Forum Software Update

[j~scoot]

We will be upgrading to the latest version of VBulletin later this week (assuming all goes according to plan). Since it has been so long since the last update, I'm sure it will feel like a second Christmas for everyone around here. There are a ton of new features that will be available in the new version which i think everyone will really enjoy. I'll follow this up with either another post highlighting those updates, or a link to the vBulletin page where you can learn about them.

Following the update to the core VBulletin software will be other additions to the forum. Right now the garage that we have is, how do i say, lacking. It's basically just a glorified photo gallery. Since each user will have their own photo gallery in the updated software, we are planning a huge upgrade for the garage. This will take place in the weeks following the software upgrade.

Also, a long time request of forum members has been the ability to sell their used parts and list scooters for sale. I've been working on this and believe I have found something that will work extremely well. This will most likely be implemented after the upgraded software and garage as it will be a more intense integration.

We have some other things that we have been working on around here that we are pretty excited about but we'll wait to announce those at a time closer to their completion. Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions about these announcements in this thread as i will leave it unlocked for the time being.

--Jeff

[j~scoot]

So the update went rather smoothly and now we have a nice new skin and some new features to show for it. As promised, here is the list of a few of the new features along with some fancy screen shots:

Thread Tagging
A new way to facilitate searching and grouping of threads, it is now possible for users to add tags to threads they post or read.

http://www.provoscooter.com/vbull/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=12

Tags can be added when creating a new thread, or to an existing thread by any user (with appropriate permissions).

http://www.provoscooter.com/vbull/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=14

Any users who then click on these tags will not only find all thread that have the same tag as the one clicked, but will also contribute to the building of a search tag cloud, which gives users a quick guide as to what has been searched for recently and most frequently.

http://www.provoscooter.com/vbull/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=13

Thread Prefixes
Threads can now have administrator-defined prefixes to their titles.

http://www.provoscooter.com/vbull/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=11

Thread prefixes are divided into groups by the administrator, allowing different prefixes to be available in different forums.

http://www.provoscooter.com/vbull/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=10

Reciprocal Friendships Between Users
As part of our new social networking system, users can now request that people on their buddy list confirm their friendship, after which time a person's list of confirmed friends will be viewable to other users.

http://www.provoscooter.com/vbull/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=2

Public Messaging
While private messages between users have been in vBulletin since version 2.0, vBulletin 3.7 introduces the public messaging system, allowing users to communicate publicly via their profile pages.

http://www.provoscooter.com/vbull/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=7

User Picture Galleries
vBulletin users can now create albums and upload pictures to their account.

http://www.provoscooter.com/vbull/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=1

User-Created Social Groups
To further social cohesion between users and to encourage people to make friends, vBulletin now includes a facility to allow users to create their own social/interest groups.

http://www.provoscooter.com/vbull/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=8

These groups are enhanced by having their own public messaging system, and the ability to add pictures to the group from user albums.

http://www.provoscooter.com/vbull/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=9

New Member Profile Page
In order to accomodate all the new features in vBulletin 3.7, the member profile page has been completely redesigned from the ground up.

The new page presents information in a far cleaner and more logical manner, while dividing up information into manageable chunks using a tabbed interface.

Individual profile field categories can be displayed alone in blocks in the right column, in addition to appearing by default in the 'About Me' tab.

http://www.provoscooter.com/vbull/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=5

Inline Editing of Profile Field Values
The 'About Me' tab of each member's profile page has edit controls, allowing them to quickly change values without leaving their profile page.

http://www.provoscooter.com/vbull/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=6

Attachment Viewing Lightbox
Clicking on an attached image will now open a lightbox rather than open a new window, with the image scaled to fit the browser viewport. A click on the image in the lightbox will open it in a new window as before.

http://www.provoscooter.com/vbull/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=4

New Human Verification Systems
The new version of VBulletin has support for the popular RECAPTCHA™ system .

http://www.provoscooter.com/vbull/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=3

There are other new features as well so take some time to click around.

--Jeff

[flynlow]

Like the new skin! Lots of useful info. here and good to see it getting life again.

[burnt_toast]

nice update, and lmao at whoever voted for no.. :jesta:

[BB Roxx]

Like the new look! Couldn't get the garage going for me though. Thought it might be down for enhancing.