Winnebago Co. Snowmobile Alliance Help

FAQ's

How do I join this website?

1st. you must be a member of one of our snowmobile clubs.
2nd. In the left column at the bottom of the login block is a link to join the website. Click the link and fill out the information.
3rd. We have to check and make sure you are a member to one of our clubs, then we will approve your application and send you an e-mail with your password.

How do I change my password and other information?

After you log into the website you will notice you have another menu in the column, the Members menu. Select the My Profile menu item, on the “my profile” page is link on the bottom for you to edit your profile. Clicking that link will bring you to your profile edit page. Your password is encrypted and shows up as a bunch of dots. Put your curser in this box and delete all of the dots. After you have deleted all the dots type in the password you want to use. “It is going to show up as dots again” repeat this procedure in the repeat your password box. Then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the save changes button.

The “My Profile area is where you can tell everyone about yourself, select an avatar or upload your own and create a signature that will be used by the website when you write articles, post to the forums or send IM’s. Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the page and save your changes.

What is the letter thingy I have to fill out before I can log in?

That is called CAPTCHA! It is a security tool to keep e-mail harvesting robots and other malicious robots from accessing the website.

Help with the Forums!

Viewing Forums -The Forum feature provides a way to engage in public or private discussions with other members or visitors on the site. The basic organization of the forum enables you to post your questions or comments in the most logical place. Forums are divided into "categories", and the places you can post within those categories are called "boards". Each new message in a board is called a "thread" or a "topic".

When viewing the main forum page, you will notice that the name of the category appears on a divider bar above the names of its various boards. The color of the divider bar is determined by the theme that is active on the site. But regardless of the site's theme, you should be able to distinguish the categories fairly clearly.

The name of every board within a category is hyper-linked. When you click on the name of a board, you can see all the topics, or threads, within that board. The name of each thread is also hyper-linked. When you post a new thread, or topic, on a board, whatever you type in the Subject will become the name of the thread. (See Posting in the Forums)

On the main forum page, you can see how many threads exist in each board, how many posts each board has accumulated, when the last message was posted and who posted it, and the moderator(s) assigned to that board. When viewing the threads within a board, the same information is available concerning each topic, with the exception of Moderator.

Sticky threads (or topics) appear at the top of the list of all the other threads in a board. They most often appear in a different color than the other threads so that they're easily identified. They never move down when new threads are posted. Sticky topics typically contain information that the Admin or moderator feels is vital to all members and should be read by everybody.

Posting in the Forums -Participating in the forums is fun! Here are a few steps to get you started.

Creating a New Topic -You may have something to say, not as a reply to an existing topic, but to begin a new discussion. Please think about the best place for your new "thread" and click into that Board. For instance, I may have found a new way to speed up my SkiDoo. To post a new thread, or topic, in the forum about that method, I'd click into the SkiDoo Forum... because that's the board that is most relevant to what I want to open a new discussion about.

Once you're in the best board for your new topic, look at the upper right corner above the list of messages. You'll see a long, gray button that says New Topic. Click that, and you can begin a new topic of discussion.

Give your topic a short subject that gives an idea of what the thread will be about. Next, choose a symbol that best represents the tone of your topic -just click the down arrow and select one. You'll notice that a little picture instantly appears to the right of the drop-box.

Now type in your text and click the button that says Send Message.

Replying to a Post -If you click into one of the message boards, and click the title of a message, you may feel like replying to the post after you read it. Look at the icons at the bottom of the message. Click on the long gray button that says Post Reply.

You don't have to change anything in the Subject or Symbol... but you can if you want to. In the text area, type in the reply and you're all through replying, click the button that says Send Message.

Replying with Quotes -Instead of just hitting the Post Reply button, you may want to quote all or part of the message you're replying to. There are several instances in which this would be better than replying without quotes. You may be replying to something somebody wrote several replies ahead of your own.

For instance, let's say a user named Pickles posted a comment, and five others have posted comments after that one. You want everybody to know that you're addressing the post by Pickles. In this case, you'd post and click the icon that looks like quote marks at the bottom of that message.

When your composition screen appears you'd see Pickles' original post, and at the beginning and the end you'll see

and

. Whatever appears between the "quote tags" will be indented, bold text with a line above and below Pickles' message, setting it apart from your own reply. You can type your own message either above or below the quoted text. When you've finished typing your reply, click the button that says Send Message.

Flaming -Posting a message that degrades, disparages or denigrates another member, guest or admin/assistant is considered flaming and is not tolerated. If you flame, your post may be deleted, you may receive a message from an administrator or moderator, or your membership may be either temporarily or permanently revoked.

Inappropriate or Censored Language -WebAPP is equipped with an inappropriate or censored language filter. If you type one of the words or phrases that the site administrator has decided to filter, it will not appear as you typed it in your post.

How do I write an article?

Your site administrator has enabled you to write and submit articles for publication. If your article is accepted and published, it will appear on the Home page until it is cycled off by the publication of newer articles.

You may quote articles written by other authors, provided you quote and link to your source(s) and give the original author(s) full credit. Claiming another author's work as your own constitutes plagiarism, which is punishable by law. You alone will be held accountable for the content of your article.

In the Write Article screen, your name and email address appear first. These identifiers are not editable, however your site administrator may have enabled a privacy feature, which will protect your actual email address from appearing on the article when it is published.

If you are uncertain whether the privacy function is in force on the site, you can click into the Memberlist and determine whether members' email addresses are viewable or not. If members' email addresses aren't viewable, the privacy feature is fully functional.

The next element of composing an article is the Category under which it will be published. Click the down-arrow next to the "Category" field to view the entire list of available categories. Select the one that is best suited to convey the tone and content of your article.

In the "Subject:" field, give your article an appropriate "Headline", remembering to keep it short and compelling. A good Headline will grab a visitor's attention and make them want to learn more about the subject matter.

Finally, enter the actual text of the article. If your site administrator has enabled you to do so, make full use of UBBC Tags and Smilies to enrich the article and make it visually appealing and easy to read.

If you don't see the UBBC and Smilies legend under the Text box in this screen, you may be able to activate it by going into the Edit Profile screen and clicking a check-mark in the box that reads "Forum/Articles Legend". This option will appear at the bottom of your Profile screen if the site administrator has made the use of UBBC Tags and Smilies available. Make sure to click the Edit Profile button to save your change(s).

If you don't see this option at the bottom of your Profile screen, your site administrator has disabled the use of UBBC tags in articles and forum posts. However, if the UBBC Tags and Smilies are available to you, it's fun and easy. It's worthwhile to learn how to use them. You can access a help file for UBBC tags HERE, and a help file for using Smilies HERE.

When you are satisfied with the content of your article, click the Send Message button at the bottom of the screen. The person responsible for the site's topics will review your article and may edit spelling, grammar, punctuation or certain words to make the article suitable for the site's intended audience. By submitting an article for publication, you agree to allow it to be edited in this way by the site's publisher.

If your article is accepted for publication, it will appear on the Home page of the site until enough new articles are published to cycle it off the page. However, it will still be viewable and searchable by members until the site administrator archives it permanently.

HELPFUL HINT: It may be easier for you to enter the content of your article in a text editor such as Notepad prior to putting it into the Text box area in the Write Article screen. Using this method, you can comfortably check spelling, punctuation, and links to sources and authors quoted. If you take this approach, just copy and paste the finished article into the Text box area of the Write Article screen.

What is UBBC

When you're writing an article or posting a comment in the forum, there may be buttons at the bottom of the composition area. These buttons allow you to format your message with some attractive accents. The tags used to create these formatting effects are called UBBC (Universal Bulletin Board Code).

All UBBC tags and smilies are just bracketed letters or words that make your posts or articles "pretty". If you want a word to stand out, before you type the word, type a bracket [then the letter b and then a closing bracket]. Now type the word you want to be bold.

After typing the word(s) you want to stand out, close the tag. Type a bracket [then a forward slash (on the question mark key, unshifted) like this / and a closed bracket] . Then continue typing your text.

Alternately, you can just click the B button... but be warned... the code for that button will be placed at the very end of your message, not wherever your cursor is blinking. I type the entire message 1st. then I select the text I want to use UBBC on then click the UBBC button. This works great, the text I want to change is changed and not the entire post. I think it's the easyest way to do it.

You can center your text, or right align it. You can put in an email address that is hyperlinked, as well. The rule to using UBBC Codes is that anything you open, you close again. So, for every bracketed item, you have to close with a bracketed "slash" item. You will see what I meen about the brackets when you start to use it.

You can use multiple tags to create various effects. Just remember to close all your tags in reverse order when you're done with them! For example, to make the phrase "I love this place" bold, italics, underlined and red, the code would look like this: (Remember... tags are always closed in the opposite order in which they were opened...)

code:

[b][i][u][color=red]I love this place[/color][/u][/i][/b]

and this is the result:I love this place

Explain the Member Profile?

Your profile displays personal information about you that you'd like to enable other members to view. To edit this information, click the "Edit Profile" link in the Member Menu. You may change multiple fields at a time. Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required. No changes will be saved unless you click the "Edit Profile" button at the bottom of the page after making your changes.

Changing Your Password -To change your password, type in the new password in the Password: field, then retype it in the Confirm Password: field.

Changing Your Name -To change your name, type in the name you would like to have displayed in the Name: field. If you want to display your first and last name, connect them with an underline character.

Changing Your Email Address -To change your email address, replace the entry with your new address in the E-mail: field.

Changing Your Website Link -You can give a short name or summary for your personal website by typing it in the Website: field. Multiple words are allowed.

You may provide the URL to your website in the URL: field. The URL must begin with http:// in order to be "linked". When you post articles or forum messages, a link to your site will then be accessible to visitors.

Creating a Signature -You may insert a short signature in the Signature: field. UBBC characters are allowed, enabling you to use formatting to create a unique and attractive "sig". Your signature will appear at the bottom of every forum post you create or reply to.

Language Selection -Your site administrator may have made multiple languages available on the site. If this is the case, you will see a Language: field.

To choose your preferred language, click the down-arrow and select which language you'd like the site to appear in. Please note that this will only affect the navigational and informational aspects of the site, and not the content that administrators, members or guests have typed in the articles, forums, links, downloads or poll sections.

Personalizing Your Experience -Some site administrators provide multiple "Themes" so that you can alter the site's appearance to your own liking. If a Theme: field appears in your profile area, click the down-arrow and choose a theme from the available selections.

You may also choose a picture, or "avatar", to represent you visually in the forums. Click one time on the names of the available pictures in the Picture: field. Allow time for the picture to display to the right of the list.

If none of the available pictures are to your liking, you may designate an image of your own by clicking once in the check box under "Use your own picture". Next to the check box, type the full URL to the image file you'd like to use. Make sure the URL begins with http:// and points to a valid .gif or .jpg file. Also note that the image will be resized according to site standards.

Describe what I do with the Members List?

The Memberlist enables you to see information concerning all of the members of the site. You may access the Memberlist by clicking the Memberlist link in the Member Menu.

The name of the newest member appears in the area above the list. You can click the s name to see this member's newest member's profile and/or to send the member an Instant Message. Underneath the newest member info, before this list itself, you will see the site's total number of registered members and the number of members currently online.

A search function appears directly above the list. To search for a specific member, click the circle next to either Username or Name, depending on how you wish to find that Member. Enter the appropriate name in full, remembering that the search is case-sensitive and does not search for partial results. After you've entered the full name of the member you wish to locate, click Search.

In the list itself, as well as in the search result, each member's name is a link that enables you to view his or her profile. In that profile, you can view the member's name, access a link to send the member an email, a link to the member's Website, ICQ information, and a count of the number of posts, comments and articles that member has written. Other membership information, such as Rank, Status, join date, last visit and the member's avatar, is viewable in this area.

The Memberlist also displays some of this information so you don't have to click into a member's profile. For instance, you can click the email link for a member from the Memberlist.

Please note that your site administrator may have enabled a privacy feature so that clicking the link will bring you to an email form on the site, rather than actually displaying the member's email address. Due to the unfortunate reality of spammers, this privacy measure is often a necessity.

Describe the IM or Instant Messaging system?

The Instant Message feature provides a way for you to exchange private discussions with another member. Guests cannot make use of Instant Messages, so if you haven't yet done so... you might want to go ahead and become a member. It's free!

If you've placed a check in the box next to "New IM Pop-ups" in the Member Options of your profile, you'll see a small notification pop-up on your screen whenever you receive an instant message. Note: The pop-up will appear only when you access a page on the site. Click "OK" to close the pop-up screen, if applicable.

To access your instant messages, locate the "Who's Online?" block on the left column of your screen. Beneath that block, the first line informs you that you are logged in as "yourname". Directly underneath that line is another that says "You have X message(s).” where X is the number of messages awaiting you. Click the number and you'll be taken to your Instant Message screen.

The IM area appears as a grid, displaying the following columns:

From: Indicates whom the Instant Message is from.

Date: Displays the date and site time that the message was sent.

Subject: Shows the subject that the sender chose for the message.

Action: Allows you to Reply to or Delete the message, respectively.

To read the message, click its Subject and the message will appear in its entirety, much like a forum post. From this screen, you can either "reply quoted", reply without quotes or delete the message. The icons for these actions appear at the bottom right corner of the message.

Also underneath the message is the grid that displays all of your messages, just like on the Instant Message main screen. This is a timesaving feature so you don't have to click the Back button just to see your message list again.

At the top of the message grid is a link that says "Send IM". This is only one of the many ways you are able to send an IM to another member. Clicking this link will take you to a message composition area with a drop-down box listing all the members of the site.

An more convenient method might be to access the Memberlist, find the member you wish to instant message, and click the icon under the Actions column to "Send a message" to that member. Still another quick, easy way is to access a forum post made by the member you wish to instant message.

Underneath that members post you'll notice four or five icons underneath that person's "signature". Hover your mouse pointer over each of those icons and a small bit of text will float above the pointer, indicating the action that will occur if you click that icon. Click the icon that says, "Send a message to username", where "username" is the name of the member who wrote the forum post.

When you no longer want to keep a message in your list of instant messages, click the second icon in the Action column next to the message. You may also delete the message as you're viewing it. At the bottom right corner underneath the message body, click the last icon on the right.

What are these Smiles?

Using smilies is a great way of expressing various emotions. And it's super-easy to do. Just click the smilie you want to use, remembering that it will appear at the end of all the text you've already written. But once you see how easy it is to type in the code, you won't be clicking icons for long!
Here are the codes for the various smilies:

Skull and bones!	Trepidation,uncertainty!
Shades,man... Cool!	Real tears!
Total shock!	For the devil inside...
Unhappy, disapproval!	Cheshire Cat style!
Too excited to sit still!	A chuckle a day..
Was it something I said?	But adorable and fun!
Red-faced embarrassment!	Yea, right!
Give freely -they're contagious!	"So there!" style raspberries!
You sly fox, you!	Ready to "Enter the Dragon"!
Dancing Banana	Lama Banana

Now remember, using these smilies is supposed to be fun. So it's okay to make mistakes. After posting a message in the forum, if you see something you need to change, just click the little button that has a red "e" on it underneath the message you posted. You'll be taken right back in to the text area to edit it.

What are the responsibilities of a moderator?

To moderate the tone of the forum, meaning read all the posts and make sure no one are breaking any rules or laws.

Make sure the post is related to the topic, if not direct the user to the right forum

Make sure they are not using bad language

Make sure they are not making false statements

Make sure they are not talking smack about the organization, clubs or individuals

Contacting admin when someone needs a reprimand or when the post are old and need to be archived.

That’s it, not a heavy burden!

Winnebago Co. Snowmobile Alliance

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