Changes
UBB6 is a fundamental rewrite of the UBB. Most of the improvements are under the hood. These changes mean that the UBB is now much more efficient, more scalable than it was, much more modular, and MUCH easier to modify. Here are some of the primary system-wide changes:
New Caching System
The biggest drain on the old UBB was the fact that most pages had to be created each time someone wanted to view them. The only pages in the UBB that were dynamically created each time someone viewed them were the topic pages. Those were stored as HTML, but that also meant that anytime any change was made to the UBB (upgrades, changing styles, etc.) the admin was forced to have the topic pages rebuilt en masse (which turned into a very intensive process for large message boards).
UBB6 revolutionizes this by creating an entirely new caching system. Commonly accessed pages (such as the main forum summary page, the forum pages, topics pages, the FAQ, and UBB Code pages) are now cached so that they are only created when changes are made. This also means that the old “Update Threads” function is no longer required! This makes the UBB much more efficient and will improve average response times.
A New Look
You will notice that the overall layout of the UBB has changed dramatically in spots. The idea was to improve navigation throughout the board. All new graphics are also installed.
Improved Cookie Logins
UBB6 has a centralized login system, which means you will not have to be queried for your login name and password repeatedly. This makes the entire experience with UBB much more user-friendly.
Signatures Detached
Signatures are also detached from messages, in our filing system. This means that old signatures are no longer forever tied to old posts and that the system is more efficient.
User Ratings
First off, the entire feature is optional. Admins can disable it if they don't want it. Otherwise, registered members can rate each other on a scale of 1-5. Only registered members can rate, and they can only rate a particular member one time (no stuffing the ballot box!).
Admins can elect to show all ratings or just display ratings for users that receive 4 or 5 stars (to keep lower-rated members from feeling bad).
Individual members can also elect to disallow rating for themselves.
The rating is fairly intelligent-- all averages are weighted based on the rating of the person doing the rating. Thus, a member with a 5-star rating carries more clout in the overall averaging than a member with a rating of 1 star.
This feature is a great way of identifying "experts" on particular boards.
Private Messaging
How it works: A registered member can send a private message to any other member. The message can only be read by the person it was sent to. This is not email, BTW. You check your private messages on the forum (but you can also configure it to notify you by email when someone PMs you).
Members can add members to Ignore or Buddy lists- basically, if you put someone on your ignore list, they cannot send you a PM. Buddy lists are simply handy ways of keeping lists of people you commonly PM.
Members can keep a maximum of 100 people on their ban list and 100 people on their buddy list.
Private messages also act like topics between the two parties. If you send me a PM, for example, I can reply to it and you will see the entire "conversation". Each PM is in essence a topic between just those two people.
Individual members can determine whether they want to receive PMs and whether they want to be notified by email if they receive PMs.
All PMs are also marked as read or unread. You can also close a PM topic when you send it, preventing the recipient from responding directly to the PM.
Admins can remove individual members ability to send PMs.
Board Changes
<UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>Newest Member Welcome option added.
<LI>Added Instant UBB Code and Instant Smilies to posting forms.
<LI>Hop-to menus now support category jumps.
<LI>New Publicly Displayed Name option for members. You can select a public name that is different than your login name.
<LI>Added more information to the “Last Post” field of the forum summary page- includes subject, author, and icon of last post in forum. Private forums do not display this information.
<LI>New homepage icon link option.
<LI>The archived forums are now sorted alphabetically so you don't get a black listing when you visit them.[/list]
There are many more changes that you will discover as you use the system! We hope you like the new system as much
as we do!
Jason
Linear Mode
