Here you can find answers to questions about how the board works. Use the links or search box below to find your way around.
What is the Public Profile Page?
Every member has a publicly viewable profile page. This page includes information provided by the member, either during the registration process or later on via the User Control Panel.
There are a number of ways to view a member's profile. Whenever you see a member's name, clicking on it will usually take you to view their profile page.
The members list allows you to browse all registered members, and quickly click through to public profiles.
When logged in, you can also view your own public profile by logging into the forums and clicking on your username shown in the header at the top of the page.
You can also go straight to a profile if you know the username of the member by typing in the following into your web browser: http://www.example.com/member.php?username=<username of the member>
What's on the Public Profile Page?
The public profile lists information about the member under the 'About Me' tab. It also includes statistical information, such as the number of posts they have made and their registration date. This information is shown under the 'Statistics' tab.
The Settings Control Panel is where you control your personal settings, options and preferences. To visit the Settings Control Panel, you must have first registered on the forums. Once logged in, click on 'Settings' in the header bar in the top-right corner of the page.
The Settings main page will list any new notifications, including new private messages and pending friend requests. Additional pages and forms allow you to control:
How do I change my user details?
You can change your account information using the User Control Panel. For basic profile details (including your email address and password), click on the 'Edit Your Details' option from within the User CP. This page allows you to set a number of required and optional details, some of which will be displayed on your public profile. With the exception of your email address, do not enter information that you do not wish to be publicly viewable.
What are avatars?
Avatars are small images that people use to identify or distinguish themselves to other forum members. In some cases the administrator will not allow avatars or only allow them for specific members. The administrator can also provide some stock avatars people can use, or they can allow members to upload their own custom avatars from their own computers. These avatars will be displayed as part of the user info in posts, as well as in the public profile.
To select an existing or upload a new avatar, click on 'Edit Avatar'.
What do the other settings do?
In your User CP, there is a section under Settings & Options named 'Edit Options'.
The Private Messaging system allows registered members to send each other private messages.
How do I send Private Messages?
Private messages work a little like email, but are limited to registered members of this forum. You may be able to include BB 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 (more info), or by clicking the 'Send a Private Message' link in the drop down menu that appears in a member's posts when you click on their username.
When you send a message, you have the option to save a copy of it in your 'Sent Items' folder.
How do I work with Private Message Folders?
By default, you will have two folders in your private message area. These are the 'Inbox' and the 'Sent' Items folders.
The 'Inbox' folder contains any new messages you receive. It allows you to view all the messages you have received, along with the name of the person who sent it, and the date and time it was sent.
The 'Sent Items' folder contains a copy of any messages that you have sent, where you have specified that you wish to keep a copy for future reference.
You can create additional folders for your messages by clicking the 'Edit 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. Once you have selected your messages, you can choose the following options in the 'Selected Messages' box at the bottom of the list:
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 this number, you will not be able to send or receive new messages until you delete some old ones.
If you would like to keep a record of your messages before you delete them, you can use any of the 'Download as..' options listed above to take a copy and store them on your own computer.
Whenever you read a message, you will have the option to reply or forward it to another member of the forum. You may also have the ability to forward that message to multiple members of your contact list.
How do I track messages?
When you send a new private message, you may have the option to request a read-receipt. This lets you check whether or not a message has been read by its recipient. To do this, go to the 'Message Tracking' page.
This page is divided into two sections: unread and read messages.
The unread messages section shows all messages that you have sent with a read-receipt request, that have not yet been read by their recipient.
The read messages section shows all messages you have sent with a receipt request that have been read and acknowledged by their recipient. The time that the message was read is also shown.
You may choose to end the tracking on any message you choose by selecting it and clicking the 'End Tracking' button.
When you receive a message with a read-receipt request, you may have the option to read the message while denying the read-receipt request. To do this, simply click the 'Deny Receipt' link rather than the title of the message, if it appears.
What are subscriptions?
Subscriptions are a way of keeping track of different threads or forums. You can choose how you are notified about updates - for example by having them listed in your User CP and receiving email updates for each one.
How do I subscribe to a thread or forum?
To subscribe to a forum, click the 'Forum Tools' link above the list of threads then select 'Subscribe to Forum'. You will then have the option to choose the subscription mode for this forum. If the forum that you are subscribing to has any child forums (forums within a forum) then your subscription will be extended to these automatically.
To subscribe to a thread, click the 'Thread Tools' link at the top of the list of posts then click 'Subscribe to Thread'. You can then choose the subscription mode that you wish to use for that thread.
What subscription modes are available?
There are a number of different forum subscription modes available.
Thread Subscriptions have the same options as forum subscriptions with the following additional option:
How do I manage Subscriptions and Folders?
Thread subscriptions can be sorted into folders for easy management. You can create as many folders as you wish by going to 'Edit Folders' in the 'Subscribed Threads' section of your User CP. To add a new folder, enter the folder name into one of the blank boxes and save the page. To delete a folder, delete the folder name. Editing a folder is done by simply editing the folder name in the list.
You can also manage your individual subscriptions by clicking 'List Subscriptions' under 'Subscribed Threads' in your User CP. Here you can select which subscriptions you wish to manage and delete them, move them to another folder, or change their subscription type.
Forum subscriptions are not managed through the List Subscriptions page and are shown on the User CP page where they contain the option to unsubscribe from the forum.
| Los Angeles | Mexico City | London | Colombo | Kuala Lumpur | Sydney |
| Fri, 10:11 PM | Sat, 12:11 AM | Sat, 6:11 AM | Sat, 10:41 AM | Sat, 1:11 PM | Sat, 3:11 PM |
