F.A.Q. : Posting

[Sylvia]

Within this topic you will find explanations on how to post replies, make new topics and also how to get maximum use of the many features available in the post screen.

Simply click on each of the links given directly below (the blue text), and either a new window will open showing the relevant area in the SMF Help Guide or you will be guided to another post in this topic containing the information available on that particular subject.


General info:
Posting a reply to an existing topic
Inserting multiple quotes in a single post
Creating a new topic for discussion
Making a poll
How to use Spell Check

Including Photos and Graphics:
Attaching pictures to a post
Inserting an image from the web
Smileys... Why, where and how!

BBC tags:
What they do & how to use them
Chart showing all the BBC buttons with examples of output
Changing the color, style or size of text
Creating hyperlinks which appear as alternate text or images



If you need help with anything that is not included here, please start a new topic in the Technical Support board, and we will answer your query as soon as possible.

[Sylvia]

You can easily add one or more quotes by different members to your post even after you've already opened the "Post reply" page!

Scroll to the Topic Summary below the post screen and you will see a small blue text link titled Insert Quote in the top right corner of every post that has already been made in the topic you are replying to.
(see faq_quote_01.jpg)

When you click this link, it automatically inserts the code required to quote the individual posts in your own message. Click "enter" on your keyboard to leave a small space below the quote and type your reply.
(see faq_quote_02.jpg)

To insert further quotes in your post, just follow the same method again and click the Insert Quote link on another of the posts in the Topic Summary, remembering to leave a bit of space in the message panel after your first response (It's also a good idea to quote the older posts first when doing more than one).
(see faq_quote_03.jpg)

After you have finished typing your response to each additional quote, press Preview before you post to check that the codes are working. If something doesn't look right, the chances are high that part of the code is either missing or in the wrong place.
(see faq_quote_04.jpg)


When you're happy with what you have written, simply click Post at the bottom of the "Post Reply" screen, and you're done!

[Sylvia]

After you've drafted a post, you can use the in-built Spell Check system before submitting it via the button at the bottom of the "Post Reply" screen. This pops up in a new window.

The program highlights words that it thinks might be spelt wrong and gives you a list of alternate words to change them to. If you want to change a highlighted word in your reply to one it has supplied in the list, you simply click on the correct alternative given and press Change. If there's more misspelled words in your post, it will then highlight the next one and so on until it can't find any more. If you want to ignore a suggestion for a word but still want to check others, just press Ignore for that particular highlighted word to continue. Then you simply press OK to close the window after it says "Spell Checking Complete". 

[Sylvia]

This is how to post a picture that exists on your hard drive, a CD, or other removable media.
Many thanks go to Serenity for writing the explanation and providing the graphics. 

From the bottom of your ‘Post Reply’ window, click on Additional Options
(see PhotoFAQ01.jpg)

This will add a bit more to the window at the bottom, including Attach with a text box and a Browse button.
(see PhotoFAQ02.jpg)

Click on the Browse button to search for the photo you wish to attach.  Select the picture you wish to post, then click on Open.
(see PhotoFAQ03.jpg)

If you only want to post one photo, you’re all done.  Type your message in the message box, and click on Post.
(see PhotoFAQ04.jpg)

The maximum file size allowed for a single attachment is 100kb, but if you want to add more than one picture to your post (up to four) they should not total more than 300kb. Click on (more attachments), and then use the Browse button and Open to attach an extra pic. The code for each additional image will be placed in a separate field to the left of the Browse button.

[Sylvia]

Sometimes it can be fun and/or effective to insert an image from the web into your post, rather than adding it as an attachment.
This is done by using the Image button on the "Post Reply" screen . This only works with pictures that have been uploaded to a web space as you input the address (URL) of an image between the tags and the code creates a direct link to it. 

For example, this code...

Code: [Select]

[img]http://www.justforklicks.com/j4k/pics/main/ccompany.jpg[/img]
produces this:


If you are using Internet Explorer as your browser, you can find out the exact URL of an image on any webpage, unless the webmaster has placed a block on it. Right click on the pic (not the page) and select "Properties" from the drop-down menu. Another window will open and you'll see the URL listed about halfway down. Simply copy it and paste it between the Image tags and there you have it!

It's a good idea to not link directly to any really, REALLY big pics as it draws bandwidth from the server hosting the pic every time someone opens the topic page containing the embedded image. Images with large file sizes can also have the unwanted side effect of making the topic page download less quickly and frustrating people who are using slower modems.

Also, please be aware that some hosting companies (especially those that offer free services to their customers, such as Tripod) do not allow direct linking to images and will replace your graphic with something else such as their own logo in order to prevent this happening.

[Sylvia]

Smileys can be useful for conveying extra emotion in your post where the written language sometimes isn't enough. Click on the smiley you feel best reflects the mood of what you have written or, in the case of when you are replying to another member's quote, whatever you are responding to. Take extra care when using the "Roll Eyes" smiley ()in response to another member's comments, as it may be taken as sarcasm by other readers even if that is not your intention.

At the time of writing this FAQ, there are 40 set smileys included on the PlaymoFriends forum! 24 of these can easily be seen on the "Post Reply" screen below the BBC tags and above the area you type your message. To see the "hidden" ones, just click the blue [more] link to the right of the final smiley and they will pop up in a new window.
(see faq_more_smileys.jpg)

The codes for the smileys are usually made from a pair or short string of characters. Sometimes they are represented by a word between 2 colons. When you post, these codes get automatically translated into images.

For example, these codes:

Code: [Select]

8} :wave:
Will make these appear in your post:
 

Please note that not all of the smiley codes will be correctly parsed and converted to images unless their opening spaces are present. If part of the code is accidentally deleted or moved, they will also fail to work. Using the Preview function will help you to check that your smileys are all working before you send your post and give you the opportunity to fix any that aren't.

If you simply can't find the right smiley on the "Post Reply" screen for the situation you find yourself in, it is also possible to insert smileys from other websites into your post by linking directly to them using the Image button in the BBC tags . The URL of the smiley image needs to be placed between the Image tags in order for this method to work.

For example, this code:

Code: [Select]

[img]http://bestsmileys.com/love2/16.gif[/img]Will make one of these appear in your post!

[Sylvia]

These are the tags which generate specific codes by clicking the special buttons in the "Post Reply" screen. The text ones can be very handy for when you need to emphasise words (eg. in bold, italic, underline, etc), or you can use them simply to make your post stand out on the page by giving it a different look to the default style.

There are 2 easy ways to use the tags:

1) Click the button to insert the code in the message area and then type your text between the 2 tags. Take care not to accidentally change the code belonging to the tags as they will not work properly if you do.

or

2) You can apply the tags to text after you have written it (but before posting, of course ). Simply use your mouse to highlight the text you wish to change in the message screen and then click on the appropriate BBC button. The code will automatically surround the highlighted text.


It is also possible to nest some of the BBC tags inside one another for added effect.

For example, this code:

Code: [Select]

[color=purple][font=Arial][size=24pt][b]Extra large, bold and purple text in Arial font[/b][/size][/font][/color]
Produces type like this:
Extra large, bold and purple text in Arial font

Note that each "opening" tag:

Code: [Select]

[b]also has a matching "closing" tag with a forward slash:

Code: [Select]

[/b]which appears after the text you are inputting. The code will not work correctly if part of a tag is missing or incomplete. All it takes is for one square bracket to be absent or incorrectly placed and the effect will be ruined. 

A good way to avoid mistakes like this is to Preview your post before submitting it. Then you can look for possible errors in the code and correct them.

[Sylvia]

The default text for this forum is black 10pt Verdana.

It can be fun sometimes to use different coloured text and different fonts styles or sizes when posting. This can be done easily by using the options availiable in the drop down menus titled Change Colour, Font Face and Font Size on the "Post Reply" screen.

Use your mouse to highlight the text you wish to change in the message box and then choose the effect from the BBC tags by clicking on it. If you want to add more than one effect to the same piece of text, highlight the whole section again (including the new code tags you just added) and click another of the options.

An example of nested colour, font face and size tags can be found in the post above this.

You can vary the font size from the options offered by changing the point size inside the tags.

These are a couple of the set sizes in the menu:

Code: [Select]

[size=16pt]This is large text[/size]This is large text

Code: [Select]

[size=24pt]This is extra large text[/size]This is extra large text

To make text in a font size that is between the 2 above, simply change the number given after the = symbol, like so:

Code: [Select]

[size=20pt]This is text between those 2 sizes[/size]This is text between those 2 sizes

[Sylvia]

If you want to create a neat link which doesn't look like a long string of messy characters, you can do this very easily by using the hyperlink button and making a slight adjustment to the code.


For a standard link, the code would appear like this:

Code: [Select]

[url]http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/[/url]
http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/

Note how the word url is enclosed in square brackets at either side of the linking address, and a forward slash is used to "turn off" the code in the final bracket.


To make an alternate text link, we need to extend the information within the first bracket by adding an equals sign = and pasting in the required web-page address immediately after it with no spaces. The word/s which are to replace the url are then typed in between this new code. (Do not delete any of the square brackets which surround the code, as these are necessary for it to work correctly.)

Code: [Select]

[url=http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/]The fun forum for Playmobil® fans of all ages![/url]
The fun forum for Playmobil® fans of all ages!


All hyperlinks on this site follow a basic style of blue text without any underline. Because of this they can be easily overlooked by the newer forum users. For that reason it is good practise to "announce" your link in your post (eg. click this for more info, etc). If your post doesn't allow for this and you wish your text link to be contained within another sentence, a good alternative is to either bold the text you use or place it inside a pair of square brackets which will help draw the reader's attention.

Here are examples showing the code required for the 2 different styles:

Code: [Select]

[url=http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/][b]The fun forum for Playmobil® fans of all ages![/b][/url]
The fun forum for Playmobil® fans of all ages!

Code: [Select]

[url=http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/][The fun forum for Playmobil® fans of all ages!][/url]
[The fun forum for Playmobil® fans of all ages!]

[Sylvia]

Embedding an image in a post which acts as a hyperlink is also possible with a little clever nesting of the BBC tags.

First use the Image button and input the URL of your image between the tags. This is not the URL of the web page it's placed on, it's the actual server location of the image only. (Look for the .jpg or .gif file extension, not .html.) You can usually get the exact address of a web image by right clicking on it and looking at its "Properties" (in I.E.)

This code:

Code: [Select]

[img]http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/Themes/playmo/images/on.gif[/img]produces this:


To make your image link to another web page when clicked, simply use your mouse to highlight the entire string of image code when in the reply screen, and click on the hyperlink button.

The rest of the method is quite similar to the one used when making an alternate text link, as once again you need to extend the first part of the code by including the URL of the page you want the image to link to. (See detailed instructions in post above.)

The resulting code will look something like this in your message screen:

Code: [Select]

[url=www.playmofriends.com/forum/][img]http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/Themes/playmo/images/on.gif[/img][/url]And once posted, it magically becomes a hyperlink!