Welcome to the NEW StartXchange Forum!

[xxclixxx]

Hi All

I'm very pleased to announce the NEW StartXchange Forum! The old forum was starting to break down, and to upgrade it I'd have to change the way it was integrated. So I decided to use the change to move to a forum build with PHP and MySQL, my native programming language =P

It might take some time to get used to, however it's powered by vBulletin so chances are you've already used a vBulletin powered forum, and it shouldn't take too long to get adjusted!

Thanks for making StartXchange a GREAT community, and I hope this new forum helps us to continue that community in a newer way :D

Tim

[jeweledbluerose23]

Hello Tim,
Nice job with the new forum, almost afraid to post, since it all squeaky clean..lol Much easier for me to navigate, since I am use to this type of forum setting. Again nice job, and hope to see more members here soon. :)

[xxclixxx]

Woo! Congratulations you get a prize! LOL

[jeweledbluerose23]

YAY!! :D *does the happy dance* LOL! :p

[sflewis]

I'm here, looks good, but I think it should be more orange than red.

[xxclixxx]

LOL yeah me too, it's supposedly got orange in here somewhere, but it seems to not come up too much =P

[gide83]

Hello all, great job Tim! I like the red/orange colour, more joyous/

[charitylinks]

Reporting in...great job Tim :)

[sctaz2004]

Yea it is really nice Tim and yea it will take ME sometime to figure out....LOL
Starting with....WHERE ARE THE SMILEY FACES??!!

[xxclixxx]

If you click Reply rather than using the quick reply box it'll show them ;-)

[sctaz2004]

Oh yea, LOL...I am happy now! Thanks Tim!:D

[erzsebet108]

Glad to meet you all at the new forum!

Erzsebet

[neopetlover]

Um...how do I browse forums...I can only find the recent messages but I really want to check out my team area.

[xxclixxx]

The old forum posts aren't moved over here, so you should be able to access the other forums they'll just be empty though. So why not go post something =P

[ameastre]

Tim, I think it's cool that you're bringing the forum up to the rest of the site but more forewarning (more than half a day) would have been more appreciated. I am thankful I can still access the old forum so that I can retrieve pm and private team board data, but it was a shock (like this :eek:) clicking the forum link in the members' area and realizing it was not the same forum as yesterday. I didn't have time to visit the old forum after my morning run-through, so I was not aware of this one being implemented.

Once the last of the shock wears off, I'm sure I'll be very excited, it's just the being caught off guard thing. :p



Last-minute throw in: Can you remove the login timeout, or at least lengthen it to more than just a few minutes? I had to re-login the first time I attempted to post.

[xxclixxx]

The old forum won't be gone for a bit, no fear =P I'm just trying to move a few things to the new one to encourage posting and what not going on here rather than still the old one.

I plan on sending out an email to people with unread PMs on the old forum, letting them know they have some waiting, and then it'll have a date when the old forum will go away (once I figure out when that'll be).

[randytp44]

Looks Great!!

[arkstar17]

Howdy Tim,

Good job on the new forum, but I agree it could use just a little more red..LOL

It does seem to load a bit slow than the old forum, other than that I like it.

Mark.

[raynemom]

Wow!:p

Love the new forum!

Indeed its color and colorful emotions are great!

Keep up the great work Tim

[wllmstphns]

You are doing a great job, keep up the good work!

[pcgaru]

Hi Tim, just got here. Looks great, thanks.:)

[bobigean]

I am not sure if it is just my computer or not but for the thanks button, it is a box that says thanks, with the dreded red X in the corner.
Kayla

[inge]

Of course there are a few things that needs to be fixed. Nothing is done in a day, even for Tim! :)

1. Fix the "thanks" button.
At the same time, make all the buttons in this row a
little larger so we can see the button text.
2. The quick reply won't take any input, so that must be
fixed.

[sflewis]

The quick reply box takes input after you click on of the reply buttons on the bottom of each message.

[nsant46]

Hi,

I liked new forum, but I am afraid on losing all my last message, sent and received.

How can I do?

Thanks

Noemi

[dehawkinz]

all your messages from the old forum, are still there - in the old forum.
Old Forum Link (http://forum.startxchange.com)

At the moment the two forums are still running side-by-side, by the old one will be closed in due course, so you will want to start using the new forum - all the support staff are installed here :)

Tim is looking at if it is possible to import the data from the old forum, but my advice is:
If you have any information you want to keep that is in the old forum, my advice would be to back it up somewhere safe (not in the forum) so that when it does close, you still have the information.

DeHawkinz

[dehawkinz]

I am not sure if it is just my computer or not but for the thanks button, it is a box that says thanks, with the dreded red X in the corner.
Kayla

hmmmmm

I can see the Thanks button, actually it is the only one to not look like a button :)

However, it would not let me view image when I tried to view the image

curious :confused:

DeHawkinz

[xxclixxx]

Of course there are a few things that needs to be fixed. Nothing is done in a day, even for Tim! :)

1. Fix the "thanks" button.
At the same time, make all the buttons in this row a
little larger so we can see the button text.
2. The quick reply won't take any input, so that must be
fixed.
Yes, I agree on all accounts! I just gotta get into graphics mode. I was hoping the template came with blank buttons to make the Thanks button (that's a plugin, not standard vBulletin), but I might have to make all new [yikes].

As for quick reply, it wants you to click "reply" next to a post first.. Odd because other vBulletin forums you don't, so I think it's a template thing. Just gotta figure that one out..

[xxclixxx]

1. I've contacted the designer about making larger versions of the buttons.

2. Found the quick reply setting that doesn't require clicking reply ;-)

[bobigean]

Now that I have where the buttons are memorized I don't have to put my nose on the screen to read them.
Thanks for fixing the quick reply, it is much easier now.
Kayla

[lestras]

Tim,

I think the forum as well as the upgrade to the site looks GREAT!
Thanks for always making StartXchange a GREAT place to surf!

Linda

[stormspotter]

Great job as usual Tim.:D

Bonnie
stormspotter

[togreatsuccess]

It looks great! But I had to set up my everything again.

[icespirit2]

Thanks icespirit2

[merlion7]

The longer I stay with StatXchange, the longer I love it. You have marrowed like a good bottle of red wine :)

[gweiss]

What can I say? I LOVE IT!

Like some others have said, I found the old forum difficult to navigate, etc...it was such an original format...:o

I'm sure I'll spend much more time in the forum now (do I hear a *collective groan?*) :p

It's grooooovy! :cool:

[sandyc30]

Great job Tim with the forum
Sandy

[stedman2610]

great job Tim

This looks a lot better

thanks

[lajab5]

How do I get my picture back? Do I need to upload it again? Noticed it was missing....LOL....thanks.

[eagle27]

:D:D Tim love this new forum and the message center, the ability to send to a few people at the same time and use the BCC is fantastic. Saves time nd this is essential with so much to do and so little time.

Keep up the great work one thing that can be said is you are a Master In Continual Improvement. Thank you and your fantastic team.

Sandra

[dehawkinz]

How do I get my picture back? Do I need to upload it again? Noticed it was missing....LOL....thanks.

Yes, you need to upload it again - but wait.... it is online, you just need to reclaim it :)

go to User CP (http://forums.startxchange.com/usercp.php) > edit Avatar / Photo (http://forums.startxchange.com/profile.php?do=editavatar) and then select the option Use custom avatar and option 1 and enter the url http://images.startxchange.com/l/lajab5.jpg

NOTE this fix works for anyone who uploaded their image already - the image link is http://images.startxchange.com/[letter]/[username].jpg
where [letter] is the first letter of your username

DeHawkinz

[bobigean]

Even though I have not tried it yet, I noticed you can download your PM's. I think this will be very helpful.
Kayla

[inge]

Too bad we can't download them from the old forum and upload them here -- but Tim is looking into the possibility of moving them over.

[jude]

Can someone explain the Rep (reputation) button and how it works and
why it's there? I tried it with Tim's previous post but nothing seemed to
happen, unless I am missing something? :p

Jude

[inge]

To the right of every post are some details about the poster. The last line contains one or more green spots. The more spots, the better your reputation. If you notice Tim's spots, you'll see that he has three, at least he had the last time I looked. Most of the members have only one, but I guess that for some this will improve with time.

[dehawkinz]

What is reputation?

User Reputation in its simplest form is a ranking of members benefit to the forum. Its basis comes from the opinions of all the forum users that choose take part in it.

Users gain and lose reputation based on how their posts are scored by other forum participants. Members can either give or take away points by approving or disapproving a post's content.

To increase or decrease a members reputation, click on the http://forums.startxchange.com/images/ca_evo2_orange/buttons/reputation.gif button at the bottom of their post , this will then open a pop-up with the following options:
what do you think of [membername] post
I approve
I disapprove
Your comments on this post

You can not give the same member multiple approval increase/decrease votes, but you can reverse a decision - so if you vote to increase, you can vote to decrease and vice-versa.

If you hover your mouse over a members green bars you can get to see where they are on the scheme of things - from lowest to highest the rankings are:

Member is infamous around these parts
Member can only hope to improve
Member has a little shameless behavious in past
Member is an unknown quantity at this point <--- this is the starting level of all members
Member is on a distinguished road
Member will become famous soon enough
Member has a spectacular aura about
Member is a jewel in the rough
Member is just really nice
Member is a glorious beacon of light
Member is a name known to all
Member is a splendid one to behold
Member has much to be proud of
Member has a brilliant future
Member has a reputation beyond repute

and there you have the member reputation overview :)

DeHawkinz

[kaizenmg]

Great job with this layout and content....thanks as always Tim. I'll be here often!

Best,
Scott

[ronlwhit]

Still trying to get used to new forum. :rolleyes:

I'm sure I'll get more used to the new forum as time

goes on.

One of the thing's that I'm finding annoying, is having to Log-In

to the new Forum after already being Logged-In.

Unless I'm missing something,

hopefully that will change after the old Forum

is gone.

Surf On,
Ron

[ronlwhit]

What is reputation?

User Reputation in its simplest form is a ranking of members benefit to the forum. Its basis comes from the opinions of all the forum users that choose take part in it.

Users gain and lose reputation based on how their posts are scored by other forum participants. Members can either give or take away points by approving or disapproving a post's content.

To increase or decrease a members reputation, click on the http://forums.startxchange.com/images/ca_evo2_orange/buttons/reputation.gif button at the bottom of their post , this will then open a pop-up with the following options:


You can not give the same member multiple approval increase/decrease votes, but you can reverse a decision - so if you vote to increase, you can vote to decrease and vice-versa.

If you hover your mouse over a members green bars you can get to see where they are on the scheme of things - from lowest to highest the rankings are:

Member is infamous around these parts
Member can only hope to improve
Member has a little shameless behavious in past
Member is an unknown quantity at this point <--- this is the starting level of all members
Member is on a distinguished road
Member will become famous soon enough
Member has a spectacular aura about
Member is a jewel in the rough
Member is just really nice
Member is a glorious beacon of light
Member is a name known to all
Member is a splendid one to behold
Member has much to be proud of
Member has a brilliant future
Member has a reputation beyond repute

and there you have the member reputation overview :)

DeHawkinz


I hope this feature will not be abused as was the case with the

old Forum and was taken down.


Surf On,
Ron

[dehawkinz]

One of the thing's that I'm finding annoying, is having to Log-In

to the new Forum after already being Logged-In.

Unfortunately, because vbulletin uses a totally different script to e-blah, the forum can not import the login cookie from StartXchange, so you are going to have to log in to both separately.

DeHawkinz

[dehawkinz]

I hope this feature will not be abused as was the case with the old Forum and was taken down.

It is hopefully going to be easier for us to manage with this forum, as we can monitor, and modify, members reputation feedback. Members abusing this feature can soon find themselves unable to use it at all :)

DeHawkinz

[xxclixxx]

Actually, I should be able to integrate the Login process. It might take some time to figure out how to do it smoothly though =P

[inge]

I don't have to log in, except if I delete the cookies first.

[aimeef25]

hello everyone,wow i love the new look.

[teehood]

It's easier to create a signature. I like that.
It's all orange to me! I like orange too!
The quick links box in our surf page still has the old Forum.
I went to it first and wondered what was new about it. LOL
Ruth

[xxclixxx]

Ruth, that's been fixed now Thanks ;-)

[wonderlady]

Very, very nice! I like! :)

[suryan]

Sure wish I had known that before I struggled to set up my profile here. Since nothing else was imported here and there were no "clues" in the avatar area to suggest I could reclaim my existing picture I went to my hard drive for it.

[suryan]

I don't see anything when I hover over the green bars. I do use NoScript and pop-up blocker, but SX is one of my trusted sites so I should be able to use anything you throw at my browser. So is that hover feature broken or did you disable it?

[suryan]

Well this is odd. I didn't see anything when I hovered over your green bars above; but when I went to the next thread that Tim started I DID see his reputation when I hovered. So, does that only work when you hover over the bars of the person who started the thread? In other words, only works in the first post of the thread?

[xxclixxx]

I've noticed that too with me, using FF, that sometimes the tool tips or whatever you want to call them don't come up (on various pages not just the forum). I've wondered if things on the page can cause it to not show, or if you have to pause just right or something.. I don't know

[edger]

Nice Forum, Great work... :)