(subsilver)
(subsilver2)
(prosilver)
click for larger picture
(it's still too small!)
click for larger picture
(it's still too small!)
click for larger picture
(it's still too small!)
On 2008-09-19, the phpBB software used for the TRVN forum was updated from version 2 to version 3. This was a major update, which changed not only the functionality, but also the appearance and layout of the forum pages. The reference below will help you with the transition.
The previous version supported several board styles (a.k.a. 'skins'), but many of them were 'broken' (as shipped with the phpBB package). For this new version, we are offering two styles that have been tested for use with the new version and the new custom modifications:
Both of these styles offer a significantly different layout and colour scheme than the previous version. Here is an overview of some of the differences. The 'Pic Ref' (picture reference) refers to the labels on the images.
| Pic Ref | Description | Old forum (subsilver) |
New forum (subsilver2) |
New forum (prosilver) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Choose a link | click for larger picture (it's still too small!) |
click for larger picture (it's still too small!) |
click for larger picture (it's still too small!) |
| B | 'FAQ' | |||
| C | 'Search' | |||
| D | 'Memberlist' | |||
| E | 'Profile' | |||
| F | 'You have N private messages' | |||
| G | 'Login' or 'Logout' |
New terminology
You'll be hearing the term UCP a lot, so get used to it. The UCP is the User Control Panel. This is new for this version of the software and replaces the Profile link that you're all familiar with. The UCP is the central location for you to modify all of your personal information (address, phone number, email, Web site, etc.), motorhome information, board preferences, etc.
click for larger picture
(it's still too small!)
The Profile page is now part of the User Control Panel (see image on the right). When you go there, you will see some familiar items, and some new items, particularly for the identification of your motorhome and the place you call home. In particular:
Note that the motorhome descriptions are now Tiffin-specific. We are no longer collecting information about non-Tiffin motorhomes, so there is no longer any place to describe your non-Tiffin motorhome, other than to choose 'Some other brand'. Please do not over-write 'Some other brand' with any other information.
During the migration of the database from the old version to the new version, an attempt was made to fill in the Country and State/Province fields by reading the Location field. Similarly, the Tiffin model, Floorplan, Chassis & Engine fields were deciphered from the free-form 'Year, Model, Make of Motorhome' description. There could be errors or omissions - please check this information and update it as required.
Learn more about the similarities and differences between
the 'Location', 'Country' & 'State/Province' and 'We are here' entities.
Once the database was ported over to the new system, John A. Grant ('jag&bev') developed several new modifications to enhance the functionality of the TRVN forum:
list of links to other TRVN sites
The droplist containing links to other TRVN-related sites has been retained (in upper right corner of banner at top of all pages). Some of the items have been enhanced by colours.
There is a new method for posting forum announcements. There are now two distinct messages, with distinct formatting. Both messages appear below the banner on the page:
For example:
New 'hover' text has been added to the list of topics for a forum. You can preview the post with your mouse cursor:
Microsoft IE and Firefox display this text in different ways. Microsoft retains the line breaks, but Firefox ignores them, so the text is less readable (however, in doing so, Firefox is more conformant to standards).
For example:
Preview first post
Preview last post
New 'hover' text has been added to the list of private messages (PM). When you hover over the title which is a link to view the message, your browser will display a popup (hover) block of text containing the content of the message. This appears to work for the 'Inbox' and 'Sent messages' folders, so it probably works for 'Outbox' and 'Saved messages' as well.
The forum software does not include any message sounds to announce new or unread messages. The previous version of the forum software had been patched to use a rather forceful male voice to announce "You have a new message!"
This new version has been modified to include new message sounds and animated icons for private messages (PMs):
N new messages (click to play sound: "You have new mail")
N unread messages (click to play sound: "There is a message for you")
This feature allows each TRVN user to set their current location:
A new page TRVN Members Currently at Tiffin Service Center/Allegro Campground (Red Bay, AL) has been created to show a map of the Tiffin Service Center and Allegro Campground in Red Bay, AL. The map shows the locations of all of the members who have used the 'We are here' feature to select the campground site number.
There are links to this page in 2 locations:
A new page TRVN Membership Profile has been created to show the distribution of TRVN members and their motorhome types. There are histograms to show the distribution in the following categories:
The information used to create these histogram charts is obtained from the information supplied by TRVN members on the UCP Profile page. Please go to the User Control Panel: Profile page and update your motorhome information so that the distribution charts present a more complete picture.
There are links to the TRVN Membership Profile in 2 locations:
| subsilver2 style | prosilver style |
|---|---|
 |
 |
A new feature has been provided to allow you to obtain a list of new posts made in the past N days. The new link:
'View new posts in last N days as topics/posts'
This feature provides a solution to this problem:
In the previous and the current version, the list of 'new posts' is obtained by retrieving all new posts made since you last logged in to the forum (as logged by phpBB).
This doesn't allow you to find those same 45 posts, but you can achieve the same goal by reviewing everything posted in the past N days.
Three new bbcodes have been added to the editor used for posting:
Help: Click for larger picture doesn't work!
If you click on an image link to see a 'larger image' and it still looks too small, it's because your browser is trying to be helpful, and in doing so, it defeats the purpose of the larger image. Some browsers have the capability of scaling images that exceed the browser window size to fit in the browser window, but unfortunately this reduces the quality of the image and legibility of the information. If an image changes size to fill the browser window as the window is resized, the scaling feature has been enabled.
You should see a (+) cursor over the image (Microsoft Intenet Explorer and Firefox). Click once and the image will be displayed at the correct size with the cursor changing to (-). Click again and it will be displayed at the scaled size.
jag
2008-09-22 04:16 EST