Wolfie Posted June 23, 2009 Report Share Posted June 23, 2009 In the near future I'll be updating the board (basically this site) to a recently released version. In some ways it has some drastic changes to it while in others, the changes are minor and may even be barely noticeable. Here are some of the changes that I hope the members here at N*Raged will enjoy:New 'skin' - The overall appearance of the board has taken on a huge change. On the main index, on the right, you'll notice a small column that will contain items like recent topics. There will be an "X" at the top of it that you can click and it'll minimize this column, giving you the more traditional view. But you can easily restore it by clicking a small arrow that will appear in the place of the "X".Private Messages (PM's) - The traditional method of PM's is basically a thing of the past. Now, there are "Conversations"! To give an idea of what it's like, think of it as having a private thread between you and one other person.. EXCEPT that you can add other people to the conversation as well! This is a per conversation thing too. So you could have a private conversation with 3 people, then have another private conversation going on with 3 other people. When you want to view the past messages, you only need read the conversation. No need to read individual PM's to find something that was said because it's all part of the same conversation.Member Cards - Almost anywhere that you see a members name (forum generated), you should also see a small green box next to their name. If you click on that little green box, you see a small "business card" like pop up for that member. From there you can select to send them a PM (ie, start a conversation) or find other posts that they have made.Reputation system - I may disable this for individual ratings, but I may just enable it for posts. Yes, for posts. You can vote a post with a [+] if you like it, find it useful or whatever else. If I enable it (I'm really thinking about it), then it'll be in the lower right hand corner of each post.FaceBook Connect - I may or may not enable this. I have reasons for being undecided on this but if enabled, then it would let you sign into the board using your FaceBook connection. Basically, if you're signed into FaceBook and you come here, it can sign you in automatically! There will be more about this later if I decide to enable it but it would basically link your FaceBook account here. No personal information (such as password) would be exchanged or saved.Use your cellphone! - Yes, the new update has a skin that should be used automatically when you visit the board and it detects that you are on a cell phone. It will allow you to use many of the sites features, including making new posts!Global Searching - When you do a search, the search will not only work on topics/posts, but also search Members, Blogs, Galleries and other places in a single effort to find what you are looking for!Blog, Downloads and Gallery - These are three Add-ons that I may add here. I have a license for the Blog and Gallery that I am using on another site but may shift them over here. I do plan to get a license for the Downloads Add-on and put that on here at some point. One of the main factors in when/if I get these items is based on financial ability. These things cost money, people!Blog - Allow members to have their own little personal space to rattle on about things. It includes the ability to have private blogs so that you can choose who (if anyone) can see your blog. If you prefer, it could be completely private (except for certain staff), so it'd be like an online diary of sorts. Keep in mind that in some cases, staff may want or even need to browse a private Blog, but those staff will be expected to respect the privacy by not discussing it with anyone (except possibly other staff). This includes not discussing it with an individual member, unless there is content of concern.Downloads - One of the main things I plan to do is to have some essential tools available for download. These would be free tools for use in cleaning away some problems from a computer (SpyWare, etc). Other categories will be made available so that N*Raged members can contribute their own files as well.Gallery - A place for sharing your photos! Of course, sharing photos can be fun so why not?Other Add-Ons - These other Add-ons are still being worked on but are free, so when they are released as a Final version, I'll be adding them too.Links - A place for submitting useful or fun sites to visit. There will be levels of access associated with this, both to prevent spamming/abuse, and to reward membership activity.Shoutbox - When added, if there is any way to keep the old shouts, I'll do so. But that may not be possible as this is a different Add-on than the one already being used for N*Shout.Tracker - The N*Tracker will be getting an update as well. Again, the old projects and issues may be lost.Additional Add-Ons - The new board software has taken a big step in trying to make it really easy to add new features to the board. So I may be able to add more features with ease, instead of being picky about what to add based on level of effort required. I expect that if the Arcade and Casino features are not available when I upgrade the board, that they will be available very soon. The N*Groups will be unavailable for awhile, as that Add-on (or application as they are being called) is or will be in development for awhile. If there is anything of importance that someone needs from those forums, please let me know and I'll look into making it available. At this time though, I will be making it possible to see the forums, but not the contents. This is to help keep attention to it instead of it being forgotten about.Converge - Okay simply put, converge takes your log-in information and makes it available for use in other places. It's like a central "hub" that keeps track of your log-in name, email and password so that when you visit another site (or part of this site) that is connected to this "hub", you can sign in without having to make a new account. If your details here are available for use on other sites, you can rest assured that I have access and control on those other sites. For the time being though, if I make use of this feature, these other "sites" will be a direct part of N*Raged. At this time, there are only a couple of products that I could include, but will require much further testing before I include them (if at all).Joomla - Basically a CMS (Content Management System)WordPress - Sort of like an advanced Blog package.YouTube and other media - You can submit a YouTube link in a Media insert box and the board will try to embed it properly within the post. If you simply put the link for the video, it won't work. But if you include it in the media tags, then it will try to add it in for you. This includes sites other than YouTube as well.Quoting - Up to three levels deep, quotes will have different colors, so that quotes within quotes will be easier to read and follow.PM Notification - If you have an unopened PM, then in the top right, where your user box is, you'll see a number within a circle. It sort of stands out so it can grab your attention, while not being distracting from something else you may be working on. It's much more noticeable than previous methods and I like it, I'm sure everyone else will as well.Admin/Mod functions - there are new/updated features that will make it easier for staff to perform certain tasks. This is sort of a "behind the scenes" stuff, so I won't waste time detailing them here.Other little tidbits that I've either forgotten to mention or may be trivial but still nice.As this update was just released today, I will be holding off for a few days or until an expected minor update has been released. I do this on purpose to avoid potential problems that have not yet been fixed in the software that could create major headaches for N*Raged members and staff. I will be doing some testing of the software elsewhere, to learn about the new features and as an effort to try to provide more 'gifts' for the members here. Please use this topic for any questions you may have or if you just simply want to speculate about the new software before it's introduced here. 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