PBase • Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Login and Registration Issues: Why can’t I login?; Why do I get logged off automatically?; How do I prevent my username appearing in the online user listings?; I’ve lost my password!; I registered in the past but cannot login any more?!; Why can’t I register?

User Preferences and settings: How do I change my settings?; The times are not correct!; I changed the timezone and the time is still wrong!; My language is not in the list!

Posting Issues: How do I post a topic in a forum?; How do I edit or delete a post?; How do I add a signature to my post?; How do I create a poll?; Why can’t I add more poll options?; How do I edit or delete a poll?; Why can’t I access a forum?; Why did I receive a warning?; How can I report posts to a moderator?; What is the “Save” button for in topic posting?; Why does my post need to be approved?

Formatting and Topic Types: What is BBCode?; Can I use HTML?; What are Smilies?; Can I post images?; What are global announcements?; What are announcements?; What are sticky topics?; What are locked topics?

User Levels and Groups: What are Administrators?; What are Moderators?; What are usergroups?

Private Messaging: I cannot send private messages!; I keep getting unwanted private messages!; I have received a spamming or abusive e-mail from someone on this board!

Searching the Forums: How can I search a forum or forums?; Why does my search return no results?; Why does my search return a blank page!?; How can I find my own posts and topics?

Topic Subscriptions and Bookmarks: What is the difference between bookmarking and subscribing?; How do I subscribe to specific forums or topics?; How do I remove my subscriptions?

phpBB 3 Issues: Who wrote this bulletin board?; Why isn’t X feature available?; Who do I contact about abusive and/or legal matters related to this board?

Login and Registration Issues

Why can’t I login?: There are several reasons why this could occur. First, ensure your username and password are correct. If they are, contact the board owner to make sure you haven’t been banned. It is also possible the website owner has a configuration error on their end, and they would need to fix it.; Top

Why do I get logged off automatically?: Sessions will expire after a certain amount of time.; Top

How do I prevent my username appearing in the online user listings?: Within your User Control Panel, under “Board preferences”, you will find the option Hide your online status. Enable this option with Yes and you will only appear to the administrators, moderators and yourself. You will be counted as a hidden user.; Top

I’ve lost my password!: Don’t panic! Visit the login page and click Did you forget your password?. Follow the instructions and you should be able to log in again shortly.; Top

I registered in the past but cannot login any more?!: Attempt to locate the e-mail sent to you when you first registered, check your username and password and try again. It is possible an administrator has deactivated or deleted your account for some reason.; Top

Why can’t I register?: Registering for this forum is handled automatically when you register a PBase account. It is possible the website owner has banned your IP address or disallowed the username you are attempting to register. The website owner could have also disabled registration to prevent new visitors from signing up. Contact a board administrator for assistance.; Top

User Preferences and settings

How do I change my settings?: If you are a registered user, all your settings are stored in the board database. To alter them, visit your settings page; a link can be found at the top of board pages. This system will allow you to change all your settings and preferences.; Top

The times are not correct!: It is possible the time displayed is from a timezone different from the one you are in. If this is the case, visit your settings page and change your timezone to match your particular area, e.g. London, Paris, New York, Sydney, etc. Please note that changing the timezone, like most settings, can only be done by registered users. If you are not registered, this is a good time to do so.; Top

I changed the timezone and the time is still wrong!: If you are sure you have set the timezone and Summer Time/DST correctly and the time is still incorrect, then the time stored on the server clock is incorrect. Please notify an administrator to correct the problem.; Top

My language is not in the list!: Either the administrator has not installed your language or nobody has translated this board into your language. Try asking the board administrator if they can install the language pack you need. If the language pack does not exist, feel free to create a new translation. More information can be found at the phpBB website (see link at the bottom of board pages).; Top

Posting Issues

How do I post a topic in a forum?: To post a new topic in a forum, click the relevant button on either the forum or topic screens. You need to register before you can post a message.; Top

How do I edit or delete a post?: Unless you are a board administrator or moderator, you can only edit or delete your own posts. You can edit a post by clicking the edit button for the relevant post, sometimes for only a limited time after the post was made. If someone has already replied to the post, you will find a small piece of text output below the post when you return to the topic which lists the number of times you edited it along with the date and time. This will only appear if someone has made a reply; it will not appear if a moderator or administrator edited the post, though they may leave a note as to why they’ve edited the post at their own digression. Please note that normal users cannot delete a post once someone has replied.; Top

How do I add a signature to my post?: To add a signature to a post you must first create one via your settings page. Once created, you can check the Add signature box on the posting form to add your signature. You can also add a signature by default to all your posts by checking the appropriate radio button in your profile. If you do so, you can still prevent a signature being added to individual posts by un-checking the add signature box within the posting form.; Top

How do I create a poll?: When posting a new topic or editing the first post of a topic, click the “Poll creation” tab below the main posting form; if you cannot see this, you do not have appropriate permissions to create polls. Enter a title and at least two options in the appropriate fields, making sure each option is on a separate line in the textarea. You can also set the number of options users may select during voting under “Options per user”, a time limit in days for the poll (0 for infinite duration) and lastly the option to allow users to amend their votes.; Top

Why can’t I add more poll options?: The limit for poll options is set by the board administrator. If you feel you need to add more options to your poll then the allowed amount, contact the board administrator.; Top

How do I edit or delete a poll?: As with posts, polls can only be edited by the original poster, a moderator or an administrator. To edit a poll, click to edit the first post in the topic; this always has the poll associated with it. If no one has cast a vote, users can delete the poll or edit any poll option. However, if members have already placed votes, only moderators or administrators can edit or delete it. This prevents the poll’s options from being changed mid-way through a poll.; Top

Why can’t I access a forum?: Some forums may be limited to certain users or groups. To view, read, post or perform another action you may need special permissions. Contact a moderator or board administrator to grant you access.; Top

Why did I receive a warning?: Each board administrator has their own set of rules for their site. If you have broken a rule, you may be issued a warning. Please note that this is the board administrator’s decision, and the phpBB Group has nothing to do with the warnings on the given site. Contact the board administrator if you are unsure about why you were issued a warning.; Top

How can I report posts to a moderator?: If the board administrator has allowed it, you should see a button for reporting posts next to the post you wish to report. Clicking this will walk you through the steps necessary to report the post.; Top

What is the “Save” button for in topic posting?: This allows you to save passages to be completed and submitted at a later date. To reload a saved passage, visit the User Control Panel.; Top

Why does my post need to be approved?: The board administrator may have decided that posts in the forum you are posting to require review before submission. It is also possible that the administrator has placed you in a group of users whose posts require review before submission. Please contact the board administrator for further details.; Top

Formatting and Topic Types

What is BBCode?: BBCode is a special implementation of HTML, offering great formatting control on particular objects in a post. The use of BBCode is granted by the administrator, but it can also be disabled on a per post basis from the posting form. BBCode itself is similar in style to HTML, but tags are enclosed in square brackets [ and ] rather than < and >. For more information on BBCode see the guide which can be accessed from the posting page.; Top

Can I use HTML?: No. It is not possible to post HTML on this board and have it rendered as HTML. Most formatting which can be carried out using HTML can be applied using BBCode instead.; Top

What are Smilies?: Smilies, or Emoticons, are small images which can be used to express a feeling using a short code, e.g. :) denotes happy, while :( denotes sad. The full list of emoticons can be seen in the posting form. Try not to overuse smilies, however, as they can quickly render a post unreadable and a moderator may edit them out or remove the post altogether. The board administrator may also have set a limit to the number of smilies you may use within a post.; Top

Can I post images?: Yes, images can be shown in your posts. Otherwise, you must link to an image stored on a publicly accessible web server, e.g. http://www.example.com/my-picture.gif. You cannot link to pictures stored on your own PC (unless it is a publicly accessible server) nor images stored behind authentication mechanisms, e.g. hotmail or yahoo mailboxes, password protected sites, etc. To display the image use the BBCode [img] tag. If the image is in your PBase account, use [pb-image] tags instead.; Top

What are global announcements?: Global announcements contain important information and you should read them whenever possible. They will appear at the top of every forum and within your User Control Panel. Global announcement permissions are granted by the board administrator.; Top

What are announcements?: Announcements often contain important information for the forum you are currently reading and you should read them whenever possible. Announcements appear at the top of every page in the forum to which they are posted. As with global announcements, announcement permissions are granted by the board administrator.; Top

What are sticky topics?: Sticky topics within the forum appear below announcements and only on the first page. They are often quite important so you should read them whenever possible. As with announcements and global announcements, sticky topic permissions are granted by the board administrator.; Top

What are locked topics?: Locked topics are topics where users can no longer reply and any poll it contained was automatically ended. Topics may be locked for many reasons by either the forum moderator or board administrator.; Top

User Levels and Groups

What are Administrators?: Administrators are members assigned with the highest level of control over the entire board. These members can control all facets of board operation, including setting permissions, banning users, creating usergroups or moderators, etc., dependent upon the board founder and what permissions he or she has given the other administrators. They may also have full moderator capabilities in all forums, depending on the settings put forth by the board founder.; Top

What are Moderators?: Moderators are individuals (or groups of individuals) who look after the forums from day to day. They have the authority to edit or delete posts and lock, unlock, move, delete and split topics in the forum they moderate. Generally, moderators are present to prevent users from going off-topic or posting abusive or offensive material.; Top

What are usergroups?: Usergroups are groups of users that divide the community into manageable sections board administrators can work with. Each user can belong to several groups and each group can be assigned individual permissions. This provides an easy way for administrators to change permissions for many users at once, such as changing moderator permissions or granting users access to a private forum.; Top

Private Messaging

I cannot send private messages!: There are three reasons for this; you are not registered and/or not logged on, the board administrator has disabled private messaging for the entire board, or the board administrator has prevented you from sending messages. Contact a board administrator for more information.; Top

I keep getting unwanted private messages!: You can block a user from sending you private messages by using message rules within your User Control Panel. If you are receiving abusive private messages from a particular user, inform a board administrator; they have the power to prevent a user from sending private messages.; Top

I have received a spamming or abusive e-mail from someone on this board!: We are sorry to hear that. The e-mail form feature of this board includes safeguards to try and track users who send such posts, so e-mail the board administrator with a full copy of the e-mail you received. It is very important that this includes the headers that contain the details of the user that sent the e-mail. The board administrator can then take action.; Top

Searching the Forums

How can I search a forum or forums?: Search can be accessed by clicking the “Search” link which is available on all pages on the forum.; Top

Why does my search return no results?: Your search was probably too vague and included many common terms which are not indexed by phpBB3. Be more specific and use the options available.; Top

Why does my search return a blank page!?: Your search returned too many results for the webserver to handle. Be more specific in the terms used and forums that are to be searched.; Top

How can I find my own posts and topics?: Your own posts can be retrieved by clicking the “View your posts” link on the index page. To search for your topics, use the search page and fill in the various options appropriately.; Top

Topic Subscriptions and Bookmarks

What is the difference between bookmarking and subscribing?: Bookmarking in phpBB3 is much like bookmarking in your web browser. You aren’t alerted when there’s an update, but you can come back to the topic later. Subscribing, however, will notify you when there is an update to the topic or forum on the board via your preferred method or methods.; Top

How do I subscribe to specific forums or topics?: To subscribe to a specific forum, click the “Subscribe forum” link upon entering the forum. To subscribe to a topic, reply to the topic with the subscribe checkbox checked or click the “Subscribe topic” link within the topic itself.; Top

How do I remove my subscriptions?: To remove your subscriptions, go to your settings page and select "Manage subscriptions" under "Overview".; Top

phpBB 3 Issues

Who wrote this bulletin board?: This software (in its unmodified form) is produced, released and is copyright phpBB Group. It is made available under the GNU General Public License and may be freely distributed. See the link for more details.; Top

Why isn’t X feature available?: This software was written by and licensed through phpBB Group. If you believe a feature needs to be added, please visit the phpbb.com website and see what phpBB Group have to say. Please do not post feature requests to the board at phpbb.com, the group uses SourceForge to handle tasking of new features. Please read through the forums and see what, if any, our position may already be for a feature and then follow the procedure given there.; Top

Who do I contact about abusive and/or legal matters related to this board?: Any of the administrators should be an appropriate point of contact for your complaints. Please note that the phpBB Group has absolutely no jurisdiction and cannot in any way be held liable over how, where or by whom this board is used. Do not contact the phpBB Group in relation to any legal (cease and desist, liable, defamatory comment, etc.) matter not directly related to the phpBB.com website or the discrete software of phpBB itself. If you do e-mail phpBB Group about any third party use of this software then you should expect a terse response or no response at all.; Top