rated? And what's the logic of being able to give comments on a post if there's no way for the person being commented on to see them?

I noticed that too, on Firefoot's. Then I 'added to Firefoot's reputation' and next time I saw it, it said 'Firefoot has started on the path to adventure' so maybe that means you've been rated?

Very confuzzling, this. But I like the unconfuzzling parts of the new forum, and I think it looks very nice.

I have several questions about features on the 3.0 upgrade.

First, when you click on a poster's profile, there is a designation to the right of the screen labelled "user options". When I tried to bring this up, it said the following:

At first, I assumed this was because I was looking at someone else's profile, but the same thing happened when I clicked on my own profile.

What are "user options" and should they be accessible to a poster?

Second, when I looked at the list of people online that appears at the bottom of the main forum page, I noticed that some of the posters had small green cross marks immediately after their names. What does this symbol mean?

Thank you....Child of the 7th Age

I know this question has been asked before, but it keeps on getting buried under other stuff.

How do you change an avatar? When I click on the link "edit avatar" it has the option to not have an avatar, but it doesn't have an URL box or anything like that. To experiment, I clicked on the do not have an avatar option, hoping that an URL box would appear after the change had been processed, but that did not happen, and now I have no avatar.

Alas, the sacrifieces of experimenting. ;)

Cheers!
Istawen

I wondered about those 'User Options' Child mentioned also.

Child - I think the little green 'plus-signs' show the people on your 'buddy list'.

If you log in and choose the 'invisible' mode, your name will show in that bottom list with a little asterisk following it.

Pio,

I think you are right.... Now, that I think of it, all the people who had "pluses" were on my buddy list. I will try the "invisible" trick....


OK, one more question for anyone out there.... Why do phrases like "1 viewing" or "2 viewing" appear after the name of the forum in the general menu? At first, I assumed that it was the number of people viewing that particular forum. But the numbers don't always seem to coordinate with the names actually appearing in the forum itself. Perhaps it is the number of members but excludes any guests?

Child

These are for admins, where we can do fun stuff like ban trolls. These do correspond to users viewing the forum, but I'm not sure if it includes guests or not.

Who's Online and people currently viewing forums aren't updated in exact real time, which can result in minor discrepancies, too.

The avatar thing _should_ work, but I know there's a bug hiding somewhere. We'll have to look into it, I think.

As for reputations, you can view your current standing by clicking on the scale next to any of your posts. In the window which pops up, you can also see what ratings, if any, you got for that specific post, and read any comments.

reputation re: can we get the list of entries, please? I mean., adventure in what direction - towards fame and fortune or other way round? Hang of what?

(par example, let us suppose there is such a clause as "X is awesome", does it mean X is awesomely respected or disreputed? ;))

Reputations
 

Reputations are based on what people think of the posts you make. People can either agree with your post or disagree with it. The captions will change to reflect your overall reputation as related to the quality of your posts . I'm not going to give out the list of reputation captions, though. People will just have to earn enough reputation points to find out what they are.

thx :)

the list is certainly of interest

I am sure Mr. Underhill and BW will appreciate the fact that I can now set sticky threads in my own forum. Thank-you, vBulletin.

So far, I like the new format very much even though I am still learning it.

One new feature which I think is particularly valuable is that we can now post opinions on the quality of individual posts. The rating feature on the old software really amounted to little more than popularity about posters but this feature now allows us to comment on the posts--and even more importantly, give reasons for our opinions. Now, reputations really can be more about the quality of writing and ideas than personalities. We don't want this to be a barrow of --um, can I get away with this--ill-repute.

Another interesting factoid about reputation is that the higher your reputation is, the more weight your opinion carries when you rate other members' posts. It's a pretty complex little system of calculations.

I like this new version, but I've hardly explored it at all. What I have seen seems interesting. The "reputation" system surely is a step up from the rating system. And it looks like there are some neat little features which I'm looking forward to check out. (plus, we've still got this groovy smilie... :smokin: )

But I'm also having the minor avatar problem. When I click "edit avatar," I get the same message that LePetitChoux posted.

Why are some people's reputation boxes blue but most people's are green? Does the box change to blue if your reputation is not good?

Reputations start out at a default value of 10 points. All members with a reputation greater than 0 have a green icon. If your reputation falls below 0, it will turn blue. That means it's time to check your User CP to see why people are rating your posts downward.

Wow, the new boards are quite impressive! :) I'm getting a little more aquainted with the graphics and such, but I noticed that when you enter, say, Middle-earth-Mirth, if you hold your mouse still for a moment (in a space by, or on, a topic link), a white text box comes up.

Edit: I've now found out this box reveals the first post of the topic that you hold your mouse next to.

Can i just say that I hope the rep system stays. Ive had encounters with it in the past and have been very satisfied. One question, is it anonymous?

No, you can see a detailed breakdown of your reputations along with comments and usernames in your CP. Refer to the Reputations thread for more info.

My esteemed colleague is (understandably) mistaken. The reputation system is anonymous -- except for Admins, who, as always, hear and see all.

Post #'s
 

Sorry if this was asked already...

Did a lot of old posts and threads get deleted? I remember my post count over a four hundred but now I'm at 399. It doesn't matter, I'm just curious.

Something hungry
 

Is this new version inhabited by something hungry? At first I thought I was imagining it, but now I'm pretty sure that it's eating some of my posts. (If this doesn't appear, I'll KNOW... ;) ). I suppose the moderators could be deleting them, but I haven't been posting anything offensive. Is this happening to anyone else, or am I alone and deserted in the lonely, cruel, and desolate world?
:( :confused:

When I tried to submit this with four "smilies", I got this message:
Have we been given a smiley allowance??????

The 'post shrinkage' already happened in the move from UBB to VBulletin, as you can see in the older VB Questions thread, and is due to the fact that VBulleting excluded some old posts (in closed threads and for IIRC) from counting towards your total. I lost exactly 400 posts, for example.

I can't see how new posts get lost; certainly not if they did actually appear and it wasn't a software/connection error. Please verify that and report back.

The max number of images in a thread makes sense IMO. Perhaps smilies could be excluded from it, but why should they.

Reasons to exclude smileys
 

Submitting something to a forum is like sending an email; the people who read your message can't read your body language, and they can't hear your tone of voice. Most of us are not skilled enough as writers to always express sarcasm/kidding/whatever else in our posts; smileys help us do that and save a whole lot of confusion, and possibly offense. If you have a large post, or are trying to express a "compound emotion" (like: :D ;) ) it stands to reason that you will have more than three smileys in a post.

The smiley limit gives everyone the excuse to improve the emotional writing ;)

GAAAAH!!!! No... emotions... can't... breathe... *GASP*
*withers up and shrivels into dust over her keyboard*

Is melodrama better than emotions? ;)

It's a discussion forum... sarcasm/kidding shouldn't have a big place in it anyway, and RPGs should have no smilies at all.

I notice many people are still having problems adding an avatar. Here's what you do.

(1) Click 'User CP'
(2) 'Edit Avatar'
(3) Either enter the URL of your avatar (it must reside on space you 'own') or Browse your hard drive for a good picture file.
(4) Click 'Save Changes'

All registered users are able to upload an avatar. Please post a comment here if you are unable. No need to comment when you are successful. We will see your avatar.

Okay, lost some posts...whatever, I didn't need them anyway.

All of this is so...New! After coming back from a month of absence to this brand new design. Even as I'm typing this post I look around my screen and am bewildered. Luckily I haven't run into any real problems. Something back when the forum was first updated bugged the Proxy blocks on my computer and for ever after until yesterday, I haven't been able to view threads. It works now that I have gotten it unstuck, but what on earth could have been read wrong?

Spell checker?
 

I kind of like this new look. I hated it at first, but it was better than the other VBulletin version. Thanks!

Anyway, I was wondering.. Last time, I heard rumours of a spell checker. Is this the version where there is a spell checker? *giggles and hopes for a spell checker* :)

Cheers,
Nova :D

The problem with the spell check was and it is that it is only possible as a server- and bandwidth-heavy application offered by a third party. VBulletin had one years ago, but the spell check offer wasn't continued, and since thebn VBB no longer comes with the option. I'm not sure there are easy and comfortable, and not to forget free ways to integrate a spell check plugin to our board. For the meantime, you're best off using a word processor or a free online spell checker I'm afraid.

Spell checker
 

Oh, but there is a spell-checker.

It's called hitting the Preview Button and reading through your message before posting. :p ;)

Of course. You must be very intelligent. :):p

Thanks for letting me know. The Preview Button will be my best friend from now on. :p

Cheers,
Nova