Welcome to the New PSO-World.com Message Boards!
Welcome to the new PSO-World.com message boards everyone! What you are looking at is the result of months of hard work and planning put forth by the PSOW staff, Ryna in particular, in an effort to update our previously outdated forum and user systems. We are happy to announce that the upgrade was a success, and the PSO-World.com forums are now being powered by cutting-edge forum software!
First things first.... Read This!
As part of the upgrade process, all accounts will need to be converted to the new system. It's easy to do this, simply log in with your previous username and password. You'll be prompoted to convert your account to the new system. Once you've done that, you'll be back in business and can access all member features again.
Now, let's get to the good stuff! There's far too many new toys, features, and improvements to list them all, but here are some of the highlights:
New Layout and Theme System
- Themes: As we're sure you've noticed, the new forums look quite different from the old ones. The new boards will run on a theme system that is separate from the other areas of PSO-World (which use the legacy themes). Themes for the new areas can be specified in your new User CP, or by choosing one from the dropdown list at the bottom of any forum page. The selection of new themes is very limited at the moment, but we'll be adding more based on user feedback, so let us know what you'd like to see!
- Legacy Themes: As you have probably also noticed, not every area of the site has been updated with the new themes. Those areas will continue to run off of the legacy themes until they are updated to support the new system. Legacy themes may still be configured using the old user control panel (renamed to "Site Settings" on legacy menus), found here.
- Collapsable Blocks: While browsing the new sections, you'll notice a small symbol in the top right corner of boxes containing menus, posts, and other information. These boxes can be collapsed by clicking those icons, hiding the content stored inside of them. The site will remember which ones you collapse and they'll stay this way the next time you return to that page.
Improved Posting Features
- WYSIWYG Editor: The editor used to create and modify your posts has been upgraded. There is now an advanced WYSIWYG editor available, as well as a standard editor and a basic editor. You can switch between these when posting, or you can set your preference under the User CP. Using the more advanced editors will allow you to specify font sizes, indent, add custom tags (such as spoiler boxes or Deviant Art images), and more!
- Multi-Quote: Next to each post, you will now see button for Multi-Quotes ("Multi" with a empty checkbox next to it). You can now select multiple posts throughout the topic that you wish to quote by clicking these buttons to toggle the Multi-Quote on (will be identified with a checkmark).[/url].
- Post Tracking & Subscriptions: While browsing a topic list, you will now see special icons next to topics that you have posted in. By default, you will also be subscribed to topics that you participate in so that you can better track topics you are interested in. This can be modified under the User CP[/url].
- Topic Rating System: Topics can now be given a rating by registered members. The ratings will be displayed next to the topic names in the thread listings.
- Mod Alert Replaced: Moderator alerts have been replaced with new "Report" buttons that you will find wherever user-submitted content exists. These will provide a fast and efficient way to bring rule-breaking material to the attention of the staff.
Improved Search and Organization Functionality
- Forum Search: The new forums have a significantly improved system for the searching and organizing of information. You'll find easy-to-use search boxes throughout the forums, as well as multiple search options for advanced searching, finding all new posts, searching within a specific thread, and more! Also, before anyone asks, the character limit for search phrases has been set at only 3 (we know some of you were concerned)!
- Keyword Tags: A new 'tag' system has been introduced which will allow users to add keyword tags to any thread that is created. You can then view or search for threads based on their keyword tags.
- Similar Threads: Topics will now feature a "Similar Threads" section near the bottom of the page. This box will show you topics that are comparable to the one you are reading. Everything is designed to help you find what you're looking for as effectively as possible.
PSO-World Arcade - When you're not playing the latest Phantasy Star game, you can enjoy some of the fun games that we've loaded into PSO-World's new Arcade! There's a great collection of games waiting, from Asteroids to Blackjack. We'll be adding more in the future, so let us know if you have a request!
- Leaderboards: Each game is customized to let you record your score after playing. Scores will be stored on leaderboards, where you can leave an accompanying comment to taunt your competition. Rankings in each individual game will be totaled into one cumulative score to be ranked on the master leaderboard for the entire arcade.
- Tournaments: Want to challenge some friends to an arcade tournament? They are easy to create and you can pick the game, number of players, and number of attempts each player gets to log a good score. A tournament bracket will automatically be created for you and it will keep track of the participants and their scores.
User Profiles & Social Networking - User profiles received some nice improvements in this upgrade and we have a feeling you'll be spending a lot more time with them. Check out what's new:
- Profile Picture: You can now upload your own profile picture directly to PSO-World. It will get displayed on your profile page next to your username! There's no longer a need to host the image somewhere else. This feature can be set up in your User CP
- Message Wall: Other members can now post messages to your profile, it's a great way to keep in contact with your friend, or just to drop by and say hello. This feature can be configured under the Options in your User CP and can be turned off or limited to just friends/mods.
- Reciprocal Friend Lists: You can now create a list of all your PSO-World friends. Just add them under the User CP and they will be sent a friend request. Once they've accepted, you'll be added to each other's friends list, which will also display in your new user profile.
- Photo Albums: Users can now create their own photo albums and upload the pictures directly to PSO-World! Your albums will appear in your new profile and comments can even be left on individual pictures by your friends and visitors.
- User Groups: PSO-World's new User Group feature will allow you to stay connected and organized with your friends and gaming comrades. Post messages to the entire group or upload pictures of your latest adventures to the group's photo album! Groups can be configured to be public, private, invitation only, or a combination of options. You can also be in more than one!
- Calendar: A new Calendar feature will help keep track of upcoming events in-game and in the community. Be sure to check it often to make sure you're not missing anything important!
Additional Conversion Information - While we made a valiant effort to carry over every possible piece of information from the previous user system and forums, we could not convert everything. Some profile information was not recoverable or compatible with the new system, and therefore was lost. This includes the following:
- Signature HTML - Signatures now use BBCode only, so it was not possible to transfer over the old ones. They will need to be re-added to your account via the User CP. Previous signature rules still apply.
- Avatar Selection - Due to the way that avatars are now divided into categories, we could not carry over previous selections. However, it should be easy to select them again from the User CP.
- Miscellaneous Fields - Some profile fields do not exist in the new software, such as "Mood" or "Xbox Gamertag". These may be re-added as actual fields in the future.
- Challenge and Battle Mode Data - There was no easy way to carry this over, but we may try to restore it in the future.
- Team Information - Due to nature of the Team Center's integration with the old system, it wasn't viable to convert it over. Instead, the Social Group system will likely be improved to offer equal or better functionality in the future, and can be immediately used to recreate social groups which previously used the Team Center feature.
Well, those are the key changes that were made during the software upgrade. There are tons of other little features and changes throughout the new boards and the best way to find them will be to stop reading this and go start posting! We hope everyone enjoys the new boards. As always, your feedback is welcome and appreciated. Please feel free to use the Site Related forum to post bug reports, as well as requests for tweaks or new features!
Thanks for visiting PSO-World and joining us for our forum relaunch!
