Here we are 
I probably forget some, but here are the major changes:
Clicking the logo on top now takes you to site index.
"Index" link on page top is changed to "Forums". Reviews link is removed from the top.
BUG FIX: Fixed a bug where excessively long list of suggested lenses after automated EXIF reading of posted hosted image resulted to image not rendered in post.
Now the suggested lenses list is limited to 20 per image.
If you think you encountered this bug (I know three posts so far), let me know as I can bring the hosted photos back to the post. Bug symptoms were: after posting new hosted photo(s)s you got "LENS UNDECIDED" message in metadata editor link, but when you opened the metadata editor no suggestions were found there, then you reloaded the page and photos were not shown in post).
BUG FIX: Cookie timeouts (disappearing agreement and style cookies) have been fixed.
IMPROVEMENT: Number of followers does not affect submit speed any more. Submitting posts in threads having tons of followers who get notifications is now as fast as any other thread.
IMPROVEMENT: Number of followers does not affect deletion speed any more. Deleting posts in threads having tons of followers who get notifications is now as fast as any other thread.
Gear browser is now redesigned.
All pages are searchable, all pages have tree structure for results. The fancy column layout is removed. Finding gear is about 300% faster now
Gear Moderators
Mods can now assign gear moderator(s) who can edit all gear, add gear and edit full specs.
All the editing is done online via sophisticated multi-user forms. So, now when a gear is wished it will be added as soon as gear moderator checks it out and adds it. Gear editors can edit all gear data, names, specs, exif codes, etc. Edits appear instantly to the live forum.
Mods can edit gear, too.
Personal replies notification
FYEO page "Latest Replies" stores personal replies list. On that page you'll see posts that arrived after the last visit to that page in bold, and you can use CLEAR buttons for replies and replies to threads respectively.
You will get an notification email (a per notification settings) about personal replies if there are new replies in the list since you last viewed it. New ones are shown in bold when you arrive to https://photography-on-the.net/forum/fyeo.php?show=replies
Personal replies count is also shown in notifications popup.
You'll get "Heads Up" notices for personal replies.
QUOTE notifications.
When you are quoted in some other post, you'll get a notification and it is logged in FYEO "Quoted".
When post is not a reply to you, and there is a quote by you, you'll get a "Heads up" about it. Those posts are also added to FYEO under "Quoted" link. 100 latest post links are stored. Quotes from areas you can not access are not notified.
Hosted photos for guests as low quality watermarked jpg (LQ previews)
Hosted photos can be viewed in full by logged members only. For public we now show smaller jpg versions (700x700 max.) with text and logo overlaying the photo with member and post id info. To EXIF we add source and copyright info and link to the post where the photo is found. If there are copyright/author/camera/lens/date etc. tags in original hosted photo, we use those in EXIF.
Those reduced watermarked photos can be seen by all, so they can be found by search engines and effectively bring more people to enjoy your photos. It makes sharing your gallery or posts of hosted photos to outsiders more convenient as they'll see actual photos instead of puny thumbnails.
If for some reason you do not want public to see those low quality preview photos, you can go to FYEO "Hosted Photos" and deny them to be shown. When denied, existing low quality previews get deleted physically. After that we show them to guests as a a small thumbnail as before. If you later decide to allow low quality previews, the will be recreated later in background.
For some forums like G&N, forums accessed only by members, LQ images are not created.
At AMASS 2.5 release time, LQ previews are not all there, but they are being processed . All new uploads will have them automatically. Later, in due time, all hosted photos will have one. I'll have to keep an eye on bandwith first.
HEADS UP:
Heads Ups you click in the new heads up popup are automatically moved to history. This is very convenient when you have several new to view and it is easy to get confused which one you clicked. Only the heads ups which match the linked post will be "cleaned". If you want to clear new HUP's popup manually, you may change this in FYEO.
You can now disable Heads Ups for thread reply notifications, for your OWN threads by thread id. This is convenient if you get too many heads ups for one popular thread (as own threads are always followed without a parole).
You can now place the Heads up popup to top or bottom of the page. The controls are in heads up popup and the placement is remembered.
Structural changes in forum arrangement.
Main change is that Talk section forums are merged their contents with respective Share forums. Reason behind this is that too many "slow" forums are bloating forum list, and very often talk section forum posts have photos, too.
Share forums are now about sharing photos AND discussing that topic.
Due to lack of activity, Underwater Share and talk forums are removed. Their posts are moved to Nature and Landscapes. Underwater Share forum id 141 is taken over and renamed to Drone & Remote Photography forum. Drone threads from other forums are moved there.
Rumor forums are merged to News forum.
Some forums and areas are renamed for clarity.
Many forums have moved to a different area, more logical to all.
AMASS forum is merged to Forum Talk.
Posts, threads, images etc. have the old URL's, nothing has changed in your bookmarks.
Only exception to this: If you arrive via bookmark or link to a removed forums (root) page, you are transparently redirected to the new one (where threads are merged to).
Forum filtering changes:
Because of structural changes in forum arrangement, forum filtering settings have been reset. Only exception to that is G&N forum, which is left filtered if it was there before the update.
Now you may only filter 25 forums max. Reason for this is that I noticed that about 900 members have filtered out a LOT of forums (30-80), which means they basically see a zombie site. Forum filtering is meant to let you remove some forums from view (like G&N which might not be safe to view on work for example). To follow only a few specific forums we have Follow Forum feature which lets you get notifications of all new threads. 25 is enough for you to hide those spider or car posts you might not want to see.
G&N is NOT shown (or counted) in emailed notifications by default, for privacy reasons. If you'd like to receive email notifications about G&N, it is set in FYEO page https://photography-on-the.net …?show=notification_emails
BUG FIX: Fixed a situation where unchecked broken images in post prevented using post's command buttons.
BUG FIX: In FYEO notification mail log was losing data, it has been fixed. It shows also reason for the mail to be sent, (followed threads, replies, quotes).
ADS: I will try out different ad types and positions in the future. There might also be some ads shown for logged members. This site is free but does not run on free servers.
Password reset has been revamped.
It is now much simpler and infinitely more reliable. There are short and clear instructions and visible timers. Expiry for the pass reset is now 30min. Expiry time changes to 10 min. when you open the password change page, for security reasons. Overlapping procedures are not possible. Expiry is clearly informed and displayed. The whole process is very secure, you can not hack expiry times or other aspects. Each reset attempt erases the previous one, if not expired. If mail does not go out (remote mail server rejects it), it will be erased from mail server queue so subsequent tries get a clean slate and are not prevented by lingering emails by that email address. Very clear information of the process is given.
The procedure is now like this:
1. To request a password reset in https://photography-on-the.net/password_reset.php. If mail sending has problems, you will be notified. As soon (20 sec. wait) as mail is out, you are redirected to a "receipt" page where you get clear instructions on what to do next (basically, open the mail).
2. You receive a reset email. To find that mail easily, there is a five character code like "YUV5Y" in the mail title to help you seach all your mailboxes for the mail.
3. You click the link in that email.
4. If verification code is correct (checked without your input), you may input your username, and the new pass twice. Hit submit and the new pass is saved.
Registration is now bugfixed and has better assisting and reporting of email problems.
NEW feature:
when hovering mouse over a reply referer post link like "48 min. ago as a reply to post 1935284" you'll get a pop up which shows an excerpt of that post. Please note that those hover links appear only when post does not have quotes, and is a reply to any other post than the first one (i.e. not "post to thread").
NEW FEATURE:
Now each photo sharing forum index has a link list of 30 most liked posts, in the bottom of the page.
REMOVED FEATURE: Photobucket image ban settings removed from FYEO
this setting has been removed and all photobucket embeds are treated normally. Photobucket does not show ads in place of broken images any more, as they did a few years ago. They may show watermarks and "not found" replacements, that is allowed.
NEW FEATURE:
Thread follower count is added the thread view (bottom, next to liker count). It shows when there are more than 1 follower (thread poster is always the first follower). I did not add a way to see who follows, though, as that might be considered as personal info.
NEW feature: "LIKE REPLY".
When you like a post, in the submit like dialog you'll now have a simple text field for a quick replying. Reply is submitted with the like.
The reply is handled as a "quoted" reply with all the notifications and other bells and whistles.
You may use bbcode, but there is no preview, drafts, undo or other formatting tools. Like reply does not have saved & recoverable draft as normal replies do. There is a minimum 10 characters rule for that box (without tags). All permission limits apply to like reply. You will get a clear notification in all cases when a reply is not allowed, like when post was deleted after you clicked like, or when post was moved to a forum you may not access. Also "flood timer" limits apply as with normal replies, new members (0-10 posts) need to wait for 60 secs between replying, with 10-30 posts wait time is 30 secs. (always been that way).
Undoing a like does not delete its like reply. You may edit or delete the like reply as any other reply.
Like reply is not added under the post after submit like what happens with a normal reply, but a link to it is provided under like button, after submitted.
Like reply does not trigger the dialog that asks you if you wanted to follow the thread (if not followed).
