Introducing TDA's new look

Hello loyal TDA members,

After several hours of fixing bugs and glitches we're finally proud to release TDA's new look. This look features several new options for users to utilize in order to navigate the forum faster and more efficiently. This post will explain some of the new features added to the forum so that everyone learns how to get around the forum as soon as possible.

.:A new look:.
The thing that stands out the most about the forum is obviously the new darker look. Many of our members enjoy being a part of TDA because of our graphics which distinguish us from the rest of the academy world, however, many were not 100 percent satisfied with our previous look. Many believed it was too bright and because of that many colors did not stand out when members posted. Many believed a darker look would make the forum appear more mature. Many also disliked the fact that there was too much going on in terms of graphics. We decided to take all the feedback we received and put it into one final layout, and the result is what you are all looking at. We decided to go with a simpler layout this time around but still kept graphics that continue to distinguish us from the others. We created a darker look in order to go for that mature look many had asked for in the past, but we did not make it too dark in order to please those who liked the bright forum. Overall we tried to make a look that would be pleasing to everyone's eyes and hopefully we've achieved that.

.:Finding posts that interest you. Faster!:.
Looks were not the only thing people had gave us negative feedback on. There was also the issue of our forum being too cluttered--making it hard for members to find posts they were involved in unless they checked their e-mail. For this, we added a feature which allows members to check posts that are important to them with a single click. As the image shows, this feature can be found in the top right corner of the forum and it'll allow you to do three things.

• View all posts since last visit

This feature will allow you to check all the posts that were made by other users since the time you logged off. Viewing this can allow you to respond to any of the posts you want to without having to check every forum for new posts.

• View your posts

This feature will allow you to check the topics where you made a post. Viewing this will allow you to reply to people faster without having to go through countless spam in your e-mail to get to posts you're involved in.

• View unanswered posts

This feature will be the feature we believe will increase activity in the forum. Viewing this will allow you to check all the posts that have zero replies; allowing you to be the first to answer your fellow members' questions.

When you are in a topic this feature can also be accessed in a different area. As the image shows, this feature is found in the "tab" above every post where it says Actions!. This feature includes the three options the other one includes, and a few more like stop watching topic for when you don't want your e-mail to be spammed by posts in this topic and several others. Unfortunately, forumotion did not allow us to change the text of this area so it's a bit hard to read since the text is black on a dark background. We are sorry for the inconvenience but there is nothing we can do about it, but hey it's better than nothing.


.:Forum hiding tabs:.
When you guys are in the forum index you'll notice that every section has a tab-like image above them, and on each tab there is a power-like image that is facing down. This image can be clicked to make forums vanish. When the circle is facing up the entire section will vanish and only if you click the circle again will it appear--somewhat like a drop menu. In addition to the features mentioned above, this feature will further increase the efficiency in which people navigate the forum. Many complained that we had too many banners in our forum and it was a hassle to scroll all the way down. Well now you guys don't have to scroll down; with the simple click of your mouse you can shrink the forum to your liking.


.:Find stuff out about your friends faster:.
Another feature we've added is a drop-down menu for everyone's profile. This feature will allow you to get in touch with your friends without the need of visiting several links in order to get where you want to go. If you want to send a moderator a PM you won't have to click their name, look up their profile, and find the PM button. All you'll have to do is click their name in a post and select the Private Message option, and viola you'll be taken straight to your inbox to compose a private message. This feature also includes other things which should make your forum experience faster, leaving more time for the fun stuff.


.:Calendar & Portal:.
These two features have been available since TDA was founded, but for some reason they were never used by members. Well now the Calendar and Portal will play a very important part in TDA's foruming experience.

• Calendar

Once a new staff is created, the calendar will feature a list of all the events that will happen in TDA during the month we're in. The events will include all the non-dueling events, and two to three new tournaments hosted by staff every month. We are planning to host a new tournament every fifteen days (or less if time allows) because we know you guys are here for dueling and we will give you guys competition to fulfill all your dueling needs.

• Portal

You guys may have noticed that all the widgets have vanished from the forum index, and I know many of you are asking why. The reason we've decided to throw widgets out of the index is because they were a huge reason for why the forum looked cluttered, and with the new features added to navigate the forum faster, we felt that there was really no need to have a widget like recent topics in the index anymore. However, we know a lot of you still want to see these widgets and so we decided to make the portal the only place to find widgets like recent topics, and card of the week. The portal will also feature new announcements or articles we find interesting to read. "But I never visit the portal.." If you're one of those people that doesn't like to click the portal button in the nav bar don't despair because there's an easy way to access the portal. When you visit our forum the first thing you will be taken to is the portal if you type our url properly). If you have our url saved in your bookmarks as [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] you will not be taken to the portal and you could miss some important announcement so it's very important that if you have our site bookmakred to change the address of that bookmark to [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] .

Those are all the features I can think of right now, and I'm not sure if there are any more. I've just spent several hours (I'll admit I took some very long breaks...) fixing all the problems in the forum so my brain is a bit fried. I thank you for your patience and I'm sorry for taking away TDA from you guys for a whole day, but I certainly hope the wait was worth it. If you guys have any questions regarding some of the forum's features or if you just want to say something nice be sure to post it here. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] I don't bite.