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Forum Help

Choose a help topic
Registration and Logging into the Forum
Why can't I login?
Do I need to register?
Lost Passwords
I Registered in the past but can't login

User Preferences and Forum Settings
How do I change my forum settings?
Forum Times and Dates are not set to my local time
What does my rank indicate?
Can I change my rank?
What web browser can I use for this forum?

Posting Issues
How do I post a message in the forum?
How do I delete posts?
How do I edit posts?
How do I add a signature to my post?
How do I create a poll?
Why can I not view a forum?
My post is not displayed, is 'Hidden', or 'Pending Approval'
Rich Text Editor (WYSIWYG) posting issues

Message Formatting
What are BBcodes?
Can I use HTML?
What are Emoticons (Smilies)
Can I post images?
What are closed topics?

User Groups
What are Forum Administrators?
What are Forum Moderators?
What are User Groups?

Private Messaging
What is Private Messaging?
I cannot send Private Messages
I cannot send Private Messages to some users
How can I prevent someone from sending me Private Messages

RSS Feeds
What is an RSS Feed?
How Do I Subscribe to the Forums RSS Feeds?

Calendar System
What is the Calendar System?
How do I create a Calendar Event?


Registration and Logging into the Forum
Why can't I login?
To login into the Forum you must use the Username and Password that you entered when registering for the Forum. If you have not yet registered then you must first do so in order to login. If you have registered and still are unable to login then first check that you have all cookies enabled on your web browser, you may need to add this web site to your browsers list of trusted web sites. If you are banned from the Forums then this may prevent you form logging in, in which case check with the Forums administrator.
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Do I need to register?
You may not need to register to post in the Forums, it is up to the Forums Administrator as to whether they allow you to post in the Forums as an unregistered user. However, by registering you will be able to use additional features. It only takes a few minutes to register, so it is recommended that you do so.
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Lost Passwords
If you have lost your password then don't panic. Although passwords can not be retrieved they can be reset. To reset your password click on the Login button and at the bottom of the login page you will have a link to the lost password page to request that a new password be emailed to you. If this option is not available or you do not have a valid email address in your profile then you need to contact the Forum Administrator or a Moderator and ask them to change your password for you.
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I Registered in the past but can't login
It could be that you haven't posted anything for a while, or never posted anything. It is common for the Forum Administrator to periodically delete users from the database to free up usernames and reduce the size of the database.
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User Preferences and Forum Settings
How do I change my forum settings?
You can change your forum settings, profile information, registration details, etc. from your Member Control Panel Menu, once you have logged into the Forum. You will be able to control many aspects and access member features from this central menu.
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Forum Times and Dates are not set to my local time
The time used in the Forums has been set by the Forum Administrator. To change the Times and Dates to your own local settings then simply edit your 'Forum Preferences' through your Member Control Panel Menu, and set by how many hours the time is offset from your own local time. The Forums are not designed to adjust between standard and daylight saving times, so you may need to adjust the time offset in your Forum Preferences during these months.
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What does my rank indicate?
Ranks in the forums indicate which user group you are a member of and to identify users, for example, moderators and administrators may have a special rank. Depending on the setup of the forum you may be able to use different features of the forum depending on which rank you belong to.
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Can I change my rank?
Normally you can not, but if the forum administrator has setup ranks using the ladder system you may be able to move up groups in the forum by the number of posts you have made.
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What web browser can I use for this forum?
You can use this forum with almost any web browser that supports XHTML and JavaScript. For full functionality we recommend that you use Internet Explorer 7+, Firefox, Opera 9+, and Netscape 9+. Safari and versions of Internet Explorer prior to version 7, will run but with reduced functionality.
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Posting Issues
How do I post a message in the forum?
To post a message in the Forums click on the relevant button on the forum or topic screens. Depending on how the forum administrator has setup the forum depends if you need to login first before you can post a message. The facilities available to you in each of the forums are listed at the bottom of the topic screen.
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How do I delete posts?
Unless you are a Forum Moderator or an Administrator you can only delete your own posts and only if the forum has been setup with the relevant rights for you to be able to delete your post. If someone has replied to your post then you will no-longer be able to delete it.
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How do I edit posts?
Unless you are a Forum Moderator or an Administrator you can only edit your own posts and only if the forum administrator has created the relevant rights for you to do so. When you edit your posts depending on the forum setup, it will display the username, time, and date of when the post was edited at the bottom of the post.
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How do I add a signature to my post?
If the forum administrator has allowed the use of signatures in the forums you can add a signature to the bottom of your posts. To do so you need to first create a signature in your 'Profile Information' through your Member Control Panel Menu, once you have done this you can add your signature to the bottom of your posts by checking the 'Show Signature' checkbox at the bottom of the posting form.
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How do I create a poll?
If you have sufficient rights to create a poll in a forum you will see a 'New Poll' button at the top of the screen on the forum and topic screens. When creating a poll you need to enter a poll question and at least two options for the poll. You may also select whether people can vote multiple times or just once in the poll.
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Why can I not view a forum?
Some forums are setup to allow only certain users or groups of users to access them. To view, read, post, etc. in a forum you may first need permission which only a forum moderator or a forum administrator can grant you.
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My post is not displayed, is 'Hidden', or 'Pending Approval'
This means that you have submitted a New Post or Topic to a forum that requires the a forum admin or moderator to approve your post before it is displayed to other members or the general public. The Post is still available for the member who submitted the Post to edit or delete during this time.
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Rich Text Editor (WYSIWYG) posting issues
If you are using Internet Explorer 5+ (windows only), Firefox, Opera 9+, or Netscape 7+, and if the forum administrator has enabled it you should have a Rich Text (WYSIWYG) Editor to type your messages with. If you find that you are having problems posting using the WYSIWYG editor then you can disable this WYSIWYG Editor by simply editing your profile and selecting to turn off the WYSIWYG Posting Editor.
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Message Formatting
What are BBcodes?
Forum BBcodes allow you to format the messages you post in the forums. BBcodes are very similar to HTML except tags are enclosed in square brackets, [ and ], rather than, < and >. You can also disable BBcodes when posting a message. Click here to view BBcodes that are available in the forums.
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Can I use HTML?
HTML cannot be used in your posts, this is done for security reasons as malicious HTML code can be used to destroy the layout of the forum or even crash a web browser when a user tries to view a post.
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What are Emoticons (Smilies)
Emoticons or Smilies are small graphical images that can be used to express feelings or show emotions. If the forum administrators have allowed Emoticons in the forums then you can see them next to the posting form when posting a message. To add an emoticon to your post then simply click on the emoticon you would like to add to your post.
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Can I post images?
Images can be added to your posts, if the forum administrators have allowed uploading of images you can use this to upload an image from your own computer into your message. However, if image uploading is not available then you will need to link to the image that needs to be stored on a publicly accessible web server, e.g. http://www.mysite.com/my-picture.jpg.
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What are closed topics?
Closed Topics are set this way by forum administrators or moderators. Once a Topic is closed you will no-longer be able to post a reply in that topic or vote in a poll.
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User Groups
What are Forum Administrators?
Forums Administrators are people who have the highest level of control over the forums, they have the ability to turn on and off features on the forums, ban users, remove users, edit and delete posts, create users groups, etc.
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What are Forum Moderators?
Moderators are individuals or groups of users who look after the day to day running of the forums. They have the power to edit, delete, move, close, unclose, topics and posts, in the forum they moderate. Moderators generally are there to prevent people from posting offensive or abusive material.
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What are User Groups?
User Groups are a way to group users. Each user is a member of a usergroup and each group can be assigned individual rights in forums, to read, view, post, create polls, etc.
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Private Messaging
What is Private Messaging?
If the forum administrator has enabled Private Messaging you can use the forums built in Private Messaging System to send Private Messages to other forum members. The system works very much like email, but within the Forum System.
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I cannot send Private Messages
There maybe several reasons for this, you are not logged in, you are not registered, or the forum administrators have disabled the Private Messaging system.
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I cannot send Private Messages to some users
This maybe because the person you are trying to send a Private Message to has blocked you from being able to send them Private Messages, the persons 'Inbox' is full, or you have exceeded the number of Private Messages you can send in this hour. If any of these are case you should receive a message informing you of this if you try to send the member a Private Message.
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How can I prevent someone from sending me Private Messages
If you do find that you are getting unwanted Private Messages from a user you can block them from sending you Private Messages. To do this go into the Private Messaging system and go to your buddy list. Go to add the user as a buddy, but instead choose the option from the drop down list 'Not to message you', this will prevent this user from sending you anymore Private Messages.
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RSS Feeds
What is an RSS Feed?
RSS, which stands for Really Simple Syndication, is a technology using XML that allows web sites to syndicate web site content. If the forum administer has enabled RSS Feeds you can subscribe to any of the RSS Feeds available in the forum so you are always up-to-date with the latest Posts or Calendar Events.
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How Do I Subscribe to the Forums RSS Feeds?
There are many ways you can subscribe to one or all of the RSS Feed's available within the forum, by either; using a Web Browser that supports Live RSS Bookmarks (Firefox, IE7, Safari, Opera), using an online RSS News Reader, using Windows Vista Sidebar, installing an RSS News Reader on your computer, or using an email program that supports RSS like Mozilla Thunderbird.
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Calendar System
What is the Calendar System?
The Calendar System is a built in Calendar System that works very much like a normal calendar or diary, with Week View, Month View, and Year View. You can select what Week, Month, or Year, you wish to view and see Calendar Events and member birthdays for your selected date.
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How do I create a Calendar Event?
If the forum administrator has granted a member or group permission to create a Calendar Event you can select an 'Event Date' when creating a New Topic. This Event can then be viewed in like any other Forum Topic or through the Calendar System where it is displayed under the date the event occurs on.
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