I suspect that there are lots of cool useful features on this site that some folks really like and use regularly that maybe others haven't yet discovered, don't know how they work, or just had no clue was possible. I thought it'd be nice to collect them in one thread for people to browse. Please post a description of what it does and how to find/use the feature. I expect I'll learn a thing or two.

I'll start with a couple of my Favorites:

• New Posts link. Found in the Main Menu on the left column, 1st sub-link under Forums. It generates a list of the most recent posts to all threads, including Off-Topic. Sure you can use the Pulse (someone else may post about that) but I like this.

• Goto Last Post. I frequently use this in conjunction with the New Posts link above. When viewing a list of threads in a forum, clicking this little icon that follows the username in the "Last Post" colum will take you to the most recent post instead of the first post as clicking on the thread title will do. For some of the threads that are many pages long, this is invaluable!

• Online Users. On the Home Page, found near the bottom of the left column under the Main Menu, Latest Topics, and Buddy List. This box gives you a quick gauge of how busy the site is by telling you how many Members and Guests are currently online. Clicking the link will actually take you to the list where you can see each user and what they are currently browsing.

Who else? Let's hear 'em!

 

I guess I'm the only one who thought this was a good idea.... Maybe everyone else just figures that they already know all there is about the site.


...Well, I'll add another bit to the Online Users item from my last post. I just realized that you can also see Who's Online and what they are currently doing from the Quick Links menu (which is below the banner on the right, nearest the center - beside Search) - Who's Online is the last link.

This is neat just to see what other people are reading - even if they aren't posting. If you get down into the "Guest" users you can see the kinds of topics that the silent, nameless people are "researching." It all makes you feel a little bit like you're in a fishbowl being watched :impatient - but still neat.

 

I think this is a great idea. Once we have a few I'll start turning them into FAQs so we can centralize them. Thanks for the ideas and keep them coming!

Mark