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You need to be registered and logged in to be able to post messages and replies. When you register with the forum, you will be able to edit your member profile and preferences. You will get the most out of your time here if you change your profile and preferences to suit your individual tastes. There are many options in your profile to make your experience here more enjoyable, so please take a few moments to try the various settings. Once you've registered and logged in, click "Edit Profile" or "Preference" under the top-right drop-down user menu .
The Email Address field is used for account verification, email notifications, Follow Lists, and password reset requests. The Public Email Address field is what other users see when they view your profile. We realize that you may not want everyone to know your real email address. For this reason you can give us your real email address in the Email Address field and only the Administrators of the forum will see it. You can provide a different email address for the general public using the Public Email Address. Some people like to put in something like example@no.spam.gmail.com. This way people can still figure out what your real email address is, but spamming agents can't just parse through the page and obtain your email address to spam you.
Yes. Cookies are used to remember your login information as well as what posts you have read during your current session. Without accepting cookies some functions won't work properly.
If you have registered with these forums, you must log in to post messages and take advantage of personalized settings. To log in, look in the upper right-hand corner of your screen for the "Log In" link. This link will take you to a page where you can enter your Login Name (or email address) and Password. Keep in mind that the password is always case-sensitive. This means that the software considers "S" and "s" to be different characters.
Once you have entered your Login Name (or email address) and Password correctly you'll be logged in, and if you have any Private Messages waiting for you, you'll see a flashing envelope in the header area of the page.
This checklist may help you successfully log in:
- Make sure you are entering your password correctly. Passwords are case-sensitive.
- Ensure that your browser supports cookies; if so, check the security level you are using. High levels of security restriction in certain browsers will automatically reject cookies. In order to use the key features of these forums, you'll need to accept cookies. The maker of your browser can help you with additional problems you may have with your cookie settings.
- Completely log out by hitting the Log Out link in the upper right-hand corner of the page, and then log back in again.
- After logging in, you may have to hit the Reload or Refresh button on your browser to expedite the authentication.
- If these steps don't work you can try purging your cookies for this site using the My Cookies tool.
- If you continue to have problems, go to the Log In page and click the 'Forgot Login Name or Password' link. Enter your real email address into the Email Address field and password reset instructions will be emailed to the email address used for the account setup.
- If you are still having trouble, please feel free to contact us for assistance
It's a system-generated User Title to give ranking to your post count. You will progress through the various levels according to the cumulative number of posts you have made.
Everyone has a title within the forum. You will notice the title below the Display Name in each post. Some titles are automatically assigned based on the number of posts a user has made, and some titles are assigned by the forum owner to denote official representatives of the company or other VIPs in the forums. 0 Newbie
15 Enthusiast
100 Apprentice
300 Journeyman
800 Expert
2000 Veteran
If you have forgotten your password, don't worry! Go to the Log In page and click the forgot password link. Enter your real email address into the email Address field and we will send instructions on how to reset it.
You may change your password any time. On your Account drop-down menu, click "Edit Profile". Edit the Password and Verify Password fields and then click "Save Changes" at the bottom of the page to save the information. (Keep in mind that passwords are case-sensitive.)
In order to add an image to your message or your signature, you must have the image already available on a web server and reachable by a URL. This can be an image on your own personal web page or a cloud service provider, for example. To place an image within a message, simply use the following Markup Tag:
[img]https://www.example.com/image_name.gif[/img]
For example, if you have an image called cateye.gif and its available from your own website at https://www.example.com/pics, then you would use the following image markup:
[img]https://www.example.com/pics/cateye.gif[/img]
You can do the same for your signature. Click the My Home option found on any page. Then, under the Your Profile group, click on "Edit Profile". Look for the Signature box, and enter your desired information, including any images/markup as above.
Note: To keep the forums loading quickly for everyone, it is recommended that you do not exceed 35k for your image size.
We ask that you keep your images relatively small. As a rule, please do not exceed 600 x 125 pixels and/or 35k for a signature image. This will ensure that the forums load quickly for all users.
There are many aspects of how the Forums are displayed that may be customized. Click on your Display Name (located in the top-right of every forum page), and click "Preferences".
You can choose the style in which you wish to view the forums, how many posts are displayed on each page, whether or not you want to view users' pictures alongside their posts, and much more. Once saved, these become your default settings. You may edit these preferences again at any time.
The first post of a given topic establishes the subject by which all subsequent replies will be known. Once there's been a reply, the topic subject cannot be subsequently changed. It's therefore important to get the subject right from the outset. Make it as descriptive and as specific as possible. For example, "How do I select a Band-in-a-Box style?", is much better than something completely generic, such as "Newbie needs help!". Not only is it more likely to elicit a response, but it'll also make it much easier for all posts in the topic to be subsequently located.
You cannot hide individual forums, however you CAN hide the Categories by clicking on the disclosure icon on the right-side of the category heading. This setting will be saved for your current and future sessions.
One of the key benefits of the discussion forum format is that it enables commonly asked questions to be answered once, for the benefit of all. Before posting your question, it is always worth checking to see if it has already been asked - and answered! You can do this via the Search (side-panel or header area). You can perform a quick keyword search, or click on the "Advanced" link to search by more specific criteria. Various options are available, both for how the search term is specified and for controlling how many forums you want to search. Click the question mark next to the Keyword field header for advanced search tips.
It means that you have unread Private Messages. When you hover over this image it should display how many unread Private Messages that you have.
On the "New Message" page, you can type in a new user then press "Add" or you can select them from the "Friend List" dropdown. You can add up to the forum maximum of users (this limit will show on the "Private Messages" page) to the Private Topic.
If the tags are showing up in your text or you're getting a link, but it's to "http:///", you're including some unwanted spaces in the syntax. Avoid any intervening spaces, and everything will work fine.
The amount of time members have to edit or delete posts varies depending on member status (e.g. how many valid posts you have) but is typically a few days for EDITING. You can DELETE a post only a short while (60 minutes) after you post it. We cannot allow any user unlimited ability to edit their posts, since this opens doors to spammers and other bad actors, people changing the context of a conversation, difficulty in forum moderation for old post edits, and more. We are happy to change the content of a post if someone requests it and has a valid reason. You can make a request to the moderator to make the change by clicking on the bell icon at the top of your post. Note that if you are editing your post and the change is substantial, it is courteous mark the post as edited so as to alert readers to the changed content. For cosmetic changes, it's better not to do so.
Let the forum Administrator or Moderator know - they will be able to move it for you. You can make a request for the moderator by clicking on the bell icon above your post.
No, however you can use BBCode, which is very similar to HTML and is described in the next FAQ topic.
UBBCode is a simple markup language. Like HTML, you simply enclose the text you want to format within an opening and closing tag. When posting on the forum, there are buttons that help you add the tags to your text. For example, to make text bold, you could highlight the text and press the B button. Whether you use the buttons or type the UBBcode in manually, the end result is the same.
The following tags are available:
Text Formatting
[b] text [/b] = Makes the given text bold.
[i] text [/i] = Makes the given text italic.
[u] text [/u] = Underlines the given text.
[s] text [/s] = Will post your text with a line through it (strike through).
[color:red] text [/color] = Makes the given text red.
[color:#4caf50] text [/color] = Makes the given text green.
[size:20pt] text [/size] = Will change the size of the text to whatever size value you specify.
[font:Comic Sans MS] text [/font] = Will post your text with the specified font.
Links
[email] smith@example.com [/email] = Makes the given email address clickable.
[email= smith@example.com ] text [/email] = Makes the given email address clickable.
[url] link [/url] = Makes the given url into a link.
[url= link ] title [/url] = Makes the given title into a hyperlink pointing to link.
[img] link [/img] = Embeds an image.
Code Tags & Highlighting
[code] text [/code] = Surrounds the given text with pre format tags.
[php] text [/php] = Passes the text through the PHP Syntax Highlighter
[highlight] text [/highlight] = Will highlight your text.
[spoiler] text [/spoiler] = Will wrap your text in a spoiler container. Users must click a button in order to see this text, thus giving them the ability to specify if they want to read the item.
[spoiler:warning] text [/spoiler] = Will wrap your text in a spoiler container and allow you to specify the warning message displayed. Users must click a button in order to see this text, thus giving them the ability to specify if they want to read the item.
Text and Image Alignment
[align:left|center|right|justify] text [/align] = Will align the text in the direction defined.
[img:left|center|right] Image URL [/img] = Will allow you to allow text to wrap on the specified side of your image.
Misc.
[hr] = Makes a horizontal ruler/line
[list]
[*]Item 1
[*]Item 1
[/list] = Makes a bullet list. [list=A] or [list=1] will make order/numbered lists. Other options include: circle, i, I, a, A, 1, disc, square.
[quote] text [/quote] = Surrounds the given text with blockquote and hr's. This UBBCode tag is used for quoting a reply.
[quote=username] text [/quote] = Surrounds the given text with blockquote and hr's. This UBBCode tag is used for quoting a reply. The username specified will be shown as quoted.
You can change the number of posts displayed on each page by editing your display preferences. You can set this to anything between 1 and 99 posts per page. By default, this is set to 60 posts per page.
Quick Reply is made as a "Quick Response" block, so you can make a response to a post (or thread) before you forget or as you read them. Quick Reply is meant as a "no thrills" response box, as it's just there for a fast/non-formatted response.
Reply however brings you to a "Full Response" page that allows for heavy posting.
You can also click the "Full Reply" button from the Quick Reply box which will forward you (and all of your Quick Reply text) to the Full Reply page.
Quote will quote the users text to the Full Reply page. Quick Quote will quote the users text to the Quick Reply box below the thread.
Click on your Display Name (located in the top-right of every forum page) and select the "Edit Profile" link.
Click on the Share icon at the top of the post, and select the 'Copy Link to Clipboard' menu item.
When creating a new thread or response, you'll see a "Attachment Manager" link on the "Full Reply" or "New Post" page. When selecting this option you'll receive a popup which will allow you to attach files to your post.
Steps:
1. Click "Attachment Manager" to bring up the "Attachment" window.
2. Click "Browse" to bring up the file browser window; this will allow you to browse your computer for any files or images you wish to upload; please note that you're bound by whatever the "allowed file type" setting is for the forum.
3. Click "Open" on the file you wish to upload.
4. Enter a descriptive caption for that file (optional).
5. Click "Upload" to add another file, or "Done Adding Files" to close the window and complete your posting.
Please note that you must enter some text in both the "subject" and "post" fields when responding otherwise you will receive an error; you cannot just respond with an attachment.
Subscribing to a Forum
Enter the Forum and Select "Follow Forum" from the "Forum Options" dropdown.
Subscribing to a Thread
Enter the thread and Select "Follow Thread" option from the "Thread Options" dropdown.
Managing Follow Lists
Select a "Follow Lists" group from the "My Account" menu, from here you can select the type of List that you wish to edit and by clicking the "Edit Followed Threads" (or "Edit Followed Forums" or "Edit Followed Users") link you can remove them or toggle the "Email Notification" option.
Toggling Emailed Follow Lists
See the above "Managing Follow Lists" directions.
Toggling the Default "Email Followed List" Options
Select "Preferences" from the "My Account" menu. From here you can manage the "By default should anything added to your Follow Lists be emailed to you?" option.
Emailing a Post or Thread
To email a post, simply navigate to the post and select "email post" from the bottom set of buttons (near reply, quote, notify, etc).
From this "email post" screen, you can select to mail yourself:
-Just this post
-This post and all replies
-The entire thread
Emailing a Private Topic
When viewing a Private Message, simply click the "Email Topic" button from the bottom set of buttons (near reply, quote, etc).
The username colors generally specify a users status. Some select users can can also have special colors signified by the Administration.
The default user status colors are:
Administration
Global Moderator
Moderator
Search Engine Robot
The numbers in parenthesis indicate how many new topics (or posts) have been made since your last visit to the forums.
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