Getting the most out of the BAC Forum

To become a member go to beaveramb.org and click on “Forum.” Click on “Create a New Account” at the top of the forum home page and follow the directions. You will need a screen name, (please use your real name) and password.  Your registration goes to the web master, who confirms your BAC membership (so please sign up with your correct name and the email address found in the BAC Directory. If you would like, you can go to the “Member Center” to customize your account (add a photo and any information about yourself that you’d like to share.)

Links on the opening page (starting at the top):
Message Center:  (Top right Corner) Shows that you are logged on and if you have any new messages.  Messages in this area are generated from forum user to forum user and are private.  Click on Private messages to see you messages.
Home:  Takes you back to the main page
Calendar:  Takes you to the BAC rally calendar.  This is a good place to plan your rally schedule and view how rallies relate to one another.
Search:  Here you can search for a name, phrase or any other item you are looking for on the forum. (when using search be sure to change the parameters to 1 day and older at the lower left of the search screen).
Member Center:  This area contains a host of information about you.  This is where you change your member information.  For details of what’s in the member center, see the explanation under “Using the member center below.
Log in and out:  This is where you log on to the forum. Don’t forget passwords are case sensitive, so use those capital letters.
Log in options: Select “yes” under “remember me on this computer” and forum will remember you so you do not need to type your name and password every time you log on.  To log on with this option just type the first letter of your name.
Forgot Password:  If you know your user name or email address, the forum will email you a new password.  You can then change this password to one you like in the member center after you log on.
Recent Posts:  This will list for you all of the forum posts, arranged by date.  It does not include any replies. Click on the title to read the post and any replies.
All Unread:  A post that you have not read is in bold type.  Click on all unread to list only the posts that you have not yet read.
Last Visit Unread:  Lists all the new posts that you have not read since your last visit to the forum
Latest Forum Activity:  The ten most recent posts to the forum are shown at the top of the home page. Scroll down to see all the boards with these, and older, posts.

Forum Organization
Board  (file cabinet)
The boards are major subject headings. Click on the board name to see what’s in the “file cabinet.” Boards are created by the administrator. If you have an idea for a new board you should contact webmaster.bac@gmail.com. Some boards can be viewed by only certain member groups.  An example of this is the BAC Members Board. It is not visible to guests or forum members that are not BAC members
Current BAC Boards (think of these as file cabinets)
  BAC Members Only
  General Discussion
  Rallies
  Technical Support
  Sources for Suppliers, Parts and Maintenance Materials
For Sale, Rent or Wanted by Beaver Owners
Leadership Discussion Area
  Region News and Views

Threads (folders in the file cabinet)
Threads are topics on the boards.  Any forum member can start threads by going to the proper board and clicking on “New Thread.”  Try to post your threads on the appropriate board. If you do not, the moderator may move it for you. As you post a thread, you are given the option to have the forum email you every time someone replies to it.
Click on any topic title to view the thread. Some threads are made “sticky” by the moderator of the board. A sticky thread stays at the top of the board. Click on “All Unread” at the top of the home page to show only the threads that you have not yet read, so you do not have to go through the whole list each time.  

Reply  (pages in each file folder)
Use this to reply to, or comment on, a given thread. All members can reply to threads.

Member Groups
This forum has several member groups.  Each group can have different privileges assigned by the administrator.  The current groups are
    Administrator (Red)
There is only one administrator for the forum.  The administrator manages the forum, creates boards and groups, and decides how the forum is to look and operate.


   Moderator (Red)
Each board has a moderator.  It is his/her responsibility to see that all posts receive an answer. They can delete or change posts that they feel are not appropriate.  The moderator can make threads sticky, move threads to other boards and change or delete threads and replies.  
BAC Members (Orange)
These are the forum members that are Beaver Ambassador Club members.  BAC members can add threads and reply to threads.  They have access to the BAC Members Only board.
   Guest
Guests can view the open parts of our forum but are not allow to add threads or reply to posts.

To post a new thread  
If you would like to ask a question, receive help for a problem, or just make a comment about a new subject, you need to start a new thread.  Start this thread on the board that contains the type of subject matter that is closest to your question or comment.  When you go to a board you will see the New Thread Box at the top and bottom left of the screen.
New thread entries dialog box- required entries
•  Message subject; Make it concise and accurate - it is all that will guide others to your post
•  Message body; Type or cut and paste your message in this box, if you are asking a technical question be sure to include your coach year, model and engine.
•  Post:  You must click post at the bottom of the page to finish your thread posting.
New thread options
• Message Icon:  Puts a symbol to the left of your post  
•Attach poll:  You can have people vote on a question that you attach to your thread
• Type options:  You can change your type color, size and style with a wide variety of font options.  Mouse over each option and it will tell you what it does.
•Attach files: You can attach one or more photos or other art work to your post.  This is especially useful if you have a coach or other item for sale.  Supported file types: BMP, GIF, JPG.  Size limit per item is 1 MB.
•Notify of new replies:  Check this box if you would like the forum to send you an email each time someone replies to your thread.
•Preview: Click here to see what your post will look like when posted.

Options on the thread page (from the top)
• Location bars:  shows where you are and can be used to navigate to other parts of the forum
• New reply box:  Used to post a reply to the thread
• Print thread:  Prepares the current viewed thread for a printer
• Recommend thread: allows you to send a recommendation to another person to view the thread
• Watch thread:  When checked, the forum will send you an email when someone post a reply to this thread
• Quote:  Opens a new reply box with a quote of the thread in place so you can refer to it in your new reply
• Report:  Opens a box that allows you to report an offensive thread to the moderators and administrator.



Forum Software
E-Blah, our Forum Software, was created by a 21 year old young man named Justin and his helpers.  It is open source and free of charge but Justin does accept donations.  There is no documentation for E-Blah, but there is a very active help and support forum at http://www.eblah.com/.