To post simply click on the "New Topic" button at the top of any of the board forums and the post form will open.

Enter in a Topic Title and Topic Description, if you like. Next enter your post information in the large text box. When you are finished, click on "Preview Post" at the bottom of the form to see how your post will look or click on "Post New Topic" to go ahead and post the topic.

Formating your text:
You can format or change the way your text looks by using the Code Buttons. First highlight the text you wish to format and then click on one of the Code Buttons:
B = bold text
I = italics
U = underline
Font: Choose the font you wish to use in the pull down menu.
Size: Choose the size you want your text to be.
Color: Choose the color you want your text to be.

Adding a link to a website:
To add a link to a website in your post, place your cursor where you want it to appear in your post and then click on the Code Button above the text box marked "http://".
(NOTE: Some computer's contain a security feature that will intially block this action. If a window pops up saying "Error" click on "ok". Then click on the warning banner at the top of the window that says "This website is using a scripted window..." and choose "Temporarily Allow Scripted Windows". Then click on the "http://" button again... now it should work. )
Type the name of your website address in the text box of the "Explorer User Prompt" window that pops up. You must include "http://" before your address: So if the website is www.abc.com, you would enter "http://www.abc.com" then click "ok". Type the name of the website or how you want it to appear in the next pop up window. For example, if you want everyone to see just ABC as the link, type in "ABC". If you want them to see www.ABC.com, then type "www.ABC.com in. Click "ok". Some complicated text (HTML code) will appear in the text box. Click on "Preview Post" to see the preview. Check your link to make sure it works.

Adding pictures to posts:
To add pictures, you first need to upload them to a hosting site like Photobucket.com. After you sign up (it is totally free) and long in, you can upload your pictures. Once your pictures are uploaded onto PhotoBucket.com (or another hosting site), you'll see several "codes" under each picture: URL, TAG, IMG, etc. The code that you need to add a picture to your post is the IMG code (the one that has [IMG] in the begining.) Select the text in that box and copy it. Paste the code, where you want the picture in the edit signature text box. Be sure you copy and paste the entire thing because if you are missing even one bracket, the picture will not show up. Click on "Preview Post" at the bottom of the screen to make sure your pictures show up properly. There is a limit to the number of pictures that can be posted depending on the number and size of the images.

NOTE: If your pictures are showing up too big, there is an "edit" otpion over each photo in your PhotoBucket.com account. Once you click on "edit" and the new window opens, click on "resize" which is at the top of the image, then choose the size you want to make your picture. I recommend choosing "Website, Email (320x240)". Once you have resized your picture on Photobucket, you will need to refresh the board by hitting "F5" on your computer keyboard.

Adding Smilies:
Smilies are small graphical icons which you insert into your message to convey an emotion or feelings, such as a joke ( ) or sadness ( ). For example, if you entered a sarcastic comment, rather than type "that was a joke", you could simply insert the smilie.

To add Smilies to your posts, place your cursor where you want the smilie to be and then click on one of the smilies to the left of the text box. If you don't see a smilie that you like, you can click on "Show All" to see more. It is important to make sure your cursor is in the text where you want the smilie to be or else it will be inserted at the end of your message.

If you have used email or internet chat systems, you will probably be familiar with the concept of smilies and know that certain combinations of text characters are converted into smilies. You can type these text characters such as ":)" and they will automatically be converted into a graphic smilie when you post your message.

Post Icons:
If you would like a smilie icon to appear next to your post in the forum list, check a box next to one of the smilies in the "Post Icons" section below the text box. That icon will then appear in the topic list of a post or forum. Icons can be used to draw attention to a post or to prepare members for the emotional content of a post.

Adding File Attachments:
The attachment feature of this forum gives you the ability to attach files of certain types to your posts. This could be an image, a text document, a zip file etc. There will be a limit to the file size of any attachments you make, as the forums should not be used as an extension of your hard disk!

To attach a file to a new post, simply click the [Browse] button at the bottom of the post composition page and locate the file that you want to attach from your local hard drive.

Only certain types of files may be attached: these are the valid file extensions for files to be attached to this forum: .mp3 .wav .bmp .doc .gif .jpe .jpeg .jpg .pdf .png .psd .txt .zip.

After posting, the attachment will show up in the body of your message. To view the contents of the attachment (if it is not already displayed) simply click the filename link that appears next to the attachment icon.