Important Forum Update - New Features (Feb 2021)

Unit One

Administrator
Staff member
Administrator
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Greetings Terrarians! The forums received a bit of an update, and there are a couple of new features that we wanted to highlight for you. Here are a few new toys to use while you are here. :)


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PROFILE BANNERS
You can now add a banner to your profile. Head on over to your own profile, then click on “Edit Profile Banner” in the top right. You are able to adjust the image a bit within the window. Of course, all forum rules that apply to profile pics also apply to profile banners.

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BETTER PREVIEW
A couple improvements have been made to preview your post better. Now when you reply and quote someone you’ll see their quote rendered, instead of seeing BB Code. Also, there is a new preview method. Previously when you clicked on the preview button it showed you the preview underneath your editing, and if you had a long post that meant a lot of scrolling up and down. Now an in-line preview toggle is used. Toggle it on to enter preview mode to see how your post will look before you post it. Text editing is disabled while in preview mode. Clicking the preview button again or clicking the text editing toolbar will bring you back to editing mode.

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ATTACH IMAGES TO PROFILES
If you’ve been waiting to attach images to profiles, raise your hand. ✋ Now you’re able to attach images straight to profile posts instead of having to upload the image elsewhere and link to it.

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And speaking of attaching images...

ATTACHMENT CAROUSEL
Instead of having all of your attachments vertical and having to scroll scroll scroll down to get to them, then scroll back up to see them in the text editor, the attachments are presented in a horizontal carousel for much easier viewing and inserting. Click on "Insert" and you'll get choices to either insert the Thumbnail or the Full Image. Select multiple images and insert them at once.

Here's the old way (so much scrolling and wasted space):
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And here's the new way (nice and neat right next to each other):
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MANUALLY MARK ALERTS AS READ/UNREAD
You now have the ability to mark a read alert as unread - handy for if you need to go back to something later. Hover over the alert in your notifications, and a new option to mark as read/unread is available. This will not affect the red notification number showing how many unviewed alerts you have.

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PWA - Progressive Web App
One of the most requested things we see is to make an app for the forums. While we didn't create an app, there is now the ability to install the forums as an app on your device using what's called a Progressive Web App, that allows a web site to appear and behave like an app - this goes beyond setting the site as a shortcut to your home page and beyond the push notifications that we already have. However, these features are only available on devices and browsers that fully support PWAs. Safari on macOS or any iOS-based browsers do not support PWAs.

How to install the forums as an app can vary from browser or device. Here are some examples.
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REDUCTION OF DOUBLE POSTING
Double/multi-posting has always been discouraged, as it leads to one-sided discussions. Lately it has become prevalent enough that we've added some measures to reduce the ability to do so. 🎉

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TEMPORARY CHANGE FOR NEW USERNAME REQUESTS
Right now the system will allow you to change your username only once every 30 days. Previously you could change it twice every 30 days. We are working on a fix to hopefully get us back to allowing you to change your username twice every 30 days.

UPDATE Aug 2021: This temporary issue is hopefully fixed and you can change your username twice every 30 days as intended. :)

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ADDED Feb 2022
Hi all, just a small note here to let you know that you can now search in conversations. This functionality was something we had in the past, then we lost it during one of the upgrades, but now it’s back! :)

SEARCH IN CONVERSATIONS
Your convos are still private. No one, not another member and not staff, can see inside your conversations, even by searching.

REGULAR SEARCH
You can use the regular Search button in the top right, and results will now include any conversations that you are a part of.

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CONVERSATIONS PAGE
If you are on the Conversations page (where it shows all of your conversations), you can now search only in convos by using the drop down and choosing “Conversations”

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ADVANCED SEARCH
And lastly, another spot is in the Advanced Search (click the regular Search on the top right, then click Advanced Search). You’ll now see a new tab, “Search Conversations” where you can input some filtering choices to narrow down the results.

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Again, I want to emphasize that you will only be able to see search results for conversations that you are a part of. No one else will be able to see conversation messages unless they are a part of that conversation.

For those of us that have quite a few convos, I hope this returned functionality makes things easier. :)


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Those are the details of some new features that the forum update brought. Let us know your thoughts here about the new elements. There may still be some minor tweaks that we need to work on. If you see any bugs or issues, there is also our forum bug reporting thread here: TCF Forum Bug List/Reporting [V2]
 
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