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PLEASE READ - Empty Closets Upgrade, Sunday 1st June

Discussion in 'Empty Closets Help and Feedback' started by Paul_UK, May 28, 2008.

  1. Paul_UK

    Paul_UK Guest

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    On Sunday 1st June, starting at 9:00 GMT (10:00 UK time) I will be upgrading the forum software here, as detailed below. The upgrade will take approximately 2.5 hours, during which time the forum will be closed. The chatroom will probably also not work.

    IMPORTANT - part of the upgrade involves transferring all the photos and blog entries from the current blog/gallery system into a new one. This has been tested thoroughly and all private or hidden photos and blog entries remained hidden in the new system. However THIS CANNOT BE GUARANTEED. If you have any hidden or private content in your galleries or blogs, you may want to remove it for now and add it again after the update, to avoid any embarrassment in the unlikely event of a problem.

    The main change is replacing the current blog and gallery system with a new one that is better integrated into the main forum software. In the new system, galleries are called albums. Transferring all the information across from the old system is where most of the work has been.

    There are some other nice changes like automatic resizing of gallery and attachment images, an account self-delete feature that works properly (unlike the old one) and nested quotes being limited to 5 deep.

    Martin has prepared some information with screenshots which show how the new features work etc. He will add them to this thread shortly.
     
  2. Martin

    Board Member Admin Team Full Member

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    Welcome to EC!

    These guides are designed to help new members who have joined us and to returning members who will have noticed differences from the forum update.

    The design of the forum has not changed. The forum order has remained the same and there are no plans currently for that to change.


    [​IMG]
    This is the top of the forum. The older members may now recognise that there are additional options and that your name contains a link in the 'Welcome' box. Clicking on each option will take you to a new page.


    My Settings:
    [​IMG]

    That is all you need to know about your account settings!
     
  3. Martin

    Board Member Admin Team Full Member

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    Blogs:
    The blog feature has had significant changes to it. The options for a blog is now at the top of the forum and is the second option in the forum bar (next to My Settings and FAQ). Clicking on this takes you to the following page:
    [​IMG]
    For those of you who were around for the old blog system will realise just how much this feature has changed now. This page now has multiple features that allow you to navigate around it.
    Blog Statistics: These show the current statistics the forum has for the Blog feature.
    Options: Allows you to access your blog, post a new entry, view a random entry, view an RSS feed or access the Blog Control Panel.
    Find Blog Entries: Use keywords to search for a specific blog or topics of interest.
    Archive: Shows a list of blog entries that were submitted on each day.
    Featured Blog Entry: An entry is chosen at random and featured at the top of the page. This changes every 10 minutes.
    Recent Comments: View entries that have recently been commented on by a member.
    [​IMG]
    An interesting feature is the option to change the display settings. You can choose to view blog entries based on:
    • How recent they are.
    • Single entries being voted as the best by other members.
    • Blog sections being voted as the best by other members.

    If you go to your Blog Control Panel (either by clicking the word 'Blog' in My Settings or by clicking Blog Control Panel in the options table on the Blog page) you will be able to edit settings and set what you want to be default. The Control Panel page looks like this:
    [​IMG]
     
  4. Martin

    Board Member Admin Team Full Member

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    Profiles:
    [​IMG]
    This is the new layout for new profiles. It contains lots of features that allow you to interact with members and get to know them better.
    The mini statistics table shows you information such as Date of Birth, Join Date, Total Posts and Blog Entries. You can access more statistics by clicking on the statistics tab.
    The friends section displays 6 of your friends at random. If you have below 6 it will always display those friends but not in a particular order.
    The albums section allows members to access photos you have uploaded into public albums. By clicking on this you are taken to all the photos displayed in that album. All album photos are displayed like this:
    [​IMG]
    Please note: Any threads uploaded that are larger than 850x850 pixels will automatically be resized. Any existing photos larger than this are because they were uploaded before the site upgrade.
    Photo comments from the old site are still visible and are displayed like this:
    [​IMG]
    If you wish to add a new comment to a photo then you must go to the photo you wish to comment on and type your message into the 'Post Comment' box.

    When you visit the profile there is a tab at the bottom that allows you to access different information.
    The first tab displays visitor comments:
    [​IMG]
    These allow you to post comments on a persons profile to say you have visited etc. They are visible to everybody so do not mistake them for private messages.

    The second tab displays information 'About Me':
    [​IMG]

    The third tab is the statistics option:
    [​IMG]

    The fourth tab displays all your forum friends:
    [​IMG]
    Please note only 10 are displayed per page.

    The fifth tab is the 'Contact Me' tab:
    [​IMG]

    The sixth and final tab is the Blogs tab:
    [​IMG]

    That is all you need to know for navigating around profiles!
     
  5. Martin

    Board Member Admin Team Full Member

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    Notifications:

    Sometimes when you sign in you may notice that a 'Your Notifications' link has appeared under your name.
    [​IMG]

    If you click this option then a little drop down menu displays what these notifications are:
    [​IMG]
    When you click on one of the notifications (such as Unread Private Messages) you will then be forwarded to the relevant page.
     
  6. Alexander

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    looks cool ^_^

    I can't wait :grin:
     
  7. Alex

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    Interesting... no more homepage bugs :grin:
     
  8. LOVEjames

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    Pretttyyyy.
     
  9. Paul_UK

    Paul_UK Guest

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    Yep!

    And much easier upgrading of the vBulletin software when they bring out a new one. I upgraded the test site from 3.7.0 to 3.7.1 yesterday with no problems at all. With the current homepage system upgrading without breaking the homepage is impossible.

    It's a one-off big change that should make things better for all of us.
     
  10. Blitzkrieg

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    Looks like its going to be great :slight_smile:
     
  11. EthanS

    EthanS Guest

    oo nicee looks good :slight_smile:
     
  12. Paul_UK

    Paul_UK Guest

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    I have just sent an email to all active members about this (1 or more posts and visited the site in the last month, and 10 or more posts and visited in the last 3 months).
     
  13. CrimsonThunder

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    Self delete feature doesn't sound like a good thing to me. However a username changer would be a good thing.
     
  14. Brett

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    OMG! Everythings gonna be all shiny and new! XD
    I can't wait to see it!
     
  15. Austin

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    I've seen this on another forum using vBulletin also... its the upgraded version :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes: its alright =O
     
  16. moonlight

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    looking forward to the new changes.
     
  17. davo-man

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    I disagree, CrimsonThunder, about being able to change your name yourself. If we had a username changer, it could get mighty confusing if a user was to change their username every couple of days or so. I prsonally think that having a changeable title, signature and avatar is enough space to update different things
     
  18. Paul_UK

    Paul_UK Guest

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    I agree with Dave. We don't want people changing their usernames too often as it causes confusion. The current system of contacting me or asking in Ask The Mods works well and allows us to deal with the name change as appropriate (for example in a few cases finding and renaming quoted posts) which an automated system would not do. It also allows us to deny excessive changes. I do probably about one a week on average which is not a big deal.

    We already have a self-delete feature but it does not work properly. Members have a legal right to have their details removed from any website, and a self-delete system allows them to do so easily themselves. It also allows for very quick deletion in an emergency. However you do have to go through a few steps including copying and pasting a code, so it can't be done accidentally. I think about 30-40 people have used or attempted to use the existing self-delete facility, so we don't have loads of members using it.

    Anyway let's not get side-tracked on that one aspect too much.
     
  19. Paul_UK

    Paul_UK Guest

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    Another point which I forgot to mention before is blog categories. A few members have set up different categories for their blog entries. Although the new system also supports categories, your existing categories will NOT be transferred. All blog entries will be uncategorised. So you will need to set up categories again in the new system, if you want to use them.

    The way categories work in the new system is too different to the old system to allow reliable and straightforward transferring. Also in the new system a blog entry can be put in one category, in more than one category, or in none at all, whereas with the current system it has to be in one and only one category. So many of us will probably want to reorganise them a bit anyway.
     
  20. Zak

    Zak
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    Cool, thats tommarow...and Martin, that soo is a bellybutton. No more buggies! lol :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes: