Documentation
5.3. Orienting Yourself in the User Control Panel
The User Control Panel (UCP) allows you to alter personal preferences, manage posts you are watching, send and receive private messages, and change the way information about you appears to other users. To view the UCP, click the 'User Control Panel' link that appears after logging in.
The UCP is separated into seven tabs: Overview, Private Messages, Profile, Preferences, Friends and Foes, Attachments, and Groups. Within each tab are several sub pages, accessed by clicking the desired link on the left side of the UCP interface. Some of these areas may not be available depending on the permissions set for you by the administrator.
Every page of the UCP displays your Friends List on the left side. To send a private message to a friend, click their user name.
TODO: Note that Private messaging will be discussed in its own section
5.3.1. Overview
The Overview displays a snapshot of information about your posting habits such as the date you joined the forum, your most active topic, and how many total posts you have submitted. Overview sub pages include Subscriptions, Bookmarks, and Drafts.
The UCP Overview section - example screenshot
5.3.1.1. Subscriptions
Subscriptions are forums or individual topics that you have elected to watch for any new posts. Whenever a new post is made inside an area you have subscribed to, an e-mail will be sent you to informing you of the new addition. To create a subscription, visit the forum or topic you would like to subscribe to and click the 'Subscribe' link located at the bottom of the page.
To remove a subscription, check the box next to the subscription you would like to remove and click the 'Unsubscribe' button.
5.3.1.2. Bookmarks
Bookmarks, much like subscriptions, are topics you've chosen to watch. However, there are two key differences: 1) only individual topics may be bookmarked, and 2) an e-mail will not be sent to inform you of new posts.
To create a bookmark, visit the topic you would like to watch and click the 'Bookmark Topic' link located at the bottom of the page.
To remove a bookmark, check the box next to the bookmark you would like to remove and click the 'Remove marked bookmarks' button.
5.3.1.3. Drafts
Drafts are created when you click the 'Save' button on the New Post or Post Reply page. Displayed are the title of your post, the forum or topic that the draft was made in, and the date you saved it.
To continue editing a draft for future submission, click the 'View/Edit' link. If you plan to finish and post the message, click 'Load Draft'. To delete a draft, check the box next to the draft you wish to remove and click 'Delete Marked'.
5.3.2. Profile
This section lets you set your profile information. Your profile information contains general information that other users on the board will able to see. Think of your profile as a sign of your public presence. This section is separated from your preferences. (Preferences are the individual settings that you set and manage on your own, and control your forum experience. Thus, this is separated from your profile settings.)
5.3.2.1. Personal settings
TODO: Explain the settings you can edit here.
5.3.2.2. Registration details
TODO: Explain the settings you can edit here.
5.3.2.3. Signature
TODO: Explain the settings you can edit here. Link to the BBcode explanation of the Posting section would be best.
5.3.2.4. Avatar
TODO: Explain the settings you can edit here. Experience may differ on forum settings again. Short paragraph about the avatar gallery.
5.3.3. Preferences
TODO: Short explanation of what this section is for.
5.3.3.1. Personal
TODO: Explain the settings you can edit here. The date setting will offer presets, so a link to the php.net date function for advanced users should be enough.
5.3.3.2. Viewing
TODO: Explain the settings you can edit here.
5.3.3.3. Posting
TODO: Explain the settings you can edit here.
5.3.4. Friends and Foes
TODO: (Not sure if this deserves its own section yet. For 3.0 this does not have much of an influence on the overall forum experience, this might change with 3.2, so leaving it here for now.) Write a detailed explanation about what Friends and Foes are and how they affect the forum like hiding posts of foes, adding users to the friends list for fast access / online checks, and so forth.
5.3.5. Attachments
TODO: The attachment section of the UCP shows you a list of all attachments that you have uploaded to the board so far ...
5.3.6. Usergroups
TODO: Work in progress, might change, so not sure how this is going to be structured.
