New Posting Permissions

A few days ago I suited up, notified my next of kin, grabbed my club with the nails sticking out, and set to standardizing and expanding posting permissions. The most notable changes are in the areas of avatar use and posting attachments. Be aware that the Forums must share bandwidth and storage space with a number of different domains on the same server package, and resources must be allotted accordingly. If there is a spike in bandwith I may need to make some changes.

To post a file attachment, first enter the text part of your post. Go through the preview, etc. until you are satisfied with it. Once you are ready to post your message, click on the link below the text entry area marked “Additional Options...”. You should see the word Attach, followed by a text entry bar, followed by a button marked Browse... Click on Browse until you find the file you want to attach. Exactly how this works may vary with your platform/OS. Once you click on the file you want, click on the “Open” option. The file name should appear in the text entry bar. Then hit the “Post” button. Your post should show up as usual with your file attached at the bottom. Photos show up on the boards as thumbnails; click on them to see them in their original size.

If you need help, contact Klythe. He is far more familiar with the specifics of different OSs than I am.

Those with the ranks of Klingon Conversationalist and above who are not already doing so may use avatars. All avatars must conform to the rules set forth in the long-abandoned Klingon Avatar Design Challenge. All images must be:
- Klingon related
- safe for general viewing
- 100 x 100 pixels
- a maximum of 50k in size
- JPG format

To add one, hit your Profile button. Once at your Profile page, you should see a block of options in the left column divided into Profile Info, Modify Profile, and Actions. Under Modify Profile, hit Forum Profile Information. That should take you to your avatar controls (this system calls avatars “Personalized Pictures”).

If you have an image you wish to use that does not conform to the above specifications and you cannot resize it, contact me or Klythe. Between us we should be able to resize it for you. Do not use Lady K'Zin's official portrait, Klythe's targh, or Kesvirit's pet Fluffy.

Those of the rank of Scribe (15 posts) and above can now post one attached file per post anywhere in the Forums. File types allowed are txt, pdf, gif, jpg, and jpeg, all with a maximum size of 50Kb. If you have not yet reached Scribe status, email any files you want posted to me at | kesvirit at klingon dot org | and I will attach them to the desired posts.

Do not double/multiple post so that you can add more pictures to the boards. Pick the best or most relevant one to post. If you have a large number of photos you want to share, perhaps relating to an event or project, consider posting your photos at a free hosting site such as Photobucket or ImageShack and linking to them from here.

Addendum: The second option of using a file hosting service is probably safer in terms of saving your images. When the system crashed in 2005, the Forums' database remained intact, and we were able to easily able to install it into its new software slot in the server package. But the attachments, which were not part of the SQL database, were just attachments. Hangers on, if you will. They were lost into the electronic void.

Also, I’d like to remind everyone that they can request an email notification when a new reply is added to a given thread by using the “Notify” button at the top of the thread. The same goes for the different Forum sections. Both of these are akin to “subscribing” to the thread/section in question. They are useful because replies to a given thread can trickle in over time, and a question you posted may get an answer months later. Make sure to keep the email address in your profile current.