• Welcome to the YaBB Family

• Register an Account
• Log Into Your Account
• Log Out of Your Account
• Forgotten Password

• User CP
• Profile Overview
• Edit Profile
• Contact Information
• Options
• Buddy List
• PM Preferences

• Starting a Topic
• Replying to a Post
• Posting a Poll
• YaBBC Reference

• Personal Messaging

For a more complete manual, please visit The YaBB Codex.
For support and troubleshooting, please visit YaBB's Support Community

This help section will get you up to speed on the functions of this YaBB forum. Inside, you will learn how to register an account, login, edit your profile, post a message, and much more. If you would like to skip ahead to a section, please use the menu to the left.

Since the last release of YaBB, new features have been introduced, so take your time reading this HELP through

Step 1: In the menu above, you will see items titled "Home", "Help", "Login", "Register", etc. Click on "Register".

Step 2: On this new page, you will see a form where you can choose your username and password (if the administrator allows) and enter you email address. Fill in the boxes with your information.

Step 3: If enabled by the admin, you may need to fill in the characters presented in the visual confirmation (captcha) box.

Step 4: Check the box to agree to the User Agreement.

Step 5: Click on the "Register" button at the bottom of the page.

That's it! The administrator may require you to validate your account before you can post. If this is the case, an email will be sent to you containg your password. Now you"re ready to log in and post!

Step 1: In the menu above, you will see items titled "Home, "Help", "Login", "Register", etc. Click on "Login".

Step 2: On this new page, you will see several options.

• Username or email address - Enter in the userID or the email you registered with.
• Password - Type in your password.
• Logged in For - Choose how long you would like to stay logged in for.
• Forgot Password - If you can't remember your password, click this button to have it resent. (Full directions below.)

Step 3 Once you have everything filled out, click the button in the form titled "Login".

Congratulations! You are now ready to participate in this community! Note, if you do not see the "Login" button in the menu, you may already be logged in. This can happen on some boards set up for instant registration.

Step 1 In the menu above, you will see items titled "Home", "Login", "Register", etc. Click on "Login".

Step 2 On this new page, you will see a button titled "Forgot Password". Click this button.

Step 3 A new page will load with a single box. Enter your username or the email address you registered with.

Step 4 Click the button titled "Send".

When you enter the 'User CP', you have multiple choices of what to do:

• On the left side pane, you see an element with a menu containing 'Messages', 'Profile' and 'Posts'.
• In Messages, you are controlling all of your personal messages, you can sort them in your folders (if enabled) or send new messages as well as search for a particular message.
• In Profile, you can check your profiles appearance and edit it's contents. As a new item, we have a tool called 'Buddy List', which you can use to quickly check your friends online status, send messages to them and check their details.
• In Posts, you can check & update your notifications and favorites as well as consult your own latest posts.
• On the right hand pane you'll see part of your profile as it appears in the display posts page, your buddy list and info regarding your online/offline appearance and how new notifications get delivered to you.

Step 1: To change your profile, click the "User_CP" option in the forum menu above. Then click "Profile" in the tabbed menu below the main tabbed menu. This will bring you to the View Profile page.

Step 2: On your View Profile page, you will see several links that allow you access to each part of your user profile, which is divided into five sections: Edit Profile, Contact Information, Options, Buddy List, and PM Preferences. Click one of the links to access that part of your profile.

Step 3: For security reasons, you will then be asked to enter your password. Do so, then click "Confirm Password".

You now have access to all of your account settings and options for this YaBB. For details on each of this, please read on below.

Password
If you wish to change your password, you may do so by filling in this box. It is highly recommended that your password be at least 6 characters and use a combination of letters and numbers.

Verify Password
In order to change your password, YaBB needs to know that you'll remember it. You can do this by entering your new password again in this box.

Name
This is your Display Name. This is the name everyone will see throughout this YaBB forum. Most forum systems display the username you login with, but this is not the case with YaBB!

Gender
Optional. If you want others to know your gender, you may pick "male" or "female" from this drop-down box. Keep in mind that this forum may have boards with access only allowed to certain genders.

Birthday
Optional. If you would like others to see how old you are and have a special icon in your profile on your birthday, please enter it in DD (day), MM (month), YYYY (year) format.

Location
Optional. Filling in this box will display where you live, where your from or anything else you choose.

Email
This must be a valid email address. It is used for system notifications such as a forgotten password, topic notifications, and forum emails.

Hide Email from Public
Check this box if you do not want other YaBB community members to view your email address. Note: this does not hide it from Admins.

ICQ
If you have an ICQ account, you may enter your UIN here.

AIM
If you have AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), you may enter your user name here.

YIM
If you have Yahoo! Instant Messenger, you may enter your screen name here.

MSN
If you have an MSN Messenger address, you may enter it here.

Google Talk
If you have Google Talk, you may enter your address here.

Website Title
If you have a website, you can enter the title here. This will be the text the URL (below) will attached to.

Website URL
Here you can enter the URL to your website. Note, this must be a full URL. (i.e. include http:// )

Personalized_Picture
YaBB allows you to define a small picture (called an avatar) that will display under your name next to your posts. This forum has a number of avatars already installed, and you may pick one from the list. If you have your own avatar, please see the option below.

I have my own pic
If you have your own avatar and would like to use it on this YaBB, you may enter the URL here.

Personal Text
This is a small line of text that will display under your avatar.

Signature
Your signature is displayed at the bottom of every post you make and in your profile.

Preset Time Format
This option allows you to change how the dates and time are presented to you throughout this YaBB community.

Custom Time Format
You may also create a custom time format using the special codes here.

Time Offset
Since your time may be different from the server, you can enter your correct time zone to adjust it correctly.

Template
If the webmaster of this YaBB forum has other templates installed, you may choose one from this box.

Language
Here you can select your native language to view this community in if it is available.

• Add users to your Buddy List by clicking on the link below the Buddy List display box.
• Delete users from your Buddy List by double-clicking on their user name inside the Buddy List display box.

Ignorelist
This function allows you to ignore other members and prevents you from viewing any personal messages they send. Additionally, you may disable all PMs by checking this option.

Notify Me of New PMs by e-mail:
If you would like an email when a members sends you a personal message, this options allows you to enable that feature.

Enable Personal Message Popup?
Checking this box will display a small popup window to notify you of any new personal messages.

PM Popup shows PMs in new Window?
If you have PM Popups enabled, checking this box will open your PMs in a new window. Otherwise, it will load in the current one.

Note:: The following features are options selectable by the Administrator. Some or all of these options may not appear in your PM Preference screen.

Enable the "Preview" Button for the PM Posting Page:
Checking this box adds a button below the PM screen that allows you to preview your PMs just as you can with posts.

View Message Text In List View of Personal Messages?:
Checking the box enables viewing the first line of message text in list views. To view only the sender/recipient and date etc., leave this box unchecked.

Enable the "Active" Preview Option on the PM Posting Page:
Checking this box adds a button at the top of the PM screen that allows a live preview of your PM as you type it.

Set Posting Alerts To Be PMed When You Are Online:
Checking this option will allow you to receive posting alerts by PM while you are online. If you want all your posting alerts to be by email, leave this box unchecked.

NOTE: if you have "Notify Me of New PMs by E-Mail" set to "Yes", you will not receive an email notification of these PMs while you are online.

This will present you with a new page where you can begin to type your post. Below you will find a description of the items on this page.

Subject: This is the title of your topic and is what will be shown on the category page.

Message Icon: If you would like to add a special icon to your post, you may choose one from this list.

Add YaBBC tags: YaBBC tags give you the ability to format the text in your post. To add, simply click on the button of your choice. See below for a complete reference.

Add Smileys: Personalize your post by adding an emoticon, or smiley. Just click on the one you want and YaBB will automatically put it in your post.

Attach: If the Administrator allows, you may be able to add a file to your post by clicking on the "Browse" button to find the file on your hard drive to upload. Pay attention to the allowed file types and maximum file size.

Post/Preview/Reset: These three buttons do exactly what you would expect. Press the "Post" button if you're ready for the community to view your message, press "Preview" if you would like to see what your post will look like first or press "Reset" to clear all of the boxes and start again.

What is YaBBC?

YaBBC is a set of tags based on the HTML language. It allow you to add formatting to your messages in the same way as HTML does, but have a simpler syntax and will never break the layout of the pages you are viewing. Most YaBBC tags can be wrapped around text, by first highlighting the text, and then clicking on the YaBBC button with the desired formatting.

Insert URL, Link
Syntax: Result: Syntax: Result:	[url]http://www.yabbforum.com[/url] http://www.yabbforum.com [url=http://www.yabbforum.com]YaBB Forum[/url] YaBB Forum
Type URL and text: www.yabbforum.com YaBB Forum Highlight all of it: www.yabbforum.com YaBB Forum Click the button: YaBB Forum The [link] YaBBC tags work in the same manner as the [url] tags, with the exception that the [link] tag (there is no insertion button for this tag) will open the clicked link in the present window, whereas the [url] tag opens the clicked link in a new window.
Insert FTP
Syntax: Result:	[ftp]ftp://ftpdom[/ftp] ftp://ftpdom
Insert Image
Syntax: Result:	[img]http://www.pembsprospectors.co.uk/public_html/yabbfiles/Templates/Forum/default/on.gif[/img]
Insert Email
Syntax: Result: Syntax: Result:	[email]myname@domain.com[/email] myname@domain.com [email=myname@domain.com]Click to email me[/email] Click to email me
Type mail-addr. and text: myname@domain.com Click to email me Highlight all of it: myname@domain.com Click to email me Click the button: Click to email me
Insert multi media files
Syntax: Example: Result:	[media]url to flash file[/media] [media]http://www.your-domain.com/yabbchelp.swf[/media]
Insert Table - Column - Row
Syntax:	[table][tr][td]text example[/td][/tr][/table]
Insert Horizontal Rule
Syntax: Result:	[hr]
Insert Teletype
Syntax: Result:	[tt]text example[/tt] text example
Insert Code
Syntax: Result:	[code]<script language="Javascript"> <!-- alert("Hello YaBB 2!"); //--> </script> [/code] Code: <script language="Javascript"> <!-- alert("Hello YaBB 2!"); //--> </script>
Insert Quote
Syntax: Result:	[quote]Hello YaBB 2[/quote] Quote: Hello YaBB 2
Insert Edit
Syntax: Result:	[edit]This was edited in YaBB 2[/edit] Edited: This was edited in YaBB 2
Insert Superscript
Syntax: Result:	text [sup]example[/sup] text example
Insert Subscript
Syntax: Result:	text [sub]example[/sub] text example
Insert List - List Item
Syntax: Result:	[list][*]item 1 [*]item 2 [*]item 3[/list] item 1 item 2 item 3
You can create 2 or 3 level lists by including a list inside another list.
Example: Result:	[list][*]item 1 [*]item 2 [list][*]subitem 1 [*]subitem 2[/list] [*]item 3[/list] item 1 item 2 subitem 1 subitem 2 item 3
/me
Syntax: Result:	/me loves YaBB 2 * loves YaBB 2
Insert Marquee
Syntax: Result:	[move]text example[/move] text example
Insert Timestamp
Syntax: Result:	[timestamp=1121602762] 17. Jul 2005 at 13:19
Insert Bold Text
Syntax: Result:	[b]text example[/b] text example
Insert Italic Text
Syntax: Result:	[i]text example[/i] text example
Insert Underline Text
Syntax: Result:	[u]text example[/u] text example
Insert Strikethrough Text
Syntax: Result:	[s]text example[/s] text example
Insert Highlighted Text
Syntax: Result:	[highlight]text example[/highlight] text example
Change Font Face
Syntax: Result:	[font=Courier New]Courier New font[/font] Courier New font
Change Font Size
Syntax: Result:	[size=14]14 point font[/size] 14 point font
Choose a text color
You can either use the quick color picker to choose a text color from the palette containing 12 ready made color tags or open the palette to create a custom color tag.
Syntax: Result:	[color=#ff0000]red colored text[/color] red colored text
Insert Preformatted Text
Syntax: Result:	[pre] this is preformatted text [/pre] this  is preformatted text
Insert Left Aligned Text
Syntax: Result:	[left]text example[/left] text example
Insert Center Aligned Text
Syntax: Result:	[center]text example[/center] text example
Insert Right Aligned Text
Syntax: Result:	[right]text example[/right] text example

As a new functionality, we now offer the possibility for guests to send a PM to the admin of the forum. If there is a problem with your account or with the registration, then use this to contact the forum owner.

Another brand new thing is that you can send messages much more like emails. You can send carbon copies (cc) and blind carbon copies (bcc) and the receivers can also respond directly to other original recipients.

You have the possibility (if enabled) to create additional store folders for your messages and if the number of messages is large, you can find individual messages by using the search.

Forum staff have the possibility to communicate to each other by sending broadcast messages. You can select the recipients to be all moderators, all moderator groups, all global moderators, all admins or all of those together.

While e-mail is a good way to correspond privately with members, it has several drawbacks: You must open your e-mail application to write and send the message; the recipient must open his/her e-mail application; check his/her mail and your message will mixed in with all the other mail and it can take sometimes several minutes to an hour for mail to reach the recipient.

As an alternative to e-mail, YaBB offers a faster, more private method. Personal Messaging on the forum provides instantaneous delivery to the recipient's private mailbox. The mail is sent and received entirely through YaBB, so neither you nor the recipient have to open another program or leave YaBB. Personal Messaging also gives both the sender and recipient greater privacy: no one's real e-mail address is revealed. Personal Messages show only the username and name of both parties.

If a recipient isn't online, Personal Messages wait in the member's PM box until the next time he/she logs in and manually reads and/or deletes them. Should you for some reason need to call back the message before the other party reads it, you can.
YaBB Personal Messages is basically a self-contained, highly private e-mail system.