New Board Entrance Page!
About This Page:

**Jennifer Marx** · 10-30-2003, 07:37 PM

Thanks to the power of our new message board, I've been able to create an alternate front page for them! The new Entrance page should automatically load for you when you use the http://www.passporterboards.com URL to enter... and your can go there anytime by clicking the Entrance link at the top of every message board page.

So what's so great about it? It provides a very nice overview to the message boards before just dumping you into the forum list. Here's what you'll see:

Left column:
- Menu of helpful links, including a link to our member profile index (new!) and links to make us your home page, add us to your browser's favorites list, or recommend the boards to a friend.
- Please Login -or- Your Status, you'll see one of these two depending on whether you're logged in or not. If you're not logged in, you can do so right here (no need to click the Login link) and if you've forgotten your password you can even request it here. If you're already logged on, you'll see yourself as others see you... name, title, stars or badge (if any), and posts -- plus you can see how many private messages you have and edit your preferences, too!
- Recent Threads returns! Here are the top five new threads on our message boards.
- Online gives you a synopsis of who joined us within the last 10 minutes.

Middle column:
- Welcome window gives our newest member a warm welcome, and for those who aren't registered yet, there is a friendly note about who we are and how to join.
- PassPorter News offers the most recent thread in the PassPorter News forum, with links to view and reply!
- PassPorter Forum List is a quick hit list of all our forums... a lot less scrolling than with the Forum Index. But if you still want all the details, just click the link near the headline or click the Forum Index link at the top of every page.

Right column:
- Quick Search is a handy box for a, well, a quick search of our boards!
- PassPorter Patter is a our version of a scribble wall. You can dash off a hello or a note to whomever may pass by to read it. All members are welcome to scribble a note! If you find you really like PassPorter Patter, you can keep it in a separate window while you use the message boards -- just click the headline and a new window will pop-up. Patter is automatically updated every 10 seconds or so. Note that only the last 10 lines of patter are visible in the box at any one time. If you miss it, it's gone. For that reason, we don't recommend you use PassPorter Patter as a regular chat window, as it lacks many of the features of a real chat. But it's still a fun, little thing to play with!
- The Buzz lists the hottest topic today (the one with the most replies)
- PassPorter Profile Spotlight features one of our members who've filled in their profiles (so get those profiles filled out) -- specifically, you need to have your location, hobbies, and bio filled out in order to show up here!

I'd love to hear your feedback and suggestions for this Entrance page. I tried to keep the information brief so folks don't have to wait for it to load or get errors, but if you have problems, I want to know about it. And if there is information you'd like to see here, just ask and I'll see what I can do.

Enjoy!
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poohsgirl · 10-30-2003, 08:38 PM

<font color="purple"> Jennifer, will the "Entrance page" become an additional choice for us to go directly into after we've logged in? Right now we have our home page or the main index as choices. </font>