Joined: 17 Jun 2007 Posts: 48 Location: United Kingdom 1627
Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 4:28 pm Post subject: Forum Newbie FAQ
Introduction & Contents
Welcome! if you are reading this, then you probably want to know how to use a forum, you have probably read the rules (if not I reccomend you do so as soon as possible by clicking here), and are ready to start posting! This should help you make your posts as easy to do as possible!
Contents
BBCode
-Text Formatting with BBCode
-Post Formatting with BBCode
--Quotes
--Lists
--Images
-Other Uses of BBCode
--Linking
--Posting YouTube Videos
--Hiding Text
HTML Tags
Your User Profile
-Registration Information
-Profile Information
--Signatures
-Preferences
--Hide your Online Status
--Board Style
--Date Format
-Avatar Control Panel
Thread (Topic) Types
BBCode
BBCode is used on the forums to format your post, in a similar way HTML is used for websites. BBCode can make your text bold, create links, or even add pictures to your post. You can only use BBCode if you turn it on in your profile.
Text Formatting with BBCode:
With BBCode you can format text in five ways. Three of these (bold, italic, and undelined) are commonly used. Using these tags are very simple.
Examples:
Code:
[b]Bold Text Here[/b]
Bold Text Here
Code:
[i]Italic Text Here[/i]
Italic Text Here
Code:
[u]Underlined Text Here[/u]
Underlined Text Here
These can be combined, like so:
Code:
[b][i][u]All Three Here![/u][/i][/b]
All Three Here!
The other ways of formatting your text involve changing the colour and the size of the font. Changing the colour is never reccomended on the forums, as some users may use a different theme (background colour), to the one you are using. The final way to format your text is to change its size, only do this if there is something really important to say in your post. To change of the size your text, use something similar to below:
Code:
[size=18]This font is bigger.[/size]
Please note that normal sized text is size 12.
Post Formatting with BBCode:
There are three things you may wish to use to format your post:
-Quotes
-Lists
-Images
Quotes
Quoting somebody is useful if you are responding to a post made far earlier post in the topic (for example, your post is the twentith post, and you are responding to the thrid post).
To quote someone, there are three ways.
1) Click the quote button at the top of their posts:
2) Use the quote tag, without their username.
3) Use the quote tag, with their username.
Examples:
Code:
[quote]2) Use the quote tag, without their username.[/quote]
Quote:
2) Use the quote tag, without their username.
Code:
[quote="A Link to the Future?"]3) Use the quote tag, with their username.[/quote]
A Link to the Future? wrote:
3) Use the quote tag, with their username.
Lists
To create a list, you must use the list BBCode tag. Examples of each type of list are below.
Code:
[list]List Title
[*]Item 1
[*]Item 2[/list]
List Title
Item 1
Item 2
Code:
[list=1]List Title
[*]Item 1
[*]Item 2[/list]
List Title
Item 1
Item 2
Code:
[list=a]blah
[*]1
[*]2[/list]
blah
1
2
Images
To post an image, you must first upload the image to an image hosting site.
Other uses of BBCode:
BBCode can also be used to link to sites, post YouTube Videos, or hide text; the latter two where installed with phpBB2 MODs, and therfore may not work with other phpBB forums.
Linking
There are three ways of linking to a site.
This will not work, but if you change the "uk" to "www" the video will work.
Hiding Text
Hiding text, is in a way, a bakwards version of the URL tag. Here are some examples.
Code:
[hide]Hidden Text Here[/hide]
Hidden Text Here
Code:
[hide=click this text to reveal hidden text]this text is hidden[/hide]
this text is hidden
Hiding text is best to be used when spoiling a book, film or some other media for another member who may not have read or watched the media yet.
HTML Tags
If you turn on HTML in your profile, you can use the following tags:
Code:
<b>,</b>,<i>,</i>,<u>,</u>,<hr>
Only turn HTML on if you know how to use these tags, as they do similar things to BBCode.
Your User Profile
Your user profile is where you change your settings for your forum, it can be accessed here.
Registration Information:
Everything in this part is self explanitory. Here you can change your password and e-mail address. If you choose to, you will have to enter your current password.
Profile Information:
This is where you can put optional information that all members of the forum will be able to view. You can also set your signature here.
Signatures
Your signature is an image and/or some text that goes under all posts your make. BBCodes and allowed HTML tags will work in this box if you have turned them on. There is a 255 character limit for your signature.
Preferences:
You can set your preferences here. Some options, such as hiding your online status, board style, and date format may be confusing.
Hide your Online Status
If set to yes, users will not be able to see weather you are online or not. However, administrators will still be able to see that your are online.
Board Style
Here you can select a theme for the forum to display in. subSilver is the default, and has a white/silver backgroud, FI Black & FI Black 3D are for those who prefer darker themes, and the other two themes are there if you would prefer another style.
Date Format
This is how the date will be displayed on the forums for you. It is recommended you do not change this. If you decide to; please use these instructions.
Avatar Control Panel:
This is where you set your avatar. An avatar is a small image that appears to the right of your post (on most themes), and will be what most people reconize your from. You have three ways of setting this.
1) Upload Avatar from your machine - This will allow you to select an image on your computer to use as your avatar.
2) Upload Avatar from URL - If you have the avatar uploaded to an Image hosting service, link to it using this option, and it will be copied to the forums database.
3) Link to off-site Avatar - This will allow you to link to an avatar that is on an image hosting service; but remember, if the image is removed, your avatar will be too.
Thread (Topic) Types
There are four main types of topics.
Normal Topic - The latest normal topic posted in will be at the top of the forum, unless a sticky or an annoucement is posted. In this case, the topic will go beneath the sticky and/or annoucement, but be the top normal topic in the forum.
Sticky Topic - These topics stay at the top of the forum, underneath the annoucments. These are normally posted because they are a topic that has attracted alot of attention, or are important.
Annoucement - These topics are at the top of the forum they are posted in. Annoucements are only posted in forums other than the "Annoucements" forum if they need to be read instantly.
Locked Topic - These are topics that users cannot post in, topics are normally locked if the topic breaks the rules. Only administrators and moderators of the forum the topic is posted in can post in the topic.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
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