Frequently Asked Questions- The Forum Edition

[EAUK_Aurora]

This thread should answer some of your questions about the general use of the forum and how to make the most of your time here.

• How do I change my avatar and signature?
• How do I create a poll?
• General Forum Etiquette
• How do I post images?
• How do I use BB/VB code?
• How can I customise my profile and edit my options?

If there are other areas that you would like to be included in this thread, please PM a member of the team to let them know.

Don't forget to also read The Forum Guidelines so that you can be sure of all of the rules.

[EAUK_Phenom]

How do I change my Avatar?

1. At the top of the page, click on “User CP” (User Control Panel).
2. On the left, click “Edit Avatar” (which sits under "Settings & Options").
3. On this page you have 2 options:
- Option 1: Type in the internet address (URL) of the image you wish to use as your avatar.
- Option 2: Upload an image from your computer to use as your avatar. To do this, click "Browse…" and select the image you wish to use. Once you’ve highlighted the image you want, click "Open".
4. Once you have finished, select "Save Changes" at the bottom.

Please note that your avatar must be no bigger than 80x80 pixels and no larger than 19.5KB.
Your avatar will resize itself automatically if the image is larger than 80x80 pixels (but it has to be below 19.5KB for it to do so).

How do I change my Signature?

1. At the top of the page, click on “User CP” (User Control Panel).
2. On the left, select “Edit Signature” (which sits under "Settings & Options").
3. Enter your signature in the message box.
4. To include an image in your signature, click on the "Insert Image" icon and enter the internet address (URL) of the image in the pop-up box and then click "OK". Alternatively, you can use either of the two options from the "Signature Picture" panel:
- Option 1: Enter the internet address (URL) of the image you wish to use as your signature.
- Option 2: Upload an image from your computer to use as your signature. To do this, click "Browse…" and select the image you wish to use. Once you’ve highlighted the image you want, click "Open".
5. Once you have finished, select “Save Signature” at the bottom.

Please note that your signature can be no bigger than 400x150 pixels and no larger than 500KB.
Your signature can contain a maximum of 200 characters (300 characters including BBCode).

[EAUK_Phenom]

How do I create a poll?

1. Create a "New Thread".
2. Enter the "Title" of the thread and enter your message in the message box.
3. Select "Yes, post a poll with this thread", from the "Post a Poll" menu (which sits under "Additional Options", beneath the message box) and enter the "Number of poll options" in the appropriate box.
4. Select "Submit New Thread" and you will be taken to the "Post a Poll" page where you can edit your poll.
5. Enter the question for your poll in the "Poll Question" box.
6. Enter the options you wish people to have (in order for them to be able to vote) in the "Poll Options" boxes. Leave a box blank if you don't need to use it, or modify the "Number of Poll Options" box if you wish to add more options: click the "Update options" button once you have modified the number in the box in order to update the page with additional "Poll Options" boxes.
7. Set the "Poll Timeout" to "0" (by typing "0" in the box) if you wish for the poll to remain open indefinitely. If you wish for the poll to close after a specific amount of time, then enter the number of days (e.g. "7" if you wish the poll to remain open for a week) in the box. The poll will close after the specified number of days has passed.
8. If you wish for members to be able to vote on more than one "Poll Option", check the "allow multiple choice" box beneath the "Miscellaneous Options" menu.
9. If you wish for the poll to display who has voted, and what they have voted for, check the "make votes public" box beneath the "Miscellaneous Options" menu. This information will be open to everyone.
10. Select "Submit New Poll" once you have finished.

Please keep "Poll Options" short and to the point.
Try to create balanced, unbiased polls (it may discourage people to vote, if you don't).
Making polls "public" may deter some people from voting and it may encourage others to vote (consider this when creating a poll).
Only members of the moderating team can edit or delete a poll (so please get in touch with one if you wish for a poll to be modified or deleted).

[EAUK_Aurora]

Forum Etiquette~ How To Survive In An Online Community


The EAUK Community is a fairly big one. There are people here from all over the world and have been brought here by their enjoyment of many different types of games.

With this in mind, please be considerate of others and remember that we have members here as young as 13. Therefore it is important to adhere to the Forum Guidelines regarding what is and what is not acceptable to post.

While healthy discussion is part and parcel of the forum experience, being tolerant of the views of others is equally important. It is better to walk away from a thread with your head held high than to be drawn in to an argument that will take the thread 'Off Topic' and most likely land you with an experience with the Infraction System.

So here a few pointers that expand on some areas of the Forum Guildelines and should help you get the most out of you time with us here at EAUK:

• Reporting Inappropriate Content
  From time to time you are likely to see comments, images, information or links that are not suitable or acceptable to be seen on the forum. When you see this type of content, do not post in reaction to it or ignore it. Please report it so that a member of the Moderation or Admin Team can deal with the post if required.
  The way to report a post is to click on the image that looks like a road sign that is shown to the left of the post below the members profile details and avatar if they use one. Complete the short form as clearly as you can with your reason for reporting to help the post be dealt with easily.
  This way, we can work together to keep the forum a safe place to be for all.

• Tolerance Of Others
  Please treat the members here as you would wish to be treated yourself.
  Respect the views and opinions of others, even if you do not agree with what they say. You can voice your own opinions without slating theirs.
  Also remember that, as there are people here who's first language is not English, or who struggle with grammer and spelling, it is not necessary to correct people or to pick up on their errors. Posting on the forum is not an English test.

• Spamming
  Spam is posting that is not constructive and can also refer to making the same posts or threads in more than one place on the forum. Spamming is not acceptable and is more likely to be seen as an irritant than a help or a laugh to your fellow community members.

• Double/Multiple Posting
  Double or multiple posting is when you make two or more posts in a thread without anyone posting between them. There is usually no need for this to be done, although it can be acceptable in your own Manager Mode threads, Fansites threads or Sims 2 Diaries.
  Use the edit button to add more content to your post and everyone will be happy.

• Smiley Abuse
  Smilies are also commonly used on forums and in other places on the web. They help people to see how you are feeling as it can be hard to portray the thoughts behind your comment. However, repeated posts that consist of smilies only are not constructive and are also another way to spam so be sure that you don't get carried away with the smilies and forget to make a relevant contribution to the thread.

• Regional Differences
  With our members being from places far and wide, there will be times that a member uses a word or phrase that you may not understand. Go ahead and ask what they mean! That way we all get to learn new things and are more able to understand each other. Please consider other users when you post and avoid using excessive text talk, slang, L337 and colloquialisms as these will only make your posts harder to understand.

• Highjacking
  Highjacking threads is very bad manners and will land you in trouble. This means posting in a thread in a way that is not relevant to the original topic with a view to changing the topic all together. If you have a totally unrelated question, then create another thread to discuss it rather than highjacking one.

• Easy Does It
  Bounding in with your first post declaring that you are the best FIFA player EVER or that you have the most amazingly cool something or other and that you rule is not going to win you many friends or gain you admiration.
  Take time to read the forums and see the way that people interact with each other so that you don't make a first impression that you wish you could take back.

Please remember above all that everyone here is a human being, and to treat people equally and fairly so that we can maintain a happy and healthy community

[Mr A]

How do I post images?

While posting on the forums, you will encounter images in posts that other members wish to share with you and the rest of the community. Here is a step by step guide that tells you how you can also share your own images;

In order to include images in your posts, you will need to upload your image onto an online image host. This is normally a free service that will allow you to store your image files on their servers and link to it. The most popular image hosts among our members are Photobucket.com and Imageshack.us

Photobucket -- Photobucket.com is a free service. When you register, you are given an account where you can store your images. Using the free account, you are able to upload as much as 1 GB of picture files.

Imageshack -- Imageshack.us is also a free service where you can upload any image less than 1.53 MB per file. However, the use of this image host doesn’t require you to make an account.

Make sure that the image you are trying to upload is of a compatible format. The most popular image formats are JPEG/JPG, PNG and GIF.

************************************************** *******************

1. Begin by going to either website. Each website has a unique uploader but work in the same way.

Click “choose files/Browse…”. This will open a file browser where you can select the file(s) you wish to upload. Once you’ve selected these, the upload should start immediately or after clicking an option such as “OK”.

2. Once the upload has completed, you should see your file(s) displayed. Both Photobucket and imageshack give you a range of options after upload. These include additions such as HTML code, BBCode etc. EA UK uses BBCode to allow the format of text and other elements; as shown below.

3. For images, we use 'img' tags. Inserting the URL between an opening and closing img tag will allow the successful inclusion of an image in your posts.

[img]<insert URL>[/img]

4. You can also include images in your posts using the “Insert Image” tool [small yellow and grey icon] in the WYSIWYG editor in the Post Reply window.

5. When posted, this is the result:

************************************************** *******************


Other questions --

Why do my images get smaller and get hyperlinked when I post them?
When you post your image, you may notice that it has been shrunk slightly and may appear distorted. This is due to the image resizer we have in place in the forum to avoid any oversized images stretching the page beyond it’s default dimensions. The image width limit is 399 pixels wide.

What's with these little red crosses?
Occassionally, you may encounter small red crosses in white boxes that appear in the place of images. This means that the image has failed to load and display. This may be for a number of reasons;

• The image URL is blocked by an internet security software local to your PC.
• The URL is incorrect or doesn't exist.
• The host file may have been deleted.

If this happens, the first thing you should do is check whether there are any errors in the URL between your IMG tags.

Is there a limit to how many images I can post?
The forum allows on 10 images within a single post. This is in place so that people aren't tempted to fill posts with excessive amounts of images, and cause other members to have to scroll excessively up and down pages.

[EAUK_Adroit]

Using VB / BB code

The use of VB / BB code allows you tocontrol the look and layout of your text, such as the font, size, colour and position.


Bold Text:
Enclosing text with bold tags will make the text bold in appearance. The required tag for this is: [b][/b], with the text you want to be bold enclosed by the tags like so: [b]Bold[/b].

Example:
"This is [b]bold[/b] text.", produces the output: This is bold text.


Underlined Text:
Enclosing text with underlined tags will underline the text. The required tag for this is: [u][/u], with the text you want underlined enclosed by the tags like so: [u]Underlined[/u].

Example:
"This is [u]underlined[/u] text.", produces the output: This is underlined text.


Italic Text:
Enclosing text with italic tags will make the text italic in appearance. The required tag for this is: [i][/i], with the text you want to be italic enclosed by the tags like so: [i]Italic[/i].

Example:
"This is [i]italic[/i] text.", produces the output: This is italictext.


Coloured Text:
Enclosing text with colour tags will produce coloured text. The required tag for this is: [color=yourColor][/color], where yourColour is the colour that you require. The text you want to be a different colour should be enclosed by the tags like so: [color=red]Red text[/color].

Example:
"This is [color=red]red[/color] text.", produces the output: This is red text.


Creating numbered lists:
Enclosing text with numbered list tags will create a list, and number it. The required tag for this is: [list=1][/list] with the text you require for each numbered point to start with the [*] tag.

Example:
"This is a list: [list=1][*]Point 1[*]Point 2[*]Point 3[/list]", produces the output:
This is a list:

1. Point 1
2. Point 2
3. Point 3

Creating bullet point lists:
Creating a list of bullet points is very similar to create a numbered the list, the only difference is the actual list tag that you use. The required tag for a list of bullet points is: [list][/list] with the text you require for each numbered point to start with the [*] tag.

Example:
"This is a list: [list][*]Point 1[*]Point 2[*]Point 3[/list]", produces the output:
This is a list:

• Point 1
• Point 2
• Point 3

Creating a link:
Enclosing a url with url tags will produce a url. The required tag for this is: [url][/url], with the url you want to post enclosed by url tags like so: [url]http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk][/url].

Example:
"The following is a link to the EA UK forums: [url]http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk][/url]", produces the output: The following is a link to the EA UK forums: http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk]


Creating a named link:
Created a named link is similar to creating a normal link, with the addition of adding your own descirption. The required tag for this is: [url=][/url], with the url you want to post, with accompanying text enclosed by url tags like so: [url=http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk]Named link[/url].

Example:
"Click [url=http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk]here[/url] to go to the EA UK Forums.", produces the output: Click here to go to the EA UK Forums.


Changing the size of text:
Enclosing text in [size=][/size] tags will change the size of the enclosed text. The required tag for this is: [size=sizeNumer][/size], where sizeNumber can be, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7, so: [size=5]Size 5 text[/size].

Examples:
"This is [size=1]size 1[/size] text.", produces the output: This is size 1 text.

"This is [size=2]size 2[/size] text.", produces the output: This is size 2 text.

"This is [size=3]size 3[/size] text.", produces the output: This is size 3 text.

"This is [size=4]size 4[/size] text.", produces the output: This is size 4 text.

"This is [size=5]size 5[/size] text.", produces the output: This is size 5 text.

"This is [size=6]size 6[/size] text.", produces the output: This is size 6 text.

"This is [size=7]size 7[/size] text.", produces the output: This is size 7 text.


Aligning Text:
Enclosing text with ailgnment tags will result in the text being aligned to the left, centre, or right of the screen. The required tags for this are: [left][/left, [center][/center] and [right][/right], with the text you want to be a aligned being enclosed by the tags like so: [center]Centred Text[/center].

Examples:
"[left]This is text is aligned to the left.[/left]", produces the output:

This is text is aligned to the left.

"[center]This is text is aligned to the centre.[/center]", produces the output:

This is text is aligned to the centre.

"[right]This is text is aligned to the right.[/right]", produces the output:

This is text is aligned to the right.

Indenting text:
Enclosing text with indent tags will indent the enclosed text. The required tag for this is: [indent][/indent], with the text you want to be indented enclosed by the tags like so: [indent]Indent text[/indent].

Example:
This is a long sentence to show you what text that is enclosed by the indent tags will look like on the forum.
[indent]This is a long sentence to show you what text that is enclosed by the indent tags will look like on the forum.[/indent]
This is a long sentence to show you what text that is enclosed by the indent tags will look like on the forum. This produces the output:

This is a long sentence to show you what text that is enclosed by the indent tags will look like on the forum.

This is a long sentence to show you what text that is enclosed by the indent tags will look like on the forum.

This is a long sentence to show you what text that is enclosed by the indent tags will look like on the forum.

[EAUK_Aurora]

Customising Your Profile and Editing Options

Here at EAUK, you have some options that you can change to suit your needs; for example, who sees what information about you, and whether you receive emails when you receive a Personal Message etc.

You also have the option to customise your own Profile Page by changing colours or adding pictures to create your own little space on the forum.


Customizing Your Profile
To change the content and appearance of your Profile Page, click on the hyperlinked version of your username and you will find that there is some information all about you sitting right there.

To change the appearance of your page, click on the link marked 'Customize your page' which can be found as shown in the image below:

You are now faced with a page that looks similar to the image below which will allow you lots of opportunity to explore colour schemes that you may wish to use:

If you click on the rectangular, colour-filled boxes, you will see a chart of colours that you can choose for that particular element of your page. You could also use other hexidecimal values if your desired colour is not on the chart. You could look for some options at sites like The Hex Hub where you can choose a colour range to select from and scroll down the page to see many choices.

You can preview each section as you work down the page to see how your choices are turning out.


It is also possible to use custom images to create a background for your profile. To do this, you must first upload the image to an album:

Click to create the album and then follow the on-screen options to upload your image/images. This area can also be used for other images and also to allocate to groups. Choose who you would like to see these images when you create the album.

Once your image is uploaded, you can select to use it as a background by clicking on the small picture icon next to the 'background image' box in your editing screen and choose whether you wish for it to repeat.


Groups
You can create or join groups through your profile.

To do this, locate the Groups box on the right hand side of your profile and click 'Join Social Groups'. You will then be able to see the list of groups that are running.

Once you have found a group that interests you, click to see its page and, providing that it is not an 'invite only' group, the option to join will be at the bottom of the page.

If you wish to create a new group instead, you can select this from the bottom of the Social Groups listing page. Follow the screens through to select what type of group it is, whether it is public and invite those members you wish to join if required.


Blog
You can post to your Blog by clicking on the Blogs link in the top navigation bar:

Once you are on the Blogs homepage, you have options available to you on the left panel. The second option down allows you to create a Blog entry. Please remember that your Blog is subject to the same rules as the rest of the forum and the Personal Messaging system.


Editing Your Options
To the left of the Blogs link that is shown in the image above is the User CP. This is the place to edit your options and also your signature and avatar.

In the section titled 'Your Profile', you can edit your details that will show on your Profile Page. Remember to check what you are happy to have on display to the world and what you would prefer not to share with them.

The third section, 'Settings and Options' is the place to edit your signature and avatar. and also to set up your email alerts, the time for your timezone and other options.

It is in this section that you can also select which text editor you wish to use on the forum and which forum skin you would like to use.