Master Thread on software changes/improvements - 'how to', info, etc

Because our new software is so feature-rich, and there are some changes from the software we ran on for 7 prior years (and nearly 3 before that, similarly) I’ve created a locked thread where all the information can be posted. We’ll continue to hash out and edit the information as needed.

Notifications - you’ll now see a large number of notifications possible in the new software, and you can customize your viewing of those, or reception of notifications via email, via your User Control Panel. The Notifications link above will alert you any time you are logged in if you have notifications, based on your preferences as set in the UCP. Simply click on your mini-avatar link in the upper right corner (under the tastefully drop-shadowed Search bar), choose User Control Panel, go to the Board preferences tab, select Edit notification options, and customize as you see fit!

Attachments - it’s MUCH easier now to add attachments, as you can add them the ‘old’ way (below text box, Attachments tab, click ‘Add files’, or the new way, in which you simply drag and drop them into the posting window. After adding the attachment, you can leave it as is, where it will show after all your text, or, you can choose ‘place inline’ where it can be inserted within the text by putting the cursor where you want the image placed, then click ‘place inline’. This can be done with as many attachments as you desire in the post.

Media Tab - this one is fantastic, as it allows the simplest form of sharing from multiple media sources (social media, news websites, video sources, etc) simply by copying the URL of the page you wish to share, clicking the Media button (looks like a computer monitor, just to the left of the ‘spoiler’ command atop the text box), and placing that URL within it. The software will parse the media and embed it in the post. (PRO TIP: you don’t even HAVE to click the media command, as you can simply put the URL in the post and the media function will embed it!) This replaces all kinds of other commands we used to have, for YouTube, Vimeo, and the like, and includes a wide variety of social media sites as well, including Instagram and the now-popular GIFs, though not all sites (Gyfcat works great, we’ll add others as we find them).

Font Size - we’ve added a ‘zoom’ feature on the font size for those who want their customized view of Wine Berserkers to have larger font across the board, by default. Simply go to your User Control Panel, click the Board Preferences tab, and there you’ll see the question ‘Would you prefer the font to be larger?’ - it’s clicked ‘no’ by default, but if you click ‘yes’, you can choose how much the zoom will be for your preferences. This does not change your overall browser font size, just your experience on Wine Berserkers, but know you must be logged in for the zoom to occur.

Hide Online Status - you’ve probably noticed the ‘Online’ ribbon over the avatars, showing who is online. When you log in, you see ‘hide my online status’ as an option, but this option is reserved only for Grand Cru Crü members - others can select the box but it will not hide their online status. For GCC members, here are the steps: in your User Control Panel, under Board Preferences, click ‘yes’ in the ‘Hide my online status’. Then, on your next login, you will have your online status hidden. You’ll see your status at the bottom of the index page in italics, but only you and the administrators can see that - no guests, no registered members - you will show Offline even if Online.

Mobile Browser - our new software gives as much functionality and as many features as the desktop browser, including all the advanced drag and drop, media, smilies, avatars, multiple contact methods, etc. The vertical/portrait mode gives a quicker reading view, while turning the device sideways to a landscape view broadens your view to include more features. We’re still working on the mobile browser viewing, for those whose devices have smaller screens or the default text size is set to a larger-than-default setting, as that will truncate the view in landscape mode, potentially reducing the ability to view columns containing information like ‘last post’, number of replies, number of views, etc.

Lists - for those who like lists, you can now create a numbered or bulleted list. This takes a bit of work, however, but looks nice in the end if you want to take the time to make a really defined list. There are two list buttons - one is bulleted (the first one, looks like a bulleted list as a button) and the other shows as numerical, but can be alphabetical as well (explain later). For EITHER list, you need a combination of two command buttons - the list button and the * (asterisk) button. For bulleted, click the bulleted list button, then, for each item you want listed with a bullet, click the asterisk button. For example, if you wanted a list of the words one, two, three, you’d click bulleted list, put one first, then click the asterisk button for each other line - asterisk button/two, asterisk button/three. Looks like this in your text box prior to submitting:

[list]one[*]two[*]three[/list]

. For numerical or alphabetical, click the button that appears as a numerical list, then you will need to do just as you did with the bulleted list, but add the command of whether you want numerical or alphabetical by adding either 1 or a after the equals sign, like this:

[list=1]one[*]two[*]three[/list]

or for alphabetical

[list=A]one[*]two[*]three[/list]

Once you’ve done it one time, it gets pretty easy.

Quick links - If you’ve noticed, there’s a red tab on the left side of posts on mobile or desktop for unread posts. If you click that, you’ll go straight to the last unread post by YOU. If you want to go to the last post of the thread on mobile, where it says under the thread title “LAST POST BY XXXUSERNAME << DATE” Click the date. It’ll jump to that last post. Picture below from Todd - click next on the photo to see it in landscape. First photo is in portrait mode

We’ll continue to update this thread with changes and additions.