WineBoard - Help Documents

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FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions About the WineBoard

FAQ, Frequently Asked Questions About the WineBoard

Do I have to register?
Can I select my own password?
How can I use smilies?
Can I add HTML to my messages?
What are moderators?
How can I change my registration profile?
Can I customize the bulletin board in any way?
Are cookies used?
Can I edit my own posts?
Can I attach files?
Can I search?
What is a signature?
What are announcements?
Are there any censor features?
What do I do if I lose my username and/or password?
Can I be notified by email if someone responds to my topic?
Does the Wine Board keep track of which messages I have read like AOL boards do?

Registering

Registration is only required if you plan to post new topics or reply to existing topics. Registration is free, and you are not required to post your real name. You are required to provide your actual email address; however, your email address is not displayed online and is not available through your profile or by any other means. It is used primarily for registration to ensure that you are an actual person (as opposed to a spammer or spambot).

Wines.com may also send you notifications from time to time; however, you may opt out of receiving notices at any time. Your privacy is important to us and is always respected. We do not sell or allow email addresses to be used by any 3rd party.

Passwords

When you first register, a password will be assigned to you and sent to your e-mail address. After receiving this "assigned" password, however, you may go to into your "profile" and change the password to another that may be easier to remember. Also, we recommend allowing a cookie to "remember" your username and password for 1 year. See cookies below.

Smilies

You've probably seen others use smilies before in email messages or other bulletin board posts. Smilies are keyboard characters used to convey an emotion, such as a smile :) or a frown :(. This bulletin board automatically converts certain smilies to a graphical representation. For example, if you type :o in your BB post, it will automatically be converted to - a shameful face. The following smilies are currently supported:

:)	smile
:(	frown
:o	embarrassment
:D	big grin
;)	wink

Can I add HTML to my messages?

Links to external website are prohibited. External links are an open invitation to spammers, who will use posts to create links for their own, often nefarious, purposes. In order to discourage spammers from posting here, we have to limit all outside-directed links, and html code in general. We apologize for the limitations... but it's very helpful to keep spammers away.

Moderators

Moderators control individual forums. They can edit, delete, or prune any posts in their forums. If you have a question about a partuclar forum, you should direct it to your forum moderator.

Changing Your Profile

You may easily change any info stored in your registration profile, using the "profile" link located near the top of each page. Simply identify yourself by typing your username and password and all of your profile information will appear on screen. You may change any items, except your username.

Customizing Using Preferences

As a registered bulletin board user, you may store your username and password in memory for up to one year at a time. This will prvent you from having to type your username and password every time ou post a note. You also have the option of changing the default number of days back to view topics. Just click on the "prefs" link and you can make either of these settings.

Cookies

This bulletin board uses cookies to store the following information: the last time you logged in, your username and password, and your preferred "topic view", if you set it in preferences. These cookies are stored on your browser. No cookies are used to track your movement or perform any other function other than enhance your use of the bulletin board. If your browser does not support cookies, or you have not enabled cookies on your browser, many of these time-saving features will not work properly.

Editing Your Posts

You may edit your own posts at any time. Just go to the thread where the post to be edited is located and yo will see an edit icon on the line that begins "posted on..." Click on this icon and edit the post. No one else can edit your post, except for the forum moderator or the bulletin board administrator. A note is generated at the bottom of each post that is edited so that every one knows when a post has been edited.

Adding Signatures

You may use a signature (commonly used in email meesages) on your posts. This is a new feature, so if you registered previously, you may not have been queried about storing a signature, but if you click on the profile link at the top of most bulletin board pages, you will be able to edit your profile, including your standard signature. Once you have a signature stored, you can choose to include it any post you make by checking the "include signature" box when you create your post. This bulletin board's administrator may elect to turn the signature feature off at any time, however. If that is the case, the "include signature" option will not appear when you post a note, even if you have stored a signature. You may also change your signature at any time by changing your profile.

Searching For Specific Posts

You may search for specific posts based on a word or words found in the posts, user name, date, and particular forum(s). Just click on the "search" link at the top of most pages. Note: announcements are not included in the search returns.

Announcements

Announcements are one-way communications from either a forum moderator or a bulletin board administrator. No one may post replies to these announcements. If you want to talk about specific announcements, you will have to create a new topic in the appropriate forum.

Censoring Posts

The bulletin board administrators have the power to censor certain words that may be posted. This censoring is not an exact science, however, so certain words may be censored out of context. Please realize that the censoring, if any censoring is being performed, is being done by a computer based on the words that are being screened. Words that are censored are replaced with asterisks.

Lost User Name and/or Password

Retrieving your username and password is simple, assuming that email features are turned on for this bulletin board. All of the pages that require you to identify yourself with your username and password carry a "lost password" link that you can use to have your username and password emailed instantly to your email address of record.

Email Notification

If you create a new topic, you have the option of receiving an email notification every time someone posts a reply to your topic. Just check the email notification box on the "New Topic" forum when you create your new topic, if you want to use this feature.

Tracking Features

This bulletin board does not keep track of which individual messages you read. However, if you are using cookies, it will keep track of the time and date of your last visit and will highlight new messages that were posted SINCE your last visit. A full (red) wine glass icon will mark forums with new activity, and folders will indicate which topics have had new messages added to them since your last session.