Just wanted to post a note on some issues that may be of help to some. Even though many of us are familiar with forum formats, some of the new features here may take a bit of getting used to. Mainly, I suggest poking around....read posts, threads, and give a whirl at replying and posting your own threads. Click on your profile and edit your settings....add a signature, location info, whatever.
Also...I'd highly recommend that at the end of your first visit to the new format, that you scroll down and click on the "mark all messages as read" (on the lower right of the main page)....that way even all the old posts will be marked as read and only new posts will show up as new!
It may also help to click on the HELP button right below your "hello, yourname" message above. The HELP button takes you to a general help section for this (SMF) type of forum/board. Take your time looking through those pages and seeing how the options work. Especially if you have a question about something particular. If something still boggles or frustrates you and you know it shouldn't, feel free to send me a PM or email. Mary (EskieMa) and Helene (Saint Mom) can be of good help too.
A few features that may not seem obvious, but are very worthy, I will mention. Where the message says "Hello, yourname" above, follow that line all the way to the right...you'll see the time/date. On the right side of that is either a + or - sign. Click on it. It will flip to the other sign, and expand or contract the header section. You'll see some extra links in that when it's open! Notice in the lower category listing on the main page, there are some more + or - signs lower on the page. Try clicking on those as well....to expand or contract sections! Try that wherever you see those.....and find the setting that you like best!
On the main page, or any forum listing page, you will see some paw print icons on the left of the thread/forum listings. If there are posts you have not read, these show up in the dark paw print icon. If you have read all the posts therein, it shows the lighter paw print icon. This is a quick/easy way to see if there are posts you have not read.....a nice at a glance way of seeing. Also..if you expand the header noted above, there are links to viewing recent posts and unread replies, etc. The view recent posts link is at the bottom of the main page in the Forum Stats table. Feel free to click on these and see if you find them handy or not. Some people do, and find it's a simple way to access the most recent posts.
There is a "quick reply" feature on the boards. You DO have to make sure it's ticked ON as an option in your profile, so go check that out. A Quick Reply box will then appear on the bottom of EVERY thread page. This way, you can read the thread, and just hit in a quick reply and hit "post". Rather than going to a full reply page, then hitting post. It's just a quick and easy way to hit replies. You can click this feature off if you don't like it too, but some of us really like it!
There are a few other nice features of the board. You can send and receive private messages between other members. To see your own message box, click on "my messages" on the grey menu bar above. If you have unread messages, it will show the number in that menu on any page! So, keep an eye on that regularly. You can send a PM to other members if the icon is showing under their name/info on the side of any post. Just hover over the icons to see what they do.
There is a member map here....where you can place a pin to share your location with the rest of us. Not necessary, but is nice to see. Click on the blue menu "map" link.
We have a chat room that members (and non-members as well) can utilize 24/7. Click on Chat in the top (lighter) menu bar above or on the bottom of any page. Choose a username, chatroom, and login (you have to accept the certificate...read the info page if you want to on that). Then chat away. It's a great way to meetup and discuss any matters with others. Again, it's 24/7, so you can use it anytime.
We have a calendar connected as well. This is currently setup so only admin/mods can add events, but all members can view them. So, if you know of an eskie related event, please let one of us know and we can add it to the calendar.
But, overall...play around, get a feel for how things work, and feel free to ask on any features you don't seem to understand or just can't get to work right. We'll do what we can to help.
Thanks...
