FAQ

Do I have to register?
How can I use smilies?
Can I add HTML to my messages?
What are moderators?
What are directors and administrators?
What are permissions?
Can I be suspended?
What if I want to leave the discussion board?
How can I change my registration profile?
Can I customize the discussion board in any way?
Are cookies used?
Can I edit my own posts?
Can I attach files?
Can I search?
Can I add a standard signature to my posts?
What are announcements?
Are there any censor features?
What do I do if I lose my username and password?
Can I be notified by email if someone responds to my topic?
What is the Topic List for All Forums?
Can I search private forums?
What are archives?
What are icons?

Registration is required if you plan to post new topics or reply to existing topics in all forums. Registration is free, and you can chose any available username. Your password will be mailed to the email address you provide.

You've probably seen others use smilies before in email messages or other discussion board posts. Smilies are keyboard characters used to convey an emotion, such as a smile :) or a frown :(. This discussion board automatically converts certain smilies to a graphical representation. For example, if you type :) in your message, it will automatically be converted to , a smiley face. Or if you type :o it will be converted to , an embarrassed face. The smilies are listed here.

You can use HTML and/or dBCodes in your posts in all forums. You may use any HTML tags, but be careful to use proper HTML syntax. If you do not, your moderator or administrator may have to edit your post. dBCodes are similar to HTML but they use square brackets instead of angle brackets, and they offer some higher level functions, such as quoting. A complete description of current dBCodes can be found here.

Moderators moderate discussion in individual forums. They can edit, delete, or prune any posts in their forums. They can also change the permissions of members to perform discussion board functions like replying and starting new threads. They can also suspend members temporarily or permanently. If you have a question about a particular forum, you should direct it to your forum's moderator. Directors and administrators have the same powers as moderators in all forums.

Administrators have the same power as forum moderators, but in every forum of the discussion board. Directors have all the same powers as moderators and administrators, and they also control the appearance of the discussion board and all discussion board settings. They can make forums available or unavailable, public or private (for board administration), and they can create new forums. Directors can delete members.

Directors, administators and moderators can control the permissions of members to perform discussion board functions. The permission of members to reply, to begin new threads, and to edit their posts can each be turned on and off.

Access to each forum can also be controlled for each member. Members can always view any public forum, but their ability to post messages or begin new threads can be turned off. Members can also be provided permission to participate in private forums.

Members who have posted messages are not usually deleted from the membership ranks because this orphans the messages they have posted. However, members who wish to leave the discussion board can make their member account inactive by checking "No" on the "Active" line of their profile. Their user name will still be listed with their messages, but no other information will be presented, their name will no longer appear in membership lists, and their profile will no longer be accessible.

Members can return their account to active status at any time by returning to their profile page and checking "Yes" on the "Active" line of their profile.

You can change any info stored in your registration profile using the "profile" link located near the top of each page. Your profile information appears in top two sections of the profile page.

You can change your primary user name by defining a new alias, or if you have already defined one or more aliases, you can choose a different alias from the list. When you choose a different alias it becomes your primary user name, and the old name is added to the list of available aliases.

If you change your email address then a new password will be created and email'd to the new address. You will have to log in again after you fetch the new password, and you can then return to the profile page and reset your password.

The remaing sections are for selecting board settings and an avatar.

Directors, administrators and moderators can suspend members for violations of the rules of the discussion board. The suspension period can range from one hour to indefinitely. Suspended members can still view all public forums of the discussion board, but they cannot post any messages. At the end of the suspension period the members permissions are automatically restored.

The end of the suspension period is displayed on the members profile page, and the suspended icon appears with the member's messages:

Hovering over the suspended icon will display the expiration time of the suspension.

You can change the appearance of the discussion board through the preferences section of your user profile (click on the "profile" link that appears near the top of the page). This is the third section of the profile page. You can control things like time zone, time and date format, order of messages and threads, and whether your login information is saved between sessions. There is help for each option.

This discussion board uses cookies to store the following information on your computer: the time your session began, your username, password and member ID, and a list of threads you've recently visited. Cookies are not used to track your movement or perform any function other than to enhance your use of the discussion board. If your browser does not support cookies, or you have not enabled cookies on your browser, many discussion board features will not work properly.

You may delete all cookies set by this discussion board by visiting the "profile" page and clicking on the "delete cookies" link near the bottom of the page.

If your edit permissions are turned on, you may edit your own posts at any time. Just go to the topic where the post to be edited is located and you will see an edit icon. Click on this icon to edit the post. No one else can edit your post, except for directors, administrators and forum moderators. A note is appended at the bottom of the post each time it is edited.

You may use a signature in your posts. If you click on the profile link at the top of most discussion board pages you will be able to edit your profile, including your signature. Once you have a signature stored you can choose to include it any post you make by checking the "include signature" box when you create your post.

Note: You may not use dBCodes in your signature.

For security reasons, you may not attach files to any posts. You may cut and paste text into your post, however, or use HTML and/or dBCodes (if enabled) to provide hyperlinks to outside documents.

You may search for specific posts based on a word or words found in the posts, user name, date, and particular forum(s). Just click on the "search" link at the top of most pages. Note: announcements are not included in the search returns.

Announcements are one-way communications from either a director, administrator or forum moderator. No one may post replies to these announcements. If there are announcements, an icon will appear near the top of thread lists. If you want to discuss specific announcements you should create a new topic in the appropriate forum.

No censoring is done at this board.

Retrieving your username and password is simple. There is a small "lost password" link on the login page. Clicking on this link will take you to a page that requests your email address. Enter the email address under which you registered and your username and password will be emailed to you.

If you create a new topic, you have the option of receiving an email notification every time someone posts a reply to your topic. Just check the email notification box on the "New Topic" form when you create your new topic. If you change your mind about notification you can return later and edit the first message of your topic and check or uncheck this box.

You can also select through the preferences section of your profile page whether you would like email notification each time someone replies to one of your messages.

When you visit this discussion board, you will see a link at the top of the list of forums called "View All Active Topics". Clicking on this will provide you with a time-ordered list of topics in all open (non private) forums.

Currently, only administrators and moderators can search through private forums.

Archives are read-only areas that contain topics that were previously posted to one of our forums. You may not add a reply to a topic that is in an archive. Topics in an archive may have been completely removed from the original forum where they were started, or they may still exist in their forums.

You can associate a mood icon with each message that you post. There are currently 14 icons, each expressing a different emotion or identification. These icons range from a simple note to sadness to a warning. These icons appear next to each topic in a forum listing and on each post. Clicking on a mood icon will provide a summary of all the messages in a thread, including who has replied to each.