The first major update to IOBoard, version 1.1.0, is here! Some long-requested features are now available, including post previews and e-mail topic subscriptions.

What changed in this release:
- Added post and PM previews
- Better error messages for missing information on posting (avoids losing post content)
- BBCode is no longer case sensitive
- BBCode parsing was improved and should be faster
- BBCode: added the [s ]strike[/s ] tag
- The posts that you write yourself will no longer be marked as unread
- Fixed some potential issues with the list of unread topics
- Accounts that are registered must now be confirmed by e-mail
- Added a display for member's birthdays on the main forums page, along with a few stats
- HTML tags will no longer work where it's not allowed (profiles and such)
- Links that open new windows (such as the private messenger) will no longer force the main window to scroll back to the top
- RPG stats: the experience bar now reflects the amount of experience left to gain on the current level before leveling up
- Added some admin panel settings
- Improved the layout of several pages
- The board security and stability levels have been greatly improved
- The XHTML code is much closer to being fully XHTML 1.0 compliant

I announced on the board's openings that various statistics would eventually be added, but they aren't ready yet: since that feature isn't dependant on any other changes made for this update, I decided to work on it separately. Otherwise, I would have delayed this update further, and I had to stop adding in features at some point. The stats will be added within a few weeks.

Also, this update required several key changes to the background code which probably broke a few minor elements right and left. If you notice odd problems, such as not being able to change your custom rank, searches that don't give the expected results, or anything similar, please post a reply here and I'll look into it.

Capcom keeps releasing new games, and the board's structure has to follow somehow! With the release of Mega Man ZX, and the upcoming Mega Man Star Force, we have two games that aren't part of any existing series. As such, two new forums would have been needed. However, I wasn't too fond of the idea of seven Mega Man forums to cover all of the various series, since we'd have a few popular ones along with some abandonned-looking places. The end result is that I decided to regroup some of them.

After all, the Battle Network series is over, with Star Force set to take over, so it makes sense to put them together. The same goes for the Zero series and the new Mega Man ZX, so they'll be in the same location as well. The forums' names, descriptions and logos were updated to reflect this. The logos themselves might be updated later on when new art becomes available.

Welcome back everyone! The last month of downtime might have been painful for some, but it was absolutely required at this point. The former XMB board hadn't been updated beyond some security patches for years, and it was screaming for attention. Instead of simply updating to the latest version, I decided to take another route: a custom system called IOBoard! This is the seventh board to be used for the Mega Man PC Website and Interordi.com, and it will most probably be the last: now that I've come up with my own system, I'll keep on updating it instead of switching again.

IOBoard has been completely coded by myself, from beginning to end. As you might notice, it shares some details with IOekaki: I reused a few components, improved others, and did most of the coding from the ground up. The end result is what you're staring at. Coding a complete message board system is no simple task, and this one has been keeping me busy for the last several months. In fact, coding started late last Summer (in 2005) to be completed today. I used the last month of downtime to add a few extra features, redo the set of graphics, move over the old data and test it to be sure that it was up to the challenge. This is the first time that I have the chance to do a smooth transition between two boards: the data was similar enough that it could be moved over with little problems.

I'd like to take this occasion to thank Breakman, HollowTorment and Unknown_Entity. They've been working with me in the last two weeks by testing the new board before the official opening. They've helped me with finding several problems, including some that they didn't even notice since I fixed them before they got to it. Again, thank you all three!

He who says new board says new features, new options, and a whole lot of change. I designed this by sharing some options with the oekaki board instead of building over the former message board. Some things are similar with the XMB, though, since I had originally changed that one to suit my needs. My own installation was already quite different from the default board, which explain some of the similarities with IOBoard.

I'll take the time here to list all of the main changes. I know that this post looks quite long, but please read at least the next few paragraphs to know what's in store and important to keep an eye on.


What's here... and what's not
Almost all of the data from the former board has been carried over from the old XMB. As such, you don't need to register again. Just login as usual, and you're set to go right away. However, I recommend that you check in your profile to make sure that your contact info is still up to date. This will also give you a chance to set some new display options that weren't available before.

All topics and posts have also been kept, although I did (and will do) some cleaning by deleting some that were irrelevant now. It's not like we still need that list of bugs on the XMB, for example... However, since the XMB's contact list feature was somewhat broken and didn't work too well, I didn't carry them over. Feel free to readd your contacts, it should work much better now.

Most of the graphics are also new, with a few of them coming from the XMB or even the older Ikonboard.

New forum structure
The various forums have been reordered a bit, and two new ones were added about IOBoard and IOekaki. You can visit them to see what topics would go in those. Something to note: the Mega Man PC Website: Dr. Cossack's Lab forum will now be dedicated for that site instead of including everything related to the board and such.

Potential issues
Converting the data from the old board hasn't been easy, and some problems still exist and won't be fixed. For example, in some older data, you'll see useless backslashes (example: look, it\'s old!). I removed some of them, but I can't do it all. Everything writen from now on will not have this problem, at least. In a few cases too, it looks like the BBCode isn't completely working. I'll see if I can do anything about it.

Marks for new posts
The marks for new posts in various forums and topics (identified by those mets) now work in a slightly different way: your list of unread topics will be kept between your visits here. As such, if you want to remove all marks, you have to click on the new "Mark all posts as read" menu item among your user options.

User accounts
Some new options are there, along with your old data. The "mood" information has been replaced by the "thought" one, since it seems to be much closer to what people were actually typing in. You can also set your own custom titles without going through me, so if you're one of those who want a new title every day of the year, you no longer have to bug me about it!

The RPG stats
The stats have been much improved so that they now make some sense. The experience points you have now go beyond the simple post couts: various factors are now used to reflect your actual experience, including the amount of time you've been registered here. The levels are also unlimited. If you're part of those who don't like to see those stats, you can remove their display from your profile options.

The avatars
You can now enter a size for your avatar display: instead of being stretched to fit 64 x 64 pixels, it can now be of any size smaller or equal to this (such as 32 x 64, 50 x 50, 20 x 40, etc.). Also, the default set of avatars have been updated. The same set of robot masters is still there, but they now use better graphics. Give them a look, you might just adopt one!

Private messenger
The private messages are also all available. You now have the possibility of marking messages by putting a red pin next to them. This would be useful if you want to remind yourself to check back on a message later on, for example. Some other features have been added, and I think that this private messenger is much better than the previous one. A reminder: the "Delete all messages" feature, that I added late to the last system, was originally created for this board. Feel free to use it if you won't read again your older messages! Maybe now that you can see how many messages are sleeping in your inbox and outbox, you'll understand why a clean-up might be in order.

Reports
On the XMB, reporting a topic meant that only I, the board admin, would get a notice. On IOBoard, the whole reporting system has been looked over. From now on, when a post is reported, all of the moderators will also get to see it, so we will be able to get on it faster. It's also possible to report whole topics instead of individual posts if there's a need to. Instead of sending PMs to the staff about a topic to look over, use the report system!

Spoiler tags
The spoiler tag has been improved to cover some of it's previous problems. In the following examples, enter the code without the asterisks * to get the desired effect.

The usual form is still available:
[*spoiler]In Mega Man X1, Zero dies.[*/spoiler]
will give you


You can now specify a title for the spoiler box, which gives you a chance to say what is about to being spoiled. That would especially be useful in a topic where multiple games / books / movies / TV series are talked about.
[*spoiler=Mega Man X5]In Mega Man X5, Zero dies again.[*/spoiler]
will give you


Finally, to help in including a few spoiler words in the middle of a larger paragraph, you can do some inlining to avoid breaking the flow of your post. Give the title "inline" to create such a spoiler tag.

This is probably a spoiler, but [*spoiler=inline]Zero sure dies a lot[*/spoiler] in all those Mega Man games.
will result in
This is probably a spoiler, but Zero sure dies a lot in all those Mega Man games.

What's next?
The board is now open and available. So, what's next? Here's a list of things I want to work on in the next weeks and months:

• IOekaki will receive a large update to include some of the improvements that have been made for this board. For examples, the profiles will get a display much like the ones here.
  
• A stats page will be added.
  
• More customization will be possible.
  
• The RPG stats will be improved even more.
  
• MegaChess will be linked to the board (more to come on this!).

Conclusion
I didn't list everything that changed, although you should now have a solid idea of what's in store for you.

Now, not all features were kept since some were barely used. If you have a suggestion, or absolutely want something back, tell me about it and I'll see what I can do about it. Feel free to comment or ask questions about the new board in this topic. Bug reports or feature requets should go over to the new IOBoard forum instead.

Give yourself a cookie if you read all of this, and have fun!

Edited by Dr. Cossack on May 4, 2006 at 10:02:12.

I\'ve added a new feature to the private messenger: you can now empty either your inbox or your outbox without having to select all messages individually. Some people have asked me before to wipe out their list of messages, and you\'ll now be able to do it youself. I\'m sure that most of you never go back and read the messages you\'ve sent and are now sitting in your outbox, so why not take a few seconds and delete all of that?

The method to do it is simple: open your private messenger, go to the folder that you wish to empty (inbox or outbox), and hit the \"Delete all messages\" link found at the bottom of the page. After confirmation, all of your messages will be deleted.

This will have the advantage to help remove some weight from the database: since the board first went live, more PMs have been exchanged than posts have been made on the various topics!! Deleting all those messages that you know you\'ll never go back to read could help to remove some unneeded data.

Thanks!

Greetings members of the Megaman PC message board.

You all might be surprised to see the changes made to this board as of today. The prior owner and administrator of this board has lost his position and has been exiled. His crime was that of being unfit to head this message board, and he has thus been replaced by me. I subscribe to the theory of a Great Man being the leader, so I am the obvious choice for Cossack\'s replacement.

Cossack\'s inability to lead this forum with the credibility I will give to my new position are indeed a severe crime, and he has met the harsh penalty of being banned for it.

You will all notice some changes with this message board in the upcoming weeks. I have to admit that I\'m not completely familiar with the functions of message board administrator, but in due time, the appearance and likeness of this board will change from it\'s current theme to one more fitting of my personality. Don\'t worry, the focus will still be on Megaman. I ask that you all have patience with me until such is done.

I will also be revising the rules to my liking, and there will be stricter penalities for breaking the rules.

Thank you everyone for reading this. I hope you find these changes to your liking in the future.

-Necro

Edit: All clear.

Remember, MODs or the Admin will never ask for your passwords.



New Mini Announcement (9/2/03):
PMs are like email. Some users can see them somehow, some way (according to other members). Do not put personal things in them (such as full names, addresses, passwords, etc.). I\'m not trying to insult someone\'s intelligence or anything. I\'m just announcing it for those who forgot or don\'t know that things are not private in the internet world. \'Kay?



[Edited on 7/11/2003 by Breakman]

[Edited on 7/23/2003 by Breakman]

[Edited on 9/2/2003 by Breakman]

The second \"staff hunting task\" is over. It took a bit longer than planned due to being busy over at school and such, but I\'m now happy to announce the winners. Please, to everyone who applied and wasn\'t chosen, keep a cold head: this wasn\'t a popularity contest, and, who knows? Maybe you\'ll make it next time

Without further talk, here are the new staff members who\'ll help keeping order around here.

Message board: The new staffer, who applied in the appropriate topic, has been a long time member around here, and most of you should know him. Maybe he can be a bit strict at times, but he knows the rules well. I named: Necro!

Oekaki: Absent for the longest time, now ready to make a return in full force, this person applied through e-mail. He\'ll be around much more starting by next week. I named: muta-mato, better known in the Mega Man circles as Porobot!

Chat room: Only one person was chosen due to lack of applications. Dedicated member trying for a long time, always ready to help somewhere, fan-favorite for the job, I named: Make!

Congratulations to all three They\'ll be each getting a PM this evening (in a few hours) with the details, and they\'ll be getting their moderator powers at the same time. About the chatroom, the new one ran into some more problems, and won\'t be up for a few weeks. That\'s the time when Make will actually be able to moderate over it.

\'tis all. Be happy now

After much thinking, I\'ve decided of two new moderators for this message board. The two persons are...

Breakman and Yumi K.
They were both awarded the status of Super Moderators to have control over all forums. They can now edit, delete, move posts along with some other features. Congrats You two will be getting a PM in a couple of minutes with the full details.

To the others who where interested in getting the job: I haven\'t ignored you. I had quite a hard time choosing some people to take those positions. I\'m keeping a list of interested people, so I might contact you in the future.

(YES! Nova will finally get off my back about this!! )

As of the July 26, 2003, the content of this post has been replaced with a new set of rules. Further posts might no longer reflect the latest rules, so be sure to refer to this post for the latest info.

This page displays the different rules in use on the message board, and must be read and agreed with before registering. I don\'t want to be mean to anyone, but rules have to be set to ensure that everything runs smoothly. Failure to follow these rules will have me giving you a warning. Extremely offensive gestures or repetitive offences might lead to a permanent ban.


GLOBAL RULES

1- No spamming. What is considered spam: posting several short messages in a row, making only short messages without any goal (answering only \"Yes\", \"Me too\", \"LOL\", etc), making the same post or topic in several forums, making pointless messages, etc. Abusive use of the private messenging system falls into the category of spam too. Massive use of smilies in also frowned upon. I do give warnings, so don\'t be too afraid of breaking this rule without knowing it.

2- One username by person. I allow only ONE username by person. If you are creating a new one to change your personality or evade ban/warnings, you\'ll be found out and the latest username you registered will be deleted. However, a family member creating a new username is fine.

3- Mark your spoilers. Why ruin the fun for someone? Don\'t post about a movie or game recently released without properly marking the spoilers. Allow several months before believing it\'s safe to stop marking spoilers. Not everyone gets through a new game in 2 weeks. I really hate learning about the plot of a movie or game before I get to see it / play it myself. Don\'t you?

4- No fights. Come on... We\'re here to have fun, not to get at each other\'s throats. If you can\'t get along with another user, please keep it in private. We don\'t want to hear about it. Also, be sure to stay polite toward everyone. Don\'t make insults toward other cultures or religions. Repetitive offensing posts will result in a quick ban.

5- No ROM and warez requests / links. Asking for ROMs or warez, and giving links to such files will not be tolerated. This also applies to emulators. While those are technically legal, they are used with the purpose of using illegal games. If you are interested in a game, you don\'t download it, you buy it. ROM hacks are allowed if you post only about a patch (in IPS format). Hacked ROMs fall in the \"ROM\" category. All illegal software is affected by this rule.

6- Appropriate content. The site is for everyone, and minors can very well be viewing those pages, so use content meant for a general audience only. Inappropriate content will deserve a warning, an edit or a deletion, depending of the offence.

7- Check your spelling. Yes, I\'m one of those so-called \"Grammar and Spelling Nazi\". I\'m not asking for everyone to use a perfectly written English, but I do want to see a good spelling. \"u c, i told u\", \"omg ur rite wtf lol\" and such are horribly getting on my nerves. Proper capitalization is also to be used. Just make a bit of an effort while writting your posts, please. It also adds to the image people are getting from you.


MESSAGE BOARD SPECIFIC NOTES

Marking spoilers: If you want to mark a spoiler, please use the following BBCode: [*spoiler]This is a spoiler.[*/spoiler] , without the stars. This will put the spoiler in a black box, so it cannot be read unless the user chooses too.

Signatures: The signatures shouldn\'t be more than 200 pixels of height, pictures included. The text should be limited to a few lines only. The point of this is to reduce the space taken by those signatures.



Other policies: There are a few topics in the Important Notices forum, and all of these should be read (the first few posts of each topic is an acceptable minimum).


All of these might sound harsh, but I just wanted to make sure that everything is clear. Keep in mind that I won\'t ban you if you make an innocent mistake, or if you forgot about one of the minor rules. I tend to give several warnings, but don\'t abuse that either. If you break rules on purpose, you WILL get in trouble. I don\'t ban at the first offence, unless you break several rules at once.

Have fun!

[Edited on 27-7-2003 by Dr. Cossack]

[Edited on 14-8-2003 by Dr. Cossack]

[Edited on 21-10-2004 by Dr. Cossack]

Edited by Dr. Cossack on May 2, 2006 at 23:47:40.

Edited by Dr. Cossack on July 4, 2009 at 15:52:27.

Edited on May 3, 2006: most of the information available here is no longer relevant since we've moved over to the seventh board: IOBoard!

---

Welcome (back?) everyone! Believe it or not, this is actually the sixth board I use for my website. Only the last 4 were really important though, as the first two didn\'t had any posts from anyone

After the website crash a while ago, I had to find a new message board to use. Ikonboard 2.19 and 2.2 weren\'t options anymore, so I spend several days to search and compare different scripts until I put my choice on XMB. I waited for the release of XMB 1.6, then proceeded to fully customize it. What you see now is the result of several weeks of efforts made to have a fully-featured board to have fun with. XMB is a nice script, but it was lacking in several areas. I\'ve made up for that by either applying hacks made by others, or by coding my own functions right into the board. Since several people enjoyed the former Ikonboard, I\'ve made MANY changes into this one so it would keep the same look and feel. I believe I succeeded at that, but it\'s up to you, the users, to tell me

... You know, I\'m looking at this board and at the old one right now, and dang this one\'s so much prettier

What has been modified from the original XMB, and new features compared to the old board:

• WORKING smilies (YES!!). You can now simply click on them while writting your posts to add them
  
• Fixed quotes (no more wrong usernames)
  
• Spoilers tag (I had to redo it)
  
• Improved private messenger
  
• Avatar uploader (coded from scratch by myself! )
  
• Topic descriptions (they aren\'t part of the default XMB)
  
• Better looking RPG stats
  
• A bunch of stuff that I forgot
  

What is missing from this board, and that we used to have:

• Ability to customize the font of all your posts
  
• Shadow, glowing and similar effects for texts
  

I hope that you do appreciate everything I\'m doing for you

[Edited on 25-5-2002 by Dr. Cossack]

Edited by Dr. Cossack on May 3, 2006 at 14:24:02.