Message Boards FAQ

1. How do I post a new message?
   
   Click on the 'New Thread' link at the top left of the message boards. Some boards require that you logon first.
   
   
2. When I try to post a message I get an error saying the name or email I am using has already been taken. What should I do?
   
   Once someone has registered their name and email address no one else may post using that name or email address. If you are trying to post a message under your name but aren't logged in then you need to logon first and then post the message. If someone else has registered a name you are trying to post under then you'll need to choose a different name. If someone else has registered an account using your email address then you control that account.
   
   
3. How do I search the message boards?
   
   There is a 'search comments' link at the top right of each message board.
   
   
4. What does the 'View' drop-down mean? Can I view just the message thread headers instead of all messages?
   
   The view dropdown provides you with different options for viewing messages:
   

   Viewing options for the message boards

   Normal	This view shows the fully threaded message headers only. Clicking on a message header displays the message body without needing a full page refresh resulting in a faster board. Page load times are slower but individual message display is fast. For DHTML enabled browsers such as IE4, Mozilla and Netscape 6 and above.
   Expand Root Messages	Similar to Normal View except that the first message in each thread is shown expanded.
   Expand All Messages	This view shows the fully threaded message headers and message body together so there is no need to click on messages to expand them. This makes it easy scanning discussions quickly.
   Thread View	This view shows only the messages at the start of each thread along with the number of messages in each thread. Clicking on a message header displays the message body without needing a full page refresh (on javascript enabled browsers only). At the bottom of each message is a link which, when clicked, will display all messages in that thread.
   No Javascript	This view shows the fully threaded message headers only. Clicking on a message header refreshes the entire page and displays the full message. For old browsers such as Netscape 4.X. Page load times are fast but individual message display is slow.
   No Javascript Preview	This view shows the fully threaded message headers and a short preview of the message body for each message. Clicking on a message header refreshes the entire page and displays the full message. For old browsers such as Netscape 4.X. Page load times are fast but individual message display is slow.

5. I'm running IE or Netscape 6 but I don't see all these options in the 'View' dropdown. Why?
   
   Sometimes add-ins such as WebWasher or other web page cleaners change the user-agent string for your browser. This string identifies which type of browser you are running, and if the scripts don't detect IE or Netscape then the extra options won't be available.
   
   
6. What is 'Noise Tolerance' and how does message voting work? Why are some messages red and some grey?
   
   Anyone can give a message you have posted a score of 1 to 5, 1 being poor, 5 being excellent. The Noise level drop-down allows you to specify the minimum score a message must have in order for it to appear normally on the boards.
   
   Voting is weighted based on membership level. A new (non-status or bronze member) has a voting weight of 1. Silver members have a weight of 2, gold a weight of 4 and platinum members have a weight of 8. Thus a vote of 4 and a vote of 5 will not necessarily result in a score of 4.5 for a message.
   
   If a message has been given a score that is below your noise threshold then it will appear dimmed out on the boards. A message must have at least 3 votes and be below your threshold to be grayed out.
   
   Messages that have been voted greater than 4.5 will be marked as red regardless of the the number of votes it has.
   
   
7. Why are some names (and head icon) dimmed while others are in colour?
   
   Messages that are posted by a member who is logged on will have their name shown in colour. Clicking on the coloured 'head' icon next to their name will take you to their membership profile page where you can find out more about them. Non-member postings are treated the same as anonymous postings and are shown dimmed.
   
   
8. While logged in I posted a message, but specified a name other than my usual member name. The post is now marked as anonymous and I can't edit it. Why?
   
   When you change the name in a post to one other than your username the scripts mark the post as anoymous, since the scripts think you are masking who you really are. Once that's done the post is no longer available for editing at all.
   
   
9. How do I change the number of messages displayed per page?
   
   Select the value from the 'Per Page' dropdown at the top right of the message board and click on 'Update'.
   
   
10. The 'Date Filter' option doesn't appear in articles. Why?
    
    Discussions on articles form an integral part of an article so we force all message boards for all articles to show all messages. Older articles may have important messages posted years ago that may otherwise not be visible.
    
    
11. I love these boards. Is the source code available?
    
    There are a few older ASP versions available, the most complete being David Wulff's an ASP 3.0 version.