(Sorry about the length of this FAQ guys, but I tried to make it as comprehensive as possible and it's really only meant for newbies to forums. It gave me something to do anyway :p)
So you may have noticed that when you click on the 'Post Reply' button in a thread that it might've looked a bit different... Or maybe not...
This is what I like to call the 'Advanced Reply Box'. It has many new features and buttons that will do different things so I thought I'd give you an outline showing what each new button does.
Firstly though, here is a picture of the old version (Screenshot taken with the 'AcidTechTigerEx' Board Style, it will most likely look different with other styles, but you should get the idea)
Now here's a screenshot of the new version so that you can compare the two (Screenshot also taken with the 'AcidTechTigerEx' style in Opera browser, this may appear different with different styles and/or different web browsers)
Now and breakdown of all the new things: NOTE: All of the following can be typed manually, but it's alot quicker and easier to just click the button, plus this will also ensure code accuracy and minimise errors.
FONT
The first thing on the list is a box that says 'Font Type'. When you click the arrow it will display a number of different font names. The default font for most of the styles (As far as I know, with a few exceptions maybe) is 'Arial'. If you wish to change the font for some reason, you can use this button to do so.
All you have to do is click the button and then click the name of the font you wish to use. This is what should appear:
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[font=FONT] [/font]
(Where 'FONT' is, it should say the one that you selected.)
Now whatever you type between the ] and [ on the inside of the two words will be formatted to that font. For example:
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[font=Arial]Hello World[/font]
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[font=Comic Sans MS]Hello World[/font]
FONT SIZE
The next thing on the list is Font Size. You can use this to emphasise a particular word or sentance so that it stands out and (Hopefully) gets the reader's attention.
To do this it's simple, all you have to do is click the button that says 'Font Size' and then click the size that you'd like to have your text.
There are 5 pre-set sizes in total, labeled as follows:
Tiny - Size 7
Small - Size 9
Normal - Size 12
Large - Size 18
Huge - Size 24
When you click on a size that you'd like, the following text will appear:
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[size=SIZE] [/size]
(Where 'SIZE' is, it should say the one that you selected.)
The different sizes look like this:
Tiny
Small
Normal
Large
Huge
I'm fairly certain that you can put your own number in there, but I'm not sure how big or small it will be, nor what the maximum and minimum sizes are, so it's probably best to just use the ones that are already there for you.
FONT COLOUR
(Yes, I spell it 'colour' with a 'u', HTML and BBCode use 'color'.)
Ok, so you want to change the colour of your font so that it sticks out or looks better, this is how you do it.
Firstly, click on the button that says 'Font Color', then click on the colour that you'd like to change the font to.
This is what should appear:
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[color=COLOR] [/color]
(Where 'COLOR' is, it should say the one that you selected.)
Here are some examples of colour change:
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[color=red]Hello World[/color]
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[color=green]Hello World[/color]
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[color=yellow]Hello World[/color]
ALIGN TEXT
Here is the part where you can set how your text looks like on the page, either aligned to the left or right, centred or justified.
Here's how it works: think of how you want your text to look and refer to the firdst 4 buttons on the second row of buttons. Choose the one that best fits your description and click it.
For example purposes I've clicked the 'Centred' one (Third).
This is what should show up:
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[align=center]
Next, type the text that you would like centered on the page and press the button again. The following text should be added on the end of it:
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[/align]
If all goes well, your text should look like the following:
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[align=center]Hello World[/align]
[align=center]Hello World[/align]
Here is a list of all the align modes and what they look like:
Justify:
[align=justify]Hello World[/align]
Align Right:
[align=right]Hello World[/align]
Center:
[align=center]Hello World[/align]
Align Left:
[align=left]Hello World[/align]
SUPERCRIPT AND SUBSCRIPT
Say you were writing out something and you wanted to add those little numbers or letters that you cometimes see but didn't know how to do it, these letters and numbers are called 'Superscript' (Appering at the top of the text) and 'Subscript' (Appearing at the bottom of the text).
To make some superscript text, all you do is click the button that looks like an 'X' with a small 2 near the top (Just to the right of the 'Align' buttons) and the following text should appear:
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[sup]
Now type what you would like to appear as superscript writing and press the button again, resulting in this being added to the end of it:
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[/sup]
For example:
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[sup]Hello World[/sup]
Or, an easier way of seeing what it looks like, here's another example showing only a few superscript letters:
Hel[sup]lo Wor[/sup]ld
The exact same process is used for subscript letters (Which appear below instead of above), but you have to click the button next to it instead.
BOLD, ITALICS, UNDERLINE AND STRIKETHROUGH
Here's how to get bold, Italics, Underline and Strikethrough text.
The first button Looks like a bold capital 'B'. Clicking it will result in the following:
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[b]
Typing after that and pressing the button again will result in this:
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[b]Hello World[/b]
Which would give you this:
Hello World
The next button is Italic writing, the one next to that is underlined writing and the one after that is strikethrough writing.
Here is a list of what they all do and look like:
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[b]Hello World[/b]
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[i]Hello World[/i]
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[u]Hello World[/u]
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[s]Hello World[/s]
FADE
NOTE: I cannot use this feature because I don't use Internet Explorer, which apparently is the only web browser that supports it, therefore I will not be able to provide details of how to use it.
If anyone figures out how to use it and would like to contribute, please do and I'll add it here.
ALIGN LEFT AND RIGHT
Clicking these buttons will automatically align all of your text to either the right or left side of the page, although I'm pretty sure that it's only while you're typing it and not when you post it.
If I am wrong, please let me know.
MARQUEE TEXT
If you want scrolling text, here's how you do it:
The buttons at the end of the middle row control how your marquee behaves, the first being down, the next being up, then left and then right.
Here's what it looks like when you click one of them:
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[marq=DIRECTION]
(Where 'DIRECTION' is, it should say the one that you selected.)
then you type your text and hit the same button again, resulting in:
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[/marq]
Which should leave you with this: (Using the 'Left' example)
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[marq=left]Hello World[/marq]
When viewed, they all look like this:
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[marq=down]Hello World[/marq]
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[marq=up]Hello World[/marq]
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[marq=left]Hello World[/marq]
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[marq=right]Hello World[/marq]
CODE
If you want to type something like computer programming code for example but it keeps thinking that you're typing BBCode, just use the following code button. Click it once to create:
[*code]
Then again after you've typed for this:
[*/code]
And it should work out ok. (Ignore the *'s, I had to put them there or it would get confused.)
What will happen is your text will appear in a little box labeled 'Code' and it will be in a font that uses equal spaced cells so that any ASCII pictures
similar will appear correctly when you type them. It also ignores any type of formatting code that might interrupt it.
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QUOTE
To quote somebody or thing hit the 'Quote' button next to the code one and this should appear:
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[quote]
A second click gives you:
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[/quote]
And the text should appear in a quote box when posted.
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SPOILER
NOTE: I'm not too sure if or how this works and I don't really know if it should be used or not. If it does work, use it ONLY when neccessary, don't use it to break rules and think you'll get away with it.
Ok, so apparently there's a feature called 'Spoiler' which makes the text the same colour as the background and users have to move the mouse over it or highlight it to see what's written.
Due to the different Forums tyles, I'm not 100% sure that this would work, so use it with caution.
A first click gives you:
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[spoil]
And another gives you
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[/spoil]
The text inside is the spoiler.
URL'S AND LINKS
To post a URL to another website or thread, etc, use the 'URL' button.
When clicked, it should say 'Enter The URL'
This is the website/thread/whatever of the place that you would like to go to when you click it. It's the address in the bar up the top of the screen.
Say for example we were posting a link to Google©, we'd put the following in there:
www.google.com
Then click ok which should then make it say 'Enter The Page Name'. This does not have to be the title of the website that you are linking to, but it is strongly advised that it has relevance to the website linked to.
DO NOT USE THIS TO LINK TO ANY WEBSITES THAT WOULD BREAK THE RULES AND MIS-LEAD OTHER USERS TO CLICK IT BY USING WRONG INFORMATION. THERE'S A MIGHTY HIGH CHANCE THAT YOU WILL BE BANNED.
With that out of the way, say we were linking to Google©, instead of the link saying 'www.google.com', we could have it say 'Google'. This not only makes things look nicer but can be used for other reasons as well.
Here's what that example above would look like:
Broken down, it means that whatever is in here after the = sign > [url=*] is the place that it will take you to and then inbetween here > ] [*/url] what you want it to say.
(Ignore the *'s, I put them there so it wouldn't get confused.)
You can skip this altogether and just place the following tags around a link:
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[url] [/url]
But it will look like this:
http://www.google.com
E-MAIL LINK
If you want to link a name to an E-Mail (So have it open up your E-Mail program so you can send it to them) click the 'Insert E-Mail' button once and input the E-Mail address of the person you wish to link to.
It should appear like this:
example@example.com
When clicked, it will open up a new E-Mail and already type the address in for you.
NOTE: Triple check that you've typed the E-Mail address right before you make the link.
INSERT WEBPAGE
Not quite sure what this does, but I think it inserts a webpage into the current one.
NOTE: Unless this works the way I want it to I will warn you for using it with out my permission because it may not work as desired. Until I can properly test it myself, please avoid the use of it. Thanks.
When clicked, enter the webpage you would like to insert and press ok resulting in this:
[web]http://www.example.com/[/web]
('www.example.com' is only used for example purposes, the address you typed in will replace it)
IMAGES (Hotlinking)
If you wish to insert an image into your post, use the 'Insert Image' button.
When asked to do you, type the FULL URL of the picture you would like to link to and press ok, resulting in this:
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[img]http://musicmayhem.freeforums.org/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
Which would look like this when posted:
NOTE: If the image that you linked to gets removed/moved or changed, this will affect your post.
FLASH EMBEDDING
If you wish to embed a flash image/movie/game into your post, please do so with caution and respect those who may not have a fast internet connection.
I would generally discourage the use of this and for you to only post when absoloutely necessary or when (And if) A particlar post or thread requests you do so.
Firstly, click the'Insert Flash File' button and follow the instructions.
Firstly, type the FULL URL of the animation/etc that you wish to link to, example:
www.fat-pie.com/love.swf
Then specify the Width of the animation (In pixels) and the Height (Also in pixels) then hit ok.
NOTE: PLEASE make sure you get the dimensions right, otherwise they will not show up properly.
Also, don't make the dimensions too high or wide, otherwise I shall remove it without asking. I declare the maximum height and width to be no higher than 500 respectively.
This is what the above video should look like:
[flash width=250 height=250]www.fat-pie.com/love.swf[/flash]
VIDEO EMBEDDING
NOTE: If you have a video that you would like to share with us, please use the other options listed below. I discourage the use of this featre strongly as YouTube videos and others (Though especially YouTube) are more suited to the web. Please get my permission first and make sure that it's not obscene or rule-breaking material that you wish to post.
Here's how to use it anyway, click the button (Looks like a video camera) then input the FULL URL in the box. Then followed by the height and width as before. Here's just an example video of what it would look like, the video doesn't exist:
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[video width=400 height=350]http://musicmayhem.avi[/video]
AUDIO STREAMING
I'm not 100% sure if I'll allow the use of this because I don't know exactly howit works. It seems to ask for you to point the target to an audio file (Of which format I'm unsure of).
Untill I can test this further, please don't use it.
REAL MEDIA PLAYER VIDEO
Same as the above ones, but with REAL Player video. (I'm fairly certain that you must have REAL Player installed in order to watch the video too)
Google VIDEO
To insert a Google video into your post, press the 'Post A Google Video' file button and input the FULL URL of the video that you are linking to. It should do the rest for you.
YouTube VIDEO
Same as above, but make sure that the link points to a YouTube video.
LIST
I haven't used this yet, I'll add it later.
LINE BREAK
To insert a Line Break into your post, press the 'Insert Line Break' button, or just type:
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[hr]
Which will give you:
[hr]
REMOVE BBCODES FROM TEXT
To get rid of BBCODE formatting alltogether, press this button. This is usefull if you make a mistake and want to start again or wish to remove formatting without doing it manually.
Questions/Comments/Abuse below. Thanks.
).
