The 1.4 to 1.5 Ropes for RPoL Users

Welcome to RPoL, and RuBB version 1.5.  There are a lot of changes in this version of the site, so this document is an attempt to help users get a grip on some of the more important differences.


Use rMail to contact other users, and the Mods.

RPoL now has rMail, available from a link at the upper right of the Main Menu.  rMail is a message-base which is outside individual games, and can be sent to anyone whose Account Name you know, or anyone with whom you share a game simply by using the rMail link by their name in a post.  rMail to characters does not reveal the recipient's RPoL Account Name unless they reply.

rMail is also the official way to contact RPoL moderators now!  To mail the Moderators and Admin, use the "Compose a new rMail" link on the rMail menu, and check the appropriate box, then click "Compose".

Note that rMail is moderated, and sending advertisements or abuse via rMail can cause a user's rMail privileges to be revoked.  Likewise, sending false reports of rMail abuse can cause a user to lose the ability to use rMail.

If you'd rather not use rMail, use the User Preferences settings to disable it.  More information can be found in the brand new, handy-dandy rMail FAQ.

Private Messages now have an "edit" feature.

That's right, you can edit PMs now -- just use the fancy new "edit" link within them.

RPoL now has an RSS/RDF feed.

RPoL now supplies RSS feeds so that users can subscribe to the games and forums on their Sticky Lists.  While users cannot reply via RSS, these feeds can help them stay notified with regard to developments in their games.  There is an RSS link at the top of the Main Menu, and additional links are supplied in the User Preferences area.  More information is available in the document on RPoL's RSS Feeds.

Game limits are now automatically increased.

New users to RPoL will now have a game limit of three.  Limits will increase automatically using a dynamic algorithm.  Long-time users of RPoL will have a higher game limit than will newer users.

There is no Adult category any longer.

Adult games now go in the appropriate category for their genre, whether that be Comedy, Vampire, or anything else.  Instead, there is an Adult content flag the GM may set on the game using the "Edit Game Details" area in the "GM Menu" of a game.

Adult games are still restricted in access to those who are at least 18 years of age or older, and who are legal to view adult materials in their place of residence.  Those playing and running Adult games are responsible for knowing and pro-actively enforcing RPoL's Adult Games Policy.

The Mature Flag is now available.

Games may now be flagged as having "Mature Content" using our new Mature Content Flag.  This flag may be set in the GM Menu's "Edit Game Details" area.  It is expected that GMs who acknowledge their content is not for younger audiences will be careful about whom they allow to view and play their game.  GMs and players of Mature games are expected to pro-actively enforce RPoL's Mature Games Policy.

The message composition screen is now smarter.

Leaving the message composition screen while writing a message will prompt a warning about abandoning a post in process, so it should now be more difficult to accidentally lose a post by unintentionally navigating away from it.

The Wanted - Players forum is greatly improved.

The Wanted - Players forum has been redesigned to cope with user needs, and to assist in maintaining Moderator sanity.  Ads may be created in the forum by the game's GM only if:
  1. the game is flagged as "Requesting New Players" (set in Edit Game Details);
  2. the game has an introduction written for it;
  3. the game has at least one thread; and
  4. the game does not have a recent, existing ad in the forum.

On-topic replies are permitted within the forum; only replies which are posted at least one week after the ad was placed will bump the thread now.

The Dice Roller is improved.

New systems have been added to the Dice Roller including (but not limited to) Earthdawn and Deadlands.  The Dice Roller options are refined for Whitewolf, Storyteller, and World of Darkness, and the Dice Roller's representation of the Hackmaster penetration system was fixed.

Additionally:

Account Names now display as the GM name on the Main Menu.

The Main Menu will display the GM's RPoL Account Name, rather than their GM Alias, on game listings.  The Alias is now used inside the game only.

Various RPoL links have been re-located.

The top and bottom link areas have been completely renovated and now remain
on-screen for easier access at all times.  All the same links are still there, and several have been added, you'll just have to get used to clicking in new places now!  Bonuses include there being a "Post a Reply" link always visible on thread displays (at the lower right), and more links displayed consistently across many different pages.

The Help and FAQ files have improved dramatically.

Our Help and FAQ files have been given a serious working over, and are now easier to navigate.  Check 'em out!

Improved sign-up procedure for new users.

Email addresses for new users (and for those changing their email address) must be verified now.  This is to assist us in keeping down the instances of multiple accounts, and to make sure people don't accidentally create accounts they cannot use due to mistyped email addresses.

Thread icons are different now.

"New" and "No-new" message indicators display to the left of a thread, while "Closed" and "Notice" indicators are displayed to the right of the thread.  This improved display will help users see when closed threads have new messages in them.  Look to the bottom of any game or forum menu to see the new icons, along with labels describing what they mean.

Redirection after posting a message is now slower.

After posting a message, the redirection is a bit slower.  This is because additional links are offered to allow the poster to go somewhere besides the default redirection.

Improved message editing.

Message editing has improved in a number of ways.  Note the "±" link at the upper right of the composition area -- this will enlarge or shrink the editing area to assist those using different screen resolutions.

The links and drop-down boxes at the bottom of the composition area for inserting formatting code will now insert around text, if that text is selected, or at the cursor location, rather than always at the end of a message.  They're also smarter, so clicking a formatting link once (without text selected) will "open" the tag, then clicking it again will close it.

GMs also have the option (using a checkbox at the bottom of a post) to Bump a thread when editing a message in it.

Preview is now a button.

There is no longer a "Preview" check box.  Instead, at the bottom of each post composition area, there will be two buttons, "Preview" and "Post Message".

Cookies are now subdomain-independent.

Huh?  Oh right -- there should no longer be Cookie issues when switching between viewing http://www.rpol.net and http://rpol.net, or any other rpol.net subdomains.

Increased game map size.

The new limit is 100K rather than 30K.  All praise be to jase!

New "Mark all as Read" feature.

Games and forums now have a link for "Mark all as Read" which will mark all threads in that game or forum as read to the user.  This will change all "New Message" icons to "No New Messages" icons for that game or forum for that user.

Row highlighting no longer operates as a link.

While the Main Menu and Forum and Game Menu displays still have row highlighting, only the links are actual links now -- the rest of the row will not act as one.

"Edit Thread" menus for GMs.

There is now an "Edit Thread" link at the top of any thread display in a GM's game.  The GM can use that link to edit the thread Subject, change its Group, make it a Notice, Bump it, Archive it, or Close it.

There is now a maximum message size.

Due to past antisocial behavior by some users, messages are now limited to 51,200 bytes (characters) in size.

Sixteen groups are now available instead of ten.

Yep -- you'll find Groups 0 through E in your games now.  The Group formerly known as 9 is now Group Z.  Any characters who were in Group 9 in RPoL version 1.4 will have automatically been moved to the new Group Z when RPoL was upgraded to version 1.5.

The pop-up Sticky List now has an optional audible alert.

There is a check box at the bottom of the pop-up sticky list which includes an option for an audible alert on new messages.  It sounds like this.

Sole Ownership of games.

GMs can, in the "Edit Game Details" area of the "GM Menu", set their game to be flagged as "Sole Ownership".  This means that they are indicating that they don't want anyone else taking over the game in their absence.

Downloading of threads is improved.

Downloading of game threads is improved -- GMs now have several options to customize what information from a thread is downloaded.

Subscriptions?

Subscriptions are still in the plan, but they have not been written into the code yet.  They will be coming in with the next upgrade of RPoL, at some future, unspecified date.

Last updated: 12:57, Tue 01 May 2007.
Direct link: http://new.rpol.net/help/?t=faqs&page=14to15