Welcome to The Doctor Who Forum

The Doctor Who Forum is built on a software package called WordPress (using elements of bbPress and BuddyPress), which some of you may have used, and others may not. This page is designed to introduce those unfamiliar with the system to navigating the site and posting techniques.

Navigating the system

Once signed in, you can access a list of the most recent posts on all topics by clicking on “Activity” in the header (or, open the option in a new tab/window). If you click on ‘View’ you will be taken to that particular post in its thread. Clicking on the topic’s name in any post will take you to the first page of that thread.

Pages in each thread are “paginated” – each to contain 50 comments. The blue numbers at the top right (repeated at the bottom right) of each page will enable you to switch to another page number.

While logged in, you can hover your mouse over the ‘Howdy, [your name]’ at the top right of each page’s header to go to your personal Profile pages, and view your posts (‘Activity’), other members’ mentions of you in their posts (‘Activity’ –> ‘Mentions’), Private Messages with other members (‘Messages’), email notification options (‘Settings’), and general profile updates (‘Profile’). This is also where you go to log out of your session.

Profile Page

The Profile page is useful as you can see a list of your own comments made throughout the site. It also contains a list of other members’ posts that have mentioned you directly by your @username, and you can manage your avatar through the Profile page.

Avatar

If you have an account with Gravatar https://en.gravatar.com/ that is linked to your e-mail address used for site registration, the avatar held will be used as a default setting. You can upload an alternative image from your computer using Profile –> Change Avatar. You will be asked the location of the image on your hard drive before selecting OK.

Making a comment

When signed in, Forum threads and Blogs will have a comment box at the bottom of the page. This will allow you to post content onto the site.

You will note that the top right of the comment box has two tabs, and you can select VISUAL or TEXT. These two views can be switched between in the middle of creating a comment. Each has its own advantages.

Text in your comment can be highlighted and formatted by using the following options:

The VISUAL tab provides undo and redo buttons, and both bulleted and numbered list options. (List options are also available in the TEXT tab but are not as obvious.)

When addressing people in your posts, always use the ‘@username’ format as it enables the person you mention to see your post in their profile, and to receive an e-mail notifying them that they have been mentioned. Some users require a different @designation than their displayed username. If in doubt, hover your mouse over the user’s avatar or display name, and look at the bottom left of your screen – you will see ‘www doctorwhoforum com/members/[user’s @ name]’. Alternatively, you can highlight the user’s name below their avatar, Ctrl + C to copy, then Ctrl + V to paste the username directly into your comment without using the @ symbol.

Creating an active link to off- or on-site content

In your web browser, select the page you wish to link to by highlighting the entire URL in the address bar (i.e. “htt……………”) and press Ctrl + C. Go back to the comment box and highlight the text you wish to contain the link. Click the ‘Insert/edit link’ option (VISUAL tab) or the ‘link’ option (TEXT tab) and you will be asked for the address to link to. Press Ctrl + V and click OK.

To link to another Doctor Who Forum post, right-click on the post’s number (in the top-right of the post’s header line) and select ‘Copy Link Location’. Go back to the comment box, highlight the text you wish to contain the link, and click the ‘Insert/edit link’ or ‘link’ options as above.

NOTE: You are not required to select text to contain the link; you can simply paste the URL in your comment if you wish.

Inserting pictures

To insert a picture, it must already be available on the web. If you have a personal picture, there are many free hosting sites you can start an account with and upload any pictures you wish.

If you wish to include a picture from elsewhere, right click on the picture and select “Copy Image Location”. In the TEXT tab of your comment box click the ‘img’ option. You will be presented first with a request for the location of the image. Press Ctrl + V and hit OK. You may enter a description of the picture in the second dialogue box, or leave it blank and hit enter again.

The TEXT view will simply show the instruction to link the picture. Switching back to VISUAL will enable you to see the picture in place. If you wish to centre the picture, click on it and then select the ‘Insert/edit image’ option. You will see options for alignment, dimensions, borders, etc.

NOTE: You can of course insert your image on the VISUAL tab, but if you’re not interested in the various presentation options, using the TEXT tab’s ‘img’ option is quicker.

Smilies or Emoticons

Smilies are generated automatically by typing in particular text combinations. If you wish to see those available and the text that generates them refer to this page: http://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Smilies. If you enter the text for a smiley please make sure you put a space between any other punctuation (full stops, etc) or the smiley may not be generated.

Inserting video

If you wish to embed video content into a comment, the easiest way to do this is via the TEXT tab. Copy the URL (“htt………….”) into the comment box after you have entered and formatted any text content. Ensure that the video’s URL link is on a line by itself (no other text on the same line) in your comment.

IMPORTANT

Errors can occur when submitting a comment. When you have compiled your comment, why not go to TEXT, select all the text content and press Ctrl + C to save your opus. If an error occurs you can paste into the comment box again using Ctrl + V. Doing this in the TEXT tab ensures any formatting you have is saved as well.

Editing

If, after you submit your post you wish to correct an error or faulty link, you have a four minute window to click “Edit” in the comment’s header and make any changes before clicking ‘Submit’ again. If you’ve missed the editing time window, contact one of the Moderators (@JimTheFish, @Craig, @PhaseShift, @FatManInABox) and request that they make the change for you.