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| Login and Registration Issues |
Why can't I log in?
Have you registered? You must register in order to log in. Have you been banned from the board? (A message will be displayed if you have.) If so, you should contact the webmaster or board administrator to find out why. If you have registered and are not banned and you still cannot log in then check and double-check your username and password. Usually this is the problem; if not, contact the board administrator -- they may have incorrect configuration settings for the board.
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Why do I need to register at all?
You need to register in order to post messages. Registration will also give you access to additional features not available to guest users such as definable avatar images, private messaging, emailing to fellow users, etc. It only takes a few minutes to register so it is recommended you do so.
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Why do I get logged off automatically?
If you do not check the Log me in automatically box when you log in, the board will only keep you logged in for a preset time. This prevents misuse of your account by anyone else. To stay logged in, check the box during login. This is not recommended if you access the board from a shared computer, e.g. library, internet cafe, university cluster, etc.
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How do I prevent my username from appearing in the online user listings?
In your profile you will find an option Hide your online status; if you switch this on you'll only appear to board staff (administrator and moderators) or to yourself. You will be counted as a hidden user.
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I've lost my password!
Don't panic! While your password cannot be retrieved it can be reset. To do this go to the login page and click I've forgotten my password. Follow the instructions and you should be back online in no time.
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I registered but cannot log in!
First check that you are entering the correct username and password. If they are okay, then one of two things may have happened: (1) if COPPA support is enabled and you clicked the I am under 13 years old link while registering then you will have to follow the instructions you received, or (2) your account needs activating. This board requires that all new registrations be activated by validating the e-mail address provided during registration before you can log on. To activate yourself, follow the instructions sent to your e-mail; if you did not receive the email, check your spam or bulk mail filter. You can request another activation e-mail to be sent to you from the log in page. Also be sure to check that the email address you provided is valid. Activation is required to reduce the possibility of rogue users abusing the board anonymously. If you are sure the email address you used is valid then try contacting the board administrator.
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I registered in the past but cannot log in anymore!
The most likely reasons for this are: you entered an incorrect username or password (check the email you were sent when you first registered), you changed your e-mail address and failed to validate the new e-mail address, or the administrator has deleted your account for some reason. If it is the latter case then perhaps you did not post anything? It is usual for boards to periodically remove users who have not posted anything so as to reduce the size of the database. Try registering again and get involved in discussions.
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| User Preferences and settings |
How do I change my settings?
All your settings (if you are registered) are stored in the database. To alter them click the Profile tab (shown at the top of the page). This will allow you to change all your settings.
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The times are not correct!
The times are almost certainly correct; however, what you may be seeing are times displayed in a timezone different from the one you are in. If this is the case, you should change your profile setting for the 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.
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I changed the timezone and the time is still wrong!
If you are sure you have set the timezone correctly and the time is still different, the most likely answer is daylight savings time (or summer time as it is known in the UK and other places). The board is not designed to handle the changeovers between standard and daylight time so during summer months the time may be an hour different from the real local time.
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My language is not in the list!
The most likely reasons for this are either the administrator did not install your language or someone has not translated this board into your language. Try asking the board administrator if they can install the language pack you need or if it does not exist, please feel free to create a new translation. More information can be found at the phpBB Group website (see link at bottom of pages)
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How do I show an image below my username?
There may be two images below a username when viewing posts. The first is an image known as an avatar; this is generally unique or personal to each user. It is up to the board administrator to enable avatars and they have a choice over the way in which avatars can be made available. If you are unable to use avatars then this is the decision of the board admin and you should ask them their reasons. The second image is one associated with your rank; generally these take the form of stars or blocks indicating how many posts you have made or your status on the forums.
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How do I change my rank?
In general you cannot directly change the wording of any rank (ranks appear below your username in topics and on your profile). Most boards use ranks to indicate the number of posts you have made and to identify certain users. For example, moderators and administrators may have a special rank. Please do not abuse the board by posting unnecessarily just to increase your rank -- you will probably find the moderator or administrator will simply lower your post count.
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| Posting Issues |
How do I post a topic in a forum?
First, you will need to register an account and log in. After logging in, enter a forum and click the relevant button on either the forum or topic screens.
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How do I edit or delete a post?
Unless you are the board admin or forum moderator you can only edit or delete your own posts. You can edit a post (sometimes for only a limited time after it was made) by clicking the edit button for the relevant post. 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 that lists the number of times you edited it. This will only appear if no one has replied; it also will not appear if moderators or administrators edit the post (they should leave a message saying what they altered and why). Please note that normal users cannot delete a post once someone has replied. Additionally, the forum staff can disable an individual's ability to edit their own posts.
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How do I add a signature to my post?
To add a signature to a post you must first create a signature; this is done via your profile. 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 box in your profile. You can still prevent a signature being added to individual posts by un-checking the add signature box on the posting form. Forum staff can disable an individual's ability to use a signature.
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How do I create a poll?
Creating a poll is easy -- when you post a new topic (or edit the first post of a topic, if you have permission) you should see a Add Poll form below the main posting box. If you cannot see this then you probably do not have rights to create polls. You should enter a title for the poll and then at least two options -- to set an option type in the poll question and click the Add option button. You can also set a time limit for the poll, 0 being an infinite amount. There will be a limit to the number of options you can list, which is set by the board administrator
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How do I edit or delete a poll?
As with posts, polls can only be edited by the original poster, a moderator, or board administrator. To edit a poll, click the first post in the topic, which always has the poll associated with it. If no one has cast a vote then users can delete the poll or edit any poll option. However, if people have already placed votes only moderators or administrators can edit or delete it; this is to prevent people rigging polls by changing options mid-way through a poll
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Why can't I access a forum?
Some forums may be limited to certain users or groups. To view, read, post, etc. you may need special authorization which only the forum moderator and board administrator can grant, so you should contact them.
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Why can't I vote in polls?
Only registered users can vote in polls so as to prevent spoofing of results. If you have registered and still cannot vote then you probably do not have appropriate access rights.
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| Formatting and Topic Types |
What is BBCode?
BBCode is a special implementation of HTML. Whether you can use BBCode is determined by the administrator. You can also disable it on a per post basis from the posting form. BBCode itself is similar in style to HTML: tags are enclosed in square braces [ and ] rather than < and > and it offers greater control over what and how something is displayed. For more information on BBCode see the guide which can be accessed from the posting page.
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Can I use HTML?
That depends on whether the administrator allows you to; they have complete control over it. If you are allowed to use it, you will probably find only certain tags work. This is a safety feature to prevent people from abusing the board by using tags which may destroy the layout or cause other problems. If HTML is enabled you can disable it on a per post basis from the posting form.
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What are Smileys?
Smileys, or Emoticons, are small graphical images which can be used to express some feeling using a short code, e.g. :) means happy, :( means sad. The full list of emoticons can be seen via the posting form. Try not to overuse smileys, though, as they can quickly render a post unreadable and a moderator may decide to edit them out or remove the post altogether.
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Can I post Images?
Images can indeed be shown in your posts. If the image is not already hosted online, you may upload it to the gallery associated with this board. Therefore you must link to an image stored on a publicly accessible web server, e.g. http://www.some-unknown-place.net/my-picture.gif. You cannot link to pictures stored on your own PC (unless it is a publicly accessible server) nor to images stored behind authentication mechanisms such as Hotmail or Yahoo mailboxes, password-protected sites, etc. To display the image use the BBCode [img] tag.
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What are Announcements?
Announcements often contain important information and you should read them as soon as possible. Announcements appear at the top of every page in the forum to which they are posted. Whether or not you can post an announcement depends on the permissions required, which are set by the administrator.
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What are Sticky topics?
Sticky topics appear below any announcements in viewforum and only on the first page. They are often quite important so you should read them where possible. As with announcements the board administrator determines what permissions are required to post sticky topics in each forum.
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What are Locked topics?
Locked topics are set this way by either the forum moderator or board administrator. You cannot reply to locked topics and any poll contained inside is automatically ended. Topics may be locked for many reasons.
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| User Levels |
What are Administrators?
Administrators are people assigned the highest level of control over the entire board. These people can control all facets of board operation which include setting permissions, banning users, creating moderators, etc. They also have full moderator capabilities in all the forums.
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What are Moderators?
Moderators are individuals (or groups of individuals) whose job it is to look after the running of the forums from day to day. They have the power to edit or delete posts and lock, unlock, move, delete and split topics in the forum they moderate. Generally moderators are there to prevent people going off-topic or posting abusive or offensive material. Moderators may also warn, temporarily suspend, and permanently ban users.
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| 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 individually from sending messages. If it is the latter case you should try asking the administrator why.
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I keep getting unwanted private messages!
In the future we will be adding an ignore list to the private messaging system. For now, though, if you keep receiving unwanted private messages from someone, inform the board administrator or moderators -- they have the power to prevent a user from sending private messages at all.
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I have received a spamming or abusive email from someone on this board!
We are sorry to hear that. You should email the board administrator with a full copy of the email you received and it is very important this include the headers (these list details of the user that sent the email). They can then take action.
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| Terms of Service / Acceptable Use Policy |
What rules govern conduct on this board?
The FINCHforum and all of its services (the "Service") are provided to you under these Terms of Service which establish various operating policies (the "Terms"). These Terms are subject to change at any time without notice, and your continued use of the Service constitutes your acceptance of any such changes.
Violation of any part of these Terms may result in a warning, post deletion, partial limitation of account features (temporarily or permanently), temporary account suspension, permanent banning, and/or account deletion, depending on the severity of the violation. Determining the severity of the violation is up to the discretion of the FINCHforum moderators and/or administrator (the "Staff").
REGISTRATION
Only one user name may be registered (the "Account") per individual (the "User"). Account names cannot be changed, nor can they contain certain words which are deemed inappropriate* by the Staff.
An Account is required to access certain features of the Service, such as the ability to make a post.
You must provide a valid e-mail address during registration, as Account activation is dependent upon e-mail verification (clicking an "activation link" which is sent to the e-mail address you provided). Failing to verify your e-mail address in a timely fashion may result in Account deletion. Changing the e-mail address associated with your Account will inactivate your Account until you verify your new e-mail address.
PASSWORDS
As part of the registration process, you will designate a password. You are solely responsible for keeping your password confidential and for all activities that occur under your Account. Please let the administrator know of any unauthorized use of your Account or any other breach of security.
If forgotten, passwords cannot be recovered, but a new one can be assigned to you by contacting the board administrator. You can change your password at any time from the "Profile" tab.
YOUR PRIVACY
You may edit your privacy settings in the "Profile" tab. If you opt to have your e-mail address remain hidden, only forum Staff will be able to see your e-mail address (as they may need to contact you about matters related to the Service or your Account). If you opt to have your e-mail address be viewable, only registered Users who are logged in will be able to see it.
AVATARS, SIGNATURES, AND OTHER PROFILE INFORMATION
Avatars must be 100px X 100px or smaller and must be family friendly in nature. Avatars which are deemed inappropriate* may be deleted without warning. Additionally, the Staff may revoke a User's privilege to display an avatar.
Signatures and other Profile Information, including links to external websites, must also be family friendly in nature. The Staff reserves the right to edit, without warning, a User's signature and other profile information if any of the content is deemed inappropriate*. The Staff may also revoke a User's privilege to display a signature.
FORUM ETIQUETTE, RULES, AND DECORUM
Forum etiquette and decorum should be followed out of consideration for the other Users on the board.
Post Content
Although healthy debate of controversial avicultural topics is permitted, any post which is deemed to contain false or potentially dangerous information (e.g. bad medical advice) may be edited or deleted, and the User warned or corrected. This is not a guarantee that all intact posts on the FINCHforum are accurate and free of errors; the views expressed in each post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the FINCHforum or its Staff.
Posting New Threads
If possible, discussion about a single topic should be centralized within a single thread. Therefore, before starting a new thread, please search the forums to see if a topic is already discussed in an established thread, and add to it, rather than creating a new thread. Failing to do this may result in a warning and your new thread being appended to the established thread. Likewise, if you have several questions about a related topic, post them together (do not start a new thread for each related question).
Adding to Existing Threads
Posts should be relative to the thread that they are in. If your post is unrelated to the thread it may be moved.
Post Format
Posts should be made with a normal sized font and written in English (or an English translation should be provided); excessive use of caps-lock should be avoided. Posts which are difficult to read due to formatting may be deleted and the User warned.
Interacting with Other Users and Staff
For one-on-one conversations, use the forum's Private Messaging (PM) service. Please be respectful, polite, and courteous to other forum Users and Staff; rude behavior may result in the restriction of Account privileges or Service access.
Advertising
Only those advertisements related to finches or finch-related wares (finch cages, finch foods, and the like) will be permitted.
The following is strictly forbidden: offering for sale any irrelevant products or services, soliciting for advertisers or sponsors, conducting raffles or contests that require any type of entry fee, and displaying text or graphical advertisements for services that provide cash or cash-equivalent prizes in exchange for hyperlinks to their sites. Posts containing any form of forbidden advertisement will be deleted and the User responsible for the post will be banned for spamming. Caveat emptor: the FINCHforum and its Staff are not to be held liable for the products or services offered by its Users or external sources.
Non-hosted (external) hyperlinks
You may only post links to family-friendly external sites or content such as photographs and video. If you post something which is deemed inappropriate*, your post may be edited or deleted and you may be suspended or banned for prohibited conduct. Additionally, you acknowledge that the FINCHforum and its Staff have no responsibility for the content, operation, business practices, or owner conduct of websites or linked material(s) which are not hosted on the FINCHforum's server. Any dispute or complaint concerning such websites or services should be directed solely to the owner or operator of that site or business or service.
Service or User Complaints
Complaints about the forum in general, specific posts, or other Users should be directed in private to a Staff member (via e-mail or PM).
Donations
The FINCHforum is a non-profit Service. Donations are gratefully received, but are not considered payments for the Service and do not guarantee the availability of the Service. Donating Users must still abide by these Terms and will not be granted special treatment.
Staff Warnings
Users that disregard warnings given by the Staff may have their Account privileges restricted or revoked.
*See "PROHIBITED CONDUCT" below for examples of what is considered "inappropriate."
PROHIBITED CONDUCT
You agree that you will not use the FINCHforum's Service to transmit, disseminate, post, or upload:
(1) unlawful, harassing, antagonistic, libelous, tortuous, abusive, threatening, disturbing, or obscene communications of any kind, or materials which infringe or violate any third party's copyright, trademark, trade secret, privacy or other proprietary or property right, or that could constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any applicable law or regulation; or, that are otherwise objectionable, including without limitation, content that contains blatant bigotry, racism, sexism, or hatred, or that promotes illegal activities or physical harm against anyone;
(2) spam, chain letters, junk mail or any other type of unsolicited mass e-mail to people or entities who have not agreed to be part of such mailings;
(3) viruses or other harmful, disruptive or destructive files; or,
(4) content containing nudity or pornographic material of any kind.
You further agree:
(a) that you will not disrupt or interfere with another User's use or enjoyment of the Service;
(b) that you will not use or attempt to use another User's Account without authorization from the owner, nor will you disrupt or interfere with the security of, or otherwise abuse, the Service, system resources or Accounts, or any servers or networks connected to the Service;
(c) that you will not attempt to obtain unauthorized access to the Service, or to private areas on the Service;
(d) that you are solely responsible for your actions in relation to the Service, and for any communications transmitted under your Account;
(e) that you will not forge personal information or otherwise impersonate another or create a false identity;
(f) that you will not systematically extract, collect or harvest, through electronic means or otherwise, any data or data fields, including without limitation, User identities or email addresses from this site;
(g) that you will not operate, or utilize any list whose purpose is to transmit untargeted or unsolicited mass emails, including but not limited to safe email lists;
(h) that you will comply with all laws relating to the transmission of technical data or software exported from the United States; and,
(i) that you will comply with all applicable local, state, national and international laws and regulations, including without limitation those related to privacy and data collection.
You agree that any member of the Staff may in his or her sole discretion remove any material that appears to violate any of the foregoing, and that the Staff may immediately limit or terminate your Account or access if it appears you have violated these provisions. Beyond this, the Staff reserves the right to edit or delete posts and/or Accounts at any time for any reason.
LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY
Under no circumstances, including, without limitation, negligence, shall the FINCHforum or its Staff be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages, resulting from the use or the inability to use the Service or Resulting from any goods or services purchased or obtained or messages received or transactions entered into by means of or through the Service, or resulting from unauthorized access to or alteration of your transmissions or data, or other information that is sent or received or not sent or received, including but not limited to, damages for loss of profits, use, data, or other intangibles, even if the Staff has been advised of the possibility of such damages and regardless of the legal theory on which such damages are based.
You agree that the FINCHforum and its Staff are not liable for any failure to deliver, hold, or store e-mail or Private Message(s) transmitted through the service. You agree that the FINCHforum and its Staff do not endorse the subject matter of any of its forums or any of the contents of communications transmitted through its Service. You also agree that the FINCHforum and its Staff shall not be responsible or liable to you, or to anyone, for the statements or conduct of any other User or third party on or arising from the use of the Service.
If you are dissatisfied with the FINCHforum's Service, your exclusive remedy is to discontinue use of the Service.
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| phpBB 2 Issues |
Who wrote this bulletin board?
This software (in its unmodified form) is produced, released and is copyrighted phpBB Group. It is made available under the GNU General Public License and may be freely distributed; see link for more details
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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 then please visit the phpbb.com website and see what the phpBB Group has to say. Please do not post feature requests to the board at phpbb.com, as 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 features and then follow the procedure given there.
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Whom do I contact about abusive and/or legal matters related to this board?
You should contact the administrator of this board. Please note that phpBB Group has absolutely no control and cannot in any way be held liable over how, where or by whom this board is used. It is absolutely pointless contacting 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 email phpBB Group about any third party use of this software then you should expect a terse response or no response at all.
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