(¯`·._.· Top 10 Questions & Answers (For new Boards.ie users) ·._.·

Shield

Note: due to the platform move, the info listed here it outdated, and in some parts quite explicitly wrong. It'll be updated over the coming few days.



Here are the Top 10 questions that new boards.ie users ask us all the time:


1. What is boards.ie?

2. What is a forum?

3. I want to get involved. Tell me about "Threads".

4. How do I change or delete my threads or posts?

5. What is a moderator? Who are they?

6. How do I change my username?

7. Why can't I post in Soccer or Sex & Sexuality?

8. What is a signature? How can I get one? Why can't I see other people's signatures?

9. How can I make words in my posts link to other websites?

10. How can I insert pictures in my posts?



1. What is boards.ie?
Boards.ie is Ireland's largest online community which is split into many forums. No matter who you are, how old you are or what your interests are, boards.ie has a forum for you.



2. What is a forum?
A forum is a bit like a room full of people who all share the same interests. So, in the Motors forum, you'll find car and motorbike enthusiasts. In the Parenting forum, you'll find discussions around all things relating to parenting. In the Music forum, you'll find people talking about their tastes in music, and so on. There are hundreds of forums, but don't be put off. Most people just stick to around 3 or 4 forums and a lot make good friends in the process.


3. I want to get involved. Tell me about "Threads".
A thread is a topic for discussion. Simple as that. If you see a thread entitled "What did you think of X-Factor last night?", you can be sure that people will be giving their opinions on... you guessed it... last night's X-Factor. The following 2 tips are all you need to know to get involved quickly:

If you want to reply to a comment you see about the X-Factor discussion, you just click the reply button which looks like this:

and a large empty box will appear under the word "Message:" waiting for you to start typing your comments. When you've finished typing, click the "Submit Reply" button, and your post will now appear on the thread.

If you want to start a discussion, or "thread", just click on the New Thread button towards the top left of the screen under the Boards.ie logo. It looks like this:

then give your thread a title in the "Title:" box, like "I miss Michael Jackson", and type whatever you like in the large empty box where it says "Message:" telling everyone how you miss his dancing, singing and so on. Once you're done, click "Submit New Thread" and wait for people to comment.


4. How do I change or delete my threads or posts?
If you want to make changes to your posts, it's easy.

In the bottom right hand corner of your post, you'll see the 'Edit' icon which looks like this:

Clicking it brings you back to the screen you were at before you clicked "Submit Reply". Once you've made the changes you want to make, just click "Save" and you're done.
If you want to delete your posts, you can only do it within 48 hours of you posting, after that, you need to ask a forum moderator to do it for you. To delete your post:

Click the 'Edit' icon as mentioned in the above paragraph. When you've clicked it, in the bottom right hand corner, you'll see "Save", "Go Advanced", "Delete" and "Cancel". You need to click the "Delete" button, which will show you the "Delete Options" under the post. Place a tick in the box that says "Delete Message", enter something in the "Reason for Deletion" box if you want to and then click "Delete this Message".

If you want to delete a thread you've started, you can do so by the same method for deleting a post, but only if it's the only post in the thread.



5. What is a moderator? Who are they?
Moderators are unpaid volunteers who are chosen by the site administrators to look after the day-to-day running of forums. Moderators usually have a special interest in the forum(s) they moderate, and do things like delete posts that are against the site's Terms of Use, move threads to more suitable forums, or ban users who are causing trouble in the forum. Moderators have four white stars under their name like this:

If you ever want to find out who moderates the forum you're in, just scroll down to the bottom of the page, and over towards the right hand side, you'll see "Forum Mods:", followed by the usernames of the moderators who take care of that forum. You must be logged into Boards on a desktop PC or laptop for this to be visible. It is not shown on the 'Touch' version of the site.



6. How do I change my username?
We only give username changes to Subscribers. To become a Subscriber of boards.ie and enjoy the many other benefits, just click here and follow the instructions.


7. Why can't I post in the Soccer or Sex & Sexuality forums?
If you want to post in Soccer, you have to start a thread in the Soccer Access Requests forum. Access to the Sex & Sexuality forum is reserved only for subscribers.



8. What is a signature? How can I get one? Why can't I see other people's signatures?
A signature contains information that you want to include at the bottom of all your posts. This might include pictures, links to your site(s), quotes, etc. You can have a signature only after you have 50 posts.

• Make sure you have read the signature rules here before making your signature. If your signature breaches the rules, it will be removed without notification!
• Click on your User CP (User Control Panel) which is located to the top left of the screen, in the blue bar below the boards.ie logo.
• Under "Settings & Options" on the left hand side, click "Edit Signature", type whatever you want your signature to be in the "Your Signature:" box and then click "Save Signature".
• If you can't see other people's signatures, click "Edit Options" under "Settings & Options", scroll down to "Thread Display Options" and place a tick in the "Show Signatures" box.

9. How can I make words in my posts link to other websites?
This is called hyperlinking and it's very easy to do:

1. Highlight the word or words you want to be linked
2. Click on the little globe icon with the chain links in front of it. It looks like this:
3. A pop-up box will appear saying "Please enter the URL of your link:" so paste in the link you want the person to be taken to when they click the word or words you highlighted in Step 1, and click OK.

10. How can I insert pictures in my posts?
This is also very easy to do, and very similar to number 9 above:

1. You don't have to have anything written in the Message box to embed a picture. Text can be entered before or after you insert a picture into your post
2. Click the little square yellow box with tony mountains in the foreground. It looks like this:
3. In the box that says "Please enter the URL of your image:", paste in the URL of the picture you want to embed in your post, and click OK

We recommend against using Tinypic, who recycle image links, and Photobucket, who demand money to allow third party linking.

Anniehoo has a post with pictures if you need help getting an image on the net so it can be used in a post:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=88125514&postcount=5

Note that as with any links, a minimum of 5 posts is required.