Guidelines for using the Message Board System

The General Message Board is open to all. You do not need to register before reading or posting to this area. 

The Registered User and Tyger Rag forums require that you register before you can post any new topics, or reply to someone else's post You should still be able to read them, though). This information will assist you in completing the registration.

The first time you attempt to post a new topic, or reply to an existing one, in a "Registered Users Only" forum, you will be denied, unless you register (create an account) first:

Account Registration:

User Name: (Required) This can be anything that you want it to be. Something you can remember would be best. Your real name would be even better, and help your old friends to identify you more easily.

Email: (Required) This will be used (by me) to send you your password. Your password is system generated, and is going to be gobbledy-gook. I suggest that you copy the password from the email, and go to the Account Administration page. There, you will be able to change your password to something easier for you to remember, as well as change any other information that you entered. Important - if you should forget your password, this is the email address that a new one will be mailed to. But it must match the one you entered in. So remember your user name, email address, and hopefully, your password.

Hide Email: Default is "NO".  If you check this box, then your email address will not be visible to others. Note: if you are posting a new topic, or replying to an existing one, and you put your email address on the message form, that email address will be visible in the thread. It does not have to be the same email address you entered in your original Account Registration, though.

User Group: (Required) Just select one. I haven't figured out how to use this yet.

The rest of the information is optional and can be seen by others.

Click the "I Agree!" button, and your password will be sent to you at the email address you supplied.

Using the Boards:

It is pretty easy to figure out what is going on. I found this board to be an easy one for users to get used to. Here is some information to remember:

You first select the forum you want to use. This will open a page with all of the posts for that forum. Below that is an area for new messages. When you are viewing a message thread, the area below is for replying to a posted message. Basically, they work about the same.

User Name: (Required) And you must be registered, if so indicated directly above.

Email: Only if you want to display an email address. This field is not connected to the email in your account if you selected "Hide Email".

Store my Name and Email Checkbox: If selected, a cookie will keep your username and email address, so that you don't have to keep re-entering them.

Notify me when I receive a reply to a message: Obvious. I'm not entirely sure that this is working 100%, though.

Icons: Knock yourself out. If you want a funny little icon with your message, have at it.

Subject: (Required on new messages) Defaults to the original message on a reply.

Message: DUH!

When you click Preview-Post button, you will see a preview of what you entered. If you want to change it, use your browser's "back" button to return to the form and correct anything. For registered users, you must supply your password to complete the post. I like this feature, to prevent someone from "answering for you".