Paolo Consolandi
13th May 2007, 16:00
Forums User Guide
Even if most users will need some time to take confidence with the new forum, I think all members will soon realize that this new forum software is far better than the previous one.
Just in order to give you a brief overview of the new features that this new forum have, I will try to summarize some of them in this post.
I ask you to read carefully this post, so you will be able to enjoy at best our new forum software.
Main highlights of new forum features:
Navbar
User Control Panel (lots of new features inside)
Search
Calendar
Quick links
Postbit features
Quick reply
Text editor / replying options
Users thread viewing
Similar threads
Thread tools
User ranks Navbar
The new navigation bar (in the upper part of the forums pages) is much more complete now, and it contains a lot of new features.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/navbar.jpg
Thanks to the navbar you can always know where you are as in the upper part of it you can find the path to the actual page. On the right, you have your personal data along with Private Messages data.
However, the most important things are the links which are in the lower part of the Navbar.
The first link "English|Espaņol" let people easily switch the language of the forums.
The second link "UserCP" take the user to his control panel, where it is possible to edit the avatar, signature, profile informations and picture, and much more things we will see later as it deserves specific attention.
The third link is "Board Rules" so that they will be always at hand for all. No one will be able to say that they did not know where the board rules where...
The fourth is "FAQ" or Frequently Asked Questions: there you will be able to find a lot of information about the forum usage.
The fifth link is "Member List". I guess it is clear to all what it is.
The sixth link is "Calendar". It is a new feature for the forum.
The seventh link is "New Posts". It is a useful feature to know which posts were made since your last visit on the forum.
The eigth link is "Search". The search function has been really improved with this forum software. You will realize that using the numerous search options which are now available.
The ninth link is "Quick Links". It is a useful feature which contains links to specific features of the site, like reading private messages, entering buddy list, editing the profile and more.
The tenth link is "Log Out", and I think there is no need of further explanations about it.
The User Control Panel
Through the User Control Panel our members are able to set their preferences about their account and about various forum options.
It is a very powerful tool for the members, and I suggest to all to enter it and take confidente with its use. Here is a screenshot of the User CP.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/user_cp.jpg
The section identified by the number 1 "Settings and Options" let the member:
edit signature: you can upload text or images, always according to the specific permissions that the admin has set for the different UserGroups.
edit email and the password of the forum account.
edit profile: there the member can add his interests, his full name (much appreciated), link to his website, occupation, contact information, messenger and skype accounts data, and more...
edit options: options about login & privacy, messaging and notification, thread display options, date and time options, miscellaneous options (message editor interface and forum default language).
edit avatar: there members can upload an avatar, always according to the specific permissions that the admin has set for the different UserGroups.
edit profile picture: in this forum is possible for members to also have a profile picture. You can upload it here, lways according to the specific permissions that the admin has set for the different UserGroups.The section number 2 "Private Messages" let the member take control of the Private Messages features: list messages, send messages or edit folders (to organize PMs). In the case of Contributor Members, is possible also to track sent messages.
The section number 3 "Subscribed threads" let the member take control of the threads which he is subscribed to, list them or organize them into folders. The member can also choose if setting email notifications and its frequency for specific threads.
The section number 4 "Miscellaneous" let the member:
event reminders: keep track of the events setted in the Calendar.
paid subscriptions: let the member subscribe to become a Contributor Member. It is a feature which is securely done through the PayPal servers.
buddy / ignore list: it is a useful feature. People can now enter their favorite members into buddy lists, or enter people in ignore list if they do not want to read their messages.
attachments: let the user see the uploaded attachments, and eventually delete them within the edit time limit (which is set to 3 days).Search
The search feature is very important on a forum, especially for the ones which really use the informations provided by the forum in order to study the breed and retrieve useful informations.
The search feature is much improved with this forum software Clicking on the search button on the navbar a popup window will appear. It is useful for simple and quick searches, it does not even require the user to change the page.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/s_search.gif
On the other hand, by clicking on "Advanced Search" the user can use the powerful searching options in order to improve his search results using different variables and having the results displayed in different ways.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/a_search.gif
It is also possible to search for words within specific threads, using the button next to the thread tools, before the first post of every thread page. It is useful to find specific posts or specific informations which have been posted in threads that have a lot of replies.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/t_search.gif
Calendar
The Calendar is a new feature for this forum. Here is a screenshot of the Calendar.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/calendar.jpg
There are four types of events on the calendar (file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Paolo/Desktop/calendar.php): public events and private events, normal events and recurring events.
Public events may be posted by the ElPresa.com Forms Staff. These are events which can be of interest for all forum members, be them dog shows, working trials, scheduled server updates and more.
Private events are all those events every single member can add to his Calendar. These private events are only viewable to the member who added them.
Normal Events span the time frame from when the event starts until the event ends.
Recurring Events repeat over a set period of time based on certain criteria. Examples would be an event that occurs on the first Monday of every month and an event that occurs every Monday and Wednesday.
Quick links
You can find the Quick Licks button in the NavBar.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/quick_links.jpg
It is useful to have always at hands nice features like seeing all daily posts, marking a forum as read, open the buddy list. It can also be used to edit the signature, the profile or the options of the user control panel. Besides, it contains links to private messages, subscribed threads, user profile and to the who is online page.
Postbit features
The so called Postbit is the place where people see the data of the member who is posting. The postbit on this new forum has much more information and is more intuitive. Here is an example of the postbit area.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/postbit.jpg
Besides the information you are already used to, like the Username, user title, date and time of the post, edit, quote and post reply buttons, here there are some more features.
The area highlighted with "1" include two informations: the first one is the progressive number of the post within the thread, and contains the unique link of that message; the http://www.elpresa.com/forums/images/buttons/report.gif button, is used to report a post to the administrators in the case of spamming or if a post is disrespecting the board rules.
The are highlighted with "2" include informations about the poster: his forum join date, his location, his full name (if filled in the profile), his age and the number of his posts on the forums.
The area highlighted with "3" is an image which tell if a member is online or offline at that moment.
Then, we also have two new buttons which can be used for posting. The button identified with the "4" is the multi-quote button. Click it as many times as many are the posts which you want to quote in your reply. Easy but useful.
The button identified with the "5" is the quick reply button. Clicking on it will activate the quick reply area at the bottom of the page, and you will be able to reply without having to enter the text editor. It is also a very useful feature.
Quick Reply
Here is a screenshot of the Quick Reply area which is present at the bottom of the page in the threads pages.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/quickreply.jpg
This area is activated by clicking on the quick reply button illustrated above.
Text editor / replying options
Also the text editor, where you type the messages, is much better and powerful than the one on the previous forum.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/reply.jpg
The main news can be summed up by the numbered box above. The box marked with the number "1" is the toolbar by which you will be albe to change the format of your text message, add images, youtube videos, change the text colours, add smileys, change fonts and much more. It is just like many other toolbar you can find on various windows software, so I guess you will not have any problem to get used to it. In the second box, are highlihted three features: the first one let you check the spelling of your message, the second one increase or decrease the size of the text box editor, and the third one switch the editor from WYSYWYG to code style. In the third box you can see the smilies, while you can use the button in the fourth box to post attachments within your messages.
The fifth box let you take control of the thread subscription feature: you can choose not to subscribe, or to subscribe with email notification to that specific thread (with different updating frequencies), so you will know when there is some new message in that thread. It is a useful feature to keep track of the contents you are interested in.
Users Thread Viewing
With this new forum you can see on every thread which users are browsing the thread. It is a nice feature that let you know who is reading that thread besides you.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/thread_viewing.jpg
Similar Threads
The Similar Threads feature is very useful. On each thread, at the bottom of the page, you can find all those other threads which have similar subjects. Very useful to find answer to questions which have already been asked in the past and to find threads with contents of interest.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/similar_threads.jpg
Thread Tools
The thread tools are activated by clicking on the appproriate button in the highlighted box, which can be found before the first post of every thread page. Clicking on it, a little popup window let the user show a printable version of the thread, email the thread to a friend or subscribe/desubscribe to the thread.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/tools.jpg
User Ranks
On this forum we also have new User Ranks, which are those images which appears under the username.
We have two types of User Ranks, the first is tied to specific usergroups, while the second is related to the number of posts.
These are the User Ranks which are tied to specific usergroups:
Administrator:
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/images/misc/admin.gif
Moderators:
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/images/misc/moderator.gif
Contributor Member:
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/images/ranks/cm.png
Then we have those User Ranks which are tied to the number of posts one user has done:
User has at least 500 posts:
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/images/misc/s500.gif
User has at least 1000 posts:
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/images/misc/s1000.gif
User has at least 2000 posts:
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/images/misc/s2000.gif
User has at least 5000 posts:
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/images/misc/s5000.gif
That's all.
There are also other features, but I think the most important ones have been explained in this post. In the case you want to have further informations about the Forums usage feel free to post on our Help Forum (http://www.elpresa.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=29) or read our Tutorial Forum (http://www.elpresa.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=51).
I hope you will enjoy your stay on the ElPresa.com Forums.
Even if most users will need some time to take confidence with the new forum, I think all members will soon realize that this new forum software is far better than the previous one.
Just in order to give you a brief overview of the new features that this new forum have, I will try to summarize some of them in this post.
I ask you to read carefully this post, so you will be able to enjoy at best our new forum software.
Main highlights of new forum features:
Navbar
User Control Panel (lots of new features inside)
Search
Calendar
Quick links
Postbit features
Quick reply
Text editor / replying options
Users thread viewing
Similar threads
Thread tools
User ranks Navbar
The new navigation bar (in the upper part of the forums pages) is much more complete now, and it contains a lot of new features.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/navbar.jpg
Thanks to the navbar you can always know where you are as in the upper part of it you can find the path to the actual page. On the right, you have your personal data along with Private Messages data.
However, the most important things are the links which are in the lower part of the Navbar.
The first link "English|Espaņol" let people easily switch the language of the forums.
The second link "UserCP" take the user to his control panel, where it is possible to edit the avatar, signature, profile informations and picture, and much more things we will see later as it deserves specific attention.
The third link is "Board Rules" so that they will be always at hand for all. No one will be able to say that they did not know where the board rules where...
The fourth is "FAQ" or Frequently Asked Questions: there you will be able to find a lot of information about the forum usage.
The fifth link is "Member List". I guess it is clear to all what it is.
The sixth link is "Calendar". It is a new feature for the forum.
The seventh link is "New Posts". It is a useful feature to know which posts were made since your last visit on the forum.
The eigth link is "Search". The search function has been really improved with this forum software. You will realize that using the numerous search options which are now available.
The ninth link is "Quick Links". It is a useful feature which contains links to specific features of the site, like reading private messages, entering buddy list, editing the profile and more.
The tenth link is "Log Out", and I think there is no need of further explanations about it.
The User Control Panel
Through the User Control Panel our members are able to set their preferences about their account and about various forum options.
It is a very powerful tool for the members, and I suggest to all to enter it and take confidente with its use. Here is a screenshot of the User CP.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/user_cp.jpg
The section identified by the number 1 "Settings and Options" let the member:
edit signature: you can upload text or images, always according to the specific permissions that the admin has set for the different UserGroups.
edit email and the password of the forum account.
edit profile: there the member can add his interests, his full name (much appreciated), link to his website, occupation, contact information, messenger and skype accounts data, and more...
edit options: options about login & privacy, messaging and notification, thread display options, date and time options, miscellaneous options (message editor interface and forum default language).
edit avatar: there members can upload an avatar, always according to the specific permissions that the admin has set for the different UserGroups.
edit profile picture: in this forum is possible for members to also have a profile picture. You can upload it here, lways according to the specific permissions that the admin has set for the different UserGroups.The section number 2 "Private Messages" let the member take control of the Private Messages features: list messages, send messages or edit folders (to organize PMs). In the case of Contributor Members, is possible also to track sent messages.
The section number 3 "Subscribed threads" let the member take control of the threads which he is subscribed to, list them or organize them into folders. The member can also choose if setting email notifications and its frequency for specific threads.
The section number 4 "Miscellaneous" let the member:
event reminders: keep track of the events setted in the Calendar.
paid subscriptions: let the member subscribe to become a Contributor Member. It is a feature which is securely done through the PayPal servers.
buddy / ignore list: it is a useful feature. People can now enter their favorite members into buddy lists, or enter people in ignore list if they do not want to read their messages.
attachments: let the user see the uploaded attachments, and eventually delete them within the edit time limit (which is set to 3 days).Search
The search feature is very important on a forum, especially for the ones which really use the informations provided by the forum in order to study the breed and retrieve useful informations.
The search feature is much improved with this forum software Clicking on the search button on the navbar a popup window will appear. It is useful for simple and quick searches, it does not even require the user to change the page.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/s_search.gif
On the other hand, by clicking on "Advanced Search" the user can use the powerful searching options in order to improve his search results using different variables and having the results displayed in different ways.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/a_search.gif
It is also possible to search for words within specific threads, using the button next to the thread tools, before the first post of every thread page. It is useful to find specific posts or specific informations which have been posted in threads that have a lot of replies.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/t_search.gif
Calendar
The Calendar is a new feature for this forum. Here is a screenshot of the Calendar.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/calendar.jpg
There are four types of events on the calendar (file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Paolo/Desktop/calendar.php): public events and private events, normal events and recurring events.
Public events may be posted by the ElPresa.com Forms Staff. These are events which can be of interest for all forum members, be them dog shows, working trials, scheduled server updates and more.
Private events are all those events every single member can add to his Calendar. These private events are only viewable to the member who added them.
Normal Events span the time frame from when the event starts until the event ends.
Recurring Events repeat over a set period of time based on certain criteria. Examples would be an event that occurs on the first Monday of every month and an event that occurs every Monday and Wednesday.
Quick links
You can find the Quick Licks button in the NavBar.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/quick_links.jpg
It is useful to have always at hands nice features like seeing all daily posts, marking a forum as read, open the buddy list. It can also be used to edit the signature, the profile or the options of the user control panel. Besides, it contains links to private messages, subscribed threads, user profile and to the who is online page.
Postbit features
The so called Postbit is the place where people see the data of the member who is posting. The postbit on this new forum has much more information and is more intuitive. Here is an example of the postbit area.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/postbit.jpg
Besides the information you are already used to, like the Username, user title, date and time of the post, edit, quote and post reply buttons, here there are some more features.
The area highlighted with "1" include two informations: the first one is the progressive number of the post within the thread, and contains the unique link of that message; the http://www.elpresa.com/forums/images/buttons/report.gif button, is used to report a post to the administrators in the case of spamming or if a post is disrespecting the board rules.
The are highlighted with "2" include informations about the poster: his forum join date, his location, his full name (if filled in the profile), his age and the number of his posts on the forums.
The area highlighted with "3" is an image which tell if a member is online or offline at that moment.
Then, we also have two new buttons which can be used for posting. The button identified with the "4" is the multi-quote button. Click it as many times as many are the posts which you want to quote in your reply. Easy but useful.
The button identified with the "5" is the quick reply button. Clicking on it will activate the quick reply area at the bottom of the page, and you will be able to reply without having to enter the text editor. It is also a very useful feature.
Quick Reply
Here is a screenshot of the Quick Reply area which is present at the bottom of the page in the threads pages.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/quickreply.jpg
This area is activated by clicking on the quick reply button illustrated above.
Text editor / replying options
Also the text editor, where you type the messages, is much better and powerful than the one on the previous forum.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/reply.jpg
The main news can be summed up by the numbered box above. The box marked with the number "1" is the toolbar by which you will be albe to change the format of your text message, add images, youtube videos, change the text colours, add smileys, change fonts and much more. It is just like many other toolbar you can find on various windows software, so I guess you will not have any problem to get used to it. In the second box, are highlihted three features: the first one let you check the spelling of your message, the second one increase or decrease the size of the text box editor, and the third one switch the editor from WYSYWYG to code style. In the third box you can see the smilies, while you can use the button in the fourth box to post attachments within your messages.
The fifth box let you take control of the thread subscription feature: you can choose not to subscribe, or to subscribe with email notification to that specific thread (with different updating frequencies), so you will know when there is some new message in that thread. It is a useful feature to keep track of the contents you are interested in.
Users Thread Viewing
With this new forum you can see on every thread which users are browsing the thread. It is a nice feature that let you know who is reading that thread besides you.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/thread_viewing.jpg
Similar Threads
The Similar Threads feature is very useful. On each thread, at the bottom of the page, you can find all those other threads which have similar subjects. Very useful to find answer to questions which have already been asked in the past and to find threads with contents of interest.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/similar_threads.jpg
Thread Tools
The thread tools are activated by clicking on the appproriate button in the highlighted box, which can be found before the first post of every thread page. Clicking on it, a little popup window let the user show a printable version of the thread, email the thread to a friend or subscribe/desubscribe to the thread.
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/../temp/tools.jpg
User Ranks
On this forum we also have new User Ranks, which are those images which appears under the username.
We have two types of User Ranks, the first is tied to specific usergroups, while the second is related to the number of posts.
These are the User Ranks which are tied to specific usergroups:
Administrator:
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/images/misc/admin.gif
Moderators:
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/images/misc/moderator.gif
Contributor Member:
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/images/ranks/cm.png
Then we have those User Ranks which are tied to the number of posts one user has done:
User has at least 500 posts:
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/images/misc/s500.gif
User has at least 1000 posts:
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/images/misc/s1000.gif
User has at least 2000 posts:
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/images/misc/s2000.gif
User has at least 5000 posts:
http://www.elpresa.com/forums/images/misc/s5000.gif
That's all.
There are also other features, but I think the most important ones have been explained in this post. In the case you want to have further informations about the Forums usage feel free to post on our Help Forum (http://www.elpresa.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=29) or read our Tutorial Forum (http://www.elpresa.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=51).
I hope you will enjoy your stay on the ElPresa.com Forums.