** ALERT: Message board upgrade **

[Matt Moreno]

I just wanted to pass along this note early to give you a heads up, but the message boards will be getting an upgrade tonight and the maintenance could last into tomorrow. The message boards here at GOAZCATS.com are going to be revamped to have a completely new look with plenty of upgraded features both on the surface for you all and on the back end staff. I think you all will like the new look and it should be a lot more functional as well.

It is possible that there could be some kinks to work out after the upgrade is complete, so make sure to pass along any issues you are having after message boards get their refreshed look.

The window for the maintenance is set to begin at 8 p.m. MST tonight and could run into the the morning tomorrow so be aware of that. I apologize for the inconvenience but make sure to check the front page for any important updates that would normally be posted here.

Here is a rundown of what is coming to the message boards after the upgrade.

New Features

• Native emoji support
  • Use real emojis in thread titles and post content from your favorite device
• Light / Dark style themes
• User-selectable font scaling
• Modernized profile popups / pages
  • Mouse-over (or tap on mobile) usernames to see new User Profile card
  • Click/tap on card name to go to new User Profile page
• Unread alert & conversation icon/count in browser tabs
  • Number of unread alerts/conversation messages in title text
  • A red dot over the tab icon indicates at least one unread item
• "What’s New" content menu
  • New forum navigation menu with additional ways to find new and unread threads and posts
• Automatic url summary blocks
  • Pasting in a url (that isn't an embed) into a post will auto-create a box with title, thumbnail, and summary (if available from the destination)
• "Quick Thread" new thread tool
  • A new box at the top of the thread list for quickly typing in a title and composing a new thread all at once without leaving the page
• Last Post avatar shown on forum lists
  • See avatars in thread and forum lists for the most recent poster

Updated Features

• Enhanced embedding from other sites
  • More (and better performing) embed types for sites like Twitter, Facebook, reddit, etc.
  • Drop the url in the text of the post and it will auto-embed if recognized
• Optimized mobile experiences
  • Tap-optimized interactions
  • Layout and style tuned for smaller displays
• Lots of additional streamlined functionality

If you want to have an idea of what the upgrades will look like click this link to see an example.