Here you can find answers to questions about how the board works. Use the links or search box below to find your way around.
HOW DO I GET TO THE WOODENBOAT SITE?
Click www.woodenboat.com
HOW REGISTRATION WORKS
You can login but can't post? Your registration is pending. Please chill. It's a MULTi-PART process:
...Agree to the 'be nice' terms, fill out the form, create your login/password, etc., click submit. Choose your User Name carefully. You cannot change it.
...There are TWO questions you must answer, one is randomly generated. Some folks skip one, which is the primary reason a registration doesn't go through. Type just the letter. So, if the question is what letter is next in the sequence: a, b, c, d: you would type e.
...Check your email, click the link in that email to Activate Registration.
(If you didn't get an almost instant email from us, odds are there was a typo in your email address. Start over.)
...Notice the next message, which says you are now waiting for moderation/activation.
...Wait.
...Wait a bit more. Odds are you won't get approved within the hour. Maybe not even that day.
...When your approval goes through, you'll get an email confirmation telling you that you are APPROVED. It includes the user name you created, and tells you to use the password that YOU created upon registration
...if it's been 3+ days and still no approval, odds are that approval was indeed done, but it went to your spam or other filter.
... Thousands upon thousands of folks have registered for the Forum without any help from the Admin. So, if you're frustrated by some aspect of the process, just take it slowly, and it will all work out. Much like driving in the snow.
...How to un-register: simply stop posting. You can also delete your own posts.
If registrations were instant, you'd not enjoy the Forum because of all the junk-ette stuff that would get posted.
HOW TO POST COMMENTS TO THE FORUM
You need to be registered, and you need to be logged-in. Then you need to be "in" one of the sections, like Building / Repair. Click that "New Thread" icon (near the upper left). A thread refers to a series of postings. Once you are in a thread, you can't create a new thread... you can only post to it... so you click that "post reply" icon.
HOW TO UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
Via "settings" link at the top - right of the page ink near the top of the page.
HOW TO SEE WHAT'S NEW
Hit that "What's New?" tab near the upper left of the screen. Please note: that excludes The Bilge. Of course, you can always see what's new in each Forum section by clicking into that section. Newest posts are at the top.
POSTING PICTURES
Control yourself. Avoid posting BIG pictures. Keep them 500 pixels wide OR LESS. That way the dial-up folks aren't bogged-down, and the width doesn't make the page hard to read in a standard sized window. If you don't have Photoshop, try the freebie from gimp.org.
We do NOT host your images. You need to have a place like Flickr, Imagestation, Photobucket, or one of the free other hosting outfits... or your own site.
Per Thorne's 'How-to', here's how to post photos on this forum:
Depending on browser version and Reply/Edit status, this may bring up a simple window with a field to paste the URL into, or the "Add an Image" window described below.
B. If the window titled "Add an Image" comes up, click the "From URL" tab, paste the URL of the photo in the field, deselect the box for "Retrieve remote file and reference locally", then click the "INSERT IMAGE" button. The Forum software will resize some large images, so look at your post to see the actual displayed images.
YouTube video on how to select the image URL in Firefox, navigate the "Add an Image" tabs and paste the image URL - "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkfB_eDmBRw&feature=player_embedded"
SEARCHING FOR A TOPIC
The built-in search function is LESS than stellar. Instead you might use Google's "Advanced Search" and paste http://forum.woodenboat.com into the "Search Within a Site or Domain". It's under the "Need More Tools" section.
CAN'T READ THE TYPE
In lieu of getting younger eyes, just try hitting "control" "+" to make the type larger and then "control" "-" to make it smaller again.
LOGINS / PASSWORDS
FORGOT Your Login or Password? Click
Ooopst... Forgot My Freakin' Login and/or Password
Put in your registration email, and answer the 'humane' verification question.
Don't ask the admin for it... we don't have it. Logins and passwords are case sensitive... so be extra sensitive to that.
Don't recall your login or password? Register anew.
Changed email accts and you don't have access to the acct you originally used? Then just register anew.
User name already taken? Pick another. Yes, it can be a close variation.
You asked for your password to be emailed, and you never got it? Most likely you have an incorrect email. Double-check your spam filters, and if nothing, register anew, carefully typing your email address.
You've been logging in for AGES, but recently it won't allow it? Try going in from our WoodenBoat homepage: www.woodenboat.com. That will probably cure it. Or, reboot, clear cache, try a different browser.
SUBSCRIBE TO A THREAD
Want to know if someone posted to your favorite thread? You can subscribe, and select a variety of ways to be notified, including an instant email. Please note: instant email does not work on items YOU post. Once in the thread, near the top, click Thread Tools->Subscribe to this Thread, then choose notification type. Don't forget to click the Add Subscription button.
CLOSED THREAD BY MISTAKE
The originator of the thread accidentally hits the box titled "Close thread". Re-open by going INTO the thread and using "Thread Tools" up near the top. But, you have to be the one who created the thread.
VERY IMPORTANT: How to subscribe to WoodenBoat magazine.
Click Subscriptions.
TEXT EDITOR WHEN POSTING
A recent upgrade in software has changed the editor (to CKEditor) which may have some some drawbacks for you... perhaps more for Windows 7 users. You should be able to disable Enhanced editor:
GOING MOBILE: Forum Runner and Tapatalk APPS
This forum now supports Forum Runner and Tapatalk, Android/iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad App that allows you to browse this forum using a native client. This means faster access for those users since it only downloads the actual forum information rather than all the extraneous images that slow down the mobile connection. It handles a variety of Forums, fully customizable home screen, private messages and subscribed thread updates, etc. There is a FREEBIE version of Forum Runner... you might want to try that first, and see if that does enough for you. There is a paid version for $1.99. Tapatalk has a paid version for $2.99.
The WoodenBoat Forum is sponsored by the very good folks at WoodenBoat Publications.
