Mini-questions and mini-answers about this forum

[Korn]

Q: Why are registering sometimes disabled?

A: Either because we are in the middle of changing the forum structure, or because we are attacked by 'trolls'. (Registering is enabled again now).

More short questions?

[cedarblue]

korn, can you clarify what 'not a member of any public group' means in our member profiles?
thank you kindly

[Korn]

Sure! It means that the member you are looking at hasn't joined any of the so called 'User Groups', found under Group Membership in the User Control Panel.

[Maisiepaisie]

Sorry I posted in the wrong thread about this before. I've worked out how to turn off my email notifications but I'm still getting them. What's happening? Someone help me, theres loads of them

[Korn]

This seem to be a bug in the software, so I'll try to turn them off for you. Let me know if that helps.

Another solution would be to manually unsubscribe from each of the threads that you subscribed to before email notifications were deactivated.

[Maisiepaisie]

Thanks Korn

[lvhockhart]

What are 'trolls' (in reference to the forum)? I've heard the term before, but I can't remember exactly what that means.

[Korn]

Here are some definitions:

'Internet troll, a person who is deliberately inflammatory on the Internet in order to provoke a vehement response from other users.'
'An Internet "troll" is a person who delights in sowing discord on the Internet. He (and it is usually he) tries to start arguments and upset people.'
'As a verb, the practice of trying to lure other Internet users into sending responses to carefully-designed incorrect statements or similar "bait."'

'An "Internet troll" or "Forum Troll" is a person who posts outrageous message to bait people to answer. Forum Troll delights in sowing discord on the forums. A troll is someone who inspires flaming rhetoric, someone who is purposely provoking and pulling people into flaming discussion. Flaming discussions usually end with name calling and a flame war.'

Some people have small invisible trolls living inside them without noticing it...

[Korn]

How many moderators do this site have?

Four (including me), + 2-3 who are not currently active.

[Korn]

I posted, but my comments disappeared immediately - why?

New/not-yet-approved members (and a few other members who for some reason are on 'Delayed Posts') will see this happen, because the message is autmatically put into the moderation queue by the software. All messages will be approved manually until a user is approved for normal posting (unless they are spammers/trolls...).

[Korn]

I don't like this site or how you guys run it, and would like to discuss this in detail with you - is that OK?

That could have been interesting, and we have done that in the past eg. if member has been banned. Luckily this almost never happens, but still: we do this work, unpaid (we actually pay for doing it), and rather want to focus on the members who like it here. But of course, suggestions about positive changes are always welcome. We can always improve.

[Korn]

Does mods/admins read private messages of other users?

Of course not - that would be both unethical and illegal.

[Korn]

What are 'infractions'?

It's a feature found in the last three versions of the vBulletin software - a warning system which main purpose is to be a simple way to help people not to get banned, by informing them in a 'semi-automatic' way about our rules if they have been breaking them. More here...

[Korn]

Do you consider this an Animal Rights-forum?

We consider this a vegan forum, and as vegans we think animals should have the same rights to a happy life as humans have. Vegan activism isn't the same as AR activism, even if they have a lot in common. Vegan activists often go further than some AR activists do, in that they don't see animal welfare campaigning as 'good enough'. Vegans don't limit the ethics around killing animals to 'suffering vs. non-suffering', but some people interested in involved in the AR movement do - so I'll consider this a vegan forum, not an AR forum - as the name suggests...

[Korn]

Why do you require that people enter their birthdate when they register?

We do it only because we'd like to know if children/minors are registering, because they have limited access to this site. We may change that in the future, and replace it with a dialog box asking if you are older than 13/18 years. The current system is the built-in solution, which means that we are 'COPPA'-compatible by using it.

Edit: The birth-date requirement has been replaced by a dialog box asking which age group people belong to (13+, 18+).

[Korn]

Can I leave the forum anytime I want?

Of course - just stop using it!

[Korn]

Will all the posts of a user automatically be deleted if an account is deleted?

No, so deleting an account actually have no function, which is why we don't do it. Even if would delete an account, all the posts would still be there with the user name next to each post. Also, remember that deleting a lot of posts inside a thread probably would make that thread more or less unreadable/confusing, and we don't want unreadable threads!

[Korn]

Can I use any email account I want when I register?

Yes, but using an AOL-account may not be a good idea, since people who register using an AOL-address often complain about not receiving activation codes.

[Korn]

Do you sell or give away email addresses?

No, and we'll never do that. Even if the site should be taken over by someone else in the future, we'd require that they won't do it either.

[Korn]

I have some ideas re. how I think the site could improve - where can I post these?

Try the 'Forum Info'-subforum, maybe? The forum has gone through major changes since it was created in August 2003, and many of these changes are results of feedback from our users.

[cedarblue]

when i want to put a link to another thread up and i press the 'insert link' button i just get asked to give the url address; i used to be asked also what word or phrase i wanted the link to appear on the post as - does that make sense??

anyone??

[Korn]

Hi,
Here's how I do it: First enter the word or phrase (eg: Protein).
Then select that word/phrase.
Now click on the insert Link-icon.
Enter (copy/paste) the URL there (eg: http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3696)
Result: Protein
Hope this helps...

[Mr Flibble]

If you're a fast typer and not a fan of rodents then just type:

<url=http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3696>protein</url>

with [ in the place of < and ] in the place of >. This and other tips can be found here.

[Poison Ivy]

I've been trying to upload a signature (85 characters - inc. spaces, takes up 1 and a 1/2 lines in the 'edit signature' box), yet I can't do it because I get an error saying it has to be two lines or less in length!! It appears to be so, yet still won't work, any ideas why??

[Korn]

I believe that an automatic line break is inserted after 40 characters....

[Poison Ivy]

ah, okay...thanks for answering

[fiamma]

Hi,
Here's how I do it: First enter the word or phrase (eg: Protein).
Then select that word/phrase.
Now click on the insert Link-icon.
Enter (copy/paste) the URL there (eg: http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3696)
Result: Protein
Hope this helps...

That's how I do it Korn - great minds think alike, eh

[PainterLady]

My dear, sweet, beautiful friend ThreeStarBlue is trying to register and it is taking forever for her to be approved. How long does it usually take?

[Korn]

Can I search in the member list and find other forum users based on their location?

Yes, if you use Advanced Member Search, and if the users have entered their location in a way that allows you to find them - eg. Bristol instead of The Universe...

[Korn]

Why do you require that people enter their birthdate when they register?

Only because we'd like to know if children/minors are registering, because they have limited access to this site. We may change that in the future, and replace it with a dialog box asking if you are older than 13/18 years. The current system is the built-in solution, which means that we are 'COPPA'-compatible by using it.

FYI, that's changed now: We don't require your birthday (you may still enter it after you have registered), instead we ask you which age group you belong to: 0-13 (can't become a member yet), 13-18, or 18+.

[aubergine]

First is it possible to make this thread a sticky?

Second has the maximum length for signatures been changed? It seems a lot more restrictive since about six months ago.

Cheers

[Korn]

Yes, and yes.
Cheers to you to.

[Korn]

What's your policy regarding promoting own companies, sites, bands, products etc?

It's totally fine to post a link to your home page or blog and company, but in some cases, eg. if a person starts several threads to promote his own project or keeps mentioning the same project/company in a number of other threads, we remove these posts. You'll find more in our FAQ (#9). In a very few cases we've also put people who can't stop promoting themselves on Delayed Posts (temporarily) - but people who register only to sell cheap Marlboro cigarettes or Nokia phones are banned immediately.

[Manzana]

how do i attach a picture?

[Kiran]

Hi Manzana,

Please refer to this thread....
http://veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4273

Cheers.

[Korn]

Hi,
Some members contact us and ask what happened with their posts - especially new members who have posted something before their account is activated. We just added a some info about this in our FAQ, and here's what we wrote:

Have you posted a message, but can't find it? This may be due to one of the following reasons...

Your post may have been moved to a different subforum (example: all posts from non-vegans are moved to the Not A Vegan-section).

Before an account is fully approved, you need to confirm that you used a real email address when you registered. ('Spammers' often register using fake email addresses...)

Your account also needs to be manually approved by a moderator, which may take up to 12-48 hours.

Messages from not-yet-approved accounts are moderated, so if you post something before your account is activated, there will be a delay before your message(s) become visible.

Members who are not vegans yet, will get a 'Not A Vegan Yet'-account. This is also a 'moderated' account type.

Almost all other accounts are non-moderated. If you have any questions, click on 'Contact Us' at the bottom of the main page, and send us your question.

[Mahk]

When I get the message "You are not a member of the sub-group (zone) that this post was moved to. You have to join it first to ......", how do I figure out which zone it went to? I doubt I have to sign up for ever zone to figure this out but I don't see how to otherwise. For example, there's a post today about "ants in the house" but I can't read it because I'm not a member of the correct zone. Thanks in advance.

[Korn]

Unfortunately, I don't think it's possible to give a very good answer to that question - because sometimes, a thread may fit well into several subforums.

There is no software function I can activate which enables a message saying where the thread is now located (Animals, fish & animal products) - but it could be a useful feature in a future version.

[Cattmogg]

Hello!! When you post now why doesnt what you've posted go to the top of the new posts list?

[cedarblue]

i think it only disappears to you untill someone else posts after you - it appears at the top of the list to everyone else though!

[Korn]

Hello!! When you post now why doesnt what you've posted go to the top of the new posts list?

The software assumes that the post you just wrote isn't new to you. Confusing, I know... (the forum behavior used to be different a couple of years ago) - but: try QuickLinks>Today's Posts, and you'll see it...

[Cattmogg]

Also, how do you start a thread now...

[Cattmogg]

Also, how do you post a pic now?

Also....

[Korn]

Also, how do you start a thread now...

Enter a forum.
Click on 'New Thread'....

[Korn]

Also, how do you post a pic now?

Upload the pic to flickr.com or some similar kind of site.
When writing a message, click on this icon:
Copy+paste the location of your stored image into the dialog box that pops up.
Click OK...

[Korn]

What does FAQ#17 say again?

It says "Please try to avoid taking threads too far off topic or using public threads for private messages, and please search for existing threads before you start new ones."

[Gorilla]

how do i change the title of a thread i started?

i tried to change the title of the Animal Aid sponsored walk thread by changing the title of the first post, but it didn't change the thread title. i'm sure i managed to change the title of the Brighton beach meet-up thread by doing that, but it didn't work this time.

[Korn]

Hi Gorilla,
currently you need to send a PM to a moderator to change a thread title...

[RedWellies]

Why can't I delete my posts now?

[Korn]

Some threads didn't make sense because members deleted their posts, so we disabled that function (and people complained to the moderators for having deleted them!)

You can delete the text in the post, and replace it with eg. 'Text deleted'....