Here's a short recap of the new features you'll find here on the forum, and on the main TBN site. This is by far the most major update we have done in quite some time, and we understand that there will be a certain number of bugs and minor problems with the new features. We will work as quickly as possible to work them out and get the entire site bug free. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
New Layout
General formatting changes to the forum... fresh design. Also you'll note that the rest of the site got a new design as well. Various new sections and features on the site, including a new reviews section. I'll keep my recap to the forum features for now, though. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif
Main Index
The name of the author of the last post is now being displayed, as well as a new folder that indicates whether or not the forum has new messages since your last login.
Recent Messages
As requested, we added new recent message pages, making the current options 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, 6 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours, and 7 days. Also, recent message checks now use a jumper box to take up less space.
Control Panel
This is the main new feature... basically, this is your own personal "TBN page" ... you can pretty much figure out what's there by looking at the page, but you'll see:
<font color=blue>Friends Online</font color=blue>
This is your address book, but shows which users are online... if you want to send them private messages, or just know that they're online.
<font color=blue>Message Box</font color=blue>
Stores your private messages ... received and sent, and gives you a link to send one.
<font color=blue>Post Reminders</font color=blue>
When you are viewing a post, you will see this (
) image. Clicking it will put that post in your reminders. This is useful if you want to reply to a post later and don't want to lose track of it. Once you reply, it is removed from your reminders.
<font color=blue>Favorite Threads</font color=blue>
Similar to post reminders but for entire threads, and they stay in your listings even if you reply. Useful if you want to keep a thread for future reference, or if it's a thread you often refer other users to. This will save you the time of searching and tracking down the thread.
<font color=blue>Favorite Forums</font color=blue>
If you make a forum one of your favorites, it will show in your control panel, and display the number of new messages and threads... this way, if you only view a few forums usually, you won't have to load the entire main index, but rather just your control panel.
Main Configuration
The usual things you used to access under 'edit profile' ... personal info, display preferences, subscriptions, etc.
The main new options for display are some new styles, an option to show threads (on the main forum pages) from a specified number of days. Say you didn't want the system to pull all posts for that forum, but only from the past two weeks ... this should save loading time and also, if you check every day, a past day feature is available on a per forum basis.
Your display preferences also now have an option to take you to the main index when you login, or to your control panel, which goes with what I just said above. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif (see the new smiley faces? More on those in a bit)
Another option in display preferences is the ability to turn off signatures ... if you want just the raw stuff, and no signature images to bother you (mine included /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif).
Search
The search now has new defaults ... all forums, no limit on time, and 50 results per page rather than the previous 25.
User List
You asked for this one, and here it is! I'm thrilled with how this works ... starting with the basic user list which lists all members of the forum. Then, moving to ...
User Profile Search
On the user list page, you'll find a user profile search link. Click it! You said you wanted to find all users with a or a <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/searchmembers.pl?action=search&search=4300&by=all>John Deere 4300? How about a or a <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/searchmembers.pl?action=search&search=kioti&by=all>Kioti??? /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif Have fun!
FAQ
I did a quick update of the FAQ with the basics that actually get asked on a daily basis. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif Also, you'll notice the new emoticons on the FAQ page, as well as (finally) a published listing of user title requirements.
Post Extras
There are four icons you see at the bottom of every post (registered users only).
<font color=blue>Print Post</font color=blue>
This loads the post in a new window, in a printable format. There's also a print thread view at the top and bottom of each thread, along with the favorite thread link previously mentioned. The printable view is basically plain text in a different and easier to read when printed type face. Posts don't get cut off anymore.
<font color=blue>Remind Me</font color=blue>
I mentioned this above ... it adds the post to your 'post reminders' in your control panel.
<font color=blue>E-Mail Post</font color=blue>
This lets you e-mail a link to the post ... to a friend, or to yourself. You can enter in your name (otherwise it will be from your username), and a custom message.
<font color=blue>Notify Moderator</font color=blue>
Clicking this will send an e-mail to all forum moderators that you want us to review the said post, for whatever reason. This will help us remove unwanted posts faster, since the instant you see a post that you find offensive, vulgar, or posted by say, a troll (/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif) you can let us know and we'll give it quick attention.
There is more information about the notify moderator feature and when to use it in the new <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/site/guidelines.htm>site guidelines</A>. Please take the time to read them, even if you have been here as long as me... since there is new information about all sorts of things relating to the site, and what the general guidelines for participating and contributing are.
Reviews
Ok, I can't not mention this one ... after much time developing and working on it, the <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/reviews/reviews.pl>reviews section</A> is finally done. Yes, right now it's ready for you to add reviews! /w3tcompact/icons/clever.gif They will be entered into a queue before being posted, so it will take about a day for them to be posted after you submit them. Guidelines for posting are in the guidelines section I mentioned above.
The reviews section is completely integrated with the forum. To post a review, just use your forum username and password. On your review, it will link to your profile, not an e-mail address.
More to Come
We're not quite done yet, but wanted to get as much as we did online before the first of the year. Between now and then we'll probably track down the bugs and make minor changes (if you find any bugs, or have any suggestions for minor changes, please let me know via whatever method you like ... PM, e-mail, post /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif). After that, we'll be launching our new classifieds system, as well as the new links system (very complete systems).
Regards,
New Layout
General formatting changes to the forum... fresh design. Also you'll note that the rest of the site got a new design as well. Various new sections and features on the site, including a new reviews section. I'll keep my recap to the forum features for now, though. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif
Main Index
The name of the author of the last post is now being displayed, as well as a new folder that indicates whether or not the forum has new messages since your last login.
Recent Messages
As requested, we added new recent message pages, making the current options 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, 6 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours, and 7 days. Also, recent message checks now use a jumper box to take up less space.
Control Panel
This is the main new feature... basically, this is your own personal "TBN page" ... you can pretty much figure out what's there by looking at the page, but you'll see:
<font color=blue>Friends Online</font color=blue>
This is your address book, but shows which users are online... if you want to send them private messages, or just know that they're online.
<font color=blue>Message Box</font color=blue>
Stores your private messages ... received and sent, and gives you a link to send one.
<font color=blue>Post Reminders</font color=blue>
When you are viewing a post, you will see this (
<font color=blue>Favorite Threads</font color=blue>
Similar to post reminders but for entire threads, and they stay in your listings even if you reply. Useful if you want to keep a thread for future reference, or if it's a thread you often refer other users to. This will save you the time of searching and tracking down the thread.
<font color=blue>Favorite Forums</font color=blue>
If you make a forum one of your favorites, it will show in your control panel, and display the number of new messages and threads... this way, if you only view a few forums usually, you won't have to load the entire main index, but rather just your control panel.
Main Configuration
The usual things you used to access under 'edit profile' ... personal info, display preferences, subscriptions, etc.
The main new options for display are some new styles, an option to show threads (on the main forum pages) from a specified number of days. Say you didn't want the system to pull all posts for that forum, but only from the past two weeks ... this should save loading time and also, if you check every day, a past day feature is available on a per forum basis.
Your display preferences also now have an option to take you to the main index when you login, or to your control panel, which goes with what I just said above. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif (see the new smiley faces? More on those in a bit)
Another option in display preferences is the ability to turn off signatures ... if you want just the raw stuff, and no signature images to bother you (mine included /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif).
Search
The search now has new defaults ... all forums, no limit on time, and 50 results per page rather than the previous 25.
User List
You asked for this one, and here it is! I'm thrilled with how this works ... starting with the basic user list which lists all members of the forum. Then, moving to ...
User Profile Search
On the user list page, you'll find a user profile search link. Click it! You said you wanted to find all users with a or a <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/searchmembers.pl?action=search&search=4300&by=all>John Deere 4300? How about a or a <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/searchmembers.pl?action=search&search=kioti&by=all>Kioti??? /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif Have fun!
FAQ
I did a quick update of the FAQ with the basics that actually get asked on a daily basis. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif Also, you'll notice the new emoticons on the FAQ page, as well as (finally) a published listing of user title requirements.
Post Extras
There are four icons you see at the bottom of every post (registered users only).
<font color=blue>Print Post</font color=blue>
This loads the post in a new window, in a printable format. There's also a print thread view at the top and bottom of each thread, along with the favorite thread link previously mentioned. The printable view is basically plain text in a different and easier to read when printed type face. Posts don't get cut off anymore.
<font color=blue>Remind Me</font color=blue>
I mentioned this above ... it adds the post to your 'post reminders' in your control panel.
<font color=blue>E-Mail Post</font color=blue>
This lets you e-mail a link to the post ... to a friend, or to yourself. You can enter in your name (otherwise it will be from your username), and a custom message.
<font color=blue>Notify Moderator</font color=blue>
Clicking this will send an e-mail to all forum moderators that you want us to review the said post, for whatever reason. This will help us remove unwanted posts faster, since the instant you see a post that you find offensive, vulgar, or posted by say, a troll (/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif) you can let us know and we'll give it quick attention.
There is more information about the notify moderator feature and when to use it in the new <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/site/guidelines.htm>site guidelines</A>. Please take the time to read them, even if you have been here as long as me... since there is new information about all sorts of things relating to the site, and what the general guidelines for participating and contributing are.
Reviews
Ok, I can't not mention this one ... after much time developing and working on it, the <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/reviews/reviews.pl>reviews section</A> is finally done. Yes, right now it's ready for you to add reviews! /w3tcompact/icons/clever.gif They will be entered into a queue before being posted, so it will take about a day for them to be posted after you submit them. Guidelines for posting are in the guidelines section I mentioned above.
The reviews section is completely integrated with the forum. To post a review, just use your forum username and password. On your review, it will link to your profile, not an e-mail address.
More to Come
We're not quite done yet, but wanted to get as much as we did online before the first of the year. Between now and then we'll probably track down the bugs and make minor changes (if you find any bugs, or have any suggestions for minor changes, please let me know via whatever method you like ... PM, e-mail, post /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif). After that, we'll be launching our new classifieds system, as well as the new links system (very complete systems).
Regards,
