Forum help page

Registration is free, anyone can join.
Email addreses are kept secure and never passed on, unless you wish to do so yourself.
When you register for the first time, a password will be sent to the email address that you specify. Once this has been received you can sign in.
If you do not receive a confirmation email, it's most probable that you have mis-typed your email address. Please check this carefully when registering.
Once confirmed, it is recommended that you then edit your profile and change your password to something you prefer.

You can easily change your details (e.g. username, password, location, profile image, contact preferences) any time via the Your profile link in the header.
Your username can be up to 32 characters in length, and may contain alphanumerical characters of either upper or lower-case, plus spaces or hyphens.
If you change your username at any time, all messages containing your old username will automatically be updated to your new one.
The location can be up to 64 characters in length.
You can, if you wish, have your own "Signature", which will display as a single line beneath your posts. This may be anything you wish, like a URL of your own website, for instance.

If you wish to privately contact another member via this forum, this option will only be available if you have also selected 'Allow private contacts' in your profile.

To add a response to a topic, click the "Respond" button at the top or bottom of any topic page.
To respond to a specific message by someone, use the "Quote this post & respond" link within that message box, which will display that message in your response inside a dashed-bordered box. Sections of particularly long quoted messages can be deleted inside the editing box in the usual manner, however do not delete the "<div class='quote'>" at the beginning or the "</div>" at the end of the quote. Also, please do not edit someone else's quote in a manner that will alter their original meaning!
It is possible to change or delete a post that you've just submitted, but once someone has responded to your message it can no longer be altered or removed.

It is possible to link directly to external websites within these forum messages. Please ensure, however, that no external sites to which you link contain any inappropriate content.

It is possible to link directly to images within these forum messages. However, if the image to which you are linking is not your own, then you must ensure that you have permission from the owner to link to their picture.
The first obvious problem when using other people's images is copyright. It is important that the rightful ownership of any images used is respected, and even if permission is granted, appropriate credit should be given.
However, another major problem is usage of bandwidth. Importing an image that resides on another website is called "hot-linking", and every time someone on this forum views a page containing such an image, the bandwidth of the host site is used. Website owners have to pay for this bandwidth, and many have a monthly limit, which, if exceeded will cause their site to be taken offline. This is plainly not acceptable, so permission must always be sought before linking to images on other websites, especially personal ones.

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