| Registering for the Forum |
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Registration for the forum is necessary in order to post messages, view the membership list, view member profiles, send and receive private messages, change your profile, and access some of the other features that the forum offers.
Registration is free, and you need not reveal any information that you do not want others to see.
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 Notes: |
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If you use AOL to log in to the Internet, you might experience difficulty registering for the forum unless you switch to a different browser first. For more information, see AOL Users. |
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The forum is not to be used to promote questionable websites or businesses. Please read our short, easy-to-read policy page before you register. (Click here to read it now). |
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| To register for the forum: |
| 1) |
At the top of any page, click  Register. |
| 2) |
Read the agreement. |
| 3) |
If you agree with the terms, click the agreement link that corresponds to your age (13 and older, or under 13).
The Registration Information form appears. Fill out the required information by doing the following: |
| 4) |
In the Username text box, enter whatever user name you want to appear when you post messages. Type it exactly as you want it to appear in posts and in the membership list. Capitalization and spaces are permitted.
Note: To avoid confusion, members cannot change their username after registering. Be sure to choose one that you won't mind keeping for the duration of your forum membership. |
| 5) |
In the E-mail address text box, enter your e-mail address.
Note: Be sure to enter your e-mail address accurately because your registration will be activated via a message sent to your e-mail address. All messages from the forum are sent to this address. You can change it in your user profile any time after your account is activated. Only administrators of the forum can view your e-mail address; your privacy is protected at all times (see step 14 below). |
| 6) |
In the Password text box, enter the password that you want to use each time you log into the forum. |
| 7) |
In the Confirm password text box, enter the same password that you entered in step 6. |
| 8) |
In the Confirmation code text box, enter the letters and/or numbers that you see in the "fuzzy-looking" gray box, directly above.
Note: Be sure to type the code exactly as it appears, including the same use of capital and lower case letters. The number "zero" has a line through it; the letter "O" does not.
Next, complete your profile information. If you do not want any of the information below to be published in the forum, simply leave the corresponding text box blank. For more information about profiles, see What Are Profiles?
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| 9) |
If you have a registered ICQ Number, AIM Address, MSN Messenger account, and/or Yahoo Messenger account, and you want forum members to be able to contact you that way, enter each one in the corresponding text box. An icon for each account that you include appears inside your message posts and in your profile, which people can click to contact you.
Note: The forum staff does not provide any support for these programs. |
| 10) |
If you have a personal web site and you want members to be able to visit the site by clicking a Site icon (shown below) inside your message posts or a link in your profile, enter it in the Website text box.
Note: Be sure to enter the entire web address, including http://. Remember that the forum should not be used simply to promote unrelated businesses. For more information see the forum policies page. |
| 11) |
If you want the area where you live to be displayed underneath your username in all message posts and in your profile, enter it in the Location text box.
 Examples: Cary, Illinois; northern Virginia; New Jersey; San Francisco. |
| 12) |
If you want to display your occupation or interests in your profile, enter the information in the corresponding text boxes. |
| 13) |
If you want a particular block of text to appear at the end of all your posts, enter it in the Signature text box.
Note: There is a 255 character limit in signature blocks, including spaces.
Examples: Your name, nickname, a quote that you like.
Finally, select your user preferences. For more information, see Understanding Profile Preferences. |
| 14) |
If you want people to be able to send you e-mail messages directly from the forum, click Yes for the Always show my e-mail address preference. If not, click No.
Note: If you click Yes, an e-mail icon (shown below) appears inside all your message posts, in the Memberlist, and in your profile. When members click this icon, an e-mail form opens, directly in the forum. People use this form to send a message directly to your e-mail address, but they cannot see your address unless you reply to them directly from your own e-mail software. If you reply by sending them a Private Message from the forum, they will not know your e-mail address.
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| 15) |
A Who is Online box appears on some of the forum pages. This box shows the number of registered forum members, their usernames, and the number of guests currently browsing the forum. If you click Yes for the Hide your online status preference, other members will not see your username in the Who is Online box after you log in. Instead, you will be referred to as "Hidden." If you click No for this preference, other members will see your username after you log in. If you visit the forum page but don't log in, the box will indicate that you are a Guest, regardless of whether you choose Yes or No for this preference. An example of this is shown below.
Note: If you choose to hide your online status, you will see your username in this box; but it will appear in italics, and no other member will see it. The information in this box is updated every 15 minutes; therefore, it is not always completely accurate at any given moment. |
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If you want the forum to send you an e-mail notification when a member posts a reply in a topic that you have started or replied to in the forum, click Yes for the Always notify me of replies preference. If you do not want this e-mail notification, click No.
Note: You receive only one e-mail message notification between visits to that topic, regardless of how many new messages are posted.
Tip: This preference can be changed whenever you post a message, whether you are starting a new topic or replying to an existing discussion. For more information, see Creating & Posting Messages, Subscribing to Topic Message Notifications, and Unsubscribing from Topic Message Notifications for more information. |
| 17) |
If you want the forum to send you an e-mail notification whenever someone has sent you a Private Message, click Yes next to Notify on New Private Message. If you only want to check for Private Messages manually and/or via the pop notification window (see step 18), click No. |
| 18) |
If you want the forum to display a pop up message, informing you that you have a new Private Message while you are logged into the forum, click Yes next to Pop up window on new Private Message. If you do not want the pop up messages to appear, click No.
Notes:
• Pop up alternatives:
If you click No, you can check your private messages manually (How?). You can also click Yes in step 17 and monitor your e-mail Inbox.
• JavaScript:
JavaScript should be allowed in your browser so that Private Message notices and other forum features can work properly.
• Pop up blockers:
If you click Yes and you have a pop up blocker on your computer system, you might need to turn it off while you are logged into the forum or add Craterz.com to sites you pre-approve for pop ups. Otherwise, it might block your pop up Private Message notifications.
Please note that our administrators cannot offer support for the use of pop-up blockers. If you are having problems, feel free to ask for assistance by posting questions in the Help forum (How?); another user might know how to assist you. |
| 19) |
If you defined a signature in step 13 and you want it to be attached to the end of all your posts, click Yes next to Always attach my signature. If you do not want your signature to appear, click No.
Tip: If you entered any text in the Signature text box, you can turn signatures on or off every time you post a message, allowing you to override this preference. |
| 20) |
If you click Yes next to Always allow BBCode, then each time you post a message, BBCode will be turned on automatically, and you will be able to use it to format messages. You won't have to turn it on manually in the posting form that is used to create messages. If you click No, BBCode will be turned off automatically whenever you open the form (however, you can turn it on manually inside the form at any time). For more information, see Formatting Messages-Overview and BBCode Help.
Note: If you do turn BBCode off, the messages of other forum members who use BBCode to format words and phrases are likely appear odd. You might see the actual codes in their messages, rather than the formatting that those codes display. For example, instead of seeing bold text, you might see [b] and [/b] codes around the words that they are intending to display as bold. |
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Always allow HTML enables members to format their messages in HTML. HTML formatting has not been enabled on this forum. If it is ever added, we will allow only some limited codes. For this reason, we recommend that you select No for this preference and use the friendlier BBCode to format your messages. |
| 22) |
If you click Yes next to Always enable Smilies, then each time you post a message, the ability to insert Smilies (emoticons) into your message will be turned on automatically. You won't have to turn it on manually in the posting form that is used to create messages. If you click No, Smilies will be turned off automatically whenever you open the form (however, you can turn it on manually inside the form at any time). For more information, see Formatting Messages-Overview and Inserting Smilies (Emoticons). |
| 23) |
English is the default language for the forum. If other languages are installed in the future, you will be able to select them from the Board Language drop-down list. |
| 24) |
If more than one Board Style preference is available for the forum, you will be able to select any one of them from this drop-down list. |
| 25) |
Select your time zone from the Timezone drop-down list. Each time you post a message, the time and date that coincide to your selection appear at the top of your message.
Tip: Central Standard Time is GMT - 6 Hours. Use this as a gauge when selecting your time zone. Or click here to get help from a very handy web site (simply click your state on the map).
Note: The forum system does make automatic adjustments for changes to Daylight Savings Time if you have enabled it in your Preferences. |
| 26) |
The current date is listed on some forum pages, and the Date format preference determines the format in which it appears. Unless you are a very experienced computer user, leave this setting as it is. If you want to change the format, you can consult the PHP date page by clicking on the corresponding link in this section of the registration form. Or, you can use the user-friendly drop-down list on the Preferences>Internationalization page after you register, activate your account, and log in.
The registration form is now complete. You can change any of the settings that you entered or selected throughout this registration process at any time, after you activate your account. For more information, see Changing Profile Preferences. |
| 27) |
Check all the information that you selected or entered. Make sure your e-mail address is entered correctly so that you can receive your activation message. |
| 28) |
Click the Submit button. |
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| The registration process is complete. You can now read messages in the forum, but you cannot log in and post messages or use many of the other forum features until you activate your account. See Activating Your Account for instructions on how to proceed. |
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