Welcome to our new forum. I know I have tried this before without any success but who knows this time may be different so I am going to give it another go. If you have a question about the forum look down here , you may find the answer.
1. Q What is the idea of the forum?
A The idea is that you can discuss anything you like (within reason). Perhaps you have a hobby you are interested in, why not tell us all about it? Or you may be going on a holiday or have just been on holiday. Tell us about it. Perhaps you are wondering what it is like where you want to go on holiday, why not ask here and see if someone else has been there. In fact you could talk about anything. New topics can always be added so just let me know if you have an idea for a topic and perhaps I can add it.
2. Q How do I start to use it?
A It’s simple really. Before you can add any comments you must first sign up. Just click on where it says ‘Register’ at the top of the forum. This will open a dialogue box to set up your password and username. Just answer the simple questions (don’t forget to tick the box for ‘Terms and Conditions’), Click the box at the bottom to sign up. You will then be sent an email with a link on it which you must click. That just confirms you are who you say you are and you’re then able to sign in to the forum and add comments. All you need to do in the future will be to click on ‘sign in’ at the top of the forum, add your details and away you go. It really is quite simple. Once you are using the forum do not use your browser back button as this may have the effect of signing you out. Just click on ‘The Crispin Forum Index’ to return to where you want to go.
3. Q How do I comment on something someone else has written?
A At the bottom of each of the comments there are two boxes, one allows you to start a new topic if you want and the other allows you to reply to a comment. Click on the one you need.
4. Q When I have finished how do I end my session?
A Once you have done everything you want and wish to come out of the forum, just click on the ‘log out’ button at the top.
5. Q Is there any control over what is written?
A Yes there is. It is possible to delete comments that are considered unsuitable. At the moment this will be done by the forum administrator but in the future other members can be made ‘moderators’ and they will have the power to delete unsuitable material. Anyone submitting unsuitable material will be asked to stop sending it in and if they continue to do so, they will be banned from using the forum.
6. Q How long will a comment stay on the forum?
A As long as it needs to stay. It can be taken off at any time but really there is no reason to take it off.
7. Q Can I submit images?
A Yes you can. Unfortunately it is a little involved to do this but it is not difficult. Once you have done it the first time it is easy. You cannot upload images directly to the forum at the present time. First of all you will need to upload your images to a photo hosting website such as Flickr. If you do not have an account with Flickr it is easy and free to open one, just go to www.flickr.com and follow the instructions to open an account. Once you have an account, upload your pictures to Flickr. (There are of course other websites that will do this and so far as I know they are all easy to use. These include Webshots, Zoomr, Picasaweb. I am not sure of the web addresses of these but if you do a Google search you will find them) We have to be particular about the size of images shown on the forum so when you upload your pictures to Flickr try to resize them to approximately between 800 x 600 pixels and 1200 x 900 pixels. Once you have your pictures sorted what you need to do is open them on Flickr (by clicking on the thumbnail images). You will see a row of boxes along the top of the image, one of which says ‘All sizes’. Click on that. Your image will then open (usually quite big depending how big it was when you uploaded it). You will see some boxes with sizes in them such as ‘original’, ‘medium’ ,‘small’ etc. Click on one that gives you approximately 500 x 300 pixels (usually the medium one). Your image will resize. Now if you look below the image you will see two boxes - Option 1 or Option 2. Option 1 will have a lot of text but option 2 should have just one line of text. Right click on 2 and copy the text.
Now come back to the forum and click on a box for either ‘new topic’ or ‘reply’ depending on what you want to do. That will open a text box where you can add your comments. Along the top of this box are smaller boxes one of which says [Img] , click on that. You will see that this has been entered into your text box for you. Now right click in the text box and click ‘paste’. The text you copied from Flickr should have been entered after [Img]. Now click on [Img] again and it will be entered at the end of your line of text. Now just click on ‘submit’ at the bottom of the text box and your image should be on the forum.
Of course you may have a question that is not answered here, so you can try the FAQ’s at the top of the forum. If you still cannot find the answer just contact me and I will answer it if I can. I may also need to put it on this page so others have the answer as well.
1. Q What is the idea of the forum?
A The idea is that you can discuss anything you like (within reason). Perhaps you have a hobby you are interested in, why not tell us all about it? Or you may be going on a holiday or have just been on holiday. Tell us about it. Perhaps you are wondering what it is like where you want to go on holiday, why not ask here and see if someone else has been there. In fact you could talk about anything. New topics can always be added so just let me know if you have an idea for a topic and perhaps I can add it.
2. Q How do I start to use it?
A It’s simple really. Before you can add any comments you must first sign up. Just click on where it says ‘Register’ at the top of the forum. This will open a dialogue box to set up your password and username. Just answer the simple questions (don’t forget to tick the box for ‘Terms and Conditions’), Click the box at the bottom to sign up. You will then be sent an email with a link on it which you must click. That just confirms you are who you say you are and you’re then able to sign in to the forum and add comments. All you need to do in the future will be to click on ‘sign in’ at the top of the forum, add your details and away you go. It really is quite simple. Once you are using the forum do not use your browser back button as this may have the effect of signing you out. Just click on ‘The Crispin Forum Index’ to return to where you want to go.
3. Q How do I comment on something someone else has written?
A At the bottom of each of the comments there are two boxes, one allows you to start a new topic if you want and the other allows you to reply to a comment. Click on the one you need.
4. Q When I have finished how do I end my session?
A Once you have done everything you want and wish to come out of the forum, just click on the ‘log out’ button at the top.
5. Q Is there any control over what is written?
A Yes there is. It is possible to delete comments that are considered unsuitable. At the moment this will be done by the forum administrator but in the future other members can be made ‘moderators’ and they will have the power to delete unsuitable material. Anyone submitting unsuitable material will be asked to stop sending it in and if they continue to do so, they will be banned from using the forum.
6. Q How long will a comment stay on the forum?
A As long as it needs to stay. It can be taken off at any time but really there is no reason to take it off.
7. Q Can I submit images?
A Yes you can. Unfortunately it is a little involved to do this but it is not difficult. Once you have done it the first time it is easy. You cannot upload images directly to the forum at the present time. First of all you will need to upload your images to a photo hosting website such as Flickr. If you do not have an account with Flickr it is easy and free to open one, just go to www.flickr.com and follow the instructions to open an account. Once you have an account, upload your pictures to Flickr. (There are of course other websites that will do this and so far as I know they are all easy to use. These include Webshots, Zoomr, Picasaweb. I am not sure of the web addresses of these but if you do a Google search you will find them) We have to be particular about the size of images shown on the forum so when you upload your pictures to Flickr try to resize them to approximately between 800 x 600 pixels and 1200 x 900 pixels. Once you have your pictures sorted what you need to do is open them on Flickr (by clicking on the thumbnail images). You will see a row of boxes along the top of the image, one of which says ‘All sizes’. Click on that. Your image will then open (usually quite big depending how big it was when you uploaded it). You will see some boxes with sizes in them such as ‘original’, ‘medium’ ,‘small’ etc. Click on one that gives you approximately 500 x 300 pixels (usually the medium one). Your image will resize. Now if you look below the image you will see two boxes - Option 1 or Option 2. Option 1 will have a lot of text but option 2 should have just one line of text. Right click on 2 and copy the text.
Now come back to the forum and click on a box for either ‘new topic’ or ‘reply’ depending on what you want to do. That will open a text box where you can add your comments. Along the top of this box are smaller boxes one of which says [Img] , click on that. You will see that this has been entered into your text box for you. Now right click in the text box and click ‘paste’. The text you copied from Flickr should have been entered after [Img]. Now click on [Img] again and it will be entered at the end of your line of text. Now just click on ‘submit’ at the bottom of the text box and your image should be on the forum.
Of course you may have a question that is not answered here, so you can try the FAQ’s at the top of the forum. If you still cannot find the answer just contact me and I will answer it if I can. I may also need to put it on this page so others have the answer as well.
Some FAQ’s
