Post by Dan on Apr 24, 2013 23:43:40 GMT -5
The NTWF is (finally) ready to begin the conversion process to version 5 of the Proboards software! This is the biggest update to come to us in quite a while, and as such there are a lot of new features as well as an updated design and group of rotating banners to greet you as you open the forum. Exciting, I know. =D
If all goes according to plan, we will be upgrading on WEDNESDAY, MAY 1ST, a week from today.
To help you guys get acclimated to the updates, I've made this guide to upgrading your account for v5 as well as introducing some of the new features you'll be able to use when we convert. As there are quite a few new features this won't cover everything, so feel free to ask questions and explore post-upgrade to find out everything there is to offer.
STEP 1: UPGRADING YOUR ACCOUNT
Proboards v5 uses a new account system called Global Accounts that enables members to use one username/password combination for all of their accounts across all Proboards forums they belong to. For most NTWF users this means very little, as we only have the one account here on this forum. However, the new system does require every member to do a one-time process to upgrade their account to the new system. YOU WILL NEED TO KNOW YOUR ACCOUNT USERNAME, EMAIL ADDRESS THAT YOUR ACCOUNT IS LINKED WITH, AND PASSWORD.
If you have already logged into our BetaZone test forum (as seen in this thread), you should be upgraded already and do not need to follow this process.
If you have NOT logged into our BetaZone forum yet, this means your account is not yet upgraded for v5 and will need to follow this quick process. You can either use our Beta forum to upgrade your account now, or you can wait until the main forum converts and upgrade your account then. Either way, the process remains the same. Proboards has created a video to guide you through this process (and better explains the new account system), and can be found here.
A SHORT GUIDE TO SOME OF THE NEW FEATURES
As mentioned above, there are tons of new features coming with v5, as well as modified/updated versions of existing features. Here's a few tips and tricks to learn:
A FEW FINAL THINGS TO NOTE
The conversion process is just that: a process, and as such things will not be exactly perfect as soon as the forum finishes upgrading. There are quite a few tweaks that will need to be done in the days after the upgrade, so don't be alarmed if things don't look exactly right or features aren't working perfectly. We'll work to get things up and running as soon as we can.
Other things to note:
The NTWF Mods
If all goes according to plan, we will be upgrading on WEDNESDAY, MAY 1ST, a week from today.
To help you guys get acclimated to the updates, I've made this guide to upgrading your account for v5 as well as introducing some of the new features you'll be able to use when we convert. As there are quite a few new features this won't cover everything, so feel free to ask questions and explore post-upgrade to find out everything there is to offer.
STEP 1: UPGRADING YOUR ACCOUNT
Proboards v5 uses a new account system called Global Accounts that enables members to use one username/password combination for all of their accounts across all Proboards forums they belong to. For most NTWF users this means very little, as we only have the one account here on this forum. However, the new system does require every member to do a one-time process to upgrade their account to the new system. YOU WILL NEED TO KNOW YOUR ACCOUNT USERNAME, EMAIL ADDRESS THAT YOUR ACCOUNT IS LINKED WITH, AND PASSWORD.
If you have already logged into our BetaZone test forum (as seen in this thread), you should be upgraded already and do not need to follow this process.
If you have NOT logged into our BetaZone forum yet, this means your account is not yet upgraded for v5 and will need to follow this quick process. You can either use our Beta forum to upgrade your account now, or you can wait until the main forum converts and upgrade your account then. Either way, the process remains the same. Proboards has created a video to guide you through this process (and better explains the new account system), and can be found here.
A SHORT GUIDE TO SOME OF THE NEW FEATURES
As mentioned above, there are tons of new features coming with v5, as well as modified/updated versions of existing features. Here's a few tips and tricks to learn:
- When writing posts you can toggle between the normal BBCode editor or the new Preview Editor, which allows you to write the message as it would appear upon posting. You can also set your Default Editor to be one or the other in your profile settings (Profile -> Edit Profile -> Settings).
- Avatars can now be up to 150x150 pixels in size! There's also a new avatar creator you can use (but be warned, the avatars are...let's say "interesting." XD)
- You can now tag another user in your posts using the @username format. This creates a link to your profile within the post and notifies that user that they were tagged in a post. You can also click the button in the text editor for tagging users which allows you to search through members to tag.
- Notifications: One of the best new features is notifications when your posts are quoted, liked, or your username is mentioned. A small bubble appears next to the Profile button in the header which indicates how many notifications you have. Clicking that bubble will take you to the list of notifications.
- Follow other forumers by clicking the Follow link in their profile. This allows you to see a feed of their activity, such as posting and liking posts. When two members Follow each other, they become Friends.
- As mentioned above, users can now Like posts (this replaces the Karma system in the current software).
- Private Messages can now be searched, and you can now send PMs to multiple recipients where all responses can be seen by all members in the conversation.
- Personal Smilies can be uploaded through your Profile in the Settings tab (Profile -> Edit Profile -> Settings -> Personal Smilies). You can upload up to 25 smilies to your account, and they can be added to your posts through the emoticon button on the Create a Post page.
- Dice are slightly changed in appearance, but are mostly the same in function. Use either the button in the Create a Post page or the tag 1-6. Note that all dice must have an upper and lower bound in the new software. Also note that previewing capabilities are not yet implemented, but hopefully we well restore that soon. Sorry about the inconvienence!
- Spoilers still use the same tag, [ spoiler ] (without spaces). However, spoiler box titles are currently not functional; again we hope to add this back sometime soon. Previous spoiler boxes with titles in them should retain their titles in the code, so if you modify your post you can grab the title and just post it outside the body of the spoiler.
A FEW FINAL THINGS TO NOTE
The conversion process is just that: a process, and as such things will not be exactly perfect as soon as the forum finishes upgrading. There are quite a few tweaks that will need to be done in the days after the upgrade, so don't be alarmed if things don't look exactly right or features aren't working perfectly. We'll work to get things up and running as soon as we can.
Other things to note:
- We are still accepting submissions for the rotating banner! There are a few requirements, which you can find out about (and submit your banner) here.
- The Members Only code is discontinued once we upgrade to v5. If this is something you'd like to see brought back, we can look into a replacement, but as this code was never completely functional in the current software be advised it may not be possible in v5.
- The Badges code will need to be removed from this forum pre-upgrade in order to save us mods a lot of time in modifying custom titles to remove broken bits of code after conversion. As such, everyone's badges will need to be re-requested on the Profile Change thread after we convert to v5. Fear not, though, everyone is welcome to the same badges they were before. Again, sorry for the inconvienence.
The NTWF Mods
neo username - dan4884 
