General usage

The tabs at the top
Index takes you to the list all of the boards. It will show you the ones with new posts, and by whom and the time.
Recent topics shows topics with new posts in a certain time frame. This is set by you. You can set it from a few hours up to a year. Or since your last visit. The list might be empty, even if there are new posts, if you've kept yourself logged in.
No replies takes you to threads with no replies (yet).
My topics shows topics in which you've posted.
Profile takes you to your own profile. Once there, click edit to tell us about yourself.

Navigating
Just below your username are the 'breadcrumbs' which show you'll location. If you're reading a thread, the breadcrumbs will be: Forum > Sports > Basketball > (current topic). When you're done with that thread, click on the forum (in this case basketball) to see all the topics again.

Viewing the threads
For now this can be selected on an individual basis. The default is 'flat,' which shows the first post, then all replies listed below ordered by time. I personally hate this view. I prefer the other two options 'indented,' where replies are underneath the correct post, or 'threaded,' which shows the tree. (The previous board was threaded. The temporary board was flat.) These buttons to change the view are at the bottom of the entire thread. Just click and it will immediately change the view. Pick your favorite view. The board will remember your choice when you're logged in.

Un-read posts
When looking at the list of forums, a green superscript next to each forum will tell you the number of topics with new posts since your last visit. When inside a forum, that superscript will mark topics with new posts. You can click on the 'mark as read' button to zero that count.

Posting
Boardcode: visible when starting a topic or after hitting reply
Just hover your mouse over an item. A tooltip will tell you what it is. There are codes for bold, underline, italics, strikethrough, justify, a link, an image, a poll, etc.
Emoticons: hovering over will tell you what each one stands for. There's another post in this forum with all the emoticons available and how to call them.

Subscribe
You can subscribe to a topic or an entire board. This means you'll get an email when there are new posts.

Replying
This can be done by hitting the buttons reply, quote, and reply to topic. You'll see all the editing tools listed above. You can also hit quick reply, which pulls up a text box. The editing tools aren't there, but they'll still be accepted. Quoting is a good idea if you want to respond to a particular part of a post. Without quoting, the flat view makes it very difficult to follow a conversation, IMHO.

Thanking
Also underneath the post is a button for 'thank you.' Click that for a great post, a helpful answer, a thumbs-up, whatever.
To the left of each post you'll see a mini-profile for the poster. Here you can, at least for now, 'applaud' or 'smite' a user. Dunno about the utility of this. I might drop it.

Reporting
This is a moderated board. I moderate all the boards. I also have moderators for certain other boards. We stay on top of things pretty well, but bad posts could get through. If you see one, please help us out by clicking the 'report to moderator' link at the end of the post. Please give a brief note about what's wrong with the post.

I don't really have an answer. I might not keep the karma stuff as I can't think of a good reason for it. The 'thank you/thumbs up' makes sense. Karma, not so much.

I figured I'd just see how it evolves on the board.

To test it I will give you a plus.

It seems to have worked. I have no idea what it is really used for or if anyone is paying attention to it, but yours is still there and it still works.

completely now.

The old board they could if they caught their error and corrected it within the first hour after posting.

Thanks!

RC

The old board let us do that. I thought "Recent Topics" might be the answer, but it is not.

Thanks!

Not quite the same. You can click on "recent topics." Then have it remember your settings for your time frame, for instance since last login, two days, etc.