Guide to the new forum software

[asher]

This guide was created by Oneironaught, to whom we owe a HUGE debt of gratitute.

PART 1:

Basic vBulletin tutorial

I've assembled this to help those of you who are new to vB forum software to get going on the right foot:

Getting started

The first thing you want to do is go to your User Control Panel (User CP). At the top of every forum page is a blue tool bar. The left-most button is the "User CP". This is where you manage your account. This should be the first place you go to every time you log in.

In your User CP, you'll see a list of links in a bar on the left-hand side of the page. The first thing you want to do is customize your account by going to "Edit Options". On the Edit Options screen, go down to "Default Thread Subscription Mode" and click the tab to call up the drop-down list. Default is usually set to "Instant email notification". You don't want this option as default (you may decide to assign email status only to a given thread in the future. We'll get to that later.). You also don't want to choose "Do not subscribe". Trust me; a lot of your are misunderstanding what that means.

What you do want selected under "Default Thread Subscription Mode" is "No email Notification". In other words, you DO want to subscribe but don't want to be emailed every time there's a new reply to the topic.

Continue down on your "Edit Options" page and make sure that "Enable Private Messaging" is checked or you won't be able to receive PMs from other members.

Down to "Thread Display Mode", you'll probably find that the setting called "Linear - oldest first" will be the most intuitive and is like the old forum was set up. This keeps all posts in threads in the same order they were posted.

Down to "Number of posts to show per page": Unless you just have an extremely slow connection, you'll want to increase the default setting to "40" or "50". This will drastically cut down the number of pages per thread, meaning that - rather than having, say, 12 pages to dig through, you'll have only about 4 (albeit longer) pages to go through. Trust me, you'll find this to be a very convenient setting.

Continuing down the page: the next option is called "Default thread age cut-off". Many of you have gotten the impression that older threads have vanished (and, in fact, that may be so) but what you're being fooled by is this setting. What this does is determine how long a thread will have been in-active before it becomes invisible to you. The default is set at "Use forum default". You DON'T want that setting. Call up the drop-down list and choose "Show threads from last year" or even "Show all threads". If, for example, you choose "Show threads from last day" then, if a thread has not been posted in for that period of time, it will not be visible to you and you may assume that it no longer exists.

The other settings on your "Edit Options" may be set to your liking.

Your "User CP"

As I mentioned before, your User Control Panel is the nerve center of your account. Now that you've customized your User Options as described above, you're ready to take full advantage of your User CP.

When you post in a thread (topic), you will automatically be subscribed to that topic. This is a good thing, especially with vB. When you go to your User CP, you will be presented with a list of all threads that have new responses since the last time you've checked. If you're just logging in, this list will show all threads that have been replied to since the last time you visited the forums. This list is entitled "New Subscribed Threads". Don't let the name fool you. The "new" simply refers to the fact that new posts have been made in the listed threads. (More on thread subscriptions later.)

Unlike the last forum software we had, vB gives you the convient option of taking you directly to the first new post (that you have not viewed) of any thread that you've posted in or have manually subscribed to. In the "New Subscribed Threads" list of your User CP all threads with replies you've yet to view will be displayed in dark blue, if you've seen all posts in a given thread then it will appear light blue.

All threads listed in dark blue will have a little blue box with an arrow pointing down on the left side of the thread title. Clicking that box will take you directly to the first new post that you've yet to view. This will be your new best friend: Use it! If you click the title of the thread then you'll be taking directly to the first post in the first page of that topic.
vbmenu_register("postmenu_", true);

To see all of the threads that you've posted in (or have manually subscribed to):

Again, your User CP is your best buddy. Click the link called "User CP" in the toolbar at the top of each forum page. You'll be presented with a list of all of your subscriptions having new posts (or that you have posted in or manually subscribed to during your current visit to the site). To view all of your topics, click the link entitled "View All Subscribed Threads" in the blue bar at the bottom of your "New Subscribed Threads" field.

More to come. Next, buddy lists, PMs, more about thread subscriptions, etc...

[asher]

Thread subscriptions, cont'd.

Let's get your old threads straigthened out: First of all, since the old forum's pages now have different page urls, you'll have to manually subscribe to your old threads (or post in them). In the toolbar at the top of every thread page is a button called "Thread tools". Click it to call up the drop-down list. At the bottom of that list, select "Subscribe to this thread". Note that subscriptions are automatically entered when you post in a thread. Don't panic; remember, that's exactly what you want.

Once you're already subscribed, that option changes to "Unsubscribe from this thread". The only time you'll really want to select that is if you're on "email notification" status with that particular thread. You can also unsunscribe a topic by clicking the "Unsubscribe" button under the thread's title in your "User CP".

To get rid of email notification when a topic receives a new reply:

First, make sure you've set up you Options as described in the first section of this tutorial. If you've become subscribed to a thread while your option was still set to "receive email notification" (default) then go to your "View all Subscribed Threads" button in your User CP (as described earlier) and you'll see a column of check boxes on the right side entitled "Notification". Simply check the boxes of those you wish to alter then open the drop-down list - entitled "Selected Threads:"- in the blue bar at the bottom. Select "No email Notification" and they will all be changed at once.

NOTE: Another way to accomplish this is to go to the thread in question, click on "Thread Tools" and select "Unsubscribe from this thread". Then go there again and select "Subscribe to this thread".

All of these methods will keep your subscription but remove the annoying email crap.

[asher]

Buddy / Ignore lists

vB employs a Buddy List. The main features of this is to tell you at a glance which of your buddies are currently online and to allow you to PM some or all of them at once. To enter members into your "Buddy list", select "Buddy / Ignore Lists" in your User CP then enter their name into the field called "Add New User to List". You may also add a member to your Buddy List by clicking their name in one of their posts. Click their name then select "Add ... to your Buddy List"

To view your Buddy list, click on the button called "Quick Links" in the tool bar at the top of every forum page. This will call up a drop-down list. Select "Open Buddy List".

By adding members to the "Ignore List", you make their posts invisible to you as you view threads.

Viewing posts by - or threads started by - a given member (including yourself)

If you click on a member's name (either in their post - above their avatar - or from the "Members List"), you can access the search features.

When you click their name in their posts, a drop-down list will appear. From their you can directly "Find more posts by..."

That list always gives you access to their profile by selecting "View Public Profile". A member's profile gives you a more thorough post search as well as giving you access to the "Find all threads started by..." search.

Clicking a member's name in the members List will take you directly to their profile.

[asher]

PMs (Private Messages)

First of all, if you haven't tweaked your "User Options" as I described in the first part of this tutorial, you should do so to enable proper PM settings.

At the top, right-hand corner of every forum page, there's your Private messages notification box. This displays the total number of PMs in your PM folders. It also informs you if you have any new PMs. You can directly access you PM folders by clicking "Private Messages" in said box.

You can allow pop-up notification of new PMs by checking the box called "Show New Private Message Notification Pop-up" in your Options screen. You must has have your web browser's pop-ups enabled for this site in order for this to take effect.

In your Options screen, you can also opt to receive email notification of new received PMs by checking the box called "Receive Email Notification of New Private Messages"

Now, when you go to your User CP, any new PMs will automatically be displayed above your "New Subscribed Threads" field. Simply click on a message title to access it.

When you go to your Private Messages screen, you'll see a field entitled: "Private Messages in Folder:". This identifies the folder you are currently viewing. To change folders, activate the drop-down list in that field and select the folder you desire.

By default, vBulletin saves a copy of every PM you send and stores it in your "Sent Items" box. If you choose NOT to save a copy of a PM you send, uncheck the box called "Save a copy of this message in your Sent Items box" on the "Send New Private Message" screen before you press "Submit Message". That box is located in the "Additional Options" field below the box where you type your message text.

In the field at the top of your Private Messages screen is a colored bar that gauges your allocation of PM space. Green indicates free space. Red indicates messages in your in box. Yellow indicates messages stored in your sent folder.

Sending PMs

You can send a PM by clicking a member's name in one of their posts and choosing "Send a private message to..." from the drop-down list or you can click on "Send a private message to..." in a member's profile.

You may also access the PM screen by clicking "Send New Message" in the field on the left of your User CP.

sending PMs to more than one member

To send the same PM to multiple members, enter each members' name in the "Recipients" field located above where you enter your PM text. You can PM up to 5 members at once. Make sure to separate their names with a semicolon like this: member1 ; member2 ; member3 ; etc...

You may also send a PM to more than one member by checking their names in your Buddy List then selecting "PM Users".

NOTE: You'll notice that - due to the software transition - all of your old sent messages will be lumped into your inbox. If you choose to move them, check their boxes on the "View all subscribed threads" screen then select "Move to folder..." (default) from the drop-down list in the blue bar at the bottom of the field.

I think I've covered the basics. Let me know if you want/need any more. If we ever get the full line of vB code, I'll be glad to do a tutorial on that as well. That way some of the more complicated tags, such as "Anchor", will be easier to understand.

'Till then, be sure to check out the "FAQ" button in the toolbar at the top of every forum page for more info on using vBulletin.