Forum Guide
Topics
IntroductionRegistering
Reading Messages
Posting Messages
Replying to Messages
Setting Preferences
Private Messages (PM)
Introduction
In addition to the web site, the message board is an essential communication tool. It allows members to get the latest updates on scheduled events such as a race or a touring ride. Members can also post topics, upload documents and photos, start a poll, or reply to any of the numerous topics.Although not mandatory, it is recommended that every member of the club register on the message board in order to stay in touch with other club members and to keep abreast of current affairs.
The message board is a flexible, highly configurable piece of software and it would not be feasible to cover all the features here. The topics below are sufficient to get anyone up and running on the message board in a few minutes.
Topics on the message board are grouped into several forums:
- General Discussions - Contains topics of general interests.
- Unofficial Rides - Contains topics about unofficial, uninsured club rides.
- Racing - Contains topics about club and other racing events. Pay attention to this board for the latest changes to posted racing events.
- Membership - Contains topics about club membership.
- Club Rides - Contains topics about posted club rides. Pay attention to this board for the latest changes to posted touring events.
- Classifieds - Contains topics about cycling goods and services for sale. Please note that this board is reserved for club members only. If you are not a club member, please notify the webmaster prior to posting.
Please note that messages are purged from all forums after 90 days. If you have information that you would like to keep for a longer period, please contact the webmaster.
Registering
To protect the integrity of the message board, club members and guests are required to register before they are allowed to post messages. In order to register, you must use a unique name and a unique email address. For ease of identification, it is recommended that you use your real name when registering. The message board will validate your email address by sending you a confirmation email to which you must respond in order to complete the registration process. The confirmation email may take a few minutes so please be patient when registering.The BCC will endeavour to keep you email address private and confidential. If you register with the message board, you will receive periodic messages from the webmaster or the message board about important club events. You may opt out of these mailing lists by checking this preference in your profile settings.
Reading Messages
To read the last topic posted in each forum, click on the topic (link) under the heading "Last Post" that is displayed for each forum on the message board home page. To read previously dated messages, click on the name of the forum, e.g. General Discussions and then scroll through the list of available topics. When you find a topic of interest, click on the topic (subject) to read it and all the replies (threads) to that topic.Please note that you do not have to log into the message board to read messages. However you must be logged in to post messages, reply to messages or send and receive private messages (pm). You can also have the message board send you an email everytime a topic is posted on any of the forums. If you use a RSS (Real Simple Syndication) enabled email like Rogers/Yahoo, you can subscribe to RSS feeds
on any of the forums. Please
contact the webmaster to get assistance
with these advanced methods of reading messages.
Posting Messages
You must be a registered member of the message board to post a message. In addition, you must be logged on. Before you post a message you have to first decide which forum to post it in. Please try and select the most appropriate forum, otherwise your message may be moved!. After you decide which forum, click on the newthread button to initiate the process. You will be placed on a new page where your are required to enter a subject (topic) and the body of the message. When you are done typing your message, click on the post button to complete the process.
Attaching Documents & Photos - To attach documents and photos, click in the Browse button and
select the file that you would like to attach. Repeat the process for as many files that you would like.
There is a limit of 1 MB for attachments. If the attachment is a photo of type .gif or .jpg, it will be
displayed when you post the message. Please resize images to 640 x 480 or less before uploading. You
would also do everyone a big favour if you run a virus check before uploading any documents.
Including a Link to a URL - To include a url, click on the
icon. This will insert the
following delimitters [url][/url] into the body of the message at the cursor position.
Type the URL of the website between the delimitters. e.g. [url]http://www.cbc.ca[/url]
Including a Link to an Email Address - To include a url, click on the
icon. This will insert the
following delimitters [mail][/mail] into the body of the message at the cursor position.
Type the email address between the delimitters. e.g. [mail]steve@bikes.com[/mail]
Formatting the Message Body - You may also format the body of the message by changing the name, size and colour of the font; applying text decorations such as bold, italics, underline; aligning left, centre, right; subscripts and superscripts. You may also add smilies by clicking on any of the available smilies that are displayed to the right of the edit box.
Including a Link to a URL - To include a url, click on the
icon. This will insert the
following delimitters [url][/url] into the body of the message at the cursor position.
Type the URL of the website between the delimitters. e.g. [url]http://www.cbc.ca[/url]
Including a Link to an Email Address - To include a url, click on the
icon. This will insert the
following delimitters [mail][/mail] into the body of the message at the cursor position.
Type the email address between the delimitters. e.g. [mail]steve@bikes.com[/mail]
Formatting the Message Body - You may also format the body of the message by changing the name, size and colour of the font; applying text decorations such as bold, italics, underline; aligning left, centre, right; subscripts and superscripts. You may also add smilies by clicking on any of the available smilies that are displayed to the right of the edit box.
Replying to Messages
You must be a registered member of the message board to post a message. In addition, you must be logged on. Find the message that you would like to reply to. If you do not know which forum the message was posted in, use the search button at the top of the page to assist you in locating the message. Once you have found the message, open (read) the message and then click on the newreply button. You will be placed on a new page (similar to posting a new message) where you will be able to type your reply. After typing your reply, press the post reply button to post the message.Setting Preferences
Once you have registered on the message board, you can customize your profile by adding a photo (avatar); adding a signature; adding a personal message. To view or edit your profile, click on the membercenter button at the top of the page. The following shows the series of links to follow to get to the desired feature.
Personal Message - membercenter => Profile Information => Personal Message
Photo - membercenter => Avatar Settings => Upload Avatar
Signature - membercenter => Signature
Photo - membercenter => Avatar Settings => Upload Avatar
Signature - membercenter => Signature
Private Messages (PM)
Private messaging allows you to send and receive private messages from other registered users. This is especially useful if you would like to communicate to someone but you do not know their email address. When you are reading a message, you will notice the pm icon
at the bottom of the message. Press this icon to send a private message to the person that authored the
post that you are reading. Whenever you logon to the message board, always check the top right side of the
page below the date and time. It will indicate to you if you have any private messages. If you do have a
private message, click on private messages to access them.
