MY STUFFThere are various headings in My Stuff. Here is a list. I will deal with each in more depth below.
- Profile
- Preferences
- Posts
- Messages
- Watched forums
- Watched Topics
- Watched Users
- Buddies
- Subscriptions
- Cookies
Sysop TipThis list appears initially in a drop down menu but I found that by setting - 'Do you wish to have the 'My Stuff' menu as a left navigation menu?' (ninth item in Preferences) - to YES, then the list is always visible on the left when in My Stuff making it easier to navigate.PROFILEThis area contains all the useful information, most of which is created on registration, such as email, password, display name, birthday and general information about yourself, very similar to My Profile on the old board.
Recommended settings/checks/options:- Ensure your email address is current
- Please check 'yes' to receiving community emails. This is a very rarely used feature, used for emergencies and important notices
- You may add a title (a descriptor) which will appear under your name to the left of your posts. You can see for example that I have used Wizop.
- At the bottom of this section is where you can load your avatar image that appears with your name on all posts. Any custom image must be smaller than 80x80 pixels and uploaded to a web server. If you do not have one of your own, please see the FAQ on uploading images to the DL server. Alternatively you can select one of the stock images available.
PREFERENCESThis area is mainly used for you to configure how you see the site.
Recommended settings/checks/options:- Post Layout - Using 'user info on side' gives the view you are more used to
- It is recommended that you do not turn off the left and right columns initially so that you can take time to decide what might be useful to you. Sysops must display.
- The default topics and posts per page is 25, in line with what you are currently used to. These can be changed to better match your browser, resolution and preffered option.
- You can turn off seeing avatars and other user's signatures. Sysops must view.
- There is a short list of graemlins (smilies) available for each post with a link to the full list. If you wish you can have the whole list always visible.
- It is recommended that you accept Private Messages as these are often used in games. Sysops should always accept.
- There are email options for any new posts on any of your 'watched' options (see further down for information on Watched options) or email options on Private Messages.
- There are also option to change the time formats and display to suit your time zone.
POSTSThis holds a list of every post you have made that still exists on the site in date order, starting with the newest one. You can change this to all topics you have created by clicking on the various headings at the top.
MESSAGESThis is a list of all your private message which are in date order, newsest at the top. There are some very cool features here.
Recommended settings/checks/options:- The limit on PMs previously was 50 posts which we know some members found restrictive. It is now 200 topics!
However we would still encourage you to clear out unwanted PMs as you go. - PMs can now be sent to up to 10 people not just one and all replies to that thread go to everyone on the initial list. It displays as a topic thread, rather than as messages sent and messages received.
- One of the nicest ways to select multiple recipients is to select from your Buddy List. How to populate this is explained below under Buddies.
- New messages received are highlighted by a flashing envolope next to 'My Stuff' on the main top menu bar. This will continue to flash until you have viewed all unread messages. Unread messages are marked with a yellow folder. Read messages are marked with a white folder.
- To send a new PM click on 'New Private Message' top left on the 'Messages' header. Simply type in the member's displayed name (not case sensitive), subject and message and click 'Submit'. There is a preview option available. If you get the message 'is over their Private Topic limit' it is most likely that the Recipients name that you typed in is incorrect in some ddetail. If your PM is sent successfully you will have a quick reply box displayed with your message above.
WATCHED FORUMS, WATCHED TOPICS, WATCHED USERSThis is so that you can create your own 'view list' to be viewed in the appropriate section in 'My Stuff'. This is more of a preset search facility than something to replace our 'Since List', which hopefully will be making a return sooner rather than later.
Clicking on any of these three links in 'My Stuff' will take to into that feature but you can then access the other two features via the tab titles on the bar at the top.
Recommended settings/checks/options:- To set up a Watched Forum list go to Watched Forums and click on the 'Edit Watched Forums' link, top right. This takes you to a list of all forums in the same order they appear on the main board. You can then select which ones to 'watch' and even request email notification of new posts on those topics. Remember to click on the update button at the bottom. To remove forums from your list, just follow the same process but opt for 'No' on the list. Once set up, those topics selected will appear in your 'Watched Forums' area. It is recommended that you select a few choice forums, too many and you won't see the wood for the trees!
- Once you have set up your 'Watched Forums', you can view these by clicking back on the 'Watched Forum' option and if you have more than one forum selected, you can use the 'filter' option just above the list to the left to show just one of them. You can also sort into a preferred order:
- Last Reply - which is actually in order of newest post except that the date displayed is the topic creation date - intuitive not!
- Topic Creation date
- Topic Title (alphabetical)
- Topic author (alphabetical)
Please note that yellow folders only occur when new topics appear, NOT new posts. - Watched Users works in the same way except that to set them up you need to go the 'User List' in the main task bar, click on their name to bring up their profile and then select 'Add to Watched Users' from the middle task bar. There is also an option to type the name directly into your list by selecting 'Edit Watched Users' and then on the new page selecting 'Add a user to your list'.
- Watched topics is a little different. Because there are so many of them, a list would be far too long to select from, so in this case you need to go to the main board (Forum List on the top menu bar), click on the forum, then the topic you want to watch. Under 'Topic Options' (top left of the thread) there is a drop down selection which includes 'Add Topic to your Watched Topics'. The rest is much the same as the other two above.
BUDDIESOne of the nicest ways to select multiple recipients is to select from your Buddy List.
Recommended settings/checks/options:- To create a Buddy List, go to the User List in the main task bar, click on the 'Display Name' to order the list alphabetically and then click on the member's name. Once in their profile, thete is a bar at the bottom of the first Profile area and 'Add to UBB Buddies' is the first option. Click this link. This option changes to 'Remove from UBB Buddies' after you have added that person so you can remove them later if you wish.
- You might like to add a number of members, people you are likely to PM regularly. This feature could be useful for GMs to discuss issues with several players or for other groups such as our ACRO players.
- Once you have set up your 'Buddies', go to 'My Stuff' and select 'Messages' then 'New Private Message' (Message tool bar top left). Now you can use the drop down arrow next to the 'Buddy List' box and select the buddy you want, clicking the 'Add' button and repeating until you have up to ten buddies that you want to PM. As you add then, their names will appear under the 'Add Recipient' box. Then send the message in the usual way.
SUBSCRIPTIONSThis facility is not being used.
COOKIESThese cookies are specific to DreamLyrics and if you are having problems with the board, you can expire your DreamLyrics cookies without affecting cookies you have for other sites. Selecting this option will do no harm but it will log you out. Once you log back in new cookies will be set automatically.
