On a website loaded with unique features to assist their message board community more often than not important features can be overlooked or not utilized simply because people are unaware they are available.
With TBK Tips Blogs we like to highlight certain features of the website that can make life much easier for our users. One of these often under utilized features is the Show Latest Posts utility in which a user is provided several options to access the newest posts on the site in various forums either since their last visit to the site OR during a particular time frame.
Not only is this feature convenient for those who are limited in their browsing time (yes, I'm looking at those guys who are trying to sneak a peek at the site from their work cubicle) but it is also very efficient for those who aren't exactly thrilled about scrolling through 10 pages of a thread to get to the latest updates since their last visit.
The Show Latest Posts feature can be accessed from any facet of the website, whether it be the front page or the message forums themselves. There are two different ways to access this feature. In order to access the feature from the front page and/or message forums you drag your mouse to the top of the web page to the toolbar that is just below the True Blue Kentucky logo. There you will find a button listed "Forums". When you hover over the button you'll access a drop down list of forums. At the very top a button named "Show Latest Posts". To access the screen you must click on the "Show Latest Posts" button.
The same access can be achieved by clicking on the "Show Latest Posts" link in the "True Blue Kentucky Forums" toolbar at the top of the forums page or while in any message board thread.
Once you reach the Show Latest Posts page itself you're going to see the following:
The page is split up into three different areas that are important to the users Show Latest Posts capabilities (from top to bottom):
Timeline Toolbar (Top of the "Show the Latest Posts" area) - At the top of the "Show Latest Posts" area of the page is a blue box that features a few items of importance. First listed is the Active Topics Since Last Visit line that will tell you the date/time of your last visit as well as how many total topics have been updated by new posts/created since the last visit.
Beneath is a line of links that are time lines you can select when it comes to setting a timeline for viewing newest posts. For instance if you don't want to view the newest posts since your last visit but instead would like to see the newest posts in the last 8 hours you would click on the "8 Hours" link. Same goes with 4, 12, 24, 48, and all the way up to a week. You can also click on the "since last visit" link if you want to return to the original settings.
Topic/Forum Listing Section (Middle of "Show the Latest Posts" area) - In the blue and white lined area are four different columns:
1) Topic/Forum - This is where you will see the actual thread topic listed in bold blue as well as the forum is it posted in just beneath. If you click on the thread topic* it will take you to the entire thread, new posts included.
* To the left of the thread topic is a little link in red parenthesis that notes how many new posts are in that thread. If you click on that link it will give you just the newest posts in that thread that you have not read. This is a great feature for those who do not want to access multiple pages threads but instead just want to see the new posts. It can also be accessed on the forum pages as well next to the thread titles.
2) Posts - This column will list the latest posts in the time frame selected/the total posts in the thread.
3) Latest Post Author/First Post Author - This column lists the author of the most recent new post/the author of the original post starting the topic thread.
4) Last Posted - This column addresses how many minutes it has been since the most recent post to that particular thread. On the grid the most recent thread topic updated will be listed in chronological order.
Board Category Selection (Bottom of "Show Latest Posts" area) - At the bottom of the page in a blue box you will see the list of every True Blue Kentucky message forum and board listed that you access depending on your registration status (i.e. registered user, premium member, moderator, etc). If you want to be board specific in which boards you want to be updated on for newest posts you click the open box next to that board until a green check mark appears. When you are finished selecting the boards you want updated you click on the "Update Categories" button and it will give you the newest posts in your specific time frame for just the boards you selected. You can include any combination of boards you would like. You can also select the box to the left labeled "Only Display NEW Posts" if you want to clear the threads off your screen that you have already visited.
These tips should help make navigating the website much more efficient for those without a lot of time to browse. And as always, if you have any further questions feel free to private message any of the moderators on site. Enjoy.
