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»» Must I be registered to post?  |
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| Yes. The forum does not support posts by unregistered members. You cannot submit any login/posting/registration/profile form without filling in a username and password - you will generate an immediate error. |
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| »» How do I register? |
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| Simply click on the link register; read the terms of use, and click "Agree"; then fill in your details where appropriate and click "Register". Your details will be added to the database, and you will be a registered user! If you have any further queries about the fields you can fill in, you can get a description of each one by clicking on it's text title. |
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| »» How do I post? |
| To post, you simply click on the link (or graphic, depending on the forum configuration) saying "New Topic", "New Poll", or "Reply to Topic" at the top or bottom of the pages where they appear. To post a Notice, go as if to post a topic, and check the appropriate box in Options. |
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| »» What can I post? |
This forum supports four types of posts: topics, polls, replies and Notices.
A topic is a standard post. You give it a subject, and write a message. Once posted, other users (or yourself) can view that topic, and post a reply to it.
A reply also has a message body, but does not have a subject; replies to a post are displayed beneath it in order of posting. In all other respects, a reply is the same as a topic. However, if a topic is deleted, all it's replies are also deleted. If a reply is deleted, the topic remains intact otherwise.
A poll is a special type of post. When you go to post a poll, you have the option to set up to 10 different field values, called (very originally) Field 1 - 10. You must fill in at least Fields 1 and 2. You still have to set a subject, and post a message. When other users view a poll, they see the message in addition to a form with all the fields you set. They can vote for the different options, and view the results. They can also post replies to a poll.
A Notice is a type of post only available to forum moderators and superusers. It is basically exactly the same as a topic, except that it is highlighted on the post listing page in bold, and cannot be replied to by normal users unless the superuser allows it. They serve the purpose of announcements local to a specific forum (as opposed to global announcements, which are displayed on the main forum page). You set a Notice by checking the relevant box in Options when you post a topic. Note that, while all users can check the box, it will only take effect if the user is a superuser or moderator of that forum. |
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| »» I can't see my username and/or password! |
| If your username and passsword fields are hidden, you can reveal them by double-clicking on the bar which flashes when you mouse over it, which displays the name of the forum you are posting in (and some additional information). |
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| »» What features can I use in my messages? |
This forum supports a number of extra features to allow users to enhance their posts. Whether or not they are enabled is up to the forum superuser. The supported features are HTML, MetaCode and smilies. Each forum may have different settings for these options, and you will be told what the settings are for each forum when you go to post.
HTML is just what it says - if it is On, you can use all standard HTML and JavaScript in your messages. MetaCode is the alternative. If MetaCode is On, then HTML will be off, and you can use MetaCode in your messages. MetaCode provides many of the same features of HTML, such as links, mailto's, lists, bold, italics and underlining, but uses a different format. You can also use smilies in your messages. These are text symbols that the forum converts to images, like :) =  |
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| »» What is MetaCode? |
MetaCode allows you to use the features of HTML in your messages, without HTML. You can use the fully customisable MetaCode font tag to customise your fonts as you would with HTML. For instance, [font face=Impact color=blue size=2] text here [/font] will create a font that looks like text here. The forum provides a huge selection of fonts, colors and sizes, but you can use any values you want.
Note: If you use a font name with more than one word (such as Lucida Calligraphy), you must surrounded it with apostrophes in the tag, like so: [font face='Lucida Calligraphy']. Otherwise, it will not be interpreted correctly.
The other MetaCode presently supported by these forums is show below:
| Code | Appearance |
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| [b] text here [/b] | text here |
| [i] text here [/i] | text here |
| [u] text here [/u] | text here |
| [s] text here [/s] | text here |
| [code] text here [/code] | text here |
| some [sup] superscript [/sup] | some superscript |
| some [sub] subscript [/sub] | some subscript |
| [center] text here [/center] | text here |
| [right] text here [/right] | text here |
| [h1, h2...h6] text here [/h1, h2...h6] | (text will be displayed in appropriate size) |
| [small] text here [/small] | text here |
| [big] text here [/big] | text here |
| [ulist, olist, dlist] [*]item [*]item [*]item... [/ulist, olist, dlist] | (appropriate list type will display) |
| [blockquote] text here [/blockquote] | text here |
| [hr width="23%" color="red" size="3"] |
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| [url=http://www.mylink.com] mylinkname [/url] | mylinkname |
| [email=myemail@myaddress.com] mylinkname [/email] | mylinkname |
| [quote] quoted text [/quote] | quote:
quoted text
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| »» What are the posting Options? |
When you go to post, you have a number of options at the bottom of the form in the Options section. Please note that not all of these Options appear every time you post...they are dynamically determined by user, forum and superuser settings every time. This is what they all do:
— Check here to make this post a Notice
This box is only relevant if you are a superuser, provost, or moderator of the forum you are posting in. Selecting this box will set the topic you are posting up as a Notice. Once you have set the topic as a Notice, you cannot change it.
— Check here to include your profile signature
If you have specified a signature in your user profile, then selecting this box will insert it into your message. If you have not set a signature in your profile, then selecting this box does nothing.
— Check here to remember details
Selecting this box will store your username and password in a cookie, and automatically fill in username and password fields for you. It will also automatically log you in when you visit the forum. Unselecting this box will wipe the user details cookie from your hard drive.
— Check here to disable smilies in post
Selecting this box will stop the forum from processing smilies in your message. Useful if you are posting code that contains smilie-like symbol patterns.
— Check here to be logged in automatically with this message
Selecting this box will log you in when you post the message, using the username and password that you supply. Note that selecting this box if you are already logged in has no effect, and does not log you out.
— Check here to receive notification of a reply in your Forum Mail inbox
Selecting this box will cause the forum to automatically send you a Private Message every time someone posts a reply to your message. These messages are sent to your Forum Mail inbox. You can opt to stop receiving mail about new replies, by clicking the link that accompanies every message sent to you.
— Check here to open/close this topic/poll with this post
This box only becomes available if you are logged in as a moderator, provost or superuser. It allows you to close or re-open a post when you post a reply to it, or when you post the topic or poll itself.
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| »» What features can I use in my signature? |
| MetaCode is always enabled in signatures, meaning that you can create fonts, text style, and links in your signature. Smilies are also always available. If you put true HTML in your signature, it will only be displayed properly if HTML is enabled in the forum you are posting in. |
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| »» What is my profile? |
| Your profile is the set of details you provided upon registration, including (but not limited to) username, password, email address and country. These details are used to verify you when posting, and constitute what is shown when other users view your public profile. Some fields are required, but most are not. If a field is not filled in, it will not appear on your profile. You can change the fields you have selected at any time in your profile. |
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| »» How do I edit my profile? |
| Click the link profile in the links bar. Enter your username and password. A table will appear with your present data, and you can change it as you please. Note that, while you have the option to edit your bookmarks and Friends, they are also handled automatically by the forum if you use the bookmarks section or Friends section. |
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| »» I can't change my username! |
| Once you have registered, the username field is read-only in your profile so that you cannot change it. This is a security precaution, as well as to keep the forum operating smoothly. To get a different username, you must re-register. |
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| »» What's a secret question and/or answer? |
The forum has only one method of retrieving lost passwords - cross-examination. When you register, you supply a secret question and answer (you can change this later in your profile). If you forget your password, you can click Forget your password? when you go to post, and are not logged in. When you have entered your username, you will be asked your secret question. If you give the correct answer, your password will be retrieved for you.
SECURITY NOTE: The password retrieval system is the weakest point of your account. It is imperative that the secret question not be a standard, easily guessable one. Things like "What country do I live in?", "What's my dog's name?" etc are not recommended. Rather, choose something that you alone know and is local to you. EG: "What happened to the vase on my dresser?" with an answer of something like "The cat knocked it off while trying to catch a pigeon". Just an example...don't actually go and use that now. |
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| »» What are Forum Preferences? |
| Forum Preferences are an extension of your user profile that allow you to customise values that are not specifically personal details. These include the numer of days to view posts from, the Session variables the forum creates, and various other settings. You can also choose to make your account Dormant. A Dormant account cannot be used for anything (except accessing Preferences, to reactivate the account), and users who view the profile of a Dormant account are informed that it is Dormant. |
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| »» Why should I log in? |
| Logging in makes using the forum a lot easier. A number of fields are automatically filled in, and it is no longer necessary to remember your password. Some features (such as bookmarking and forum mail) require that you are logged in to use fully. Note that logging in only works if you have cookies enabled in your browser. |
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| »» How do I know if I'm logged in? |
| If you are logged in, and have refreshed your browser window since logging in, the link at the top for "login" will change to "logoff". If you wish to know who you are logged in as, mouse over the link...it will tell you. |
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| »» How do I log off? |
| Nothing could be easier. Click the link logoff in the links bar. It will tell you who you are logged in as, and provide a button to log off. Click it, and you will be logged off. |
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| »» I've been auto-logged off! |
| If your "logged in" status mysteriously reverts to "logged off", it could be due to a couple or reasons. If you are doing something inactive within the forum, like reading a long topic, the page is not changing. However, the server is tracking you in realtime. If you have not activated a link within the forum or sent a form after a period of time (usually 20 minutes), the server logs you off automatically. This setting cannot be changed, so you just have to log in again. Also, if your browser/firewall setup prevents you from receiving per-session cookies, then you will not be able to use any forum feature that utilises this (eg. logging in, admin login, accessing restricted forums). |
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| »» How do I enable administration? |
In the forum, all permissions to alter things like topics, forums and users are called administration. There are differing levels of administration, corresponding to different user levels. A moderator has complete control over all posts in a particular forum. A provost has complete control over all posts in all forums, as well as a few extra privileges. A superuser has complete control over all posts in all forums, as well as unlimited access to the administration section (where new forums can be added, members edited, forum config edited, etc). When you submit your username and password for administration verification, the forum automatically calculates your highest level of permission, and logs you in at that level. A link to this page is provided at the bottom of most forum pages, and is entitled << administration >>.
You can also enable or disable administration by checking the relevant checkbox when you click the login link in the page-top links bar. |
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| »» I can't access the admin section! |
| Unless you are a superuser, you are not allowed to access the forum administration section. Measures are in place to exclude you from any admin section files unless you have activated the correct privileges. |
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| »» I can't add a Friend or bookmark! |
| Friends and bookmarking are advanced forum features, and so require that you be logged in to utilise them. This includes such subsidiary features as adding Friends or bookmarks. You are informed of this when you go to add a Friend or bookmark. |
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| »» My account has been restricted! |
| The superuser is capable of restricting your user account in a number of ways. He may close it completely, in which case you will recieve an error message like "Due to restrictions in effect on this account, you cannot utilise x feature" when you try and do anything in the forum other than read posts. This cannot be circumvented, and you will have to ask the superuser to reactivate your account. It may also be that you can access some forum features, but not others. This is selective restriction; you may be restricted from any one (or more) forum features that require you to input a username and password. Once again, if you wish to use those features that are restricted, you will have to ask the forum superuser. |
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| »» My username and/or password was incorrect! |
This is a generic forum error, and can be caused by a couple of things:
— Either the username or password you entered really was incorrect. Go back and input it again.
— You have asked to have your details stored in a cookie, or you are logged in, and you have recently had your details changed (either by accessing your profile, or by the actions of the forum superusers). In this case, the stored name and password will be incorrect. Just reveal the username and password inputs when you go to post, and change the values to the correct ones. |
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| »» When I go into a forum, there are no buttons to post a new message! |
| It is possible to configure a forum to not allow any particular kind of post. The button for that option is then not displayed in the forum. If all kinds of posts have been restricted in a forum, then no buttons to make new posts will be shown. |
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| »» I can't choose an avatar in my profile! |
| The word Avatar is always displayed in your forum, but only to retain table integrity. If the feature is disabled, then you will have no option to select an avatar. |
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| »» I forgot my password! |
| If you ever forget your password, and you do not have it stored on your system in a cookie, you will have the option to retrieve it by answering your secret question. The link to this page will appear when you go to post and reveal the username and password inputs. |
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| »» I can't change my title in my profile! |
| The Title option is always displayed in your profile, as a reference. However, if the forum administrator has not enabled custom user titles, you will be unable to change the value. Only if custom user titles are enabled can you change the value of your title. |
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| »» What is my Forum Mail? |
Your mail inbox is a special feature provided by these forums. When you make a post, you and other users have the option to send you a Private Message. This is sent in exactly the same way as a topic or reply, but it is sent in the style of an email directly to your inbox. If you have new messages, and have had your details stored in a cookie, you can mouse over the mail link in the link bar at the top of the page when you visit the forums, and it will tell you how many unread messages you have.
The forum also uses Forum Mail as a method of communicating directly to users, for features such as notification of new replies to messages and information on superuser profile changes. Check your forum mail regularly. |
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| »» How do I send mail? |
You can send mail in one of two ways. The primary way to send mail is to click on the  icon, on a post's icon rack. This will take you to a page where you can compose a message for that user. With regards to format, sending a message is precisely the same as posting a topic. The other way you can send a private message is by clicking on the "Reply" link when you are reading a message. This will take you to a page where you can send a reply to the user, in regard to his post. The subject is automatically filled in as "Re: (subject)", and the original text is provided for reference. |
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| »» Can I send emails? |
| The mail service provided by this forum is not mapped to an SMTP server, and is entirely internal. This means you can't use it to send emails to people. If you enter an email address as the subject field, it will appear just as you type it. |
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| »» What are Friends? |
| Friends is a special feature provided by these forums. Basically, it acts in much the same way as bookmarking, but with registered users instead of topics. You add people to your Friends list (via the link at the bottom of their profile), and can later review them, see if they are online, read their account information, and generally keep abrest of what they are doing. You cannot prevent people from adding you to their Friends list. |
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| »» What are user titles? |
User titles are words that the forum automatically assigns to you, depending on the number of posts you have. The user levels currently in operation in this forum are listed below:
| Title | Posts Required |
| Level1 | 1 | | Level2 | 2 | | Level3 | 3 |
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| »» What are bookmarks? |
| A topic bookmarks is a way of keeping track of topics you are interested in, and wish to go directly to at some later date (just like an internet URL bookmark). When you are viewing a topic, you can click on the icon, on the topic's icon rack. To view your bookmarks, you can click the bookmarks link in the page-top links bar. You will be shown your present bookmark collection (if any), and given the option to delete and/or instantly visit any of the bookmarks. You will be able to see which posts are closed, and the post's statistics. |
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| »» Forum Shortcuts |
This forum is quite intricate, and it can be difficult to present everything to the user's eye at once. Thus, a number of handy shortcuts have been created to make your experience that much easier and more enjoyable:
— On the post display page, mousing over the bold heading Topic will tell you from how many days you are viewing topics.
— Wherever a person's name is displayed in a table, clicking on their name will pop up their profile.
— Mousing over the word logoff in the links bar at the top of the page will tell you who you are logged in as.
— Mousing over the mail link in the links bar at the top of the page will tell you how many unread messages you have, if you are logged in.
— Mousing over the name of a post in the forum stats page will tell you if it is a topic or a poll.
— Clicking on the name of a forum on the active posts page will take you to that forum.
— Mousing over the name of a forum on the main page will give you the status of HTML and MetaCode in that forum.
— When viewing the posts in a forum, or the registered users, clicking on a bold heading (like Name or Post) will sort all the records by that field. The field being sorted by at any one time is always underlined. Clicking multiple times changes the sort direction.
— Clicking on the time and date that a post was made, when viewing a topic or poll (or a reply to one of them), will take you back to the top of the page.
— Double-clicking on the forum footer will take you back to the top of the page.
— When a topic/reply has been posted, the entire left cell (showing name, country, posts etc) can be clicked on to pop up that user's profile.
— Mousing over the Open User's Homepage link in a person's profile will tell you the address of their homepage (if the link doesn't open). |
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| »» Where can I get my own forums? |
| You can download your own, fully customisable copy of these forums from the MetaWorks site. This is guaranteed to be the most recent version of the forums, as this is the final public release. |
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| »» Can I get a custom forum? |
| If you wish your forum code to be customised, but do not have the time, skill or dedication, MetaWorks will gladly recode their latest version to suit your needs. Email MetaWorks for more details. |
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| »» I haven't a clue what's going on. Where can I get more help? |
If your query has not been answered in this FAQ, you still have a number of options.
1) Search these forums for a post relating to your question, or post a query.
2) Visit the MetaWorks site for additional support.
3) Email the forum designer for an specific answer to your query. Please allow up to 2 weeks for a reply. |