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Login| A&M Corner Forum Index » FAQ |
| Forum Rules/Community Standards |
| Registration Notice This forum requires registration with a valid e-mail address in order to experience its full benefits. Registered users receive the ability to view all available forums, as well as post replies and new messages, edit and delete their own posts, send private messages to other members, create and vote in polls, and use images (called 'avatars') to display under screen names. Registration improves the quality of messages posted in the forum, prevents identity forgery, and gives us a way to pursue those who abuse or spam the forum or its members. At our discretion, we will deactivate any account that does not use a valid, current e-mail address; if your e-mail address changes, you will need to change it and re-activate your account. Finally, members may not have more than one user account registered on our forum, using different user names. We will immediately suspend or ban any member we suspect having two accounts in our forum. On a similar note, if a user that has been banned or suspended attempts to register under a new account, that new account will be banned permanently. Back to top |
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| Privacy Policy All information collected by our forum's registration process is used solely for forum operations, and is not made available to any outside party (other than publicly viewable information in your profile). Members have the option to display or hide their e-mail address in their user profile. Only forum administrators and moderators have access to all of these addresses, and will only contact a member if there is a legitimate need to do so. Generally, we will use a private forum message to get in touch with you first. Above all, we do not want your e-mail address compromised in anyway. If you feel you have been contacted inappropriately, please bring it to our attention. Back to top |
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| Names and Required Information Forum members are required to use a valid e-mail address, and their first and last names, when registering in our forum. By removing anonymity, we lessen the chance of inappropriate behavior and create a better sense of "community". We reserve the right to immediately deactivate any user account that falsifies or otherwise hides their identity. Please fill in as much information as possible in your user profile. In order for members to better understand each other, it helps to know where a member is from (your location...your hometown, in other words) and what their other interests are. Back to top |
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| Moderator Duties Our forum is staffed with moderators, whose duty is to assist forum members, maintain order, and maintain the quality of posted messages. Contact a moderator if you need assistance using a forum function, or if you need to report an abusive message. Moderators have the ability to "quarrantine" (delete) messages, "lock" topics that have ended, and move or split messages to different forums as they see appropriate. Moderators reserve the right to edit any messages for inappropriate content, and edit message titles in order to clarify the subject being discussed. Back to top |
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| Moderator Decisions In the event we need to deal with a member problem, our moderators discuss and decide the appropriate action to take as a team. When a decision is made, a moderator in most cases will contact the member privately to discuss the problem and the corrective action taken. Our moderators' decisions are final, and may not be debated, argued or deflected. Likewise, a forum member may not publicly lash out or retaliate against a moderator in public; such action will result in an immediate (and possibly permanent) suspension. Back to top |
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| Topic Guidelines Our message board is split into different categories and individual forums, which helps to reduce an overwhelming number of messages in any one forum. Certain topics or messages deemed to be inflammatory, disruptive or too sensitive for our membership will be edited or deleted without notice, at the moderator's discretion. Topics posted in incorrect forums will be moved at a moderator's discretion. Inappropriate topics include discussions of politics, religion, and other issues that a moderator deems too sensitive for general forum readership. Back to top |
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| Regarding 'First Amendment' Rights One common complaint in a forum setting is that when a member's message is deleted or altered, the moderators are often accused of violating that member's first amendment rights. Please be aware that in any privately owned enterprise, such as this forum, the first amendment does not apply. Members of a privately owned forum such as this one are expected to abide by the rules set by the forum's owner and moderators. Back to top |
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| Member Harassment and Flaming/Language Our members will not be permitted to harass, flame or personally attack other members. Harassment includes, but is not limited to, disparaging or hateful comments based on gender, race, ethnic background or religion. Flaming includes, but is not limited to, persistent harassing messages focused upon one individual or group, or the forum at large; the deliberate attempt of a member to incite an argument with one individual or the forum at large (also known as "baiting") is also forbidden. Inappropriate language is handled by the forum's word censor feature, or dealt with by moderators as needed. Back to top |
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| Forum Etiquette In addition to harassment and language issues, our forum members are expected to follow standard rules of internet etiquette--basically, be kind and respectful to your forum friends! We encourage members to post often, and to respect other members whose ideas and opinions may clash with their own. We do like to engage in intelligent debate and constructive criticism of the subjects we discuss here, but do NOT condone personal attacks or insulting posts. "Thread crapping" is also discouraged: if someone starts a topic (thread) about why they like the subject at hand, don't reply with an opposing, negative post. (Example: in a discussion of different blends of coffee, a post saying "Coffee sucks!" is a thread crap.) Instead, start a new topic to voice your opinion. If you see a post in violation of our rules, please report it to a moderator. Do not retaliate publicly. Finally, please use common sense when using forum features such as colored text, bold/italics/underlining, font sizes or smilies. Use these features for emphasis only--posts with too many highlights are annoying and difficult to read. Back to top |
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| Advertising/Spamming Policy Members are not allowed to advertise in message board forums. A member's question about your occupation or business is fair game, but blatant advertising or solicitation of business is not allowed. This is also referred to as "Spamming." "Advertising" includes business references only; members are free to give out their personal URLs if they wish, as long as they don't do it in a repetitive manner that disrupts the conversation. Note: we may have a separate 'Trading Post' forum where products and services may be listed, as well as notices of items available for auction. Spamming will be dealt with appropriately, including instant revocation of the member's registration, as well as appropriate action with that person's internet provider. Remember: all messages here are logged and traceable. Back to top |
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| Copyright Policy Due to the nature of our website, vistors can expect our forums to occasionally feature images or links to images, song lyrics, websites or media (music or video) clips that are copyrighted. While we may have blanket permissions to display some of these items, we request that our visitors, within reason, have rights or permissions to post copyrighted materials for display in our forum. As public file-sharing is itself a copyright "grey area,", we specifically discourage any links or requests for links to shared music or video files on the internet. Any "classified ad" or "trading post" forum found on our site is not to be used to sell, buy or trade copies of copyrighted items (unauthorized reprints of photos, CD-Rs with recorded music or software, photocopies of published works, etc.). All content of this forum is copyrighted, including messages posted in our forum, where the original authors are the copyright holders. Use of our original content, including forum posts, without proper permissions or clearance is strictly forbidden. Finally, we are not responsible for any content that we did not create or originate. Back to top |
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| E-Mail/Private Message Spamming Visitors or members are not allowed to contact anyone on our membership roster unless it specifically pertains to the subject of our forum or website, or is otherwise a "friendship" contact. Spamming pertains to the unsolicited sending of e-mail or private messages to our registered members which advertise the sale of products or services (even if they are related to our forum topics), promote political or religious issues, or divert members to "alternative" websites or enterprises beyond our control. Any and all spamming issues are dealt with in the same manner as our Advertising/Spamming Policy outlined above. If you have goods, services or other information that may be of interest to our general readership, contact a forum moderator or administrator to inquire about posting it in our forum publicly. This forum's Trading Post forum, if it has one, will contain the appropriate rules for the sale, trade or purchase of items among forum members. Any complaints contrary to the above will result in immediate suspension from our forum. Back to top |
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| User Signatures and Avatars Forum members are allowed to upload small pictures (avatars) to their profiles; they are also allowed to create a short "signature" at the bottom of their posts, which will appear on all messages posted by them in the forum. Please keep all avatars and signatures within the bounds of good taste, and animated avatars are not allowed. The moderators reserve the right to delete any avatar or signature that might be offensive or inflammatory to our other forum members. Back to top |
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| Login and Registration Issues |
| Why can't I login? Have you registered? You must register in order to login. Did you type in your username and password correctly? They are case sensitive. Have you been banned from the board? If so then you should contact the webmaster or board administrator to find out why. If you have registered and are not banned and you still cannot login then check and double check your username and password. Usually this is the problem. If not, contact the board administrator for assistance. Back to top |
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| Why do I need to register? Registration will give you access to additional features not available to guest users such as definable avatar images, private messaging, e-mailing of fellow users, user group subscription, etc. It only takes a few moments to register, so it is recommended you do so. Back to top |
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| Why do I get logged off automatically? If you do not check the Log me in automatically box when you login, the board will only keep you logged in for a preset time. This prevents misuse of your account by anyone else. To stay logged in, check the box during login. This is not recommended if you access the board from a shared computer, e.g. library, internet cafe, university cluster, etc. Back to top |
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| How do I prevent my username appearing in the online user listings? In your profile you will find an option Hide your online status, if you switch this on you'll only appear to board administrators or to yourself. You will be counted as a hidden user. Back to top |
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| I've lost my password! Don't panic! While your password cannot be retrieved, it can be reset. To do this, go to the login page and click I've forgotten my password, follow the instructions, and you should be back online in no time. Back to top |
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| I registered but cannot login! First, check that your are entering the correct username and password, and remember that they are case sensitive. If they are okay, then one of two things may have happened: if COPPA support is enabled and you clicked the I am under 13 years old link while registering, then you will have to follow the instructions you received. If this is not the case, then does your account need activating? We require all new registrations be activated, either by yourself or by the administrator before you can logon. When you registered it would have told you whether activation was required. If you were sent an email, then follow the instructions. If you did not receive the email, then are you sure your email address is valid? One reason activation is used is to reduce the possibility of rogue users abusing the board anonymously. If you are sure the email address you used is valid then try contacting the board administrator. Back to top |
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| I registered in the past but cannot login any more! The most likely reasons for this are; you entered an incorrect username or password (check the email you were sent when you first registered), or the administrator has deleted your account for some reason. If it is the latter case, then perhaps you did not post anything. It is common for boards to periodically remove users who have not posted anything to reduce the size of the database. Try registering again and get involved in discussions. Back to top |
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| User Preferences and settings |
| How do I change my settings? All your settings (if you are registered) are stored in the database. To alter them, click the Profile link at the top of the forum's pages. This will allow you to change all your settings Back to top |
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| The time and date are not correct! What you may be seeing are times displayed in a time zone different from the one you are in. If this is the case, you should change your profile setting for the time zone to match your particular area, e.g. London, Paris, New York, Sydney, etc. Please note that changing the time zone, like most settings can only be done by registered users. The time could still be off by an hour if daylight savings time is in effect. Back to top |
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| My language is not in the list! Either the administrator did not install your language, or someone has not translated this board into your language. Try asking the board administrator if they can install the language pack you need. If it does not exist, then please feel free to create a new translation. More information can be found at the phpBB Group website (see link at bottom of pages) Back to top |
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| How do I show an image below my username? There may be two images below a username when viewing posts. The first is an image associated with your rank, generally these take the form of stars or blocks indicating how many posts you have made or your status on the forums. Below this may be a larger image known as an avatar, this is generally unique or personal to each user. It is up to the board administrator to enable avatars and they have a choice over the way in which avatars can be made available. Back to top |
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| There are many options for using avatars: what do I do? There are four available options for avatars, depending on how the forum was configured. Avatars are configured in your user profile, toward the bottom of the screen, under the Avatar Control Panel. The first area shows your current avatar (if you have one), and tells you the maximum size requirements of avatar images. Note that the only accepted file formats for avatars are GIF and JPG. Below this is the area where you choose your avatar. You use only one of the four options available here:
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| How do I change my rank? In general you cannot directly change the wording of any rank (ranks appear below your username in topics and on your profile depending on the style used). Most boards use ranks to indicate the number of posts you have made and to identify certain users, e.g. moderators and administrators may have a special rank. Please do not abuse the board by posting unnecessarily just to increase your rank, you will probably find the moderator or administrator will simply lower your post count. Back to top |
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| When I click the email link for a user it asks me to log in. Sorry but only registered users can send email to people via the built-in email form (if the admin has enabled this feature). This is to prevent malicious use of the email system by anonymous users. Back to top |
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| Posting Issues |
| How do I post a topic in a forum? Easy, click the relevant button on either the forum or topic screens. You may need to register before you can post a message, the facilities available to you are listed at the bottom of the forum and topic screens (the You can post new topics, You can vote in polls, etc. list) Back to top |
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| How do I edit or delete a post? Unless you are the board admin or forum moderator you can only edit or delete your own posts. You can edit a post (sometimes for only a limited time after it was made) by clicking the edit button for the relevant post. If someone has already replied to the post you will find a small piece of text output below the post when you return to the topic, this lists the number of times you edited it. This will only appear if no one has replied, it also will not appear if moderators or administrators edit the post (they should leave a message saying what they altered and why). Please note that normal users cannot delete a post once someone has replied. Back to top |
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| How do I add a signature to my posts? To add a signature to a post, you must first create one, this is done via your profile. Once created you can check the Add Signature box on the posting form to add your signature. You can also add a signature by default to all your posts by checking the appropriate radio box in your profile (you can still prevent a signature being added to individual posts by un-checking the add signature box on the posting form). Please note that when you've created an online signature, it will affect all of your posts, even past ones. When messages are displayed, and you've chosen to include a signature, it retrieves your current signature from our database. Back to top |
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| How do I create a poll? Creating a poll is easy! When you post a new topic (or edit the first post of a topic, if you have permission) you should see a Add Poll form below the main posting box (if you cannot see this, then you probably do not have rights to create polls). You should enter a title for the poll and then at least two options (to set an option type in the poll question and click the Add option button after adding each option. You can also set a time limit for the poll, using 0 for an infinite poll. There will be a limit to the number of options you can list, set by the board administrator Back to top |
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| How do I edit or delete a poll? As with posts, polls can only be edited by the original poster, a moderator or board admin. To edit a poll click the first post in the topic (this always has the poll associated with it). If no one has cast a vote then users can delete the poll or edit any poll option, however if people have already placed votes only moderators or administrators can edit or delete it. This is to prevent people rigging polls by changing options mid-way through a poll Back to top |
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| Why can't I access a forum? Some forums may be limited to certain users or groups. To view, read, post, etc. you may need special authorization or, if you haven't registered, you may need to do so. Depending on the type of forum, a moderator or administrator may need to grant special permissions. Back to top |
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| Why can't I vote in polls? Only registered users can vote in polls (so as to prevent spoofing of results). If you have registered and still cannot vote, then you probably do not have appropriate access rights. Back to top |
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| Formatting and Topic Types |
| What is BBCode? BBCode is a special implementation of HTML that allows you to highlight your text in various ways. BBCode itself is similar in style to HTML. Tags are enclosed in square braces [ and ] rather than < and > and it offers greater control over what and how something is displayed. For more information on BBCode, see the guide which can be accessed from the posting page. If you hover your mouse pointer over one of the BBCode buttons, you will see a small help line to assist you. The buttons also have keyboard shortcuts! Back to top |
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| Can I use HTML? As a general rule, HTML is not enabled for security reasons. Back to top |
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| What are Smileys? Smileys, or emoticons, are small graphical images which can be used to express some feeling using a short code, e.g. :) means happy, :( means sad. The full list of emoticons can be seen via the posting form. Try not to overuse smileys though, they can quickly render a post unreadable and a moderator may decide to edit them out or remove the post altogether Back to top |
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| Can I post Images? Images can indeed be shown in your posts. However, there is no facility at present for uploading images directly to this board. Therefore you must link to an image stored on a publicly accessible web server, e.g. http://www.some-unknown-place.net/my-picture.gif. You cannot link to pictures stored on your own PC (unless it is a publicly accessible server) nor images stored behind authentication mechanisms, e.g. hotmail or yahoo mailboxes, password protected sites, etc. To display the image use the BBCode [img] tag . Back to top |
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| What are Announcements? Announcements often contain important information and you should read them as soon as possible. Announcements appear at the top of every page in the forum to which they are posted. Whether or not you can post an announcement depends on the permissions required. Back to top |
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| What are Sticky topics? Sticky topics appear below any announcements in viewforum and only on the first page. They are often quite important so you should read them where possible. As with announcements the board administrator determines what permissions are required to post sticky topics in each forum. Back to top |
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| What are Locked topics? Locked topics are closed to end a topic, preventing further replies. It is set this way by either the forum moderator or board administrator. You cannot reply to locked topics and any poll it contained is automatically ended. Topics may be locked for many reasons, mostly due to age. Back to top |
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| User Levels and Groups |
| What are Administrators? Administrators are people assigned the highest level of control over the entire board. These people can control all facets of board operation which includes setting permissions, banning users, creating usergroups or moderators, etc. They also have full moderator capabilities in all the forums. Back to top |
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| What are Moderators? Moderators are individuals (or groups of individuals) whose job it is to look after the running of the forums from day to day. They have the power to edit or delete posts and lock, unlock, move, delete and split topics in the forum they moderate. Generally moderators are there to prevent people going off-topic or posting abusive or offensive material. Back to top |
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| What are User Groups? User groups are a way in which board administrators can group users. Each user can belong to several groups (this differs from most other boards) and each group can be assigned individual access rights. This makes it easy for administrators to set up several users as moderators of a forum, or to give them access to a private forum, etc. Back to top |
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| How do I join a User Group? To join a user group, click the user group link on the page header (dependent on template design), and you can then view all usergroups. Not all groups are open access. Some are closed and some may even have hidden memberships. If the group is open, you can request to join it by clicking the appropriate button. The user group moderator will need to approve your request, and may ask why you want to join the group. Back to top |
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| How do I become a User Group Moderator? User groups are initially created by the board administrator. They also assign a board moderator. If you are interested in creating a user group, your first point of contact should be to send a private message to a moderator or board administrator. Back to top |
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| Printer-Friendly Topic View |
| What is the :| |: button for? - Cancelling the board's pagination By clicking on this button you can locally remove the board's fixed pagination for the current topic to help your web browser do the proper pagination for printing (File-Print in the browser's menu) based on actual line spacing, rather than the number of messages per page. Back to top |
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| What are the boxes on top of the printable output? - Range selection There are two boxes on top of the page and a tape-recorder-like button O_o. They allow to select a range of messages. Note that every message in the printable view has a number. Use those numbers to fill out the boxes on top to set up the first and the last message you want to be printed, and press the O_o button to rewind the topic. Another way to set a range is to put a negative number in the second box, which will mean that you want -n of messages to be printed. For example, 4 7 will output messages 4, 5, 6, 7. However if you enter values 4 -7 in first and second box respectively, messages 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 will be shown after you press the rewind button. Back to top |
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| How to print only one message? - Advanced range selection First, go to the printable view of the topic by pressing the Printer button in the topic view. Find your message and note the number in front of it. Type that number into the first box in the top left of the printable view. In the second box put value -1 and press the O_o button. This will tell the database to output only one message starting from the given one. Another way of getting this result is by putting the same number in both boxes. Let's say you want to print only the message number 16. Fill out the boxes in the top as such: 16 -1 and press the go button O_o. This will work only if there are at least sixteen messages in the current topic, of course. Back to top |
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| Why using strange symbols? / More questions? In order to make this mod language-independent I decided it would be easy to use symbols instead of words. If you have a comment or a suggestion concerning my choice of symbols in particular, or other things in general related to this mod, please join the ongoing discussion at phpBB mod support Back to top |
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| Private Messaging |
| I cannot send private messages! There are three reasons for this; you are not registered and/or not logged on, the board administrator has disabled private messaging for the entire board, or the board administrator has prevented you from sending messages. Back to top |
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| I keep getting unwanted private messages! In the future we will be adding an ignore list to the private messaging system. If you keep receiving unwanted private messages from someone, inform the board admin or a moderator for assistance. Back to top |
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| I have received spam or abusive email from someone on this board! We are sorry to hear that. The email form feature of this board includes safeguards to try and track users who send such posts. You should email the board administrator with a full copy of the email you received, including all of the headers (the list of details of the user that sent the email). They can then take action. Back to top |
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| phpBB 2 Issues |
| Who wrote this bulletin board? This software (in its unmodified form) is produced, released and is copyright phpBB Group. It is made available under the GNU General Public Licence and may be freely distributed, see link for more details Back to top |
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| Why isn't X feature available? This software was written by and licensed through phpBB Group. If you believe a feature needs to be added then please visit the phpbb.com website and see what phpBB Group have to say. Please do not post feature requests to the board at phpbb.com, the Group uses sourceforge to handle tasking of new features. Please read through the forums and see what, if any, our position may already be for a feature and then follow the procedure given there. Back to top |
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| Who do I contact about abusive and/or legal matters related to this board? You should contact the administrator of this board. If you cannot find who this you should first contact one of the forum moderators and ask them who you should in turn contact. If still get no response you should contact the owner of the domain (do a whois lookup) or, if this is running on a free service (e.g. yahoo, free.fr, f2s.com, etc.), the management or abuse department of that service. Please note that phpBB Group has absolutely no control and cannot in any way be held liable over how, where or by whom this board is used. It is absolutely pointless contacting phpBB Group in relation to any legal (cease and desist, liable, defamatory comment, etc.) matter not directly related to the phpbb.com website or the discrete software of phpBB itself. If you do email phpBB Group about any third party use of this software then you should expect a terse response or no response at all. Back to top |
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