Forum Tips and Tricks

To Tag a Member in a Post

If you tag another member in your post, they will (depending on their settings) get a notification, so it can be a good way of getting their attention to particular post.

To tag, either:
• type @ followed by their user name (no spaces)
• click on the button in the reply box, and type the user name into the box that pops up

If you have done it correctly, their name will show up as a link like this: admin

If it doesn't work, it might be because you are using their display name, and their actual user name is different. For example, special characters and spaces are not allowed in user names, so if the name you're trying to tag includes any of those, their user name will be different. To see a user name, hover your cursor over their name in a post, and a little pop-up will appear showing exactly what you need to type to tag them.

To Quote A Single Post:

• Find the post you wish to quote
• Click on the button near the top right of the post
• The whole post will be inserted into your reply box as a quote
• Click outside of the quote box to type your response
• If you are unable to click outside of the quote box, try switching to BBCode reply mode and typing your response after [/quote]
• You can also delete parts of the quoted text if they are not relevant, and add formatting e.g. bold if you want to highlight a particular part of the quote

To Quote From a Different Thread or Source

• Select and copy (press ctrl-c) the text you want to quote
• In the thread you are posting to, go to the quick reply or reply box
• Click the button
• Select the text insert quoted text here and paste (press ctrl-v) to replace with your text

To Post a Link

Either:
• Type/paste the link directly into your post. The board autoconverts it into a clickable link.
For example: 2peasrefugees.boards.net/thread/567/forum-tips-tricks

Or:
• Click the  button
• In the box that pops up, type/paste the link into the URL box (make sure you only have one http:// - delete the one that is already there if necessary)
• In the Text box, type the text you want to appear in your post as a link
• Click Create Link
Using the same example: Forum Tips & Tricks thread

You can also convert text you have already typed into a link:
• Select the text you want to make into a link
• Click the  button 
• Type/paste the link into the URL box
• Don't do anything in the Text box, this will be pre-populated for you
• Click Create Link

To Turn Signatures and/or Avatars Off

If you don't like seeing images and links in people's signatures, or their avatar images, you have the option to turn them off so they don't display.

• Click on Profile in the top menu bar
• Select Edit Profile
• Check the radio buttons under Show Signatures and Show Avatars to suit your preferences
• Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save Account Settings

To Add Status or Location to Your Mini-Profile

Your mini-profile is the box that appears on the left hand side when you post and shows your name, rank, avatar and other info. You can add a status and location to this mini-profile as follows

Status
• Click on Profile in the top menu bar
• Immediately beneath your name and rank, there is a box with faint text "Enter your message here..."
• Type whatever you want to show as your status in this box (101 character limit)
• Click Update Status

Location
• Click on Profile in the top menu bar
• Select the Personal tab
• Scroll to the bottom of the screen
• Immediately above the Save Personal Settings button is a box headed Location
• Enter your location in this box
• Click Save Personal Settings

To Post a Hidden Spoiler

• Click on the  button
• A box will pop up, type whatever you want to keep hidden in the Spoiler Text box
• Click Insert Spoiler

When posted, it will appear like this:



(although be aware that members using the Tapatalk app will see whatever you post as normal, the spoiler button apparently doesn't work on that )

To Change Board Theme

The theme is the colour scheme and layout that you see when viewing the board. A number of different themes are available so that users can choose the one that suits them best (this only affects what you see, not anyone else).

• Click on Profile in the top menu bar
• Click the Edit Profile button
• Choose the Settings Tab
• Scroll down the list of Forum Preferences until you get to Forum Theme
• Click on the dropdown to choose a theme from the list
• Click on Save Account Settings at the bottom of the page; you should see the appearance of the board change

To get back to the original appearance, repeat and choose Default from the list of options.

To Search

There are two search functions on the board, with different uses.
The first is the search box which appears at the top right of each thread/board. This is the Live Search.
The second is the search link in the top menu. This is the Advanced Search.
(The ProBoards Guide to the search function may also be helpful and can be found here)

Live Search (Top Right of Board/Thread)

This search acts as a filter on the board (or thread) you are in.
Enter a word or phrase in the box - you do not need to click on the search button (magnifying glass).
When you stop typing, the board will be filtered so that only those threads in which that word or phrase appear either in the title or one of the posts - exact matches only. It does not take you to the relevant post(s), just shows the thread titles.
In a thread, it filters so that just those posts with the search term appear.

You can refine the search further by clicking on the magnifying glass button. This brings up additional search options such as name or date of OP.

Advanced Search (Link in Top Menu Bar)

This is a very powerful search tool. The best way to learn to use it is to experiment!
Depending on the boxes you complete, it allows you to search for a word, combination of words, or phrase. You can also search for posts that do not include a word or words (the exclude function)
If the word you are searching for is in the thread title, you can specify that.
You can choose which board(s) the search should work in - when you click in the Boards box a list pops up for you to select from. You can also search an entire category.
You can limit your search to the latest ?? days or hours, choose a specific date to search or a date range.
You can search for posts made by specific members, and in threads started by specific members.

For example, to see all posts made by Freecharlie in threads started by me, in the Announcements board, in the last week, you would complete the search form as shown in the screenprint at the bottom of this post (click to view larger)

You must choose whether to see results as posts, or as threads.
If you choose posts, the results will be a long list of posts regardless of thread. They will be shown most recent first, and at the top of each post the thread title will appear.
If you choose threads, the list of thread titles will be shown most recent first. Viewing the thread will not take you to any post(s) with your search term - this is where the Live Search is very useful.

(A caveat to all of the above - the ability to search accurately depends on the content of posts being indexed by the search server. This doesn't always happen immediately, so you may not get the results you expect until a little later.)