Are you new to using forums? This is the tutorial for you. (click on images for visual directions)

So you click on the Forum button and you see this page with a lot of stuff on it. Just what is that stuff?


Registering

First off, let’s get you registered. So you see the big words ‘Brave Ireland’ at the top left hand corner of the web page. Excellent. Look down a little bit and there you’ll see a green link to ‘Brave Ireland Home’ which will take you back to the home page. But right beneath that link are some more words.

“Welcome Guest (Log In | Register)”



Click on Register, and then fill out the fields (aka the blank white boxes). If you can’t seem to find where I’m talking about, press ctrl-f (on a Windows computer) and enter ‘register’ in the white box, and then click ‘find’. The first word highlighted is the place I’m talking about. For Apple, click the apple key, and then f, and enter ‘register’ in the box.




Suggestions for Username? Anything you want. Maybe that name that you always wanted to change yours to, followed by your favourite number?

Suggestions for Password? First off, make it easy; something you’ll remember. But in the case that you do forget your password, e-mail lestat@braveireland.com . Secondly, don’t tell anyone your password no matter what. No one will ever need your password, except you.

And next you enter your e-mail address so that a validation e-mail can be sent to that address. The e-mail you put in those two fields will receive notifications and e-mails from the site.

After that, read the words in the box. If you agree with everything it says, check the box next to ‘I Agree’. You cannot register with our forums unless you agree to those terms.

Finally click the ‘Submit my Registration’ button and you’re registered!


Now you can start posting!

First let’s take a look at what being a member changes to from being a Guest. In place of the ‘Welcome Guest (Log In | Register)’ you will see your screen name and (Log Out). If you ever want to log out, click ‘Log Out’.

To the right of those words you’ll see ‘My Controls, 0* Messages, View New Posts, My Assistant’


*This number will change when you receive Private Messages


My Controls

Click on the green link that says ‘My Controls’ that is near the top of the page on the right hand side. This will bring you to your profile.

On the first page you’ll see your e-mail address, your total number of posts, the time and date you registered, the average posts you make per day, your Private Message summary, and a little notepad where you can keep notes to yourself.

Most of those are pretty self-explanatory. But what is a Private Message you ask?


Private Messages



See the words at the left hand side of the screen in the ‘Menu’ box? The first one labeled ‘Messenger’ all has to do with Private Messages; shorted with letters ‘PM’.

Clicking on ‘Compose New Message’ will do just that. Think of Private Messages as e-mail. No one but the person you send it to will see it.

Go to Inbox goes to your inbox. Sent items goes to your sent items folder. Empty PM folders will delete all messages in the inbox and the sent items folder.


--Writing a Private Message

Click ‘My Controls’ and then ‘Private Messages’ and then ‘Compose New Message’.

Here you can choose to PM someone from your Address Book (?link) or you can enter another member’s name if they are not in your address book.

You must enter a title. What is the PM about?

In the big box, you can type your message. Enter smileys by clicking them and change your text into bold or italics by using the buttons above. Clicking B with enter code [b]. After the [b], put all the text you want in bold. Clicking B again will enter a [/b] code. All text after this [/b] will NOT be bold. Same goes for italics and underline.

Font, Size, and colour are the options you have to choose to personalize your message. ‘Close all tags’ will simply enter a [/b] (for example) if you forgot it somewhere.

http:// is how you enter a link to somewhere.

IMG is how you enter an image.

@ is how you enter an e-mail address.

QUOTE is how you enter a quote

CODE is how you enter code.

LIST is how you enter a list.

Go ahead and try these things out; experiment! Send a message to yourself to see what you can do.

When you are done writing, you can send the message, preview it, or Save it and Send it Later (?link to ‘Saved (Unsent) PMs)
Above these options, you can click the first box to add a copy of this message to your Sent Items folder. Clicking the second box allows you to track the message; you’ll be notified when the person you’re sending the message to has read it.


--Edit Storage Folders

Clicking on Edit Storage folders allows you to create your own folders, rename folders, and delete folders that you have created. Clicking on the link leads you to a page with some more white boxes on it. You’ll see ‘Inbox’ and ‘Sent Items’ in the first two boxes. You cannot remove these folders; you can only change their name. The three boxes below them are folders you can create so you can later send PMs to those folders for storing them. Don’t forget to click ‘Submit Changes’ when you are finished. Note: all messages in any folder you delete will be lost.


--PM Buddies/Block list

PM Buddies/Block List is like an AIM buddy list, or MSN buddy list or something of the sort. Clicking on the link leads you to a page with your buddy list and a place to add them. If you want to add someone to your buddy list, enter their screen name from the forum into the first white box under ‘Members Name’, and then enter a short description about them if you want to. Under ‘Allow this Member to Message You?’ choose yes or no.

Choosing yes adds the person to your buddy list and makes it easier for you to later on PM them. Clicking ‘Add this member to my address book’ will make their name appear in the space above. Their name will appear in a green link which will lead you to their member profile. Clicking on options will allow you to edit your description of them and it will allow you to block this member from sending you PMs if you select ‘No’ under ‘Allow this member to message you?’.

Choosing no will block this member from sending you PMs. Clicking ‘Add this member to my address book’ will make their name appear in the space above. Their name will appear in a green link which will lead you to their member profile. Once again, you can click on ‘Options’ next to their name and change their description and change if you want to unblock them. To unblock them, simply choose ‘yes’ underneath ‘Allow this member to message you?’


--Archive Messages

Clicking on archive messages will lead you to a page with a lot of things to select. First off, archiving messages will take PMs, put them into one file, and e-mail them to you at the e-mail that you registered with as an attachment.

‘Archive From Which Folder?’ The drop down bar next to this question allows you to choose which folder to take the PMs from. Or, you can select ‘All Folders’ to take PMs from every one of your folders.

‘Archive messages received in the last…’ This selection narrows down the PMs sent to you by day(s). If you only want PMs from the last week, find ‘7’ in the drop down box. If you want all PMs older than 7 days, find and older’ in the drop down box next to the word ‘days’. If you want all PMs that are newer than 7 days, in the drop down box, find ‘and newer’. Or you can select all to receive all PMs that you have.

‘Number of Messages to Archive’ . Maybe you only want 20 messages from all of your messages. This is where you choose that. So let’s go with the choosing ‘7 days and newer’ option from above. Maybe you only want 10 messages from the past seven days so in the drop down box, find ‘10’. And…so on for whatever number you wish to receive.

‘Delete Messages After Archiving?’ Choosing ‘No’ will keep the PMs in the folders. Choosing ‘Yes’ will delete all of the PMs that are sent to you.

‘Compile datafile as’ This is kind of an advanced thing. Choosing ‘Importable MS Excel Datafile’ will send all of your PMs to you in Excel. If you don’t want this, or you don’t have Microsoft Excel, I suggest you choose ‘HTML Webpage’.


--Saved (Unsent) PMs

When writing a PM, there is an option that allows you to save it, and send it later. This is where those messages go. From this screen you can click the Message Title of the PM which will lead you back to the PM screen where you can edit and send the PM. Clicking on the person’s screen name that you sent it to will lead you to their member profile. To delete this message, check the white box on the right hand side of the screen next to your message, and then click delete. To delete all of the messages, check the white box that is beside ‘CC Users?’ and then click ‘Delete’.


Subscriptions

Subscriptions deal with threads and forums that you have subscribed to. By subscribing to a thread, you receive an e-mail whenever someone has posted on that thread. By subscribing to a forum, you receive all threads started and all posts posted in that forum.

To subscribe to a thread, go to that thread and find one post. At the top right hand corner of the post, you should find a green link that says ‘Track Thread’; clicking on that subscribes you.

To subscribe to a forum, click on the forum that you wish to subscribe to. Then scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page. Above the buttons that you see for different sites are two links; ‘Mark This Forum as Read | Subscribe to This Forum’. Click the second one.

Clicking on ‘View Topics’ allows you to see the threads you have subscribed to. There are links on the page that will lead you to those threads. Note: With the CSS code that we have, you must left click and drag your mouse over the links (highlight) to see what they say. Basically, these links are the same colour as the background and we can’t change that without changing it all throughout the forum. To unsubscribe to a thread, check the box on the right hand side next to it, and click ‘Unsubscribe’. Clicking the white box next to ‘Last Post’ and then clicking ‘Unsubscribe’ will unsubscribe you from all threads.

Clicking on ‘View Forums’ leads you to see all of the forums that you have subscribed to. There are links on the page that will lead you to those threads. Note: With the CSS code that we have, you must left click and drag your mouse over the links (highlight) to see what they say. Basically, these links are the same colour as the background and we can’t change that without changing it all throughout the forum. To unsubscribe to a forum, click the box on the right hand side next to it, and click ‘Unsubscribe’. Clicking the white box next to ‘Last Post’ and then clicking ‘Unsubscribe’ will unsubscribe you from all forums.


Personal Profile

This is that place where you get to enter all that stuff about yourself.


--Edit Profile Info

Clicking this link will lead you to a page where you can enter anything about yourself. It is not required that you enter anything on this page.

You can enter your date of birth, if you would like to. You can enter a link to your website. You can enter ICQ, AOL, Yahoo, MSN or Integrity messenger names. You may enter your location and your interests. After those come a Xanga and DeviantArt section where you can put your links to those pages.

Do not forget to click ‘Amend My Profile’. Without clicking this, all of the things you added or changed will NOT be added or changed.


--Edit Signature

A signature is the text that appears at the bottom of your posts. Enter anything you want to here, and even spice it up with some italics or bolds.


--Edit Avatar Settings

An avatar is the image that appears beneath your screen name when you post. To add an avatar, either choose from one of the galleries, find one on a website and enter the address in the box next to ‘Enter a URL to an online avatar image, or use a picture from your computer by clicking ‘Browse’ and then finding it. If you have issues with this, email me at Amarante@braveireland.com .


Options


--Email settings

E-mail settings allows you to do things such as hide your e-mail so that no one on the forums can view it (This can be done by clicking on the first box). The rest of the options are pretty self explanatory.


--Board Settings

In here, you can set the forum time to match your time. In the first drop down box, simply find what time zone you are in. Either find a city that you know of that has your same time zone, or find the time (+ or -) from GMT. The rest of the options are pretty self explanatory.


--Skin and Languages

With our forums, you cannot change the skin of it, and you cannot change the language of it. Sorry.


--Change E-mail Address

Is your old e-mail address not working? Or are you just changing e-mails? Then this is where you change it. You must enter and confirm your new e-mail address, and then enter your current password.


--Change Password

Here you can change your password. You must enter your current password, and then enter and confirm your old password.


View New Posts

This link is right next to the ‘My Controls’ button. Clicking this allows you to see the newest posts that have been made.

My Assistant



Clicking My Assistant opens up a new window that will show you many things. First off, it shows you all new posts that have been made. And then it gives you links to various things. After that, you can search posts or words.

Help

This section is a condensed version of this.

Search

Search allows you to search the forums for a keyword or a member. Once you enter what you’re searching for, the options below allow you to refine your search so you can get just what you’re looking for.

Members



Clicking on ‘Members’ allows you to see all of our registered members! You can view them in a certain order by choosing how you want to at the bottom of the page. Clicking on a members name will lead you to their ‘Member Profile’

Member Profile

Clicking on a members name will lead you to their profile. In this profile, you can view the person’s messenger screen names and other information.

Calendar

This is the Brave Ireland Calendar! You can view it, but ask a moderator or administrator to add an event for you.

The Buttons in the Middle of the Page



These are sites where you can vote for Brave Ireland by clicking the buttons and following their instructions. By voting for Brave Ireland, you move us up the list. By moving us up the list, more people will see our link and banner, and hopefully we’ll get more members!


Forums



Now we come to all the different forums. From Rice to Tolkien to Rowling to Lewis, we offer a wide variety of subjects that you can post about. There are off topic threads and RP threads as well.

Once you find a place where you’d like to write your opinion, or just join in on the conversation, you can begin to post.


--Replying

This is the majour part of a forum. Once you find a forum you like, and then a thread you’d like to post on, click the ‘Add Reply’ button. Adding a reply is much like Private Messaging someone, except now anyone who views that thread will see your post.

There are two ways to reply. One is to click the "Add Reply" button, which will take you to a acreen like the PM screen. The other way is to click the "Fast Reply" button. A white box will appear at the bottom of the page for you to type your reply into.




--Starting a New Thread or Poll

So you found a forum you like, but you don’t find a thread you expect, or you have an idea for a great thread or poll to put in the forum! So, you start a new thread or poll.

Threads are pretty easy. Just click on ‘New Topic’, and we’re ready to begin. ‘Topic Title’ is the thread name; it’s what everyone will see. So make it catchy, and include what your thread is about in it. Topic description appears in white text beneath the Topic Title; it’s just a small, brief description on what your thread is about.

And then we get down to the first post of the thread. Writing the first post is the same as writing a Private Message. When you are done, click ‘Post New Topic’.

If you want your thread to include a poll, click ‘New Poll’. First you must follow the steps of starting a new thread, except now you have a section for polls. Enter the poll question, followed by up to 10 choices. Note: You must list the choices as a list by putting them in a line;

Choice One
Choice Two
Choice Three


--Viewing A Post

When you look at a post, you can see a lot. First off you see who posted it, what avatar they have, how many posts they have, and what rank they are.

At the top right hand corner of a post, you can see ‘Track Post | E-mail Post | Print Topic’

Track post is what you click if you want to Subscribe to that thread. E-mail post allows you to e-mail that post to someone, and print topic allows you to print the whole thread.

Below those words you will find two buttons if that post is not your post; Report and Quote. Report you use if someone has not followed the rules. Quote you use if you wish to quote someone on what they said when you post a reply.

Below those words you will find four buttons if it is your post; Report, Delete, Edit, and Quote. Report is the same and quote is the same. Click on delete if you wish to delete that post, and click on Edit if you wish to change your post in any way.

At the bottom of the post, you can see different ways to contact the person.


The first button is a little camera which allows you to see a quick profile of the person. Next to that button is a PM button which you click to PM that person. The rest of the links vary depending on what information they added to their profile. E-mail allows you to e-mail them, and if they (for example) entered an AOL Instant Messenger screen name, you could click on that button to IM them. If you’re not at the first post of a topic, a little blue arrow pointing up will appear after all of these buttons. Clicking it will take you back up the page and to the top.

When you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you’ll see something that looks like

« Next Oldest | Cold Black Mountainside | Next Newest »

Clicking on ‘Next Oldest’ takes you to the oldest thread in the forum; which is said in the middle. In this case, clicking ‘Next Oldest’ would lead you to the next oldest thread in Cold Black Mountain side, and vice versa for ‘Next Newest’. By clicking ‘Cold Black Mountainside’, you would be led back to the Cold Black Mountainside forum.

Below these, you will be able to access the different pages of the thread, and across from those, you’ll see another ‘Add Reply’ button, along with ‘Fast Reply’ (which is a reply with no bold and italics and the such) and then ‘New Topic’ and ‘New Poll’ buttons.

And still yet below those buttons, you’ll find a drop down bar. Use this bar to navigate through the forums, and even back to the main site.


--Ranks

Underneath the person’s avatar on a post, you will see a name. Those tell you how many posts that person has. The ranks are as follows;

Mortal – 0-49 Posts
Blood Bonded – 50-99 Posts
Fledgling – 100-249
Vampire – 250-499
Ancient – 500- 999
Immortal 1000+


Note: Anytime you move away from the main forum page, after the words ‘Invision Power Board’, you start to get a list of what links you’ve clicked on. As opposed to clicking the back button, you can click on the links to go back to that page.