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Shawnessy Forums The official message board of the Calgary Shawnessy Community
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| Shawnessy Forums Forum Index |
| Registration & Logging In/Off |
| Why can't I log in? Have you registered? You must register in order to log in. Have you been banned from the site? (A message will be displayed when you attempt to log in, if you have.) If so, you can contact the site administrator to find out why, if you haven't already been informed. If you have registered and are not banned, but still cannot log in, check and double-check your username and password. This is usually the problem. Remember that passwords on this site are case sensitive. Check the email address you entered during the registration process for a message from the Shawnessy Forums. As a last resport, contact the site administrator. |
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| Why do I need to register at all? You don't need to. However, if you don't register, you'll be missing out on a lot that the Shawnessy Forums have to offer. Specifically, you will not be able to sign up for email subscriptions to forums, you will not be able to post to any forums or participate in any discussions, post events to the online calendar, or send and receive private messages. In short, if you don't register with the site, you will not be able to participate in the online community. Back to top |
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| Why do I get logged off automatically? If you do not check the "Log me in automatically" box when you log in, 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 this box during login. This is not recommended if you access the board from a shared computer (e.g. library, internet cafe, university cluster, etc.).
If you wish to change this setting now, first logout from the forums, then login again after changing your preference. |
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| I've lost my password! What do I do? Don't panic! While your password cannot be retrieved, it can be reset. To do this go to the login page and click on the "I've forgotten my password" link. Follow the instructions and you should be back online in no time. Back to top |
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| I registered but can't log in! What do I do? First check that you are entering the correct username and password. If they are okay, then one of two things may have happened. First, you may have clicked the "I am under 13 years old" link when you registered. If this was the case, then you will have to follow the instructions you received by email. If this is not the case, your account probably needs to be activated. You should have been sent an email to the address you specified during the registration process. This email contains instructions on how to activate your account. If you did not receive the email, you may have entered an incorrect or invalid email address. If you are sure the email address you used is valid and correct, you can either create a new user account, or you can contact the site administrator. Back to top |
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| I registered in the past but cannot log in anymore! What do I do? The most likely reasons for this are: you entered an incorrect username and/or password (check the email you were sent when you first registered); or the administrator has deleted your account for some reason. Either register again (if you know you haven't been banned from the site), or contact the site administrator. Back to top |
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| When I click the Private Message or Reply link to a post, it asks me to log in. Why? Sorry, but only registered users can send private messages to other Shawnessy Forums users and post in the forums. This is to prevent malicious use of the messaging system and forums by anonymous users. Back to top |
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| How do I register for an account at Shawnessy Forums? If you've already registered and/or are logged in, you do not need to register again. In fact, only one registration/account per individual is allowed. If you have never registered before, click on the Register link, located in the button menu, just to the right of the Shawnessy Forums logo, at the top right of each page. Follow the instructions on the registration page. Once you submitted your registration, you will need to activate your account in order to log in. Activation of your account can be completed by following the link in the email message sent to you during the registration process. Back to top |
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| How do I activate my account? After you have registered for an account, it will need to be activated before you can log in. An email message will have been sent to the email address you specified during the registration. Open the mail message and follow the instruction in the message to complete the activation. If you entered an incorrect or invalid email address, you can either create a new account with a different username and using a correct email address, or you can contact the site administrator and ask that the account you created be deleted, so that the username you specified can be chosen again. Back to top |
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| I've forgotten the username to log in! What do I do? There are two things you can do. First, see the member list page. Scroll through the list of users and see if you recognize your username. If you can't find your username, contact the site administrator and supply your email address. With that, we should be able to find your username. Back to top |
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| User Settings / Site Preferences |
| How do I change my personal Shawnessy Forums settings? If you are registered, all of your settings are stored in the site's database. To alter them click the Profile link, found on the button menu, just to the right of the Shawnessy Forums logo, at the top right of each page. This will allow you to change all your settings. Settings for rnregistered users are not saved. Back to top |
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| How do I prevent my username from appearing in the online user listings? In your user account profile you will find an option to "Hide your online status". Your profile is accessible via the the top button menu on every page, just to the right of the Shawnessy Forums logo. If you switch this on you'll only appear to board administrators and to yourself. You will be counted as a 'hidden' user. Back to top |
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| How do I show an image below my username? / How do I create a site avatar? You can upload or link to an image for your account image (avatar) from your user profile panel. Click on the Profile link in the upper button menu, just below to the right of the Shawnessy Forums logo, at the top of each page. Follow the instructions given to upload or link to an image. Please keep your images appropriate for a public audience. Back to top |
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| How do I add a signature to my posts? To add a signature to a post you must first create one; this is done via your profile. Click on the Profile link in the button menu, located just to the right of the Shawnessy Forums logo, at the top of each page. Scroll down to the Signature section and enter your text for the signature in the text box. Please keep your signatures appropriate for a public audience. Back to top |
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| The times are not correct! How can I change them? The times are correct for Mountain Standard Timezone (MST), Calgary's timezone. If you are accessing the site from a different time zone, you will see an incorrect time. Note that personal settings for timezone in your user profile are overridden by the site's default timezone setting. This is a local website for the Calgary, AB Shawnessy community Back to top |
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| Using The Forums |
| How do I post a topic in a forum? Click on the Home link from the button panel, located to the right of the Shawnessy Forums logo on each page. Scroll down the list to find the forum in which you want to post a message. Note that only registered users can post in the forums. Back to top |
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| How do I edit or delete a post? Unless you are a forum moderator, you can only edit or delete your own posts. You can edit a post by doing the following: Browse to the message and open it in the forums, and click on the Edit button, found just above the upper right corner of the message body. If someone has already replied to the post before you edit it, you will find a small piece of text output below the post, indicating the time when the message was edited. Please note that regular users cannot delete a post once someone has replied. If a post has been made which you feel is offensive, you may report it to a moderator or the site administrator by clicking on the Report Post link. The link is the red exclamation point button, just above the upper right corner of the message body. Clicking on this link will notify the moderatotrs and site administrators of the post. Note, abuse of this feature will lead to warnings or possibly a ban on your account. It should also be noted that editing a post will not cause a new email to be delivered to all subscribers to that news forum. If you've made an error in a post in the news forum and you wish to notify the Shawnessy Forums members of the change, you should post a reply to the message in the forum. |
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| How do I create a user poll/voting topic? When you are posting a new topic you should see an Add a Poll panel, below the main posting box. (If you cannot see this then you probably do not have rights to create polls in that particular forum.) Enter a title for the poll and then at least two options. There is a limit of 15 options for any poll. Back to top |
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| How do I edit or delete a poll/voting topic? As with posts, polls can only be edited by the original poster, a moderator, or the site administrator. To edit a poll, click the first post in the topic, which always has the poll associated with it, and then click on the Edit button, just above the upper right corner of the message box. If no one has yet cast a vote then you 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. Back to top |
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| Why can't I vote in polls? Only registered users can vote in polls so as to prevent spoofing of the results. If you are registered and still cannot vote, then you probably do not have appropriate access rights to post in that particular forum. Back to top |
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| What are smileys? / How do I use smileys? Smileys, or Emoticons, are small graphical images which can be used to express some emotion using a short text code -- e.g. :) means happy, and :( means sad. The full list of emoticons can be seen via the posting form. Please refrain from overusing smileys, however, as they can quickly render a post unreadable. Back to top |
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| What are forum Announcements? Forum announcements often contain important information and you should be read as soon as possible. If there are any, announcements appear at the top of every page in the forum to which they are posted, above any sticky topics. Whether or not you can post an announcement depends on the forum permissions, which are set by the site administrator. Back to top |
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| What are Sticky topics? Sticky topics are posts in the forum which always appear at the topic of the list, just below forum announcements. They will only appear on the first page of a topic thread. They are often quite important so you should read them before posting in that forum. As with announcements, the board administrator determines what permissions are required to post sticky topics in each forum. Back to top |
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| What are Locked topics? Locked topics are topics in the forum that have been closed by a moderator or administrator. You cannot reply to any post in a locked topic, and any poll contained inside is automatically ended. Topics may be locked for many reasons. Back to top |
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| Can I post images? / How do I post images? Images can indeed be shown in your posts. If you want to show images in one of your forum posts, you must link to an image stored on a publicly accessible web server -- e.g. http://www.some-unknown-place.net/my-picture.gif . You cannot link to pictures stored on your own PC (unless it is a publicly accessible server) nor to images stored behind authentication mechanisms such as Hotmail or Yahoo mailboxes, password-protected sites, etc. To display the image use the BBCode [img] and [/img] tags surrounding the image URL. You can also upload an image to the photo gallery. The photo gallery is accessible via the button menu, located just to the right of the Shawnessy Forums logo, at the top right of each page. Back to top |
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| Can I use HTML in my posts? No, but you can use BBCode. BBCode is a special subset of HTML. It's similar in style to HTML: tags are enclosed in square braces [ and ] rather than the < and > symbols. It also 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, when you are posting a message in the forums. Back to top |
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| What are the email addresses next to the forum names? These are the distribution/mailing list email addresses. If you want to post a message to a forum by email, use this address. Note, however, that you will need to have a registered account at Shawnessy Forums in order to use this feature. Note also that abuse of this feature may result in a ban being placed on your account. See the Subscriptions Page to subscribe or unsubscribe via email to any or all of forums. Back to top |
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| User Levels & Site Permissions |
| What are Administrators? Administrators are people assigned the highest level of control over the site. These people can control all facets of the site's operation, including setting permissions, banning users, administrating the forums, etc. They also have full moderator capabilities in all the forums. Back to top |
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| What are Moderators? Moderators are individuals whose job it is to look after the running of the forums from day to day. They have the power to edit and delete posts, and to lock, unlock, move, delete and split topics in the forum they moderate. Generally moderators are there to prevent people going off-topic, posting messages in the wrong forum, or posting inappropriate material. Back to top |
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| How do I become a Moderator or Administrator? If you are an active participant at the Shawnessy Forums, and are interested in helping the admin team, please feel free to contact the site aministrator or any moderator. The decision of whether or not your status will be upgraded will depend upon your past involvement in the community, and is entirely up to the site administrators. Back to top |
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| How do I contact a moderator or the site administrator? Moderators for individual forums are listed just below the forum title, on the upper left portion of the screen, above the actual forum body. Browse to the forum in question, open it, and you should see the moderators list below the forum title on the upper left. Click on one of the names, and you will be taken to that moderator's profile. Click on either the email or private message link to contact that moderator. You can contact the site administator via private message (username: Justin) or or via email: Back to top |
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| Messaging |
| Why can't I send private messages? There are three possible reasons for this: you are not registered and/or not logged in, the board administrator has disabled private messaging for the entire board, or the board administrator has prevented you individually from sending messages. If it is the latter case and you haven't already received an explanation why, you should try contacting the site administrator. Back to top |
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| I am receiving unwated spam or abusive email in private messages or email. What should I do? You should forward the email or private message to the site administrator, with a full copy of the message you received. It is important for you to include the headers (if available). Any inappropriate behavior will be dealt with. Back to top |
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| How do I send private messages or email to other Shawnessy Forums members? There are two ways to send messages to other Shawnessy Forums members. First, you can browse to a message posted by the individual you want to contact. If the individual has his account configured to allow others to email and/or private message him or her, two links will appear at the bottom of the post -- one for private messages (pm), the other for email. Alternatively, you can click on the Private Messages link in the button menu, just to the right of the Shawnessy Forums logo at the top of each page. You should then see your PM inbox. Click on the New Post button, and then enter the username of the individual you want to message, the subject, and the message itself. Back to top |
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| Can I send an email out to all members signed up on the distribution/mailing lists? Sending a mass email out to all subscribers on all the distribution/mailing list is not possible. However, simply by posting a message to one of the forums, you will send out an email to all subscribers of that forum. You can post a message in two way. First, you can browse to the forum and post the message by clicking on the "new post" button. Alternatively, you can email your posts to the forum by using the distribution list email addresses. Note, however, that not all forums have a distribution list. The forums which have an email address beside their names (on the forum homepage) have associated distributions lists. Those forums that don't have an email address beside their names, don't have distribution lists. To see a list of available distribution lists and to set up your own email subscriptions, see the subscriptions management FAQ entry. Back to top |
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| How do I send an email out to all members signed up on the distribution/mailing list? If you have registered for an account, you can send an email out to everyone on a distribution/mailing list simply by posting a message in the appropriate forum. There is a separate distribution/mailing list for each forum: Shawnessy news announcements, general news announcements, crime, traffic concerns, etc. Alternatively, you can send an email message to the forums, to have the message automatically posted in the forum and redistributed to the mailing/distribution list. You will need to have access to post in the particular forum you are sending to, and you will also need to be subscribed to that list. Also, you will need to send the email to the forum from the email address you specified when your registered for your account. The message must then be sent to the appropriate distribution list: e.g. news@shawnessy.ca, othernews@shawnessy.ca, general@shawnessy.ca, socialnetwork@shawnessy.ca, etc. To configure your subscriptions, and for the distribution list email addresses, you'll need to visit the subscription management page. Note that news events posted via email will NOT appear in the site's events calendar. Calendar items can only be added if they are posted directly in the forums. |
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| How do I subscribe to receive email notifications of posts in the forums? / How do I sign up for the mailing lists? After you have registered an account at Shawnessy Forums, you can manage your email subscriptions by following these instructions:
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| Does editing a post in the forums send a new message to the subscription list? No. Any editing of an existing post in one of the forums (e.g. Shawnessy News, Crime, Traffice Concerns, etc.) will not send a new email notification to email subscribers. Editing a post includes editing a post's title, body, or calendar details (date, time, etc.). If you've made an error in a post in one of the news forums and you wish to notify subscribers of the change, you should reply to the post in the forums, and also (possibly) edit the original message, if for example you entered an incorrect date in the calendar. Therefore, be sure to double-check your message before you post it or email it. Back to top |
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| The Events Calendar |
| Can I post events in the calendar? Posting events in the calendar is restricted to the news forums: Shawnessy News and Other News. Also, posting to the calendar can only be accomplished by posting the message from the website, not by email. Back to top |
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| How do I post events in the calendar? Browse to one of the News forums (Shawnessy News or Other News -- calendar events cannot be posted from any of the other forums). Click on the New Topic link to post a new message; all events in the calendar must be created as a post in one of the news forums. That is, news announcements submitted via email will not appear in the events calendar. Give a description for the item in the message body, and then fill in the event information below, in the Options section (i.e. event start date and time, duration, and recurring properties). Back to top |
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| I don't see the events calendar at the top of each page. Where is it? The calendar is probably just collapsed. On each page, there should be a small yellow arrow, beside the word Calendar. This link is located near the top of each page, on the right-hand side. To display the calendar, simply click on the arrow or Calendar link. If the calendar still does not display, or if the link is missing, contact the site administrator.
Alternatively, your browser may be blocking scripts. For example, if you are using FireFox, and you are blocking scripts, make sure to allow scripts from the Shawnessy.ca site. |
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| How do I post repeating/recurring events? Creating repeating/recurring events in the calendar can be a little bit confusing. Below is a brief tutorial on how to do it. First note that all calendar events (recurring or not) must be entered by posting a message in the appropraite News forum (e.g. the Shawnessy News forum). Calendar events cannot be entered via an email post. Create a new post and give it a subject. After typing in your message in the body, scroll down on the page and look in the Calendar Options section of the Options grouping for the Calendar information. In the Date of event boxes, enter the date of the first occurence of the event (i.e. the next date the event will occur). As per a normal (single) calendar event, enter in the event start time and duration in the appropriate fields. Next, you'll need to specify the options for repeating the event in the calendar. In the Repeats drop-down box, select from: daily, weekly, monthly by day, monthly by date, monthly in last week, or yearly. These values represent the scale of the repetition. You'll also need to select a time increment in the Every drop-down box. In this box, you'll select the repeating period increment. That is, this number represents the number of periods (specified in the Repeating drop-down) that occur between repeating events. Finally, enter the date of the last occurence of the event in the Until drop-downs. This date specifies how long the event will be repeated. If you don't specify values in these fields, the event will be repeated indefiniately. Please limit your repeating events to, at most, one year's worth. Examples: To post a weekly event that occurs on a Friday night, enter the following values: Date of event: The date of first Friday you'll hold the event Repeats: Weekly Every: 1 Until: The date of the last Friday the event will be held To specify an event which occurs every other week, you'd change the Every field to 2. To enter an event which occurs on the 1st calendar day of every month, you'd enter the following: Date of event: The first day of the next month Repeats: Monthly by Date Every: 1 Until: The first of the month for some month in the future past the next month Note that there is overlap in the way you can specify the repetition. For example, these two entries would create events which repeat every week: Date of event: 31 October 2006 ... Repeats: Weekly Every: 1 Until: 31 October 2007 and Date of event: 31 October 2006 ... Repeats: Daily Every: 7 Until: 31 October 2007 Back to top |
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