For over 6 years ago, back in 2001, I first promised and gave a quick look of a "new and improved CarlssonPlanet forum". I was referring to the next-generation of our forum software, phpBB.
But it wasn't until yesterday, the 20th of May 2007, that the phpBB Group finally released it's first version (Release Candidate) of phpBB 3.0.0.
Of course, what was intended for release back in 2001 is not what phpBB3 has become today, there has been major changes and improvements in the function lineup.
So this is what we're running today, and why everything is looking so unfamiliar and new! Please note that the style/design used here is the default one that comes shipped with phpBB3. I will of course, due time, customize it to fit and look like a part of CarlssonPlanet. That won't happen until the final version of phpBB3 is released though, come this summer.
During autumn I will also fully integrate the forum and CarlssonPlanet with each other to allow for one registration to access everything, and will also let us easier maintain and update CarlssonPlanet.
My first recommendation to everyone is that they visit their "User Control Panel" (found up on your left hand side) and take a look at all the new settings and preferences available there. Then try searching the forums, there has been plenty of updates there.
Oh, and please, give me your comments! I want to hear them.
Here's quick run-down of the most important changes in this version. Please note that this is a *very* non-exhaustive list, there are literally thousand of changes, new features and improvements, you have to discover them by yourselves! Actually, most changes are *not* listed here, I have selected those I feel most important to users, but there are *so* many changes "behind the scene" for us administrators and moderators.
Also there has been many improvements done to overall performance, caching, etc. So, this forum should be faster than the previous one.
Highlight Improvements For Users
* Bookmark topics
* Subscribe to forums (instead of just watching a single topic for replies, you can watch entire forums and get email notifications upon new posts!)
* Mail or print topics
* "You got beaten at posting"-notification (if someone replies to a topic while you are writing your reply to that, you will be shown that reply before you submit your post)
* Search members by all attributes
* Search inside topics
Friends and Foes
* Add other members as friends or foes
* Posts by foes are hidden
* Friends are shown in friends list
Private Messages
* Send to multiple recipients
* Send to groups
* Send Blind Carbon Copies (BCC)
* Forward messages
* Friends list works as address book
* PM Drafts
* Conversation view
* PM folders
* PM filters
* Export Messages
Attachments
* Attachments in posts and PMs
* Automatic image thumbnails
* Attach images, documents, video streams, archives
* Multiple attachments allowed
* Display attachments inline
Example usage:
- Sample "inline" attachment
* Users can report topics and posts
* Moderators can warn users
Polls
* Multiple options per user
* Allow/disallow vote change
Usergroups
* Multiple group leaders
* Set display colour for group members
Profile View
* More user statistics on profile view
* Signature on profile view
* Usergroups on profile view
User Control Panel
* Manage subscribed topics & forums
* Manage bookmarked topics
* Manage saved drafts
* Manage private messages
* Manage usergroups
* Manage friends and foes
* Manage attachments
Today the phpBB Group released after a long, long, long wait the final/Gold version of phpBB 3.0.0!