Now that we've moved over to the new site, there are a few things that everyone should change in their user control panel settings. I helped test the new board before it went live and the following are a few things I think everyone should change to make things better for you (it may be helpful to print this post out first so you don't have to go back and forth):
1. Some people are reporting they don't need to reset their password, others still have to. If you do have to, then I suggest the first thing you do is check your email, login with the one the site sent you, and then change your password to whatever you prefer it to be.
2. Once you do that, click on the "Logout" link at the top right of the page. Then go back to the "Home page" of the site and login from the panel on the left. Before submitting, make sure you check the ""Remember me?" box first! This will keep you logged in whenever you return to the site. It will also prevent "time-out" errors from happening when you type a long post. I don't suggest doing this on a public computer or if you don't want people to be able to login with your password though. Might not be a good idea if you have multiple members in the same house either that share the same computer either... or you may end up posting under the wrong name.
3. Once logged back in, click on the "Settings" link next to the Logout link. You don't have to do all of the following (if you don't want some personal info displayed) but this info may or may not have transferred over from the old site:
3a. Edit Profile - Add your birthday, real name/address (this is used by the new membership renewal feature), any IM handles you have, and the "additional information" like hobbies and tank specs. Be forewarned that the Tank/System specs section has a limited # of characters allowed even though it doesn't state it. After saving changes, go back to this page to make sure this box didn't cut any words off the end. If so, consider abbreviating or shortening descriptions.
3b. Edit Profile Picture - Add a link or upload a photo of yourself if you want. This is only shown on the profile page and not on the forum posts.
3c. Edit Avatar - Add a link or upload an avatar photo. These likely didn't make the transfer to the new board. These will show on your posts.
3d. Edit Signature - Some of these may have transferred from the old boards, however they may have funky characters added in. This is due to the coding differences between platforms. I suggest either deleting the odd characters or just deleting the whole thing and starting from scratch. You can also add smileys, links, etc. or alternatively add an image. Some people like to get creative with custom sig images and this is available here if you want.
3e. Gallery options - You can go through this to customize your gallery views if you want, and/or add photos to your gallery, but I suggest skipping this for now until you complete the "My Account" settings first.
3f. Since you already changed your password in step 1, you can skip that and go to "General Settings" - I won't describe everything available here, but there are a couple important ones I think you should consider... Messaging and Notification (check the boxes for what you prefer to get an email on), PM options (again, select what you prefer), Thread Display Options (I like to get more posts per page, so I changed this to the highest setting of 40, your choice here), Date & Time Options (change this to GMT -5:00 Eastern Time... this isn't the default), Misc Options (If not already default, choose Enhanced Interface so you have more options when posting). Change anything else here you would like, but I recommend you do at least the above. Click "Save Changes".
3g. Networking-Friends and Contacts - The new site has a feature that keeps a list of members you've become friends with. Add names (actually it's a request, the user has to approve it) of users that you are friends with so it's easier to contact them. When your done adding, you can see the whole list from your "My Profile" (link next to "Settings" on the top of the page.) Once on your profile, go the the "Friends" tab.
Well, hope that helps get everyone on track with the new site. If you have any questions on any settings or help finding anything, either post here or send me a PM and I'll be happy to help.
1. Some people are reporting they don't need to reset their password, others still have to. If you do have to, then I suggest the first thing you do is check your email, login with the one the site sent you, and then change your password to whatever you prefer it to be.
2. Once you do that, click on the "Logout" link at the top right of the page. Then go back to the "Home page" of the site and login from the panel on the left. Before submitting, make sure you check the ""Remember me?" box first! This will keep you logged in whenever you return to the site. It will also prevent "time-out" errors from happening when you type a long post. I don't suggest doing this on a public computer or if you don't want people to be able to login with your password though. Might not be a good idea if you have multiple members in the same house either that share the same computer either... or you may end up posting under the wrong name.
3. Once logged back in, click on the "Settings" link next to the Logout link. You don't have to do all of the following (if you don't want some personal info displayed) but this info may or may not have transferred over from the old site:
3a. Edit Profile - Add your birthday, real name/address (this is used by the new membership renewal feature), any IM handles you have, and the "additional information" like hobbies and tank specs. Be forewarned that the Tank/System specs section has a limited # of characters allowed even though it doesn't state it. After saving changes, go back to this page to make sure this box didn't cut any words off the end. If so, consider abbreviating or shortening descriptions.
3b. Edit Profile Picture - Add a link or upload a photo of yourself if you want. This is only shown on the profile page and not on the forum posts.
3c. Edit Avatar - Add a link or upload an avatar photo. These likely didn't make the transfer to the new board. These will show on your posts.
3d. Edit Signature - Some of these may have transferred from the old boards, however they may have funky characters added in. This is due to the coding differences between platforms. I suggest either deleting the odd characters or just deleting the whole thing and starting from scratch. You can also add smileys, links, etc. or alternatively add an image. Some people like to get creative with custom sig images and this is available here if you want.
3e. Gallery options - You can go through this to customize your gallery views if you want, and/or add photos to your gallery, but I suggest skipping this for now until you complete the "My Account" settings first.
3f. Since you already changed your password in step 1, you can skip that and go to "General Settings" - I won't describe everything available here, but there are a couple important ones I think you should consider... Messaging and Notification (check the boxes for what you prefer to get an email on), PM options (again, select what you prefer), Thread Display Options (I like to get more posts per page, so I changed this to the highest setting of 40, your choice here), Date & Time Options (change this to GMT -5:00 Eastern Time... this isn't the default), Misc Options (If not already default, choose Enhanced Interface so you have more options when posting). Change anything else here you would like, but I recommend you do at least the above. Click "Save Changes".
3g. Networking-Friends and Contacts - The new site has a feature that keeps a list of members you've become friends with. Add names (actually it's a request, the user has to approve it) of users that you are friends with so it's easier to contact them. When your done adding, you can see the whole list from your "My Profile" (link next to "Settings" on the top of the page.) Once on your profile, go the the "Friends" tab.
