Frequently Asked Questions (Forum)
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Forum Markup
To modify text in the forums, there are a variety of markup tags that can be used. The forum uses a system similar to HTML and generic forum markup code, with some differences. Most markup options can be automatically used from the post toolbar. Most text effects require opening and closing tags, see examples below.
General text:
- [b] to bold text like this [/b]
- [i] to italicize text like this [/i]
- [u] to underline text like this[/u]
- [s]
to strikethrough text like this[/s] - [sm] to make tiny text[/sm]
- [lg] to make large text[/lg]
Quotes:
To quote a section of text, use [quote] text to quote [/quote]. To add the name of the person you are quoting, use [quote=nameofperson] text to quote [/quote]
Preserve Formatting:
When creating a new post, the forum system automatically removes extra spaces and line breaks. To preserve that formatting, use the [pre] [/pre] tags as follows:
[pre] a b c d e f g h [/pre]
Lists:
The list system is complex, but with practice can be a very powerful tool. There are 4 main list types. numbered lists, lists with a round bullet, lists with a square bullet, and lists with a hollow round bullet.
The basic list item markup is [li][/li]. That by itself will result in a single bullet item of text like:
* single bullet
To generate a numeric list, you enclose the [li][/li] tag inside [ol] [/ol] tags. for example:
[ol]
[li]item 1[/li]
[li]item 2[/li]
[/ol]
would result in:
1. item 1
2. item 2
To group list items together, you use the [ul] [/ul] tag. The basic [ul] [/ul] tag below:
[ul]
[li]item 1 [/li]
[li]item 2 [/li]
[/ul]
results in:
* item 1
* item 2
You can also modify the bullet type by specifying square, disc or circle inside the [ul] tag
| [ul=square] [li]item 1 [/li] [li]item 2 [/li] [/ul] results in:
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[ul=disc] [li]item 1[/li] [li]item 2[/li] [/ul] results in:
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[ul=circle] [li]item 1[/li] [li]item 2[/li] [/ul] results in:
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Color:
To use a text color, simply put the color text in a markup tag like [colorgoeshere][/colorgoeshere].
- To use Dodgerblue, you would type [Dodgerblue] text goes here [/Dodgerblue].
Alternatively you can use hex colors, such as [#f0f]this[/#f0f] for this.
Any of the named colors can also be used to set the background color for a specific section of text using [bg=Color][/bg].
- To get pink text with a Darkturquoise background you would type [bg=Darkturquoise][Fuschia]Example[/Fuschia][/bg].
You can nest background color and text color tags.
You can use colors to fill in whole rows of the screen using the [block=color][/block] tag.
- Using our Darkturquoise again, [block=color]Example [/block] would result in
| Example |
The full list of available colors is below:
| Black Maroon Green Olive Navy Purple Teal Gray Silver Red Lime Yellow Blue Fuchsia Aqua white Aliceblue Antiquewhite Aquamarine Azure Beige Bisque Blanchedalmond Blueviolet Brown Burlywood Cadetblue Chartreuse Oldlace Olivedrab Orange Orangered Orchid Palegoldenrod Palegreen |
Chocolate Coral Cornflowerblue Cornsilk Crimson Cyan Darkblue Darkcyan Darkgoldenrod Darkgray Darkgreen Darkkhaki Darkmagenta Darkolivegreen Darkorange Darkorchid Darkred Darksalmon Darkseagreen Darkslateblue Darkslategray Darkturquoise Darkviolet Peachpuff Peru Pink Plum Powderblue Rosybrown Royalblue Saddlebrown Salmon Sandybrown Seagreen Sienna |
Deeppink Deepskyblue Dimgray Dodgerblue Firebrick Floralwhite Forestgreen Gainsboro Ghostwhite Gold Goldenrod Greenyellow Honeydew Hotpink Indianred Indigo Ivory Khaki Lavender Lavenderblush Lawngreen Snow Springgreen Steelblue Tan Thistle Tomato Turquoise Violet Wheat Whitesmoke Yellowgreen Skyblue Slateblue Slategray |
Lemonchiffon Lightblue Lightcoral Lightcyan Lightgoldenrodyellow Lightgreen Lightgrey Lightpink Lightsalmon Lightseagreen Lightskyblue Lightslategray Lightsteelblue Lightyellow Limegreen Linen Magenta Mediumaquamarine Mediumblue Mediumorchid Mediumpurple Mediumseagreen Mediumslateblue Mediumspringgreen Mediumturquoise Mediumvioletred Midnightblue Mintcream Mistyrose Moccasin Navajowhite Paleturquoise Palevioletred Papayawhip Seashell |
Links:
There are 3 ways to do links.
- By using the actual http:// link.
- By using [link]text to be linked[/link]
- By using the following syntax: [link=http://URL_GOES_HERE]TITLE of link goes here[/link]
Signatures:
All tags above work in Signatures too.
There are also several forum shortcut markup tags for linking to EQ, FFXI, and WoW profiles. To use, you need to find out the number of the EQ, Wow, or FFXI character profile you wish to link to and use the following markup tags:
- [eq]profile_number_goes_here[/eq]
- [ff]profile_number_goes_here[/ff]
- [wow]profile_number_goes_here[/wow]
Please note the profile number is your character profile, and not your forum user ID number. That number can be located under the User Login and Details section under "Your Characters". Be sure and use the appropriate template as the news templates do not allow for user information ( EQ, FFXI, WoW ).
For premium members, we also offer the ability to link to a custom graphical sig based off your profile information. This is currently only supported for FFXI & WoW profiles.
[wowsig]wow_character_id_number_goes_here[/wowsig]
Polls (available after 25 posts)
The forum system includes a polling module. You must be a Premium user to create a poll, however any registered forum user may vote in one. A poll can only be created in the first post of a thread, and cannot be edited once created. You may currently only have one question per poll, however there is no limit on choices. The syntax for creating a poll is as follows:
[poll]
[question]Question text[/question]
[choice]choice 1 [/choice]
[choice]choice 2 [/choice]
[choice]choice 3 [/choice]
[choice]choice 4 [/choice]
[/poll]
Smilies
To use a smilie, place the [:code:] in the text of your forum message. A maximum of 9 smilies will parse in a forum post. You can also use a smilie as a link button by placing it inside a [link] tag as the link text.
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Other Forum Options/Enchancements
Stars
The stars located under various people's usernames are related to how many posts they have. The more stars, the more posts. Stars are independent of the karma system.
- 50 posts
- 250 posts
- 1,000 posts
- 4,000 posts
- 10,000 posts
- 20,000 posts
- 50,000 posts
There is rumor of a mythical 8th star that appears at 100,000 posts, however no one has ever seen such a star. There's probably not a 9th star at 150,000 posts either.
Settings and Options
Most forum user options can be accessed from the User Login/Details page. Here you can update your account information, manage your password, view all of your posts, and manage your user files. However the options are located slightly differently depending on which site template you are using.
Mouseover Preview - Shows a preview of a post when moving the mouse over a forum link.
Hide images - Removes all avatar images and graphic signatures from the display
Posts per page - Determines how many replies to a thread are shown. The default is 50 posts.
Filter options - Allows filtering of the forums by karma score. Default or better threads are shown unless otherwise selected. Use "never filter" at your own risk.
Icons of note in the forum:
A thread
A stickied thread
A locked thread
To make a new thread
Reply to a thread
To edit your post in a thread
To go to thread index
New thread since your last visit
New reply since your last visit with 10+ replies total
Post with 10+ replies total
To send a personal message to a poster
To view a poster's journal
To e-mail a poster, e-mail must be enabled public for this feature to work
To add someone to your address book
To bookmark a post (you must have premium service for this feature)
Private Messages
The forum private messaging system uses the same markup and code of the forums themselves. You can access the PM system here. When someone sends you a new private message, you will see a notification at the top of your screen in the forums, or as an You have 1 unread messages icon next to the welcome box at the top of the screen for premium members.
To address a PM to someone, use their forum name. If they have a custom title, remove the custom text from the To field. For example, to send a PM to "Dread Lord Robert" you would type only "Robert" in the To field. You can also select and add usernames to your address book for later use. these can be entered manually, or by clicking the Add to address book link located on the left hand side of every post.
In the event that you do not wish to receive private messages from a user, you can add them to the ignore list. You may occasionally receive a "ghost PM" due to using the ignore feature. The ignore list does not hide their forum posts at this time.
Bookmarked Links (Premium only)
You can store a link to a post you wish to view at a later date by clicking the bookmark link. Bookmarked threads are stored in your user page and are viewable by other forum users.
Journals (Premium only)
Premium members receive their own journal forum. A journal forum behaves the same as the regular forums, except that the owner has access to moderator tools, such as bury / nuke posts and the ability to see ratings on posts. Ratings on journal posts do not affect karma.
Custom Titles (Premium only)
Premium members have the ability to customize their username with any of the following custom titles. To select a title, go to your User Login/Details page and select the title you wish to have.
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Avatar Images
You can select an avatar from the Avatar Gallery which will show up to the left of your posts when you reply to a thread.
As an added feature for our premium members, you may upload a cusom avatar image of your choosing. Avatars may be a maximum of 120 x 120 pixels, and can be either JPEG or GIF image formats, including animated GIF's. A total of 10 images may be uploaded, allowing you to pick different ones. The upload file space for all 10 images is currently set at 1024kb. Please limit avatar content to that which would meet "PG-13" standards.
To add an avatar, go to your user settings page and click either your avatar or the Avatar Settings link. Here you can upload, set and unset your avatars.
Questions about the site or the forums? Account problems? Need a thread stickied to the top of a forum? The best place to get in touch with the Allakhazam forum staff is the Feedback Forum. In addition to answering questions, this is the forum to check for events and notifications. This is the forum to direct any questions regarding magazine subscriptions, premium issues, forum issues, site issues, basically anything site related. For technical support with games or computer hardware, we recommend the tech support forum.
To sign up for premium membership, please see the signup page.