patvdv
30th May 2004, 18:53
Hi all,
I am happy to report that the upgrade has gone well and that we are live with the most recent versions of both the forum software (vbulletin 3.01) and the wiki software (twiki). Before I want to highlight some of the changes, I'd like to point out that the FAQ (http://www.baanboard.com/baanboard/faq.php?) section has been greatly expanded and for many questions you will have you may your answers in there. So please check the FAQs! We will also keep adding useful questions and answers to this section in the future.
Now as to what's new. Well, there 's good and bad news. With the upgrade we introduce a lot of new, advanced features but we also had to give up a couple. So let's start with the ones that are gone.
What's gone?
A. Styles: We had to ditch all the custom styles from the old board (e.g. Red Classic, New Blue) etc. There are 2 good reasons for this:
1. Since we are now using a very new forum software version, there is not alot of customization items around yet, ie graphics etc. To build a coherent style, a set of corresponding customized set of graphics (buttons, icons) is required
2. We have greatly harmonized the look and feel of both the forum and the wiki which we believe will help greatly in using both in a more efficient way. If we want to provide custom styles for the forum than this harmonization effort would have been useless.
A. Board Statistics: The old 'board statistics' page is gone because the add-on powering this page is not available yet for vbulletin 3 and there is no guarantee that it will ever appear. If it does, we will consider re-introducing the statistics section. Note that the Wiki has a set of statistics available as well: [WIKI=Main]BaanboardStatistics
What's new?
In short: vbulletin 3 comes with a ton of new features and it would take us too far to discuss all of them here. We will highlight some important ones but a more complete list can be found in the FAQ (http://www.baanboard.com/baanboard/faq.php?faq=bb_general_faq#faq_faq_bb_faq_vb3features). For those who want to dig into the official vBulletin documentation, see here (http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/)
A. Layout:
The general forum layout is now using screen space more efficiently and allows greater control and customization (using popups, javascript controls). One of the great new feature is that any forum can now be viewed in a linear, threaded or hybrid mode.
B. Posting:
The posting editor has been greatly enhanced (especially for IE users) and offers alot more options. Additionally members have now much greater control of adding pictures, multiple attachements etc. See also FAQ (http://www.baanboard.com/baanboard/faq.php?faq=bb_user_ranks_titles)
C. Ranks/Titles/Ratings:
New levels of user ranks and rating posts have been introduced. See also FAQ (http://www.baanboard.com/baanboard/faq.php?faq=bb_user_ranks_titles)
D. Subscriptions:
Members can now very easily subscribe to a donorship for the site through their User Control Panel (http://www.baanboard.com/baanboard/subscriptions.php?). For a yearly 30 EURO subscription you will receive some extra's that regular members do not have and of course the eternal gratitude of the board admins :). See also FAQ (http://www.baanboard.com/baanboard/faq.php?faq=bb_faq#faq_bb_donors_subscribers)
E. Search/Similar Threads:
The search system has become more powerful and flexible. The concept of 'similar threads' will show automatically a list of threads that are related in content to the one members are viewing.
F. RSS/XML Syndication:
Baanboard Forums now offers syndicate RSS/XML feeds which allows you to get the newest threads right on your desktop. You can use following URL's for syndication:
http://www.baanboard.com/baanboard/external.php?type=rss
http://www.baanboard.com/baanboard/external.php?type=xml
G. E-mail Notification:
You now have the option of receiving instant notifications, daily or weekly digests.
H. Spiderable Archive:
The entire forum content is now provided in a low-bandwith fashion (text-only) to aid PDA users and to make the forum search engine-friendly. See the Archive (http://www.baanboard.com/baanboard/archive/index.php/)
There are plenty more features but if you want to get to know them all then there's only one way: play around on the board!
Note: if you notice anything strange on the forums/wiki, then please let me know!
I am happy to report that the upgrade has gone well and that we are live with the most recent versions of both the forum software (vbulletin 3.01) and the wiki software (twiki). Before I want to highlight some of the changes, I'd like to point out that the FAQ (http://www.baanboard.com/baanboard/faq.php?) section has been greatly expanded and for many questions you will have you may your answers in there. So please check the FAQs! We will also keep adding useful questions and answers to this section in the future.
Now as to what's new. Well, there 's good and bad news. With the upgrade we introduce a lot of new, advanced features but we also had to give up a couple. So let's start with the ones that are gone.
What's gone?
A. Styles: We had to ditch all the custom styles from the old board (e.g. Red Classic, New Blue) etc. There are 2 good reasons for this:
1. Since we are now using a very new forum software version, there is not alot of customization items around yet, ie graphics etc. To build a coherent style, a set of corresponding customized set of graphics (buttons, icons) is required
2. We have greatly harmonized the look and feel of both the forum and the wiki which we believe will help greatly in using both in a more efficient way. If we want to provide custom styles for the forum than this harmonization effort would have been useless.
A. Board Statistics: The old 'board statistics' page is gone because the add-on powering this page is not available yet for vbulletin 3 and there is no guarantee that it will ever appear. If it does, we will consider re-introducing the statistics section. Note that the Wiki has a set of statistics available as well: [WIKI=Main]BaanboardStatistics
What's new?
In short: vbulletin 3 comes with a ton of new features and it would take us too far to discuss all of them here. We will highlight some important ones but a more complete list can be found in the FAQ (http://www.baanboard.com/baanboard/faq.php?faq=bb_general_faq#faq_faq_bb_faq_vb3features). For those who want to dig into the official vBulletin documentation, see here (http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/)
A. Layout:
The general forum layout is now using screen space more efficiently and allows greater control and customization (using popups, javascript controls). One of the great new feature is that any forum can now be viewed in a linear, threaded or hybrid mode.
B. Posting:
The posting editor has been greatly enhanced (especially for IE users) and offers alot more options. Additionally members have now much greater control of adding pictures, multiple attachements etc. See also FAQ (http://www.baanboard.com/baanboard/faq.php?faq=bb_user_ranks_titles)
C. Ranks/Titles/Ratings:
New levels of user ranks and rating posts have been introduced. See also FAQ (http://www.baanboard.com/baanboard/faq.php?faq=bb_user_ranks_titles)
D. Subscriptions:
Members can now very easily subscribe to a donorship for the site through their User Control Panel (http://www.baanboard.com/baanboard/subscriptions.php?). For a yearly 30 EURO subscription you will receive some extra's that regular members do not have and of course the eternal gratitude of the board admins :). See also FAQ (http://www.baanboard.com/baanboard/faq.php?faq=bb_faq#faq_bb_donors_subscribers)
E. Search/Similar Threads:
The search system has become more powerful and flexible. The concept of 'similar threads' will show automatically a list of threads that are related in content to the one members are viewing.
F. RSS/XML Syndication:
Baanboard Forums now offers syndicate RSS/XML feeds which allows you to get the newest threads right on your desktop. You can use following URL's for syndication:
http://www.baanboard.com/baanboard/external.php?type=rss
http://www.baanboard.com/baanboard/external.php?type=xml
G. E-mail Notification:
You now have the option of receiving instant notifications, daily or weekly digests.
H. Spiderable Archive:
The entire forum content is now provided in a low-bandwith fashion (text-only) to aid PDA users and to make the forum search engine-friendly. See the Archive (http://www.baanboard.com/baanboard/archive/index.php/)
There are plenty more features but if you want to get to know them all then there's only one way: play around on the board!
Note: if you notice anything strange on the forums/wiki, then please let me know!