Lightning Velo Online Discussion Forum User Guide

Transcription

1 Lightning Velo Online Discussion Forum User Guide To register for an account you must be a member in good standing with a signed insurance waiver on file. Registration 1. Click here to open the registration page. 2. Enter the same address provided in your Membership Application. 3. Complete the form and click on Continue. 4. For your screen name, enter your first and last names all as one word (example: johnsmith) and click on Continue. Screen names that do not meet this requirement will be rejected by the administrator The system will not accept screen names with spaces or special characters. The way your screen name is displayed in postings will be edited for easier reading after your account is created (example John_Smith) but always log in with your screen name. 5. Check the "Terms of Service Agreement" check box and then click on Continue. The Terms of Service agreement is between you and the forum service provider, Proboards.com, not between you and the club. 6. Click on Click to Reveal Security Code. An advertisement will start. Approximately 5 seconds into the advertisement the Security Code will be displayed just under the video. 7. Enter the Security Code in the Your Answer box and click on Submit. 8. An containing your activation key will be sent automatically. You cannot use the activation key until your account has been approved which should happen within 48 hours. 9. When you receive your account approval , use the link and the activation key from the activation from step 8 to activate your account. 10. Click on Continue. You will then be logged into the forum. You don t have to go through the club web site Members page to log into the forum. Instead, you can add the forum login page as a Favorite / Bookmark in your browser. General rules of etiquette apply! There are plenty of forums for passionate discussions on controversial topics. This is not one of those forums. Posting of inappropriate and / or offensive content will result in your account being closed. If you are unsure if your post will be inappropriate, ask yourself if it would be OK to discuss / express the content at a club general meeting.

2 General Information The Forum has several Boards for various topics that are managed by the system administrator. Each Board has discussion Threads. Anyone can start a new Thread and / or reply to any other thread. Members post information and /or questions and others reply. Links to web pages, addresses, images and videos can be embedded in posts. A new thread should only be created for a new topic. Use the search window in a board to look for posts related to the topic you are interested in before creating a new thread. The structure looks like this: o Forum Board Thread o Posts Your Profile Your Profile contains information and settings related to your account. You can change many of the settings such as adding or changing an Avatar, your Screen Name, hide your address, hide your logged in presence information and other factors by editing your profile. To edit your profile: 1. Log into the forum 2. Click on the Profile button at the top of the page 3. Click on the Edit Profile button in the upper right corner of the page 4. Use the various tabs along the top of the page to make desired changes. Be sure to click Save buttons when done making changes on a particular tab.

3 Note: Display Names must follow the First Last format using your legitimate first and last names. Threads and Posts As mentioned above, threads are the primary way of communicating within the forum. Someone starts a new thread about a topic and others reply. How to create a new thread: 1. Log into the forum 2. Click on the Board that pertains to the topic of your thread.

4 3. Click on the Create Thread button in the upper right corner of the page. 4. Enter a Subject in the top left corner 5. Create your thread content. You can enter just plain text or you can use the controls along the top to add formatting, attach files, enter links to other sites, embed pictures and videos, etc. Details on using some of these controls are covered in another section. 6. When done, click on the Create Thread button in the lower right corner. You have just created the first post in a new thread. If you want to respond to comments and questions posted in your thread, see the Replying to a post section below. Do not create a new post on the exact same topic.

5 7. If you would like to edit your post, click on it and then click on the Edit button in the upper right corner, make your changes and click on the Save button. You can only edit your own posts. Replying to a post There are two ways to reply to a post: 1. Quick Reply: Just enter your reply text in the Quick Reply window located at the bottom of the page and click on the Post Quick Reply button. 2. Reply: Click on the Reply button in the upper right corner of the Quick Reply window. This will open a reply text entry window with full formatting and embedding tools. However, the formatting tools insert HTML code and this might be a little (or very) confusing. When finished, click on the Create Post button in the lower right corner of the window.

6 Embedding In Posts Embedding adds non-text content to a post. Pictures, videos and links to other web site pages are examples. Pictures: In order to embed a picture, you must have an account with a photo sharing service such as Photobucket.com, Tumblr or Picasa. 1. Log into your picture sharing service account 2. Copy the Direct link for the image. ProBoards uses direct URLs, not HTML code often used in forums. 3. Place the cursor where you want the image to appear 4. Click on the Insert Image button in the toolbar 5. Paste the link to the image into the Image URL field and click on the Insert Image button Note: You will only see the HTML code for the image unless you click on the Preview link in the lower left corner of the page.

7 Videos: Follow the same steps as embedding pictures except click on the Insert Video button. Copy and paste the direct URL for the videos into the Video URL field and click on the Insert Video button. Be sure to use the direct URL which will be in the address field of your browser. Don t use the various HTML options normally associated with Forums, blogs, etc. Note: Even if you are in Preview mode, the actual video will not appear until you click on the Create Thread (for new threads) or Create Post (for replies) button.

8 Links and Addresses Generally use the same steps as above. Click on the Insert Link or Insert button. Enter text that acts as a label on top of the link and enter the actual link or address. Then click on Create Link Be sure to click on Save if editing a previous post or Create Post if creating a new thread or a reply. Deleting a post If you decide editing isn t going to fix an issue with a reply or an original post, you can delete it. 1. Click on the post to open it 2. Click on the down pointing arrow in the upper right corner of the window, next to the gear icon. 3. Select Delete Post then click on the Delete Post confirmation button that pops up.