Polls are new!

New smileys:

With some of the format buttons in posting, you can highlight the text you want bolded or color changed and then click the button to apply the changes to the highlighted text.

Click the "profile" button above and be confused amazed with all the new options.

The "Members" button has moved to the bottom of the main index screen.

In most lists you can now resort the lists by clicking on the column headers. Click the column header a second time to reverse the sort order.

You can click on the by topic/thread listings and it will take you to the first unread message.

The folder icons are a different color for topics/threads you've posted in: vs.

Click on "Forum Profile Information" in your profile to browse through the old and new avatars and choose your time offset from the board clock.

Above each post by the subject, there is an icon paper that is a link directly to the message if you want to link to or bookmark the message.

The new forum is much faster than the old. The database storage makes it faster and enables many of the new features.

Also, you can now upload attachments instead of having to find a place to store a photo. Click on "Additional Options" at the bottom of the message window when posting.

Attached Images

pic23281.jpg (15.9 KB, 182 views)

Attached Files

pic23281.jpg_thumb (17.2 KB, 0 views)

__________________
Often uninformed, seldom undecided.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. Mark Twain

Love the photo

If you didn't think to try it, you can click on the "new" icon in a list of topics, and you'll go right to the first unread message in that thread.

__________________
Often uninformed, seldom undecided.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. Mark Twain

Spell Check: The board software supports it, but apparently the server doesn't have what's needed to implement it. (PHP configured with --with-pspell=...)

So many things are clickable now that weren't clickable before. Try clicking on things and see what you get.

The board tracks many statistics. Some you can see in your profile, and some you can see through other links. At the bottom of the main forum page is a Members List link, a [More Stats] link with interesting board info and the number of guests and users online which links to a list of what these people are looking at! Some statistics are based on post times, and those statistics include the original board's postings. Some statistics are tracked by time on the new board and are valid since April 30, 2005.

The instant message link under each users' name & avatar changes color depending on whether the user is currently online or offline .

The help files are much better than the old software. I'm so used to having bad help links on everything I kept forgetting to check help when helping set up this new software, but the online help is great.

In addition to uploading images for posts, you can upload your own avatar now. The board will automatically resize it so the maximum dimension is 65 pixels. It's not a great resizer, so you may get better results resizing it before you upload.

Dory36 currently has the settings so users can lock and unlock threads they started. Locking a thread prevents others from posting to it.

The following link lists topics that have unread messages since your last visit....from all boards. You can now access this from the link under your username at the top of the page.

http://early-retirement.org/forums/i...?action=unread

Of course, remember that the button takes you to the first unread message, and yellow folders indicate topics you've posted in before.

EDIT: Edited because we now have the link on the page and know exactly what it does.

The following link displays threads you've posted in that have unread replies. This link is also at the top of the page below your username.

8) http://early-retirement.org/forums/i...=unreadreplies 8)

The reason these links aren't on the site is because we're using the "classic" graphic theme & templates to look more like the old board. The are on the new themes.

Dory36, perhaps I can add these links under "Hey, <user>, you have x messages, Y are new"? Go to http://support.simplemachines.org/demo/index.php and login as test, password test and you can see that's where they put these nifty links. Or maybe they can go down by the last 50 posts. While I'm in there I can put a FIRECalc link nearby, too.

While I'm at it, do you mind if I get rid of the gratuitous and gaudy MySQL, PHP, and W3C links at the bottom of the page? I think the SMF and Lewis group links have to stay by terms of the board software license, though.

EDIT: Edited for new info and new link location.

O.K., I have one gripe, I was about to get on the top 15 posters on this board, and now it's only the top ten! I have no hope cracking that list!

Still absorbing all the increased functionality, but overall I'm beyond wowed! You da man!

Um, this is a weird one. I found this while trying to make Ol_ Rancher happy:

http://early-retirement.org/forums/index.php/wap2.html



No photos, but a little odd to use. And the "wap2" code doesn't seem to stick if you force it into the recent or unread posts URLs.

Good ideas! Go for it!

__________________
Often uninformed, seldom undecided.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. Mark Twain

Since its 4am, I hope to god you're feeding a baby too...

__________________
Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.

Can an individual get these "new themes" or is it something that has to be applied to the entire board? I wouldnt mind a complete change of appearance at all if it meant direct access to more functionality.

__________________
Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.

Yes. In your profile, click on Look and Layout Preferences then click "change" by "Current Theme". The new theme isn't set up for e-r.org yet. Currently there are two themes: default and classic.

The new features have been added to this theme: look in the upper-right under your name.

Cool...I'm in it now...just a little differently formatted...looks like you guys already pulled all the good stuff over to the default theme.

OK, baby's sleeping again, time for me to go get my second 5 hours...we need a 'yawn' smiley!

__________________
Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.

Hey TH, I notice you have a new status, "give me a forum..." and some other pillars of the board "get paid by the post". I also noticed you can sort the member list by number of posts, pretty neat! My DW says to not even think about trying to catch up with your post count!

.... DW? Designated Wife? Divorced Wife? Dish Washer?

Just never asked before :

Either "Dear" or "Damned", depending on the tone

__________________
Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.

Yeah, bunch of new weird default stuff. I also have "grins" instead of stars for some reason...I had lots and lots of stars last night.

I could be caught...but I dont recommend it.

__________________
Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.

Both Themes are now E-R.org-ized, and I added some smileys and some other goodies I'm sure someone will stumble across soon.

When posting, there is now a "[more]" link by the smileys that will pop up a window with some more smileys.

th, this one is especially for you:

Gee, I coulda used that last month...I actually had cut a sheriffs hat and pasted it on a bunny head and never got around to using it...

__________________
Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.