Frequently Asked Questions about the Napoleon Series Forum

1. How do I post a message on the Forum?

To post a message on the "Create a Profile" Button. You will be asked for your real name and a valid e-mail address. You must include both. You may provide any additional information you wish, such as information about your interests. When you create a profile, our Forum will send a password to your e-mail account within five minutes. You must use your full name and password when you create a message. The Forum software creates a cookie on your computer the first time you post a message. After that, it will automatically put your name and password into the message form when you go to post a message.

2. How do I change my password or other information in my profile?

You may change your password or any other information in your profile by clicking on the "Edit Profile" button. You may not change your name or your e-mail address.

3. How do I use smilies in my posting?

Our forum can accept the following smilies:

:-)
:-(
:O
:D
;)
8)
:b
:\
>:(
:|

4. How do I place a picture in a posting?

1.) You cannot post an image on the Forum.

2.) You can post a link to an image. The reason is that images are big and use a lot of storage when sitting there and bandwidth when accessed. We pay for storage and bandwidth.

3.) The link has to point to a place on the web where the image exists and that is accessible by other users on the web. Your PC is not such a place since you should have firewalls to prevent strangers accessing anything in your computer.

4.) Therefore you have to place the image elsewhere. There are numerous services, many of which provide a level of free hosting. Do NOT pay for anything at the level of hosting you are seeking.

5.) One site used by many of our members is www.imageshack.us

6.) Set up a profile - very easy. This will require an email address and a password. Use one of your generic passwords that you are likely to remember no matter what as you probably won't use this service much. Failing that, they are very quick at helping when you do forget your password.

7.) Once you log in you will see a menu of Actions. Click "Upload Image". This opens a window that requires you to browse to an image on your computer. I presume the image IS on your computer.

8.) You should now see an image has been uploaded to Image Shack. The original still exists in your computer. A copy has been placed on a server that anyone on the web can see.

9.) Now you need a link to your image. Right click on the image. You'll see a list, pick "Share it". This will give an array of different urls for various specific purposes. Use the one called "Direct". Simply copy and paste this into your post. Click anywhere on the url, right click, select "Copy", go to your post and paste. You can test this by copying the link into an empty word document.  

5. How do I place a link to another site in my posting?

Should you wish to use links in the body of the posting, you can use the following method:

1. Place the following within < >: a href="url of site" (Make sure you use the quotation marks.)

2. After the > list the name of the site

3. After you list the name of the site place the following within < >: /a

6. Can I place html code within my posting?

The Forum software permits limited html. The following codes are available:

To bold face: <b></b>
To underline: <u> </u>
To italicize: <i> </i>
To indent: <blockquote></blockquote>

To use these codes, place the first <> before the item you want to use and the </> after the item.

7. Is there a need to change the subject line if I respond to a post?

As a courtesy to other readers you may change the subject line of the posting to reflect what your message is about. If your response alters or renders the previous subject irrelevant, then you should change the subject line.

8. How do I avoid having my messages being deleted when archiving is being done?

One of the reasons why we keep this bulletin board system, despite its age, is because it allows us to archive the messages. Right now there are almost 50,000 messages in our archives. Unfortunately, the system does not automatically archive the material.The moderators decide which messages to archive. It generally takes about an hour to archive about 500 - 600 messages. No message is automatically archived. About 15 - 20 % are deleted. The person doing the archiving has to decide which one to save and which one to delete. Most of the time, the decision is based on the subject line. It is rare that a message is re-read when archiving. The procedure is:

1. Decide which messages to delete and then delete them. These messages generally fall in the following categories:

a. Off-topic.

b. Messages with "NM" in the message line. Most of these messages are thank-yous to other posters for their support. While they are appreciated at the time, they generally are not worth saving for future research. Occasionally there are "NM" postings with with cryptic subject lines. The moderators do not read messages with "NM" in the subject lines before they delete them.

c. Messages that are time-sensitive.

2. Once these messages are deleted, then the other messages are archived.

This takes time. The moderators do not have the time to re-read every message. The most important criteria for them on whether a message is archived or deleted is the subject line.

Note:

1. The forum software will only recognize text in a message. If you post an image or a url in the message and do not include any text with it, it will come up as a "NM". There is a 99% chance it will be deleted.

2. Change the subject line of your message. If you are posting something in an off-topic thread, it will be deleted even if your message is relevant to our era. Additionally, if you post a message in a humorous thread, it will get deleted unless there is something in the subject line that is relevant.