Forum 101 - posting, accounts, basics

[Janet H]

Please take a moment to read through this discussion if you are having trouble posting or have other basic questions about how our forum works. Here are some links to find more help about using the forum (if you don't find what you need in this discussion thread)

Forum FAQs (frequently asked questions) basic info about posting and account management
Our support forum where you can ask members for help with forum tech issues.
Our help desk - e-mail us for tech support, passwords, account issues, etc.

[Janet H]

Registration is free and open to everyone. While even unregistered viewers may read our board, only registered members can post here.

To register:
1. Open your open your internet browser and go to this link: Truckconversion.net - Register or open the forums home page and click on the "register" link.
2. Fill out your birth date and click proceed. You must be older than 13 to register.
3. Check the "I agree to the rules" button (if you agree)
4. Click the "register" button
5. A form will appear and you will need to fill out the info requested. Be sure that your e-mail address is filled out correctly. We do not sell or share your information.
6. After you have filled in required info. Click on "complete registration" at the bottom of page. If you have not filled out all info - you will be prompted go enter the requested info.
7. You will get an email asking you to verify your email address. Please make sure that any SPAM filters you have enabled do not prevent email from our site from coming through.


This completes the registration process.

If you already have an account and have registered a second one, please let a moderator know so that the two accounts can be merged.

[Janet H]

Once you have registered you may login to post or search our data base for information about truck conversions.

You will see a log in box in the upper right hand corner. Enter your username and password (these are case sensitive) and then click the remember me box.

Our site exchanges little bits of data called cookies with your computer to keep you logged in at page changes. Many virus protection programs or your computers own safety settings (if set very high) may be deleting these cookies when you navigate away from a page and then you get logged off. You can try the following things:

• Set your system security settings to medium.
• Be sure that you have enabled cookie handling.
• Check your Virus protection software and firewall settings to be sure that cookie handling is not being blocked there - you can specifically allow cookie exchange with the site.

At the end of your visit, you can log out or just navigate away from our site. Our server will automatically sever your connection after a period of time.

If you have forgotten your password and cannot login, you may request a new one via the contact us link located at the bottom of each page. You do not need to be logged in to use this link.

[Janet H]

Your user name displays next to each post an identifies your account. In order to log in you need to know both your user name and password and they are case sensitive.

While you can change your password once you have logged in via your usercp (see link on upper nav bar), only an admin can change your user name. If you need to have a user name change please use the contact us link at the bottom of the page or contact a member of the site team and ask for help. Tell us what your current user name is and make a request for a new one. If your desired name is already in use, you may have to choose again. User names are best kept to a short length (under 12 characters) and shouldn't contain any special characters (like % or & or #). They also have to be PG rated and may not be e-mail addresses or web addresses.

If you have forgotten your user name and cannot login, contact us with as much info about your existing account as you can remember and we'll try to help.

If you have 2 accounts, we can merge them and move all posts to one account but we will need to know which account you wish to retain.

[Janet H]

Questions or a new topic thread can be started in the section of the forum that best fits the topic you have in mind. Once you have posted your question you can edit that post for a brief period of time.

• Log into the forums.
• Click on the "forums" tab at the top of the page. You may see a list of subforum/topic areas.
• Click on the subforum that best suits your intended post. Once it opens you will see a list of threads already in that subforum. At the top of the list, over toward the left, you should see a "new thread" button.
• Click on the new thread button and follow the prompts.

Once you have crafted your post, click on the submit reply button below the text editor to submit your post to the board.

[Janet H]

To reply to an already existing thread:

• Log into our site.
• Open the thread you want to reply to.
• In the bottom right hand side of the post you want to respond to, click on post quick reply. A text editor box should appear.
• Add your text and then hit post reply at the bottom of text box.

Or... you can hit "go advanced" and get a more complete text editor with formatting options and the ability to upload photos.

Once you have crafted your post, click on the submit reply button below the text editor to submit your post to the board.

[Janet H]

You can directly upload images to a post or embed images that are hosted elsewhere.

To upload an image from your computer:

• Click reply and scroll down to bottom of text box.
• Click "go advanced" add text to message window and then scroll down.
• Click "Manage attachments" A separate window will pop up.
• Click "browse" Then select the file to be uploaded. Be sure that the photo is appropriately sized. 1600 x 1600 pixels (or smaller) and no more than 100K. You may select several photos to upload at the same time by repeating the last step.
• Click "Upload" After pics have loaded close the pop-up window
• Click "submit reply" to mount the text of your message - photos will automatically appear at the bottom of your post.

About attachment storage limits

When you upload a copy of an image file (or other attachment) it is stored on our servers. There are some restrictions on how much data can be stored.

Registered members are have unlimited storage space for images posted to threads and posts. We highly recommend that you reduce file sizes before uploading them to posts and threads however in consideration of those with slower internet connections.


How to embed an image stored on another site:
You can do this by using image tags. Upload the image to a service like imageshack and then copy the URL of the image and put that between [IMG] tags. That will work well, as long as the host site stays in business and doesn't disable your image for overuse of bandwidth etc.

You can also paste in the location of a photo stored here in a photo gallery.

To do this: Paste the url of the image into your post. Then add the following code on either side of the url (with no extra spaces):

[IMG]url here[/IMG]

The image will appear where the url was in your text.

We have an automated way to do all this - click on go advanced and then select the image icon from the tool bar in the reply editor. A box will pop up asking for the url of the image you want to embed. Fill out the box and post your reply.

[Janet H]

There are two ways to communicate with other forums members outside of the normal posting area.

• Private messages that only the person you send it to can read and respond to.
  
• Profile Comments left on the member’s page (profile). Anyone can see profile comments and the recipient has the option to delete it from their page.

If you click on a members name next to a post and select “View Public Profile” it will take you to the member’s profile page. Click on the “Contact Info” tab and you have several options depending on what types of messages the member has chosen to accept.

If you select private message you will need to select a title, type in your message and press the “Submit Message” button at the bottom. You can add smiles and links, but you can not attach pictures to a private message.

If you select to send a profile comment, type in the message and press the “Post Message” button at the bottom.

[Janet H]

You can change various settings in your member account. To access your account, click "user CP" on the upper navbar.

From the left side menu in your user control panel, you can add a signature, upload an avatar (the picture beside a post), change your account information and your forum interface. After any change, be sure to scroll to the bottom of the page and click 'save'.

One of the features of our forum is the ability to receive e-mail updates of new posts to a thread you may be interested in. You can opt for no e-mail, instant e-mail, daily or weekly. If you have elected to receive e-mail, make sure you have a valid e-mail address listed in your account profile. your e-mail address will not be publicly viewable and we do not sell or share member information.

[Janet H]

The site team consists of a moderators who are volunteers. Their job is to keep the forums running smoothly by assisting members and if needed, enforcing the rules of the forums. Disciplinary actions are extremely rare and are done with a consensus of the moderator team. You can view a compete list of our site staff here.

The bottom of the Forums page displays a list of members who are currently logged onto the forums. The moderator’s names are listed in bold. If you need assistance, feel free to contact any of the moderators. If you see a post that you find objectionable, use the “Report Post” option (red triangle) under the posters information on the left side of the screen. This option will generate an alert to all members of the moderator team.

The site team would like your time on the forums to be a positive experience. Let us know how we can help.