I thought I would post a short and simple manual for new users of this forum. The phpBB based forum is more powerful with more features but can be alittle confussing for those who are used to using the old forum.
RegisteringUnlike with the old forum your email address is actually used for forum functions. Registering is the main function that your email is required for. When you fill out the registration form an email is sent with an "activation link" to that account. If the email is not real you cannot activate the account therefore your username will be in digital limbo. The board does not have facilties to confirm the operation of an email account or recover from such a failure.
You need to use a real email address in your profile. Options to protect your privacy are availible under your profile settings.
Profile SettingsThe profile settings provide control of how the board appears to you and how you appear to other members. Signature, location, IM info, etc. can be stored in your profile for others to see. Also you can modify some of the board behavour as you see fit.
Timezones can be set but the board can't handle daylight savings time. Emoticons/Smileys can be turned off if you wish.
For privacy and email spam protection your email address can be hidden so it is not visiable in your profile. If you want to still make your address availible to public put it in your signature.
Flat Vs. ThreadedThis forum is at the moment formatted as a "flat" style forum. The debate as to which is better has been hashed before on other forums and nothing is every resolved or changed as a result. Most modern forums are flat. Please take some time to see if you can get used to it before posting about it. Its not that tough.
New MessagesThe old forum would label any new messages from the last time you visited with a
New. If your browser accepts cookies then you can still track new messages but the new forum presents the information alittle differently.
Threads with new posts will be at the top of the message board.
Completely new threads will have a gold document inside a circle image on the very left.
Old threads with new posts will have a gold document with an arrow pointing to the right next to the thread name.
The time of the last post and who posted the message will be displayed on the right of the message on the thread listing screen.
Adding Photos and LinksJust like the old forum you can post pictures and links but you have to use "BBCode" which is a coding system used on many boards to perform such special functions.
To post a picture place an "
![](http://" tag at the beginning of the link to the picture and a ")
" at the end. Example: "
"
The board cannot store pictures. You have to post the pictures in a public accessable (and linkable) web space then post the image link here.
The same procedure for links apply only use the "
http://" and "" tags. Make sure to include the "http://" in the link.
There are buttons in the posting form for these tags. You use it by hitting the button which will give you the first tag (and the button will have a "*" next to it, then paste your link, then hit the same button again which will place the closing tag. The other method is to paste your link, highlighted it with your cursor, then hit the button. The tags will be put in place.
Please watch your tag usage and make sure you close your tags properly otherwise the rest of the message will become a link which makes your message difficult to read.
Editing/Deleting MessagesUnlike with the old forum you can edit and delete
you own messages in case you made a mistake. Your posts will have an "edit" button on the top right of the post for you to use. If someone has replied to your post you may not be able to delete the post. If you perform an edit information stating that you edited the message will be displayed.
Emoticons/SmileysYeah they are cute and funny but can also be annoying, For those with slower internet connections it takes time to load the images especially the animated ones. They also screw up line spacing making message difficult to read sometimes. They stand out from the rest of the message perhaps taking away from the point you are trying to make. There is an insentive to use them now because there are new smileys and all it takes is a button push to add them. Don't go crazy with them. Use them responsabily.
More information can be found in the forum FAQ which can be found here:
http://www.diystompboxes.com/sboxforum/faq.php or hit the "? Faq" button at the top.
If there are any questions or suggestion feel free to post them.
Andrew
