Here you can find answers to questions about how the board works. Use the links or search box below to find your way around.
How do I use albums?
As a member, you can create Albums of images that are linked to your public profile. Albums can be created by visiting the User Control Panel, and clicking on the 'Photos & Albums' link, and then clicking on 'Add Album'.
Each album can have a title ('Joe's Holiday to Nepal'), a description ('A bunch of photos from my recent adventure') and can be of three different types: Public, Private or Profile.
How do I upload photos?
Once you've created an album you can upload images to it. Simply view the album and click on 'Upload Photos'.
You'll have the option to give each photo a caption, and to set one image as the Album cover, which will be displayed on the public profile. To delete an album or edit the title, description or album type, click on 'Edit Album'. To delete an image, or to edit a caption or change the album cover, click on 'Edit Photos'.
All members who have access to your album images can comment on them, in a similar way to Visitor Messages (more info). You can delete any image comments from your albums, and report inappropriate messages to moderators.
When you have uploaded a photo, you can place it in your posts by using the BB code text that is displayed below the image when you view it at full size.
Can I edit or delete my posts?
If you have registered and are logged in, you may be able to edit and delete your posts (although the administrator may have turned off this option). Your ability to edit your posts may be time-limited, depending on how the administrator has set up the forum.
To edit or delete your posts, click the 
Edit Post button by the particular post. If your post was the first in the thread, then deleting it may remove the entire thread.
Once you've made your modifications, a note may appear to inform other users that you have edited your post.
If the edit time and date appear as a link you can click on this to see the differences between the original and edited versions, or between edits if there have been multiple edits.
Can others edit my posts?
Administrators and moderators may also edit your messages. If they do, there may not be a note telling other users that the post was modified.
What are moderators and administrators?
Moderators oversee specific forums. They generally have the ability to edit and delete posts, move threads, and perform other actions. Becoming a moderator for a specific forum is usually rewarded to users who are particularly helpful and knowledgeable in the subject of the forum they are moderating.
Administrators are the people who have overall control of everything that happens on the board. They oversee how the board is styled, what forums to create and how to organize them, what information to require from members and who to appoint as moderators.
If the administrator has enabled the Private Messaging system, registered members may 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 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.
Other information includes a list of Friends (?), their profile picture (if set by the member), and a list of members who have recently visited the profile page.
A list of the members' albums (?) and Group (?) memberships are also shown.
What are Visitor Messages?
Visitor messages are publicly viewable messages posted on member profile pages. To post a message, click on the 'Visitor messages' tab, and use the form at the top of the section. You will only be able to use certain formatting in these messages, as described underneath the edit box. This message will be viewable by all visitors to this profile, including guest users and search engine robots if the administrator has allowed this. To communicate privately with a member, send a Private Message instead.
Visitor messages can be edited or deleted by site moderators or the member who owns the profile. If you see a visitor message that is not appropriate, you can alert the moderators by clicking on the 'Report' link. The 'View Conversation' link allows you to view all visitor messages between the member and the owner of the profile.
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.
