nationalTRAFFIC forums manual for 2009

[falkor]

the previous manual (written in 2006) was actually written at the peak of phpBB2. Unfortunately - those days are long gone, the manual should now address new issues and phpBB3 features

so! welcome to the national TRAFFIC forums manual for 2009

† the first part is an INFORMATION section †
it is designed very clearly to set out to all members and guests that this site is purely unofficial etc

AФ the second part is a NEWBIES ADVICE section AФ
the four lines that comprise this part simply point to a brilliant video for people who don't know nowt about forums at all

Question	Answer	Section
= = w e l c o m e = = i n t r o = = = s t a r t	= = = = = = n a t i o n a l T r a f f i c = = = = =	.
is this site owned by the Highways Agency?	no	†
is this site endorsed by the Highways Agency?	no	.
is this site approved by the Highways Agency?	no	.
is this site an official site?	no	.
so it's not owned by the Highways Agency, it's not endorsed by the Highways Agency, it's not approved by the Highways Agency and it's not an official site?	hey you're getting the hang of this - correct, correct, correct and CORRECT!	.
the members who post on here, are they speaking on behalf of the Highways Agency?	no	.
what about the information displayed on here, is that official information?	no	.
is that information endorsed by the Highways Agency?	no	.
is that information approved by the Highways Agency?	no	.
so the members are not speaking on behalf of the Highways Agency and the information shown is not official and is not endorsed OR approved by the Highways Agency	correct correct and CORRECT	.
the members who post on this site, are they just posting messages expressing their own personal opinions and views?	yes they are just saying what they think in their private capacity only	.
but they are Traffic Officers aren't they?	you will find that some members are Traffic Officers certainly	.
and the Traffic Officer members are speaking on behalf of the Highways Agency?	no just in their private individual capacity only	.
what's the point of coming on here then?	it's your choice, you are free to choose to visit any site on the internet you like	.
why HAVE a site for Traffic Officers that is not approved not endorsed and is completely unofficial?	well there are some people who actually prefer to join a community that is totally free of influence from their employer	.
a community?	yes these forums are in internet terms a community	.
well I think I'll have a look around	please do - have a look around and see what you think	.
= = w e l c o m e = = i n t r o = = = e n d	= = = = = = n a t i o n a l T r a f f i c = = = = = =	.
I'm a newbie	WELCOME newbie!	AФ
I haven't a clue!! Is there a guide?	YES JUST CLICK HERE!! (allow 30 seconds - please WAIT!)	.
that was great!! what can I do to help?	tell other newbies about it!!	.
okay I will!	THANKS!	.
what does "registered member" and "official member" mean? I have seen these various titles and stars but don't understand them	these various titles are gained as members stack up more and more posts during their involvement on the site click here for more info	A
I quite like the forums - is there anything I should do to make sure everything runs smoothly?	Yes, you should write down the email address that you supplied at the time of joining AND your password - keep them safe somewhere, perhaps in a WORD.DOC or in your favourite diary. If you forget your password - there is a back up system to help* but this RELIES on you knowing the exact email address that you registered with	B
what if I do forget which email address that I registered with or the email account gets closed?	what and then you forget your password too?	.
yeah I would be stuffed	too true matie	.
what's the solution?	keep a note of your password and email address that you registered with	.
fine but that gets lost too	okay in that case you should notify an administrator or moderator	.
how can I contact an administrator or moderator?	please click here for THE CONTACT PAGE	.
is it worth it? or should I just start a new account?	see if site staff can help you, please allow a few days, if not then you will have to start a new account	.
I made a heck of a lot of posts	yes and if we can possibly get your account going for you - we will, it may take time so please be patient	.
I can't wait, I'm opening a new account anyway	okay, that's fine	.
is there no other way?	not really, please keep your password safe and ensure you know which email address you provided to us when you registered	.
thanks!	no worries pally!! here to help	.
should I use my REAL NAME?	it is recommended that you use a fictional name e.g. 'van Helsing' or 'Dracula'	.
I decided that I want to change my username	You can change your username by PMing any administrator: lieutenant fatman, TheWanderer or falkor	.
I saw a great thread on HATOs getting HANDCUFFS, but now I can't find it again I really enjoyed that thread	Did you try pressing "search" and entering "handcuffs" ?	C
Yes - I found so many similar threads to that, but not the exact one that I had found before, how do I get BACK to that exact thread? this is a nightmare	If you are a registered user scroll down down down to the bottom of your favourite thread, see there "Subscribe Topic" and "Bookmark Topic" ? Click "Subscribe Topic" to turn on the "watch" facility for your favourite threads in the forum. From now on you'll get an email every time somebody replies to it!	.
Anything else?	Yep there's the "Bookmark Topic" system	.
what is the bookmarks system?	you click "Bookmark Topic" to a topic you wish to bookmark, then at anytime you can go to your bookmarks list [RECOMMENDED]	.
but HOW?	click on UCP, select "Manage Bookmarks" there is your list of bookmarked topics!	.
I noticed that my member no. does not display in my posts	if your member no. is "too high" it will not display	D
but I want it to display alongside my posts	well there is nothing you can do about it really. you could try changing to a different template, each template may have a slightly different "threshold"	.
will the threshold be changed?	no, I'm afraid it won't	.
why not?	changing individual template thresholds is quite a chore, so that's why they're all slightly different	.
what's the main threshold?	it's set at approxamitely 6300 in prosilver	.
How do I add an image in one of my posts?	phpBB BBCode incorporates a tag for including images in your posts. Two very important things to remember when using this tag are: many users do not appreciate lots of images being shown in posts and second, the image you display must already be available on the Internet (it cannot exist only on your computer, for example, unless you run a webserver!). There is currently no way of storing images locally with phpBB. To display an image, you must surround the URL pointing to the image with tags. For example: Code: Select all [img]www.yah.com/logo.gif[/img] more info on codes e.g. "img"	E
GREAT - I've got a huge close up of my face 900 x 900, wait up I'll get it in my thread right now	woah boy woah!! the maximum width for posted images is 659 and quite honestly if you stick to 595 wide this would be appreciated	.
what about my 900 x 900 close up, right up my nostrils you can see	I bet you can too, well get photoshop or some other drawing/ photo accessory and reduce the image width to 659	.
actually it's not my image, it's held on another server	ok you can make a request for the image to be reduced, try PMing falkor	.
I am really enjoying being a member on this site now, is there anything that I can do to help the site?	Yep, there sure is, please print off the front page of the site. Please post it up on a noticeboard at your place of work, or give it to people you think might be interested in the site.	F
ok, is there anything ELSE I can do to help?	yes there is, as you have a look around the site you may find certain things in the forum that do not work properly, for instance, you may click a link and find that a white page displays telling you that "the page cannot be displayed" or "page not found"	.
yes I found that one of the links on the main site just didn't work, it led nowhere	PLEASE help the site by reporting such issues straight away - all you need to do is email falkor, this really would help!	.
I saw comments from a new member that make my blood boil! he was slagging off another T.O. and is obviously anti-HATO	Supervisors on the site have powers to deal with such bad behaviour, please check the > Supervisor HOT LINE <	G
is there an easier way to report a bad post?	yes, look carefully at the top edge of the post that you wish to report. Look for a small icon, an upside down triangle with an exclamation mark. It should be alongside another small icons with "QUOTE" inside it. Click the exclamation icon and you will find it turns into a REPORTING SYSTEM	.
will the person who made the "bad post" find out that I reported it?	No. Your identity will be displayed to moderators only, nobody else	.
I saw a thread about whether HATOs should be allowed to carry asps or truncheons off duty and it seems obvious to me that a poll should go on the topic but there is no poll there, it's just such a shame!	the author of the thread (or any supervisor) can enstall a poll into the thread by pressing EDIT in the very first POST in the thread and then looking down below the message body where poll functions will be found	H
A post I just made was DELETED and I don't know why!	If your post consisted of just a smilie or just a couple of words it may have been deemed too short a message to be allowed	.
No it was a long message with plenty of content	was it a reply to a post you just made on the thread?	.
Yes, I made one post - then 5 minutes later decided to clarify it with more info	that is double posting and is frowned on on this site	.
why's that?	if you need to add further info in a post you just made - please press EDIT in that post, your further info will be added	.
somebody replied to my post though	well in that case you do not need to use EDIT, you can make whatever reply you like	.
so double posting - the 2nd post will be deleted?	it may be. there are exceptions, for instance one member is compiling a weekly poem topic, he is allowed to double post because there is a definite system going there and everybody can see it's necessary	.
I saw a member who clocked up loads of posts - all of a sudden he was BANNED!! I am shocked - what on earth did he do?	very often the reason a member gets banned is evident in one of the threads that he posted in. if you are really curious to find out try going to the banned member's profile and selecting find all posts by this member	I
it brings up over a hundred posts!	well you said you wanted to know why they were banned, you may find that the recent posts reveal the answer	.
no I checked the recent posts, they seem fairly civilised	in every case that a member is banned an explanation is given on one of the threads that that member posted on but to cut a long story short - in most cases the banned member is allowed to reapply for reinstatement to the forums after 7 days	.
and then ?	IF the person applies for reinstatement, then the supervisors will consider the matter carefully	.
how many people have been banned from this site?	this information is not available but to see the current ban list click here	.
I want to email or PM a banned member	please do not ask for help doing this	.
so why WOULD a member be banned?	mainly because the person concerned has behaved contrary to behaviour expected or has been previously warned for contravening forum rules and has gone on to repeat the same behaviour again	.
such a person would be banned?	Yes, this site is for Traffic Officers or members who have the HATO cause at heart and who are able to discuss issues in a civilised manner	.
they are not allowed to argue or criticise?	yes they are, as long as it is constructive and done so in a manner that ends in a smile, but a person who relentlessly criticises or argues to kingdom come or who just cannot abide by our code of behaviour is not really welcome on here	.
what the heck are USERGROUPS?	click on UCP (User Control Panel) in your top menu	.
OK	You will find that usergroups are slotted in amongst several other user friendly tabs for you	.
What's the point of them?	Very often each user group will have their own private forum, the usergroups acts as a 'padlock and key,' for instance in "white light" they are the original members of the site and they talk about the old days, but new members cannot participate	.
I want to join 'white light' and read about the old days	Sorry you can't but what about joining PJIRC? Join that group!!	.
then I can see loads of chat about the chat room?	No, that group does not have it's own forum but can receive bulletuns on special chat nights. the usergroups are particularly good at enabling BULK EMAILS to all the members in that group providing automatic access to a private area of the site	.
I joined PJIRC but now I'm fed up getting all the BULK EMAILS on chat nights, I really am not interested in that and wish to leave the group	OK but remember, if you leave the group you will stop receiving BULK EMAILS to all the members in that group be unable to access the private area of the site (if there is one for that group)	.
I don't care, I want to leave the group	are you sure?	.
YEP, how do I leave?	You may not be permitted to do so, but to determine this - you may attempt this procedure > > [NOT RECOMMENDED]	.
so how would I attempt this procedure? I am determined	select user control panel (U C P) look for the tab that says "USERGROUPS" select it various usergroups details will now be presented to you, categorised by 'memberships' and 'non-memberships' note the far right column headed "SELECT" this column allows you to choose "LEAVE" in the 'memberships' category, OR "JOIN" in the 'non-membership' category WARNING - LEAVING a usergroup cannot be "undone" - it may be better to seek advice from a moderator, before choosing this action selecting "LEAVE" or "JOIN" against certain usergroups may be ignored - depending on the way the group is organised, e.g. in the case of "Registered Users" you are not permitted "to LEAVE" to LEAVE a group where permitted, click SELECT in the far right column level with the group name now select "RESIGN" in the drop down menu at the bottom of the column click SUBMIT	.
okay I successfully removed myself from the PJIRC group	it is most unlikely that you would be rejoined to the PJIRC usergroup by a PJIRC leader or a mod	.
okay what about leaving other usergroups?	the fact is that many members are joined to usergroups by the checking of criteria	.
what criteria?	various criteria are considered, but if you fit within it then you could quite easily be joined to a usergroup by a leader or mod, who is unaware that you just left the group	.
I want to make sure that I do not get joined to a usergroup	all you can do is attempt to leave the group or request the leader, or a mod to remove you from it	.
So the Usergroups act like a "padlock and key" to private areas on the site?	Yes they do, you should not reveal your password to anybody else	.
Why not?	Because then you are compromising that usergroup	.
I don't care - I want my mate to see what the usergroup is saying in the private forum	There are various facilities available to the administrators of the site to detect such abuse, you are liable to lose your membership of the group if you allow other members to use your password	.
Fair enough	.	.
I have had enough of the forums now I want to resign	ok, sorry to hear you say that - please come back some time later - your account will still be here waiting for you	J
No I want you to delete my account	Accounts can be deleted if the member has written 0 posts or has joined solely to advertise a website	.
I have written 59 posts, please delete my account and the 59 posts	No, this will not be completed by support staff of the site	.
I will do it then	Yes you can press 'edit' in all of the 59 posts and delete them one by one that way	.
OK I will do that	There are facilities open to the administrator to restore back all those posts after you "delete them"	.
Why should you do that?	We probably wouldn't bother but we do reserve the right to apply such facilities	.
OK I am now going to delete all of my posts	Fine - I can't stop you. Your account will be suspended when this is discovered and consideration given as to whether you should be banned from the site	.
Why? That's not fair	You just said you wanted to resign from the forums. Deleting all your posts is going one stage further. It is sabotaging the basic communications of this site	.
You just told me I could do it	Because you physically can do it, does not mean that such action is approved	.
OK	.	.
I am aged 13 and I am interested in becoming a Traffic Officer when I leave school	That's great but please note: our forums are intended for use by persons aged 16 years and above. Persons under that age may read the topics displayed but may not participate otherwise	K
when was this decided?	this was decided on 14.1.09	.
why was this decision made?	most importantly, persons under the age of 16 may be vulnerable to private contact from another member of the site. It is important to remove the ability for under-age users to communicate "privately" with other users via this site	.
what if a member under the age of 16 opens an account?	this must be reported immediately to any moderator	.
I keep on getting private messages from another member, they are not abusive but rather annoying, he keeps on at me to visit his website, I went to it once and it's as boring as hell, he keeps PMing me and I'm sick of it	Private Messaging can be DISABLED on a per member basis. If a complaint is made, the spammer can be warned that his private messaging will be disabled by the administrator of the site: COPY the private messages into a PM or email to an administrator of the site, with your complaint	.
I have noticed that other members have little pictures under their member names, how do I get a little picture like that?	Should you wish to choose an avatar - you might want to see what other members have chosen first, have a look around on the forums and please try and pick an avatar that has not been used by another member .... now select "U C P" from the top menu. go to your tabbed options and select "Profile" now look for "Edit avatar" in the side options now click 'BROWSE' to choose an image from your own computer OR click 'Display gallery' [RECOMMENDED] to find a library image (this is the easy way)	.
I saw The Wanderer's faq page all about Traffic Officers' kit and training, IT'S GREAT!	Yes articles like that form the best part of the main site	.
A pal of mine took some photos of me on my motorway patrol and me talking to the services personnel and even some of the yobs where I patrol, I could do an article like that	absolutely - submit the photos and your text so that the article can be finalised on the main site	L
but who do I email with the photos /text?	> please check the CONTACT US page for email addresses < - please write down the email address that you want to reply to from there	.
which email address do I use?	use the first one, if there is no response go to the second one etc.	.
if the forums crash we go to	http://www.prisonofficer.org.uk/hBB3/	M
any other back up?	no sir	.
THEY are the back up forums?	YES, that is the back up forums	.
Why bother?	well it's possible that the live forums could drop out, that's all	.
if the forums have crashed it is unlikely that the forums will be visible to display the back up forum address so - how will we know the address of the back up site?	You won't	.
so if we don't KNOW the address of the back up site after a forum crash, how do we know where to go?	hey I just thought of something, why not make a note NOW of the back up forum address?	.
what and then if the forums are wasted by some crazy hacker or through some colossal crash - we can go straight to the back up forums?	radical	.
are the back up forums run by the same host as the main forums?	I know what you're thinking! The answer is yes, but on a way different server, so that's something at least	.
have the back up forums ever had to be used?	no not yet	.
I can't find the chat room	this may be due to the fact that you're not logged in	N
Why should it make any difference?	our chat room is only available to people who are logged in	.
Why is the chat room only available to those logged in?	we don't want guests in there	.
Why not?	because under the cloak of a "guest" anything stupid daft or offensive could be said, we don't need that	.
okay I'm logged in, I still can't find the chat room	sorry about that CLICK HERE did it launch?	.
eerrr yep I found the chat room now thanks	and?	.
I've got problems	sorry about that, go to this topic tons of info there	.
how do I let people know I'm in the chat room	on the thread	.
where?	we actually have a specific topic called "in chat now!"	.
where?	here > try it out and add a comment yourself !	.
can I help in some way?	you sure can	.
how?	join the CHAT ROOM GROUP	.
how?	click on here !!	.
okay I joined the group!	good, now start a thread or FIND a thread on PJIRC and add a reply	.
what shall I say?	anything, just say you like the chat room, that'll be enough	.
anything else I should be aware of? how do I know I'm in the right chat room?	check this topic to clarify that	.
I saw a member has a 'star award'	yes some members do have a 'star award'	O
well I'm a great member, I should have one too	Yes and if you involve yourself on the site long enough, you will in due course get one too, believe me	.
Where can I view further information on this?	no further info yet	.
My topic was deleted!	When you registered you agreed that "the webmaster, administrator and moderators of this forum have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic at any time should they see fit," so that would include deleting your topic	P
but I was not even informed!	ah, sorry about that, please advise me of what the topic no. was	.
what the heck is the topic no?	look at the very top of this page, you will see text beginning Code: Select all http://national-pcsos.co.uk/h2phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6 after the php?f=2&t= you will see the topic no.	.
I don't know what the topic no. is now, it's been deleted!	ah, well without the topic no. it's very hard to find out what happened BUT tell me the topic title and I will check with mods to try and find out what happened	.
My topic was LOCKED!	When you registered you agreed that "the webmaster, administrator and moderators of this forum have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic at any time should they see fit," so that would include locking your topic	.
but why was it locked?!	well sometimes a topic is locked instead of deleting it	.
how's that?!	the topic may contain both positive AND negative elements. Locking the topic just allows it to "fade away." The topic is still there for all to read, but soon it will drop to the bottom of the forums and away from most members' attention	.
just delete it and have done with it	no, the topic although justifying a lock does not justify removal	.
can a different mod unlock the topic?	yes	.
I posted a perfectly good thread but then the next day found somebody had tampered with my title	what was your title?	Q
Sucess	and it was changed to ?	.
Sucess [when the name calling starts]	Yes your thread was perfectly ok but a supervisor thought that your title was just too short or too vague	.
the part in square brackets was added by a supervisor?	yes	.
I hate the look of the square brackets, can you take them off please?	no but you can! if you wish, just press edit in your first post and remove the square brackets, that will be fine	.
I'll remove the whole additional title as well	no don't do that, the title is too short or too vague - we need good descriptive titles for our topics please	.
ok, fair enough	.	.
I went to read a topic and a message was displayed "This topic does not exist"	Sorry, it must have been deleted, try another topic	.
I have heard that we can choose our own background colour in the forums, we can have black, light blue, dark blue, brown, red, pink - we can choose whatever we want	Well there are a number of templates to choose from yes	.
How do I try these out?	Go to U C P (User Control Panel) and then "Board preferences" then look for "My board style" Select a different template name and then press SUBMIT at the bottom of the page	.
Are there any side effects from doing this?	well the lesser known templates incorporate less of the features that are common on the best known templates .....	.
what does that mean?	you may find functions present on a well known template like "prosilver" that are quite simply missing from obscure templates like "king_conan" sorry about that, if you miss the "function" so much, then simply pick another template	.
I just go back to the "Board Preferences" page again?	Yes you can set many personal attributes there	.
which is the best "board style" ?	There are two topics on this the 2009 templates the 2008 templates these topics describe all the available templates	.
I saw that one member has a wide flashing lights image banner in their signature	yes members are allowed images a maximum of 35 high and 555 wide in their signatures	R
I would like one too	okay but please keep to the maximum dimensions	.
why are there restrictions on images in signatures?	images are not encouraged for signatures at all really	.
why not?	the reason is - is that they are then repeated again and again and we already have images repeated again and again, in the form of avatars, so that's the reason why	.
I have seen a photo in a thread - I need to copy that photo to a thread that I'm posting in, how do I do it?	firstly there is an image restriction of 659 wide so long as the image is below 659 wide you are allowed to do the image copy	.
but how?	this is a demo to show you how to copy your avatar into a post right click on your avatar choose properties (normally at the bottom of the options list) look at DIMENSIONS this shows 2 numbers e.g 279 x 124 the first number is the width it is less than 659 so it is allowed now look at ADDRESS copy the ADDRESS onto paper by writing it down now EDIT your post pressing the EDIT button in your post OR write a new reply write the ADDRESS into your existing post or into your new reply surround the ADDRESS with img tags e.g Code: Select all [img]www.yah.com/monroe.gif[/img] now press preview to see if the tags worked if it didn't work recheck your code, there is probably a space where there shouldn't be one or you forgot the closing img tag must have a / once you see it works press SUBMIT	.
can I read more about img tags?	yes there is more on img tags and in fact there are more tags available than just img ones > please click here for further on img and even more tags <	.
I saw one member writing in different coloured ink, how do I do that?	writing in different coloured fonts is NOT RECOMMENDED because this forum allows 18 different background colours, if you leave the forum to write in the default font colour, everybody will be able to read what you're saying, no matter what background colour (template) another member has chosen	S
I saw one post written in large lettering and it had a photo in it, how do I do that?	why not 'take a peek' at the code that that member used to put his post together?	.
Yes I would like to do that, how do I peek into the code that made another member's post? is that possible?	yes it is, but follow these instructions closely peeking into another member's code using QUOTE look at the post that you wish to examine closely now press QUOTE in that post now the code that that member used to put that post together is presented to you for examination if you know how to use copy and paste then copy and paste that code to word or notepad now press your BACK BUTTON in the top left of your computer screen to exit	.
what is this "copy and paste" ?	> check here for a tutorial on copy and paste <	T
err I didn't press my BACK BUTTON to exit, I made a mistake and pressed SUBMIT, now what do I do?	you plonker you were only supposed to peek at a member's code, not make a reply - ok never mind	.
can I delete that reply? it was a mistake	look in the reply that you made, is there a little icon X in the top right of your post? (next to "EDIT")	.
yes I see the X	are you sure you want to delete your post?	.
yes I should have pressed BACK BUTTON, my mistake	ok click the X - it will delete your post	.
sorry there is no X there, now what do I do?	well you cannot delete the post without an X button	.
well I don't like the post I made, it is just annoying, I made a mistake, surely I can do something?	press EDIT in your mistake post and delete everything in the message box, then write a few words like "entered in error" or "MOD: please delete, post made by mistake"	.
ok I'll do that, cheers!	.	.
I used QUOTE to quote what another member said. It reproduced their post in mine and then I replied more clearly to what they said	yep, QUOTE is pretty good, well done	.
but I wanted to QUOTE what 2 members said from different posts in the thread so that I can chat directly back to those 2 comments	hehe but you can only press one QUOTE button, what a conundrum	.
what's a conundrum?	the thing is, to get 2 quoted posts into your one reply do this: press QUOTE in the first post that you want reproduced in your reply now don't press SUBMIT yet! COPY AND PASTE the entire contents of the reply box into a word.doc or text.txt page now use your BACK BUTTON to exit from the QUOTE now find the next post that you wish to QUOTE press QUOTE in the second post that you want reproduced in your reply now don't press SUBMIT yet COPY AND PASTE the entire contents of the reply box into the word.doc or text.txt page AFTER the one that you already did now use your BACK BUTTON to exit from the QUOTE just like last time now go to the thread in question and simply press REPLY now copy and paste the whole of the text from the word.doc or text.txt page INTO your reply box	.
what is this "copy and paste" ?	> check here for a tutorial on copy and paste <	U
The last post in the topic featured a quoted post, the poster had pressed QUOTE and it showed the post that he then went on to reply to.	Great	.
Now when I press QUOTE, I get both his post and the post he quoted, quoted in my post and I can reply to both his post and the post he quoted	And then the next poster can press QUOTE again and get both your post quoted plus the previous poster who quoted somebody else	.
Yeah then the next poster can press QUOTE again and gets so many quote boxes going we are all sick of the sight of seeing boxes within boxes	the site now limits the amount of QUOTE BOXES that are permitted to mount up to prevent causing a total mess in the thread - so don't be surprised if you are stopped from QUOTING more than 3 quotes in succession	.
or it is likely that a whole succession of QUOTED QUOTES will kick off?	Yep and the whole page just looks a mess, totally unnecessary too	.
I read on one thread about a 'scum sucking SPAMMER' - what the heck is that?	well a person who joins a website solely to advertise a product or another forum or website, is certainly a SPAMMER	.
and SCUM SUCKING SPAMMER?	the worst kind of SPAMMER	.
what do they do?	they are the worst SPAMMER, they join the site solely to advertise a product or another forum or website that bears NO RELATION to the subject matter at the heart of our website!	.
what should we do if we see a SPAMMER doing their worst?	> notify a supervisor please < why not use the REPORTING SYSTEM to flag the post? (see section G above)	.
I would like to be a supervisor myself	that is great but please be satisfied with being an active and respected member of the forum	V
I really would like to be a supervisor on the forum	well the number of supervisors is kept LOW deliberately, this forum does not need many supervisors, but thank you for expressing your interest at this time	.
How are members expected to behave?	May I remind you of one of the terms that you signed to when you joined this site? "You agree not to post any abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, sexually-oriented or any other material that may violate any applicable laws. Doing so may lead to you being immediately and permanently banned (and your service provider being informed)." The above is an extract from the terms and conditions you signed up to when you joined this site. IN ADDITION members are expected to behave in a nice, sympathetic and generally pleasant manner. IN ADDITION members are expected to write in ENGLISH.	V1
a pal of mine speaks French and as a private joke I like to write posts in French, he will be able to read them, what a hoot!	Please do not write in French or any other language than English	.
This is unfair, I wish to write in French	Sorry, if you continue to write in a language other than English, you will be banned	.
I wrote a post then a mod replied on the topic to me headed "WARNING 1"	you have done something that does not justify banning you, this is 1 warning, please take heed of it	.
The mod also wrote that I could "leave the site"	Yes the mod is telling you that you can voluntarily stop coming here	.
This is very hurtful to me	If you wish to stay on the site, you could PM the MOD or ADMIN to make amends	.
I don't agree with this warning	there is no appeal process regarding issue of warnings	.
OK how long is a "Warning" valid?	12 months	.
Can a member be banned from the site for longer than 7 days?	Yes a member can be banned from the site for longer than 7 days. These are the circumstances in which that would apply Any member who - repeatedly contravenes "How members are expected to behave" OR while banned from the site for 7 days, opens a further account on the site or uses a previously opened account on the site OR embarks on a campaign of manually going through all their posts one by one and deleting each one OR while banned from the site for 7 days, is the subject of a moderators decision where 2 or more moderators decide the ban will be increased from 7 days to indefinite OR is the subject of a moderators decision where 2 or more moderators decide the ban will be indefinite will be banned indefinitely	W
What IS the * back up system to help?	When logged out look at the LOG IN screen. You will see Please enter your username and password to log in. and 2 fields Below the 2 fields you will see I forgot my password When clicking the line 'I forgot my password' you will then be asked your username AND the email address that you registered with	*
I want to upload my own avatar	Well unless you're extremely lucky - uploading an avatar is actually flippin HARD WORK!! Are you sure you wouldn't like to simply SELECT an avatar?	X
How do I do that?	To choose an avatar - you might want to see what other members have chosen first, so have a look around the forums that will show you all the avatars that have already been chosen, but it may take a few minutes then .............. once you have seen the avatars already chosen by other people .... now select "U C P" (User Control Panel) from the top menu. go - "PROFILE" then choose "Edit avatar" then click "Display Gallery" just above the word "Submit" at the very bottom of the page. Select "Display gallery" and once you have chosen a piccie - remember to press "Submit" at the bottom of the form or nothing will happen.	.
Nah I decided I really want to upload my own avatar	Okay - if you are sure, be warned this can be time consuming and arduous, but if you are determined	.
I am determined	Okay the restrictions on uploaded avatars are less than 16k in file size no indecent, crude, offensive or insulting material static (no moving parts!) width must be less than 115 you are prepared to remove the avatar if requested by any moderator who disagrees with your choice if you comply with those 5 restrictions then go ahead!	.
I just saw a newbie come on the site with a question that has been asked a million times before blow me, they have started a NEW TOPIC on something that has been asked over and over before	have a look on the applications forum - is it covered in there? see if you can spot a previous question on there and note the thread title no	Y
ok there IS a previous thread, now what?	quote the previous thread title and advise the newbie how to get to the thread Code: Select all http://national-pcsos.co.uk/h2phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=24  that would be really helpful	.

thanks for reading > if you want to see the old 2007 manual then click here

[Nighthawk]

[falkor]

in January 2009 the f manual will be treated to an update

what will happen is the old f manual that currently exists will be left in place

a new f manual will be written which will look fairly similar to what you see now but will be amended so as to be up to date for 2009

the old f manual will then commence with a link to the NEW F MANUAL

? Is there anything you would like included in the new 2009 f manual that would benefit other site users?