| FAQ Table of Contents |
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 Registering |
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Registration is not required to view topics, post new topics, or reply to current topics; however,
registration allows you to use the e-mail notification feature when someone responds to a topic or forum
you're interested in. Registration is free and only takes a few minutes. The only
required fields are your UserName, which may be your real name or a nickname, and a
valid e-mail address. Your e-mail address will never be visible to another user.
The information you provide during registration is NOT
outsourced or used for any advertising by CATA Tennis Community Forums. If you believe someone
is sending you advertisements as a result of the information you provided through
your registration, please notify us immediately. You can also read our Privacy Policy.
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| How These Forums Work |
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The forums hosted here by Austin-Tennis-Resource are designed to assist you in two ways:
1. Provide answers to your questions about playing/watching tennis in Austin.
Please remember to search (upper right on screen) for your answer before posting.
It is very likely that it has already been answered.
2. Give you a means to communicate with other members of the Austin tennis community.
Please be sure to include your full name in all posts and keep discussions from escalating into arguments.
The posts (called Topics) are organized into folders (called Forums) and these folders are grouped into Categories.
Please take a moment to look at all of the Categories and Forums (click on All Forums in upper left) to determine which best fits your needs.
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| Getting Notified Via E-mail |
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If you would like to be notified via e-mail anytime anyone responds to a topic you've created, simply click on the "Subscribe to Topic" link located at the top and bottom of the post.
Using this feature means you don't have to keep checking the board to see if you've received an answer because when a post happens you'll automatically get an e-mail.
You can also subscribe to the entire board, categories, and forums.
To get the e-mail notifications to stop, just click on the "Unsubscribe" link.
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| Responding to Topics |
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You can respond to a Topic in general ("Reply to Topic") or respond to a particular post ("Reply with Quote) in a Topic.
You can find "Reply to Topic" above and to the right of the Topic reading area and also at the very bottom of the Topic reading area.
"Reply to Topic" will post your comments to the end of the current thread of other posts in the Topic.
You'll find "Reply with Quote" within each post in the topic as a little icon that looks like an arrow pointing to a piece of paper.
Use "Reply with Quote" when you want to respond to a particular post in the Topic.
It will include the post you are replying to in your response so it is clear to everyone that you are replying specifically to that post.
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| Show Topics from Last X Days |
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When you move into a particular forum, don't miss the "Show topics from last XX days" control ring in the upper right.
Sometimes this is set to show you only the posts made in the last 30 days.
So, to see older topics posted in the forum, simply choose another option (like "Show all topics") from the control ring.
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| Smilies |
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You've probably seen others use smilies before in email messages or other bulletin
board posts. Smilies are keyboard characters used to convey an emotion, such as a smile
 or a frown
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automatically converts certain text to a graphical representation when it is
inserted between brackets []. Here are the smilies that are currently
supported by CATA Tennis Community Forums:
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smile |
[:)] |
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big smile |
[:D] |
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cool |
[8D] |
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blush |
[:I] |
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tongue |
[:P] |
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evil |
[}:)] |
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wink |
[;)] |
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clown |
[:o)] |
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black eye |
[B)] |
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eightball |
[8] |
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frown |
[:(] |
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shy |
[8)] |
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shocked |
[:O] |
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angry |
[:(!] |
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dead |
[xx(] |
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sleepy |
[|)] |
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kisses |
[:X] |
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approve |
[^] |
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disapprove |
[V] |
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question |
[?] |
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| Creating a Hyperlink in your message |
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You can easily add a hyperlink to your message.
All that you need to do is type the URL (http://www.austintennis.org/forums/), and it will automatically be converted to a URL (http://www.austintennis.org/forums/)!
The trick here is to make sure you prefix your URL with the http://, https:// or file://
You can also add a mailto link to your message by typing in your email address.
This Example:
datamanager@austintennis.org
Outputs this:
datamanager@austintennis.org.
Another way to add hyperlinks is to use the [url]linkto[/url] tags
This Example:
[url]http://www.austintennis.org/forums/[/url] takes you home!
Outputs This:
http://www.austintennis.org/forums/ takes you home!
If you use this tag: [url="linkto"]description[/url] you can add a description to the link.
This Example:
Take me to [url="http://www.austintennis.org/forums/"]CATA Tennis Community Forums[/url]
Outputs This:
Take me to CATA Tennis Community Forums
This Example:
If you have a question [url="datamanager@austintennis.org"]Email Me[/url]
Outputs This:
If you have a question Email Me
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| How to format text with Bold, Italic, Quote, etc... |
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There are several Forum Codes you may use to change the appearance
of your text. Following is the list of codes currently available:
Bold: enclose your text with [b] and [/b] . Example: This is [b]bold[/b] text. = This is bold text.
Italic: enclose your text with [i] and [/i] . Example: This is [i]italic[/i] text. = This is italic text.
Underline: enclose your text with [u] and [/u]. Example: This is [u]underline[/u] text. = This is underline text.
Aligning Text Left:
Enclose your text with [left] and [/left]
Aligning Text Center:
Enclose your text with [center] and [/center]
Aligning Text Right:
Enclose your text with [right] and [/right]
Striking Text:
Enclose your text with [s] and [/s]. Example: [s]mistake[/s] = mistake
Font Colors:
Enclose your text with [fontcolor] and [/fontcolor]
Example: [red]Text[/red] = Text
Example: [blue]Text[/blue] = Text
Example: [pink]Text[/pink] = Text
Example: [brown]Text[/brown] = Text
Example: [black]Text[/black] = Text
Example: [orange]Text[/orange] = Text
Example: [violet]Text[/violet] = Text
Example: [yellow]Text[/yellow] = Text
Example: [green]Text[/green] = Text
Example: [gold]Text[/gold] = Text
Example: [white]Text[/white] = Text
Example: [purple]Text[/purple] = Text
Headings:
Enclose your text with [hnumber] and [/hn]
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Example: [h1]Text[/h1] =
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Text
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Example: [h2]Text[/h2] =
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Text
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Example: [h3]Text[/h3] =
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Text
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Example: [h4]Text[/h4] =
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Text
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Example: [h5]Text[/h5] =
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Text
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Example: [h6]Text[/h6] =
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Text
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Font Sizes:
Example: [size=1]text[/size=1] = Text
Example: [size=2]text[/size=2] = Text
Example: [size=3]text[/size=3] = Text
Example: [size=4]text[/size=4] = Text
Example: [size=5]text[/size=5] = Text
Example: [size=6]text[/size=6] = Text
Bulleted List: [list] and [/list], and items in list with [*] and [/*].
Ordered Alpha List: [list=a] and [/list=a], and items in list with [*] and [/*].
Ordered Number List: [list=1] and [/list=1], and items in list with [*] and [/*].
Code: enclose your text with [code] and [/code].
Quote: enclose your text with [quote] and [/quote].
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| Moderators |
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Moderators control individual forums.
They may edit, delete, or prune any posts in their forums.
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| Cookies |
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These Forums use cookies to store the following information: the last time you logged in, your UserName and
your Password, if you set it in preferences. These cookies are stored on your hard drive. Cookies are not used
to track your movement or perform any function other than to enhance your use of these forums.
If you have not enabled cookies in your browser, many of these time-saving features will not work properly. Also, you
need to have cookies enabled if you want to enter a private forum or post a topic/reply.
You may delete all cookies set by these forums in selecting the "logout" button at the top of any page.
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| Active Topics |
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Active Topics are tracked by cookies. When you click on the "active topics" link, a page is generated listing all topics that have been posted since your last visit to these forums (or approximately 20 minutes).
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| Editing Your Posts |
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You may edit or delete your own posts at any time. Just go to the topic where the
post to be edited or deleted is located
and you will see a edit or delete icon (  )
on the line that begins "posted on..." Click on this icon to edit or
delete the post. No one else can edit your post, except for the forum Moderator
or the forum administrator.
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| Attaching Files |
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For security reasons, you may
not attach files to any posts. However, you may cut and paste text into your post.
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| Searching For Specific Posts |
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You may search for
specific posts based on a word or words found in the posts, user name, date, and
particular forum(s). Simply click on the "search" link at the top of most pages.
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| Editing Your Profile |
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You may easily change any information stored in your registration profile by using the "profile" link located near the top of each page. Simply identify yourself by typing your UserName and Password and all of your profile information will appear on screen. You may edit any information (except your UserName).
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| Signatures |
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You may attach signatures to the end of your posts when you post either a New Topic or Reply. Your signature is editable by clicking on "profile" at the top of any forum page and entering your UserName and Password.
NOTE: HTML can't be used in Signatures.
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| Censoring Posts |
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The Forum does censor certain words that may be posted; however, this
censoring is not an exact science, and is being done based on the words that are being
screened, so certain words may be censored out of context. Words that are censored are replaced with asterisks.
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| Lost User Name and/or Password |
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Retrieving your
UserName and Password is simple, assuming that email features are turned on for
this forum. All of the pages that require you to identify yourself with
your UserName and Password carry a "lost Password" link that you can use to have
your UserName and Password mailed instantly to your email address of
record.
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| Can I be notified by email when there are new posts ? |
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Yes, the Subscription feature allows you to subscribe to the entire Board, individual Categories, Forums and/or Topics, depending on what the administrator of this site allows. You will receive an email notifying you of a post that has been made to the Category/Forum/Topic that you have subscribed to.
There are four levels of subscription:
- Board Wide Subscription
If you can subscribe to an entire Board, you'll get a notification for any posts made within all the forums inside that board.
- Category Wide Subscription
You can subscribe to an entire Category, which will notify you if there was any posts made within any topic, within any forum, within that Category.
- Forum Wide Subscription
If you don't want to subscribe to an entire Category, you can subscribe to a single forum. This will notify you of any posts made within any topic, within that forum.
- Topic Wide Subscription
More conveniently, you can subscribe to just an individual topic. You will be notified of any post made within that topic.
Each level of subscription is optional. The administrator can turn On/Off each level of subscription for each Category/Forum/Topic.
To Subscribe or Unsubscribe from any level of subscription, you can use the "My Subscriptions" link, located near the top of each page to manage your subscriptions. Or you can click on the subscribe/unsubscribe icons (  ) for that Category/Forum/Topic you want to subscribe/unsubscribe to/from.
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| What does it mean if a forum has Moderation enabled? |
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Moderation: This feature allows the Administrator or the Moderator to "Approve", "Hold" or "Delete" a users post before it is shown to the public.
Approve: Only the administrators or the moderators will be able to approve a post made to a moderated forum. When the post is approved, it will be made viewable to the public.
Hold: When a user posts a message to a moderated forum, the message is automatically put on hold until a moderator or an administrator approves of the post. No one will be able to view the post while it is put on hold.
Note: Authors of the post will be able to edit thier post during this mode.
Delete: If the administrator or moderator chooses this option, the post will be deleted and an email will be sent to the poster of the message, informing them that thier post was not approved. The administrator/moderator will be able to give thier reason for not approving the post in the email.
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| What is COPPA |
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The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act and Rule apply to individually identifiable
information about a child that is collected online, such as full name, home address, email address,
telephone number or any other information that would allow someone to identify or contact the
child. The Act and Rule also cover other types of information -- for example, hobbies, interests
and information collected through cookies or other types of tracking mechanisms -- when they
are tied to individually identifiable information. More information can be found
here.
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| Getting Your Own Forum |
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If you'd like to have your own, private forum on Austin-Tennis-Resource, you can request one at Private Forum Request.
Here you can control who can enter the forum and what gets posted. Use it to organize your team or tennis group.
If you are interested in technically developing your own forum, the most recent version of this Snitz Forum (the technology that powers Austin-Tennis-Resource Community Forums) can be downloaded at this Internet web site.
NOTE: The software is highly configurable, and the baseline Snitz Forum may not have all the features this forum does.
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Frequently Asked Questions
