Forums 101 - posting, accounts, basics

[Janet H]

The Thanks button is a nice way to show agreement or appreciation for a good post.

Each time you click the thumbs up icon (located in each post), the author of the post receives a point. You have the opportunity to leave a comment as well, which the post author can read.

You can access your own thanks comments in your user cp (click on user cp on the upper nav bar) and the last 30 or so will be displayed in the center section of the page under "Latest Thanks received" You can also see stats about how many times you've been thanked.

[Janet H]

To upload or change an avatar:

An avatar is the little picture displayed below your user name in the profile box on the left side of every post. You may use a forums avatar or upload your own custom avatar. Avatars are limited in size to 80 x 80 pixels or 48 KB (whichever is smaller).

To choose a forum-standard avatar:
1. Click user CP (control panel) on upper blue tool bar.
2. Click edit avatar on left side menu.
3. Select the avatar you desire for the available pictures and click the selection dot below the picture.
4. Click save changes.

To upload a custom avatar: Choose a picture you like that is stored in your computer. Resize the picture to meet the size requirements above using a photo/image editor or camera software. Images that are too large will fail to load and you will receive and error message.

1. Click user CP (control panel) on upper blue tool bar.
2. Click edit avatar on left side menu.
3. Scroll down to the "Custom Avatar" box and click the "use Custom Avatar" button.
4. Click Browse button. A file menu screen will appear and you can choose the avatar file to be loaded. The file name should appear in the "upload an avatar from your computer box".
5. Click save changes.

[Janet H]

There are a couple of ways to search the forum. If you have a question we recommend that you search before posting. There's a fair chance that we have a several posts about your topic of interest.

The Forums search tool found on the upper blue nav bar is fairly easy to use and really quick. Our search tool searches for key words and you have a choice to search for threads or posts. Consider using the advanced search function to narrow down your choices. You must be logged into the forums to use the search tool.

Google search: We have an embedded google search available. Check out the drop down menu under search to find this tool.

[Janet H]

You can embed Youtube videos (provided they're on topic) in your posts by copying the url of the video from the address line in your browser and pasting it into your post.

YouTube - The Queen of the Grand Banks Schooners

[Janet H]

You can place other forum members on an ignore list so that you can't read their posts and they cannot use the PM system to contact you.

To do this:

• Click on 'usercp' on the upper blue nav bar.
• Find "settings & Options" on the left side menu and select "edit ignore list"

This is useful for those members that really push your buttons, or whos' posts consistently annoy the heck out you (or if your ex posts here)

If you have a problem with another members posting style we strongly encourage you to use the ignore feature. As always, if you feel a post is inappropriate, use the report post button to report it to site staff.