This upgrade

[Nurse Duckett]

Dear Beak, Sir,

I note with near horror that this island is about to be upgraded, when it's only been here a few weeks.

Could you or anyone familiar with upgraded islands let me know what to expect, please? I don't go in for island-hopping being far too busy doling out linaments and embrocations and deciding whether to unbutton my cardigan in the sunshine or not.

For instance, will the strike-through unguent still be available (chosen at random from the medicine cabinet) and will those forming an orderly queue at the surgery still retain their inalienable right to anonymity?

Yours Responsibly,

Sue Ann Duckett (Nurse)

[Tiger Lil']

I can let you know.

Expect chaos!

However to lighten the blow I did give mr Crusoe the url of an already upgraded board I had about my person.

hub1.proboards31.com/index.cgi

suggest that pirates use Category One, The Desert Island uses Category Two, and my daughter's Platonic chums use Category Three...mnd you they are just starting 'A' level exams, so what they should be doing using a message board is beyond me!

[Pooka]

Oh dear, I agree with you, Nurse Duckett. I'm rather happy with the Isle as it is and sort of wish ProBoards gave us a choice. At least we will be provided with a temporary SurfBoard on which to take refuge during the high tide.

And knowing our crew, we will adjust just fine. I'm sure any salty waters that wash up over the shores will be only cleansing, and we'll be back, habitating as usual, in no time.

[The Beak]

Not much more to add to that, Nurse Duckett: Lil’ has clearly had experience of being stranded, before (must be how she lost her clothes).

Thank you for providing the life-raft, Lil’: it seems that board 2 will be a very fine temporary home when the time comes.

As far as I’m aware, all of the features of the island currently available to us should, if I’m competent enough (which is, I’ll admit, a big “if”), still be available after the upgrade.

By the way, Nurse Duckett, has it ever occurred to you that if you unbutton your cardigan, you won’t feel the benefit?

[Captain Nudnick]

I really can't see what the fuss is about - I lurk around other boards that have been upgraded to V4, and they are fine... apart from a tendency for some users' avatars to disappear. Proboards say this will be ironed out when all their servers are upgraded. I miss the quick reply here...

Oh - and be prepared to receive, and enter, an enabling code that must be entered on your first log-in to the up-graded board. And you'll need to enter your date of birth into your profile.

[Nurse Duckett]

How does one get this enabling code? By email? ok.

And I'll enter your date of birth then, Nudders, it's on the medical records here.

Or make one up. Who is to know apart from Beakers, eh?

Re: cardigan unbuttoning, it is when one unbuttons before going outside that one doesn't feel the benefit. Obvious really.

[Tiger Lil']

Nurse said:

How does one get this enabling code? By email? ok.

And I'll enter your date of birth then, Nudders, it's on the medical records here.

Or make one up. Who is to know apart from Beakers, eh?

Re: cardigan unbuttoning, it is when one unbuttons before going outside that one doesn't feel the benefit. Obvious really.

Yes. On the whole there should be no untoward problemos.

Once the upgrade is complete and you can login again, you will be asked for your date of birth. You do not have to be entirely truthful. But I advise that you be over 13 years of age if you wish to retain your current ID!

You will enter your D O B and then be required to go to your e-mail to retrieve your 'activation code'.

Copy and paste this into the nifty little window and .....voila!

But I stongly advise admin to make any intended tweakin' alterations to the board NOW. V4 is the very devil - imho!

[Captain Nudnick]

Nurse said:

How does one get this enabling code? By email? ok.

And I'll enter your date of birth then, Nudders, it's on the medical records here.

Good grief, how far back do your records go? My birth certificate was in Latin...

[Tiger Lil']

Tiger said:

Yes. On the whole there should be no untoward problemos.

Once the upgrade is complete and you can login again, you will be asked for your date of birth. You do not have to be entirely truthful. But I advise that you be over 13 years of age if you wish to retain your current ID!

You will enter your D O B and then be required to go to your e-mail to retrieve your 'activation code'.

Copy and paste this into the nifty little window and .....voila!

But I stongly advise admin to make any intended tweakin' alterations to the board NOW. V4 is the very devil - imho!

[Nurse Duckett]

Thanks Tiger Lil and Captain for all the helpful tips.

Buttoning cardigan now. Seems best.

[Nurse Duckett]

I've been thinking about this - in a very low-key, background mode way.

Why do they want a date of birth? If one's date of birth has not already been provided in order to register then it's not some sort of security check.

I will now get out my trusty calculator to work out how to make myself 107 years old.

[Desert Island Dog]

Tiger said:

You will enter your D O B and then be required to go to your e-mail to retrieve your 'activation code'.

Copy and paste this into the nifty little window and .....voila!

I think you'll find a link on your email which does the copying for you.

some differences are;

no avatars viewable before you log in.

table borders are now in white (invisible before)

nested quotes when you select the quote button. (this is a pain if it's a long piece and you want to be selective). by ''nested'' I mean you get a quote of a quote of a quote etc...

multiple skins. yes, everybody gets their own island to decorate - admin permitting.

karma points. who's your favourite poster? Is your ego big enough? etc.

invisibility. who said that?!

quick reply. great for getting in first.

more statistics. information about last posts etc. Who's viewing what catagory?

who's lurking? IP address watch (admins only).

[Nurse Duckett]

Guest-Desert said:

I think you'll find a link on your email which does the copying for you.

some differences are;

no avatars viewable before you log in.

why on earth not?

table borders are now in white (invisible before)

why? for what purpose?

nested quotes when you select the quote button. (this is a pain if it's a long piece and you want to be selective). by ''nested'' I mean you get a quote of a quote of a quote etc...

so if it's worse why introduce that?

multiple skins. yes, everybody gets their own island to decorate - admin permitting.

oh. I'm perfectly happy with the decor here.

karma points. who's your favourite poster? Is your ego big enough? etc.

sounds like a recipe for disaster and ego-whacking

invisibility. who said that?!

doesn't this contradict a point further down?

quick reply. great for getting in first.

to save logging in before replying? I've seen that on another forum and admit it has some tiny use, but not for getting in first - as if that would matter - but for people in a rush who are (just guessing) denied guest posting?

more statistics. information about last posts etc. Who's viewing what catagory?

who is viewing which category? Oh Why? Do you really mean that everyone can see which threads people are reading? Why do that? It seems fantastically Big Brother IMHO.

who's lurking? IP address watch (admins only).

this bit already exists

So, it's a lot of fancy t*rting up then, is it?

Jolly Good.
Cannot Wait.

[Desert Island Dog]

Nurse said:

the answers I know are;

table borders in white - because users complained they couldn't read tables otherwise.

invisibility was only an option for admin. Now any member can log in without being detected (except by admin & elected mods).

I wasn't aware that the guest tally was linked to the IP log before. It may have slipped my notice. Anyway, you can click on the guest tally and it reveals a list of IP addresses of those lurking.

quick post is a benefit in fast moving games like...er.....cheddar gorge? I'm guessing - I don't play these games.

Who's viewing which catagory is okay. It tells you were people are most having fun so you don't become johnny-no-mates. So if you see ''Desert Island Debbie Does Dallas'' has 6 viewers, you can bet that's where the action is. Though probably more use on a board with loads more catagories.

[Nurse Duckett]

Guest-Desert said:

the answers I know are;

table borders in white - because users complained they couldn't read tables otherwise.

invisibility was only an option for admin. Now any member can log in without being detected (except by admin & elected mods).

I wasn't aware that the guest tally was linked to the IP log before. It may have slipped my notice. Anyway, you can click on the guest tally and it reveals a list of IP addresses of those lurking.

quick post is a benefit in fast moving games like...er.....cheddar gorge? I'm guessing - I don't play these games.

Who's viewing which catagory is okay. It tells you were people are most having fun so you don't become johnny-no-mates. So if you see ''Desert Island Debbie Does Dallas'' has 6 viewers, you can bet that's where the action is. Though probably more use on a board with loads more catagories.

Well this all seems very contradictory to me.

So on the one hand any member can log in without being detected (I doubt that but maybe I'm just cynical); and on the other hand anyone can see the IP addresses of those not logged in. But why would they want to? They only show the country of internet service provider or something equally vague, don't they? I thought IP addresses only showed up when a guest actually posts, anyway.

If it's true that anyone can see the IP addresses of those looking at the board without logging in or posting (I dislike the term lurking), then I find this strangely unsettling. I'd have thought that would put people off, which cannot be good for a board which needs, ipso facto, many contributions to keep it rocking along?

Is it who is looking at which thread, or which section of the board?

I find this all very puzzling but no doubt I'll either get used to it (likely), or ignore it and carry on (unlikely).

Thanks for the info.