The New Forum

Okay so the new forum is now up and running. The forum software has been upgraded to the newest version of phpBB, along with several other custom improvements and additions. Please read this whole topic!

http://www.neofriends.net/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=11811 is the official topic for ERROR/Problem reports - there are quite a lot of things which need fixing, so if you find any more please post them there!

Here I have quickly listed some of the custom improvements:

- A brilliant new download system!
- Programmers can write their own detailed program descriptions, using a 'posting template'.
- Easier to submit programs, which go directly to the moderators queue.
- Latest program statistic on index.php
- New daily giveaway system, quick, easy to use and automated.
- Daily giveaway winner announced on index.php
- New awards system
- New autogrouping system. Awards and forum cash are automatically given.
- New Anti-Spammer features
- Shop wizard on index.php
- Syntax highlighting (bbcode) for vb6, vb.net, perl, etc.
- Games Arcade
- Some redesigned awards (thanks to ricky92)
- Redesigned logos and graphics. (thanks to sirCharles and Balthier and a few others)
- A nice new chat on index.php
- Forum icons
- Kadoatie restock page
- User Galleries to show off your graphics

These improvements should make the forum much easier to manage, and therefore making it far more organized and better for users.

Here are some details on some of the new features:

Giveaway System-
If you would like to run a daily giveaway yourself, all you need to do is PM an admin, and you will be given permissions to access a small part of the Moderators Control Panel. Here, you will be able to type your item name and value, and the giveaway will be automatically ran for you. The post will be automatically made in the giveaway forum, and the winner will be automatically displayed on index.php.

Auto usergroup system-
-When a user makes 1 post, they will be added to the 'New Users' usergroup, and will be automatically given the 'New Users' award and 4 cash points.
-When a user reaches 125 posts, they will be automatically added to the 'Level 1' usergroup, given the award and 25 cash points.
-When a user reaches 300 posts, they will be automatically added to the 'Level 2' usergroup and given 75 forum cash to spend in the download system.

Currently the auto giving cash feature is broken. This should be fixed within the next 1-2 days, but just over the next day or two, if you reach a new usergroup, you will need to PM a mod for your forum cash points. The auto-awards and auto-grouping is currently working fine though.

I could not give the "New User" award to everyone who has between 1 and 124 posts, so that is why a lot of people who should have this award don't have it. If you are one of these people, you may get a SQL error when you reach 125 posts, but don't worry about it - it should still give you your level 1 award, and if there is a problem you can post in the awards application forum.

- Users can now choose their default usergroup (in the user control panel, under 'usergroup' settings). This means that if you are in two usergroups, such as 'Programmers' and 'Level 3 Users', you can choose your default usergroup. This will affect your usernames colour, your rank, and your avatar. You can still upload a custom avatar of your own if you want, but by default you use your 'default usergroup' avatar.

- New Members who join the site, will start off in a group with a grey colour (not displayed in the legend). This marks them as inactive. As soon as they make 1post, they will be added to the New Members usergroup, and will be given 5 points.

Games Arcade-
- The games arcade is a nice new feature.
- You can rate games by clicking on the stars on the main arcade.php page
- You can add games to your favourites, which can then be accessed through your User Control Panel (UCP)
- Highscores are recorded

Syntax Highlighting-
-This allows you to use syntax highlighting on your code snippets, making them easier to read and understand. See the topic on syntax highlighting for information on how to use this feature to highlight your code snippets!

What hasn't improved?-
- The donation system is currently down, so users currently cannot donate for points - but it should be up and running again sometime soon.
-The reputation system is no longer.

Program transferral-
Program transferral is going to be the hardest thing to tackle. Over the next day or so, I am hoping that all the programmers will resubmit their program(s) to the download section. After the majority of the programs and scripts have been resubmitted, the transferral of programs which you purchased with your forum cash on the old forum will be transferred to your downloads on this forum. This process maybe take a few days to be completed, so be patient. Forum cash, or points, will probably also be transferred over.


Besides all these custom features, there are tonnes of new forum features which were added by the forum software upgrade, which mean much more functionality when posting, managing posts, managing your account (using the new user control panel), and it is also much easier for moderators and admins to do their job. The new CAPTCHA (that's the image which is displayed when new users register and they need to type the letters) should mean that there are no more bots/spambots registering (at least for a while!).


If you are wondering about new forum features, such as the user control panel, the friends/foes lists, the new posting features etc - the best place to look is the phpBB3 FAQ. (There's a link to the FAQ at the top of every page). One of these features is warnings. If you break any of the minor rules, it is likely that a moderator will issue you a warning. If a user receives 3 warnings in a period of less than a month, that user will probably be suspended.

Level 3 Users now have some moderator abilities. Here is an outline of what Level 3's can now do compared to full global moderators.

Level 3 Users:
- Can manage the moderators queue
- Can approve/disapprove posts
- Can approve downloads
- Can edit posts

Moderators:
- Can do all of the above
- Can delete posts
- Can close and delete reports
- Can manage bans
- Can view post details
- Can lock, merge, move and split topics
- Can issue warnings

Any user can use the giveaway system to run their own giveaway(s) if they ask.


Before users programs are transferred from the old forum to their 'your downloads list' on the new forum all the programmers and scripters from the old forum will need to resubmit their working programs here, with more detailed descriptions, a screenshot (optional but preferred!) and instructions. Forum auths will need to be recoded to work on the new forum, but this shouldn't take long... Please submit your programs at the SAME COST they were at on the old forum. If you submit any new programs, please don't submit them at a too cheap or too expensive cost. If we disagree with the cost you submit a program at, it will be changed. Also, please take the time to write (a) nice, detailed description(s) on your program(s)!



- I know there is only 1 game in the arcade right now but a lot more will be added.



Post your opinions on the new forum on this topic:
viewtopic.php?f=41&t=11781

 

We won't have our points back unless a script is written to update the MySQL tables. I know nothing about PHP so I can't help much, but I'll try to see if I can do something...

 

uhh.. I wrote that a week or 2 ago.. there probably will be a script written to transfer cash/points

 

currently it's not working when the item has spaces in it, but it's working for single word items like 'negg'.. i'm working on fixing that

you won it yesterday pm me where you want the prize sent

 

shop wiz is fixed now and will work with all items