RPGBoard Posters' FAQ

The latest version of this FAQ can be found here.  If this FAQ doesn't answer your question, go ahead and e-mail me.

  1. Posting Messages
    1. There are so many knobs and switches on this thing!  What do they all do?!
    2. The MB allows HTML, but I don't know any!  What can I try out?
    3. HTML is turned on, but I still can't use TABLE tags.  What's wrong?
    4. Can I post a no-text message with a link or image?
  2. Message Defaults
    1. What are message defaults?
    2. What's the ignore list for?  Why would I use it?
    3. How come, when I changed the screen size, nothing happened?
    4. It's nothing much, but why could you have changed the daylight savings time automatically?
  3. Miscellaneous
    1. Where can I download this great script?
    2. Why is the script called RPGBoard?
    3. How does message deleting work?
    4. What's with these cookies and why should I use them?
    5. I have a feature I want to add to RPGBoard.  Can I e-mail you about it?
1 Posting Messages
1.1 There are so many knobs and switches on this thing!  What do they all do?!

(NOTE: Not everything on this display with be included on the message board that you're posting.  It depends on the configuration of the MB.)

  1. This is where you put your nick, or if you prefer, your real name.  If you've posted a message before, this entry automatically gets filled using a Name cookie.
  2. If you are posting on a protected message board, you will have to enter your password.  This entry will disappear after the first time you enter it.  (This is because it records a Password cookie.)
  3. You are not required to enter an e-mail address to post unless you plan on the replies to be mailed to you.  (See #17.)  This entry disappears if you already have it filled in on your defaults.  (See #20.)
  4. This display reports your IP number, including all the proxies you hit and the IP name.  It's used to prevent name spoofing and makes the banning of users much easier.  The administrator may have disabled this display for privacy reasons, so you might not be able to see it.  However, admins can still see it, regardless of the setting.  This is so admins can still ban offensive users.
  5. This reports your browser and OS.  There is no real reason for it, except for the stats screens and as a conversation piece.  If you encounter a browser/OS that it can't detect properly, e-mail me with the HTTP_USER_AGENT info and I'll add it into the next version of RPGBoard.  (The HTTP_USER_AGENT info is located next to the reported browser/OS in the form of a HTML comment.)
  6. This is the subject of your message.  Self-explainatory.
  7. This button is used for posting "No Text" messages.  NT messages are short messages/replies that don't have any real content in them except for the subject.  They are marked with a "(No Text)" tag in the headers.  (Putting *nt* on the end of messages was used to simulate this, hence the name of the button.)
  8. This is where you put your message.  Duh!
  9. If you're writing a rather long message, it's recommended that you save your message often (in case your browser or OS crashes or some other mishap).  Or if you want to save a partial message and finish it later (like on another computer), you can do that, too.  You can only have one saved message.  Saving another one overwrites the first.
  10. Spoiler messages are black-on-black (or white-on-white or whatever) messages that aren't normally shown unless you highlight them either with your mouse or pressing Ctrl-A.  (NOTE: This feature might not available on your MB.)
  11. Normally, when you write a message, RPGBoard formats it to look right, such as <BR> tags after returns, <P> tags after double-returns, etc.  In some occasions, you don't want it to do this, like when you are writing pure HTML code.  The default is on.  (NOTE: This feature is not available if your administrator has disabled HTML for messages.)
  12. If your administrator included message tags, you will be able to use these as warnings/notices to the content of your message.
  13. This is used to further describe the content of your message.  The text before the entry blank is editable by the administrator.
  14. This link points to the background display page.  (This is provided, of course, that the administrator has enabled multiple backgrounds.)
  15. This entry is to choose your background.  You can select a default background on the defaults page.  (See #20.)
  16. If you want to include a link to a page, you can fill in the title of the link and a complete URL of the page that you want to link.  If HTML is enabled on the message board, you can alternatively use A tags in your message body.  (HTML is described below.)
  17. You can post an image before your message by inserting a complete URL here.  You can also put images in your message by using the IMG tag (if HTML is completely enabled on your MB).  (NOTE: This blank is not available if the administrator set Limited HTML or No HTML on messages.)
  18. Some people just want to pop in a message board, ask a question, and wait for an answer.  This option is for them.  Every reply to this message will be e-mailed to the e-mail address you specify as a HTML message.  (A text version is also supplied if your e-mail viewer doesn't support HTML messages.)
  19. This will give you three options: Preview & SpellCheck, Preview w/o SpellCheck, and Post Message.  It's recommended that you preview your message before posting it.  (NOTE: The adminstrator may have turned off the SpellCheck, in which case, you will only see Preview Message and Post Message.)
  20. This link points to the defaults page.  You can set various options to suit your enviroment, including your background (if enabled), your e-mail address, your standard font, your standard screen size (to elongate the blanks to your screen width), etc.  Also, you will need to register your name to post messages on protected boards, and to delete your messages.

1.2 The MB allows HTML, but I don't know any!  What can I try out?
Well, here are a few HTML tags to try out (They can be in lower or uppercase.):
<b>Bold</b> Bold
<i>Italic</i> Italic
<u>Underline</u> Underline
<font color="red">Red</font> Red
<font color="#FF0000">Also Red</font> Also Red
<font face="Impact">Impact Font (if available)</font> Impact Font (if available)
<font size="+1">Bigger Font</font> Bigger Font
<big>Also Bigger</big> <small>and smaller</small> Also Bigger and smaller
<a href="index.html">A link</a> A link
<img src="http://www.resonatorsoft.com/software/rpgboard/sineswiper.gif" width=250 height=70> (My SineSwiper sig.)
<b><i><u><font color="red" face="Impact" size="+1">All together now!</font></u></i><br>Don't forgot to close your tags, else you might get attributes that stay on (like this boldface).</b> All together now!
Don't forget to close your tags, else you might get attributes that stay on (like this boldface).

1.3 HTML is turned on, but I still can't use TABLE tags.  What's wrong?
I've included the option to disable TABLE tags because they can cause some major problems with messages if somebody screwed them up.  Common problems were: none of the message could be seen (missing </TABLE> tag), message text that spilled outside the main message table (using a </TABLE> tag to end the table), a never-ending link/font that extended past the message (using the above trick and forgetting to end the A/FONT tag), etc.  The best solution was to remove TABLE and T[HRD] tags altogether.  Sorry, but by containing the message inside its own table limited message and HTML problems to only the message body, and not the rest of the page.
1.4 Can I post a no-text message with a link or image?
Yes.  If you fill-in the link or image fields at the bottom and post it as a NT message, it'll post the message with the link or image (or both) in the message.  NT messages with links and/or images have a "Link/Image Inside" inside the tag.
2 Message Defaults
2.1 What are messages defaults?
Message defaults are various customizations you can make to your account to make your messages unique and any options you prefer when viewing messages.  This includes your font, background, time zone, mini-biography, etc.
2.2 What's the ignore list for?  Why would I use it?
The ignore list is a "personal ban list" of sorts.  Any messages from the names that you list will not show up in the threads.  (This includes any replies from those messages, for obvious reasons.)  There are a couple of reasons why you would use this.  One, if you have some spammer annoying the site, you can ignore him/her until the admin comes in and kicks him/her out.  (Of course, you should still warn the admin first.)  Also, if you have somebody who is just plain annoying, you might go so far as to use the ignore list.
2.3 How come, when I changed the screen size, nothing happened?
You probably didn't notice it but it does change the size of some of the form fields to match your screen size.
2.4 It's nothing much, but why could you have changed the daylight savings time automatically?
Believe me: when I was implementing the time zone feature, I really wanted to do that.  However, you can blame the loose implementation of DST for the lack of automation.  Not only do some of the countries not follow it, some of the states in the US don't even follow it.  On top of that, there's no standard date on when they follow it.  Ugh!
3 Miscellaneous
3.1 Where can I download this great script?
Here.  I'm always around if you need help setting up your own message board.
3.2 Why is the script called RPGBoard?
When it was first started, RPGBoard was originally a message board script designed for role-playing game (RPG) message boards because that was what my MB was.  Later, people wanted to use it for their own MBs and it grew to include a bunch of features that could be used in any message board script, such as the message defaults and spell checking.  So, I included configurability for the gaming-specific features (like the message tags and spoiler message field).  Since V2, RPGBoard is an all-purpose message board script, but I've decided to keep the name anyway.
3.3 How does message deleting work?
If you make a mistake in a message, or figured out an answer to your question just after you asked it, or just otherwise want to delete your message, just go into your message and click on the delete button.  You may or may not need to enter your password, depending on whether you have a password cookie.  (See the next question for more information on cookies.)  You can only delete a message if you own it and there are no replies to it.  Beyond that, you'd have to ask an administrator to delete it for you.  Also, only admins can undelete messages.  This is so that a spammer/flamer couldn't undelete his own messages (which the admin just deleted).
3.4 What's with these cookies and why should I use them?
Cookies are small pieces of information stored on your computer that can be retrieved later.  RPGBoard uses these to store your name, password, and last post date for later use.  Once you type in your name and password, you never have to enter them again.  You'll notice that your name is automatically filled-in, and the password blank disappears if you already have a valid password cookie.  You can set the expire time for your cookies in your message defaults.  (The last post dates are used for the date color stamping.)
3.5 I have a feature I want to add to RPGBoard.  Can I e-mail you about it?
Yes!  Feel free to e-mail me if you have anything to add.  However, you should read section 5 of the Admin FAQ first.