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Forum Tip Helpful Tips about the new forum!

Discussion in 'Forum rules and information' started by flynnibus, Jun 23, 2013.

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Did you find any of these tips helpful?

  1. Yes

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  1. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    Here I'll post a collection of simple things you can do on the site that you may not have realized are there that should make your stay more enjoyable!
     
  2. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    Watched threads
    Click the 'Watched Thread' link in the menu bar to see a list of threads that you have participated in or have opt'd to watch by clicking the 'watch thread' link. A great way to see only the threads you are interested in!
     
  3. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    The Eraser Button
    Find that when you copied and pasted something into a post, that the formatting is all wacky? When you copy and paste, formatting is included... if you want to easily strip the formatting, highlight the text, then click the Eraser button in the very top left corner of the editor window.. and the text will return to the default formatting!
     
  4. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    Avatars
    How do I get a picture next to my name like those other people?

    These are known as avatars. Pick something that represents you, or is you! It's up to you to express yourself. Find a photo you'd like to use, goto your preferences window (use the menu under your name in the menu bar) and click on the avatar box. You can upload the photo and it will be resized to fit the square on the site. Crop your image before uploading if you want the best view
     
  5. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    Quoting posts
    When reading a post, if you wish to post a reply to that specific post... use the Reply link at the bottom right corner of the post to start a new replay and quote the original post. This makes it easier to follow who you are replying to and what you are responding to. The quoted text will be surrounded by what we call 'tags'. Tags are simply a predefined string of characters that when seen, the site will interpret them as special commands/formatting. Very much like how when you type a : followed by ) - the site automatically inserts a :)

    Make sure you include your reply AFTER the quote tag.

    When viewing the thread, if you wish to see the original post someone quoted, click on that small arrow after the name at the top of the quote to jump to the original post

    Advanced users - if you wish to quote just a slice of the original post - just delete the extra text you do not wish to reply. To create multiple quotes from the same post, just copy the opening tag (completely), insert the text to quote, and then add the closing tag after the text. Just mimic what the original quoted text looks like. Make sure you get those closing tags right, else your reply will be in the quote box too!
     
  6. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    The 'Hover'
    The new software uses lots of floating windows which are made visible by 'hovering'. 'Hover' means to move your mouse over something and leave it there briefly, but not click.

    Most of the menus in the system support hovering.. if you see a little arrow, hover over it and the menu will expand.

    You can see a preview of the first post in a thread by hovering over the thread name in a thread list too!
     
  7. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    Catching up on the forum
    The forum does a really great job of keeping track of what you've read or not.. making it very easy to see the 'latest stuff'. But what if you've been away for awhile, or just generally been inactive and find the 'whats new' or watched threads screens too cluttered?

    If you use the 'Mark Forums Read' link in the menu bar, it will mark all activity on the site as read.. so the next time you visit, any unread views will only contain information from that point forward. It's a great tool for inactive users to use to 'reset' and see how things are now and going forward.
     
    KTdid likes this.
  8. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    Notices
    See those scrolling texts at the top of the forum listing? Those are Notices - we use them to bring things to your attention. But most are 'one time' things.. meaning once you've read them once.. (and followed them! :) ) - you're set. So why do you need to keep seeing them? You don't! We set notices of this type to be able to be dismissed! Just hover your mouse over the notice, and you'll see an X appear in the top right corner. Click the X and that notice goes away!
     
  9. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    Quoting Multiple Posts
    The old forum had a feature called 'multi-quote' which allowed you to mark several posts and quote them together. This is done differently in this software. To quote multiple posts, just click 'reply' under each post - the message box will automatically add the quoted text for each to the reply box.

    If you need to quote posts over different pages - this doesn't work the same. Here, it's recommended to open a new tab, quote the post, and then copy/paste the text into your reply.
     
  10. Neighbor

    Neighbor Member

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    How do I change the font color of the forum posts from lime green over white to something more legible and easy on the eyes, like blue or black over white? That lime coler is really hard on the eyes. Thanks!
     
  11. ALtheHokie

    ALtheHokie New Member

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    Go to the bottom left of your screen, click into the Style, choose Default Style. This will give you a blue/dark blue style.
     
    JLC likes this.
  12. Forum Administrator

    Forum Administrator Member Forum Staff

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    This will be corrected going forward as we continue to tweak the visual style of the site.
     
  13. Forum Administrator

    Forum Administrator Member Forum Staff

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    This is not recommended as the default style will not necessarily reflect all the changes in the site. Please give us some time to get settled and alter the styles in use. The amount of time available before launch was limited, and the focus previously was on the page you see here. The other pages had less effort on them and we will continue to evolve the style to get settled. The areas where the green on green text are used are less important text typically on the forum list , polls, or attached image texts.

    Give us a week or so and things will look much better. There will be a beta style in place that we will solicit feedback on, etc.
     
  14. Neighbor

    Neighbor Member

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    I've tried both styles and the font is still lime green on white background. Any other possible solutions?
     
  15. ALtheHokie

    ALtheHokie New Member

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    Looks like flynnibus and crew removed the older default style. In the meantime, you may want to toy around with a couple of the other styles (BHOA Style, Prototype Style) as they continue their work on the new forums.
     
  16. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    What text are you having trouble with?

    The lighter color is rarely on the white background. Most text in the white areas are forest green, black, or a grey.
     
  17. KTdid

    KTdid Well-Known Member

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    I preferred the default style for it's clean presentation, no Romper Room appearance. Why was it omitted as an option?
     
  18. Neighbor

    Neighbor Member

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    Flynn,
    The main forum page text is green on white, which is very hard to read. I would suggest a contrast color like dark blue or black. Let me know if you want me to send a snapshot picture of the forum pages with the green text. Hope this helps. Thanks
     
  19. Chsalas

    Chsalas Active Member

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    Is there an app or a particular reader that I can download on my iPad that makes this easier to read on said tablet? Or a preferred reader that you could suggest?
     
  20. KTdid

    KTdid Well-Known Member

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    Is there an option to delete conversations from one's inbox?
     

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