| Login and
Registration Issues |
| Why
can't I log in? Have you registered? Seriously, you
must register in order to log in. Have you been banned
from the board? (A message will be displayed if you have.)
If so, you should contact the webmaster or board
administrator to find out why. If you have registered and
are not banned and you still cannot log in then check and
double-check your username and password. Usually this is
the problem; if not, contact the board administrator --
they may have incorrect configuration settings for the
board.
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| Why do I
need to register at all? You may not have to -- it
is up to the administrator of the board as to whether you
need to register in order to post messages. However,
registration will give you access to additional features
not available to guest users such as definable avatar
images, private messaging, emailing to fellow users,
usergroup subscription, etc. It only takes a few minutes
to register so it is recommended you do so.
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| Why do I
get logged off automatically? If you do not check
the Log me in automatically box when you log in,
the board will only keep you logged in for a preset time.
This prevents misuse of your account by anyone else. To
stay logged in, check the box during login. This is not
recommended if you access the board from a shared
computer, e.g. library, internet cafe, university
cluster, etc.
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| How do I
prevent my username from appearing in the online user
listings? In your profile you will find an option Hide
your online status; if you switch this on
you'll only appear to board administrators or to yourself.
You will be counted as a hidden user.
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| I've
lost my password! Don't panic! While your password
cannot be retrieved it can be reset. To do this go to the
login page and click I've forgotten my password.
Follow the instructions and you should be back online in
no time.
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| I
registered but cannot log in! First check that you
are entering the correct username and password. If they
are okay then one of two things may have happened: if
COPPA support is enabled and you clicked the I am
under 13 years old link while registering then you
will have to follow the instructions you received. If
this is not the case then maybe your account need
activating. Some boards will require all new
registrations be activated, either by yourself or by the
administrator before you can log on. When you registered
it would have told you whether activation was required.
If you were sent an email then follow the instructions;
if you did not receive the email then check that your
email address is valid. One reason activation is used is
to reduce the possibility of rogue users abusing
the board anonymously. If you are sure the email address
you used is valid then try contacting the board
administrator.
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| I
registered in the past but cannot log in anymore! The
most likely reasons for this are: you entered an
incorrect username or password (check the email you were
sent when you first registered) or the administrator has
deleted your account for some reason. If it is the latter
case then perhaps you did not post anything? It is usual
for boards to periodically remove users who have not
posted anything so as to reduce the size of the database.
Try registering again and get involved in discussions.
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| User
Preferences and settings |
| How do I
change my settings? All your settings (if you are
registered) are stored in the database. To alter them
click the Profile link (generally shown at the top
of pages but this may not be the case). This will allow
you to change all your settings.
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| The
times are not correct! The times are almost
certainly correct; however, what you may be seeing are
times displayed in a timezone different from the one you
are in. If this is the case, you should change your
profile setting for the timezone to match your particular
area, e.g. London, Paris, New York, Sydney, etc. Please
note that changing the timezone, like most settings, can
only be done by registered users. So if you are not
registered, this is a good time to do so, if you pardon
the pun!
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| I
changed the timezone and the time is still wrong! If
you are sure you have set the timezone correctly and the
time is still different, the most likely answer is
daylight savings time (or summer time as it is known in
the UK and other places). The board is not designed to
handle the changeovers between standard and daylight time
so during summer months the time may be an hour different
from the real local time.
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| My
language is not in the list! The most likely
reasons for this are either the administrator did not
install your language or someone has not translated this
board into your language. Try asking the board
administrator if they can install the language pack you
need or if it does not exist, please feel free to create
a new translation. More information can be found at the
phpBB Group website (see link at bottom of pages)
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| How do
I show an image below my username? There may be two
images below a username when viewing posts. The first is
an image associated with your rank; generally these take
the form of stars or blocks indicating how many posts you
have made or your status on the forums. Below this may be
a larger image known as an avatar; this is generally
unique or personal to each user. It is up to the board
administrator to enable avatars and they have a choice
over the way in which avatars can be made available. If
you are unable to use avatars then this is the decision
of the board admin and you should ask them their reasons
(we're sure they'll be good!)
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| How do
I change my rank? Back
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| When I
click the email link for a user it asks me to log in. Sorry,
but only registered users can send email to people via
the built-in email form (if the admin has enabled this
feature). This is to prevent malicious use of the email
system by anonymous users.
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| Posting
Issues |
| How do
I post a topic in a forum? Easy -- click the
relevant button on either the forum or topic screens. You
may need to register before you can post a message. The
facilities available to you are listed at the bottom of
the forum and topic screens (the You can post new
topics, You can vote in polls, etc. list)
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| How do
I edit or delete a post? Unless you are the board
admin or forum moderator you can only edit or delete your
own posts. You can edit a post (sometimes for only a
limited time after it was made) by clicking the edit
button for the relevant post. If someone has already
replied to the post, you will find a small piece of text
output below the post when you return to the topic that
lists the number of times you edited it. This will only
appear if no one has replied; it also will not appear if
moderators or administrators edit the post (they should
leave a message saying what they altered and why). Please
note that normal users cannot delete a post once someone
has replied.
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| How do
I add a signature to my post? To add a signature to
a post you must first create one; this is done via your
profile. Once created you can check the Add Signature
box on the posting form to add your signature. You can
also add a signature by default to all your posts by
checking the appropriate radio box in your profile. You
can still prevent a signature being added to individual
posts by un-checking the add signature box on the posting
form.
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| How do
I create a poll? Creating a poll is easy -- when
you post a new topic (or edit the first post of a topic,
if you have permission) you should see a Add Poll
form below the main posting box. If you cannot see this
then you probably do not have rights to create polls. You
should enter a title for the poll and then at least two
options -- to set an option type in the poll question and
click the Add option button. You can also set a
time limit for the poll, 0 being an infinite amount.
There will be a limit to the number of options you can
list, which is set by the board administrator
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| How do
I edit or delete a poll? As with posts, polls can
only be edited by the original poster, a moderator, or
board administrator. To edit a poll, click the first post
in the topic, which always has the poll associated with
it. If no one has cast a vote then users can delete the
poll or edit any poll option. However, if people have
already placed votes only moderators or administrators
can edit or delete it; this is to prevent people rigging
polls by changing options mid-way through a poll
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| Why
can't I access a forum? Some forums may be limited
to certain users or groups. To view, read, post, etc. you
may need special authorization which only the forum
moderator and board administrator can grant, so you
should contact them.
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| Why
can't I vote in polls? Only registered users can
vote in polls so as to prevent spoofing of results. If
you have registered and still cannot vote then you
probably do not have appropriate access rights.
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| Formatting
and Topic Types |
| What is
BBCode? BBCode is a special implementation of HTML.
Whether you can use BBCode is determined by the
administrator. You can also disable it on a per post
basis from the posting form. BBCode itself is similar in
style to HTML: tags are enclosed in square braces [ and ]
rather than < and > and it offers greater control
over what and how something is displayed. For more
information on BBCode see the guide which can be accessed
from the posting page.
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| Can I
use HTML? That depends on whether the administrator
allows you to; they have complete control over it. If you
are allowed to use it, you will probably find only
certain tags work. This is a safety feature to
prevent people from abusing the board by using tags which
may destroy the layout or cause other problems. If HTML
is enabled you can disable it on a per post basis from
the posting form.
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| What
are Smileys? Smileys, or Emoticons, are small
graphical images which can be used to express some
feeling using a short code, e.g. :) means happy, :( means
sad. The full list of emoticons can be seen via the
posting form. Try not to overuse smileys, though, as they
can quickly render a post unreadable and a moderator may
decide to edit them out or remove the post altogether.
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| Can I
post Images? Images can indeed be shown in your
posts. However, there is no facility at present for
uploading images directly to this board. Therefore you
must link to an image stored on a publicly accessible web
server, e.g. http://www.some-unknown-place.net/my-picture.gif.
You cannot link to pictures stored on your own PC (unless
it is a publicly accessible server) nor to images stored
behind authentication mechanisms such as Hotmail or Yahoo
mailboxes, password-protected sites, etc. To display the
image use either the BBCode [img] tag or appropriate HTML
(if allowed).
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What are
Announcements?
Announcements often contain important information and
you should read them as soon as possible. Announcements
appear at the top of every page in the forum to which
they are posted. Whether or not you can post an
announcement depends on the permissions required, which
are set by the administrator.
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| What
are Sticky topics? Sticky topics appear below any
announcements in viewforum and only on the first page.
They are often quite important so you should read them
where possible. As with announcements the board
administrator determines what permissions are required to
post sticky topics in each forum.
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| What
are Locked topics? Locked topics are set this way
by either the forum moderator or board administrator. You
cannot reply to locked topics and any poll contained
inside is automatically ended. Topics may be locked for
many reasons.
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| User
Levels and Groups |
| What
are Administrators? Administrators are people
assigned the highest level of control over the entire
board. These people can control all facets of board
operation which include setting permissions, banning
users, creating usergroups or moderators, etc. They also
have full moderator capabilities in all the forums.
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| What
are Moderators? Moderators are individuals (or
groups of individuals) whose job it is to look after the
running of the forums from day to day. They have the
power to edit or delete posts and lock, unlock, move,
delete and split topics in the forum they moderate.
Generally moderators are there to prevent people going off-topic
or posting abusive or offensive material.
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| What
are Usergroups? Usergroups are a way in which board
administrators can group users. Each user can belong to
several groups (this differs from most other boards) and
each group can be assigned individual access rights. This
makes it easy for administrators to set up several users
as moderators of a forum, or to give them access to a
private forum, etc.
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| How do
I join a Usergroup? To join a usergroup click the
usergroup link on the page header (dependent on template
design) and you can then view all usergroups. Not all
groups are open access -- some are closed and some
may even have hidden memberships. If the board is open
then you can request to join it by clicking the
appropriate button. The user group moderator will need to
approve your request; they may ask why you want to join
the group. Please do not pester a group moderator if they
turn your request down -- they will have their reasons.
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| How do
I become a Usergroup Moderator? Usergroups are
initially created by the board administrator who also
assigns a board moderator. If you are interested in
creating a usergroup then your first point of contact
should be the administrator, so try dropping them a
private message.
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| phpBB 2
Issues |
| Who
wrote this bulletin board? This software (in its
unmodified form) is produced, released and is copyrighted
phpBB
Group. It is made available under the GNU General
Public License and may be freely distributed; see link
for more details
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| Why
isn't X feature available? This software was
written by and licensed through phpBB Group. If you
believe a feature needs to be added then please visit the
phpbb.com website and see what the phpBB Group has to say.
Please do not post feature requests to the board at phpbb.com,
as the Group uses sourceforge to handle tasking of new
features. Please read through the forums and see what, if
any, our position may already be for features and then
follow the procedure given there.
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| Whom do
I contact about abusive and/or legal matters related to
this board? You should contact the administrator of
this board. If you cannot find who that is, you should
first contact one of the forum moderators and ask them
who you should in turn contact. If still get no response
you should contact the owner of the domain (do a whois
lookup) or, if this is running on a free service (e.g.
yahoo, free.fr, f2s.com, etc.), the management or abuse
department of that service. Please note that phpBB Group
has absolutely no control and cannot in any way be held
liable over how, where or by whom this board is used. It
is absolutely pointless contacting phpBB Group in
relation to any legal (cease and desist, liable,
defamatory comment, etc.) matter not directly related to
the phpbb.com website or the discrete software of phpBB
itself. If you do email phpBB Group about any third party
use of this software then you should expect a terse
response or no response at all.
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