does that mean i cannot use the board until santa has been on christmas day?

Anyway THANK YOU very much and a MERRY CHRISTMAS to you and every message board member

Nah, billy the man, you can use it BEFORE Christmas Day. Consider it a pre-Christmas gift.

Will it be as easy to use as this one has been?

Please make it easy on us MM, change is hard!

It'll be hard for awhile, I'm sure, while we're getting used to it. There'll be a lot of features which you'll never use or even know are available to you. You can expect it be very similar to this board - but busier.

Saludos, MadridMan

It's happening Monday so prepare yourselves!

Is this the new one now then?

Yup! This is it! Looks just like the old one, doesn't it?

(hehee.. actually, it's coming at at around noon-to-1pm East Coast USA time)

When you wake up tomorrow you'll all find the new message board.

Saludos, MadridMan

So here it is - for now. I'll be tweaking the settings, layouts, and colors for the best possible fit. Hope you can all figure out how to use it. If you have questions, just ask and I'll try to answer. I'm learning the new software too, though.

Saludos, MadridMan

Short Instructions on Use:

To offer a basic reply to any thread, scroll to the very bottom of the page and write in the text-editor box. Hit "Submit" when finished or "Preview Reply" first.

To more easily include links, smileys, bold, italics, or other gizmos, click the "Switch to Full Reply Screen" either before you start writing or even after you're finished and you'll be taken there.

To start a new topic, as before, go first to the logical category heading (i.e., Hostels & Other Lodging, General Discussion, etcetera). Towards the Upper LEFT hand corner you'll see the "New Topic" button. Click it and you'll be taken to a text editor screen. (this button USED TO BE in the upper right hand corner)

Find Active Topics by clicking the "Active Topics" link.

Private messages are done in much the same way as before. Click the username's link for a pull-down menu. Choose "Send a PM" and you'll be taken to the text editor to do so.

By clicking any username, you can choose to see all postings by this user, send a private message, or see his/her profile.

New (useful?) Feature: If you click the CALENDAR link, you'll see all birthdays for any given month. I can use this feature too to add notices about message board updates, "Parties with MadridMan", or the like. I THINK any user can use this feature in the same way.

And finally, there's the useful FAQ FILE which lists any possible questions+answers you may have about the message board's usage.

THOSE are the basics! If you have specific questions, go to the FAQ FILE linked above or just ask!

Saludos, MadridMan

Wait, NO ONE CAN SEE a text-editor box at the bottom of this (or any) thread???? I've gotten two PMs about that!!