Upgraders Information

There have been many minor changes in Virtual Access.  This document is split into two parts, the first part notes the changes from 4.02 to 4.5.  The second part of this document notes the changes from 3.x to 4.02
This is not an exhaustive document by any means and is not intended to be such.  It is intended to be a quick overview of the changes, a first port of call so to speak.
Changes from 4.02 to 4.5

Mail/Post/Reply Changes:
We have introduced Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) capability.  This is supported by CompuServe and Internet mail, but not by CIX mail (due to the limitations of CIX mail).  
Multiple Attachments to a mail message are now possible (use the attachment button in the editor).  
You can customise the From headers, and add other specific headers to messages (the options button in the editor) (again not supported by CIX and CompuServe).  
You can have multiple editors open.
You can change the destination of a Post/Say/Compose (the options button in the editor).  
the initial destination of a Post/Say/Compose is whichever of the Reading or MessageBase windows that has focus when you begin the say.  

Message Collection
The CompuServe Header collection strategy has changed. 
Now only collects roots, but will collect full text of marked threads when collect new headers.  Fixed the problems with not collecting messages.  

Review
Review now shows all services at the same time.  
You can multi-select in review (shift/ctrl+Click) and delete/hold/release all selected items.  
Review strips out duplicate actions. 

Acronyms
If you wave the mouse pointer over an acronym (such as ROFL or IANAL) then you will get a pop-up that explains the acronym (if VA recognises it).  
The list is text and can be extended.  A tool that manages this ARM by Alan Bell is available.  

Prune
Remove messages has been changed back to Prune.  

Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Speeded this display up dramatically.  It no longer takes 5 minutes to display.  
Supports collecting descriptions and partial (new newsgroups) updates.  

Reporting
Improved the reporting of information in actions/information, giving hotlinks to mail/messages to you and mail/messages you’ve posted.  

VCards
Added support for VCards to be added to the address book.  Double click on them to have them added.  

VA2IE
Added support for VA2IE into VA directly.  Hotlinks in VA now call IE properly

Proxy Support
Added in proxy support, this requires the user to edit the ashmount.ini file though, there is no UI for this support.  See the messages in the MessageBase for this in the advanced tutorial topic in the local service.  

Menus
Right Click menus have been tweaked in several areas to improve them and make common commands more easily available

Rethread Dialog
Non modal, you can click on the message you want to rethread to.  

Bugs
We’ve found the odd bug here and there and fixed them.

Changes from 3.x to 4.02

The effect of this will be quite disruptive to existing users, we have made these changes in order to improve the overall ease of use of Virtual Access, and we believe that the effect of these changes does just that.  This document is not an exhaustive one on the subject, it covers the major things.

A Brief Overview of the Menu Structure
File menu - connect functions here (analogous to new), save as print, etc
Edit - searching and marking messages
View - change the current viewed modes of message, threads etc.
Goto - All the MessageBase navigation elements are here
Message - create/reply to mail/messages and mark things for collection.
Special - service specific scripts, upload and download files
Tools - AddressBook, do things with messages, overall management, and options
Window - normal MDI stuff
Help - get help on VA from here.

Language Options and Single Key Shortcuts
We have abolished all of the changeable languages, and variable single key shortcuts, and we now use one single terminology (the Virtual Access Terminology) and set of keystrokes.  The variability in this area caused new users a great deal of confusion, as well as making all forms of documentation (manuals, initial messages, help files) much more complex that they would be otherwise.  This is the most disruptive of the changes, especially to those who use a keyboard, but after a few days (about a week or so) you will find that your reflex's have adjusted. 
Function		Key	Menu
New Message		S	Message, Post New Message
Reply to Message	R	Message, Reply To Message
New Email		M	Message, Post New Mail
Email Reply to all	E	Message, Mail Reply To All
Email Reply to Sender	Ctrl+E	Message, Mail Reply To Sender
Terminology
VA arranges things hierarchically, and the following is the terminology we use to represent things - this has changed and our documentation reflects this change.
Service (same as before)
	group (previously forum, conference or newsgroup)
		folder (previously section, topic or newsgroup)
			thread (same as before)
				message (same as before)

Subscribing to Newsgroups, Joining Forums, Joining Conferences
Message, Subscribe/Unsubscribe
All of these functions have been put together.  Set the dropdown (at the top of the screen) to the service you want to change your collection strategy to.  There are two tabs, one for the newsgroups/forums/conferences and the other is the members tab - this second tab shows what you are collecting.  The buttons on the right change to show what options are available per service.  

Connecting and Comms Setup Options
All of these have been put together on the file menu.  Connecting is the process of sending your messages and receiving new ones (think of this as being analogous to getting new messages and Saving the message at the other end).  The other comms options and review were kept with the connect function.

Bookmarks and Searches
Edit, Bookmark Manager.  (Ctrl+Q)
The Bookmark menu has been removed, we now have an all singing all dancing bookmark manager window.  The options in Edit, Find allow you to search for things and add them to the bookmark manager window.  Right click on the bookmark Manager to get a menu of actions - you can turn the buttons off if need be.

Addressboook
Tools, AddressBook.  (Ctrl+B)
A completely new AddressBook (it reads in the old format OK), broadly speaking along the lines of the MS one.  Use New Contact to enter an individual address, use New Group to enter a group address, you can then setup a group of address' and email to that group.  In the editor if you put in the name of the group then VA will substitute the list of address' for it.

Mail Rules, Kill/Get File
All of these have been moved onto Tools, Message Filters.  
The kill/getfile interface has been dramatically improved as well - this has the unfortunate side effect of invalidating all your old killfile rules, but should be far easier for most people to understand.  
Hint the contains filter does not need * before and after it - they are assumed. Similarly begins and ends assume *.

Scheduling Options
Set Routine and the scheduler have all been moved onto the Tools, Scheduling flyout.  This flyout also has entries for the first 10 entries that you have in the scheduler, selecting one of these will cause the scheduler to do that connect in the background with no further intervention necessary.  

Display Options, Global Options, User Options
All of these have been moved onto Tools, Options and combined together, being re-rationalised for the better.  Take a look through the various tabs for what is where.

Enhanced Text Display (and Q)
VA displays html (level 2) and highlights included text, searched text and URL’s.  There are also a few other message formatting options, which you can use in the message editor, when the message is received back VA will display it with extra formatting.  
If you surround text with * characters then VA will display it in Bold
If you surround text with _ characters then VA will display it Underlined
If you surround text with / characters then VA will display it in Italics
Pressing Q will toggle on/off the colour highlighting in the message pane.

MultiSelecting Messages
You can now multiselect messages and general actions that you do affect all the messages you have selected.  So selecting a group of messages you can print them all out, or mark the all for keep.

Cut, Copy Paste and Copy To Folder
In order to move messages from one folder to another you now use the normal windows method of cut, copy and paste.  Select the messages you want to move/copy in the upper (thread) window.  Ctrl+C to copy them (or Ctrl+X for cut).  in the MessageBase window scroll the folder you want to place them in into view and select it, by clicking on the text - then press Ctrl+V to paste the messages in.  (if you go into the folder you can still paste the messages in, but it's quicker not to open the folder).
You can also use File, Send To, or right click in the thread pane and use Send To there.  

Build and Prune
These have been changed to Re-Index and Remove Messages (and Message Removal Options), to make the functions clearer to news users.