The New Board

Welcome to the new board

I'll try and cover a few things here, like you might notice that your avatar looks squished, or a little fuzzy, well, the avatar setting on this board is for 100x100 pixels and if an avatar is bigger than that it will be 'squished' to fit those parameters, or if your avatar is smaller than 100x100, it will be enlarged and that often will make a smaller picture appear a bit fuzzy. I'll try and get some avatars up to size as soon as I can, but I'll make an appeal to those of you who can make avatars to make some 100x100, please) and post them in the fan art forum so fans can pick some new ones if they like, or e-mail them to me in a zip file and I'll upload them to the avatar popup.

As I said on the other board, I tried to make this board look like the original as much as I could, but there are definite differences on this board. For example, this board has spoiler tags, which should come in handy in Desperate Housewives and Smallville threads. You simply click the spoiler button, which is located on the full reply or new post screen between the strike-through button and quote button.



Also there is private messaging. That was available on the other board, too, but I never activated it, however I can see the value of it for certain things like if you need access to one of the restricted forums you can PM me instead of writing an e-mail. If someone is setting up a fan event like LAFF, or SEFF, you'll be able to PM the person running the event to have your name added and they can PM an acknowledgment back to you.

This board does not have password protection for forums, instead it has "groups" that are created, which grant access to restricted forums like Nfanfic or Bluetights Cafe. I have created a group called "bluefic" and when I add your name to that group you'll be able to access those forums. Sorry it has to be done this way, but they created the group method to prevent people from sharing passwords with people who didn't actually ask for the password. I've been adding people I've seen posting in the Nfanfic and Bluetights forums to the bluefic group. To expedite being added, just PM me and make sure you state you are 18 years old or older.

There are also cool things this board can do that weren't possible on the classic board. For example you can change the font and make text bigger. You can also post pictures in an essay format.

When you click the "image" button, you are given the choice of inserting a non-floating image, or a left, right or center floating image. Floating merely means that it will stick whichever direction you choose, as in this case I chose left. The advantage to being able to "stick" (float) and image on one side or the other is that the text will wrap around it like a newspaper or magazine article.

You can also insert videos from youtube, google video, yahoo video and myspace video. If it won't embed, or if it says "this video is no longer available" it could mean that the person who posted the video originally is preventing it from being embedded elsewhere. You can also delete your posts here within a three day time frame. After 3 days I'd have to delete it. The only exception is if your post starts a thread and has gotten replies. Then you cannot delete it because it would wipe out the whole thread.

Lastly, as I said on the other board, I had to upgrade to the UBB Threads version because UBB Classic is no longer being produced, upgraded or serviced and the spam bot registrations at the other board had gotten way out of hand.

I will keep the other board open and people can feel free to post on both boards, but newbies will only be able to respond to you on the new board as I've suspended registrations on the other board. Even if I eventually close the old board to new posts, it will be left standing as an archive board so that the links that led to the old threads and were imported to this board, will still link to those posts.

Any questions? Comments? Let me know.

Zoom

I like the look of this new board. It's gonna be fun
Thanks for the hard work you put into this. I'm sure it took you hours to do that and I want to make sure that we appreciate (at least, I do! lol).

This place looks shinier. lol

I like the new board. Thanks for everything that you do, Zoom. We all appreciate it

Raquel

I echoe everyone's sentiment. I like this new board too. Thanks for all you're hard work

Hi Zoom!

Thanks for your effort, this new board looks pretty cool.

Carolyn

Thanks zoom for help

I have a lot of 100x100 avatars.
Just click on the link where you can find them.
They are free to use

http://s10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Tineke2/

Welcome new board. Yay to the no-extra-password-requirement for the nfic-board.

Just migrated my story-posts.

Michael

Change is inevitable, especially on the Internet, but you are handling it in the most user-friendly way possible....thanks, Zoom.

Loving the new board! Thanks Zoom!

I'm wondering if we can have banners and the like in our sigs?

Zoom, love the look of the new Board...it is amazing how quickly we can adapt to change. It will be fun checking it all out. Thank you.

Diane

This is like driving a new car! All shiny and full of controls one has yet to figure out! Thanks so much for all your work, Zoomway. Yes, programs on the internet have a short life span. Glad to hear the old board will stay up.
regards
checking gremlin
Artemis

Hmm, I was just going to say how easy that all was and went back to edit my post and got this " This post can no longer be edited because the maximum edit time has expired." It was like 2 seconds. So I guess we don't edit at all?

Artemis

Its okay Im in!!!

But my avatar looks terrible all little squares not clear.

Well, as usual on new things, I messed up. I really didn't want to change my avatar, but was looking for maybe a new one. The choices are limited compared to the old board and I would like my old avatar back. It turns out there is no way to unclick the radio buttons. All you can do is change the choice. So I would like my old avatar back please. And the password goes to my standard e-mail address.

Artemis

Love it!

Annie

This looks good. Thanks again for all your hard work.

Having been an admin on various boards over the years, most notably those provided by Proboards, this new version of UBB is coming in line with a lot of things available out there. It should be good And I for one cannot say enough how much I appreciate the hard work you put into maintaining the boards.

Looks good so far Zoom! I'm kinda slow when it comes to anything computer related, so I'm probably going to have questions as we go along, but hey---change is good. I'm ready and all set to give it a try. Thanks for all you do.

Susan

Geez that all sounds Greek to me Zoom, but as I said I am basically a computer dummy! I will learn as I go though, and will no doubt be asking questions. I am looking forward to our "new home". Thanks again for everything you do for us!

Thanks for the compliments, everyone. Sorry about the editing limit thing. Announcements is a new forum that didn't exist on the old board during the import process so I had to go in and update the editing feature belatedly. Again, sorry about that, but now you should be able to edit posts in Announcements like any other forum.

Nyna and Artemis, I've updated your avatars to fresh versions. Also, I'm adding people to the bluefic group as fast as I can. Who knew there were so many pervets I mean so many people who appreciate fiction of a more adult nature

Thanks again for the comments and let me know if there's anything on the new board that you don't understand. By the way, the little face that appears next to your nick in posts is called a "mood" icon. If you want to change it, click the smilie face next to where it says "log out" next to your name at the top of the page and pick a new 'mood'. Since they don't have one of a chicken running around with its head cut off, I'll just keep mine as is for now

Zoom

Zoom, you did a great job. Love your title, BTW. Kinda makes you sound like some kind of Kryptonian god.

Thanks Zoom for providing us with your amazing cite as technology evolves.
I can't wait to explore this new place!!

Thanks, but as to the custom title "Boss of Us", I can't take credit for that line. Lois told Clark "you're not the boss of us" in Season's Greedings and she's right, Clark isn't the boss of us, I'm the boss of us But Clark is definitely better looking

Zoom

I re-enterd my url to my avatar, all is well.
You must be very very busy with all the changes, bu the board looks good.

Oh, I know. Hence why he's not the Kryptonian god; you are. I mean, you know vastly more about Krypton than he does!

Thanks Zoom the new board looks good. You obviously put a great deal of work into it. I looking forward to exploring.

I'm still a bit confused.
Well , hope to learn soon.

Cristina

Love the new board. Great job, Zoom!

Thank you for the new board

Lovin the new features

Some threads are not updated, aren't they?

Thanks Zoom for your hard work:)

Cristina

Hi Cristina,

Yes, threads and posts from the old board were imported on September 23 and so they are only current to that date on this board, but some fans have thankfully updated some of the posts to bring them current with the old board. I also corrected a goof I made when assigning link colors and had the "new subject" color set to white, which is a bad link color choice when the background is also set to white

Zoom

Very sweet! Login was quick.

Ahh, that explains it! I couldn't figure out why I could never see the topic title of the new threads! I thought there was a problem with my browser or something LOL! Thanks for fixing it, Zoom.

Hi Zoom,
thank for your quick reply.

That explains the thing, i'm relieved.

Cristina

Very nice Zoomway. I'll add my thanks for all your hard work.

For someone as technically challenged as me I am surprised I made it here without getting lost.

I love the new look!

You are an amazing woman Zoom - getting a new board up and running, dodging hurricanes . . .

Thank you for all the hard work you put in so that we can

Thanks for fixing my avatar, Zoom! The whole thing looks really good.
I have a question. Back on the old board somebody who is unregistered logged in with a commercial for software. How is that possible??

Artemis

OK I'm really confused. After Artemis' post I got curious and looked at the old boards, and I see that many people still seem to be posting there as well. Are we using BOTH boards now? Because there's no way I can keep up with TWO. I can barely keep up with this ONE, LOL. There seem to be a few people who aren't even using this board and are staying on that old one. So, Zoom, is the plan to have both boards up and running or aren't you planning to migrate everything over here? Because I figured the old board would be "closed" essentially and we'd be using this from now on. It's very confusing having two threads on one topic, for example, but have some posts here and some there. My head is spinning, quite frankly LOL. Am I the only one who finds that part of it a little confusing?

Can't edit my post I guess, so I've gotta make a new one LOL. I just read the announcement again and saw that Zoom did say both boards would stay active. I'm sorry but I find that way too confusing, personally. Ah well.

Try again, Gem, you should be able to edit your post in this forum now. If not, let me know.



Unfortunately there are a lot of security holes in the old Classic board and when a spammer wants to get through bad enough, he/she can. Even I can't start a thread or post a reply on that board if I'm not logged in, so the spammer is exploiting a security loophole. The "report post" function, for example, is something I never enabled on the old board. It has a security problem where admins and moderators can get spammed via that feature. The PHP accelerator is another security loophole for determined bad guys.

I'm not saying UBB.Threads is a Fort Knox of security in comparison, but since they still update and make "bug" fixes for this version and provide support, I at least don't feel like I'm stranded on an island somewhere I'm even about two years slow getting with the new program. This was posted by the UBB center a couple of years ago:

UBB.classic will no longer be developed, and an end-of-life date has been set for June 15, 2006. From that date forward we will no longer develop or offer support for UBB.classic.

You can't get much more final than an "end-of-life" description

And, Gem, I said both boards would stay open, but that eventually the old board will be just an archive board where no one can post, but where people can still read the posts and where links can still lead back to old posts. Of course if more spammers get through to the old board with it in non-registration mode, it might end up archived sooner rather than later. However, I wanted people to have a chance to adjust to the new board and work out any problems they have before I archive the old one. Not to mention me finding places and things I need to tweak on the new board

Zoom

How do I get into Bluetights now? It used to ask for the password, but when I tried today it didn't, and said access was denied. Seems like you addressed this somewhere, but ditzy me didn't pay attention once again! Sorry!

Hi supergirl6116,

I added you to the "bluefic" group and now you should have access to both Nfanfic and Bluetights. All anyone has to do is send me a private message and state that they are 18 years old or older and I'll add them to the group. To send me a private message all you have to do is click on my screen name and choose "send a PM" or go to the top of your screen and click the link that says "my stuff" and from that dropdown menu pick "messages". On that screen pick "new private message" and you're good to go. Just put the name of the person on the board you want to PM and send them your message.

Zoom

Zoom, you are amazing! Our new home looks great. Looking forward to as many great years here as I've had on the old boards. Thanks for all your hard work and dedication.

After using the new board for a couple days, it's faster, more concise and easier to use.

Big hit!

zoomway I would like to sign up for bluefic I already requested nfic to you via email

I hope it keeps functioning nicely, Colin. I tested this board for several days and it seems to be working really well. The best thing is that it didn't have to overwrite the old board. That way if there's a problem that develops with this one that needs to be fixed, the old board can be used again in the interim. And you're right about it being faster since it's PHP script instead of perl, which is the same reason it looks a bit crisper. The scripts don't have to be uploaded and launched from the cgi-bin area.



maradaddy, I just added you to the bluefic group, you should be good to go now. But let me point out to anyone who doesn't remember their old password, or changed their email address and so can't access their profile on the old board, just send me an email with your public display name and I can send you a new password for this board. Remember all members from the old board have been imported to this one and so all your memberships are intact here.

Zoom

Thanks Zoom!

"I have a lot of 100x100 avatars.
Just click on the link where you can find them.
They are free to use"

Thanks Tineke, I took one. I love it!

I'm wondering if there will be a 'shut off' date for the old board when people will no longer be able to post there... trying to keep up with threads on both boards is a tad frustrating.

But the new boards are fine... *shrugs*... a forum is a forum... a safer forum in terms of security for both the admins and it's users always gets a thumbs up in my book.

I'm afraid I have to agree with you, Kiwi. Not so much about the confusion, though that's a factor, but because ever since I shut down the registration on the old board, there's been a couple of spam posts there that got through and I have no idea how they did it. It's set so only registered users can post, but they clearly weren't registered users, yet they were able to post.

There have only been two so far, but they rig their posts so clicking anywhere in the post takes users to what is no doubt an unsafe or malicious website. The one last night was total gibberish and I thank Widget for pointing it out as quickly as she did. The IP number led to what appeared to be a Chinese site, which isn't a surprise because a lot of the spam registrations came from Chinese (and Russian) sites.

I guess I'll have to set a deadline for archiving the old board to keep the random spam posts away. But I find it pretty suspicious that this started shortly after I set the board to no registration status. It makes me believe some of the spam posters are a bit resentful

Zoom

Looks good, Zoom. I like!

Wow! This really looks similar to the old one. Nice Job! I am just happy that I can still sign in. I do come out of lurking once in a while. Thanks.

So set a date and do it Zoom.
I am sure you'd be happier not to have to deal with the dilemma of both boards being active on top of removal of the loopholes these scum are obviously using to try and 'attack' the old boards...

I find it unfortunate we have to suffer through these people and their spam... Interesting that China is the new trendy 'hole' from which to vent one's spam... there was a time not so long ago it was Japan... I guess these people find a hole and exploit it regardless of where it is.

All the more reason to give users a push onto these boards where the nice shiny security features improve the protection imho.

I made it over here! Yay!! Just gone for a little over a week to come back to find a new playground.

Amazingly enough I remembered my log-in information.
It still looks a little strange but I ams ure I will feel at home here very soon!

Zoom, thank you for everything, I do appreciate all your work!

Natascha

just had to test the new board. Like the new header icons you found and selected for each forums. Some where totally hilarious. PLus their def seems a better than on UbbClassic (say:"former board?" that sounds so final *shudders*)

Well, I guess I just have to get used to that new board.

/goes back to discovering

I've made it here too, keep up the good work Zoom

Thanks, Triple L, Aoi (always glad when you delurk), Natascha, Cyad and Bev. So far, so good, as the little turtle said crossing the busy highway

Kiwi, I'll set a date in a bit, but there are some people who don't come to the board regularly, so I want to keep the old board up for a couple of weeks. However, I will post a message in the header of the site that mentions the deadline when it's set and a link to this board so they won't feel ambushed.

The old board will also make a good emergency board if something drastic fails on this one. I will have to update this board from time to time since Threads is still an 'in production' format. If nothing else, there'll be the occasional new security patches. Patience, my little padawan

Zoom

Hi Zoom,

I really like this new message board!
Thank you for the all the work and time you put in to make this new message board operational.

The only thing that is missing is that in the old boards I could see which topics I already read, since they were displayed in a different color.
It would really help if this feature could be added to this message board too.

Thanks for everything again,
Abby

Abby, the color changing thing didn't seem to be working right for me when I first looked at the new boards, but then it straightened itself out. Maybe it has to build up a memory or something. I have no idea, but it's working fine for me now, so hopefully it'll right itself for you in a couple of days also

The color changing thing isn't working right for me either. The old board if a light is on, if I don't click on it, the light would not be on the next time I went onto the board, This board, the light seems to stay on no matter how many time I come onto the board until I click on the topic. There are some topics I don't open up. I wish the light would go off on it's own.
Sue

The only problem I am having is that I have to log in EVERY TIME I sign on! It's not remembering me. One day I had a senior moment and when it asked for my password I said I couldn't remember it, so I was issued a temporary one. I think it said that I could go in to my profile and make a new one of my choosing, and I haven't done that. Maybe that is why it's a problem now?

Suez, your problem could be a cache issue. I worked on these boards for a couple of weeks before I announced them and the lights are working for me. I don't know if that's because I worked with it that long and built up the browser's cache memory or if they worked right away. I have to admit I didn't notice. It could also be a browser issue. Some older browser versions of IE might not display them properly. You can try a different browser and see if you have the same problem.

supergirl6116, make sure your browser is set to accept third party cookies. That's what makes a site remember or forget you with each visit. You can also try giving yourself a new password to see if that helps. I know there's a site I go to where I have to put in my name and password each time even though I'm set to accept cookies and I click "remember me" each time. I have no idea why that particular site forgets me

Zoom

I just saw the caption underneath your nick, Zoom. Bwah!!

Oooh! I didn't have to log in this time!! Yippee! That's the first time this week. Thanks though Zoom. In case it happens again I will keep in mind what you said.

Hi, Zoom,

Very much thanks for your hard work keeping the board working.

I haven't had any probs.

Again, thanks for your hard work! You really go the extra mile for us. I hope you know we appreciate it!

Deb

At last I've come here. New board is very cool. Thanx Zoom.

Just testing the new boards...

Zoom, thanks for all your help in the transition to the new boards. By the way, is there anyway to make the font larger like on the old boards? Or do I just explore the board's features?

Ryan

P.S. Beat the Wildcats!

I'd like to also add my kudos to Zoom, but I have to say that seeing Jaxon in the Techie forum now is a fun and different pic.

Hey, Zoom, Halloween is coming up next week!

You going to do anything fun? In the last years you've really moved the bar up. Any thoughts?

Regardless of what you do, we appreciate all that you do.

So, thanks very much to Zoom who makes this board a very fun place to visit.

Thanks!

Hey Ryan,

I matched the old board's font size as close as I could. Does this look closer to what you're used to now? It uses a slightly different font family than the old board, so it won't be an exact match, but size-wise it's pretty close now. I also fixed your avatar.

Hi Deb,

Yeah, I liked using Jaxon for the techie forum. He was a self proclaimed geek, so it suits him As for Halloween, that depends on how much time I have, which isn't much right now, but I never say never

Zoom

I for one, like this font better.

I also like that the 'date' is now white against the dark blue background. I was having problems seeing the red numbers against the blue.

Thanks Zoom.

Hi Zoomway,at first I had to get used to the new look at things but after exploring it for 3 weeks now I feel at home.
Loving the new board as much as the old board
Thank you so much,great work!

oh and btw,thanks Tineke for your nicly made,free avatar.

I've got one question,how do I send e.g. EditorJax an e-mail,I try'd but I think I made a mistake?

Saw the new board today for the first time....Did not know there was a new one....looks great.....

Thanks, Sandi. I didn't like the red on blue either and Sue had PMed me saying she couldn't read it, but the date really presented a puzzle for me. It had to be visible on a white background and a dark background and there's no good color compromise for that. Instead I used a highlighter formula that allowed it to work on both.



You can PM her. Go to where it says "my stuff" and click the link that says "messages" and you can create a message to send to her. If you need to e-mail her, ask for her e-mail address in the PM.



Thanks, Roely.

Zoom

Great job on the new board, Zoom!

Thanks!

Deb

Just a suggestion, but maybe the link on www.lcfanfic.com should be changed to link to this new board. I'm not even sure who does this.

By the way Zoom thanks for all your hard work. Board looks great.

The two boards are actually not affiliated. However, I suggest you contact Labrat or Wendy on the fic side and they can change the link.

heh.. I must admit I had a serious blonde moment (sorry blondes) when I went to the old board . I haven't been paying attention I suppose.

I'm gone a few weeks and everything perks up! Looks great!

Wow! It's great to see the new board. Already changed the link at my LJ

I have been logging into the old board for weeks, and seeing nothing new. I was beginning to think that maybe Dean fell off the planet.

Today I happened to see the top topic item on the old board, but even when I read it, it didn't register. Took a minute to sink in.

Well I've found you all again - YEAH!!! And now I need to catch up - I've missed alot.

A suggestion - can someone go to the old board and put the notice of and direction to the new board in big print or something to capture the attention. Maybe I'm not the only one who has been lost.

LOVE the new board tho!!!

Yeah I agree maybe a big sign across the top would be a good idea. I didnt look at the announcements for a while either

Love the new board, great job, Zoom!

What a super board!

I love the new look!

cool broad love it

hi this is lovesuper97 my login and password was not working can you help

Nice new board

Hello, this board is great. Even if I am acustomed to http://yuku.com this message board looks great. And I am glad that I found it . Btw, nice to meet you all.

hi, im prob doing this wrong but i'd like access to the nfic on Zoomway. I am older than 18. Labrat may remember me. Thank you

I sent you a PM. Welcome to the boards

Hey, everyone! Guess who? Just thought I'd pop in and check up on everyone here in FoLC land. Now that my other obsession, Psych, is over, I'm floating around and thinking about things. Didn't know where else to put this, so Zoom, go ahead and move it if you deem it necessary!

Love ya's!

Hey, Triple L. Great to hear from you again

Sorry it took so long for me to reply, but I don't ordinarily check the announcement forum. Repost your re-howdy in the L&C forum. This one is mainly for message board update info and so FoLC don't pay much attention to it.

Welcome back. Seriously, if you haven't reposted this in the L&C forum, please do so. I'm always happy to see an old timer... er vintage fan return

Zoom