| Registration and Logging into the Articles |
| Why can't I login? |
| To login into the Articles system you must use the Username and Password that you entered when registering for the Articles system. If you have not yet registered then you must first do so in order to login. If you have registered and still are unable to login then first check that you have all cookies enabled on your web browser, you may need to add this web site to your browsers list of trusted web sites. If you are banned from the Articles system then this may prevent you form logging in, in which case check with the Articles administrator. |
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| Do I need to register? |
| You may not need to register to publish in the Articles system, it is up to the Articles Administrator as to whether they allow you to publish in the Articles system as an unregistered user. However, by registering you will be able to use additional features. It only takes a few minutes to register, so it is recommended that you do so. |
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| Lost Passwords |
| If you have lost your password then don't panic. Although passwords can not be retrieved they can be reset. To reset your password click on the Login button and at the login page you will have a link to the lost password page to request that a new password be emailed to you. If this option is not available or you do not have a valid email address in your profile then you need to contact the Article Administrator or a Moderator and ask them to change your password for you. |
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| I Registered in the past but can't login |
| It could be that you haven't posted anything for a while, or never posted anything. It is common for the Article Administrator to periodically delete users from the database to free up usernames and reduce the size of the database. |
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| User Preferences and Article Settings |
| How do I change my Article settings? |
| You can change your Article settings, profile information, registration details, etc. from your Member Control Panel Menu, once you have logged into the Articles system. You will be able to control many aspects and access member features from this central menu. |
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| Article Times and Dates are not set to my local time |
| The time used in the Articles system is that of the server time and date, if the server is located in another country then the times and dates will be the local times of that country. To change the Times and Dates to your own local settings then simply edit your 'Article Preferences' through your Member Control Panel Menu, and set by how many hours the time is offset from your own local time. The Articles system is not designed to adjust between standard and daylight saving times, so you may need to adjust the time in your Article Preferences by another hour during these months. |
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| What does my rank indicate? |
| Ranks in the system indicate which user group you are a member of and to identify users, for example, moderators and administrators may have a special rank. Depending on the setup of the Articles system you may be able to use different features of the system depending on which rank you belong to. |
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| Can I change my rank? |
| Normally you can not, but if the Article administrator has setup ranks using the ladder system you may be able to move up groups in the forum by the number of Articles you have published. |
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| Publishing Issues |
| How do I publish an Article? |
| To publish an Article click on the 'Publish Article' button on the Article screens. Depending on how the Article administrator has setup the system depends if you need to login first before you can publish. The facilities available to you in each of the Articles are listed at the bottom of the Article screen. |
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| How do I delete an Article? |
| Unless you are an Article Moderator or an Administrator you can only delete your own Articles and only if the Article has been setup with the relevant rights for you to be able to delete your Article. |
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| How do I edit an Article? |
| Unless you are a Article Moderator or an Administrator you can only edit your own Articles and only if the Article administrator has created the relevant rights for you to do so. When you edit your Articles depending on the Article setup, it will display the username, time, and date of when the Article was edited at the bottom of the Article. |
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| How do I add a signature to my Article? |
| If the Article administrator has allowed the use of signatures in the Articles system you can add a signature to the bottom of your Article. To do so you need to first create a signature in your 'Profile Information' through your Member Control Panel Menu, once you have done this you can add your signature to the bottom of your Articles by checking the 'Show Signature' checkbox at the bottom of the publishing form. |
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| How do I create a poll? |
| If you have sufficient rights to create a poll in an Article you will see a 'New Poll' button at the top of the screen on the Article screens. When creating a poll you need to enter a poll question and at least two options for the poll. You may also select whether people can vote multiple times or just once in the poll. |
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| Why can I not view a Article or Category? |
| Some Categories are setup to allow only certain users or groups of users to access them. To view, read, publish, etc. in a category you may first need permission which only a Article moderator or a Article administrator can grant you. |
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| Rich Text Editor (WYSIWYG) posting issues |
| If you are using Internet Explorer 5+ (windows only), Netscape 7.1, Mozilla 1.3+, Mozilla Firebird 0.6.1+, and if the Article administrator has enabled it you should have a Rich Text (WYSIWYG) Editor to type your messages with. If you find that you are having problems publishing using the WYSIWYG editor then you can disable this WYSIWYG Editor by simply editing your profile and selecting to turn off the WYSIWYG Posting Editor. |
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| Article Formatting |
| What are Article Codes? |
| Article Codes allow you to format the messages you publish in the Categories. Article Codes are very similar to HTML except tags are enclosed in square brackets, [ and ], rather than, < and >. You can also disable Article Codes when publishing. Click here to view Article Codes that are available in the categories. |
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| Can I use HTML? |
| HTML cannot be used in your Articles, this is done for security reasons as malicious HTML code can be used to destroy the layout of the Articles system or even crash a web browser when a user tries to view an Article. |
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| What are Emoticons (Smileys) |
| Emoticons or Smileys are small graphical images that can be used to express feelings or show emotions. If the Article administrators have allowed Emoticons in the Articles then you can see them next to the publishing form. To add an emoticon to your Article then simply click on the emoticon you would like to add. |
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| Can I publish images? |
| Images can be added to your posts, if the Article administrators have allowed uploading of images you can use this to upload an image from your own computer into your Article. However, if image uploading is not available then you will need to link to the image that needs to be stored on a publicly accessible web server, eg. http://www.mysite.com/my-picture.jpg. |
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| What are closed Articles? |
| Closed Categories are set this way by Article administrators or moderators. Once a category is closed you will no-longer be able to publish an Article or vote in a poll. |
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| Usergroups |
| What are Article Administrators? |
| Article Administrators are people who have the highest level of control over the Articles, they have the ability to turn on and off features on the Articles, ban users, remove users, edit and delete Articles, create users groups, etc. |
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| What are Article Moderators? |
| Moderators are individuals or groups of users who look after the day to day running of the Articles. They have the power to edit, delete, move, close, unclose Articles, in the category they moderate. Moderators generally are there to prevent people from publishing offensive or abusive material. |
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| What are Usergroups? |
| Usergroups are a way to group users. Each user is a member of a usergroup and each group can be assigned individual rights in forums, to read, view, publish, create polls, etc. |
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| Private Messaging |
| I cannot send Private Messages |
| There maybe several reasons for this, you are not logged in, you are not registered, or the Article administrators have disabled the Private Messaging system. |
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| I cannot send Private Messages to some users |
| This maybe because the person you are trying to send a Private Message to has blocked you from being able to send them Private Messages, if this is the case you should receive a message informing you of this if you try to send them a Private Message. |
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| How can I prevent someone from sending me Private Messages |
| If you do find that you are getting unwanted Private Messages from a user you can block them from sending you Private Messages. To do this go into the Private Messaging system and go to your buddy list. Go to add the user as a buddy, but instead choose the option from the drop down list 'Not to message you', this will prevent this user from sending you anymore Private Messages. |
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