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Greetings!

Here are some basic tips that can help you gain the maximum benefit from the FlightAdventures message board:

• Register – Registered members have access to many message board features that aren’t available to non-registered users. Unfortunately, these features can not be offered to you if you don’t register because if you don’t log on, there’s no way for the system to remember things like which message you read last or equate specific bookmarks you’ve set to you.

• Log On before reading messages – Again, if you don’t log on, the system has no way to match your settings/preferences to you even if you’re a registered member. For example, if you don’t log on, you have to wade through all the messages to find the latest ones.

• Mark messages read – Once you’ve read a thread or forum, click the Mark icon. This will mark all of your messages read, so the next time you log on, any new messages will be marked as such with a yellow folder.

• Use Read New – After logging on, clicking on the Read New icon and all of the new messages will be presented to you.

• Use the navigation links – Rather than use your browser’s Back button for example, using the navigation links on the message board pages will avoid a few problems. Most browsers default to reading from its local cache on your machine when the back button is clicked. This helps reduce the amount of data that you have to download, which is typically a good thing. However, if you or someone has posted a message, you won’t see it because you’ll be reading the old data from on your computer rather than what’s actually currently on the VPC message board. So if you use the navigation links, you’ll always be sure to have the latest data. (If you’re worried about speed, the difference between the two is very small since what data is the same such as graphics will still be cached off your HD and only new data will be downloaded.)

• When all else fails use Refresh – Now that we understand how the cache works, if you do find that you’ve clicked on your browser’s navigation buttons rather than the links on the message board pages, all is not lost. Simply clicking on the Refresh button in your browser should bring all of your data in synch with the FlightAdventures message board server.

• Copy and Paste – To cut and paste text from a previous message or from another source, highlight the material you want to copy and use CTRL+C to copy it to your clipboard. To pastes the contents of your clipboard, use Shift+Ins.

• Post, post, post! – This is the old “chicken or egg” argument, if no one posts, others won’t post either, which will cause others not to post. However, if everyone contributes to the board by posting (anything aviation or simulator-related is welcome!), this will produce more posts, which in turn will created even more posts, and encourage new users to post sooner. Try it, you’ll see!

• Log on to the Lobby – OK, this isn’t really a feature of the message board, but what I do when I read the message board is I also log on to the lobby and keep that running in the background as I read the messages. There’s typically someone from the VPC crew there, but you’ll find that many times you’ll run into your fellow VPC members. If I happen to log on when no one there, I’ll just keep the window running in the background and check back to it every couple of minutes. (Use ALT+TAB to quickly do this.) It’s actually pretty cool to meet and chat with everyone on an impromptu fashion. Check it out. I think you’ll find it enjoyable as well.

• Read the help file – Yes, friends, when all else fails, RTFM! Seriously, a quick perusal through the help file can really help you gain a better understanding of how powerful the FlightAdventures message board is. Of course, if you find a tip that your fellow VPC member might benefit from, please be sure to share it with everyone here on the message board.

Hope these help and thanks!
Ben

• RE: Message Board tips,RobertVA, 13:15z, 06-07-01
  • RE: Message Board tips,Madape, 03:09z, 06-08-01
    • RE: Message Board tips,Ben Chiu, 08:43z, 06-08-01

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Does the lobby have an option to play a sound when someone enters? Some IM programs have such an option so users immediately know someone is online without having to leave the IM window visable.

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If you use mIRC, whenever a person leaves or enters, it plays the windows default ding sound 3 times, maybe this could be incorporated into the Java one?

Sam

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Great idea, Robert!

I don't know how to add that feature off hand, but I'm sure it can be done. I'll look into it when I get a chance.

Ben