JUNE 11, 2011: FORUM BACK ONLINE!

by **chrisbishop** » Sun Jun 12, 2011 2:44 am

Hello everyone, and welcome back again to the Spectrum Headquarters Forum!

Our regular members have certainly noticed: this forum has been down for a few weeks. This was due to a problem generated with the earlier version of the software used to create the forum. The version was too old, and didn't have sufficient security features to insure that it would work perfectly and safely. As a result, the administration was forced to take the forum down temporarily, in order to upgrade the software. The result is what you presently have before your eyes: a brand new forum, which still contains ALL of the previous categories and posts, with all of its members, and all of their specific features and settings. You shouldn't have any trouble navigating through this new forum. If ever you do, please contact the administration through spectrum_hq@hotmail.com and we will check your account.

Naturally, a new feature means a few changes in the features offered by this forum. Some of these changes include:

- SAVING DRAFT OF MESSAGES. From now on, you will have the opportunity to save a draft of a message you are writing, and to keep it for review, editing and deletion. You will be able to access these saved drafts into your User Control Panel.

- ATTACHMENTS. The attachments feature in the posting of message is an alternative and easier way to post a picture.

- USER CONTROL PANEL. Much more user-friendly than in the previous version. The User Control Panel now hods a ton of new features that we invite you to check.

- THE PRIVATE MESSAGING has been integrated into the User Control Panel, and that too, has changed considerably. You will now be able to send one message to multiple users.

And other features that you will need to explore in the following weeks!

At the same occasion, we took the opportunity of this upgrade - and of the website's 10th anniversary - to make a few modifications of our own.

THE RULES AND GUIDELINES have been modified to reflect the new features of this forum, and the needs of its members.

CHANGE BOARD STYLE. The board preferences a basic feature of this new version, but some of its functions are definted by the administrator. For now on, you'll be given the choice of a few possible themes in which to present your own board. When you will access the board, if you're not signed in, you will see the default theme, but once you sign in, you will see your theme appear. This can be set in the User Control Panel within the "Board Preferences" menu. At the moment, we only have a handful of themes available, but we hope to add more in future. Additions will be announced when made.

THE FAN FICTION CATEGORY has been added, on its own. In this, we have started to transfer all the Fan Fiction related topics into new sub-forums, such as Tools and Advices, Reviews and Feedbacks, and General Board. Other sub-forums will be added in the following weeks to receive various subjects of topics, so it will be easier for our members to browse through the new category, which will also include:

A NEW FORUM FAN FICTION BOARD. It has been promised, and now it is added to this forum. You will have the opportunity, within this new board, to play around with stories that you will write with other writers. A Forum Fan Fiction - or Community Round-Robin - is like a game: A post is made online to start a story, and all the participants, one after the other, can post a follow-up (a scene, a chapter), to try and complete the story, all the while respecting what the previous writers wrote. Participants can consult with one another, but when they do not, they do not know where the story will head. Which leads to some interesting results. This is where you can let lose.

Again, you are invited to explore the new features from this new version of the Spectrum Headquarters forum. We also apologise once more for the delay imposed on you while we were working to correct the situation. We hope this new presentation will meet your approval.

As always, comments and suggestons are welcomed within this forum. So write us and let us know what you think.

Have fun!

by **Cat 2** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 8:04 am

Glad we're back, but sorry to be a pest, but can I have access to the fanfiction tools? Please?

by **chrisbishop** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 3:17 pm

Hi, Cat!

I'll check this out. Must be an oversight from my part, as everyone on the forum should have access to this section! Can you tell me which board/category you can't access exactly?

by **chrisbishop** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 3:33 pm

Already done!

Yes, it did overlook something! :oops:

This new forum comes with specific permissions with each of the category/board. I didn't know I had to set these permissions at the time, so all the NEW categories were unavailable to members - although you were able tos ee them!

I set the permissions as being the same as the general board - where everyone have access, but only members can write in (sorry, guests... you have to be a members to do anything else but read!)

If there are other such problems, please let me know, and I'll correct it right awa.

Sorry for the oversight.