Just thought I'd put together a short list of some of the new features to make it easier for others to utilize them. As I have time, I will post more in this thread with other features/tips. I'm not claiming to know everything, but I'm glad to help/share what I do know.
Reacting to & Quoting Posts:
This has remained somewhat similar to the previous forum software. At the bottom right corner of a user's post, there are a few buttons:
Liking/Reacting:
You can click on the
button to like a message, or you can rest your mouse cursor on it for a second, and it will show all 6 reactions you can chose from (on mobile, hold in on the like button for a second). Click on the desired reaction.
Quoting & Multi-quoting Posts
To quote a single post in your reply, click on the
button. This will directly insert that post into your reply.
To quote multiple posts in a single reply, click on the
button on each of the posts you want to be included. Once you've selected the desired posts, click on the
button just below the bottom of the text box.
After clicking, a window will pop up to review the posts you've quoted. You can change the order of the selected posts by clicking & holding in the
icon and dragging it up & down into the desired order (it will be on the left side of each post). You can un-select a post by clicking the
button next to it. To add the quoted posts to your post, click the
button in the bottom right corner of the window. All the posts you quoted will be added in that order into the text box where you reply. Click on the 'Post Reply' button at the bottom right when you are ready to submit your post.
To tag/mention another user (which will notify them that someone mentioned their name in a post) type the '@' key followed by their username.
Example: @Wolf-Dog
Note: Make sure there aren't spaces between the @ and the username.
Uses & Explanations of Buttons Found When Replying to or Creating New Threads:
Below is an image of the text box you'll see when making a post. Surrounding it, there are quite a few buttons, some you may be familiar with, while others, maybe not so much. In the image, I've drawn a line that goes from the icon to its name, as well as a number I've assigned to each one. Following the image, I've included an explanation for each button, as well as an example for most of them. If there is a keyboard shortcut for that button, I will also include that at the end of each explanation. Note: Depending on the aspect ratio & font size on your device, the 'More options...' button may be earlier in the line of buttons. The name & number assigned to each icon will still be the same.
Buttons 1-14 modify the text. Select your text before clicking the icon to change it.
1. Remove formatting
This will clear any and all of the formatting done by icons numbers 2-9 that have been applied to the selected text.
2. Bold
Bolds selected text.
Shortcut: 'Ctrl' + 'B'
Example: This is bold text.
3. Italic
Italicizes selected text.
Shortcut: 'Ctrl' + 'I'
Example: This is italic text.
4. Font size
Clicking this will give you a dropdown menu to adjust the size of the selected font. 15 is the standard size.
Example: This is the smallest font size, and this is the largest font size.
5. Text color
Clicking this will open a window to change the color of your text.
Example: Red,Orange,Yellow,Green,Blue,Light Blue,Indigo,Violet,Grey.
6. More options...
Click to access more buttons. On most desktops, this will show buttons 7-11, however, depending on your screen & font size, most buttons may show up under this tab.
7. Font family
Clicking this will give you a dropdown menu to change the font of your text.
Example: This is the Trebuchet MS font.
8. Strike-through
Strikes-through selected text.
Shortcut: 'Ctrl' + 'S'
Example: This is strike-through text.
9. Underline
Underlines selected text.
Shortcut: 'Ctrl' + 'U'
Example: This is underlined text.
10. Inline code
Adds a textbox inline for displaying code.
Example: This code will display "Hello world!" when run in python print("Hello world!")
11. Inline spoiler
An inline spoiler makes the text blurred out until it is clicked on.
Example: Click on the blurred text to reveal: this is an inline spoiler, cool, huh?
12. List
Clicking this will give you a dropdown menu with a few different list options:
Numbered points
Bullet Points
Indent
Outdent
13. Alignment
Clicking this will give you a dropdown menu with 4 alignment options: Align left, Align center, Align right, & Justify text
14. Paragraph format
Clicking this will give you a dropdown menu with 3 paragraph options (besides normal):
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Buttons 15-24 add things to your post. Click on the desired spot in your post where you want it to be inserted, before clicking the icon to insert it.
15. Insert link
After clicking, a box will drop down with 2 text fields. Paste your link (URL) in the first text field. If you want a word or phrase to be linked to the URL rather than just displaying the URL, add text in the second text field. Click insert when finished.
Shortcut: 'Ctrl' + 'K'
Examples: https://metaldetectingforum.com/index.php Friendly Metal Detecting Forum
A third option to posting links is to just paste the URL into your reply and it will show up like this:
When you click on this, a window will drop down. Click in the center to upload an image from your device, or click on the link icon to upload an image by URL.
These are my preferred ways to attach images. If you do either of the above ways (from a device or URL) it will insert the image directly into your post, rather than just the thumbnail at the end of the post.
17. Smilies
A small window will come up with the emojis you can add to your post. You can search for one in the search bar at the top of the window. A list can also be found here.
18. Media
Click on this if there is a video or other post from a social media platform you wish to share. (Make sure you do not violate forum rules in regard to sharing links). Paste the URL into the text field, and click 'Continue' to add it to your post.
Supported media sites: Apple Music, Dailymotion, Facebook, Flickr, Giphy, Imgur, Instagram, Pinterest, Reddit, SoundCloud, Spotify, TikTok, Tumblr, Twitch, Twitter, Vimeo, & YouTube.
19. Quote (generic)
To show that you're quoting someone/something you can use this.
Example:
After you click on it, a window will pop up so you can select the number of rows/columns you need (up to 10x10). Click again at the desired size.
Example:
This is
a table
header
Row 1 - Column 1
Column 2
Column 3
Row 2
Row 3
To add a header, or more rows/columns after adding the table, click inside the table, and a box will appear like the following:
The first icon adds a header.
The second deletes the table.
After clicking the third icon (horizontal lines) a dropdown will appear with 3 options: Insert row above, Insert row below, & delete row.
The same goes for the fourth icon (vertical lines), a dropdown will appear with 3 options: Insert column before, Insert column after, & delete column.
21. More options...
Click to access more buttons. On most desktops, this will show buttons 22-24, however, depending on your screen & font size, most buttons after 15 may show up under this tab.
22. Insert horizontal line
This adds a dividing horizontal line through your post.
Example:
23. Spoiler
This will add a button to your post that when clicked will reveal an answer (similar to the inline spoiler #11). When you click it, a window will pop up, asking if you want to give it a title. If you do, enter the title into the text field, and then click 'Continue'. If you don't want a title, just click on 'Continue'. It will add it to your post, and you can type between the code what you want it to say once it is clicked:
[SPOILER] TYPE IN HERE [/SPOILER]
Example of spoiler without a title:
this is a regular spoiler
Example of spoiler with a title:
this is a regular spoiler with a title
24. Code
This can be used if you ever need to show someone code in a programming language...
Example:
Python:
print("Hello world!")
25. Undo
Undoes your latest change.
Shortcut: 'Ctrl' + 'Z'
26. Redo
Redoes your latest 'Undo'.
Shortcut: 'Ctrl' + 'Y'
27. Toggle BB code
Toggles on & off BB code, so you can edit the BB code directly. (For those of us who like using BB code, the main list of BB code functions is found here: BB Code.
)
28. Drafts
If you click on this button, a small dropdown will appear underneath, with the options of 'Save draft' and 'Delete draft'. Start a post but something came up and you need to come back to it later? (I know I had to do it a couple of times while typing this up!
) Hit the 'Save draft' and your un-published post will still be there for you to finish when you come back. When you get back if you decide you want to start over, click the 'Delete draft' button.
29. Preview
This will show your post as others see it. You can not edit your post while in preview mode, so click it again to go back to editing it!
30. Post reply
Submits your reply.
31. Attach files
This is another way to upload files directly from your device. Doing so this way, however, will just have them all listed at the end of your post, rather than inserting in a specific spot in your post. See '16. Insert image' for inserting directly into a post.
Well, let me just say that there are many advantages to having brothers who are technologically minded! (@Wolf-Dog, @Torpedo)
In all seriousness, this is really thorough, Garrett... nice work. Thanks for making this information readily available to the rest of us! Hopefully, it will make it easier for members to utilize all of the forum's features, because these new options are really neat! I especially like the spoilers... they would be fun to use for announcing contest winners.
If you ever come across a post that you want to save to find again easier, you can save it as a bookmarked post.
Creating Bookmarks:
To bookmark a post, click on the bookmark icon
at the top right corner of the post.
After you click on it, a window will pop up with 2 text fields (both are optional to fill in). The "Message" text field is for a short description to show underneath the title when viewing your bookmarks later on. If you add a "Label", this will let you search through your bookmarks and show you all of your bookmarked posts with the same label. If you add a label, hit the enter key to save the label. (Multiple labels can be used, but must be separated with a comma.) Click "Save" to finish and save your bookmark, or "Delete" if you've changed your mind and no-longer want to bookmark the post.
Viewing Your Bookmarked Posts:
Click on your avatar/username at the top of the page, then click on "Bookmarks".
If you filled in a message when creating your bookmark, it will show up underneath the title of the bookmark. You can search by labels if you've assigned labels to any of your bookmarks (spelling sensitive). You can also click the "Show all..." button to view all your bookmarks.
If you want to get the link to your bookmarked post, or edit/delete it, click on the
icon. This will open a little "Bookmark tools" window, and you can click on whatever option you need.
I believe there are still tweaks being done to the styles, so I will do my best to keep the list current.
Click on the paintbrush icon
in the bottom left corner of the page. Displayed just to the left of the icon is the currently selected style.
After you click on it, a window will pop up with available styles. Click on the desired style to apply it, and the page will automatically re-load to apply the change.
There are currently 7 different forum styles you can chose from, I'll briefly go over some of the key features of each one, but I encourage you to try them out for yourself and see which one you like best. Some have more rounded avatars/icons, and others square. Personally, I like the look of the rounded icons best.
Style Name:
Avatar displays
Background color
Main color
Other colors
Notes:
Default Style
Square
Light grey
Medium blue
Light blue,
light orange
MD Green
Square
Light grey
Flat medium green
Light brown
Dirt Digger
Round
Light grey
Brown
Beige
Beach Hunter
Round
Beige
Navy blue
Orange
Lost My Glasses
Round
Beige
Dark blue
Orange
Large font size
Ocean Blue
Square
Flat medium blue
Navy blue
Light blue
Clean Contrast
Square
Light grey
Spruce green
Light green
Forum default
vbAliens PC only
Square
Flat dark blue
Treasure-map tan
Red
Old treasure map themed
PC only (not mobile friendly)
Note: If you choose the first option "Use default style" this will select the forum default of "Clean Contrast". This is not the same as the second option "Default Style".
button to like a message, or you can rest your mouse cursor on it for a second, and it will show all 6 reactions you can chose from (on mobile, hold in on the like button for a second). Click on the desired reaction.
button. This will directly insert that post into your reply.
button on each of the posts you want to be included. Once you've selected the desired posts, click on the
button just below the bottom of the text box.
icon and dragging it up & down into the desired order (it will be on the left side of each post). You can un-select a post by clicking the
button next to it. To add the quoted posts to your post, click the
button in the bottom right corner of the window. All the posts you quoted will be added in that order into the text box where you reply. Click on the 'Post Reply' button at the bottom right when you are ready to submit your post. 
(
