This guide covers our old ProBoards v4 software. Click here for the ProBoards v5 Help Guide.
Boards are the areas where forum users actually submit their posts and participate in topical discussions. Boards appear on the main page of online forums and display titles and descriptions indicative of their content.
The Boards section of the admin panel is where forum administrators create, delete, modify, move and reorder message boards. Below are descriptions of the sections displayed in the Boards category of the admin panel.
Create Board
Click this link to create a new discussion board on the forum. You'll then be taken to a page asking where on the forum you want to place the new board to be placed. Choose the appropriate category from the drop-down menu and click continue. The board creation page will display the following options:
Sub-Boards: If other discussion boards already exist in the category you've selected, you'll see a box at the top of the board creation page titled Sub-Boards. This provides the option to create a new board within an existing board which is referred to as the Parent Board. Sub-boards can only be accessed through the parent board and will not be visible on the main page of the forum.
For example, say there's an existing board on the main page named Colors and you'd like to add a sub-board beneath Colors named Blue. Once created, members will be able to view the sub-board Blue after first visiting the Colors board from the main page.
To create a sub-board, select a board from the Sub-Boards drop-down and click continue. You'll then be presented with the (sub) board creation page.
Create Board: Below the Sub-Boards dialogue box are the options for creating an entirely new board on the main page of the discussion forum. They are:
Board Placement: The board placement tools allow you to specify where on the main page you'd like the new message board to appear. From the first drop-down, choose whether you want the board placed Above or Below the board selected in the second drop-down. Keep in mind, you can always re-order boards at a later date using the Reorder Board link in the admin panel.
Board Information: Here you'll specify the Name, ID, and Description of the new message board.
Board Name: This will be the name of the board displayed throughout the forum. You can also use BBCode in the name enabling the display of images, different font types/colors, etc.
ID: Enter a one word ID for the board, with a maximum of 30 characters. This ID will be used by the forum software to identify the board, and can be seen in the address bar of your web browser when visiting the board. Board ID's are also used when re-ordering boards via the Reorder Board link in the admin panel. This cannot be modified later, so be sure to use an ID that will always be relevant to the board you're creating.
Description: If you choose to write a description for the new board, it will appear under the boards name on the main page of the forum. You can also use BBCode (to add images, fonts, etc.) if you'd like the description to stand out. Descriptions are optional.
Board Settings: This category provides options to restrict activities and specify how threads display in the discussion board.
View Board: Specify who can view the contents of the new board. The drop-down provides three options:
Everyone: This option allows everyone, including guests, the ability to view threads and posts in the new board.
Registered Members: This setting only allows registered members to view content. Guests will be notified they do not have permission to access the board.
Only Staff: This option will restrict viewing of the board to staff members. Neither regular members or guests will have access to content and will be notified they don't have permission.
Moderators: Moderators are volunteer members whose efforts maintain order and keep users on topic. You can specify moderators by entering their usernames in the box, separated by commas. Usernames are required as display names are not valid for this purpose. Moderators must also be part of a member group with appropriate staff privileges or they will not have any moderation powers on the board.
Board Password: To password-protect the discussion board, simply type a password in the box provided. You can change the password by visiting the Modify Board page in the admin panel. Leave this option blank if you don't want password protection.
Show Announcements: By default, new topics created as announcements will appear at the top of discussion boards. Specify here whether or not this board will display announcements. Yes allows announcements to appear; No will prevent announcements from being displayed.
Disable Post Counts: Choose whether or not new posts made in the board will contribute to the posting member's post count found in their profile. Choosing Yes will prevent the member's post count from accumulating after posting in the board; No enables.
Disable Posting: Here you can disable posting in the discussion board all-together. Members and forum staff will be unable to create new threads or post with this option set to Yes. This is typically used if you plan to use the new board as a parent board rather than for discussions. Set to No to allow posting.
Hide Board: When set to Yes, this option will hide the board from the forums main page as well as from Forum Jump navigation. Access will only be available using the boards specific web address/ID (ie.http://your-forum.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=ID).
Thread Display Order: Allows you to specify how forum threads will be ordered for viewing in discussion boards.
Order By: The drop-down menu provides several options to order threads within the board:
Last Reply Time: This is the default setting and orders threads by when they were last replied to. For example, using Last Reply Time in conjunction with the Descending order option will order threads from most-active-threads-replied-to, to least-active-threads-replied-to.
Thread Starter: Orders threads alphabetically by the username of the member who started the thread.
Subject: Orders message board threads alphabetically by subject name.
No. Replies: Orders threads based on the number of replies they've received. Using No. Replies with the Descending order option will order threads from most replied to least.
No. Views: Orders threads based on the number of views they've received. Using No. Views with the Descending order option will order threads from most viewed to least.
Thread Icon: This option orders and groups threads together based on their icons (icons are selected when threads are created).
Posting Restrictions: This category allows you to define user restrictions such as who can create threads & replies or, who can post attachments in the discussion board.
Create Threads: Allows you to choose who is permitted to create new threads in the board. Selecting Everyone allows all users, including unregistered guests, to create new threads. Selecting Registered Members restricts thread creation to members only; guests will be restricted. The Only Staff option prevents all users except designated staff members from creating new threads. This option is set to Everyone by default.
Reply to Threads: Allows you to select who will be allowed to reply to existing threads on the discussion board. Set to Everyone by default.
Create Polls: Polls are often used in discussion boards to engage users and gather opinion information. This tool allows you to select who will be permitted to create new polls. User selection options are Registered Members or Staff. Set to Registered Members by default.
Post Attachments: Allows you to select who can post attachments to the discussion board. To allow any registered member to post an attachment, select Registered Members. To limit attachment posting to staff members, select the Only Staff option.
Create Board: Once you've configured the board to your specifications, click the Create Board button at the bottom of the page.
Modify Board
This function allows you to modify most settings for existing discussion boards. Click the Modify Board link in the admin panel, select the board you'd like to modify from the drop-down and click Continue. The only option not found on the next page, that is found on the discussion board creation page, will be the Board ID box. As a reminder, the Board ID cannot be modified.