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YaBB Help Center User Agreement Getting started User CP and Profile Posting Personal and Broadcast Messages YaBB Terminology |
YaBB Help Center |
Welcome to the YaBB Family |
YaBB is one of the world's leading providers of free, Perl-based message board systems for webmasters. Our innovative system allows people to get and stay connected in an easy to use, easy to understand format. Come see what hundreds of thousands of webmasters and millions of registered users already know!
For additional help, please visit The YaBB Codex.
This help section will get you up to speed on the functions of this YaBB forum. Inside, you will learn how to register an account, login, edit your profile, post a message, and much more. If you would like to skip ahead to a section, please use the menu to the left. Since the last release of YaBB, many new features have been introduced, so take your time reading through these HELP files. You may use the menu on the left to quickly jump to any topic below. You may use this ^ button at the bottom right of each Help section to return to the top of the Moderator Help page ^ |
User Agreement |
User Agreement |
You agree, through your use of these forums, that you will not post any material which is false, defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually-oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise in violation of ANY law. You also agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or you have consent from the owner of the copyrighted material. Spam, flooding, advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations are also inappropriate to this forum. ^ |
Getting started |
Register an Account |
Since this forum is powered by YaBB, registering an account is so simple, you'll be chatting in no time!
Step 1: In the menu above, you will see items titled "Home", "Help", "Login", "Register", etc. Click on "Register". Step 2: On this new page, you will see a form where you can choose your username and displayed name, password (if the administrator allows), and enter you email address. Fill in the boxes with your information. Step 3: If enabled by the Administrator, you may need to fill in the characters presented in the Verification Code (CAPTCHA) box. Step 4: Check the box to agree to the User Agreement if the Administrator has enabled one. Step 5: Click on the "Register" button at the bottom of the page. That's it! The administrator may require you to validate your account before you can post. If this is the case, an E-mail will be sent to you containing your password. USER TIP: Some ISPs and E-mail handlers treat the link sent to you in such a way that it will not work if you click on it. If that happens, try copying and pasting the link from the E-mail into your browser's URL window and reaching the forum that way. Now you"re ready to log in and post! ^ |
Log Into Your Account |
Now that you've registered an account, it's time to sign in.
Step 1: In the menu above, you will see items titled "Home, "Help", "Login", "Register", etc. Click on "Login". Step 2: On this new page, you will see several options.
Step 3 Once you have everything filled out, click the button in the form titled "Login". Congratulations! You are now ready to participate in this community! USER TIP: If you do not see the "Login" button in the menu, you may already be logged in. This can happen on some boards set up for instant registration. ^ |
Log Out of Your Account |
When you are done posting, it is a good idea to log out of your account so others using your computer will not have access to your information. To do this, find the menu item titled "Logout". Once you click this button, YaBB will log you out of the forum. You must log in again if you wish to post or access member-only functions.
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Forgotten Password |
If you have forgotten your password, YaBB can resend it to the E-mail account you have given in your profile.
Step 1 In the menu above, you will see items titled "Home", "Login", "Register", etc. Click on "Login". Step 2 On this new page, you will see a button titled "Forgot Password". Click this button. Step 3 A new page will load with a single box. Enter your username or the E-mail address you registered with. Step 4 Click the button titled "Send". ^ |
User CP and Profile |
User CP |
YaBB's User CP (User Control Panel) is a combination of your user profile with Buddy List, Personal
Messaging, Notifications, and Favorites.
When you enter the 'User CP', you have multiple choices of what to do:
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Profile Overview |
YaBB allows you to fill out a profile which tells people about you. You can have your name, age, instant messenger information, personal avatar (picture), and more!
Step 1: To change your Profile, click the "User_CP" option in the forum menu above. Then click "Profile" in the small tabbed menu below the main tabbed menu. This will bring you to the View Profile page. Step 2: On your View Profile page, you will see several links that allow you access to each part of your user Profile, which is divided into five sections: Edit Profile, Contact Information, Options, Buddy List, and PM Preferences. Click the appropriate link to access that part of your profile. Step 3: For security reasons, you will then be asked to enter your password. Do so, then click "Confirm Password". You now have access to all of your account settings and options for this YaBB forum. Details on each of these settings are described below. ^ |
Edit Profile |
The Edit Profile section gives you quick access to your basic profile settings for your account on
this YaBB forum.
Password Verify Password Name Gender Birthday Location USER TIP: Keep in mind that some Boards may contain an age or gender restriction for access. For example, if you don't enter an age in your profile, there will be no way to know if you should be allowed access to a Board that sets an age limit of over 21. Likewise with gender, if a Board is set up to allow Females only, you won't be allowed access if you don't enter Female as your gender in the Profile. ^ |
Contact Information |
If you would like other members of this YaBB community to be able to contact you, this section will allow you to provide this information in your profile.
E-mail
Hide e-mail from Public ICQ
AIM
YIM
MSN
Google Talk
Skype or VoIP MySpace Facebook Website Title
Website URL
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Options |
The Options section of your YaBB profile allows you to edit forum settings that relate to your account.
Personalized_Picture
The Administrator may also enable either or both of the following options:
Personal Text
Signature
Preset Time Format
Custom Time Format
Time Offset
Enable Automatic Daylight Savings Time Change Template
Language
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Buddy List |
The Buddy List section of the profile gives you the ability to add other members that your frequently contact to a list that will show in your User CP view. Your Buddy List will display each name, their Online/Offline status, and link options to send the user a PM, an e-mail, or visit the link to their website.
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PM Preferences |
This section of your profile gives you the ability to customize how you view and receive Personal Messages from other community members.
USER TIP: Keep in mind that Personal Messaging is an optional feature and will only be available if the Administrator chooses to enable it. Likewise, some of the options listed below that are underlined may not be seen in your PM Preferences list because they are also optional at the Administrator's discretion and may be disabled. Ignorelist
Notify Me of New PMs by e-mail:
Enable Personal Message Popup? PM Popup shows PMs in new Window? Enable the "Preview" Button for the PM Posting Page:
View Message Text In List View of Personal Messages?: Enable the "Active" Preview Option on the PM Posting Page: ^ |
Posting | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Starting a Topic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
After you have registered an account, you will have the ability to start new topics. To do so, navigate to a category you would like to begin a conversation in. Make sure that this is the correct category for the subject of your post. Once you're inside this category, search for a link or button titled "Start New Topic" and click it. The exact location of this button will vary depending on which template is being used, but it is often near the top of the list of topics.
This will present you with a new page where you can begin to type your post. Below you will find a description of the items on this page. Subject: This is the title of your topic and is what will be shown on the category page. Message Icon: If you would like to add a special icon to your post, you may choose one from this list. Add YaBBC tags: YaBBC tags give you the ability to format the text in your post. To add, simply click on the button of your choice. See below for a complete reference. Add Smileys: Personalize your post by adding an emoticon, or smiley. Just click on the one you want and YaBB will automatically put it in your post. Attach: If the Administrator allows, you may be able to add a file to your post by clicking on the "Browse" button to find the file on your hard drive to upload. Pay attention to the allowed file types and maximum file size. Post/Preview/Reset: These three buttons do exactly what you would expect. Press the "Post" button if you're ready for the community to view your message, press "Preview" if you would like to see what your post will look like first or press "Reset" to clear all of the boxes and start again. ^ |
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Replying to a Post | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In addition to posting new topics, you can also reply to existing posts or topics quickly and easily. When you find a topic you would like to comment on, look for the button or link titled "Reply" or "Quote". Using "Reply" will take you to a post page much like the one described above. Quote does exactly he same thing, however, it will add what another user has said to your post in a special box like you see below.
Quote: This is a quote
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Posting a Poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
If you have a question you would like to ask this community, YaBB gives you the ability to create a poll along with your topic. This is a fantastic way to get a good idea of what this community feels about your question. To post a poll, find the button titled "Start New Poll" from the category view and click it. The exact location of this button will vary depending on which template is being used, but it is often near the top of the list of topics. On this special post page, type in your question and options in the respectively labeled box, then fill out your message as described above.
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YaBBC Reference | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
For security reasons standard HTML code cannot be used in posts. Instead YaBB allows the use of YaBBC (YaBB Code) for formatting. YaBBC is similar to HTML, but safe and standardized for bulletin board use. To use, you can either click on the YaBBC button of your choice on all post pages or manually type them in. Below is a listing of each tag and it's function.
What is YaBBC? YaBBC is a set of tags based on the HTML language. It allow you to add formatting to your messages in the same way as HTML does, but have a simpler syntax and will never break the layout of the pages you are viewing. Most YaBBC tags can be wrapped around text, by first highlighting the text, and then clicking on the YaBBC button with the desired formatting.
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Personal and Broadcast Messages |
Personal Messaging |
YaBB is about community and communication. And there are plenty of ways to communicate: Posting on the boards, Personal Messaging, e-mail, ICQ, AIM, YIM, MSN, SKYPE/VoIP, and Gtalk. Of course, all methods of communication are only available to registered members. An exception is when the Forum Staff decides to allow guests to post on one or more boards. If unregistered members (Guests) are allowed to post, they still cannot view the Member List nor send Personal Messages (See exception below). Personal Messages While e-mail is a good way to correspond privately with members, it has several drawbacks: You must open your e-mail application to write and send the message; the recipient must open his/her e-mail application; check his/her mail and your message will mixed in with all the other mail and it can take sometimes several minutes to an hour for mail to reach the recipient. As an alternative to e-mail, YaBB offers a faster, more private method. Personal Messaging on the forum provides instantaneous delivery to the recipient's private mailbox. The PM is sent and received entirely through YaBB, so neither you nor the recipient have to open another program or leave YaBB. Personal Messaging also gives both the sender and recipient greater privacy: no one's real e-mail address is involved or revealed. Personal Messages show only the username and name of both parties. YaBB offers an option for Administrators to allow Guests to send an Alert to the Moderator of a Board if there is a problem. If this is enabled, the Moderators of the Board will receive a PM but will not be able to reply except by sending an e-mail to the Guest. USER TIP: Allowing Guests to post on your forum or send PMs poses risks, such as spam or worse being posted or sent in PMs. To reduce this risk, we highly recommend the Administrator use the option available in the Security Settings to require a Validation Code for any Guest action (Post, PM, Alert).Another option the Administrator can enable is allowing Personal Messages to be sent as copies similar to e-mails. If enabled, you can send carbon copies (cc) and blind carbon copies (bcc) and the recipients may also respond directly to other original recipients. The Administrator may also enable the option for members to create additional storage folders for their PMs, and if the number of messages is large, you can find individual messages by using the PM Search feature. If a recipient isn't online, Personal Messages wait in the member's PM box until the next time he/she logs in and manually reads and/or deletes them. Should you for some reason need to call back the message before the other party reads it, you can recall it by going to your PM Outbox and clicking the Recall link under the message. YaBB Personal Messages center is basically a self-contained, highly private e-mail system. ^ |
Broadcast Messaging |
YaBB allows Forum Staff the capability to communicate with each other through the use of Broadcast Messages. Broadcast Messaging is a optional feature for Administrators to enable if they choose. The Administrator can enable Broadcast Messaging for these groups:
Those allowed Broadcast Message permission can send BMs to the following recipients:
The Administrator may also enable the option for Guests to send a PM to the Administrator. These PMs are actually transmitted to the Administrator as a Broadcast Message, so it requires both the PM to Admin option AND Broadcast Messaging allowed for Administrators in order to work. ^ |
YaBB Terminology |
Glossary |
YaBB has many descriptive terms that refer to its component parts, different page views, and visible items. This section is provided as a glossary to help users learn the correct terminology for their forums.
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