How do I add a signature or avatar?
A signature can be anything you want, within netiquette - many people post a favourite quote. You can also leave it blank. If provided, your signature will be automatically added to every post and reply you make. You can change your signature by clicking on Your profile - you have the option of supplying or editing your signature in the text area provided. Once you have completed your signature, click the "Edit my profile" button to make the changes permanent.
To add an avatar, you can upload or link to a picture of your choosing to act as your avatar or profile picture. Chatelaine provides a default avatar, the outline of a woman. To change your avatar from the default, click on Your Profile and click the Change Avatar button. You can then upload an avatar from your computer or link to one already on the Internet. The maximum dimensions of your avatar are 100x100 pixels. Try a free online image-sizing program like Google Picasa if you need to resize an image. Once you have chosen an avatar, click the edit my profile button to make the changes permanent.
Chatelaine also provides two other options:
Male outline avatar:
Blank avatar:
Here are popular sites where you can download a personalized avatar:
http://www.avatarity.com/
http://www.pimpmyspace.org/avatars.php
http://www.iconator.com/
What's my forum profile?
Your forum profile is where you can personalize your settings by making changes to your signature and avatar. You can also see all the posts and replies you've made and how many times you've visited. To view your forum profile, click on the Your forum profile button located on every page, or click right on your screen name.
How can I tell when there are new posts?
The suitcase icon (on the same line with Posts and on the far left) acts as a visual indicator to new/unread and read messages. When red luggage denotes unread or updated content since your last visit. If the icon appears white, this signifies posts you've read.
The ability to mark a forum as read means that you have read the posts in that forum you're interested in - it acts as a refresh to let you know which threads have new replies. Once you click the mark as read button and refresh, the red suitcases will appear next to threads that have new posts.
Over the years Web users have developed short forms for common sayings. Here's a list that will have you LOL and SFETE IMHO!
AFAICS = As Far As I Can See
AFK = Away From Keyboard
BBIAF = Be Back In A Few minutes
BBIAB = Be Back In A Bit
BFN = Bye For Now
BRB = Be Right Back
BTW = By The Way
CC = Carbon Copy
DH or dh = Dear Husband, Darling Husband...you get the idea!
FAQ = Frequently Asked Questions
FTP = File Transfer Protocol (Used to retrieve files/programs)
FWIW = For What Its Worth
FYI = For Your Information
IMHO = In My Humble Opinion
IMNSHO = In My Not So Humble Opinion
IRC = Internet Relay Chat
KWIM = Know What I Mean
LOL = Laugh Out Loud
MMCI = Monday Morning Check In (Used in Fitness and Sport forum to report weekly activity. Note: Activity Check Ins on other days can be coded as TMCI for Tuesday, fpr example or WMCI for Wednesday.)
MSG = Message
(nt) or n/t or (n/t) = No Text (usually found in the title of a message, indicating there's no need to click, as that's all there is to the message)
OIC = Oh I see
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ISO = In Search Of
OTOH = On The Other Hand
R = Are
RFC = Request For Comment
ROFL = Rolling On the Floor Laughing
RSN = Real Soon Now
SFETE = Smiling From Ear To Ear
SIL = Sister-in-law
SITD = Still In The Dark
SO = Significant Other
TIA = Thanks In Advance
TLA = Three Letter Acronym
TTFN = Ta Ta For Now
TTYL = Talk To You Later
U = You
URL = http://www.... (a site's address)
VBG = Very Big Grin
WACI = Weekly Activity Check In (used in the Fitness + sport forum for weekly updates)
WBCI = Weekly Book Check In (used in the Book Club forum for weekly updates)
WWW = World Wide Web
:-) or :) = smile
;-) = winking (not sarcastic, playful)
:( = frowning
:~( = crying
:-P = Sticking my tongue out (playful)
:-P~~ = that worldwide raspberry sound!
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Why do I have to register for the forums?
You can read the forums without registering, but to post you must be registered.
How do I register?
Important note: If you're already signed up for our newsletter, once you enter your e-mail address and name, we will recognize your address and send you a personal e-mail instantly (this is to protect your privacy). Click on the link in the e-mail and go through steps 2 through 4 and you're ready to go!
Registering is easy! Just follow these instructions:
2. Enter your email address and click the Register button.
3. Create your profile by filling in the required fields.
4. Create a password at least four characters long.
5. If you don't want to log in every time you go to the forums, click the "Remember me" box. Do not use this box if you're using a public computer.
6. Click Register and you're ready to log in.
To sign in:
1. Click on the Login/Sign in link at the top left
of your screen.
2. Enter your e-mail and password and click Submit.
To sign out:
When you're ready to sign out, use the Logout/Sign out button on the top bar of the forums.
What do I do if my post is sensitive in nature?
Don't worry. You always have the option of posting as anonymous.
Where do I get the latest forum news?
You can sign up for the monthly forum newsletter, The Scoop. To check out the post of the week and the book of the month, click on these links on the Forum
Home page.
To sign up for The Scoop:
1. Go to Your Profile page.
2. Under Sign up for Chatelaine newsletters, check off the Forum
news box.
3. Update (Save) your profile.
How do I use editor functions like bold, adding links, inserting
email addresses, etc?
When creating your message, click on the buttons in our HTML editor tool:
• Use bold, italics, underline
and strike through.
• Insert HTML links in your messages by clicking
on the "chain" link button. The Link Editor box will pop up. Enter
the address or URL you would like to link to (i.e. http://www.chatelaine.com)
in the Link address spot. Next, enter the word you would like to use to represent
the link (i.e. Chatelaine) in the Linked text spot.
• Insert e-mail links in your messages by
choosing Email from the Link type drop down menu. Enter the e-mail address
(i.e. forums@chatelaine.com). Then, type in the name you would like
to use to represent the address (i.e. Contact Alicia at Chatelaine).
If you choose to post your e-mail address for any reason, remember this is a public forum and we recommend you use a Web-based e-mail like Yahoo or Hotmail for your privacy.
How do I post a message?
• To create a new conversation thread, click the
Post a New Message button at the bottom of any open forum message or on the
home page of each forum.
• To reply to a post and join a thread already in
progress, click on the title of the message you want to reply to and then
click on Add a reply.
• The message you are replying to will appear so
that you read it as you type. Below it is a large text box. Type your reply
message here. A subject title is required for all messages.
• Hit the Reply button.
• To view your message, click the Refresh button on your browser. In addition, the link at the top of the page, the one that tells you what forum you're in, can act as a "refresh" button.
• You can preview your message and make changes
to it before it is posted by clicking the Preview button.
• You can edit your message after it has been
posted by clicking on it and hitting Edit this message. Once it has been
edited, hit Reply. A message will be embedded in your post stating when
and at what time it was edited.
How do I find a previously posted message?
In especially active forums,
it can sometimes be difficult to relocate a single message or poster among
all the posts on different pages. To locate a particular thread, message or
poster, try these options:
• Under the Edit menu, choose Find on this page.
When the dialog box pops up, type your search term (e.g. diabetes) or author's
name (e.g. Alicia, Chatelaine) in the space provided, and click on the Find
next button. The short cut for this action is CTRL + F.
• If found, the first instance of your search term will appear highlighted within a message title. To see more instances of the same word, click the Find next button again.
• To search on the next page, move to the page you want and hit CTRL
+ F again and follow the above steps.
• To jump from page to page in a non-chronological
order (i.e. from 1 to 6), click the Page 1(15) button and enter the page number
you want to jump to in the dialog box.
Because the text you post is reformatted and displayed in HTML by your Web browser, you need to use raw HTML code to add bold, italic, centering, indented paragraphs and bulleted paragraphs to your messages. If you're interested in learning HTML, here are some links to great
beginner guides to HTML. If you don't want to learn HTML, just complete your post with no fancy stuff included. But do remember to hit the return button on your keyboard twice between each paragraph.
• First and foremost, threads and individual messages
are deleted when they contravene rules posted on the
Netiquette
page. You can report a post to the moderator by clicking on the Report button found in each post. You can also contact Toby, editorial producer, by
sending an email to forums@chatelaine.com.
• Second, deletions are not discussed online and are handled privately by the moderator and the poster in question.
• Third, personal messages which are off topic or become heated will also be deleted. If you have any further questions, please fill out the form below.
How do I use the Actions tool?
• The Actions menu is located at the top right of your message view and forum view screen. The Actions menu lists all of the options that available to you, in one spot.
Using your mouse, hover over this Actions box and a list of options will appear. From marking a forum or topic as read to updating your profile, this box will allow you to better manage, organize and update your posts and profile.
• New posts to a topic/thread icon - When in the message view, new posts to the topic (or thread) will appear with a red starburst located at the top left of each post. Posts that you have already read (or that were posted prior to you "marking the topic/forum read") will appear with a grey starburst.
(Message view versus forum view - when viewing the list of topics for a given forum, we call this the "forum view". When viewing a topic and its replies, we call this the "message view.")
• Mark topic or forum as read - The suitcase icon turns red when there are new posts within a topic, or new topics within a forum.
Marking a topic or forum as read informs the software that any new posts made after that date/time should cause the suitcase icon to turn red.
•
To mark a topic as read: In forum view - hover over the suitcase icon and click the mark topic as read option.
In message view - hover over the Actions menu and select mark topic or forum as read.
•
Subscribe to topic or forum - This function allows you to be notified (via email) each time a new post is made.
If subscribed to a topic, each time a new reply is made to that topic, an email will be sent to you.
If subscribed to a forum, each time a new topic is posted to the forum, an email will be sent to you.
You can unsubscribe at any time, either via a link within the notification email or by your user profile.
The suitcase icon will sport a black dot for each topic/forum that you are subscribed to.
Hovering over the suitcase icon for any topic or forum will present you with an option to subscribe or unsubscribe to that topic/forum. The Actions menu also provides the option for subscription.