Account Activation & Login

Why do I need to activate an Account? In order to participate in the NCBA Forums, you must be an existing paid member of the North Carolina Bar Association and have a forums account created or activated and associated with your NCBA main site account. There may be some instances where anonymous users may be able to view posts in some open forums but not be able to post messages, vote in polls, send private messages to other members or other various forums functionality. Back to top

How do I activate an Account? To create or activate an account, you will need to visit the myAccount/myForums area of myNCBar in the main NCBA site, or use the Activate Account link on the forums homepage. Once inside the myForums component, complete the activation form information. Here you will specify details such as your login name and e-mail address. Your registered NCBA password will be used as your forum password. Once your account has been activated, you will be e-mailed a copy of your forums account information. If you already have activated your forums account, you will only be able to update your password information in the myAccount area of myForums. Back to top

I have an activated Account and Password, How do I login? After successfully activating your account, you will be able to login into the forums either through the NCBA main site or the forums login area on the forums homepage. Back to top

I already logged in, why do I get logged off automatically? When logging in if you do not check the 'Remember Me' option you will be automatically logged off after a administrator-defined length of inactivity, usually 20 minutes. If you would like the forums to always log you in automatically, please check the 'Remember Me' checkbox. Back to top

I forgot my login information. If you forgot your login information you can visit the Forgot Your Password? page and either have a password request e-mail sent to your e-mail address in our database, or have your password displayed on the screen by entering some basic account information. Back to top

What if I've activated my account but still cannot login? If you've registered and can't login, check to ensure you are using the correct NCBA number and password. If you are sure the NCBA number and password are valid, but still can't login, you may need to contact us or visit the Forgot Your Password? area of the NCBA Web site. Back to top

I've logged in before, but now can't login. First check to ensure your NCBA number and password are correct. If you still can't login, you may need to contact us or visit the Forgot Your Password? area of the NCBA Web site. Back to top

User Profile & Settings

What is a Profile? A profile is information about your account that controls how you view information in the forums. This includes details about posts you've contributed to, and personal information you wish to share such as your Web address or Weblog address. Here you may also control other settings like a theme or your time zone preference. Back to top

Why do I want to set my time zone? Once the forums knows what time zone you are in, it will display all dates and times relative to your time zone. Back to top

How do I add a signature to my post? A signature is a message that is appended to the end of any posts you make in the forums. You can edit your signature from the profile page. This signature will then appear at the bottom of any messages posted by you. Back to top

What is an avatar? An avatar is a feature of the forums which allows for an image to be displayed along with your posts. Avatars may be enabled or disabled by your forums administrator. Back to top

How do I set my avatar? If avatars are enabled by the administrator you will see and avatar section when viewing your profile. From here you can complete the forum to name the avatar you wish to use, either by uploading an avatar or specifying a URL to your avatar. You will also need to enable your avatar for display with your posts. Back to top

How do I change the language used by the forums? The forums are designed to be multi-language friendly. Currently the only available language is English, but additional language packs can be installed to add support for other languages. Check http://www.communityserver.org for language packs. Within your profile you will see a listing of the available languages. Back to top

How do I set the date format? The date format used to display any date information can be configured from your profile. Back to top

How do I turn off e-mail-tracking? E-mail tracking is a feature which will send e-mails to you when messages that you are subscribed to change. You can turn off all e-mail tracking globally from your profile. Back to top

What are the other icons/avatars that show up next to users? There are many different icons that can show up next to usernames in the forums. Common examples are administrators, moderators, or top posters. Other images may be displayed based on groups the user belongs to. Back to top

Why am I required to login to post, view members, or e-mail other users? Depending upon how the administrator has configured the forums, you may be required to be logged in before viewing/using these areas of the forums. This is primarily to protect the privacy of users who have shared their information or to prevent unwanted/unsolicited e-mails. Back to top

Privacy & Security

How do I change my Password? Once logged in you can change your password from your Profile page. Back to top

How do I change my Username? Unless the administrator has configured the forums to allow username changes, you cannot change your username. If username changes are allowed, you can change your username from the Profile page. Back to top

How do I change my e-mail address? Once logged in, you can change your private e-mail address from your Profile page. Back to top

What Profile settings are required? The only profile setting that is required is your private e-mail address. This is the e-mail address that is used when you subscribe to the forum threads or when you are e-mailed a forgotten username/password. The private e-mail address is never shared or displayed publicly. If you wish to share an e-mail address publicly, use the public e-mail address field. The remainder of the profile settings are optional. Back to top

What if I don't want my name displayed in the member lists? You can set this option in your profile and your name will not appear in any member listings, including the listing of who is online. Back to top

Navigation

What is a Forum Group? A Forum Group is a top level grouping of related forums. A forum group contains one or more forums. Back to top

What is a Forum? A Forum is a grouping of related threads of discussion. A Forum contains 0 or more threads and 0 or more sub-forums. Back to top

What is a Thread? A Thread is a grouping of related posts. A Thread contains one or more Posts. The first post becomes the Thread and replies to the original post increment details on the Thread, such as the reply count or last post. Back to top

What do the Thread icons mean? Thread Icon Legend Topic with posts you have not read. Topic with posts you have read. Popular topic with posts you have not read. A topic becomes popular after a certain number of views and posts (administrator defined). Popular topic with posts you have read. A topic becomes popular after a certain number of views and posts (administrator defined). Announcement you have not read Announcement you have read Poll you have not read Poll you have read A pinned topic with posts you have not read. Pinned topics are displayed before other topics until they become unpinned. A pinned topic with posts you have read. Pinned topics are displayed before other topics until they become unpinned. A pinned popular topic with posts you have not read. A pinned topic with enough views or replies to become popular. A pinned popular topic with posts you have read. A pinned topic with enough views or replies to become popular. A locked topic with posts you have not read. Locked topics do not allow replies. A locked topic with posts you have read. Locked topics do not allow replies. Back to top

When I view a Forum, I don't see any Threads/Posts. A forum may not display any threads if there are no threads in the forum, or if filters on the forums have been applied and no threads match the filter. An example of a filter is filtering to display threads newer than a certain date, such as threads new in the past two weeks. Back to top

I just posted a message, how come I don't see it? A forum may or may not be moderated depending upon how the forum has been configured. After posting a message in a moderated forum you may receive a message stating that the post is awaiting moderation. Once the moderator(s) approve your post you post will become visible. The moderators may choose to move, edit or delete your post to ensure that the post is topical to the current forum. Back to top

What are the different icons next to threads? The icons next to threads when viewing a forum indicate different status. You can move your mouse cursor over these icons to see what the different status / types of threads are. Back to top

What is an Announcement Thread? An announcement is a special post type that is always displayed at the top of a forum for a configured amount of time. The purpose of an announcement is to increase the visibility of certain topics. Back to top

What is a Poll Thread? A poll is a special post type that allows users to vote once on a multiple-choice type question. The purpose of a poll is to obtain basic information on a specific topic. Back to top

What is a Sticky Thread? A sticky topic is a special post that causes a post to sort to the top of a forum for a specified amount of time. A sticky topic is similar to an announcement, whereas an announcement is displayed separate from other threads and usually does not allow replies. Back to top

What is a Locked Thread? A locked thread is a special post that does not allow replies. Once a user locks a post or an administrator/moderator locks a thread, no more posts are allowed. Back to top

Can I sort Threads when viewing a forum? Yes, you can sort threads when viewing a forum by Author, Replies, Views and Last Post. The default sort for a forum is to display the newest threads first (Last Post descending). To sort, simply click on the column title, e.g. Last Post. Back to top

What is the 'XML' icon at the bottom of a forum? The XML icon is linked to the RSS feed for the forum. RSS is used to allow other applications to subscribe to a forum's posts. Back to top

What is the red/green icon next to a user's name when viewing a Post? This icon indicates the user's online status. A green icon means the user has been active recently (usually within the last 15 minutes). A red icon means the user has not recently been active. You can hover your mouse over this icon to see details about the user's past activity. Back to top

I can't access a forum I know exists. If you are attempting to access a forum that you have visited before, but now receive an 'unknown forum' error, there are two likely causes. The first is that the forum you are attempting to access is private and you are not signed in. The second is that the forum has been removed. Back to top

Posting

Can I use HTML? Yes and no. You cannot type HTML directly into the editor. If you are using Internet Explorer, the default editor for creating new posts will be a Rich Text Editor that will automatically format posts using HTML. If you post with a browser other than Internet Explorer, a standard HTML textbox is used and BBCode can be used to mark-up posts. Back to top

What is BBCode? BBCode is a special syntax for formatting plaintext posts. Back to top

Can I add attachments to my posts? Yes, however, this requires the moderator(s) or administrator(s) to enable this permission for users on a forum-by-forum basis. Back to top

What are Emoticons? Emoticons are graphical elements that can be added within the body of a post to add emotions to the post. Common examples are the use of similes within the contents of a post. The forums come with a pre-defined set of emoticons, however the administrator can add additional ones. Back to top

How do I post a new message to a forum? You can post a new message to a forum in several ways depending upon how the administrator has configured the site. When viewing a forum you should see an image button reading New Topic. Clicking on this image button will take you to a form for posting a message or ask you to login first. Depending upon how the administrator has configured the forums, you may be able to post anonymously in some forums, i.e., no login required. If you do not see the New Topic image button you may not have enough permissions – even after logging in – to post a message to the forum even though you are allowed to view the forum. Back to top

How do I reply to an existing post? You can reply to an existing post using either the Reply or Quote image buttons displayed with the post. If you do not see the Reply or Quote image buttons when viewing a post, you either do not have permissions to reply or the post may not allow replies. Back to top

How do I edit my posts? If the administrator or moderator has configured the forum or your role to allow editing of posts, you will see an Edit image button next to posts you have made. Clicking on this image button will allow you to edit your post. Back to top

How do I delete my posts? If the administrator or moderator has configured the forum or your role to allow deleting posts, you will see a Delete image button next to new posts you have made. If a post you have made has one or more replies you will no longer be able to delete the post. Back to top

My Post has words replaced with ***? The administrator may have specified a word filter for posts. When word filters are enabled certain words that are deemed to be offensive are filtered and replaced with the '*' character. Back to top

How do I add a signature to my posts? See "How do I add a Signature to my Post?" in the User Profile and Settings section. Back to top

How do I add an avatar to my posts? See "What is an avatar? And How Do I Set My Avatar" in the User Profile and Settings section. Back to top

User Groups & Permissions

What are Permissions? Permissions control what you are or are not allowed to do while browsing the forums. When using the default views for the forums, the permissions are displayed in the lower-right corner of ever page (where permissions are applicable). The permissions you are granted control all aspects of your view within the forums. Back to top

What is an Administrator? An administrator is the highest permission level within the forums. By default, an administrator has full permissions in the forums to perform any action, e.g. moderating posts, approving users, creating new forums, and so on. Administrators belong to the Forum-Administrator group. Back to top

What is a Moderator? A moderator is the second-highest permission level within the forums. By default a moderator can perform any number of tasks within a particular forum or set of forums. This includes approving posts, moving posts, deleting posts, editing posts or banning users. If you have a problem with a particular forum, the best place to start is with a moderator. Moderators belong to varying groups configured by the Administrator. Back to top

What is a Forum Role? A forum role is grouping of common users for the purpose of assigning permissions. In addition to common permission assignment, a forum group can also be used to display an image for a user in that group. Forum roles make administering and moderating the forum easier, since users can be assigned to roles and then permissions applied to forums based on those roles. Back to top

How do I join a Forum Role or Group? Users are assigned to Forum Roles by the administrator or moderator. If there is a particular forum role you wish to join, please send a private message or e-mail to one of its members for more information. Back to top

Private Messages

What is a Private Message? A private message is like email within the NCBA Forums. You can send a private message to other users within the NCBA Forums that the user has permission to visit. No private information, such as the user's email address, is ever disclosed. Back to top

Searching

How do I use the forums Search? You can search the NCBA forums by either entering a keyword and submitting your search on the forums home page or by clicking the search icon and then submitting your search information. You may also do an advanced search by clicking the search icon, then clicking the "More Search Options" link. When doing an advanced search, you can search by keyword, search by user name and also search individual forums. Note: users are only able to search items inside forums that they have permission to visit. Back to top

About Community Server Forums

What is the Community Server Forums? The Community Server Forums is a scalable, extensible, and free Web based discussion system that you can use to add discussion capabilities to any Web application. Back to top

Who is using the Community Server Forums? This same discussion system is used by many public and private organizations, including Microsoft. Both the ASP.NET Web Site and the Xbox Web site use the forums system to support Web based discussions. These two sites support thousands of users daily and run across multiple servers, so if you're wondering if the forums can scale – just check out those sites! You can search using Google to find other sites using the Community Server Forums. Back to top

Who builds the Community Server Forums? The Community Server Forums is a shared source project built by a community of developers and is released by the Microsoft ASP.NET team. You can learn more about the project at http://www.communityserver.org. Back to top

Where can I get a copy of the Community Server Forums? Visit http://www.communityserver.org/builds/ to download the latest version of the Community Server Forums. Please see the builds.txt file at that location for more details on the available builds. Back to top

What about the license to use the forums? Back to top

What do I do with new features I've created or bugs I've fixed? Back to top