NYF Spring Clean

[baloo]

We're doing some work on the backend of the board. It's been neglected for a bit so it was time for a tune up.

There shouldn't be any outages to the board but you may start to see things added, removed, re-arranged etc.

If you notice any errors, please post it in here.

If you notice anything different and want to know more, again, post here.

We should be done soon.

[Kohinoor]

Hi all,

Already, I am appreciating the "new look" for New You. Onya, Baloo !!

There's more yet to come, and, even though we can often recoil in horror with "change", I just wanted to pop in to say "DON'T fear this one (these ones)."

The words I am hearing from Baloo and Asy are all good, and I'm sure most are going to LOVE some of the neat little "extras" that will be added in the near future.

Quicklinks has already changed, and Hall of Fame now has a place of honour "front and centre". BTW, we still need all of you maintainers to put your details forward so we can do a big update of HoF.

One change I am appreciating is a new "spam blocker" add-on which reduces the back-end workload significantly. Seems to work beautifully !!

Asy will be giving a full report shortly to bring you all up-to-date !!

Rock on, Baloo !!
Koh

[asy]

Thanks to everyone for their patience while things are moving around a little..

The main change forum members will see are the ads. They shouldn't be too obtrusive, and you don't have to do anything, ignore them at your will. If you do see something that interests you, please click and have a look, but, if not, feel free to ignore them.

There are other changes happening back-end which most of you won't see (unless you're mods), suffice it to say it's to make things easier for the administration of the forum. Other changes are planned down the track to make things even better for you all. (like - Mobile apps etc)

There will be other small things, like the ability to 'like' posts, and a new stats area on the front page (which you can't see just yet).

I know there's been some discussion about the ads, I did say when the forum was started that I didn't want to put ads on the forum, but, unfortunately, I'm in a position where I need the forum to help pay for itself.

There may be more changes down the track (long term- we're discussing things like new software with more bells and whistles), but, for the moment, these shouldn't really impact things too much on a day-to-day basis.

I hope that explains, at least a little, what's going on behind the scenes.

Thanks to Baloo, our 'engineer' who is doing all the real work, and, thanks to Koh, who keeps the forum running on a daily basis. The two of you are truly legends.

[Kohinoor]

or should that be "Oh my....!! Stars!!"

Yes, we now have stars showing beneath some members names.

As some of you have already guessed, this is simply an indicator of the number of posts the member has made. Those without stars have not yet reached 100 posts.

Extra stars follow at other "milestone times", and they "max out" at 5,000 posts with 5 stars. So, they are an indicator of activity on the website, and have nothing to do with the "Rating of a post or thread".

Yes, we do show stars against a few threads (those where enough members have "rated" them). Those (thread) stars are earned only by member input.

HoF Badge:-
You will have also seen a new symbol beneath some members' names - it is the Hall of Fame badge, and is awarded to every member who has had their details listed in the HoF.

Colours of names :-
There has been a change to the colours of a few names - Administrators' names are Red, and Moderators names are Green. This helps to distinguish them easily.

Format:-
The Home page has already seen several changes. Layout of posts, members' data, etc either already HAVE changed, or will be changing soon. As I said earlier, there is nothing to fear - but if you do strike trouble, do ask as a Reply to this thread.

Hats off to Baloo for making most of these changes "on the fly".

We can look forward to more neat features being implemented.

Rock on,
Koh

[Rochy]

Don't know if I should be posting here, (delete if you want!) but just wanted to say a huge heartfelt 'thank-you' to everyone who keeps this forum going. In full-view, Koh, & behind scenes, Baloo, Asy & probably plenty of others I don't know about!

Without it I really do question how much success I would have had Thanks so so much

[baloo]

You're Welcome Rochy. Don't forget all the Moderators who also work to make NYF an invaluable resource.

Other than Koh, we've all been through Cohen's or are currently on Cohen's so we're all working together to make this place as helpful as possible.