Frequently Asked Questions
Login and Registration Issues
- Why can’t I login?
- There
are several reasons why this could occur. First, ensure your username
and password are correct. If they are, contact the board owner to make
sure you haven’t been banned. It is also possible the website owner has
a configuration error on their end, and they would need to fix it.
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- Why do I need to register at all?
- You
may not have to, it is up to the administrator of the board as to
whether you need to register in order to post messages. However;
registration will give you access to additional features not available
to guest users such as definable avatar images, private messaging,
emailing of fellow users, usergroup subscription, etc. It only takes a
few moments to register so it is recommended you do so.
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- Why do I get logged off automatically?
- If you do not check the Log me in automatically
box when you login the board will only keep you logged in for a preset
time. This prevents misuse of your account by anyone else. To stay
logged in check the box during login, this is not recommended if you
access the board from a shared computer, e.g. library, internet cafe,
university computer lab, etc. If you do not see this check box, it
means your administrator has disabled this feature.
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- How do I prevent my username appearing in the online user listings?
- Within the UCP under “Forum preferences” you will find an option Hide your online status, if you enable this option with Yes, you’ll only appear to the administrators, moderators or yourself. You will be counted as a hidden user.
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- I’ve lost my password!
- Don’t panic! While your password cannot be retrieved, it can be reset. To do this go to the login page and click I’ve forgotten my password, follow the instructions and you should be able to log in again in no time.
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- I registered but cannot login!
- Firstly
check your are entering the correct username and password. If they are
okay then one of two things may have happened. If COPPA support is
enabled and you clicked the I am under 13 years old link
while registering then you will have to follow the instructions you
received. If this is not the case then does your account need
activating? Some boards will require all new registrations be
activated, either by yourself or by the administrator before you can
logon. When you registered it would have told you whether activation
was required. If you were sent an email then follow the instructions,
if you did not receive the email then are you sure your email address
is valid? One reason activation is used is to reduce the possibility of
rogue users abusing the board anonymously. If you are sure the
email address you used is valid then try contacting the board
administrator.
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- I registered in the past but cannot login any more?!
- The
most likely reasons for this are; you entered an incorrect username or
password (check the email you were sent when you first registered) or
the administrator has deleted your account for some reason. If it is
the later case then perhaps you did not post anything? It is usual for
boards to periodically remove users who have not posted anything so as
to reduce the size of the database. Try registering again and get
involved in discussions.
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- What is COPPA?
- COPPA,
or Child Online Privacy and Protection Act of 1998 is a law in the
United States that requires website that can potentially collect
information from minors under the age of 13 to have written parental
consent, or some other method of the legal guardians acknowledging they
are allowing the collection of personally identifiable information from
a minor under the age of 13. If you are unsure if this applies to you
as someone trying to register, or to the website you are trying to
register on, contact legal counsel for assistance. Please note that the
phpBB Team cannot provide legal advice and are not the point of contact
for legal concerns of any kind, except as outlined below.
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- Why can’t I register?
- It
is possible the website owner has banned your IP address or disallowed
the username you are attempting to register. The website owner could
have also disabled registration to prevent new visitors from signing
up. Contact the board administrator for assistance.
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- What does the “Delete all board cookies” do?
- Delete
all board cookies deletes the cookies created by phpBB3 which keeps you
authenticated and logged into the board, and also provides functions
such as read tracking if set by the board owner.
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User Preferences and settings
- How do I change my settings?
- All your settings (if you are registered) are stored in the database. To alter them click the UCP
link (generally shown at the top of pages but this may not be the
case). This will allow you to change all your settings and preferences.
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- The times are not correct!
- Though
there are rare occurrences of the website’s server having the wrong
time, the times are probably correct. However; what you may be seeing
are times displayed in a timezone different from the one you are in. If
this is the case you should change your profile setting for the
timezone to match your particular area, e.g. London, Paris, New York,
Sydney, etc. Please note that changing the timezone, like most settings
can only be done by registered users. So if you are not registered this
is a good time to do so, if you pardon the pun!
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- I changed the timezone and the time is still wrong!
- If you are sure you have set the timezone and Summer Time/DST
correctly and the time is still different, then the time as stored on
the servers clock is incorrect and the Administrators will need to make
the correction.
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- My language is not in the list!
- The
most likely reasons for this are either the administrator did not
install your language or someone has not translated this board into
your language. Try asking the board administrator if they can install
the language pack you need, if it does not exist then please feel free
to create a new translation. More information can be found at the phpBB
Group website (see link at bottom of pages).
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- How do I show an image below my username?
- There
may be two images below a username when viewing posts. The first is an
image associated with your rank, generally these take the form of stars
or blocks indicating how many posts you have made or your status on the
board. Below this may be a larger image known as an avatar, this is
generally unique or personal to each user. It is up to the board
administrator to enable avatars and they have a choice over the way in
which avatars can be made available. If you are unable to use avatars
then this is the decision of the board admin, you should ask them their
reasons.
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- How do I change my rank?
- In
general you cannot directly change the wording of any rank (ranks
appear below your username in topics and on your profile depending on
the style used). Most boards use ranks to indicate the number of posts
you have made and to identify certain users, e.g. moderators and
administrators may have a special rank. Please do not abuse the board
by posting unnecessarily just to increase your rank, you will probably
find the moderator or administrator will simply lower your post count.
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- When I click the email link for a user it asks me to login?
- Sorry
but only registered users can send email to people via the built-in
email form (if the admin has enabled this feature). This is to prevent
malicious use of the email system by anonymous users.
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Posting Issues
- How do I post a topic in a forum?
- To
post a new topic in one of the forums, click the relevant button on
either the forum or topic screens. You may need to register before you
can post a message, the facilities available to you are listed at the
bottom of the forum and topic screens (the You can post new topics, You can vote in polls, etc. list).
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- How do I edit or delete a post?
- Unless
you are the board admin or forum moderator you can only edit or delete
your own posts. You can edit a post (sometimes for only a limited time
after it was made) by clicking the edit button for the
relevant post. If someone has already replied to the post you will find
a small piece of text output below the post when you return to the
topic, which lists the number of times you edited it along with when.
This will not appear if no one has replied, nor will not appear if
moderators or administrators edit the post though they may leave a note
as to why they’ve edited the post at their own disgression. Please note
that normal users cannot delete a post once someone has replied.
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- How do I add a signature to my post?
- To add a signature to a post you must first create one, this is done via your profile. Once created you can check the Add Signature
box on the posting form to add your signature. You can also add a
signature by default to all your posts by checking the appropriate
radio box in your profile (you can still prevent a signature being
added to individual posts by un-checking the add signature box on the
posting form).
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- How do I create a poll?
- Creating
a poll is easy, when you post a new topic (or edit the first post of a
topic, if you have permission) you should see the “Poll creation” tab
below the main posting form (if you cannot see this then you do not
have appropriate permissions to create polls). You should enter a title
for the poll in “Poll question” and then at least two options in the
“Poll options” textarea (limit is set by the board administrator), with
each option separated by a new line. You can also set the number of
options users may select during voting under “Options per user”,
setting a time limit in days for the poll (0 is a poll of infinite
duration) and lastly the option if users are allowed to amend their
votes.
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- How do I edit or delete a poll?
- As
with posts, polls can only be edited by the original poster, a
moderator or board admin. To edit a poll click the first post in the
topic (this always has the poll associated with it). If no one has cast
a vote then users can delete the poll or edit any poll option, however
if people have already placed votes only moderators or administrators
can edit or delete it. This is to prevent people rigging polls by
changing options mid-way through a poll
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- Why can’t I access a forum?
- Some
forums may be limited to certain users or groups. To view, read, post,
etc. you may need special authorization, only the forum moderator and
board admin can grant this access, you should contact them.
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- Why can’t I vote in polls?
- Only
registered users can vote in polls (so as to prevent spoofing of
results). If you have registered and still cannot vote then you
probably do not have appropriate access rights.
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- Why can’t I add attachments?
- The
ability to add attachments can be done on a per forum, per group, or
per user basis. The board administrator may not have allowed
attachments to be added for the specific forum you are posting in, or
perhaps only the administrator group can post attachments. Contact the
board administrator if you are unsure about why you are unable to add
attachments.
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- Why did I receive a warning?
- Each
board administrator has their own set of rules for their site. If they
feel you have broken one of their rules, they may issue you a warning.
Please note that this is the board administrator’s decision, and the
phpBB Group does not have anything to do with the warning on the given
site.
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- How can I report posts to a moderator?
- If
the board administrator has allowed it, go to the post you want to
report and you should see a button that is for reporting posts.
Clicking this will walk you through the steps necessary to report the
post.
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- What is the “Save” button for in topic posting?
- This
allows you to save messages to be completed and submitted at a later
date. To reload them, go to the User Control Panel and follow the self
explanatory options there.
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- Why does my post need to be approved?
- The
board administrator may decide that the forum you are posting to needs
to have posts reviewed first. It is also possible that the
administrator has placed you in to a group of users whom he or she
feels is a group that needs to have their posts reviewed before being
submitted to the site. Please contact the board administrator for
further details.
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- How do I bump my topic?
- By
clicking the “Bump topic” link when you are viewing it, you can “bump”
the topic to the top of the forum on the first page. However, if you do
not see this, then topic bumping is disabled. It is also possible to
bump the topic simply by replying to it. However, be sure to follow the
rules of the site you are visiting.
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Formatting and Topic Types
- What is BBCode?
- BBCode
is a special implementation of HTML, whether you can use BBCode is
determined by the administrator (you can also disable it on a per post
basis from the posting form). BBCode itself is similar in style to
HTML, tags are enclosed in square braces [ and ] rather than < and
> and it offers greater control over what and how something is
displayed. For more information on BBCode see the guide which can be
accessed from the posting page.
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- Can I use HTML?
- No.
It is not possible to post HTML on this board and have it rendered as
HTML. Most formatting which can be carried out using HTML can also be
applied using BBCode instead.
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- What are Smilies?
- Smilies,
or Emoticons are small graphical images which can be used to express
some feeling using a short code, e.g. :) means happy, :( means sad. The
full list of emoticons can be seen via the posting form. Try not to
overuse smilies though, they can quickly render a post unreadable and a
moderator may decide to edit them out or remove the post altogether.
The board administrator may also have set a limit to the number of such
smilies you may use within a post.
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- Can I post images?
- Yes,
images can be shown in your posts. However; if the administrator has
allowed attachments, you may be able to upload the image to the board.
Otherwise, you must link to an image stored on a publicly accessible
web server, e.g. http://www.example.com/my-picture.gif. You cannot link
to pictures stored on your own PC (unless it is a publicly accessible
server) nor images stored behind authentication mechanisms, e.g.
hotmail or yahoo mailboxes, password protected sites, etc. To display
the image use the BBCode [img] tag.
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- What are global announcements?
- Global
announcements contain important information and you should read them as
soon as possible. Global announcements will appear at the top of every
forum and also within your User Control Panel. Whether or not you can
post a global announcement depends on the permissions required, these
are set by the administrator.
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- What are announcements?
- Announcements
often contain important information for the forum you are currently
reading and you should read them as soon as possible. Announcements
appear at the top of every page in the forum to which they are posted.
As with global announcements, whether or not you can post an
announcement depends on the permissions required, these are set by the
administrator.
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- What are sticky topics?
- Sticky
topics appear below any announcements within the forum and only on the
first page. They are often quite important so you should read them
where possible. As with announcements the board administrator
determines what permissions are required to post sticky topics in each
forum.
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- What are locked topics?
- Locked
topics are set this way by either the forum moderator or board
administrator. You cannot reply to locked topics and any poll it
contained is automatically ended. Topics may be locked for many reasons.
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- What are topic icons?
- Topic
icons are images which can be associated with posts to indicate their
content. The ability to use topic icons depends on the permissions set
by the administrator.
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User Levels and Groups
- What are Administrators?
- Administrators
are people assigned the highest level of control over the entire board.
These people can control all facets of board operation which includes
setting permissions, banning users, creating usergroups or moderators,
etc, dependant on the board founder and what permissions he or she has
given the other administrators. They can also have full moderator
capabilities in all the forums, depending on what the board founder has
allowed.
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- What are Moderators?
- Moderators
are individuals (or groups of individuals) whose job it is to look
after the running of the forums from day to day. They have the power to
edit or delete posts and lock, unlock, move, delete and split topics in
the forum they moderate. Generally moderators are there to prevent
people going off-topic or posting abusive or offensive material.
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- What are Usergroups?
- Usergroups
are a way in which board administrators can group users. Each user can
belong to several groups (this differs from most other boards) and each
group can be assigned individual access rights. This makes it easy for
administrators to set up several users as moderators of a forum, or to
give them access to a private forum, etc.
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- How do I join a Usergroup?
- To
join a Usergroup click the Usergroup link within your User Control
Panel, you can then view all usergroups. Not all groups are open access,
some may require approval to join, some are closed and some may even
have hidden memberships. If the group is open then you can join it by
clicking the appropriate button. If a group requires approval to join
you may request to join it by clicking the appropriate button. The user
group leader will need to approve your request, they may ask why you
want to join the group. Please do not pester a group leader if they
turn your request down, they will have their reasons.
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- How do I become a Usergroup Leader?
- When
Usergroups are initially created by the board administrator, they also
assign a Usergroup leader. If you are interested in creating a
Usergroup then your first point of contact should be the administrator,
try sending them a private message.
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- Why do some Usergroups appear in a different colour?
- It
is possible for the board administrator to assign a colour to the
members of a usergroup to make it easy to identify the members of this
group.
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- What is a “Default Usergroup”?
- If
you are a member of more than one usergroup, your default is used to
determine which group colour and group rank should be shown for you by
default. The board administrator may grant you permission to change
your default usergroup via your User Control Panel.
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- What is “The team” link?
- This
page provides you with a list of the board staff, including board
administrators and moderators which includes details of which forums
they moderate.
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Private Messaging
- I cannot send private messages!
- There
are three reasons for this; you are not registered and/or not logged
on, the board administrator has disabled private messaging for the
entire board, or the board administrator has prevented you from sending
messages. If it is the latter case you should try asking the
administrator why.
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- I keep getting unwanted private messages!
- You
may block a user from sending you private messages by using message
rules within your User Control Panel. If you are receiving abusive
private messages from someone inform the board admin, they have the
power to prevent a user from sending private messages at all.
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- I have received a spamming or abusive email from someone on this board!
- We
are sorry to hear that. The email form feature of this board includes
safeguards to try and track users who send such posts. You should email
the board administrator with a full copy of the email you received, it
is very important this include the headers (these list details of the
user that sent the email). They can then take action.
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Friends and Foes
- What is my Friends and Foes list?
- You
can use these lists to organise other members of the forum. Members
added to your friends list will be listed within your User Control
Panel for quick access to see their online status and to send them
private messages. Subject to template support, posts from these users
may also be highlighted. If you add a user to your foes list then any
posts made by them will be hidden by default.
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- How can I add / remove users to my friends or foes list?
- You
can add users to your list in two ways. Within each user’s profile,
there is a link to add them to either your friend or foe list.
Alternatively from your User Control Panel, you can directly add users
by entering their member name. You may also remove users from your list
using the same page.
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Searching the Forums
- How can I search the forum?
- By
entering a search term in the search box located on the index view,
forum view or topic view. Advanced search can be accessed by clicking
the “Search” link which is available on all pages on the forum.
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- Why does my search return no results?
- Your
search was probably too vague and included many common terms which are
not indexed by phpBB3. Be more specific and use the options available
within Advanced search.
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- Why does my search return a blank page!?
- Your
search returned too many results for the webserver to handle. Use
Advanced search and be more specific in the terms used and forums that
are to be searched.
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- How do I search for members?
- Go to the “Members” page and click the “Find a member” link. Once there, fill out the self explanatory options.
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- How can I find my own posts and topics?
- Your
own posts can be retrieved either by clicking the “Search user’s posts”
within the User Control Panel or via your own profile page. To search
for your topics, use the Advanced search page and fill in the various
options appropriately.
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