You and your profile

By way of a "Users Manual", here's a guide to all the options available to users through their Control Panel. Remember - you must be a registered user to access and alter options within your Control Panel.Real Name: Fill in this field if you'd like other people to be able to see your real name when they view your profile.Web address: Have you got a website you'd like others to see? Fill in this box and an icon will appear beneath your forum posts - if anyone clicks on it, they'll be taken to your site. Location: Where in the world are you? Fill this in and it'll be displayed under your username whenever you make a post. Email address: This is the address that you used to register with. You can hide your email address from other forum users by unticking the box next to "Is your email publically viewable?". ICQ/Yahoo/MSN/AIM: These are Instant Messaging programs - if you use one of these (such as Windows Messenger), you can fill in your relevant username or email address, and other forum users will be able to add you to their contacts lists for a chat away from the forums. Interests: You can put a list of your hobbies, etc. here if you'd like other users to see what you get up to when you're not visiting Painters-Online. Use your signature: Selecting 'yes' will attach your specified signature (a block of text, or even an image) beneath each of your posts. For more information, see 'Signature' below. View other people's signatures: Selecting 'yes' will show the signatures of others below their posts (if they've chosen to display them) - choosing 'no' will hide them all. Signature: A block of text, possibly including an image, that will appear beneath your posts. This could contain a quote that you particularly enjoy, a small piece of information about yourself, a favourite picture, etc. (if using a picture, please keep the file size small - under 30k if possible). Please keep signatures small and inoffensive. Unsuitable material will be deleted and may result in the termination and deletion of your user account. Hide post count: This shows or hides your post count, which is displayed beneath your username. Use rich edit box when composing messages: Set to 'no' by default. Selecting 'yes' will display a more advanced entry form when you post a reply or start a new thread - it's a bit like a word processor and some people may find it easier to use. Photo URL/Profile Image URL: These can be used in conjunction with the 'Upload Photo/Profile Image' options (see below for more information). They will display a picture benath your username on your posts and in your profile respectively. You can use the aforementioned upload feature, or type in the address of a picture you have already placed on the internet (eg. www.domainname.com/images/imagename.jpg). Please note that images will be resized to fit in the space allocated for them (a maximum of 100 pixels wide for profile images). Please keep file sizes small, and make sure that the images themselves are not offensive or unsuitable - anything deemed as such will be removed and may result in the offending user account being terminated. Receive email notifications by default: Toggles whether you receive an email whenever somebody replies to a thread you've posted in. Receive email notifications when someone sends you a private message: If this option is set to 'yes', you'll receive an email whenever someone sends you a message via the forum's Private Message system with a link to your Private Message inbox. Include the body of the message in update notifications: Used in conjunction with the email notification option. When you've subscribed to a thread and this option is set to 'yes', the new message will be contained in the email notification. This will result in larger emails, but you won't have to visit the forum itself to see the new message. Default forum viewing method: Flat/Threaded. This changes the way that the main forum posts are displayed. 'Flat' is the default value, and what you normally see - a list of topics. 'Threaded' is a list of topics, with the replies listed beneath them. The latter option shows which posts are in reply to which, and allows you to click on a message title to be taken directly to that post. Default thread viewing method: Flat/Threaded/Nested. 'Flat' is the default value - each post is presented one after the other, set to the same width. 'Threaded' is similar to the way it works in the main forum view - the original message is displayed in full, with the titles of the replies cascading beneath it. Clicking on a title takes you directly to that reply. 'Nested' is a mixture of the two - each message will appear in full, but will be cascaded in relation to the message it's replying to. Sort threads by creation or last post: This allows you to choose between 'Always creation' or 'Always last post' (the default setting). 'Always creation' orders forum threads by the date they were created (newest first), meaning that threads will generally stay in the same order regardless of the level of activity. 'Always last post' ensures that popular topics won't drop off the bottom of the age, as it orders threads by the most recent reply (newest first). Local time: Allows you to set the current time where you are, ensuring that the date that messages are posted is displayed correctly for your location. Specify a URL to be redirected to after logoff: If you put an address of a web page here, you'll be sent there after you log off from the forums. Privacy setting check boxes: You can allow or prevent your details being passed on or used to send you relevant information by changing these settings. Change password: If you'd like to change your password, this is where to do it. You need to enter your new password twice and hit the 'Submit' button below the password boxes - if both entries match, your password will be changed. Unsubscribe from threads: If you've subscribed to a thread and no longer wish to receive emails when a reply is posted, you can use this link to take yourself off the list of subscribers. Upload profile image/personal photo: You can use these boxes to take an image from your computer (please try and keep the file size small!) and upload it to our system to be displayed in your posts and/or in your profile. Please note: offensive or inappropriate pictures will be deleted, and in some cases may warrant further action (such as termination of user accounts). Questions? Comments? Why not send the Moderator a [url=mailto: [email protected]]private message[/url]?