General forum use

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• 1The Rules
• 2Donating
• 3Member groups
• 4Your account
• 5Your profile
• 6Reputation System
• 7Forum posting functionality
• 8General forum use
  • 8.1The search engine
    • 8.1.1Searching the forum
      • 8.1.1.1Quick search
      • 8.1.1.2Advanced Search
        • 8.1.1.2.1Search by Keyword
        • 8.1.1.2.2Search By User Name
        • 8.1.1.2.3Find Threads with Prefix
        • 8.1.1.2.4Search by Tag
        • 8.1.1.2.5Find Threads with [a certain number of replies]
        • 8.1.1.2.6Find Posts from [a certain time period]
        • 8.1.1.2.7Sort Results by
        • 8.1.1.2.8Show results as [threads or posts]
        • 8.1.1.2.9Search in Forum(s)
      • 8.1.1.3Search Tag’s
  • 8.2Searching for unanswered threads
  • 8.3Posting permission in the chemistry forums
  • 8.4The sources forums
  • 8.5Forum Language settings
  • 8.6Subscribed threads & other subscriptions
  • 8.7Email notifications
  • 8.8Friends
  • 8.9Ignore list
  • 8.10Sending email to other members
  • 8.11Using the member list
  • 8.12Autolinks
  • 8.13Book reviews
  • 8.14social bookmarking
  • 8.15Signatures
  • 8.16Private messaging
  • 8.17Using the calendar
  • 8.18Announcements
  • 8.19Rating threads
  • 8.20Thread display functions
  • 8.21RSS feeds
• 9Forum posting tips
• 10Reporting Posts
• 11Documents
• 12Video
• 13Audio
• 14Drugs-Wiki Functionality
• 15Blog
• 16Groups
• 17Chat
• 18Image Gallery
• 19News page
• 20Questions & Answers

[top]The search engine

The search engine is a tool that allows you to search Drugs-Forum for posts, threads, photos, blogs or files in the archive that are relevant to a specific subject, or to find a specific member quickly. The search engine can be accessed by opening the drop down menu entitled “Search”, which is found at the top of every drugs-forum page.




Try to search for useful keywords specific for what you want to find in order to achieve the best results, and keep in mind that if words are very common, are less than three letters in length or are more than twenty letters in length, they will not be included in the search. The search engine can only search for words, and not phrases, which makes the use of keywords (and all of the available options used to narrow down search criteria) very important.

[top]Searching the forum

The top part of the drop down search menu allows you to search the forums.


1.

[top]Quick search

This is the best way of getting a search done quickly, although you have less control over the results that you get. To search, click the white text box and type all of the keywords that you want to include in your search. They should be separated by spaces. Then click the “Go” button, which is to the right of the text box, to perform your search.

Below the text box, there is the option to choose between “Show Threads” and “Show Posts”. The option that is selected will have a green dot in the circle to the left of it (if you look at the picture, “Show Threads” is selected), and to select the other option simply click on it. When “Show Threads” is selected, your search will produce a list of threads, which may be useful for finding a broad range of information. When “Show Posts” is selected, your search will produce a list of specific posts that match your search criteria; this may be useful if you need specific information and don’t want to sort through lots of large threads.

Finally, there is the option to search titles only, which can be selected or deselected in the same way. Selecting it means that your search will only search thread and posts titles, without searching the actual content of any posts. This means that you can find threads dedicated to a particular subject and avoid threads on another subject that just have a passing mention of what you are looking for.

A similar function is available in specific forums, so only that forum will be searched. To access this, open the relevant forum and open the “Search Forum” drop down menu to the right. This also gives you another way of accessing the “Advanced Search” page, which can also allow you to specify which forums you to search.

2.

[top]Advanced Search

This is the option that allows you to narrow down your search criteria more than any other, making it very useful for finding specific posts, threads, or information that you may struggle to find with the quick search function. There are multiple options on the advanced search page that help you search, and you can use as many or as few of them as you need. Clicking “Advanced Search” brings up this page:



At the bottom of the “Search Forums” module, the “Search now” button enables you to carry out your search using all of the options that you selected. The “Reset Fields” returns all of the search options to their original, blank state, which may be useful if you wish to carry out an entirely different search.

Below the “Search Forums” module is a drop down menu with two options. Selecting “Save Search Preferences” will mean that all of the currently selected search options will be the default every time you go to the Advanced Search Page. Selecting “Clear Search Preferences” cancels this, meaning that the original page with all search options blank will be the default. Once an option here is selected, pressing the “Go” button right next to the drop down menu can carry out the action.

A.

[top]Search by Keyword

This is very similar to the Quick Search option. Keywords that are relevant to your search can be typed into the text box, and then only posts/threads containing a keyword will be included in your search results. The drop down menu below the text box allows you to either “Search Entire Posts” for the keywords, or “Search [post/thread] Titles Only” for the keywords. The latter may be useful for finding more useful threads completely dedicated to a particular subject.

B.

[top]Search By User Name

This option means that you can get search results that only display posts/threads by a particular user, whose username you should type into the textbox. The drop down menu below the text box enables you to either search all posts by that user (the “Find Posts by User” option), or to only search threads started by that user (the “Find Threads Started by User” option).

If you don’t know the users complete username, you can uncheck the box labelled “Exact Name”, which means that you only need to put a part of the username into the text box, and all usernames that include what you typed will be searched.

C.

[top]Find Threads with Prefix

Whenever a thread is posted, the user posting it can select a prefix to go before the thread title to help explain or summarise what the thread is about. This option allows you to search for threads with a particular prefix by selecting prefixes from the list. The list includes all of the prefixes, which are organised into relevant groups (in bold), including groups of prefixes that are only available in specific forums. To select multiple prefixes, click on the prefixes that you want to include in your search whilst pressing a “Ctrl” button on your keyboard.

D.

[top]Search by Tag

Users can put tags onto any threads. Tags are special keywords assigned specifically to a thread, specifically to make searching and finding other threads with similar tags easier. To use this option simply type the tag term that you want to search for into the text box, and your search will be narrowed down to include only threads that are assigned to that tag. Tags can have more than one word, and if you search for a tag that has no threads assigned to it you will see an error message that says “Invalid Tag Specified”.

Further down the page, there is a “Search Tag Cloud” module, which contains the 120 most searched for thread tags in alphabetical order. The size of the font used for a tag here is indicative of how often that tag has been searched for compared to others. Clicking on one of the tags will bring up a list of all threads with that tag, in order of when the last response to the thread was.

E.

[top]Find Threads with [a certain number of replies]

This option allows you to set a maximum or a minimum on the number of replies that a thread has, and only threads that meet the reply requirements that you set will be included in your search. To set a minimum number of replies, select “At Least” in the drop down menu. To select a maximum number of replies, select “At Most”. To set the value for this maximum or minimum, put a number in the text box to the right (which is set to 0 by default). Only numerical characters work here.

F.

[top]Find Posts from [a certain time period]

This option allows you to only include posts from before or after a particular date in your search. The drop down menu on the left allows you to select a date. Selecting “and Newer” means that only posts that were made on that date or after will be included in your search, whereas selecting “and Older” means that only posts created on that date or earlier will be included in your search.

G.

[top]Sort Results by

Here you can choose the order in which your search results are displayed, so that you can sort through them easier or try and ensure that what you want will be closest to the top of the list. The drop down menu on the left enables you to select how your results are sorted. Selecting “relevancy” means that your results will appear in order of how well they match your search criteria, and all other options here will either be in alphabetical or numerical order. In the drop down menu on the right, selecting “in Descending Order” will put the results with the most relevancy, highest numerical value or results at the end of the alphabet (dependant on the sorting option chosen) first. Selecting “in Ascending Order” will put the results with least relevancy, lowest numerical value or results at the beginning of the alphabet first.

H.

[top]Show results as [threads or posts]

The option that is selected will have a green dot in the circle to the left of it, and to select the other option simply click on it. When “Show Threads” is selected, your search will produce a list of threads, which may be useful for finding a broad range of information. When “Show Posts” is selected, your search will produce a list of specific posts that match your search criteria; this may be useful if you need specific information and don’t want to sort through lots of large threads.

I.

[top]Search in Forum(s)

This option allows you to choose which forums will be included in your search. There is a complete list of all forums and sub forums, and you can click on what you want to search in order to select it. To select multiple options, hold a “Ctrl” button on your keyboard whilst clicking on all of the forums that you want to be searched. If the “Also search in child forums” box is checked, then all of the forums within the ones that you highlighted will also be searched (i.e. if “Downers and sleeping pills” was selected, then the “Benzodiazepines” subsection will also be searched).

3.

[top]Search Tag’s

Clicking “Search Tag’s” in the “Search Forums” part of the search drop down menu will bring up a page with these modules:




Users can put tags onto any threads. Tags are special keywords assigned specifically to a thread, specifically to make searching and finding other threads with similar tags easier. To search for threads assigned to a specific tag, simply type the tag term that you want to search for into the text box in the “Search by Tag” module, and then press the “Search” button. Tags can have more than one word, and if you search for a tag that has no threads assigned to it you will see an error message that says “Invalid Tag Specified”.

Above the “Search by Tag”, there is a “Search Tag Cloud” module, which contains the 120 most searched for thread tags in alphabetical order. The size of the font used for a tag here is indicative of how often that tag has been searched for compared to others. Clicking on one of the tags will bring up a list of all threads with that tag, in order of when the last response to the thread was.

The option to search using tags is also available on the “Advanced Search” page.

[top]Searching for unanswered threads

To search for unanswered threads, first click 'Search' > then 'Advanced Search'.
Now under 'Search Options' > under 'Find Threads with' > change 'At Least' to 'At Most' zero replies.

To search for unanswered threads within a specific forum first do the above, then select the forum you wish to search on the right under 'Search Forums'.

[top]Posting permission in the chemistry forums

In order for you to be able to post in the chemistry sections you must be a Silver member or above. One other way to achieve this is that you write up an article of at least 600 words on a chemistry related topic of your choice and post this in the newbie chemistry section. When ready alert a administrator or super moderator, to review it. If the administrator or super moderator rates it positive you will be granted access to the chem forums. The Newbie Chemistry forum is accessible to newbies and they may post there in the meantime for all chemistry related questions.

[top]The sources forums

The sources forum is for legal sources only. In order to be able to access the sources forum you must be a Gold member or higher. The sources forums are only visible to Gold members. We do not allow sources discussion anywhere else, in order to avoid spam and illegal activity. Please avoid starting threads about eBay or with "eBay" in the title as this almost invariably leads to source discussion.

[top]Forum Language settings

Drugs-Forum is available in three different languages: Deutsch / German, English (US), and Nederlands (Dutch). Changing the language setting will not alter the actual posts at all, but will change the menus, interfaces and help text of Drugs-Forum. English (US) is the forums default language.

To change your language settings:

1. Open the “User CP” drop down menu at the upper left of every page.


2. Press “Control Panel”, which is the first option in that drop down menu.


3. This will bring you to a new page. Towards the left of this page is a side panel called “Your Control Panel”. Press the ”Edit Options” link, which is under “Settings & Options” on this side panel.


4. This will bring up your options page. Scroll down to the box at the bottom, called “Miscellaneous Options”, and click the drop down menu in the “Forum Language” section.


5. Click on the language you want to change to.


6. Scroll down and click the “Save Changes" button.



You have now changed your language settings.

[top]Subscribed threads & other subscriptions

Thread Subscriptions

You can be subscribed to a thread for a few reasons. The simplest way to subscribe to a thread is to start a thread or reply to a thread. You can also manually subscribe to a thread:

1. Click the dropdown thread tool menu found at the top of each thread.
   
2. Click subscribe

[top]Email notifications

Typically when someone replies to a post to which you are subscribed, you will be sent an email notifying you of the reply to the thread.

Also notifications will be sent when other actions have taken place such as receiving private messages, receiving infractions, and when receiving friend requests.

Changing Email Subscriptions for all future Subscriptions

1. Go to the top left hand corner of the screen and click where it says "User CP". This will bring up a drop-down style menu.
   
2. Click the first option for control panel.
3. Once in the control panel look on the left side tool bar and under "Settings & Options" click “edit options.”
   
4. The second main menu is all about Messaging and Notification. As a user you can distinguish which events will prompt an email to be sent to your registered email address. For thread subscriptions there is a drop-down menu for all the types of email notifications there are for thread subscriptions. This is where all emails can be stopped by selecting "no email notification" or other notification selections can be made based on personal preference.
   

Changing Email Notification for Past Subscriptions

There is another way to change thread subscription notification by email. This step is necessary if you are trying to stop email notification for threads to which you have already subscribed, because if you followed the last step and selected "No email notification" that selection is not retroactive. This means that in the future you will not be emailed for threads to which you subscribe, however, the threads you are already subscribed will still send you an email notification.

1. Click the "User CP" button.
2. Click the Subscribed threads item.
   
3. This will bring up a screen with every thread subscription you have made. For all the threads with "Instant" in the “Notifications” column you will receive an email each time a new post is made.
4. Click the box to the right of "Instant" so that a check mark appears in the box.
5. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the dropdown menu for "selected threads"
   
6. Here there are the same options as before where you can "Update subscription type" To change "Instant" from earlier to "None" click the option for "No email notification"
7. Click the Go button.

Changing Email Notifications for every Past Thread Subscription

1. Click the empty box at the top of the page to the right of the “Notifications” column, which will make every thread have a check mark next to it so that a specific action can be taken on these threads.
   
   
2. Click the dropdown menu at the bottom of the page and change the subscription type just as before.
3. Repeat this process for every page of thread subscriptions you may have. You can find what is displayed in the picture below the last subscription at the bottom of the page. I’ve made a large amount of posts so don’t be surprised if there are very few pages of subscriptions.
   

[top]Friends

You can add another member as a friend by clicking 'Befriend' on their profile. This will add their avatar to your list of friends on your profile. They will also have a '+' next to their name in the list of people online at the bottom of the forum.

[top]Ignore list

[top]Sending email to other members

[top]Using the member list

[top]Autolinks

[top]Book reviews

[top]social bookmarking

[top]Signatures

[top]Private messaging

[top]Using the calendar

[top]Announcements

[top]Rating threads

[top]Thread display functions

[top]RSS feeds