WELCOME TO THE NEW WEB FORUMS!

[bferrari]

WELCOME TO THE NEW WEB FORUMS!:

PHASE 2 of 2 - FINAL UPGRADE: DONE


Well it's been a wild and crazy ride but we're finally done with the final upgrade.
If you've been using the new board, you'll notice that it looks different yet again, but better and cleaner.
When you go into the new forums for the very first time, you will notice red circle icons next to each forum. There's a legend at the bottom of that screen that tells you what these icons mean, but if the circle is red, it means there is a new message in the forum. When you first go for the first time, all the icons will be red. My apologies.
Also NOTE that any message from this morning need to be moved over if you want to as they are not on this new board.

TIPS:
1) When you log in to the new boards, click the "Mark Topics Read" , this will turn all the circle icons light blue which means you've read everything, though you really haven't. Now from now on when someone posts a message if an icon turns red, it will mean a new message is in that forum. You can also click on the "View New Posts" link which will show you what is new for you.

2) Configure your custom user settings: Click on the "User Control Panel" link. This allows you to edit your user settings, including your own Avatar (aka. personal graphic) which if you had set on in the previous upgrade, you'll have to do it again, my apologies again.

3) Again, if you need to access the original message board we've been using for eight years, it is here:

http://www.TewksburyIssues.org/cgi-bin/ ... matebb.cgi

The only thing you'll need there is if you need any info from your private messages or any posts from the five forums that did not get converted. We will be removing the original old board in a few months.

[bferrari]

Hi,

Since this seems to be a hot topic.

To get similar functionality of our old "Show Today's Posts" which alot of you used to use, you can get the same functionality by...:

1) Clicking on "View Active Topics" near the top left of the main forum screen.

2) Then at the bottom of that list of active topics that it displays, there is a pulldown box right at the bottom center. It usually has "Last Seven days" as the default. You can pick "Last 1 Day"

...and that will give you the same functionality that we've all come to love in our old "Show Today's Posts" link on the old board.


AS AN ALTERNATIVE: You can also click on your "User Control Panel" link, available on the top-left of most pages and click on "Board Preferences" and then "Edit Display Preferences" (or simply click here: ucp.php?i=prefs&mode=view )
You can change the "Display Topics from Previous Days" from the default "7 days" to "1 day" or whatever. If you do this you won't see the whole bulletin board, just the places where there are new messages. You can try it out if you want.

[bferrari]

Hi,

I, and some other folks have noticed that once in a while we will get "logged out" suddenly. Some people even notice that they can't seem to log in.

This might have to do with "cookies". A tracking feature of all web browsers. When you visit a website, most websites hand your browser a "cookie" and the web site uses this "cookie" as a way of knowing who you are, not personally mind you, buy your browser is assigned a temporary id number. This is how the web server knows what messages are "new for you" when you visit again.

Well anyway, there is something weird going on and it's possible that the cookie from the old message board might be interfering with the new message board we are using now.

The fix for now:
1) Clean your browser's cookies
2) Clean the cookies that this server gives you, by going to the very bottom right of any page and clicking the "Delete all board cookies".
3) Clean your browser's cache files
This will then allow you to log in again.

I'm not sure why this problem is happening, I will investigate it later tonite. Sorry for any inconvenience.

[TimW]

I've found that if I log in, then immediately click on the "return to index page" link, rather than wait for it to redirect me automatically, I either get logged out, or the board doesn't recognize that I ever logged in. If I wait for the automatic redirect, everythings OK.

[bferrari]

Hello,

Apparently Firefox 3.0x browser users (the latest Firefox browser just out this August) seems to have trouble with cookies with this new bulletin board. I haven't looked into this yet, but I assume a fix for this will be coming in a patch at some point that we will install when it is available.

You can set Firefox 3.0x to render this website using the (Microsoft Internet Explorer engine) or simply you can just use Microsoft Internet Explorer or Apple Safari or maybe even a Linux browser to view this website.

We'll keep you abreast of when a fix for this is installed.

The Management

[Harry]

Clearing cookies worked for me. Thanks Bob.

[bferrari]

Harry,

Are you running Firefox 3 ?

[Harry]

My home is Firefox 3 but log in was fine.

My work is MSN and Explorer that was giving me a hard time.

[bferrari]

I just installed Firefox 3.01 and it also works for me at the moment. It seems the "cookie" issue is random or based on some browser setting on each person's browser possibly. We'll keep an eye open for more browser issues.

[dan_mazik]

Congratulations, Bob, on yet another Tewksbury Issues milestone. In addition to all of the bells and whistles of the new format, the introduction of avatars adds a new dimension to the site. It certainly will be interesting to see what people choose (if anything).

I was actually surprised at your own choice of avatar. I would have thought that you would have used this guy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29JewlGsYxs

[bferrari]

Ha ha !! The Prisoner was one of the best TV shows from the "Golden Age" of television!!

Thanks, I just may use Patrick McGoohan !!! One of his best parts was as the King of England in the movie Braveheart !!!!

[swamper]

Haaahahahaha....that was great....and the perfect one for you Bob #6! We are Prisoner fans as well....I am NOT a number! Dan old buddy, good to hear from you. Don't be such a stranger! Have you had to batten down the hatches this hurricane season?

[dan_mazik]

Swampaaaaaa!!! Thanks for the kind thoughts! So far, so good, we’ve been dodging bullets down here, lots of storms but all of them heading elsewhere.

Hasn’t been a great hurricane season for Cuba though. Seems like every tropical storm, hurricane, tropical depression, whatever, has nailed them pretty good. I think that’s their punishment for lying about Fidel. He’s actually been dead for ten months and they just won’t fess up.

“God’ll getcha for that, Walter.” …Maude

[DavePowers]

Bob, great job with the new forums. I like the "View Active Topics" much better than the old "View Today's Topics". No need to "bump" topics now. Thanks for the work you do for all of us.

[duffyhouse]

I would also like to thank you, Bob for continuing this site and for all of your hard work in keeping it updated. I know that it must be alot of work and knowing you with your work and family committments, it is much appreciated.

(I am not sure I like the member list tho! Just kidding! But I can't believe how many posts I have logged! Boy did I have a lot of free time on my hands or what! )

And say hey Dan! I have also been thinking of you down there in Hurricane Alley-stay safe and keep in touch!