After the hack a few weeks ago, I decided to transport the forum to the server root and making the forum the main website. Previously there was a main website, but with the last Wordpress installation I tried to make that website more active. Turned out that Wordpress is an easy target for hackers, so I didn't even bother to re-install it. So now the forum can be found directly at the main url and the forum portal is now the official homepage, which is why I put the welcome text from the old website on top.
The forum software being the main website now, means I had to change some things to improve it, because it was just a forum, with not much possibilities to add extra information. This is the reason you have seen 'database errors' lately, and this is also the reason the forum was in maintenance mode a few times. I'm sorry for that, but I tried to keep it online as much as possible, sometimes it wasn't possible.
With this post I would like to do a walk through to show the new features and show you how you can help to fill up the site and make sure all the info can be easily found.
The Menu
Home -> Main homepage. Scroll down for the portal. Not many new stuff there and I don't think it needs much explanation.
Community -> The forum board index. If you post a new thread, click this in order to make sure you have the right category for your new topic. Please don't post everything under 'Breaking News', it would be better if we coul easily find topics months later. Breaking News is only for breaking news.
News -> This is a section where you all can help. I have added some categories and articles, but if I set the permissions right, you all are able to post articles. So if you have any articles about important subjects, please post them (besides on the forum) also in the News section. If you miss a category, let me know and I will add it. So this is not to add your thoughts or theories, but just for reported news articles.
Information This is a drop-down menu.
Downloads -> Another categorie you can all contribute to. Here you can post documents, pictures and audio files. It's not a gallery, so if you post anything, make sure you describe it well, so that people know exactly what kind of file it is. All the court documents still need to be added, plus all kinds of other stuff, so please help me out if you can. If your file is too big to upload, email it to me so I can upload it for you and send you the link.
Hoaxpic Uploader -> Some might already have noticed, but I have disabled the attachments function. If you want to post an image, upload it with Hoaxpic and use the provided url to post it on the forum. I guess it even gives you a forum code. The attachment folder got too big and slows down the database, so this is a much better option. Also, when you post pictures from another site, it could be a good idea to save them to your pc and also upload them on hoaxpic, if you suspect that the picture might get removed soon. If you use the hoaxpic url, you can be sure it won't get deleted.
Links -> This is a page where we can all post useful links we bump into. I already added categories, and I think that you can add a new category if needed. Just add any useful link, or any website related to MJ.
(View Memberlist, Search and Help are nothing new)
My Account is also a dropdown, having everything to do with your profile and membership. What I wanted is to make this site more like a Facebook kind of community, where you can post stuff on your profile, and have 'Buddies' you can add.
My Profile -> This one is where people can find the info you share (please do not share any personal info like address, phone number, pictures of your family etc., for your own safety). You can modify your profile by clicking 'modify profile' -> Forum Profile. Here you can add any of your social messengers/pages etc. New function is the Skype integration. You can see in my Profile summery next to this post that I am online with skype. If you click it, you get my skype profile. Note that if you want to use it, you need to set your skype to "Allow my status to be shown on the web" Otherwise it will always display you as offline! To do this go into your skype options > Privacy then tick the box that says "Allow my status to be shown on the web".
Also new, is that you can display your Twitter feed in your profile. If you co to my profile: Login Michael Jackson Death Hoax Investigators you will see what I mean. To display this, you need to add your Twitter account a second time in your 'modify profile' -> Forum Profile on the bottom, where it asks for your Twitter ID. 'Modify profile' -> Look & Layout is another page for your personal settings. Here you can (dis)able the Wibiya toolbar on the bottom of the forum. Some find it handy, others have problems with it because it slows down their connection. So if you don't want it, you can disable it here. I always have 'Use sidebar menus instead of dropdown menus when possible.' checked, because it's much easier to oversee your settings, plus I know a lot of people are looking for the option 'Return to topics after posting by default.', which you can also check here. You can also change your theme here (and on the homepage btw). If your eyes hurt because of the orange, or after we kicked your ass in the Ukraine/London this summer, you might want to change the theme to light blue... :LolLolLolLol:
Okay, back to your profile: at the bottom you will find an option to post comments. You can post on your own profile, or on someone else's. There is no WYSIWYG editor, so if you want to post an image or youtube, you must type the codes yourself. Or you make the post on the forum, but instead of posting, you copy the stuff and post it on your profile.
My Buddies -> This is a page that displays your buddies. You can add buddies by going to someone's profile, then click '[Add To Buddy List]'. This way it's easy to follow your buddies' profiles etc. It's nothing important, it's just for fun. Just to post some unimportant blabla.
(My Posts, My Topics, Logout are nothing new)
Chatroom -> The good ol' chatroom is back. This time members only, so in order to enter it, you need to be logged into the forum. It's not very busy yet, so it would be nice if more people will visit once in a while. Under the chatroom is a player with a great MJ remix of 49 minutes, which can also be found on the homepage. (You will of course understand that you need to keep this page open if you don't want the music to stop...)
Blogs
MJDHI Blog is the one that has always been under 'blog'.
Member Blogs is new. Well sort of. It was here before, but I had to delete it for reasons I can't remember anymore. Anyway, everyone can have his own blog now. It will say that it's inactive now or something, but that's because noone has posted a blog yet. In order to go yo your own blog page, manage your categories and post your blogs, go to your profile -> profile info -> blog. Use it for anything you want, it's your blog.
The rest in the menu is nothing new.
Posts
Depending on how much info you filled in on your profile page, your summery in your posts looks like this:

The icon in the green circle, is the icon to your (or in this case my) blog. If you haven't got the icon, it means you never posted anything on your blog. I have no posts either, but this is still a setting from the old installation. As soon as you have posted a blog, it should show in your profile. The icon in the orange circle is new too. It's a quote to pm function. Instead of quoting in a post on the forum, you will quote the message of that particular member in a pm to that member. If you would click it in my post now, you will send me a pm where you will quote this post. Handy if you want to ask someone about a post they have made or something like that.
Under each post you will now see the word 'translate' in your own language (unless you are using a proxy server of course). I know some people (paula??? lol) use the google translator to translate the posts, so I have integrated Googl translate into the forum. Click the word and you have your the post translated.
I might have forgotten something, if so I will add it later. I will be adding more pages to the site, mostly under the menu 'information', but that won't have effect on the forum. Please use the new functions (news, downloads, links, etc.) so that this site will be up-to-date any time.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please post them in this thread.