I have listed below some board funtions you may find useful
How can I change the information in my profile?
It is your responsibility to keep the information in your profile up-to-date. You should especially ensure that your email address is kept current. You can alter any of the fields in your profile, except your username. Once you have registered your username, it becomes yours for life. In extreme circumstances, you may request that the administrator change your username, but he or she will require a very good reason to do so.
What is the signature for?
After you have registered, you may set your signature. This is a piece of text that you would like to be inserted at the end of all your posts, a little like having headed note paper.
If the administrator has enabled signatures, then you will have the option to include your signature on any posts you make. If you have specified a signature, then the forum will automatically append your signature to any messages you post. You can disable signatures on a per-post basis by un-ticking the 'Show Signature' checkbox when you compose your message.
You may turn the signature on and off on posts you have already made by editing the post and altering the state of the 'Show Signature' option.
You can set your signature by editing your profile.
I lost my password, what can I do?
If you forget your password, you can click on the 'Forgotten Your Password' link on any page that requires you to fill in your password.
This will bring up a page where you should enter your registered email address, and an email will be sent to that address instantly, with instructions for resetting your password.
How do I add a custom status to my profile?
If the administrator has enabled custom status titles, then you can specify the text you want to display by editing your profile and entering the text you want in the Custom User Text field.
How do I get a picture under my username?
These small images are called Avatars. They are displayed below your username on all posts that you make. There are two kinds of avatars: those provided by the administrator and those that you upload yourself.
If the administrator has provided a set of avatars, and avatars are enabled, you may select an avatar that best describes your personality.
The administrator may also have enabled custom avatars, which allows you to upload an avatar image from your computer.
For more information about avatars, click here.
What are the buddy and ignore lists?
The buddy list is used to keep track of the friends you have made on this forum. By going to your "My vB Home", you'll be able to see which of your friends are currently online, and be able to send them a private message. Adding people to your buddy list also allow you to send private messages to multiple forum members at the same time. You may add any member of the forums to your buddy list by clicking this button in a member's posts.
Ignore lists are used for those people who's messages you wish not to read. By adding someone to your ignore list, those messages posted by these individuals will be hidden when you read a thread.
In order to change anything in your profile you MUST be logged in.
at the top of the page under the Civil War Talk logo you will see a two tone block that tells you what page you are visiting.
The dark blue part has links as follows
User CP / FAQ / Members / List / Calendar / New Posts / Search / Quick Links / Log Out
click on User CP, once you are directed to the next page you will see a "control panel" on the left side of the screen from there you can click around and adjust your signature, avatar, and settings.
Have fun!
more useful stuff
How do I create and vote in polls?
You may notice that some threads on this forum also include a section where you can vote on an issue or question. These threads are called 'polls' and this is how to create them:
Creating a new poll
When you post a new thread, you may have the option to also create a poll.
This function allows you to ask a question and specify a number of possible responses. Other members will then be able to vote for the response they wish, and the results of the voting will be displayed in the thread.
An example poll might be:
What is your favorite color?
Red
Blue
Yellow
Green
Sky-blue pink with yellow spots
To create a poll when you post a new thread, simply click the 'Yes! post a poll' checkbox at the bottom of the page, and set the number of possible responses you want to include.
When you click the submit button, you will be taken to the poll creation page, where you can specify the question and the list of responses you want to include.
You may also want to specify a time limit for the poll, so that (for example) it only stays open for voting for a week.
Voting in and viewing a poll
To vote in a poll, simply select which option you want to vote for, and click the [Vote!] button. You may view the current results for a poll before you vote by clicking the 'View Results' link. Voting in a poll is entirely optional. You may vote for any of the available options, or cast no vote at all.
Generally, once you have voted in a poll, you will not be able to change your vote later, so place your vote carefully!
What Are Attachments?
The administrator may allow you to use the attachment feature of this forum, which gives you the ability to attach files of certain types to your posts. This could be an image, a text document, a zip file etc. There will be a limit to the file size of any attachments you make, as the forums should not be used as an extension of your hard disk!
To attach a file to a new post, simply click the [Browse] button at the bottom of the post composition page, and locate the file that you want to attach from your local hard drive.
Only certain types of files may be attached: these are the valid file extensions for files to be attached to this forum: bmp doc gif jpe jpeg jpg pdf png psd txt zip.
After posting, the attachment will show up in the body of your message. To view the contents of the attachment (if it is not already displayed) simply click the filename link that appears next to the attachment icon .
Can I edit my own posts?
If you have registered, you will be able to edit and delete your posts. Note that the administrator can disable this ability as he desires. Your ability to edit your posts may also be time-limited, depending on how the administrator has set up the forum.
To edit or delete your posts, click the button by the post you want to edit. If your post was the first in the thread, then deleting the post may result in the removal of the entire thread.
After you have made your modifications, a note may appear, which notifies other users that you have edited your post. Administrators and moderators may also edit your messages but this note may not appear when they do so.
Ami, What I am extremely frustrated with is the inability I have to be able to cut and paste or attach things to my posts. I have addressed this once before in a personal email to Mike, which I realize he is busy, but I never got a reply to, and Shane has tried to help me but I have had no luck there as well. I keep having to have Shane post pictures for me, and I can't cut and paste quotes or documentation into emails. When I go to copy from one thing and then right click on this box, even in the advance area, the "paste" option does not come up. I am sooooo frustrated. HELP!!!!! Any suggestions? Shane had suggested to copy into "word" and then paste from there, well that doesn't work either. Why does everyone else have an easy time? I'm not the most computer literate, but I never thought myself niave on computers either. Cutting and pasting is the easiest thing in the world, I do it all the time with other emails and things, but this forum does not allow me to. Again, HELP!!!
Well, I do not know what the copy and paste problem is, sounds like it is on your end, perhaps your anti-virus software... I don't know.
With out being able to see what your computer is doing I have no way of knowing. I do not have this problem, and have not heard of this problem from anyone else.
In order to post an attachment your picture must be within the limits designated, if it is not you will get an error.
To resize your picture just open any paint program (microsoft sends you one in your accessories, crop it and resize it.
then post a new thread or reply,(click on reply, don't use the box at the bottom of the thread, this doesn't give you all the options) type a few words of text in the text box. scroll down to additional options
past Miscellaneous Options, the next section you will see is called Attach Files click on "manage attachments" this will open a pop-up window (if it doesn't again check your pop-up blocker or anti-virus)
click on browse, find the saved image you want to upload, click on it, then click upload.
and voila you are done.
If this doesn't work for you again check the size of the image, it may be too large.
Hello. I don't know what the cut and paste problems are but as for photos, it's my understanding your photo has to be stored at an image hosting site such as photobucket, picturetrail, etc., that can provide a complete URL for it (for example http://www.picturetrail/youraccountname/yourpicturefilename.jpg). I don't think you can simply transmit a photo stored on your own computer to a message on this site. However, I'm not clear on the difference between ATTACHMENTS and using a link to display a picture in a message.
Possibly this has been covered but thought it might help alleviate some frustration.
Last edited by sockknitter : 08-24-2005 at 01:30 PM.
Reason: attaching versus using URL
Ok, I went and did what you recommended, and I am just testing this. Shane too thought that my anti-virus software might be doing it to me, on the cut and paste issue. Whenever I cut and paste, from home or work, when I am in this message box I right click and the only things that pop up as options are "undo", "delete" and "select all". But it only happens when I am on this site. I can cut and paste to my hearts content when it comes to my emails, and maybe that is where the differnce lies in the formating. So lets see if this works.
Bingo! That attachment thing worked!! Thanks for the directions Ami! I was replying in this box at that bottom of the page instead of from the "reply" at the top of the page.
glad you could get the attachment thing worked out...
Jenna, when copying it it doesn't let you right click and say copy, you can also push and hold 'control' and 'C'. to paste you can then push and hold 'control' and 'V'
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button by the post you want to edit. If your post was the first in the thread, then deleting the post may result in the removal of the entire thread.
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