This version of the forum software has a number of new features. Among them it includes protection from spam posted by “Bots” (automated or “robot” programs that scan the Internet looking for forums and when found deposit their spam as a post) and the ability to register as a user.


AUTOMATED “BOT” SPAM PROTECTION

This feature requires that you enter a code with your posts. The screen where you type your posts will have a five character “spam code” displayed above a box where you will have to type the code in. This code will change for each post and it is displayed in a font that a “Bot” program can’t read. When you post your message with the code entered the forum software will compare the code you entered with the one it displayed and allow the post if they are the same or reject the post if they are different or if you didn’t enter the code. This sounds like more trouble than it is but it is really simple to do & easy to become accustom to doing. Additionally, if you register you will only have to do it once during the registration process and won’t have to do it for every post.

Note that the “spam code” is displayed in upper case but it IS NOT case sensitive – you can enter it in upper or lower case or some of each as you like.

Additionally, your IP address is no longer displayed in your posts for others (including the spammers and hackers) to see.


REGISTRATION

REGISTRATION IS TOTALLY OPTIONAL and the forums work pretty much as they have always worked if you don’t choose to register except for the new “spam code” described above. You can still read posts, make new posts and reply to existing posts without registering.

If you do register for the forums you will have a profile stored on the forum that other users cannot get to. You can get to it at any time and change the information in it at any time. It is called “Control Center” and you can access it from several of the forum dialogs.

However there are several advantages and new features if you do register.


SOME ADVANTAGES TO REGISTERING

As mentioned above if you register you will only have to key in the “spam code” once during the registration process and won’t have to do it for every post after that.

An updated Forum List page is displayed right after a registered user logs in. It lists all of the available forums along with the number of new posts since the last time you logged in (displayed in red) for each forum. You can see right away which forums have posts you haven’t seen yet and go directly to them. Unregistered users have to visit each forum to see if there are any new posts and even then they aren't marked as “new”. Note that this is a significant change from the previous version. Which posts you have read (and therefore which are “new”) is kept up with on the server only for registered users now. Previously this was kept up with by placing cookies on your PC but the forum software switched to keeping up with it on the server with the latest release so there is no way to keep up with it if you are not a registered user and even if you are a registered user, there is no way to tell that until you log in.

Nobody can register using your username or your e-mail address and nobody including unregistered users can make a post with your username or your e-mail address. This provides a degree of protection from someone trying to impersonate you on the forum that you don’t have if you don’t register. We have had some jerks in the past try to impersonate regular forum visitors and leave obnoxious posts.

You can send and receive “Private Messages” without disclosing your e-mail address. You must supply your e-mail address when registering but you have complete control over whether or not it is displayed for others to see and our default is that others can’t see it. Today if you don’t include your e-mail address with your post nobody can contact you directly unless they happen to know you. However now if a user wants to send you a message they would normally need your e-mail address for they can send you a “Private Message” instead. The private message is stored on the forum like a post (you actually have an inbox of your own on the forum with this feature) but nobody but you will be able to see it. When you log in to the forum you will be notified that you have one or more private messages and you can view them when you like. It is just like an e-mail but the person sending it doesn’t have to ever know your e-mail address. Additionally you can optionally have the forum software automatically send you an e-mail notifying you that you have private messages. It knows your e-mail address from when you registered.

You can set up a “signature” and have the forum software automatically add it to the end of each post you make. It isn’t actually your signature it is just one or more lines of information you would like automatically added to the bottom of all of your posts. For example:

Best wishes,

John Doe
Chief Historian - British Submarine Association

See the post at the top of this forum entitled “Setting up or updating the signature field in your Posts” for instructions on how to setup and change your signature.

You can identify threads you are especially interested in and easily keep up with them when they get new replies even after they scroll off the screen.

You can also enter your local time zone and have all of the times listed for when posts were made converted to your time zone. This eliminates the confusion when the forum is using a time different from your local time.

You can control whether you see a flat view or a threaded view. If you don’t register you get whatever the forum default is.


HOW TO REGISTER

See the Sticky post entitled “How to register for the forums at uboat.net”.


EDITING YOUR PROFILE

Once you have successfully registered (received the confirmation e-mail and clicked on the link and been told that you are now registered) the first thing you will probably want to do is view and edit your profile. To do this simply click on “Control Center” then click on each item on the left side of the screen and adjust your profile as you see fit. This is where you determine if your e-mail address will be visible to others, control whether you see a flat view or a threaded view, identify specific threads you want to follow, identify your time zone, change your password and e-mail address, etc. If you enter your real name when editing your profile it will be shown when other users click your Username in one of your posts. Of course this is of no significance if your Username is your real name instead of a nickname.


ADDITIONAL NEW FEATURES

When someone replies to an old post that has scrolled off the screen the entire thread is moved up in position (generally to the first page) so you can see the new reply. In the old release if someone replied to a two-year old post you would only know it if you happened to come across it while using the search function or if you had checked the “Send replies to this thread to me via email” option.

A link included in a post can now be followed simply by clicking on it right in the post – you no longer have to copy and paste it into your browser. For example click on the following: [www.uboat.net] and it will take you to the forum rules. The whole link was entered but the forum software shortened it for display purposes and added brackets around it to let you know that the whole link is there but that you are only seeing the first part of it.

Forum Moderator
forum@uboat.net