Table of Contents

Posting and Editing

• How do I put a smilie in my message?
• How do I format text in my message?
• How do I put a picture in my message?
• How do I edit my message?
• How do I delete my message?
• How do I add a signature to my posts and what are the rules regarding signatures?
• Why have some words in my post been replaced?

Using The Forums

• Can I easily identify new posts since I last visited?
• Is there a way I can view just the threads with new posts since I last visited?
• How can I easily locate the latest threads that I've posted in?
• Can I save links to threads that interest me?
• Can I be alerted by email when a new post is added to a thread?

Member Profile

• How do I change my username?
• How do I change my password?
• How do I change my email address?
• How do I update my signature?

Private Messages

• How do I know when I have new private messages?
• Can I choose not to receive private messages?
• Can I be alerted by email when I receive a private message?
• Can I prevent individual members from sending me private messages?
• Can I tell when a member has read a private message I sent to them?
• How long do private messages remain in my inbox/outbox?
• Is there a limit on the size of my inbox/outbox?

Inappropriate Posts

• How do I notify the Admin and Moderators about an inappropriate post that is against the rules, offensive, etc?
• Is there a swear filter on these forums?

Smilies are keyboard characters used to convey an emotion, such as a smile or a frown . Often the addition of a smilie can help to avoid misunderstandings as it indicates the emotion behind a comment (eg using a Wink smilie to indicate a joke not to be taken seriously).

When posting a New Topic or using the Reply To Topic link the smilies available are displayed to the left of the message box and clicking on the desired smilie will insert it into the message. However when using the Quick Reply function at the bottom of a thread the smilies are not displayed and it is necessary to type in the relevant code below within square brackets [] for the smilie required, eg to insert the Angry smilie type [:(!] into your message.

Angry  [:(!]	Approve  [^]	Big Smile  [:D]
Black Eye  [B)]	Blush  [:I]	Clown  [:o)]
Cool  [8D]	Dead  [xx(]	Disapprove  [V]
Eight Ball  [8]	Evil  [}:)]	Kisses  [:X]
Question  [?]	Sad  [:(]	Shock  [:O]
Shy  [8)]	Sleepy  [|)]	Smile  [:)]
Tongue  [:P]	Wink  [;)]

There are several Forum Codes you may use to change the appearance of your text. Please bear other members in mind when formatting text within your posts and avoid overly large or overly small sizes, etc. Following is the list of codes currently available:

Bold: Enclose your text with [b] and [/b] .  Example: This is [b]bold[/b] text. = This is bold text.

Italic: Enclose your text with [i] and [/i] .  Example: This is [i]italic[/i] text. = This is italic text.

Underline: Enclose your text with [u] and [/u]. Example: This is [u]underline[/u] text. = This is underline text.

Aligning Text Left: Enclose your text with [left] and [/left]

Aligning Text Center: Enclose your text with [center] and [/center]

Aligning Text Right: Enclose your text with [right] and [/right]

Striking Text: Enclose your text with [s] and [/s]
Example: [s]mistake[/s] = mistake

Font Colors:
Enclose your text with [fontcolor] and [/fontcolor]
Example: [red]Text[/red] = Text
Example: [blue]Text[/blue] = Text
Example: [pink]Text[/pink] = Text
Example: [brown]Text[/brown] = Text
Example: [black]Text[/black] = Text
Example: [orange]Text[/orange] = Text
Example: [violet]Text[/violet] = Text
Example: [yellow]Text[/yellow] = Text
Example: [green]Text[/green] = Text
Example: [gold]Text[/gold] = Text
Example: [white]Text[/white] = Text
Example: [purple]Text[/purple] = Text

Horizontal Rule: Place a horizontal line in your post with [hr]
Example: [hr] =

---

Headings:
Enclose your text with [hnumber] and [/hn]
Example: [h1]Text[/h1] =

Text

Example: [h2]Text[/h2] =

Text

Example: [h3]Text[/h3] =

Text

Example: [h4]Text[/h4] =

Text

Example: [h5]Text[/h5] =

Text

Example: [h6]Text[/h6] =

Text

Font Sizes:
Example: [size=1]Text[/size=1] = Text
Example: [size=2]Text[/size=2] = Text
Example: [size=3]Text[/size=3] = Text
Example: [size=4]Text[/size=4] = Text
Example: [size=5]Text[/size=5] = Text
Example: [size=6]Text[/size=6] = Text

Bulleted List: [list] and [/list], and items in list with [*] and [/*].

Ordered Alpha List: [list=a] and [/list=a], and items in list with [*] and [/*].

Ordered Number List: [list=1] and [/list=1], and items in list with [*] and [/*].

Code: Enclose your text with [code] and [/code].

Quote: Enclose your text with [quote] and [/quote].

To avoid members having to scroll horizontally to view a picture in a post it should be sized no wider than 600 pixels. The picture then needs to be loaded into an Internet server.

Within your message enclose the web address of the image within [img] and [/img].

Example: [img]http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horsesmain.gif[/img] =

Note: To ascertain the web address of any image on a web page right click on the image and then click on Properties in the menu that appears. The web address of the image is given alongside "Address (URL)".

Note: When posting multiple images in a message put each image on a new line to avoid images being placed side by side and viewers having to scroll horizontally to view them.

You may edit your own posts at any time. Just go to the post to be edited and click on the edit icon on the line that begins "posted on..." No one else can edit your message, except for the forum Moderators or Admin.

You may delete your own posts at any time. Just go to post to be deleted and click on the delete icon on the line that begins "posted on..." No one else can delete your post, except for the forum Moderators or the forum Admin.

Note: If your post is the start of a thread and others have posted replies removal can only be carried out by the forum Moderators or Admin as the replies from other members would also be deleted during the removal process. If you require a thread to be removed that you have initiated then you need to contact a Forum Moderator or Admin to request its removal.

You may set up a signature to be added automatically to the end of each of your posts and this can be added or updated at any time by clicking on "Profile" at the top of any forum page and entering your Username and Password and then adding or editing your signature within the box alongside "Signature:".

Images can added to signatures in the same way as posting within a message by enclosing the web address of the image within [img] and [/img] (see here).

Please note the following rules regarding signatures:

1. Advertising is not permitted within a signature (or within forum posts, etc)
2. Web addresses are not permitted within a signature (or within forum posts, etc)
3. Images included within signatures should be no larger than 30,000 pixels total in area (dimension) in total and should be no larger than 30Kb (30,000 bytes) in file size in total.
   (Image dimensions and file size can be checked by right clicking on an image and clicking on properties from the menu that apppears.) Acceptable examples are are shown below:

   Example 1: One image 200 x 150 pixels (ie 30,000 pixels total)

   Example 2: One image 300 x 100 pixels (ie 30,000 pixels total)

   Example 3: Two images 150 x 100 pixels (ie 15,000 pixels each - therefore totalling 30,000 pixels)

There is a filter which replaces prohibited words with other words. These prohibited words include text speak, abbreviations and swear words. In the case of text speak and abbreviations the words are replaced with an appropriate replacement in order to help everyone understand the post, swear words etc are replaced with words of a totally different meaning. As children are present on these forums swearing is not tolerated and attempts to bypass the filter to include swear words may result in the post being removed.

Posts which are unchanged since your last visit are indicated by a yellow folder icon . Threads which have had new posts added since your last visit are indicated with a pink folder icon .

Clicking on the "Active Topics" link at the top under the main site navigation bar will produce a filtered list showing only threads with new posts added since your last visit.

Viewing your own profile (by clicking on your username after "You are logged on as" near the logout button on the top right) will display your profile. Your profile includes a list of links to the latest threads that you have posted in.

Threads can be "bookmarked" by clicking on the " Bookmark This Thread" link at the top or bottom of a thread. This will save a link to that thread. Bookmarked threads can then be easily located at any time by clicking on the "Your Bookmarks" link at the top under the main site navigation bar.

To set an alert to be notified by email when a new post is added to a thread click on the "Subscribe To This Topic" link at the top or bottom of the thread. An email will then be sent to the email address given in your profile when a new post is added to that thread. To cancel the email alert at any time click on the "My Subscriptions" link at the top under the main site navigation bar and then click on the "Unsubscribe" link alongside the topic you no longer wish to receive email alerts for or re-visit the thread and click on the "Unsubscribe From This Topic" link.

If you require your Username to be changed you need to contact Admin to request the change.

You may change your password by clicking on "Profile" at the top of any forum page and entering your Username and Password and then typing a new password in the boxes alongside "New Password:" and "New Password Again:".

You may change your email address in your Profile by clicking on "Profile" at the top of any forum page and entering replacing the email address shown there. An email will then be sent to your new email address with a link that needs to be activated in order to complete the change.

If you have new private messages you will see a icon directly above the main forum table under the heading of "Private Messages". To the right of this icon you will see a link for "Inbox" with an indication of the number of unread private messages you have. Click on the "Inbox" link to view your private messages in your inbox.

To choose not to receive private messages go to your private message Inbox and then click on the button. Then under "Enable/Disable Private Messages" you can choose to disable or enable private messages. If you choose to disable Private Messages other members will not be able to send you private messages, although you can still send messages to other members.

To set an alert to be notified by email when you receive a private message go to your private message Inbox and then click on the button. Then under "Email Notification" you can choose to receive or not receive notification by email when a new private message is sent to you. Note: Email notifications will be sent to the email address in your profile so ensure this is up-to-date.

To prevent an individual member from being able to send you private messages go to your private message Inbox and then click on the icon. Enter the member's username that you do not wish to receive private messages from and click on the "Add To Block List" button.

To see if another member has read the private message sent to them, go your private messages and view your Outbox where you will see messages you have sent listed. Messages with a icon alongside indicate that the message has been read by the recipient, messages with a icon alongside indicate that the message has not yet been read by the recipient. If your message is no longer listed in your Outbox it means that the recipient has deleted your message from their Inbox.

Private messages older than 45 days are deleted during regular forum maintenance so if you wish to retain information in a private message long term the information should be saved elsewhere (eg cut and pasted into a Word document and saved on your computer). In addition messages are deleted from your Outbox when the recipient deletes them from their Inbox.

Private messages held in your Inbox/Outbox are limited to 200 at any time. Once this limit is reached you will no longer be able to send or receive private messages until some messages are deleted from your inbox/outbox to under this limit.

To notify the Admin and Moderators of an inappropriate post click on the Report Post To Moderators link in the left hand column alongside the offending post. You may then add any message in the box shown and then click on the Submit button. This will raise an annoymous complaint for the oderator's to deal with as they deem appropriate.