QnA Sections - Use Back to return to each section's main list. Use ^Return To Top^ to return to this main section. General - General information about Beehive forum software can be found here. -> About Beehive Forum Software Guests - Information for unregistered guests. Registered Members - Information for registered members. Forum Owners - Information for registered members who own at least one forum. Guests ^Return To Top^ Where can I find the Hangin Out Forums Terms Of Service? How much does a membership cost? What are the minimal requirements to get a membership? What extras do I get with a 'Hangin Out Forums' membership? Do I have to become a member to post? What viewing options does the message board dropdown offer guests? Do you run adds in member forums? Do you allow advertising popups or popunders? How do I get a Hangin Out Forum of my own? Where do I go to register? Where can I find the Hangin Out Terms Of Service? You can find it here -> Hangin Out Forums Terms Of Service. How much does a forums membership cost? Membership in Hangin Out Forums is FREE! It won't cost you anything but some time. We are a donation supported website and a proud member of the Cybatrons Free Network. What are the minimal requirements to get a membership? You must read, understand, and be able to abide by the Hangin Out Forums Terms Of Service. You must be at least 13 years of age. If you are under 18 years of age, you must have parental consent You must be possessing of some sort of mental composition, actual brain matter preferred, so you can at least try to understand what is in front of you and participate. You must be breathing, or at least flexible enough to type. Pulse is optional. You must register. You must actually enter the forums. Well duuh! What extras do I get with a 'Hangin Out Forums' membership? You get everything listed in the basic Beehive features list, plus... User profiles with a 100px wide by 150px high image support (jpg, gif, jpeg, png), instead of a 90px by 90px image. 4MB of personal space in the Members area for your own webpages and images in addition to your 1MB of personal attachment space. Your addresses will be hanginoutforums.com/members/USERNAME/ and members.hanginoutforums.com/USERNAME/. FTP access to your 4MB of personal webspace to work on your webpages. Access to chat systems, hosted by us, for forums on the Hangin Out Forums forums system. Hosted chat systems are not integrated with the forums system. You will need to register with any of the chat systems you wish to use. These chat systems are under the control of their owner, which is the owner of the forum to which they belong. They are not owned or operated Hangin Out Forums. Do I have to become a member to post? Yes. Guests can visit some forums, those allowing guest access, but they cannot post to the message boards. What viewing options does the message board dropdown offer guests? The message board dropdown offers guests the following choices; All Discussions, Today's Discussions, 2 Days Back, 7 Days Back. Do you run adds in member forums? No! We do not, and will not, run adds in member forums, or on member or forum webpages. The only forums you may see adds in from us are HOF staff run forums, such as the Hosts & Members, the The Graphics Box, or 'our' personal forums. Forum owners can run their own adds in their forums, but we will not run adds in their forums. Hangin Out Forums is donation and Google add supported. Do you allow advertising popups or popunders? No! We do not allow popup or popunder advertising, nor flashing, wiggling, jiggling advertisements, or adds for pornographic websites. The only popups you will find here are ones needed by the forum system for things like profiles, and similar items. You can place Hangin Out Forums on your popup stopper's safe list. How do I get a Hangin Out Forum of my own? You can get your own Hangin Out Forum by becoming a member and meeting the minimum requirements for forum ownership. You'll find them in the Registered Members section of this QnA. Once you've met them, go to the Hosts & Members forum and look for a folder labeled; Forums, Chats, Webspace Requests, and place your request in it. Usually, forums, chats, and member webspace are set up within 24hrs of the request post. Where do I go to register? You can register by clicking on the Register tab in the navbar of the Hosts & Members forum. Fill out the registration form, click Submit, then check your email. You will need to use the link in your validation email to complete registration before you will be able to post, or visit some forums. If you cannot click the link, then copy it into your address bar, and hit Enter.     Registered Members ^Return To Top^ Where do I set my personal preferences? What is in My Controls? How do I set my user details? How do I set up, or edit, my profiles? How do I change my password? How do I set my email & privacy options? How do I set my forum options? How do I use my attachment controls? How do I set up, or edit, my signature? What are relationships and how do I use them? How do I set up and use my word filter? How do I activate my Hangin Out Forums member webspace? How do I navigate between forums? How do I get access to a private forum? How do I get to the forum message board? How do I do I view the messages posted to me? What choices does the message board dropdown give me? How do I post a message to the message board? Do you have minimum requirements for forum ownership? How do I get my two free forums? Where do I find the chats? How do I log into the chats? I'm being stalked and/or harassed. What do I do? Where do I set my personal preferences? Look in the navigation bar of any forum and you will see My Controls, just click on it and it will take you into your personal control areas. What is in My Controls? These are your main controls. You will find links to them on the left. User Details allows you to change your nickname, email address, password, homepage URL, avatar URL (avatar size limit - 15px high by 15px wide), and profile picture URL (picture size limit - 150px high by 100px wide). User Profile allows you to edit your user profile details. Change Password allows you to change your password. Email & Privacy lets you change how you can be contacted, both on and off the forums. Forum Options lets you change how the forum appears and works for you, without effecting how it appears and works for others. Attachments allows you to upload, edit, or delete your attachments. Edit Signature lets you edit your signature using the system WYSIWYG editor, or your own HTML or CSS. Edit Relationships allows you to set up relationships, which helps you find posts by friends quickly and easily, and also to ignore posts by others you don't want to see. Edit Word Filter allows you to set up your own word filter for words you don't wish to see, and works in conjuction with the main system and forum word filters. How do I set my user details? Go into My Controls and click on User Details on the left. On the right, your controls will appear. They are labeled User Information. All you have to do is fill in, or edit, the information, then scroll down and click Save. Do not put <> or " in front of or behind of your email address or urls, just the address. EX: http://www.nowhere.net/ or http://nowhere.net/. How do I set up or edit my profile information? Go into your controls and click on User Profile on the left. On the right, your profile controls will open. All you have to do is fill in, or edit, the information in the input boxes, then scroll down and click Save. Do not put <> or " in front of or behind any urls, just the address. EX: http://www.nowhere.net/ or http://nowhere.net/. Since forum owners set up the profile forms for their forum, what fields are available for you to fill in will vary from forum to forum. How do I change my password? Go into your controls and click on Change Password on the left. On the right, your password controls will open. All you have to do is fill in your current password, then your new password, then confirm your new password and click Save. You have just changed your password. How do I set my email & privacy options? Go into your controls and click on Email & Privacy on the left. On the right, your email & privacy controls will open. Check the box, or make the selection, for how you want that particular feature set. Then, if you want it applied to all forums on the system check the box Set for all forums?. Once you have everything set the way you want it, scroll down and click Save. How do I set my forum viewing options, time zone, language, etc.? Go into your controls and click on Forum Options on the left. On the right, your forum controls will open. Check the box, or make the selection, for how you want that particular feature set. Then, if you want it applied to all forums on the system check the box Set for all forums?. Once you have everything set the way you want it, scroll down and click Save. You can set the following features in your forum options: Timezone, Language, Display, Style, Post Page, Private Message Options, Private Message Export Options. How do I set my email & privacy options? Go into your controls and click on Email & Privacy on the left. On the right, your email & privacy controls will open. Check the box, or make the selection, for how you want that particular feature set. Then, if you want it applied to all forums on the system check the box Set for all forums?. Once you have everything set the way you want it, scroll down and click Save. How do I use my attachment controls? Go into your controls and click on Edit Attachments on the left. On the right, your attachment controls will open. If you want to upload an attachment, click on Upload New Attachment, and your upload attachment controls will open in a new window. Click the Browse button, find the file on your computer, then click Upload, and it will be uploaded to your attachment space. The used space will be deducted from your allotted attachment space, and what space remains will be displayed in the Usage section. If you want to remove an attachment, simple go back into this area and click the Del button to the right of the attachment, and it will be deleted. The system will also readd the space back into your attachment space and update your Usage. Once you are finished with this area, click Complete and the window will close. How do I set up, or edit, my signature? Go into your controls and click on Edit Signature on the left. On the right, your signature controls will open. You will see an online reference feature, which supplies access to a dictionary, encyclopedia, and more, and below it, a WYSIWYG editor. Place your text or signature code in the input box. Then, if you want to preview your signature, click Preview, and you will be able to look it over and decide if you'd like to make any changes. Once you have your signature the way you want it, just click Save and it's all set. If you use HTML or CSS in your signature, don't forget to check the Contains HTML box below the input box. Also, signatures are forum specific, you will have to set one in any forum where you wish to use one. This gives you the option of using the same signature in each forum you visit, or a different one for each forum. What are relationships and how do I use them? Go into your controls and click on Edit Signature on the left. On the right, your relationship controls will open. In the search box type the name of the person you want to set up a relationship for, then click Search. When the results appear, you will be given several options as to what relationship you would like to set for this person. Once you have chosen what setting you would like for them, click Add, and your settings will be saved. You have the following relationship options: Friend, Normal, Ignored, Ignored Completely, Display Signature, Ignore Signature. How do I set up and use my word filter? Go into your controls and click on Edit Word Filter on the left. On the right, your word filter controls will open. In the input box for Matched Text put word you want filtered, then in the input box for Replacement Text put your preferred substitute for that word. You then have three options as to how you want that word filtered; All, Whole Word, and PREG. These options work like this... All matches against the whole text, so filtering mom to mum also changes moment to mument. Whole Word matches against whole words only, so filtering mom to mum will NOT change moment to mument. PREG allows you to use Perl Regular Expressions to match text. Now you need to choose your options. These control how your word filter works in conjunction with the main system and forum word filters. You have two choices; Enable word filter and Include Admin word filter in my list. You can choose one or both. After you have everything set the way you want it, scroll down and click Save. Your word filter is now set up and ready. You can add or delete words at any time by simply returning to these controls. How do I activate my Hangin Out Forums member webspace? Place a request in the Hosts & Members forum, in the folder labeled Forums, Chats, Webspace Requests. We'll set up your webspace and access within 24hrs, then PM your ftp access information to you. Your addresses will be www.members.hanginoutforums.com/USERNAME/ and www.hanginoutforums.com/members/USERNAME/. Also, you'll find a index.html file and images folder in your member folder. If you don't already have one, you'll need to get an ftp client. You can get a free one at CoffeeCup Software. The same one we use to set up your ftp access to your member webspace. You're allotted 4 megabytes of space in the members area. All materials must abide by the Hangin Out Forums Terms Of Service. How do I navigate between forums? You can move between forums by clicking on the My Forums tab in the navigation bar of any forum, finding the forum on the forums list, and clicking on its name or messages link. If the forum is open and public, and you haven't been banned from it, then you will be allowed to enter. How do I get access to a private forum? If the forum is Restricted Access, then you must be added to the forum's member roster by its owner, or its staff. If the forum is Password Protected, then you must have the forum password to gain access. Owners of such forums may have a message posted on an entry page. If they do, you will see it when you try to enter the forum. It should contain all the information you need about the forum and how to apply for membership. How do I get to the forum message board? You can click on the Start Reading button on the left side of the forum's start page, or look in the forum's navigation bar for Messages. If you click on either one, you will taken to the forum's message board. How do I view the messages posted to me? When you are viewing the forum's message board, look in the left frame and you will see a dropdown, choose Unread "To: Me" and click Go. Links to all unread messages posted directly to you will then appear in the left frame. To read a message, just click the link and the discussion will open in the right frame. What choices does the message board dropdown give me? All Discussions, Unread Discussions, Unread "To: Me", Today's Discussions, Unread Today, 2 Days Back, 7 Days Back High Interest, Unread High Interest, I've Recently Seen, I've Ignored, By Ignored Users, I've Subscribed To, Started By Friend, Unread Std By Friend, Started By me, Polls, Sticky Threads How do I post a message to the message board? Log in, then click on New Discussion on the forum's start page, or New Discussion in the upper left corner of the message board, or any of the Post New links in the folder list, and you will be taken to the posting area. You'll see an online reference feature, which supplies access to a dictionary, encyclopedia, and more. Then, below it, a Folder dropdown list, Thread title input box, Recent Visitors dropdown, and an input box below that for your to type in a name not on the recent visitors list. Below those, you will have three options you can check and the smiley preview box for your chosen smilies. Now, to the right, there is a WYSIWYG editor. Place your text or html code in the input box and select the appropiate choice for HTML in message. You can choose Disabled, Enabled with auto-line-breaks, or Enabled. Then, if you want to preview your message, click Preview, and you will be able to look it over and decide if you'd like to make any changes. Once you have your message the way you want it, just click Post and you're done. Do you have minimum requirements for forum ownership? You must be at least 13 years of age for membership and forum ownership, and understand forums owned by minors will be monitored not only by their staff, but by site staff. Site staff monitoring is for both the protection of the site as well as the minors. You must be a registered member. You must show an interest in the community, and in helping it to grow and become better. You must show you're not simply here to satisfy your boredom by irritating others. If you're here simply because you need a new place to argue and fight with people, take it elsewhere. How do I get my two free forums? You can find all the information you need about requesting your forum/s, and chat/s, here- > How to request your forums, chats, member webspace. Where do I find the chats? Go into any forum and click on the chat tab, and depending on which part of the forum you're currently viewing, the chats lists page will open in either the right frame or a new window. You'll be able to see what chat systems are available, what rooms are available on each chat system, how many people can chat in each room, and who is chatting on that system. You will not be able to see which room a chatter is in, only that they are chatting on that particular system. Ten seconds after a chatter logs out of a chat system, their name will be dropped from that system's Online list. How do I log into the chats? You will need to register with any chat system you wish to use. Once you've done this, you can log into that chat system using the username and password you registerd with, unless the chat system required email activation. If it requires email activation, you'll need to check your email and follow the instructions you find in your inbox. Each chat system is independently owned and operated. We only provide hosting. If you have a problem, you will need contact that chat system's owner and staff. I'm being stalked and/or harassed. What do I do? Contact system administators. You can do this by either sending them an email to staff@hanginoutforums.com , or by Private Messaging them through the cybatrons tag in any forum. Remember to include the following information... Username of the person committing these acts. Any witnesses Dates, times, and locations of as many incidents as possible. Any proof you may have of this person's actions. Chat logs, etc. ~~All logs will be checked against existing main system logs     Forum Owners ^Return To Top^ How do I access my forum's control center? What is in my control center? What are some of the user permissions I can set? Where do I set the user's folder permissions? What can I do with the User Groups section? What are Ban Controls, and how do I ban? What options do I have when banning someone? If I decide I want to lift a ban, can I? How do I set up folders and their permissions? How do I set up my forum's profile Sections? How do I set up my forum's profile Items? Can I change the profile options later if I want, or move the ones I have around? How do I set up RSS feeds for my forum? What are Forum Settings? What are Forum Access Settings? If I make my forum Password Protected. how do I set my forum's password? If I make my forum Restricted. how do I add, or remove, members? There is a name on my visitor log who is not a member of my Restricted, or Password Protected, forum. How did they get into my forum? Can I set permissions for someone, even though they haven't actually visited my forum? What are forum Post Options? What is WikiWiki Integration? What will enabling the Links section do for my forum and its members? Where do I set up whether or not to allow polls in my forum? What are stats? What is Search Engine Spider-ing? How do I set Guest Access? How do I set up my forum's start page? What is the difference between a forum style and a forum theme? How do I create a forum style? How do I create a forum theme? I'm no good with CSS and HTML. Can I get a custom/exclusive theme made for my forum, or get help with my theme? How do I get access to my forum's folder and my Hangin Out Forums homes folder? How do I use the word filter? What are Posting Stats? What is the Forum Links section in the Admin area used for? What kind of links can I add to the forum's links dropdown list? How do I set up links for the forum's links dropdown? What is View Log in the Admin areas? Can I run advertisements in my forum? How do I move and/or edit threads in my forum? How do I get my own X7chat system for my forum? I'd like a nice stats program to help me track my forum's activity. Do you know of one I could use? How do I access my forum's control center? Look in the navigation bar, just below the header, and you will see Admin. Click on Admin, and it will take you to your forum's control center. What is in my control center? You have the following areas in your forum's control center... Users allows you to set individual user permissions, including appointing Editors and gagging people. User Groups allows you to create User Groups to assign permissions to as many or as few users quickly and easily. Ban Controls allows the banning and un-banning of IP Addresses, Usernames, Email addresses and Nicknames. Folders allows the creation, modification and deletion of folders. Profiles lets you customise the items that appear in the user profiles. Forum Settings allows you to customise your forum's name, appearance and many other things. Start Page lets you customise your forum's start page. Forum style allows you to create styles for your forum members to use. Word filter allows you to filter words you don't want to be used on your forum. Posting stats generates a report listing the top 10 posters in a defined period. Forum links lets you manage the links dropdown in the navigation bar. View log lists recent actions by the forum moderators. What are some of the user permissions I can set? These are the main user permissions you can set.. User has access to forum admin tools: Makes a user a forum Administrator. User can moderate all folders: Makes the user a folder/message board Moderator. User can moderate Links section: Makes the user a Moderator for the forum's Link section. User is banned: Locks the user out, exiled. User is wormed: The user thinks they're posting as normal, but to everyone else, their posts appear to be deleted. User is pilloried: These user's posts can be edited by anyone, except them, but can only be deleted by Moderators or Administrators with deletion privileges. Where do I set the user's folder permissions? In the same area you set their user permissons, scroll down the screen. You will see the tools for setting up their folder permissions. This section allows you to set whether or not a user has permssion to see a particular folder, post to it, etc. The name of the folder is to the left, and permissions are listed in two columns to the right of the folder name. They are... Read Posts: Read posts in this folder Create new threads: Create threads in this folder Delete posts: Delete posts in this folder Post in HTML: Post in HTML in this folder Moderate folder: Moderate this folder Reply to threads: Reply to threads in this folder Edit posts: Edit posts in this folder Upload attachments: Upload attachments to use in messages posted in this folder. Post a signature: Allows the user to use their signature in this folder. Require Post Approval: Requires the users posts to be approved by a forum staff member. Tip: It will save you a lot of work and time if you set up User Groups early, and set permissions for them, then set user permissions by adding users to a group. Setting them individually for each user for each and every folder, could become very time consuming as your forum grows. What can I do with the User Groups section? By setting up different user groups within your forum, you can more easily control what permissions users have simply by adding them to, or removing them from, a group. This helps save you time, and work, if you have a very active forum with a large number of visitors. If you set permissions individually, you may end up checking dozens of boxes for each user. If you use groups, you only have to set permissions for the group. Then, when you want to give a user those privileges within your forum, just add them to that group. What are Ban Controls, and how do I ban? Ban controls enable you to control troublesome visitors by banning, exiling, them from your forum. Go into Admin, select Ban Controls Select how you would like to ban them, type in the information in the bar, then click on Add. What options do I have when banning someone? You can choose to ban by any of the following: IP Address Logon Nickname Email Address If I decide I want to lift a ban, can I? Yes. Simply go back into Ban Controls, click on the one you want to unban, then click on Remove, and it's done. How do I set up folders and their permissions? Go into Admin, select Folders. Look to the right and click on Add a new folder. The folder controls will open. Type in a name, and a short description. This is also where you set the folder's permissions, and what types of threads to allow in it. Once you're sure everything is set the way you want, click on Add, and you've just created a new folder. This section also controls in what order your folders show, from top to bottom, first, second, third, etc. Use the arrows to position them. Remember to grant yourself the proper permissions for the folders you create, either through a group or individually, or you may not be able to moderate them. You will also have to set group permissions for each folder you create, at least for those groups you want to have more than the folder's defaults, folder defaults are the permissions you gave the folder when you set it up. How do I set up my forum's profile Sections? Log into your forum, click on Admin, look in the left frame for Profiles, and click on it. Look over the main controls for creating, editing, and deleting your forum's profiles in the right frame. This first area creates the main sections from left to right, such as Personal, My Favorites, etc. Position is a number drop down list allowing you to choose in what order your sections show from left to right, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. Section Name is where you type in the section's name; Personal, My Favorites, etc. Delete Section deletes a section if you decide you don't want it, or want to exchange it for something else but don't feel like editing all the sections or items in that section. Now, type in the new section's name under Section Name, use the Position drop down list to position it, then click Save. When the page reloads, you'll see the section has been created. You'll also see a new button to the right, Items. The Items button opens another control area where you create what items you would like each section to hold, such as for Favorites you might want the Items Books, Movies, Food, etc. You must save after each new addition, (edit, or deletion), for the changes to take effect and any new fields to appear. How do I set up my forum's profile Items? Click on the Items button of the section you want to add items to, a second control area will open, and you'll see more controls... Position is a number drop down list allowing you to choose in what order your items show from top to bottom, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. Item Name is where you type in what you want the item to be named, Colors, Movies, Books, etc. Type is a drop down list allowing you to choose what type of answer field is available to members, such as Small Text Field, Medium Text Field, Large Text Field, Multi-line Text Field, Radio Buttons, or As drop down list(s). Move to is a drop down list with all the main sections of your profile listed. It allows you to move items between main sections, just click on the Move to drop down, choose what section you want to move the item to, then click Save. The page will reload, and the item will be moved. Delete Section deletes an item. Instructions for creating Radio Buttons and drop down list(s) answer fields are provided below the item creation area. Now to create an Item, type in the name under Item Name, choose what Type of answer field you want available from the drop down, then click Save. The page will reload, and your Item will be created, and below it you will also see everything you need to create another Item. You must save after each new addition, (edit, or deletion), for the changes to take effect and any new fields to appear. Can I change the profile options later if I want, or move the ones I have around? Yes. Simply go back into the profiles controls, change whatever you want, and save your changes. How do I set up RSS feeds for my forum? When adding an RSS feed you must specify the user logon you wish to be used to start the threads, the folder you wish them to be created in, and the location of the feed. Go into Admin, select RSS Feeds. Look to the right, you will see the controls showing what feeds have been set up for your forum, and two buttons, Add New Feed and Delete Selected Feeds. Click on Add New Feed, and the controls will open in the right frame. Put the appropriate information in the input boxes. Click on Save. You can test your feed before you save it by clicking Test. The feed location itself must be accessible via HTTP. If it is not, then the feed will not work. What are Forum Settings? Forum Settings is where you set how your forum displays and functions. You can set... Forum Name Forum Email Forum Description Forum Keywords Default Style Default Emoticons Default Language Time zone Adjust for daylight saving What are Forum Access Settings? Forum Access Settings allows you to control how public your forum is and how people gain access to it. Open will allow all users and guests access to your forum without restriction. Closed prevents access for all users, with the exception of the admin who may still access the admin panel. Restricted allows you to set a list of users who are allowed access to your forum. Password Protected allows you to set a password to give out to users so they can access your forum. If I make my forum password protected. how do I set up my forum's password? Click on Admin, then Forum Settings, and find Forum Access Settings. Choose Password Protected from the list, then go to the bottom of the page and click Save. After the right frame reloads, go back to Forum Access Settings section, and you will see a new button, Change Password. Click on Change Password, and the forum's password controls will open. Enter the password, then confirm it, in the input boxes, and click Save. Passwords are encrypted, both members and forums, so if you lose either we cannot retrieve it for you. We can issue you a temporary password, so you can log in and set a permanent one. This can be done for your forum as well. If I make my forum Restricted, how do I add, or remove, members? Click on Admin, then Forum Settings, and find Forum Access Settings. Choose Restricted from the list, then go to the bottom of the page and click Save. After the right frame reloads, go back to Forum Access Settings section, and you will see a new button, Change Permissions. Click on Change Permissions, and the forum's restricted access controls will open. Enter the name of the person you want to add in the Search box, then click Search. If they are registered with the main forums system, their name will come up in the search results with a check box next to it, click the check box, then click Add, and they will be added to your forum's membership roster. If you want to remove a member, and deny them access to your forum, simply go back into these controls, check the box next to their name on the membership roster, then click Remove, and their access to your forum will be removed. There is a name on my visitor log who is not a member of my Restricted, or Password Protected, forum. How did they get into my forum? They didn't. The system is designed to let you know when someone tries to access your Restricted, or Password Protected, forum. If your forum is Password Protected, and they tried to access it, they will have seen a log in screen. If your forum is Restricted, and they tried to access it, they will have seen a message telling them they are not a member. Depending on where your forum is hosted, they may have seen a message telling them ways to get in touch with the forum's staff. Their name on the visitor log is nothing more than a heads up for the forum's staff that the visitor tried to enter. It is up to the forum's staff whether or not to actually allow the person access. Can I set permissions for someone, even though they haven't actually visited my forum? Yes. You can add anyone who is registered with the main forum system to your forum's membership roster, and you can also ban, gag, etc. anyone who is registered with the main forum system. This feature comes in especially handy for public forums when dealing with known troublemakers. You can gag or ban them before they ever pollute your boards and your forum. Deny them access before they even have a chance to get into the forum. What are forum Post Options? Your forum's Post Options allows you to control how message board posting is controlled in your forum. Require Post Approval This sets your forum's message board to a moderated status. New members may need to wait for approval before posting, or messages may be held back until approved. Individual folders can also be set to moderated as well. Allow Post Editing: If this is set to yes, users will be able to edit their posts. If it is set to no, users will not be able to edit their posts. Individual folders can also be set to allow or deny editing of posts as well. Post Edit Timeout is the time in hours after posting that a user can edit their post. If set to 0 there is no limit. Post Edit Grace Period allows you to define a period in minutes where users may edit posts without the 'EDITED BY' text appearing on their posts. If set to 0 the 'EDITED BY' text will always appear. Maximum Post Length is the maximum number of characters that will be displayed in a post. If a post is longer than the number of characters defined here it will be cut short, trunscated, and a link added to the bottom to allow users to read the whole post on a separate page. Post Frequency is the minimum time a user must wait before they can post again. This setting also affects the creation of polls. Set to 0 to disable the restriction. What is WikiWiki Integration? Enabling WikiWiki Integration provides WikiWord support in your Forum posts. A WikiWord is made up of two or more concatenated words with uppercase letters (often referred to as CamelCase). If you write a word this way it will automatically be changed into a hyperlink pointing to your chosen WikiWiki. WikiWiki Quick Links enables the use of msg:1.1 and User:Logon style extended WikiLinks which create hyperlinks to the specified message / user profile of the specified user. WikiWiki Location is used to specify the URI of your WikiWiki. When entering the URI use [WikiWord] to indicate where in the URI the WikiWord should appear, i.e.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/[WikiWord] would link your WikiWords to Wikipedia.org. What will enabling the Links section do for my forum and its members? The Links section provides a place for your users to maintain a list of sites they frequently visit that other users may find useful or enjoyable. It also allows forum owners to better organize links by dividing them into categories with the use of folders, and it allows for comments and ratings to be given. In order to moderate the links section a user must be granted Link Moderator status by the forum owner. With many forum systems you are relegated to stuffing all your links into a single folder. This not only causes the loss of a folder for anything else you might have preferred to use it for, but also makes the links almost impossible to organize to make searching through them easier for visitors, members, and staff. Enabling your links section solves both these problems, and more. Where do I set up whether or not to allow polls in my forum? In the Forum Settings, near the bottom, you will see the section which controls Polls. If you don't want to allows polls in your forum, you can disable that feature. If you want to allow Polls, but only in certain folders, then enable poll creation, and set whether or not to allow polls in individual folders when you set up folders. What are stats? Enabling this option allows your forum to include a stats display at the bottom of the message board, similar to the one used by many forum software titles. Once enabled the display of the stats page can be toggled individually by each user. If they don't want to see it they can hide it from view. What is Search Engine Spider-ing? By enabling this feature you allow your forum to be spider-ed by search engines like Google, AltaVista and Yahoo, which helps new visitors to find your forum. If you switch this option off your forum will not be included in these search engines results. How do I set Guest Access? In Forum Settings, at the bottom of the page, you decide whether or not to allow guests into your forum. You also decide whether or not to list them on your forum's visitor long. A guest account allows visitors to look over your forum and read posts without having to sign up for an account. However, they cannot post, and are limited in message board dropdown options. How do I set up my forum's start page? In the Admin area you will see a link on the left, Start Page, click on it and the start page editor will open in the right frame. Here you can set up, edit, or delete your forum's start page. Your start page is a HTML page within the main system. What is the difference between a forum style and a forum theme? A forum style is created using the forum's style center, and is made with basic colors and fonts, and loaded into your forum's styles folder by the system. A forum theme is created with the HOF theme template, desc.txt and top.html files. It uses colors, fonts, graphics, css borders, and more. Themes are more involved than styles, and you can do more with them overall. They are also uploaded into you forum's styles folder by you, using ftp. How do I create a Forum Style? Click on Admin in the forum's navigation bar. Once your admin controls open, look to the left for Forum Style, and click on it. The style center will open in the right frame. You will see a number of options as to what type of style you can create, including an input box for you to choose a base color for the style. You can preview your style at any time by clicking on the Go button. The preview is shown in the bottom portion of the frame. After you have created a style you like, you can save it by naming it, and then clicking on Save. How do I create a HOF Forum Theme? First create and name a theme folder in My Documents. Make the name all lowercase with no spaces, something like 'my_theme' would be recognized by the system, but 'my theme' wouldn't. Open a text editor, like word pad, and put the name you want on the theme dropdowns in it, My Theme, or whatever. You can name it what you want, and it can have empty spaces. Try to make the name descriptive, but also try to keep it short, then save the file to the theme folder you made as desc.txt . Go to The Graphics Box. You can find it by clicking on My Forums and looking in the list of forums. In The Graphics Box you can get a copy of the HOF Theme Template, and the top.html file, you need to create your own theme. Save a copy of the theme template as style.css to your theme folder, and save a copy of the top.html file to you theme folder as well. Now, open the theme template in a text editor, like word pad. Each section in the template is labeled as to what it controls, so make the changes you want to make to create your theme, then save the file to your theme folder as style.css . Next, open top.html in a text editor, like word pad. You are allowed to replace the HOF banner with your own, no larger than 400px wide by 60px high, and anything else you like, except the Paypal donate button in the far upper right corner. **Tip:: It is usually best to leave everything above the closing head tag as you find it. Once everything is as you want it, save it to your theme folder. Now log into your ftp forum folder account, and open your styles folder. Upload your theme folder to your forum's styles folder, and you're done. Congratulations! You have just created and installed your forum theme. If you want test your theme before showing it to others, go into My Controls and reset your personal viewing preferences to your theme, be sure to uncheck Set for all forums, then click Save. Your theme will load and you will be able to look it over and decide if you want to make any changes to it. I'm no good with CSS and HTML. Can I get a custom/exclusive theme made for my forum, or get help with my theme? Yes you can, just stop at The Graphics Box, and either put in a request for help with a theme you are working on, or a request for one of the people there to design a theme for you. Custom, otherwise known as exclusive, themes belong to the forum for which they are made, and do not appear on the public theme roster. Other forums do not have access to them. If you try to set a custom/exclusive theme for all forums in your controls, when you leave the forum the theme belongs to, the system will automatically shift your view to the system default theme, Beehive. You can also request other graphics, and find helpful information and tips at TGB. How do I get access to my forum's folder and Hangin Out Forums homes folder? PM the cybatron tag to let us know you'd like this service activated. We'll set up your access, then PM you your information. Your addresses will be www.homes.hanginoutforums.com/forumname/ and www.hanginoutforums.com/homes/forumname/. Also, you'll find a index.html file and images folder in your forum's home folder. If you don't already have one, you'll need to get an ftp client. You can get a free one at CoffeeCup Software. This is the same ftp client we use to set up your access. You forum has 1 megabyte of space in the homes area. All materials must abide by the Hangin Out Forums Terms Of Service. How do I use the word filter? Type the word you want to filter in the Matched Text box. Type what you want to replace the word with in the Replacement Text box. Then choose how you would like to have the word filtered by clicking the appropriate radio button. All matches against the whole text so filtering mom to mum will also change moment to mument. Whole Word matches against whole words only so filtering mom to mum will NOT change moment to mument. PREG allows you to use Perl Regular Expressions to match text. If you make a mistake, or decide to remove a word later, you can by going back into the word filter controls and using the Delete button, located to the far right of each word. Click on it, and the word will be removed from the forum's word filter. What are Posting Stats? Posting Stats help you keep track of how many posts have been made to your forum, who your most active members are, and what percentage of posts for which a user is responsible. There is also a search feature so you can look at Posting Stats for particular time periods, such as last week, month, year, and so forth. What is the Forum Links section in the Admin area used for? Use these controls to add links to the forum's links drop-down list, displayed just to the right of the tabs in the forum's navigation bar. You can also set in which order your links show, (from top to bottom), first, second, third, etc., and delete links you no longer wish to display. If no links are set, the drop-down list will not be displayed. What kind of links can I add to the forum's links dropdown list? You can link to other forums, websites, webpages, etc., just about anywhere. However, Hangin Out Forums, does not allow popups, popunders, wiggling, jiggly, adds for porn sites, child pornography sites, sites promoting illegal drugs or activities, terrorism or hate sites, or cruelty to animals. If you're not sure about a link to a particular site, check with HOF staff. How do I set up links for the forum's links dropdown? Go into Admin, find Forum Links on the left and click on it. Your link drop down controls will open on the right. Put the name and address of the link in the input boxes, and click Save. You've just added a link. If you want to change a link, you'll need to Delete it, then add it again with the new information. You can move your links up or down the dropdown list by using the arrows, located to the left of the input boxes. What is View Log in the Admin areas? The view log shows all actions taken by the forum staff, such as the owner, managers, moderators, etc., in the running of the forum. It shows things like folder name changes, start page editing, etc., and who did them. Forum owners, and staff with access to their forum's Admin areas, can also periodically clear the log. Can I run advertisements in my forum? Yes. You can run advertisements. If you're using an exclusive theme, one made for your forum and not available in the public roster, you can run adds in the theme header and on your forum's start page. If you're using a theme from the public roster, available to all forums, you'll only have your start page available. Things to know and remember... Remember to consider the space you have available in the header, banner adds should be no more than 400px wide by 60px tall. On your start page, you can have a banner up to 400px wide and height is pretty much a matter of taste. All banners, rotater scripts, etc., must be stored at your own website. We do not allow popups, popunders, wiggling, jiggly, adds for porn sites, child pornography sites, sites promoting illegal drugs or activities, terrorism or hate sites, or cruelty to animals. If you're not sure about a particular site, check with Hangin Out Forums staff. Please be selective about the sites or businesses you advertise for in your forum. If you can, we have no problem with you making some money with your forum, so long as you follow the Hangin Out Forums Terms Of Service, and do not break the laws of the United States of America, or the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. How do I move and/or edit threads in my forum? Look below the thread you want to alter, or delete, and you'll see Edit Thread Options. Click it, and the thread control area will open. Available options will vary, staff will have more control options than non-staff members. User options where you can mark the entire thread as read, and set your preferences for it; Ignore, Normal, Interested, Suscribe. (Non-staff & Staff) Rename / Move where you can rename the thread, or move it to another folder with the use of a drop down list. All public folders on the board are listed. Restricted or private folders will only show if you have access to them. (Staff) Make Thread Sticky allows you to set threads as sticky, and for how long. Sticky threads are useful for keeping things like forum Rules near the top of the list. They don't get pushed from sight, eliminating a need for bump posts. (Staff) Locked / Closed allows you to set the discussions status as Locked or Closed. This is another way forum owners can control what access members have to various threads.(Staff) Delete Thread / Posts is where you can delete posts made by a particular poster in a thread with the use of drop down list, or delete the entire thread by clicking the appropriate boxes. You must click the provided confirm box for any deletions. (Staff) Choose the action you wish to take, fill in any needed information, then scroll down and click Submit. How do I get my own X7chat system for my forum? Easy. Go to the Hosts & Member forum, and you'll find a folder; Forums, Chat, Webspace Requests. Post your request in that section, and a staff member will get your chat system set up and you installed as its owner within 24hrs. You MUST be the owner of a forum on the Hangin Out Forums system to request a chat system. If you are not, you cannot request one of our hosted X7chat systems be set up for your forum. Each forum is permitted one X7chat system. At this time, we do not host any other chat systems. I'd like a nice stats program to help me track my forum's activity. Do you know of one I could use? It just so happens, yes we do! You can get a free, invisible stats counter at StatCounter.com. It's the same service we use to track activity on Hangin Out Forums. All you need to do is install the code, say on your start page, via your ftp access. Don't use the forum's start page editing system for installing your stat counter code. It'll get filtered and won't work. If you choose their invisible counter, you'll be able to track entries into your forum without having a banner or logo on your start page. We believe you'll find the information their stats system gives you invaluable in helping your forum grow and prosper.