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 Post subject: Welcome to the new Arwen-Undomiel.com forum!
PostPosted: June 3rd, 2005, 7:21 pm 
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Joined: 03 May 2005
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Welcome, welcome! I hope everyone will enjoy posting in the new forum as much as I've enjoyed tailoring it to each and every one of the members' needs! Before you start posting, though, please take a moment to read a few Q&As about the newness.

Why DID we switch forums? What was wrong with the old one?

The main reason behind the switch was that Proboards, the old forum host, was instituting an upgrade to their system which, although it added some spiffy new features, was terrible for the A-U forum: the new upgrade automatically deleted any members under 13, forced everyone to enter birth dates, and wouldn't allow new users to register if their birthdays showed they were under 13. This was quite horrible for us, since we value ALL of our members and have no wish to lose any, regardless of age.

That was the main impetus for the move, but there were others. Let's just say Proboards wasn't exactly customization-friendly. Of course, it's a free, hosted forum service: one can't expect much from that. But formating layouts and colors, and just tailoring it to suit individual needs proved to be nearly impossible. The advertisements also weren't very encouraging.

So, are there new customizations on this forum then?

There are lots! Check out the smilies when you post a message: there are over 80 of them, all custom. Look at the layout: every single bit of it, is customized. HTML code can now be used instead of just BB code. Users can post polls with up to 20 options, and even limit how many days the poll runs. Avatars under 30 kb can be uploaded. For users who wish to use A-U avatars, there's an easy-to-use gallery showing all possible avatars. The number of threads and posts per page are customizable so new posts won't get immediately pushed out of the way (there can be up to 30 threads per page and 15 posts per page with our current settings). The ranks are customizable: a now unlimited number of ranks by number of posts, and custom images for each rank. Profiles have more options, such as being able to view one's signature from the profile page, seeing post statistics, and being able to enter one's interests. The memberlist can be sorted in a variety of ways, not just by letter. We can have usergroups (special member groups that will be give the groups' members access to private forums). We have custom-tailored FAQs and rules: no more looking around at each individual sub-forum for separate rule and FAQ threads.

Besides all these member features, there are many admin features that allow us to customize the forum even further. We could change the signature character limit from 255 to any number if we wanted to, give polls unlimited options, change PM limits, and much more. We can add/delete words from the profanity filter if necessary. There's an even option to "prune" any unanswered threads from a certain number of ways ago.

Plus, none of us need worry about the forum host deleting members or creating new rules we need to follow. The forum is hosted on the A-U server :)

Something's not working! AAAAH!!!!

Check the FAQ first before you decide something's not working. This forum is different from the old one, so obviously things aren't going to work in quite the same way. If you're still having problems, contact one of the A-U mods if it's non-technical, and PM me if it is techie-related.

Did you get rid of the Moderator Discussion section?

No. It's just invisible to non-mods now :-P



Enjoy the forum!

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