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First, I want to point out the addition of the Gallery. We added this application to allow users to post images from in-game, as well as their own images in their own private album. Dive in!
What's new in IP.Board 3.2!
In addition to this list there are countless other minor improvements and changes based on client feedback too numerous to mention.
Calendar Improvements
- Consistency: http://community.inv...ii-consistency/
- RSVP: http://community.inv...-part-iii-rsvp/
- Simplification and interface changes: http://community.inv...erface-changes/
- iCalendar support: http://community.inv...lendar-support/
- New editor and auto-save: http://community.inv...ew-text-editor/
- Cleaner interface, quick reply, quick quoting: http://community.inv...editor-part-ii/
- New post alert while typing reply: http://community.inv...ditor-part-iii/
- View new content and topic marking improvements: http://community.inv...d-topic-marking and part 2:http://community.inv...t-improvements/
- New Photo Editor: http://community.inv...w-photo-editor/
- Shared media: http://community.inv...e-shared-media/
- Tagging and prefixes: http://community.inv...g-and-prefixes/
New "Like" Reputation Mode
In IP.Board 3.0.0 we added a reputation system. This allowed your members to "up-vote" and "down-vote" a post's "reputation". This not only allows you to quickly identify "valued" replies but you can also elect to filter out replies below a certain threshold.
This system has worked very well over the past few years and our own community receives many hundreds of positive votes for good or helpful content. It's a nice visual way of saying "Thanks!'.
We have extended this system in 3.2.0 to add a new reputation 'mode' selectable from the Admin Control Panel. This new mode works in the same manner as a "like" system often seen on social networking sites.
This "like" system is an even better visual way for identifying good content and makes it more personal by leaving your name in the "like" list rather than it being an anonymous donation.
Clicking the '1 other" link brings up an inline pop-up showing exactly who has "liked" this post.
We hope that you "like" this new enhancement to our reputation system and find it brings a new level of interaction with your members.
Notification enhancements
We added a notifications system in IP.Board 3.1.0 and it's been a very popular addition allowing your members to select the type of notification they receive for specific events like a new personal message, quoted post, etc.However, we've received a lot of feedback since and we wanted to make some enhancements to address some common issues. I'm happy to say that we've completed a lot of interface work in this area and we feel we have a much better system.
The actual functionality hasn't changed. You can still elect to receive and/or a personal message, email or inline notification for certain events and you can still elect to receive an inline 'pop-up' (it's actually an inline javascript modal box but we've retained the familiar phrasing) when you receive a new inline notification. Many members set their notifications up so they receive an inline notification with pop-up when they get a new personal message, for example.
Interface
As IP.Board 3.2.0 has a completely revamped skin, the actual "PM count" and "Notification" boxes have been removed from the drop down icons and placed with a high visibility count.
Here's what you'll see with some new personal messages and new notifications:
And here's what you'll see without any notifications:
Regardless of if you have any new messages or not, clicking the inbox link will bring up a list of recent personal messages:
Likewise, regardless of if you have any new notifications or not, clicking the notifications link will bring up a list of recent notifications:
The inline 'pop-up' has been re-styled:
New mobile skin
We've had specific support for mobile touch devices in the IP.Board suite for a number of versions - these devices see a specially designed skin which is stripped down and touch friendly, rather than the usual skin. We've taken the opportunity to update this skin for IP.Board 3.2, refreshing some aspects of the style and adding support for new features.Launcher
Gone is the linear menu of community links, replaced instead with a new launcher screen that shows the various areas that can be accessed:
As well as looking more pleasant, the increased space for each item should make tapping easier. In addition, you'll notice that we now display bubbles that show the message/notification counts, like on the default skin.
General interface improvements
We've restyled most elements in the skin, to lighten it and reduce the space necessary. As an example, here's the topic list:
You'll notice the navigation bar that used to be present is now displayed as a 'Back' link in the header bar - a convention mobile users are well used to. The individual page title is shown in the black bar, with the page content following.
In this particular screenshot, you might also notice that we're using the standard default skin read/unread topic markers, since they're perfectly suited.
Here's a look at the slightly-updated topic view:
As well as the cleaner display, you might notice we also support the new Like feature for posts.
Notifications
Notifications aren't something we've supported in the mobile skin before, but with more focus being placed on them in IP.Board as a whole, we took the step of adding them to the mobile view too. They essentially work just like you're used to, with the option to go to the user, the content, of the individual post:
Tagging
Tagging is a new feature introduced in IP.Board 3.2, and since tags can be set as required when posted, it was essential that posting support was added to the mobile skin. This series of screenshots shows the process:
To remove a tag, simply tap it, then tap the Remove Selected button that will appear:
If you choose to use the closed tagging system (whereby users can only choose from tags you define), a select list is shown instead, allowing users to choose from the native phone interface.
View New Content/Searching
IP.Board 3.2 introduces a new way of filtering results when using View New Content or when searching. A bar is shown on the left, with the various filter choices able to toggled on and off to change the results. While this interface clearly wouldn't work on a mobile device, we did want to ensure the filtering options were still available. This is what we came up with:
Clicking one of the buttons on the top bar presents the available filters, with the currently-used shown with a check:
Miscellaneous Changes
- Linear+ and Outline modes removed for topic viewing (they're a hold-over from an older time on the web and it's time to retire them)
- The unread topic marking system will now remember what page of a topic you left off reading rather than assume you read the entire topic on the first click.
