Hello Boards Users. Wanted to give you a quick heads up that this weekend, we'll be migrating our boards database behind the scenes, which may cause strange behavior between 10PM ET on Sunday, 2/10 and mid-Monday 2/11.

This is what you can expect. Your saved preferences, favorite boards and signatures will be unavailable during the migration. You will also not be able to save any preferences changes during this time. Rest assured that they all will return as soon as the migration period is over on Monday -- at least that's what they tell me.

You will be able to read and post while all this is going on.

We're sorry for the inconvenience!

~Erin

After nine years and three months, today is my last day at AOL. It's been a wild ride, lots of fun, and a tremendous learning experience. Besides working with such great folks, where else could one have the opportunity to run such a large community operation and get to know some of the most interesting, savvy, and committed community members in the world? I will miss you, more than you know.

But... other opportunities, both personal and professional have been calling and the time is right for me to move on.

My AOL e-mail box will not work after today, so if you want to stay in touch, feel free to write to NYMeng@aol.com. You can also keep track of my daily activities by reading Hummingbird Mind.

Before you ask what I'll do with myself, I have some plans. Here's just a short list:

* Sleep
* Exercise
* Read
* Play with my new granddaughter
* Fish with my father
* Walk the beach
* Focus on the youth oriented non profit I started last year with some other parents
* Take many road trips
* Complete a book I've been writing

That's just a start. I plan to take off at least a month before starting some consulting work I've been offered.

I'll also still visit AOL communities, so if you see me online, feel free to ping me.

It's not goodbye, it's so long and see you soon.

-Nancie

P.S. Be good!

Hey folks,

In the next several weeks, you will notice some changes as it pertains to AOL Community. Specifically, the AOLPeopleMGR mailbox will be decommissioned and all message boards will be migrated to a Member-Managed experience.

For a while now, we've informed you to write to AOLPeopleMGR for any concerns relating to AOL Community. As of February 8, we'll consolidate AOLPeopleMGR into the TOSGeneral@aol.com mailbox. Rest assured, you can still let our team know of any egregious Terms of Service violations or general questions relating to the enforcement of the Terms of Service and we'll handle it within 48 hours.

In the next several weeks, we'll no longer moderate "AOL Managed" community areas. We provide tools (like message board filters) that empower the user experience, as well as the ability to report inappropriate content to us for further review via Notify AOL.

~Joseph

Users still accessing the legacy interface for AOL Message Boards will be redirected to the Web message board format which offers newer features starting the morning of February 7.

What can you expect with these changes?
Hyperlinks that point to the classic boards (like ones you might have saved in your favorites) will automatically redirect you to the appropriate Web message board. At the same time, all "backdoors" to the format will no longer function.

Within the Web format, users are presented with more formatting options, including the ability to add pictures. With pictures, signatures can be customized and take advantage of the other aspects of HTML. Web boards also offer the ability to subscribe to boards and be alerted via AOL Alerts to any new messages.

Some important notes that you should be aware of:
• If for some reason a link does not automatically direct you to the right place, look at your old link and look at the new one. Here's an example that illustrates what you would navigate to within your Web browser:
• Some users may need to re-add their favorite boards by clicking the "Add to My Boards" link located along the top of a message board.
• The Notify AOL button is in the form of a link located directly below a message. It requires that you have pop-ups allowed so you can properly report content that violates the AOL Terms of Service to our team.

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You may share your thoughts and concerns on the message board for AOL Message Boards or in the comments below. The Community products team will review the feedback provided.

~Joseph

Hi Everyone,

Unfortunately, we have a problem with the system that is making the latest photos not show up on the profile like they normally do. We estimate that we'll have it fixed the first week of 2008. Don't worry, your photos are still there!


You can also upload photos by going to http://photos.aim.com/photo/upload. We're very sorry for the inconvenience. We wish you a wonderful holiday and happy new year.

1/4 - Update - We fixed this! Thanks for your patience.

Thanks,
AIM Profiles Team

Just wanted to tell you the latest news about Message Boards.

These bugs have been fixed:

• Rich Text Editor (RTE) Focus Issues -- Several of you noted that the page unexpectedly scrolled to the the bottom, to the RTE when opening a message. The team fixed this problem.
• 'Undefined' Posts -- The team feels confident that they've fixed the problem of some users submitting a post only to see "Undefined" appear. Of course, we want to know if the problem still occurs for some of you.
• Large Text (36pt) in Messages -- The cause of the problem where font sizes were defaulting to 36pt has been isolated and the fix is ready to go.

These features are new or updated:

• RSS Feeds -- This feature allows you to subscribe to your favorite topics and read them in a RSS reader.
• AOL Alerts -- AOL Alerts notify you when someone has replied to a thread or posted a new message on specific boards. The alert can be delivered via the Alert feature in AOL and AIM software, e-mail and even cell phones.
• Mark Board Read -- (Hallelujah!) You know what this means. Users who want the ability to mark a board as read from the subject or topic level view rather than just at the board level. This will be in the form of a link along the upper right corner for easy access.
• Revised Ratings Icons -- For boards that include the ratings feature, the icon has changed from a "thumbs up/down" to a star. This is to encourage positive use of the feature by rewarding those who post quality messages to the board.
• Page Layout-- To support a wider area for content, the author information has been moved from the left side to the top of the message. This allows for quicker scanning of threads.
• Images Support -- For boards that we have toggled to allow the posting of images, users can now add pictures in their messages. The images can be hosted anywhere -- such as AOL Pictures, Flickr, Photobucket or Imageshack among others. The images must comply to the AOL Terms of Service as well as the Community Standards for those boards and will be subject to removal and account action.

---

All the above items will be included in the next release of the Message Boards, which our folks in Operations said should be this evening or tomorrow. So just a heads up in case you see something different.

The Board team asked me to thank everyone for their patience in this release. If you experience any issues in this release, please let us know in the comments below. :-)

~ Joseph

Hey folks,

Very soon many of you will be seeing a mandatory upgrade notice from AIM. If you are on version AIM 6.1 or below or old versions of AIM Triton, you will see this message. This service update will bring you up to version AIM 6.5 which contains important security updates along with several new features.

The message will come from screen name AOL System Msg, and will say:

AOL System Msg: Hey there! Thanks for signing on. AIM service will apply a mandatory security update. Start the update process now.

You do not need to enter your screen name or password. The link will take you directly to http://www.aim.com/upgrade/ and is totally free. In case you want to double check, here is what the site will look like, much more scaled down of course:

Users on AIM 6.1 or 6.2 will receive a toaster pop-up (meaning it appears in the right corner, like toast popping out of the toaster) in the corner prompting them to install the update. It looks like this:

Alternatively, you can close the IM and download AIM 6.5 directly from AIM.com. Be advised that if you don't update your version of AIM, you may be blocked from accessing the version of AIM service you are using in the future (and we don't want that).

If you have questions on upgrading or want to share tips with other users, come visit the AIM Help & Support Message Board.

Hi folks -- I'm waiting to hear back from the tech guys about the status of a few Member Directory things, so I don't have all the answers right now, but I wanted to get something out since we just came off the holiday weekend. Here's what I have so far:

* Security Fixes Added to the Next Install: I mentioned last week that we've got a new Member Directory Profiles build scheduled that will tweak the look and feel of profiles a bit, as well as add a "Current Status" field for quick updates.

We'd been originally targeted pushing it live Wednesday. However, the guys are adding some extra security patches to fight the "dating site" spam profiles that people are seeing. So the build will be delayed until the fixes are added.

As you recall, the original problem we had was fake profiles that linked to fake sites designed to steal your password ("phishing sites"). We then started seeing porn spam ad banners placed inside peoples' profiles, which may or may not be related to the previous password scams.

The new security measures are designed to help counter that.

* Chat Room Info in Profiles: As previously noted, the switchover last month to the new profile system left out the field that listed what public chat room you were in. The team is still looking at what it will take to get it back in.

* Problems With Embedded Pictures Albums: Some folks are still unable to add pictures to their albums (also, when you try to view their pictures by clicking on the Pictures tab, you get "This member's album is currently unavailable for viewing") -- the team is aware of this (thanks to your problem reports), so I just need to see if the fix will be included in the next build.

Sorry for the non-update update, but I just wanted to make sure you guys knew we haven't forgotten.

If you're experiencing other problems you don't see here (I've seen some folks who still can't save their profiles, or can't edit their profiles because they can't click in the box):

* First, try clearing your browser cache and footprints.
* Then if that doesn't help, please report it in e-mail to:
Please be sure to include the AOL screen name of the profile that's having the problem, as well as the Web browser, version of AOL and operating system (Windows Vista, XP, etc) you're using.

Thanks -- Joe

In case you missed out on the blog chatter lately, I've decided to round up some interesting stuff found around the AOL blogosphere:

• AOL Web Suite Blog:
  - Web Mail Basic: The AOL Mail product team rolled out a lighter version of the Web mail service, named AOL Web Mail Basic, which is designed specifically to work better with older computers and slower connections. Some of you will probably like it if you have had some difficulty using the latest Web mail.
  - Google Homepage Users: If you wanted to check your AOL e-mail via Google's customized home page, now you can. Guest blogger Rohit Kinra explains how to add AOL Mail to your iGoogle.
  
  
• AOL Search Blog:
  Mobile Search Goes Beta: Have you ever wanted to search for something on your mobile phone and get exactly what you want? Well, that's the idea behind the new AOL Mobile Search. Check out the new features and share your feedback with the AOL Mobile Search team on their blog.
  
  
• AOL Video Blog:
  The Web's latest funny videos: I know Labor day is coming up, but you can kill some time watching addictive funny videos. Check out the Videologist, as they showcase some pretty interesting videos you can share with your buddies.
  
  
• And of course, us:
  About two weeks ago, we updated the AOL Member Directory to offer users more control (as well as move to a more flexible platform, that will let you do more stuff). A couple glitches were found, but they've been resolved. I also alerted folks to watch out for fake, password scam (phishing) profiles: if you are having problems with your profiles, you might need to change your password. Also, Joe Loong answers your top questions about the recent changes and next week's release to AOL Member Directory profiles.
  

Have a safe and relaxing non-laborious weekend!

~ Joseph