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Post by Beolakh on May 27, 2008 22:13:21 GMT -5
The TechnicalsThis tutorials covers all the technical how-tos of operating an online forum. That's a lot of information to cover--and thus, this is the only tutorial with a Table of Contents.
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Post by Beolakh on May 28, 2008 20:44:39 GMT -5
How to Register an Account
At the top of any page, under the logo, there's a bar of links--the one on the far right is marked "Register." Click that one.
This will take you to the account registration page. Here's what to fill in:
Username. This is the name you'll use to log into the forum. Don't stress over it too much--Proboards includes a feature with which you can change the name that all the other members will see when you post. See "How to Change Your Display Name."
Password. Again, the password you'll use to log into the forum. You should try to make it difficult to guess--maybe mix upper and lowercase letters and throw a few numbers in.
Email. This is a valid email address we can use to contact you. Don't worry--we very rarely send out mailings.
Hide Email. If you're concerned about privacy (which is a good thing to be concerned about), you should consider marking "yes" for this option. Marking "yes" will prevent other members (except staff) from accessing your email address.
Birthday. We'd prefer you didn't lie. It's a legal thing.
Show Age. Again, for privacy, you can mark "no" to prevent other members from seeing how old you are.
Security Check. Enter the letters/numbers shown in the box. This prevents spiders (nasty little crawling computer programs) from logging false accounts on our system.
I know that no one ever reads those "Terms of Service" deals, but you really ought to. You must agree before we can let you join--mark the appropriate button under the agreement.
Then click "Create Account," and you're in!
NOTE: If you are already a member trying to create an alternate account, you must log out before the "register" link will be visible.
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Post by Beolakh on May 28, 2008 20:49:52 GMT -5
How to Login
Once you've created an account, there are two ways to log into our system and begin posting.
1) On any page, under the logo, there's a bar of links. One of them is marked "Login"; click that. It will send you to a page with a login box--a field for your username and password.
2) On the home page, scroll way down--there's a login box at the bottom. Enter your information and hit Enter, and the system will recognize you and allow you to post.
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Post by Beolakh on May 28, 2008 20:56:48 GMT -5
How to Create a Thread
In forum-speak, a "thread" is where all our writing occurs, whether on a chat board or a writing board. A thread is a string of posts--responses--from one or more members.
To create a brand new thread, open the board where the thread should be located. It must be a board you're allowed to contribute to--the Almanac, for example, doesn't allow members to create threads, since all contributions have to go through the Submissions board first.
Once you've opened the board, scroll down a little--past the logo at the top and the ads to the body of the board. There, in the upper-righthand corner, there is a link marked "new thread." Once you click that, a Post Message window will open.
In the Subject line, enter the title of the thread.
In the Message Icon menu, select the icon you want to display next to the thread's title. Typically, you should leave this as the Standard icon, but in certain cases you may want to mark it with a question mark or exclamation point.
In the Message box, write the first post of the thread.
When you're finished, you can use the buttons below the message box to spellcheck your work, preview what it will look like, or click Post Message to publish the thread.
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Post by Beolakh on May 28, 2008 21:06:10 GMT -5
How to Post in a Thread
If you want to add a post to a thread that has already been created, open the thread of interest and scroll to the bottom. In the lower right-hand corner, there's a link marked "reply." Clicking that will open a post message window--enter your post in the Message box and click the Post Reply button below.
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Post by Beolakh on May 28, 2008 21:07:01 GMT -5
How to Link to a Thread or PostThere are a number of occasions when you'll need to be able to post a link to another page on the forum--particularly when requesting feedback or rubric scores for something you've written. First, open the thread to which you'd like to link. If you're linking to the thread itself, highlight the text in your browser's address bar and copy it to your clipboard. For PC users, this can be done in two ways: 1) By right-clicking the address bar and selecting Copy, or 2) highlighting the address bar and pressing Ctrl+C. For Mac users, you have these options: 1) Control+click the address bar and select Copy, or 2) highlight the address bar and press Apple+C. If you want to link to a specific post in the thread, scroll to the bottom of the target post. In the bottom-right corner, there's a link marked "Link to Post." Click that first--then copy the text in the address bar. Next, open a post window where you will post the link. Use this code: [url=LINK GOES HERE]TEXT GOES HERE[/url] Everything in uppercase is something you should replace. Paste the link you copied after the = in the tag. Between the two tags, write the text that will form the link. For instance, this code:
[url=http://domhantir.proboards107.com]Domhantir Home Page[/url] produces this link:
Domhantir Home PageNOTE: Be careful about when you link. If the thread is moved after you've made your link, the link will be "broken," and anyone who clicks the link will end up on a "The page you are trying to access does not exist" error screen. This happens a lot with character bios, since we ask members to put a link to their bio in their signature. (See "How to Edit Your Signature.") Be sure you don't try to make a link to your bio until after we've moved it to the archives.
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Post by Beolakh on May 28, 2008 21:13:52 GMT -5
How to Change Your Display Name
Your display name is the name that appears at the top-left corner of all of your posts. On some forums, this is always your username--but Proboards allows users to change what name appears on their posts. To do this:
At the top of any page, under the logo, click the "Profile" link. This will open your personal account profile.
Scroll down past the logo and ads. At the top of your profile, click the "Modify Profile" link.
Under the Account Information heading, find the Display Name field. Enter the name you want to display in your posts--then scroll all the way to the bottom and click the "Modify Profile" button to save your changes.
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Post by Beolakh on May 28, 2008 21:16:20 GMT -5
How to Change Your Password
Your password is what you use to log into the forum. For security's sake, you should probably change your password every few months--nobody likes having their account hacked.
At the top of any page, under the logo, click the "Profile" link. This will open your personal account profile.
Scroll down past the logo and ads. At the top of your profile, click the "Modify Profile" link.
Under the Account Information heading, find the Password field. Enter the new password you want to use. Confirm the password by entering it a second time in the Password (again) field. Then scroll all the way to the bottom and click the "Modify Profile" button to save your changes.
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Post by Beolakh on May 28, 2008 21:20:19 GMT -5
How to Edit Your Signature
Your signature is the text or image that appears underneath all of your posts. Some people like to post favorite quotes, or some other kind of identifying information there along with their name. To change your signature:
At the top of any page, under the logo, click the "Profile" link. This will open your personal account profile.
Scroll down past the logo and ads. At the top of your profile, click the "Modify Profile" link.
Under the Personal Information heading, find the Signature field. Enter the text you want to display in your posts--you can use UBBC code if you wish. Then scroll all the way to the bottom and click the "Modify Profile" button to save your changes.
Some people like to post banner images in their signatures. If you'd like to do this, the image source file must be hosted online somewhere--you might try photobucket.com or imageshack.us, or ask around about other hosting sites. Then, use this code:
[img]LINK TO IMAGE[/img]
Replacing LINK TO IMAGE with the direct image link given to you by the hosting site.
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Post by Beolakh on May 28, 2008 21:34:13 GMT -5
How to Send a Personal Message
A personal message, or PM, is something like forum-based email. It's a message delivered to a certain member that only he or she will be able to access and read. PMs can be handy for discussing plotlines with collaborators or planning an audition with an admin.
There are a number of ways to send a PM:
Method 1
Find a post written by the member you'd like to message. To the left of the post, just above the "Joined:" date, click the icon that looks like a paper in a folder. (If you hold your mouse over the icon, a little "send pm" caption will appear.) That will take you to a Send Personal Message page. There, you can enter a Subject and Message just as though you were writing an email. When you're finished, click the Send Personal Message button below the message box.
Method 2
Find a post written by the member you'd like to message--or any other place on the forum their name appears. Clicking their name will take you to their profile page. Scroll down past the logo and ads--at the top of their profile is a "Send Personal Message" link. Clicking that will take you to the Send Personal Message page, which you can complete just as in Method 1.
Method 3
At the top of any page, next to the logo, there is a line that reads "Hey <your name>, you have <x> messages." Clicking the word "messages" will take you to your PM inbox. At the top of the inbox is a link marked "new message." Clicking that will take you to the Send Personal Message page.
However! Using this method, the computer will not automatically enter the username of the person you want to message in the To: field. Therefore, this method is not recommended. Since users can change their display name, but you must enter their username in the To: field, it can be difficult to be sure you're using the right name. Using Method 1 or Method 2 avoids this problem.
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Post by Beolakh on May 28, 2008 21:36:36 GMT -5
How to Check Your Personal Messages
When someone sends you a PM, the line at the top of any page next to the logo will change to show you have a certain number of new messages. To read them, click on the word "messages" to open your inbox. New messages are marked with a closed envelope--click on their subject lines to open them.
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Post by Beolakh on May 28, 2008 21:39:43 GMT -5
How to Change Your Forum Skin
A forum skin is an option that lets you change how the forum looks. We've created a number of skins for you to choose from.
At the top of any page, under the logo, click the "Profile" link. This will open your personal account profile.
Scroll down past the logo and ads. At the top of your profile, click the "Modify Profile" link.
Under the Account Preferences heading, find the Select Skin menu. Select the skin you'd like to use. Then scroll all the way to the bottom and click the "Modify Profile" button to save your changes.
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