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

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(original, FIRST POST BELOW. See upper portion for basic usage)

PLEASE FOLLOW THIS THREAD FOR UPDATES ABOUT THE NEW MESSAGE BOARD
And feel free to reply here with questions, comments, problems, and/or concerns.

MadridMan's ALL SPAIN Message Board will have a new format/layout in the coming days. There's a probability the board will be down for a short period of time, probably a matter of hours at most, but when you come back the you'll immediately see the difference.

The layout you initially see won't likely be the final one. I'll be tinkering with the new colors and graphics as time permits.

All previous registrations will remain intact and additional features will be available. Previous threads/postings will remain but will be at a new/different URL. The auto-forwarding-mechanism will take care of any old URLs floating about, forwarding the visitor to the new URL.

Thanks for your patience!

Saludos, MadridMan

WOW moving into the 21st century
why the upgrade? everything seems perfect to me,
dont make it to complicated for numptys like me

anyway you should be scouring the shops looking for turkey and stuffing to bother about upgrading the forum
get your priorities right
(oh and lets not forget a chef)

Trust me, the software is 10X more difficult for me to manage as well! But I'll get used to it, I'm sure.

It will allow for a bunch of new features. And one of the things I like most is its ANTI-SPAM-BOT registration process. New registrations will have to enter the digits+letter they see in a graphic in order to go forward - something SPAM BOTS can't do.

So stay patient while I'm tinkering with the look and layout specifics.

Saludos, MadridMan

i nearly made a fool out of myself then, i was going to ask if you could put a search by thing on, and after 2 1/2 years ive just found it!
its good but still does not narrow things down that much and i wondererd if you could put a better search on the upgraded site?
i tried real madrid and there were still loads of topics on madrid and it needs time to go through them all
if im doing something wrong please ignore this post

It's (probably) all about the syntax of one's search. Instead of, simply, Real Madrid you'd probably want to put the term in parenthesis, like "Real Madrid", effectively narrowing your search to the football/soccer team. Otherwise, as you found out, you get 1,000 results with the term REAL and another 1,000 results with the term MADRID. Same goes with most search engines when search syntax is very important - although almost no one knows how to use it.

Saludos, MadridMan

yep
you have cleared that up for me thank you
now i know how, i can now have some fun going over all the old topics
thanks again (simple when you know how eh!)

BOINK! Coming soon!

Boink!

And.... It's STILL on its way! Seems it may not get put-together until next week due to a busier holiday (Thanksgiving's tomorrow!!) week.

Saludos, MadridMan

FINALLY! The "new-and-improved" message board is on its way. Should "arrive" at about noon (EST) this coming Monday so expect about 1 hour of down time.

Remember, we'll all be going through some growing pains while we're getting used to is (including me!!) so be patient.

Consider this my Christmas present to you all.

Saludos, MadridMan