How To Use Forum Features Options

[Vera]

The My Controls Section
The first thing you want to do is to create a profile so we know a little bit about you. Click the My Controls link, which is at the top middle of all pages. The My Controls page contains all of your personal settings, including personal messages, profile info, signature info, avatar settings and board options. Click on My Controls, a new page will open. The left hand side will contain all items you can change.

Personal Messages (PM's)
You can PM any user by clicking the button next to one of their posts. A personal message travels to the other user instantly; If they are at the forum they will get a pop notifying them that they have a PM. If they are not at the forum, the next time they log in they will see their new message. You can use this as an alternative to e-mail.

Subscriptions
If you want to track a topic or a particular forum you can subscribe to them and they will show in this section.
View Topics:
View topics that you have subscribed to here, or change the way you are notified for each topic. You can also remove topic subscriptions from here.

View Forums:
View forums that you have subscribed to, or change the way you are notified for each forum. You can also remove forum subscriptions from here.


Editing Your Profile
Here you can fill in your date of birth, messenger contacts, home page, location, and interests. Fill in any info you wish to give, then click Amend my profile. Remember that your e-mail address will not be shown to anyone in the interest of privacy.

By the way, you can look at anyone else's profile by simply clicking their user name.

Editing Your Signature
Directly under the profile link is a link to Edit Signature. A signature is text that appears at the bottom of each message you post. Type in whatever you wish to use as a signature and click Update my signature. If you are using an image for your signature please limit the size to 350x300. Anything larger tends to stretch the forum and cause a scroll bar to appear at the bottom making post hard to read.

Adding an Avatar
An avatar is a picture that appears next to your user name in posts. To upload an avatar, choose one of three options:

1) A pre-installed avatar. Simply click the one you want and choose Add this avatar to my profile.
2) A picture from another site. Enter the web address and press Add....
3) A picture on your hard drive. Click Browse or enter the picture name, and enter the picture dimensions. Please note that there is a maximum dimension for avatars, which is currently 125 × 125 pixels. Avatars also have a maximum size of 30k.

You may also choose to remove your avatar by clicking the last option button, I don't wish to use an avatar (remove all current).

Now your profile is complete!



Calendar
Another feature of the board is the calendar, which will have all special events and birthdays posted on it regularly. To access the calendar, click the Calendar link in the top right corner of the screen, slightly below the My Assistant link. To view more information for an event, click its link. You can also quickly check all upcoming events on the main page; just scroll to the bottom of the page and look for the icon

Posting on the Board
To post in any forum which is available to you, simply click the forum link and then click
To reply to an existing post, make sure you are currently reading that post and click
To quote another's post in your reply, click
To edit your own post (which you can do up to insert time limit minutes after you post), click

Online Users List
On the main page, scroll to the bottom of the page. You will find a list of all currently online users. You have the option of logging on in invisible mode.

Report A Post to A Mod
If you find an inappropriate post such as spam or a member who's being a real jerk then you can report a post to the staff by clicking on the "report" link at the bottom left of the offending post.

For more infomation about forum features click on the HELP button at the top right of the forum.

Want to change the forum skin?
In the lower left hand corner you will find a drop down menu that allows you to choose a different skin than the one I set.