This post is to address anyone interested on forum changes that went live on 2009-10-23. Most of the work has been done on the backend of the forum but there are small changes to the UI. I tried my best to keep the UI exactly the same except for a few additions, so here is a list.
* Show/Hide forum groups on the front page.
* Jump to last post arrow
* Icon's added for new topic/reply
* Private message link (appears on each post) brings up a cleaner dialog box.
* When selecting your identity to post, it will display your mini-avatar.
* Users without a verified character can post, and users with a character can post as their user.
* As of right now, the default identity is your 'main' character (if you have one set).
* You can change the user avatar on the "Change Password" page. (I know, I had to throw it somewhere for now)
* User posts will have a grey name until I hyperlink them to some user profile page.
Why let users without a character post?
Many of you have become accustom to our unique forum rule that only verified characters can post. This rule has made the forums easier to manage by preventing most spammers or trolls from littering the forum. With a declining FFXI population and FFXIV on the horizon, the forum had to evolve to allow others to collaborate and make the forum portable. I will always allow FFXI characters to post on the forum. If I can get an automated way to verify FFXIV characters, I will do it.
Please report any bugs in the bugs forum.