This update marks the first time that a major restructuring of our in-house forum has occurred. And although there’s still further work to do later this year, the current restructuring combined with the new CSS/HTML coding standard used with the new site framework required a complete rewrite of over 350,000 characters of code. But it’s also meant a reduction in the total number of forum program/setup-related files from 417 (!) to a mere 24. These changes will also make it far easier to add on user-requested features in the future.

I’ve tried to incorporate the “quick and simple” nature of the old design with the new site framework, making use of the extra available width to present information clearer, but without making drastic changes to the user interface. You should find things a bit cleaner, more versatile, and you may even notice a few new things!

I would appreciate it if anyone interested could take a look at the new design, poke around, and let me know about any issues or problems encountered. Assuming everything goes okay, the updated design will be made permanent as soon as possible.

First, a few notes regarding the preview:

• The number of threads and posts will be shown inaccurately until the system is finalized.
• Last poster information will also be unavailable.
• Due to compatibility issues, you will not be able to add new posts (you can still go through the motions of doing so, but don’t worry it won’t mess anything up).
• Despite the major changes under the hood, I’ve kept the old URLs compatible with the new system – so your bookmarks or links will not break.
• Everything else should be functional: all messages will be available, and you can use favorites, search, update account information, edit posts and so forth.