This post will provide a few tips on posting and a little "forum jargon". Threads are listed in order of time and date (most recent on top) - replying to an old thread 'kicks' the thread back to the top of the list. The exceptions to this rule are special posts made by the ADMIN (or other authorized users) that are highlighted in yellow. These posts remain at the top of the forum to increase their visibility to forum users. These special posts are said to be "pinned." If you're making a long post, it's often a good idea to copy and paste it somewhere else (e.g. Word or Notepad) before you submit it. If a problem occurs during the submission process, it's easy to just repost what you saved. Here's some forum jargon. Don't overuse acronyms. They can add a little spice to your post but many readers will have no idea what they mean or what you're trying to say. You can look-up some commonly used acronyms here. OP = the opening post (i.e. a new thread as opposed to a reply) or the opening poster (i.e. the person who started the thread) - Usage: "the OP really hit the nail on the head!" Kick = a post with nothing to say other than wanting to boost a sinking thread back to the top of the forum listing - Usage: subject line: "kick" ... message: "i thought this deserved more visibility." Dupe = a post that someone else already made. n/t = no text - by adding this to the end of a subject line with nothing in the message body, you're helping someone who might otherwise click on your subject only to find nothing inside to read. Usage: subject line: "I totally agree ..... n/t" BTW = by the way FWIW = for what it's worth Tombstoned = the banning of a forum user for violating the forum rules. There are millions of others. We'll post a whole dictionary of them when time permits. In the meantime, feel free to add your own by replying to this post. Also, if there are new forum features you would like to see, please post them in the Feedback and Help forum. There are no guarantees we'll implement them but we will consider them - remember, we're all volunteers here.
Only the forum administrators have access to your email address and your real name. This information will not be given out to anyone for any reason.
Please respect the anonymity of other forum users. Some people choose to use their real names as their username; some choose not to. It is considered poor "netiquette" to reveal anyone else's real name to other forum readers when they have elected to use an anonymous username.
Respecting the privacy of other forum users is our responsibility AND your responsibility as well. This is especially true for LVM's students and tutors. Please be sure that information that should be private remains private.
It's usually a good idea, when posting information from another website, for example research information or an article from an online newspaper, to provide a link to the article in your post. One common technique for doing this is to precede the article with the word "source: " followed by the URL (the address of the web page you're linking to).
For example:
source: http://m.www.yahoo.com/
When you click on "New Post" or "reply" to an existing post or "edit" a post you previously made, you are presented with a place to write your post and also with a toolbar that lets you add special features. These features include, but are not limited to: bold, italics, numbered lists, links and images.
To add a link to your post, follow these simple steps:
1. highlight the words you want to turn into a link.
For example, let's say I want to turn the words "LVM home page" (link) into a link instead of just words like this: LVM home page (not a link).
Step one would be to click my mouse and drag it across those words to highlight them.
2. Once the words are highlighted, click the "link button" in the editor's toolbar (see picture below):
When you do this, you'll be prompted to enter the URL (the web address) of the web page you want to link to.
3. Enter the web address (see picture below):
4. click OK. That's it. The link should now be visible in your post. After submitting your post, your link should be visible to other forum users. It's always a good idea to click on the link after you've submitted your post to ensure that they're working correctly and that they are linked to the correct web page.
One of the really nice features of LVM's forum software is the ability to add pictures to your posts.
Once you've entered the post editor by clicking "New Post" or "Reply" or "Edit", you'll have access to the editor's toolbar. At the point in your post where you want to insert a picture, follow these simple steps:
NOTE: The image you're trying to insert must already exist on the web. You cannot insert an image that resides on your computer without first "uploading" it to the web. There are numerous free websites that allow you to upload images once you register for a free account. For example, check out this website.
1. click the "image" tool in the toolbar (see picture below):
2. enter the URL (the location of the image (see note below and picture below)):
NOTE: Do not enter the web page that contains the image. You need to obtain the address of the image itself. To get this address requires a little bit of work.
If you're using Internet Explorer, do the following to copy and paste the image's URL:
If you're using Firefox, the process is much easier:
After entering the image's URL (see picture below), just click OK to insert the image in your post. The image will be visible to other forum users after you submit your post.
Date and time information is displayed on various pages throughout LVM's forum software. The software has been designed to adapt itself to a user's timezone. If the software is unable to automatically detect your timezone, it will display all dates and times in what's known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or Universal Time (UT).
When you enter a forum, by clicking on it on the forum menu, you'll see a display like the following picture just below the LVM menu:
If the time shown for your current local time does not seem to match your correct timezone, all you need to do is click the "Adjust Time" button. Once clicked, times shown throughout the forum should match your local timezone. On rare occasions, for example a change to or from Daylight Savings Time, you might need to repeat this process. You can click the "Adjust Time" button as often as you like; it won't hurt anything.
If you're travelling with your computer from one timezone to another, it would be useful to click the "Adjust Time" button. Also, if you get a new computer or if you access the LVM forum from multiple computers, you should click the "Adjust Time" button at least once from each computer.
Note that the times shown in the forum are not set to your system clock but rather to your system's "timezone" setting. On Windows computers, you can access this setting (on Windows Vista) by right clicking on your clock and then choosing "Adjust Date / Time" (see picture below).
