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BikerHound.com

Members & Guests => The Biker Lounge => Topic started by: Shades on March 23, 2023, 12:33:25 PM

Title: Help - How to use this forum?
Post by: Shades on March 23, 2023, 12:33:25 PM
Welcome to The Biker Hound, powered by Simple Machines® Forum (SMF) software!

SMF® is the elegant, effective, powerful and free forum software solution that this site is running. It allows users to communicate in discussion topics on a given subject in a clever and organized manner. Furthermore, it has a number of powerful features which end users can take advantage of. Help for many of SMF's features can be found by either clicking the question mark icon next to the relevant section or by selecting one of the links on this page. These links will take you to our centrally-located documentation on this site.


For more information about how to use SMF, please see the Simple Machines Documentation Wiki (https://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf) and check out the credits (https://shadesweb.com/index.php?action=credits) to find out who has made SMF what it is today.
Title: Registering
Post by: Shades on March 23, 2023, 12:37:49 PM
When a user sets up an SMF forum, or wishes to join another SMF forum, they should register an account. This will enable them to maintain a consistent identity while posting and keep track of what they have read, no matter where they are working from or what computer they are using. They will be able to fill out a personal Profile and use the built-in Personal Message system. They will also be able to subscribe to e-mail notifications, monitor their forum activity and more.

When and How to Register
Certain forums may choose to restrict access to the full forum or selected areas, allowing only registered members to view the content. A guest should register when they wish to participate in forum discussions, visit a forum frequently, and access members-only areas and benefits.

A guest is any person or web spider that is not logged into the forum. Once a person registers they become a member, although they will still show up as a guest until they log in.

Members may have access to profile and notification options that are unavailable to guests, although these options may vary, depending on the permissions which have been set by the forum administrator. Members can also be placed in membergroups, made moderators or administrators, given special permissions and access to members-only areas. Being able to send personal messages, receive forum emails, and post new polls and topics are some additional benefits that may be available to members of the forum.

A guest may register at any time by simply selecting the register option from the main menu.

Most forums require a guest to accept a registration agreement before the registration process can begin. By checking the option I Agree, a guest consents to comply with the agreement throughout the duration of their membership. Some forums may also incorporate a minimum age into the agreement process.

Registration_form.jpg
Upon arrival at the registration screen, a guest is requested to enter a username and a valid email address. Failure to use a valid email address may hinder registration, depending on how a forum is configured.

The option to choose an authentication method is only shown if OpenID is allowed by the administrator as a registration option. If OpenID is not allowed, then a password must be entered.

A form of visual verification may be present in order to confirm that a guest is actually a person and not a bot. This verification may be requested in two ways - CAPTCHA and custom questions. The CAPTCHA method displays an image containing a random collection of letters, which a guest must enter into a text field. The custom questions method displays one or more relatively simple questions, which a guest must answer correctly. A forum may be configured to use both methods at the same time.

Once a guest completes the registration form, there are three possibilities for what is displayed next based on how the forum is configured.


Activating a New Account
If a forum is configured to require email activation before login, an email will be sent to the email address provided at registration. The username and activation link are displayed in this e-mail. Selecting the activation link activates the member's account and prompts them to login. If a problem occurs with the activation link, the email also provides an activation code that can be used to complete the process. Note that a link to reset the password may be included in this e-mail, depending on the activation method enabled on the forum.

If a member attempts to login before completing the activation process, an error will be displayed noting that their email address must be validated. A Need another activation email? link is also displayed in case the email has somehow been lost.
Title: Logging In
Post by: Shades on March 23, 2023, 12:44:49 PM
You must login after registration and after being logged out of a previous visit. You have the choice of the normal login screen, and the quick login options.

The Login Screen
Login_form.jpg
This is the screen you see when you use the "Login" option of the main menu. It is also the first thing you will see in any 'members only' forum.


When using a shared computer, a member probably should not stay logged in for a long time or check the "Always stay logged in" option, unless they remember to log out when finished. Leaving an account logged in on a shared computer makes it vulnerable to use by someone other than the member.

The Quick Login
Quick_login.jpg
An SMF forum may be configured to allow login from any page. This is called Quick Login. In the default theme it is located in the top, left corner of each page. Other themes may place it in different locations. If Quick Login is disabled or cannot be seen, the login screen can still be accessed from the main menu.

The session length drop-down menu corresponds to the "Minutes to stay logged in" option from the main login screen. Similarly, selecting "Forever" in this drop-down menu is the same as checking the "Always stay logged in option" on the main login screen.

Password Reminder
Authentication_reminder.jpg  Authentication_reminder2.jpg
If a password is forgotten or lost, it can be reset by selecting the Forgot your password? option from the login screen. The username or email address for the account is requested to begin the password reset process.

If a member has not set a secret question, an email containing a password reset link is automatically sent to the member's email address. Clicking on the link allows the member to choose a new password. If a secret question has been set, they will be given the option of receiving the email or answering their question. Members may create or change their secret question in Profile > Modify Account > Account Settings

After answering the secret question correctly, a member may choose a new password. The password takes effect and can be used to login immediately.

Logging out
When you have finished browsing the forum, you may decide to logout by selecting the Logout option from the Main Menu.
Title: Profile
Post by: Shades on March 23, 2023, 12:48:00 PM
A member's profile includes many key details about the member and can help them manage their own personal forum preferences. A member may also have the option to write their own signature, upload an avatar, and enter personal contact information. Usually, other members of the forum will be able to view your profile unless the admin disallows this permission.

A member viewing their own profile will find a lot of differences when comparing their profile to that of other members, unless they are an admin or have been granted the required permissions.

An administrator will see members' profiles in the same way as the member would see their own profile, with even more settings than those which the member would see themselves. This allows the admin to control all of the settings of any member.

The profile is broken down into three categories of settings and options which are described below.

Profile Information
he Summary screen (in the section Profile Info) displays basic forum information about a member, as well as any additional information that they may wish to share. An SMF forum may be customized extensively by its administrator(s), so the information displayed may vary greatly between forums.

A member may view their own profile summary at any time simply by selecting Profile from the main menu. A member may view another member's profile summary by selecting the member's name wherever it is displayed on the forum. The following is commonly displayed.

Profile_summary.jpg
Note that when using the side menu certain items such as Show Stats and Show Posts will appear in this side menu rather than in the profile summary.

Show Posts

All of the posts of a particular member, excluding those that have been removed, may be viewed by selecting Show Posts from the member's profile info summary. There are three formats that can be used:


Show Stats

The profile stats screen may be viewed by selecting Show Stats from a member's profile info summary. Some interesting information may be found here:


Show Permissions

This page is shown only to members who are in membergroups that are allowed to manage permissions. The page shows all of the permissions the member has, along with the boards that the member cannot see. By means of the drop-down list, it is possible to see which permissions a member has for a specific board.

Track User

These pages are only available to those in membergroups granted the permission to Moderate forum members.

Title: Re: Profile
Post by: Shades on March 23, 2023, 12:49:11 PM
Modify Profile
Account Settings

Members may modify basic account settings by default. These settings control the member's access to their account, as well as when and how they are visible to other members browsing the forum. The following options are available to be modified:


Forum Profile

In addition to basic account settings members also have the option of filling in additional, more personal information. None of these fields are required, and users often choose to leave some or all of them blank:


Look and Layout

By default, members may change many different options that affect the look and layout to make their forum experience more enjoyable. Some forum administrators may choose to limit these options, but here are the basics.

SMF provides the ability to create and use different themes. Provided there is more than one theme installed, a member may choose the theme that they prefer. They may also customize the time format that the theme uses to display dates and times. Additionally, setting a time offset allows the forum to display dates and times in the member's local time. The forum provides a handy auto-detect feature in case a member does not know what their offset should be.

The following options may be enabled or disabled by selecting their corresponding checkboxes:

Members may also choose how many topics to display per page on a board's message index and how many posts to display per page within a topic. There are also options for using quick reply and quick moderation. Quick reply allows members to post to a topic without actually using the posting page. Quick moderation allows members to perform moderation actions on multiple posts or topics more quickly if they have the permissions to do so.
Title: Re: Profile
Post by: Shades on March 23, 2023, 12:51:05 PM
Authentication

The forum allows a member to switch between using OpenID (if it has been enabled by the administrator) or a username and password combination to login. In order to switch, however, the account's current password is required.

Notifications

SMF provides notification options that may prove useful to many members. In addition to the options available below, a member may choose to be notified instantly, daily, or weekly about replies, moderation actions, or both in topics for which they have requested notifications.

On this page it is also possible to define the frequency of notifications and the actions that will be notified. A member may also see lists of the topics and boards for which they have requested notification. If desired, they may turn off notifications for some or all of them.

Ignore Boards Options

If enabled by an administrator, users can choose to ignore any boards on the forum. When a board is ignored, it is still shown on the Board Index, but the New Posts icon will not show up for this board. In addition, new posts will not be shown for an ignored board when using the link Show unread posts since last visit. Neither will they be shown when using the link Unread posts next to the category names in the Board Index. However, when using the link Show new replies to your posts, new posts in an ignored board will still be shown. Also, when entering an ignored board via the Board Index, topics that have new posts will still be indicated with an icon.

Personal Messaging

Personal messages allow private communication between two members. SMF provides a variety of options that allow a member to control how private messages are displayed, who is allowed to send them, and how a few more of the features function.

The first two options address how private messages are displayed. If a member chooses All at once, a list of messages is displayed at the top with all of those messages displayed below the list. Selecting One at a time results in only one message being displayed at the top with a list of messages below it. As a conversation mimics the forum functionality, creating a topic-like list of replies. It is highly recommended that a member save their messages in their outbox if they choose to display messages as a conversation. The second option controls the order in which the messages are displayed.

The last two available options are the following:

Buddies/Ignore List

Inevitably, there will be times when members get along great and times when personalities clash. SMF provides a way to handle both instances. The buddy list allows members to keep track of users they enjoy talking to, while the ignore list hides users they do not want to see.


Group Membership

Profile_groupmembership.jpg
Some forums may provide free groups that can be joined whenever a member pleases, as well as special groups that require the member to submit a join request.
Title: Re: Profile
Post by: Shades on March 23, 2023, 12:54:54 PM
Actions
Send personal message

Click this link to send a Personal message to the member whose profile you are viewing. Permission to send personal messages is needed in order to see this link.

Issue a Warning

On this page a moderator can issue a Warning to other users based on their behavior or other reasons determined by the forum staff

Paid Subscriptions

Profile_subscription1.jpg
Some forum administrators may choose to utilize SMF's paid subscriptions feature. This feature makes it easier for members to order, pay for, and keep track of their paid services. They may subscribe to one of these services by simply selecting the Order button corresponding to the subscription they desire.

The forum also lists a member's existing subscriptions if they have any.

Ban This User

Profile_subscription2.jpg
On this page administrators can ban the member whose profile they are viewing from the forum. Only members that have the permission Manage ban list can see this link and perform the action. As with deleting an account, use this option with care. Note, this link directs you to the Add new ban section of the admin panel with some details already filled out about the member that you wish to ban.

Delete This Account

Profile_delete.jpg
Should a member decide that they no longer want to be part of a forum, they may delete their account. The member's current password is required to carry out this task. Administrators can also restrict members' ability to delete their accounts, as well as delete members' accounts themselves. If an administrator wishes to delete a member's account there is also the option to delete a member's posts and topics by selecting the appropriate option from the drop down menu.
Title: Search
Post by: Shades on March 23, 2023, 12:55:50 PM
The SMF default theme and its derivatives have a simple search field in the collapsible header as well as a search link in the main menu. Using the link in the main menu, users can also access the advanced search screen. Administrators can choose to disable search or regulate the search permissions for users.

Simple Search
The simple search field located at the top of the default SMF theme will, when viewing topics, filter search results to just that topic. The same applies to boards as well - when viewing a board the simple search field will filter the search to just results in that particular board.

While you can just type and search for any combination of characters, you should consider using modifiers to make the search really work for you.

The search tool searches the entire forum for any or all of what you specify that has been posted during the last 9999 days (which is more than 27 years)! To take more control of your search, you should use the advanced search feature.

Advanced Search
Although the advanced search screen might initially seem a little intimidating if a forum has many boards and child boards, it is surprisingly straightforward when reduced to its basic components.


Modifiers
Using the simple or advanced search methods, you can still use search modifiers. These are powerful special characters which modify the way in which SMF handles your search string.

More search modifiers may be found at Google's help page. Not all of them may be useful in SMF at the present time.
Title: Posting
Post by: Shades on March 23, 2023, 12:57:46 PM
When a user registers and logs into a forum, they may want to make some posts. Posting is a fairly easy process. Note, however, that whether a user can post in a board or topic depends on each board's permissions, and a user's membergroup.

Starting a New Topic
Go to the board where you wish to post and click on the New Topic button (positioned by default at both the top and the bottom of the board), which will take you to the Start New Topic screen. While this presents a number of options, the two most important are the Subject field and main text area for the message itself. Enter your subject and start typing (or paste) your message in the main text area. Once you are happy with your message, you can post it by clicking the Post button and/or preview it first by using the Preview button. Some forums may be configured to offer an additional Spell Check button alongside the Post and Preview options.

Replying to a Topic or Poll
To post a message in an existing topic, click on the Reply button which is located both at the top and bottom of the topic. When replying to a topic it is not necessary to enter anything in the subject field unless you wish to change what is already there. To vote in a poll, you simply have to select your chosen option(s) and then click on Submit Vote. You may also be able to do other things with the post, such as attaching a file.

If 'Quick Reply' has been enabled, a simple Reply field will also appear after the posts on a page, but you will have to type your Bulletin Board Code and Smileys manually if you choose to use them.

Standard Posting Options

Additional Options
The following options may either appear by default, or they may be contained within an expanding/collapsing panel:


The following options are only available to administrators and members with special permissions:


Starting a New Poll
A poll is basically a topic with an added question and voting options, started by selecting New Poll instead of New Topic as described above. To post a poll, it is necessary to fill out the Question field and at least two of the Options fields, in addition to the Subject and Message fields required by a standard topic. The user then fills in additional options to suit their own needs. Please note that only the message can be seen when previewing the poll.

To offer more than five choices in a poll, users should simply select Add Option as many times as desired.

Depending on set permissions for certain membergroups, some users may be able to add a poll to an existing topic.

Poll Options

When adding or modifying polls, users have a lot of options available to suit their needs


All board moderators can modify polls and do the above actions, as well as view the results of the poll at any time while the poll is running. Moderators can also remove polls and lock voting.

Quoting a Post
There are two ways of replying to a post by quoting it. The first option is to click on the Quote button on the top right-hand side of the relevant post. The second option is to select the Reply button which will take you to the Post reply screen. On this page you can quote a post from the Topic Summary located below the message editor. Simply click on Insert Quote next to the relevant post.


Modifying or Deleting a Post
To modify a post, select the Modify link or the Modify_inline.gif icon and make your changes. Most forums are likely to be configured to show the date and time of the last edit, but the administrator(s) may also allow a short period of time to elapse before this happens.

To delete a post, select the Remove button followed by OK from the Remove this message? box that will appear. Some forums may also allow you to remove topics or polls that you start, but the buttons for these are usually at the bottom of the page. It is not possible for a user to remove their first post in a new thread if replies have been posted.

It is up to your forum's administrator to set the permissions that determine who will be allowed to Modify and Delete posts, and for how long after making the original post.
Title: Bulletin board code
Post by: Shades on March 23, 2023, 12:59:08 PM
Bulletin Board Codes or BBCodes are a way to format posts in SMF and in many other places online. For an explanation of the buttons on the Post page, see Basic Bulletin Board Codes. This article explains the important concept of nesting.

Nesting BBCodes
The general format of a BBCode tag has three parts: an opening tag, the inside content and a closing tag, as shown below:

Code Select
[open]      text inside      [/close]
[b]         bold text        [/b]
When Order Matters, Part 1

You can place one BBCode tag inside another as long as the child tag is closed before the parent tag. For example, the correct way to make bold and italic text is:
Code Select
[b][i]bold & italic text[/i][/b]
You can also do it in the following way, which is also valid, with the same tags in reverse order:
Code Select
[i][b]bold & italic text[/b][/i]
The correct method can be visualized more clearly when the tags are indented:
Code Select
[b]
    [i]
        bold & italic text
    [/i]
[/b]
The next example is incorrectly nested. The last two lines show that the parent tag [ b ] was closed before the child tag [ i ].
Code Select
[b][i]bold & italic text[/b][/i]
[b]
    [i]
        bold & italic text
[/b]
    [/i]
When Order Matters, Part 2

The order in which tags are nested is important when text-formatting tags such as size, bold, or italic are paired with the text-alignment tags center, left, right, and pre. Formatting tags must be placed inside alignment tags. For example, for the size tag to change the font, it must be placed as follows:
Code Select
[center][size=36pt][b][u]text[/u][/b][/size][/center]
Nesting the size tags as per the example below will result in this tag not working:
Code Select
[size=36pt][center][b][u]text[/u][/b][/center][/size]
Title: Personal messages
Post by: Shades on March 23, 2023, 01:04:26 PM
SMF has a powerful system of managing personal messages. Personal messages (or PMs for short) are like posts, but instead of being posted in a topic they are sent to one or more members. Typically, personal messages are private correspondence and they are viewable only by the sender and intended recipients - administrators cannot view these personal messages except through the database.

Personal messages cannot be sent by guests or to guests. However, if the sender is deleted sometime after they send the message, they will appear as a guest.

By default, 4,294,967,296 personal messages may be sent on a forum. Since this is a much larger number than the members you can have, it's unlikely you will ever reach it. The number of messages which can be stored by a forum member may be restricted by the administrator, who can change this setting by modifying individual membergroups.

My Messages
Upon clicking the My Messages link on the Main menu you will be lead to a page that lists all of the personal messages sent to you. This is your inbox as you can see from the navigation at the top, the default page loaded for personal messages.

At the top of the page you will see something that looks similar to what you would see on the message index of a board. You will see a listing of your personal messages. The first column where you see a speech bubble lets you know if you have replied to the PM. An arrow on the image means that you have replied to the PM; no arrow means that you have not. The second column is for the date the personal message was sent. Next to that is the subject of the message. To the right of that is the display name of the member that sent it. The final column has check boxes where you can select the ones you want to delete and then push the Delete Selected button located under the list of messages. You can sort personal messages by date, subject, or sender.

Upon clicking on a personal message, the page scrolls down to the actual written message. This will look just like a typical post in a topic. Next to each message you will see links on the top right to: quote the message in a reply by clicking Quote, reply to the message by clicking Reply, and delete the message by clicking Remove. Also, you can report abusive personal messages to the administrator by clicking the Report to Admin link at the bottom right of the message, providing that this function has been enabled by the administrator. The checkboxes located farthest to the top right are also used to delete messages upon clicking the Delete Selected button below the messages.

To view sent messages, select "Sent Items" under "Messages" in the button menu or left side panel. A message is saved to "Sent Items" only if the option Save a copy in my outbox is selected when sending a message. This option can be set as default in the Personal Message Options section of the Profile.

Options

See the Personal Message Options section of the Profile. (https://shadesweb.com/index.php?msg=172)

Privacy

Within the default interface of the SMF software there is no way an administrator or anyone else can read your personal messages. Only you and the person you sent it to are able to read what you wrote. However, if a person has access to the database itself, then it is possible for such a person to read personal messages by searching for them in the database with an SQL command. For this reason, it is advised to not send personal messages that contain private information that you do not wish for anyone else to read.

Sending a Personal Message


You can also reply to messages using the same method.

Label System

To keep better control and organization of your personal messages, SMF introduced a method for you to apply labels to your messages. When you apply a label you will then be able to view just the personal messages with that label. All of your labels will be listed under the category "Labels". To create, edit and delete labels select "Preferences" in the Personal Messages section and in the drop down menu select "Manage Labels".

Personal Messages Categories
There are three categories on the Personal Messages page, each of which incorporates a number of different functions.

Messages


Actions


Preferences

Title: Memberlist
Post by: Shades on March 23, 2023, 01:05:54 PM
View All Members
Provided that you have the appropriate permissions, you will be able to see the Members entry on the Main Menu or in the Info Center. Clicking one of these links will bring you to the View all Members page, the default page for the Members List section. There is also a Search for Members page in this section, where you can search for members registered on the forum.

On the View All Members page, you will see the list of all the members registered on the forum. Pages are used so that there are not too many members listed on one single page. When there is more than one page, the additional pages can be selected from here. On the right side of the "Members List" title bar, every letter of the English alphabet is displayed. These letters are used to jump to the usernames of registered members that begin with that letter, so that you do not have to scroll through several pages to find them. This does not filter out all of the usernames beginning with different letters, but rather serves as an anchor, so you will be directed to usernames that start with the selected letter.

All usernames in the memberlist can be ordered by: Status (Online/Offline), Username, Email, Website, ICQ, AIM, YIM, MSN, Position, Date Registered, and Posts. These column headings are links that can be used to sort the list in ascending or descending order, or to reverse the sort order of the column under the heading that is currently used to sort the list.

Search for Members
This section allows you to do either a simple search for members, or to choose to filter your results by using additional parameters. You can search for members based on their username, email address, messenger nickname, website, or position.

The search results will show matches for the terms that you enter in the search field. If any of the additional search parameters are selected, then the results will also be filtered accordingly. The search does not look only for full-word exact matches, but also for any parts of text that match the search terms. For this reason, if the search term represents only part of the word that you are looking for, then the results may show many more matches than expected.

Some of the additional search parameters relate to information that users can either choose not to include in their profile (messenger nickname, website) or they can choose not to reveal it to the public (email), so using these parameters might not always bring up the results that you are looking for. The results of the search will be more accurate the more letters/words that are used in the search.
Title: Calendar
Post by: Shades on March 23, 2023, 01:06:51 PM
The calendar feature, if enabled by the administrator, is found in the Main menu of the forum. It can be used to record and display holidays, birthdays, and events. Birthdays entered in members' profiles are displayed on the calendar. Some or all members may have permission to post calendar events. Administrators can configure the calendar via the calendar settings section of the Administration Center.

The calendar also displays mini-calendars on the left of the current calendar. These mini-calendars show an overview of the previous, current and following month.

Posting an event to the calendar
If the calendar feature is enabled and users are given the required permission, events can be posted to the calendar by clicking on Post Event below the main calendar view.

Post Event is an option in the drop-down menu when selecting Calendar in the main menu. If enabled by an administrator, it is also possible to simply click on a day in the calendar in order to post a new event on that day.

Users with the appropriate permissions may see Link to Calendar at the bottom of each topic. This button enables users to create a new calendar event that is linked to the currently viewed topic.
Title: Features
Post by: Shades on March 23, 2023, 01:08:36 PM
SMF 2.1.x is a very versatile forum software. It has many features, including the following:

Minimum requirements


General

Click here to go back to the top of the Help Section! (https://bikerhound.com/?msg=622)
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