Ars OpenForum Posting Guidelines & FAQ (v.08c)

for the Ars Technica OpenForum

The Posting Guidelines & FAQ is a multi-part document. We have tried to keep it as compact as possible, and we sincerely recommend familiarizing yourself with the Posting Guidelines, even if you have used OpenTopic/UBB before. You should certainly be familiar with our Use Agreement.

Welcome to the Ars Technica OpenForum! The information contained in this document is intended to improve your time on our forums, and help introduce you to our community.

The OpenTopic basic use FAQ: wondering how to make a smilie, or how to use UBB code? Ars OpenForum Use Agreement: this agreement details the most basic, fundamental rules for using the OpenForum. General Guidelines and Provisions: a few short and simple guidelines and rules that will make your life easier on the OpenForum. OpenForum Detailed: an introduction to our individual forums, their purposes, and their "feel.". Discussion of the Nature of 'Open': sometimes people mistake the concept of "openness" for the idea that "anything should go". Read why we believe our Forum to be worthy of the name "OpenForum." Ars OpenForum Rankings Explained: you've wondered how they work, and now you know.

Basic Use FAQ

Do I have to register?
How can I use smilies?
Can I add HTML to my messages?
What are moderators?
How can I change my registration profile?
Are cookies used by OpenTopic?
Can I edit my own posts?
Can I attach files?
Can I search?
Can I add a standard signature to my posts?
Are there any censor features?
What do I do if I lost my username and/or password?
How can I view new posts since my last visit?
What are posting icons?
I posted something and it didn't show up!

Login and Registering
Ars Technica requires you to register in order to post new topics or replies. Follow the register link to register. Look at the top of your OpenTopic main page for your login status. In the past it was possible to post on the OpenForum without registering. Unfortunately, SPAM on the forums, and abuse by certain inconsiderate people necessitated registration. Not to worry: Ars Technica protects your private information! See our Privacy Statement for details. Also note that although you need an e-mail address to register, it does not have to be visible to the outside world when you post.

Smilies
Smilies are keyboard characters used to convey an emotion, such as a smile :) or a frown :(. OpenTopic™ automatically converts certain smilies to a graphical representation. For example, if you type :( in your post, it will automatically be converted to - a sad face. You can use the instant smilies in the posting form. Click the smilie to add the correct code.

Using HTML and/or UBB Code™
Ars Technica values your privacy. For that reason, we do not support HTML in all user posts. Put simply, there are too many ways for someone to exploit HTML to invade your privacy, or cause you great inconvenience. As a value-added benefit, subscribers may use HTML in their posts but are not allowed to exploit it to either make excessively distracting posts or to compromise reader security/privacy. UBBCode™ is similar to HTML, but offers just a few basic functions, such as hyperlinking, image display, bolding and italicizing. A complete directory of current UBBCodes™ is listed here.

Moderators
Moderators control individual forums. They can edit, delete, or move any posts in their forums. If you have a question about a particular forum, you should direct it to the forum moderators. Caesar is the Editor-in-Chief of Ars Technica and the Imperator of the OpenForum.

Changing Your Profile and Preferences
To change your profile, make sure you are logged in. Click the "MyPop™" link at the top of the page, and click the tab on the right that says "profile." After updating your information on that page, click "submit" and your changes will be saved. You cannot leave blank any fields required by your administrator.

Cookies
OpenTopic uses cookies to store your login information, if any. These cookies are stored on your browser. You can delete this cookie at any time by clicking the logout link on any OpenTopic page. You may choose to delete the cookie at the end of your own browser session automatically by selecting the option "Disable cookie logins if other people use this computer" when you first login.

Editing Your Posts
You may edit your own posts for a period of time selected by the administrator. Just go to the topic where the post to be edited is located. Click on the edit icon to edit or delete the post. No one else can edit your post, except for the forum moderator or the discussion forum administrator. A note is generated at the bottom of each post that is edited so that every one knows when a post has been edited. Note that if your post started a new topic and has replies, you will not be able to delete your post.

Adding Signatures
The Ars OpenForum does not support signatures. As all users have detailed profiles, signatures seem wasteful. While some users have chosen to manually sign their posts with very brief one-line text signatures, the use of graphic signatures is strongly discouraged.

Attaching Files
The Ars OpenForum does not support attached files at this time.

Searching For Specific Posts
You may search for specific posts based on a word or words found in the posts, user name, date, and particular forum(s). Just click on the "search" link at the top of most pages. Be aware that searches by username will only return a maximum of 500 results, and searches by word 50.

Censoring Posts
The bulletin board administrators have the power to censor certain words. While censoring does not happen automatically on this board, you should be aware that posts that violate the Posting Guidelines are likely to be edited or deleted.

Lost User Name and/or Password
Retrieving your username and password is simple. All of the pages that require your username and password carry a "lost password" link that you can use to have your username and password emailed instantly to your email address of record.

View posts since your last visit
Use this link at the top of the list of forums to provide a list of all topics in that forum new since your last login.

What are posting icons?
Depending on the configuration of your forums, you may be able to associate an icon with each post that you make. Each icon expresses a different emotion or identification. These icons range from a simple note to sadness to warning and will appear next to each topic in a forum listing and on each post. If you do not see icons, your forum administrator may not be allowing icons on this particular forum. (Thanks to Kombat03 for the icon idea!)

I posted something and it didn't show up!
Wait a minute and see if it appears. Usually these problems are caused by your browser's cache, or a proxy server. If you rule these out (trying Shift-F5, for example), then contact Caesar.