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| How does this site work? |
| How do I use this forum?Very simply, anybody who can access PhotoNotes at all is welcome to read any of the public postings on this forum. There is no registration required. Anyone who wants to can also sign up for a completely free account (free as in no money) which allows him or her to post new messages and responses to previous messages. Registration is required because, as explained below, it's the only real way to keep obnoxious advertising/spam postings from automated programs off the site. If you want to register for a free account here, just click on the "Sign up" link at the top of this page. There will be a brief description of the rules - very simply, please don't be nasty, and don't post ads - and a thing about your age. This age nonsense is a requirement under American law, and so doesn't really matter anywhere else. Then you fill in a little form. The only really critical things are marked at the top with asterisks. You'll then get a sign-up link in your email. (if you don't get it, check your spam folder) And that's it. Easy! |
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| Forum Rules |
| Forum RulesThe PhotoNotes forum is a public service to the Internet as a whole, and everyone who can use our site is free to sign up and post. However, it is a privilege to post here; not a right. All we ask is that all users of the site follow some pretty basic rules of courtesy. These are: 1) Be decent to everybody else. Anything nasty, threatening, abusive, racist/sexist/generallyist towards others is not cool. Unpleasant material will be deemed uncool and will be removed. PhotoNotes.org reserves the right to determine what is cool and what is uncool. 2) Do not try to use this forum for illegal purposes. Please do not post pictures that violate copyright law, for example. (or pretend someone else’s photo is yours) Trying to use a forum for illegal purposes means PhotoNotes.org runs the risk of getting inadvertently dragged into a legal morass, and that’s both uncool and unfair. Any material believed to be illegal will be deleted. 3) No advertising. If traffic warrants it then there may be a buy and sell section added later for private ads. But that would be for private ads only. No spam, advertising, disguised promotional rubbish or anything similar is permitted and will be immediately removed. 4) You own your words. Stuff you post here that’s yours is yours and under your copyright, but by registering with this forum you implicitly give PhotoNotes.org permission to post what you’ve written and you give the world permission to read it. In perpetuity. This does not mean, however, that PhotoNotes.org is under any obligation whatsoever to publish or store this information. 5) No posting stuff in the wrong place. The categories are there for a reason - to make things easier for people to find. If you choose to ignore these categories then your post may be moved or deleted. In summary, this service is a privately run but publicly viewable discussion area. PhotoNotes.org is under no obligation to provide this service to anyone, and does so only so long as the rules above, and any others that may be added in the future, are being followed. Any users who choose not to follow the forum’s basic rules of courtesy will be banned permanently from using this discussion area. No guarantees are made by anyone as to suitability of content, reliability of service, accuracy of material or, indeed, of anything. I hate putting stuff like this, but we live in a litigious and troll-filled world. |
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| Login and Registration Issues |
| Why can’t I log in?Have you registered? You must sign up first in order to log in. (click the "Sign up" link at the top of this page) If you have registered and are not banned and you still cannot log in then check and double-check your username and password. Usually this is the problem; if not, contact the forum administrator. |
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| Why do I need to sign up at all?Sorry to require registration, but every now and then discussion sites like this get hit by spam software. Spam software is software written by unscrupulous criminals which fills up discussion forums with advertising and pornography. Registration is one way to make it more difficult for them to operate. Registration will give you access to additional features not available to guest users such as private messaging, emailing to fellow users, user group subscription, etc. It only takes a few minutes to sign up so it is recommended you do so. Your registration information remains private and will not be given or sold to other organisations for marketing purposes. |
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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 forum will only keep you logged in for a preset time. This prevents misuse of your account by anyone else. To stay logged in, check the box during login. This is not recommended if you access the forum from a shared computer. (eg: library, Internet café, university cluster, etc) |
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| How do I prevent my username from appearing in the online user listings?In your profile you will find an option - Hide your online status. If you switch this on you’ll only appear to forum administrators or to yourself. You will be counted as a hidden user. |
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| I’ve lost my password!Don’t panic! While your password cannot be retrieved it can be reset. To do this go to the login page and click I’ve forgotten my password. Follow the instructions and you should be back online in no time - assuming you provided a valid email address. |
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| I registered but cannot log in!First check that you are entering the correct username and password. If they are okay then maybe your account need activating. Some forums (fora) will require all new registrations be activated, either by you or by the administrator before you can log on. When you registered it would have told you whether activation was required. If you were sent an email then follow the instructions; if you did not receive the email then check that your email address is valid. One reason activation is used is to reduce the possibility of rogue users abusing the forum anonymously. If you are sure the email address you used is valid then try contacting the forum administrator. |
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| I registered in the past but cannot log in anymore!The most likely reasons for this are: you entered an incorrect username or password (check the email you were sent when you first registered) or the administrator has deleted your account for some reason. If it is the latter case then perhaps you did not post anything. It is usual for forums to periodically remove users who have not posted anything so as to reduce the size of the database. Try registering again and get involved in discussions. |
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| Posting Questions |
| How do I post a question in a forum?Very simple. First, sign up and make sure you are logged into the forum. Then click on the name of the discussion area which best fits your question (such as "Film discussions" or "Flash photography"). Then click on the "New topic" button. The facilities available to you are listed at the bottom of the forum and topic screens (the You can post new topics, You can vote in polls, etc. list) |
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| How do I edit or delete a post?Unless you are the forum admin or forum moderator you can only edit or delete your own posts since it would be rude to do otherwise. You can edit a post by clicking the edit button for the relevant post. If someone has already replied to the post, you will find a small piece of text output below the post when you return to the topic that lists the number of times you edited it. This will only appear if no one has replied; it also will not appear if moderators or administrators edit the post (they should leave a message saying what they altered and why). Please note that normal users cannot delete a post once someone has replied. |
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| How do I add a signature to my post?To add a signature to a post you must first create a sig; this is done via your profile. Once created you can check the Add Signature box on the posting form to add your signature. You can also add a signature by default to all your posts by checking the appropriate radio box in your profile. You can still prevent a signature being added to individual posts by un-checking the add signature box on the posting form. |
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| How do I create a poll?Creating a poll is easy. When you post a new topic (or edit the first post of a topic, if you have permission) you should see a Add Poll form below the main posting box. If you cannot see this then you probably do not have rights to create polls. You should enter a title for the poll and then at least two options -- to set an option type in the poll question and click the Add option button. You can also set a time limit for the poll, 0 being an infinite amount. There will be a limit to the number of options you can list, which is set by the forum administrator |
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| How do I edit or delete a poll?As with posts, polls can only be edited by the original poster, a moderator, or forum administrator. To edit a poll, click the first post in the topic, which always has the poll associated with it. If no one has cast a vote then users 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 |
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| Why can’t I access a forum?Some forums may be limited to certain users or groups. To view, read, post, etc. you may need special authorization which only the forum moderator and forum administrator can grant, so you should contact them. |
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| Why can’t I vote in polls?Only registered users can vote in polls so as to prevent spoofing of results. If you have registered and still cannot vote then you probably do not have appropriate access rights. |
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| User Preferences and settings |
| How do I change my settings?All your settings (if you are registered) are stored in the database. To alter them click the Profile link (generally shown at the top of pages). This will allow you to change all your settings. |
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| The times are not correct!The times are probably correct, but what you may be seeing are times displayed in a time zone different from the one you are in. If this is the case, you should change your profile setting for the time zone to match your particular area, eg: London, Seattle, Vancouver, Tokyo, etc. Please note that changing the time zone, like most settings, can only be done by registered users. |
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| I changed the time zone and the time is still wrong!If you are sure you have set the time zone correctly and the time is still different, the most likely answer is summer time/daylight saving time. The forum is not designed to handle the changeovers between standard and daylight time so during summer months the time may be an hour different from the real local time. |
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| My language is not in the list!Since all the content on PhotoNotes.org is in English the forum also supports English only at this time. Sorry to be so parochial. |
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| When I click the email link for a user it asks me to log in. Why?Only registered users can send email to people via the built-in email form. This is to prevent malicious use of the email system by anonymous users. |
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| Formatting and Topic Types |
| What is BBCode?BBCode is a special implementation of HTML. You can disable it on a per post basis from the posting form, but it’s normally enabled. BBCode itself is similar in style to HTML: tags are enclosed in square braces [ and ] rather than < and > and it 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. |
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| Can I use HTML?Yes, but only certain tags work - bold, italic, and so on. This is a safety feature to prevent people from abusing the forum by using tags which may destroy the layout or cause other problems. You can also disable it on a per post basis from the posting form. |
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| What are smileys?Smileys, or emoticons, are small graphical images which can be used to express some feeling using a short code, e.g. :) means happy, :( means sad. The full list of emoticons can be seen via the posting form. Try not to overuse smileys, though, as they can quickly render a post unreadable. |
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| Can I post images?Images can indeed be shown in your posts. However, there is no facility at present for uploading images directly to this forum. Therefore 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 computer 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] tag. |
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| What are announcements?Announcements often contain important information and are posted by the forum administrator. Announcements appear at the top of every page in the forum to which they are posted. Whether or not you can post an announcement depends on the permissions required, which are set by the administrator. |
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| What are Sticky topics?Sticky topics appear below any announcements in viewforum and only on the first page. As with announcements the forum administrator determines what permissions are required to post sticky topics in each forum. |
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| What are Locked topics?Locked topics are set this way by either the forum moderator or forum administrator. You cannot reply to locked topics and any poll contained inside is automatically ended. Topics may be locked for many reasons. |
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| User Levels and Groups |
| What are Administrators?Administrators are people assigned the highest level of control over the entire forum. These people can control all facets of forum operation which include setting permissions, banning users, creating usergroups or moderators, etc. They also have full moderator capabilities in all the forums. |
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| What are Moderators?Moderators are individuals (or groups of individuals) whose job it is to look after the running of the forums from day to day. They have the power to edit or delete posts and lock, unlock, move, delete and split topics in the forum they moderate. Generally moderators are there to prevent people going off-topic or posting abusive or offensive material. At this time PhotoNotes.org has no moderators aside from the forum administrator. |
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| What are Usergroups?Usergroups are a way in which forum administrators can group users. Each user can belong to several groups (this differs from most other forums) and each group can be assigned individual access rights. This makes it easy for administrators to set up several users as moderators of a forum, or to give them access to a private forum, etc. |
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| How do I join a Usergroup?To join a usergroup click the usergroup link on the page header and you can then view all usergroups. Not all groups are open access - some are closed and some may even have hidden memberships. If the forum is open then you can request to join it by clicking the appropriate button. The user group moderator will need to approve your request. They may ask why you want to join the group or decline your request altogether. |
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| How do I become a Usergroup Moderator?Usergroups are initially created by the forum administrator who also assigns a forum moderator. If you are interested in creating a usergroup then your first point of contact should be the administrator, so try dropping them a private message. |
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| Private Messaging |
| I cannot send private messages!There are two reasons for this - either you are not registered and/or not logged on or the forum administrator has prevented you individually from sending messages. |
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| I keep getting unwanted private messages!In the future we will be adding an ignore list to the private messaging system. For now, though, if you keep receiving unwanted private messages from someone, inform the forum administrator - they have the power to prevent a user from sending private messages at all. |
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| I have received a spamming or abusive email from someone on this forum!We are sorry to hear that. The email form feature of this forum includes safeguards to try to track users who send such posts. You should email the forum administrator with a full copy of the email you received and it is very important this include the headers (these list details of the user that sent the email). They can then take action. |
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| phpBB 2 Issues |
| Who wrote this bulletin forum?This software is produced, released and is copyrighted phpBB Group. It is made available under the GNU General Public License and may be freely distributed; see link for more details |
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| Why isn’t X feature available?This software was written by and licensed through phpBB Group. If you believe a feature needs to be added then please visit the phpbb.com website and see what the phpBB Group has to say. Please do not post feature requests to the forum at phpbb.com, as the Group uses sourceforge to handle tasking of new features. Please read through the forums and see what, if any, our position may already be for features and then follow the procedure given there. |
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| Whom do I contact about abusive and/or legal matters related to this forum?You should contact the administrator of this forum. Please note that phpBB Group has absolutely no control and cannot in any way be held liable over how, where or by whom this forum is used. It is absolutely pointless contacting phpBB Group in relation to any legal (cease and desist, liable, defamatory comment, etc.) matter not directly related to the phpbb.com website or the discrete software of phpBB itself. |
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