Frequently Asked Questions

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Frequently Asked Questions

Myeloma Beacon Forum: What is The Myeloma Beacon Forum?; Does it cost anything to use this forum?; How do I contact the forum administrators?; What is the privacy policy?; What are the basic forum definitions?

Login and Registration Issues: Do I need to register to use the forum?; Why should I register?; How do I register?; How do I log in and out?; What should I do if I cannot login?; How do I stay logged in automatically?; How do I prevent my username appearing in the online user listings?; What do I do if I lost my password?

User Preferences and settings: How do I change my settings?; How do I change the time setting?; How do I change the image displayed next to my username?; What is an avatar?; What is a gravatar?

Posting Issues: How do I post a reply to an existing topic?; How do I post a new topic?; What is the difference between "Post Reply" and "Quote"?; How do I edit or delete a post?; How do I add a signature to my post?; How can I report posts to a moderator?

Attachments: What attachments are allowed on this board?; How do I add an attachment?; How do I find my attachments?

Formatting and Topic Types: Can I use HTML?; What are Smilies?; Can I post images?; Can I post videos?; What are global announcements?; What are announcements?; What are sticky topics?; What are locked topics?

Searching the Forums: How can I search a forum or forums?; Why does my search return no results?; Why does my search return a blank page?; How can I find my own posts and topics?

Topic Subscriptions and Bookmarks: What is the difference between bookmarking and subscribing?; How do I subscribe to specific forums or topics?; How do I remove my subscriptions?

Private Messaging: What is private messaging?; Why I cannot send private messages?; How do I block private messages?; How do I report spam or abusive e-mails from someone on this forum?

Friends and Foes: What are friends and foes lists?; How can I add / remove users to my friends or foes list?

Myeloma Beacon Forum

What is The Myeloma Beacon Forum?: The Myeloma Beacon Forum provides an open discussion area for multiple myeloma patients and their families.; Top

Does it cost anything to use this forum?: No, The Myeloma Beacon Forum is free for all users.; Top

How do I contact the forum administrators?: To contact forum administrators, email admin@myelomabeacon.com or send a private message to the Beacon Staff.; Top

What is the privacy policy?: Click here to read more about our privacy policy.; Top

What are the basic forum definitions?

Below are a few commonly used terms in the forum:

Board Index ..........................	the main home page for the forum
Board .....................................	another word for forum; also referred to as discussion board
Forum.....................................	a collection of topics
Topic.......................................	a group of posts
Post.........................................	a message / comment left by a user
Private Messages.................	an internal email system that is accessible from the User Control panel
User Control Panel...............	the area where personal settings for registered users can be adjusted

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Login and Registration Issues

Do I need to register to use the forum?: No, you do not need to register in order to read or post messages. However, there are some advantages to registering.; Top

Why should I register?: Registration will give you access to additional features not available to guest users. This includes saving posts, creating a profile, customizing your avatar, private messaging, posting comments at the forum and at The Myeloma Beacon without filling in forms. It only takes a few moments to register, so it is recommended you do so.; Top

How do I register?: Go to the forum registration page and follow the registration steps.; Top

How do I log in and out?: Go to the login page and enter in your user name and password. You can also login from the forum index page.; Top

What should I do if I cannot login?: Ensure your username and password are correct. If they are, please contact the forum administrators at (admin@myelomabeacon.com) for further assistance.; Top

How do I stay logged in automatically?: If you do not check the "Log me in automatically" box when you login, the forum 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 "Log me in automatically" during login. This is not recommended if you access the board from a shared computer (e.g., library, internet cafe).; Top

How do I prevent my username appearing in the online user listings?: Within your User Control Panel, under Board preferences, you will find the option "Hide your online status." Enable this option with "Yes," and you will only appear online to the administrators, moderators, and yourself. You will be counted as a hidden user.; Top

What do I do if I lost my password?: Your password cannot be retrieved, but it can easily be reset. Visit the login page and click I forgot my password. Follow the instructions, and you should be able to log in again shortly.; Top

User Preferences and settings

How do I change my settings?: You must be a registered user to change you settings. If you are registered, you can go to the User Control Panel to change your settings and preferences; a link can usually be found at the top of board pages.; Top

How do I change the time setting?: It is possible the time displayed is from a different timezone than the the one you are in. If this is the case, go to the User Control Panel and change your timezone to match your particular area (e.g., London, Paris, New York, Sydney, etc.). Please note that changing the timezone, like most settings, can only be done by registered users.; Top

How do I change the image displayed next to my username?: The image that is displayed next to each of your posts is known as an avatar and is generally unique or personal to each user. If you are a registered user, you can change your avatar by going to the User Control Panel. Click on the Profile tab, and then click on Edit avatar on the left-side menu. From the Edit Avatar page, you can upload your own image (with maximum dimensions of 120px by 120px), select an image from the gallery, or use your Gravatar icon, if you have one.; Top

What is an avatar?: An avatar is an image that may be personalized, and is displayed in the user profile and next to each of the users’ posts. Users can change their avatar from the User Control Panel.; Top

What is a gravatar?: Gravatar is a 3rd-party service for providing avatars (see above). Users can register for an account based on their email address at www.gravatar.com and upload an avatar to be associated with the account. For blogs and Web sites that support Gravatar, users who post comments with their email addresses will have their avatars automatically appear.; Top

Posting Issues

How do I post a reply to an existing topic?: Click the Post Reply button. You will be taken to the Post-A-Reply page. Type your comments or questions. Click Preview to see how your post will look. Click Submit to post the message to the forum.; Top

How do I post a new topic?: To post a new topic, select an appropriate forum (category) on the board index. Within the specific forum, click on the "New Topic" button. Forums dedicated to site announcements, such as the Welcome Message, do not allow users to add new topics.; Top

What is the difference between "Post Reply" and "Quote"?: Use Quote when replying to a specific previous post. The text of the "quoted" post will be repeated in your post. Parts of the quote can be deleted if you are replying to a specific part of a post. Otherwise, or if in doubt, use Post reply.; Top

How do I edit or delete a post?: You can edit or delete your own posts only if you are a registered user. You cannot delete a post once someone has replied to your post. Once someone replies to your post, you will find a small piece of text below your post that lists the number of times you edited it along with the date and time. This will not appear if a moderator or administrator edited the post, though you may find a note explaining why the post was edited.; Top

How do I add a signature to my post?: To add a signature to a post you must first create one via your User Control Panel. Once created, you can check the "Attach a signature" box on the posting form to add your signature. You can also add a signature by default to all of your posts by checking the appropriate radio button in your profile. If you do so, you can still prevent a signature being added to individual posts by un-checking the add signature box within the posting form.; Top

How can I report posts to a moderator?: For posts that you would like to call to the attention of one of the moderators, you can click on the button that looks like an exclamation point, which is located on the upper right-hand corner of the post you wish to report. Clicking this will walk you through the steps necessary to report the post. Alternatively, you can send an e-mail to the forum administrator at admin@myelomabeacon.com; please include a link to the post you wish to report.; Top

Attachments

What attachments are allowed on this board?

The following file types may be attached to forum posts:

Images (gif, jpeg, jpg, png, tga, tif, tiff)
Archive (7z, ace, bz2, gtar, gz, rar, tar, tgz, zip)
Text (csv, txt, xml)
Document (doc, docm, docx, pdf, ppt, pptm, pptx, rtf, xls)
Media (ram, rm, wma, wmv, swf, m4a, m4v, mov, mp4, qt, mp3, mpeg, mpg, ogg, ogm)

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How do I add an attachment?: Users must be registered and logged in to attach files to their forum posts. To attach a file, click on the Upload attachment tab at the bottom of the posting form, then click Browse to select the file, and "Add the file" to submit the attachment. Comments about the attachment may be added using File Comment form. See the above list for allowed file types.; Top

How do I find my attachments?: To find your list of attachments that you have uploaded, go to your User Control Panel and follow the links to the attachments section.; Top

Formatting and Topic Types

Can I use HTML?: No. It is not possible to post HTML on this board and have it rendered as HTML. Most formatting which can be carried out using HTML can be applied using the WYSIWYG editor instead.; Top

What are Smilies?: Smilies, or Emoticons, are small images which can be used to express a feeling using a short code, e.g. :) denotes happy, while :( denotes sad. The full list of emoticons can be seen in the posting form. Try not to overuse smilies, however, as they can quickly render a post unreadable.; Top

Can I post images?: Yes, images can be shown in your posts. You can upload the image to the board, or you can link to an image stored on a publicly accessible Web server, for example http://www.example.com/my-picture.gif; Top

Can I post videos?: Videos can be added to your posts in two ways. You can either add a link to the video, (for example http://www.example.com/my-video.mpg), or you can upload a video as a post attachemnt.; Top

What are global announcements?: Global announcements appear at the top of every forum and within your User Control Panel and contain important information from the forum administrators, regarding the status of the forum. We encourage you to read them whenever possible.; Top

What are announcements?: Announcements appear at the top of every page in the forum to which they are posted. They contain important information for the forum you are currently reading..; Top

What are sticky topics?: Sticky topics within a forum appear on the first page of that forum below announcements. They are often quite important, so we encourage you to read them whenever possible.; Top

What are locked topics?: Locked topics are topics where users can no longer reply.; Top

Searching the Forums

How can I search a forum or forums?: Enter a search term in the search box located on the index, forum, or topic pages. Advanced search can be accessed by clicking the "Advanced search" link, which is available on all pages on the forum.; Top

Why does my search return no results?: Your search may have included common terms that are not indexed by the forum’s search engine. Try to use more specific search words, and also check out the options available within "Advanced search."; Top

Why does my search return a blank page?: It is possible your search returned too many results for the Web server to handle. Use "Advanced search," and use more specific search terms to narrow the results down.; Top

How can I find my own posts and topics?: Your own posts can be retrieved either by clicking the "Search user’s posts" within the User Control Panel or via your own profile page. To search for your topics, use the "Advanced search" page.; Top

Topic Subscriptions and Bookmarks

What is the difference between bookmarking and subscribing?: Bookmarking in the forum is like bookmarking in your Web browser. You are not alerted when there is an update, but you can come back to the topic later. Subscribing, however, will notify you by email or private messaging when there is an update to the topic or forum on the board.; Top

How do I subscribe to specific forums or topics?: To subscribe to a specific forum, click the "Subscribe forum" link upon entering the forum. To subscribe to a topic, reply to the topic with the subscribe checkbox checked or click the "Subscribe topic" link within the topic itself.; Top

How do I remove my subscriptions?: To remove your subscriptions, go to your User Control Panel and follow the links to your subscriptions.; Top

Private Messaging

What is private messaging?: A personal message or private message, often shortened to PM, is like an e-mail sent from one user to another user inside the forum. Users must be logged in to send and receive messages, and can access messages from the User Control Panel on the Private messages tab.; Top

Why I cannot send private messages?: Users must be registered and logged on to send private messages to other members within the forum. For more information, contact the forum administrators at admin@myelomabeacon.com.; Top

How do I block private messages?: You can block a user from sending you private messages by using message rules within your User Control Panel. If you are receiving abusive private messages from a particular user, contact a forum administrator; they have the power to prevent a user from sending private messages.; Top

How do I report spam or abusive e-mails from someone on this forum?: The e-mail form feature of this board includes safeguards to track users who send spam or abusive e-mails. Send an e-mail to the forum’s administrators at admin@myelomabeacon.com, with a full copy of the e-mail you received. Please be sure to include the header of the email because it contains important details of the user who sent the e-mail. The forum administrator can then take action.; Top

Friends and Foes

What are friends and foes lists?: Friends and foes lists are lists that allow you to organize other members of the board. Members added to your friends list will be listed within your User Control Panel for quick access to see their online status and to send them private messages. If you add a user to your foes list, any posts they make will be hidden by default.; Top

How can I add / remove users to my friends or foes list?: You can add users to your list in two ways. Within each user’s profile, under their avatar, there is a link to add them to either your friend or foe list. Alternatively, from the User Control Panel, you can directly add users by entering their member name in the Friends and Foes tab. You may also remove users from your list using the same page.; Top