1. The new search engine works fine now that we've upgraded the underlying database system, but see tip number 17, below, about settings for the search engine.
2. Posts that contain links to old posts, are working just fine now too. Hooray for the data import/mapping system.
3. In this new version of the software, there's a nifty little post editor for composing posts. Highlight text with your mouse and then click Bold or Italics or Underline or a color from the palette, and it works like a word processor.
4. Smileys/Graemlins and astro-sign glyphs for the body of posts are available inside a little button with a smiley face on it in the post editor.
5. If you're logged in, you can use the Shout Box.
6. If you're logged in, you can add events to the calendar. Birthdays are automatically added, if you've allowed for it in your profile.
7. "My Home," for changing settings of your profile and for preferences related to page display and PMs and such, is now in the "My Stuff" link at the top of the page.
8. To attach a file to a post, look for the File Manager link at the bottom of the box you type in to post.
9. To include a poll in a post, use the Poll Manager link, also at the bottom of the box you type in to post.

That's all I can think of right now.

Maria

Some more tips:

10. Buttons enabling you to post and reply only show up when you're logged in.
11. To start a new thread, click the New Topic button at the top of a page when you are in a forum.
12. To reply to posts, there is both a biggish Reply tab at the top of the page and a small Reply button at the bottom of each post.

And some more:

13. This Tips thread is a "Global Announcement," meaning I posted it in the Website Suggestions forum but then told it to also post itself in every other forum. But it will only show up as the "Newest Post" in the Website Suggestions forum because it doesn't really live in these other forums; it's just visiting.

14. Apparently no one but me can reply to this Tips thread because of it being a "Global Announcement." I'll look into that and see if there's a way to open this thread up. But I assure you that on every other page of posts for every other thread, there is a Reply button at the top of each page and the bottom of each post.

15. You might have to log in twice, one right after the other. Check the top gold line, over to the right, to see if it says Welcome Username, which it will say if you're logged in.

16. After logging in, scroll down to the bottom of any page and click the My Cookies link on the left. Go ahead and expire the cookie, which will probably have data on it from both installations of the software. Expiring the cookie will log you out, so then log back in again. That should solve any future Log In problems.

You can always post questions to me on any other thread -- or start a new one to do so -- or send me a private message on site or write me at info@consciousevolution.com if you're having trouble.

Maria

Hi again. A few more tips ...

17. I had previously had the search engine set to limit results to 1,200. However, Dave Walters pointed out that when he went to "My Stuff" and clicked "My Posts," it wouldn't show all his 7,000+ posts! Of course, you could go to "Advanced Search" and do different searches for different time spans to find your old discussions, but it seemed to me it would be cool to have easy access to a complete set of one's old posts. So I've gone ahead and upped the iimit on search results to 9,000. Keep in mind that if you're on an old computer or slow internet connection and searching something common without setting other limits in the Advanced Search, this very high limit on the results might cause your computer to hang. Also, if there are lots of searches going on, each with lots of results, it could slow the site down. So we'll have to keep an eye on it and see how it goes. Let me know if you have any trouble.

18. Everybody should visit his or her "My Profile" and "My Preferences" pages and make sure everything is the way you want it. I hope everyone will click to add their birthdays to the calendar -- it won't display the year or your age.

19. The mechanism that sends you updates on different forums is in "Watch Lists" now, also in "My Stuff". If you want the system to email you about new posts, you'll have to set that up again from there.

20. A fair amount of stuff, including the user list, only shows up to registered users when you're logged in.