The Bench will be temporarily offline today, starting at approximately 2:30pm EST while we perform some software upgrades and fix a few bugs that have been found since the last upgrade. This update is expected to last approximately 1 hour, or less.
Here are some of the things that will change after today's update.
New editor
This is probably the one thing that most of you will notice first. The editor (where you type your posts and messages) will look a little different. The basic functionality will remain the same but it will look a little cleaner.
Horizontal attachment listing
For those of you who have started uploading images, as attachments, into your posts, you will also notice a little difference. Now, after you upload your images they will be displayed horizontally, rather than vertically. This is changed so you won't have to scroll up and down as you insert the images into your posts. This is especially useful if you're using a mobile device. You can see a sample of what it will look like in the previous picture.
Giphy integration
We're now also going to add Giphy integration into the editor. What this means is that you'll be able to search, and insert, an animated GIF image directly into your post from Giphy.
Suggested threads
When you're creating a new thread in certain forums on the site you'll now get a list of suggested forums that may be the same as the one you're trying to create. So, rather than starting a new thread you could just add to the one already on the site. This could help prevent having multiple threads on the same topic all going at once. Again, this will only be active in some forums. Nobody wants to see a list of suggested threads when they're making their own trade list.
Similar threads
To go along with suggested threads, every thread on the site will also now include a list of similar threads at the bottom. The thinking here is that if you don't find what you're looking for in the first thread you read, you might see another similar thread that you'd like to continue reading on. This will be especially helpful for folks who find us using Google search and are looking for specific information that they don't find on the first link they click on.
Profile banners
After the update, members will be able to upload a profile banner, similar to a cover photo on Twitter and Facebook.
More...
Along with these additions there will also be a few other little changes to the site including:
Here are some of the things that will change after today's update.
New editor
This is probably the one thing that most of you will notice first. The editor (where you type your posts and messages) will look a little different. The basic functionality will remain the same but it will look a little cleaner.
Horizontal attachment listing
For those of you who have started uploading images, as attachments, into your posts, you will also notice a little difference. Now, after you upload your images they will be displayed horizontally, rather than vertically. This is changed so you won't have to scroll up and down as you insert the images into your posts. This is especially useful if you're using a mobile device. You can see a sample of what it will look like in the previous picture.
Giphy integration
We're now also going to add Giphy integration into the editor. What this means is that you'll be able to search, and insert, an animated GIF image directly into your post from Giphy.
Suggested threads
When you're creating a new thread in certain forums on the site you'll now get a list of suggested forums that may be the same as the one you're trying to create. So, rather than starting a new thread you could just add to the one already on the site. This could help prevent having multiple threads on the same topic all going at once. Again, this will only be active in some forums. Nobody wants to see a list of suggested threads when they're making their own trade list.
Similar threads
To go along with suggested threads, every thread on the site will also now include a list of similar threads at the bottom. The thinking here is that if you don't find what you're looking for in the first thread you read, you might see another similar thread that you'd like to continue reading on. This will be especially helpful for folks who find us using Google search and are looking for specific information that they don't find on the first link they click on.
Profile banners
After the update, members will be able to upload a profile banner, similar to a cover photo on Twitter and Facebook.
More...
Along with these additions there will also be a few other little changes to the site including:
- Fixing a few bugs in the Transaction manager and adding the Transaction ID into the Transaction info block
- Changing the lightbox (the box that pops up when you click on an attachment or media item) to include more information about an image
- Adding attachments uploaded into certain forums into the media gallery
