Forum FAQs
User Maintenance
- Why should I register?
- Does this forum use cookies?
- How do I clear my cookies?
- How can I change the information in my profile?
- What is the signature for?
- I lost my password, what can I do?
- How do I add a custom status to my profile?
- How do I get a picture under my username?
- What are the buddy and ignore lists?
General Forum Usage
- Can I search the forum?
- Can I send email to other members?
- What is Private Messaging?
- How do I use the Member List?
- What are announcements?
Reading and Posting Messages
- Are there any special codes/tags I can use to format my posts?
- What is email notification?
- What are smilies?
- Code Buttons and Clickable Smilies
- What Are Attachments?
- What are message icons?
- Can I edit my own posts?
- What Are Moderators?
- Why have some of the words in my post been blanked?
Why should I register?
In order to fully utilize the abilities of this forum, the administrator will probably require that you register as a member. Registration is free, and allows you to do the following:
- Post new threads
- Reply to other peoples' threads
- Edit your posts
- Receive email notification of replies to posts and threads you specify
- Send private messages to other members
- Enter events in the forum calendar
- Set up a 'buddy-list' to quickly see which of your friends are currently online
To register, you will need to specify a username and password, and a valid email address. Entering your email address will not leave you open to 'spam', as you can choose to hide your email address, and messages sent to you via email do not reveal your address to the sender in any case. (To verify this, you can try sending an email message to another user.) The administrator may have configured the forum to send you the final part of the registration process by email, so ensure that the email address you provide is valid and working.
If you are under the age of 13, the administrator may require that a parent or guardian provides consent before allowing you to complete the registration process. More information about this is available during the registration process.
Does this forum use cookies?
The use of cookies on this forum is optional, but may enhance your experience of the site. Cookies are used to enable functions such as showing whether or not a thread or forum you are viewing has new posts since your last visit, or to automatically log you back in when you return to the site after being away for a while.
When you register, you will be given the option to 'Automatically login when you return to the site'. This will store your username and password in a cookie, stored on your computer. If you are using a shared computer, such as in a library, school or internet cafe, or if you have reason to not trust any other users that might use this computer, we do not recommend that you enable this.
This forum also gives you the option to use a cookie to track your current session, ensuring that you remain logged-on while browsing the site. If you choose not to store this information in a cookie, the session data will be sent through each link you click. Choosing not to use a cookie may cause problems if your computer's connection to the Internet uses a proxy-server and you share links with other users behind the same proxy. If in doubt, we recommend that you select 'yes' to enable the cookie.
After you have registered, you may alter your cookie options at any time by changing the settings on this page.
How do I clear my cookies?
In Internet Explorer 6 on Windows XP:
- Click the "Tools" menu.
- Select "Internet Options" from the menu that appears.
- Click "Delete Cookies" on the dialog box that appears. It will be in the center area of the "General" tab.
In Mozilla Firefox:
- Click the "Tools" menu.
- Select "Options" from the menu that appears.
- From the dialog box, select "Privacy" on the left.
- Find "Cookies" on the main pane, and click the "Clear" button adjacent to it.
Your cookies should now be removed. You may want to restart the computer and revisit the forums to be sure.
How can I change the information in my profile?
It is your responsibility to keep the information in your profile up-to-date. You should especially ensure that your email address is kept current. You can alter any of the fields in your profile, except your username. Once you have registered your username, it becomes yours for life. In extreme circumstances, you may request that the administrator change your username, but he or she will require a very good reason to do so.
Edit your profile here.
What is the signature for?
After you have registered, you may set your signature. This is a piece of text that you would like to be inserted at the end of all your posts, a little like having headed note paper.
If the administrator has enabled signatures, then you will have the option to include your signature on any posts you make. If you have specified a signature, then the forum will automatically append your signature to any messages you post. You can disable signatures on a per-post basis by un-ticking the 'Show Signature' checkbox when you compose your message.
You may turn the signature on and off on posts you have already made by editing the post and altering the state of the 'Show Signature' option.
You can set your signature by editing your profile.
I lost my password, what can I do?
If you forget your password, you can click on the 'Forgotten Your Password' link on any page that requires you to fill in your password.
This will bring up a page where you should enter your registered email address, and an email will be sent to that address instantly, with instructions for resetting your password.
How do I add a custom status to my profile?
If the administrator has enabled custom status titles, then you can specify the text you want to display by editing your profile and entering the text you want in the Custom User Text field.
How do I get a picture under my username?
These small images are called Avatars. They are displayed below your username on all posts that you make. There are two kinds of avatars: those provided by the administrator and those that you upload yourself.
If the administrator has provided a set of avatars, and avatars are enabled, you may select an avatar that best describes your personality.
The administrator may also have enabled custom avatars, which allows you to upload an avatar image from your computer.
What are the buddy and ignore lists?
The buddy list is used to keep track of the friends you have made on this forum. By going to your "Open Buddy List" in "Quick Links" menu of the navbar, you'll be able to see which of your friends are currently online and send them a private message. Adding people to your buddy list also allows you to send private messages to multiple forum members at the same time. You may add any member of the forums to your buddy list by viewing their profile or by going to "Buddy / Ignore Lists" in your "User CP".
Ignore lists are used for those people whose messages you wish not to read. By adding someone to your ignore list, those messages posted by these individuals will be hidden when you read a thread.
Can I search the forum?
You can search for posts based on username, word(s) in the post or just in the subject, by date, and only in particular forums.
To access the search feature, click on the "search" link at the top of most pages.
You can search any forum that you have permission to search - you will not be allowed to search through private forums unless the administrator has given you the necessary security rights to do so.
Can I send email to other members?
Yes! To send an email to another member, locate the member you want to contact on the member list, then click the 
button next to that member.
This will usually open a page that contains a form where you can enter your message. When you have finished typing your message, press the [send email] button and your message will be sent instantly. Note that for privacy reasons, the email address of the recipient is not revealed to you during this process.
Note that if you can not find an email button or link for a member, it either means that the administrator has disabled email functions for this forum, or that the member in question has specified that they do not wish to receive email from other members of the forum.
Another useful email function is the ability to send a friend a link to a thread you think they may find interesting. Whenever you view a thread, you will find a link somewhere on the page which will allow you to send a brief message to anyone you like. Your referrerid is added to the link you send, so if your friend registers on this forum as a result of viewing the link you sent to them, your referrals total will automatically be credited!
Registered members may also be able to send messages to other members of this forum using the private messaging system. For more information about private messaging, click here.
What is Private Messaging?
If the administrator has enabled the Private Messaging system, registered members may send each other private messages.
Sending Private Messages
Private messages work a little like email, but are limited to registered members of this forum. You may be able to include vB Code, smilies and images in private messages that you send.
You may send a private message to a member of this forum by clicking the 'Send A Private Message' link in the private messaging section of your user control panel, or by clicking the 
button in a member's profile.
When you send a message, you have the option to save a copy of the message in your Sent Items folder.
Private Message Folders
By default, you will have two folders in your private message area. These are the Inbox and the Sent folders.
The Inbox folder contains any new messages you receive, and allows you to view all the messages you have received, along with the name of the person who sent the message to you, and the date and time the message was sent.
The Sent folder contains a copy of any messages that you have sent, where you have specified that you wish to keep a copy of the message for future reference.
You may create additional folders for your messages by clicking the 'Edit Message Folders' link.
Each folder has a set of message controls which allow you to select messages, then either move them to one of your custom folders, or delete them completely. You may also have a button which allows you to forward multiple messages from a folder to another member of the forum.
You will need to periodically delete old messages, as the administrator has probably set a limit to the number of private messages you can have in your folders. If you exceed the number of messages specified by the administrator, you will not be able to send or receive new messages until you delete some old messages.
Whenever you read a message, you will have the option to reply to the message, or forward that message to another member of the forum. You may also have the ability to forward that message to multiple members of your buddy list.
How do I use the Member List?
The member list contains a complete list of all the registered members of this forum. You can view the member list ordered alphabetically by username, by the date that the member joined the forum, or by the number of posts the members have made.
The member list also has a search function, which allows you to quickly locate members according to categories you specify, such as searching for all members who have joined in the past week etc.
What are announcements?
Announcements are special messages posted by the administrator or moderators. They are designed to be a simple one-way communication with the users. If you wish to discuss announcements, you will have to create a new thread in the forum, since you cannot reply to announcements.
Are there any special codes/tags I can use to format my posts?
For the most part, your posts will contain plain text, but on occasions, you may want to emphasize certain words or phrases by making them (for example) bold or italic.
Depending on the rules of the forum, you may use HTML code to produce these effects. However, more often than not, the administrator will have disabled HTML code, and opted instead to use vB Code: a special set of tags which you can use to produce the most popular text-effects. vB code has the advantage that it is very simple to use, and is immune to malicious javascripts and page layout disruption.
You may also find that the administrator has enabled smilies, which allow you to use small icons to convey emotion.
What is email notification?
If you post a new thread, or reply to an existing thread, you can choose to be notified by email when someone else replies to that thread. You can also choose to receive email notifications of new posts in a thread without posting in that thread, by clicking the 'Subscribe to this thread' link displayed in the thread page.
If you choose to stop receiving email notifications from a thread, you can turn off the option by either editing your post, or by unsubscribing from the thread here.
Only registered users may receive email notification, and they can set whether they want to receive email notification by default by editing their options.
Email notification is also referred to as 'Thread Subscription'.
What are smilies?
Smilies are small graphical icons which you can insert into your messages to convey an emotion or feeling, such as a joke or embarrassment. For example, if you entered a sarcastic comment, rather than type 'that was a joke', you could simply insert the 'wink' smilie.
If you have used email or internet chat systems, you will probably be familiar with the concept of smilies already. Certain combinations of text characters are converted into smilies. For example,:) is converted into a smiling face. To understand smilie codes, tilt your head to the left and look at the text: you will see that :) represents two eyes and a smiling mouth.
For a list of the smilies currently used by this forum, click here.
On occasions, you may want to prevent the text in your message being converted into smilies. You will see a checkbox which you can select when you make a new post, which will allow you to 'Disable Smilies'.
Code Buttons and Clickable Smilies
These controls allow you to quickly and easily enter formatting into your posts and messages. To use them, simply click the appropriate buttons or select items from the lists to enter formatting.
There are two editor modes available: Guided and Normal mode.
When using Normal mode, highlight the text you wish to modify and press the appropriate button. This will place the proper formatting tags around the selected text. Pressing a button while not having any selected text, will insert formatting tags at your cursor. You may then enter your text between the tags.
When using the Guided mode, pressing a button will prompt you to enter the text that you want formatted, then will enter that text with the formatting when you click ok.
To use the clickable smilies, simply click the smileys link, then the smiley that you want to insert into your message, or click the Smilies link (if available) to access the full list of smilies.
What Are Attachments?
The administrator may allow you to use the attachment feature of this forum, which gives you the ability to attach files of certain types to your posts. This could be an image, a text document, a zip file etc. There will be a limit to the file size of any attachments you make.
To attach a file to a new post, simply click the [Attachments] button at the bottom of the post composition page, and locate the file that you want to attach from your local hard drive.
After posting, the image attachments may display a thumbnail, depending on the forum settings. To view the contents of the attachment (if it is not already displayed) simply click the filename link that appears next to the attachment icon.
What are message icons?
The administrator may have enabled message icons for new threads, posts and private messages. Message icons allow you to specify a small icon to accompany your posting, which is used to convey the emotion or content of a post at a glance. If you do not see a list of message icons when you are composing your message or post, the administrator has disabled the option.
Can I edit my own posts?
If you have registered, you will be able to edit and delete your posts. Note that the administrator can disable this ability as he desires. Your ability to edit your posts may also be time-limited, depending on how the administrator has set up the forum.
To edit or delete your posts, click the Edit button by the post you want to edit. If your post was the first in the thread, then deleting the post may result in the removal of the entire thread.
After you have made your modifications, a note may appear, which notifies other users that you have edited your post. Administrators and moderators may also edit your messages but this note may not appear when they do so.
What Are Moderators?
Moderators oversee specific forums. They generally have the ability to edit and delete posts, move threads, and perform other manipulations. Becoming a moderator for a specific forum is usually rewarded to users who are particularly helpful and knowledgeable in the subject of the forum they are moderating.
Why have some of the words in my post been blanked?
Certain words may have been censored by the administrator. If your posts contain any censored words, they will be blanked-out like this: *****.
The same words are censored for all users, and censoring is done by a computer simply searching and replacing words. It is in no way 'intelligent'.