Welcome to the Laker Nation Forums! This thread is intended to satisfy frequently asked questions; offer tips, tricks, and suggestions; direct members to important announcements; and to serve as a resource for both new and veteran members.
Rules, Regulations and Guidelines
The rules, regulations and guidelines serve as the normative standards that keep the structure of LakerNation together. We encourage disagreement and a variety of opinion, but in a respectful manner that utilizes the golden rule.
Do not attempt to bypass the guidelines. For example, deliberately evading the swear filter constitutes as bypassing the guidelines. More times than not, this could resort in a warn. Accumulating warns could lead to suspension or a permanent ban by IP Address. If you are a habitual offender, we reserve the right to ban by IP range, so don't ruin the LakerNation experience for your peers!
*There is an exception to evading the swear filter: LakerNation will not regulate the content of pictures, video, and audio, assuming:
They contain NO gore
They contain NO nudity
If you will be posting media that contains sensitive content, be respectful of all audiences and use the spoiler tags when appropriate (viz. Posting Ettiquette).
To be able to enjoy all of the features available to the community, you will need to sign up for a member account. Registration is easy and only takes a moment to complete.
To sign up, click the "" link at the top of any page. You can then provide your email address and password to complete the registration process.
Some communities may have an easier way to register without filling out the registration form. If enabled, you will see a Facebook or Twitter icon next to the Create Account button. If you use these services, you can use your existing login information from those services to link your account. Registration via this method takes only 3 clicks and will return you back to the forum after you authorize it.
You may be registered and logged straight in, or you may have to verify your email address by clicking a link in an email that we will send you. If this is the case, a screen will appear with further instructions. You will receive a confirmation of your membership as an email.
Logging in and out
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Logging In
Once you have signed up for an account, you can log in by pressing the "Sign In" button at the top of any page.
From here, you should enter your username or email address, and the password you used when you registered. If you tick the "Remember Me" box you will not have to sign in when you visit the community in future. This ability can be very useful, but should not be used if other people have access to your computer or if you are using a public computer.
You may also be able to hide your username from the online list by checking the "Sign in anonymously" box. Administrators will still be able to see you online if you do so, however other members will not be able to.
When you are ready, click Sign In.
Once logged in, you should be taken back to whatever page you were previously viewing.
You may also see additional log in options such as Twitter or Facebook Connect. If these features are available and you would prefer to use one of these options to log in, click on the appropriate button and follow the on-screen instructions.
Forgotten your password
If you have forgotten your password, you can click the "I've forgotten my password" link on the sign in page below the password box. This will take you to a page where you can enter your username or email address, and we will then either email you a new password that you can use or a link for you to reset your password.
Note that if you locked your account by typing in the wrong password too many times, you will still need to unlock your account before you can use your new password. Please contact an administrator for assistance if you encounter trouble with a locked account.
Logging Out
To log out click the "Sign Out" link at the top of the screen from any page.
Your settings
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You can access your settings from any page by selecting your name at the top of the screen and then selecting "My Settings".
There are several tabs on the side of the page, which allow you to configure and update different board settings:
Profile Settings
From the Profile Settings area of your UserCP, you can configure various aspects of your profile, including:
Profile Picture: This is the photo used to identify you throughtout the community.
Timezome
Allow Comments: If checked, other forum members can leave comments on your profile.
Friends
Edit your "About Me" information
Change your Member Title
Update your Birthday
Add profile information, such as interests
Share contact information such as AIM usernames.
Profile Customization
From the Profile Customization tab of your UserCP, you can setup a custom profile background, change the colors of your profile, and perform other ways to customize the look and feel of your profile.
Email & Password
The Email & Password area allows you to update the password or email address associated with your account.
Display Name
The Display Name page allows you to change the name that is shown to members throughout the community. The board administrator limits the number of times you can change your display name, so make changes wisely.
Signature
The signature page allows you to modify the custom signature that is shown below all of your posts.
Ignore
The "ignore" tab allows you to configure your Ignore settings - you can choose to hide individual member's posts, signatures, chats, status updates, or other aspects of a member that you wish to hide.
Manage Facebook/Twitter
If you have connected your forum profile to Facebook or Twitter, you can manage your connection here, including settings on importing status updates, linking your user photo, and more.
Manage Attachments
This page will display all attachments that you have uploaded to the forum. If you are running close to your global attachment limit, you can delete attachments from this area.
Notification Options
The Notification Options page allows you to configure how you should be notified of certain events, such as a reply to a topic, a private message, or a new topic. You can configure how you would like to recieve these notifications as well, such as via the mobile application, email, or inline notifications.
Your Notifications
This tab will display the most recent notifications that you have recieved.
Topics and forums
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Viewing The Board Index
When visiting the board, you will be presented with a list of categories and forums in those categories. This page is called the Board Index, and it lists all of the forums.
Forums are split into categories. You can choose to hide any category by pressing the "-" button on the right-hand side above the list of forums, and the "+" button to make them visible again. If hidden, such categories, and the forums inside them, will be collapsed and no longer shown to you when visiting the board index.
When viewing the forums, there are icons shown next to them which indicate the status of a forum, and if it has unread posts or not.
This indicates that there are posts which you have not read contained inside this forum, or one of it's sub forums. This indicates that all of the posts contained in this forum and it's sub forums have been read. Redirect forum, when you enter this forum you will be redirected elsewhere.
The Topic List
Within each forum there are a list of topics. Just like forums, each topic has an marker to indicate the type of topic it is: A regular topic with unread posts. This is a topic which you have participated in, with no new replies since you last read it. This indicates that you have previously replied in this topic, and there are new replies since you last read or replied to the topic.
Special Types of Topics This icon indicates an "Announcement" - Announements are not regular topics, because members cannot reply to them. They are simply important news or information which should be read.
This icon indicates a hot topic which has many members participating and replying.
Topic that has been moved into another forum. This indicates that a topic has been locked, and can no longer be replied to.
To add a new topic, press the Start new Topic" button. This may not be available for all forums. In forums where you cannot create a topic you will see "You cannot start a new topic" in place of the button.
To enter a any topic, click on its name.
Sorting Options
To customize the way topics are displayed, you can use the sorting options found at the top of the forum.
Show type - this allows you to only display certain types of topics such as polls or topics that you have posted in.
Sort by - this allows you to change the way topics are ordered. By default topics are ordered with the topics that have most recently had replies first, but you can choose to sort by other factors such as the number of replies or alphabetically.
Sort direction - this allows you to set which way you want to sort for the setting above. For example if you set "Sort by" to be "Replies", choosing "A-Z" for this setting will show the topics that have no replies first, whereas choosing "Z-A" will show the topics with the most replies first.
Time frame - this allows you to limit the topics that are shown to only topics that have been made within a certain amount of time.
There may be more than one page of topics, if this is the case, you will see an option to "Load More Topics" at the bottom of the list of topics. There will also be page numbers to the left of this button.
Viewing Posts
To the side of each post there will be information about the user.
To view a user's profile information at a glance, simply hover your mouse over their username. Their profile card will display, showing you various profile information without having to leave the topic. From their profile card, you can send them a message quickly, without having to leave the topic. If you wish to view their full profile page, simply click on their user name.
On their member card, you can also click on several options to view that user's content.
Below this there are several more buttons: the icon adds the user as a friend, allows you to read their blog, and will take you to their gallery.
Below their username you will see their photo, member title and pips or group image.
Reputation
If enabled, you will see reputation options in the corner below each post. You may see an icon representing the reputation other members have given for that post, along with icons to give reputation. To give the post a positive reputation, click the icon or to give the post a negative reputation, click the icon. On some boards, you may see a button to Like content, such as this: If you choose to do this, it will show that you "Like" a certain post, and will also add a reputation point to that post. You may only be able to give positive or negative reputation, and for some users you may not be able to give reputation at all.
Replying
To add a post to the topic, simply scroll to the bottom of the page, and start typing in the reply box.
To quote another post in your reply, you can either click the Quote button beneath a post, or use the multiquote feature. Multiquote is used when you want to quote more than one post in your reply. Select the Multiquote button underneath the posts you want to quote, and you will notice that the button will change color. At the bottom of the page, you will notice an informational box appear with the total number of posts you have added to multiquote. You can multiquote from different pages in a topic, or even different topics in the forum. When you are ready to post a reply with the posts you have quoted, simply click the "Quote Posts Add Reply" button.
Post Options
Next to the reply and multiquote buttons you may also see " Edit" and " Delete" buttons for your own posts. If so, you can use these buttons to edit or delete your posts. Note that these options may not be available after a certain amount of time.
Sharing Topics
At the bottom of each topic you will see "Share this topic" followed by a number of links that allow you to email the topic to someone else, share a topic on Twitter, post it to Facebook, print the topic, or download and save the topic. Simply press the appropriate link and follow the on-screen instructions.
Polls
Some topic may have polls attached to them. If you can vote in the poll, you will see the questions and the options for voting. Once you have selected your options, press Vote! to add your vote. Once voted, you will see the results and a icon besides the options you voted for.
You may be able to change your vote. If so, you will see Delete My Vote. To change your vote, press this and then vote again.
To see the results of the poll without voting, press Show Results. If the poll is a public poll, you can see who voted for which option by pressing the "View" link next to any option.
Notifications
You may want to subscribe to your favorite forums or topics so that when a new topic or reply is added you will be notified.
To subscribe to a topic or forum, go to that area and click the Follow button. You will them be prompted with how often you wish to be notified. To the right of this button, it shows how many other people are watching the topic.
There are several types of notification, and you will be asked to choose one of these options:
Instantly: You will be notified instantly when a reply is made, via the method specified in your notification preferences.
Only When Not Online: This option will send out a notification if a reply has been posted and you're not active on the board.
Daily: This option will send out a daily digest of updates.
Weekly: This option will send out a weekly digest of updates.
If you wish to automatically subscribe to every topic you reply to, you can configure this from your control panel. Simply select the "Auto follow topics I reply to" option.
You can remove a subscription from your settings, or by going back to the area you are subscribed to and pressing the " Stop Watching" button.
Posting
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The Post Editor
There are two versions of the post editor: the standard editor and the rich text editor. Which one you use can be configured from your settings. With the rich text editor, you'll see how the post will look when it's finally posted, like a live preview.
The toolbar buttons on each editor are very similar, and each button is explained below, from left to right:
(This is only available in the rich text editor) - This will turn off all formatting tools currently in use.
(This is only available in the rich text editor) - This will show the HTML source of the post and allow you to enter the post in HTML. Note that we filter posts and some HTML may not be allowed or saved.
Other styles - This menu contains all other options which do not have their own toolbar button, such as acronyms or spoilers.
Fonts - This menu allows you to set what font your post is displayed in.
Sizes - This menu allows you to set what size the text in your post is.
- This menu allows you to set the color of the text in your post.
- This will redo the last undone change.
- This will undo the last change made.
- This will make the text bold.
- This will make the text italic .
- This will make the text underlined.
- This will make the text striked out.
- This will make the text subscript.
- This will make the text superscript.
- This will start a bullet-point list.
- This will start a numbered list.
- This menu will allow you to insert an emoticon into your post.
- This will insert a link.
- This will insert an image.
- This will insert an email address.
- This will insert a quote.
- This will insert a codebox.
- This will allow you to link to media, such as a video or song.
- This will indent the post. This icon can also be used to create multi-level lists.
- This will make the text aligned to the left.
- This will make the text aligned to the right.
- This will make the text aligned in the center.
Personal messager
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The personal messenger can be used to have private conversations with other members. To access it, select your username while logged in from the top corner of any page, and then press "Messenger".
Managing conversations
Change which conversations you are viewing
By default, all conversations are shown, but you can change the view to only display conversations you started, or conversations that others have started. To change this, select the appropriate option from the dropdown underneath the conversation list and then press Update.
Deleting conversations
To delete a whole conversation, select the checkbox beside the conversation, then select "Delete" from the dropdown at the bottom and then press Go.
If you started the conversation, this will remove the conversation from your list, and lock it for everyone else - nobody else will be able to make replies to the conversation, but they will still be able to read it until they also delete it.
If you did not start the conversation, this will remove the conversation from your list and remove you from the conversation - you will not be able to make any more replies, but others will still be able to continue the conversation without you, and see your previous replies.
Managing notifications
You will see a icon for conversations that you will be notified of updates to, and for conversations that you will not receive notifications for.
To turn on or off notifications for any conversation, select the checkbox beside the conversation, then select the appropriate option from the dropdown at the bottom and then press Go.
Managing messages
To edit or delete one of your messages in a conversation, press the " Edit" or " Delete" button underneath the post. The changes will be reflected to all participants in the conversation.
Starting a new conversation
To start a new conversation, start by pressing the "Compose New" button. Enter the user's name into the "Recipient's Name" field. As you type, suggestions will appear below the box. When you see the member you are looking for, click on their name.
You may also be able to add other recipients into the "Other Recipients" box. If so, the next option allows you to specify how the messages will be sent to alternate recipients: "Invitation" allows all invited members to participate in a single conversation, while "Copy" will send a separate conversation to each member.
You should then type a message subject and the message body, just like you would for a new topic in the forums.
When you are done, you can press Send Message or Save (Send Later) to save the message for later.
Replying to a conversation
To reply to any conversation, press the " Add Reply" button when viewing it or press the " Reply" button underneath any existing message to quote it. Then type your message just like you would a post and press Send Message. You can also use the Fast Reply box at the bottom of each conversation to quickly reply to the conversation.
Adding participants to a conversation
You may be able to add more participants to a conversation. If so, you will see an " Add" button on the left-side when viewing a conversation.
Click this button and a box will appear for you to enter member names into. To add more than one member, separate their names with commas. When you are done, press Add.
Reporting a message
If you wish to report to a moderator a message that someone has sent to you, you can press the " Report" button underneath the message.
Type in your report and then press Submit Report. This will send a copy of the message to the moderators - only the specific message you report will be displayed to the moderating team, however some moderators may be able to add themselves to the conversation you have reported.
Managing your messenger folders
By default there are three folders for messages:
New, which stores all unread conversations.
My Conversations, which contains all conversations you are participating in.
Drafts, which stores unsent messages saved for later.
You can also add your own folders to make it easier to manage your messages.
Adding a new folder
To add a new folder, press the " Add" button beneath the list of folders.
Type the name of the folder you want to add, then press the "+" button.
Moving messages
To move a message from one folder to another, select the checkbox beside the conversation, then select the name of the folder you want to move the conversation to from the dropdown at the bottom and then press Go.
Renaming, Deleting or Emptying a folder
To rename, empty or delete a folder, press the " Edit" button beneath the list of folders.
To rename a folder, type the new name in the textbox currently containing the folder name, and then press the ">" button. You cannot rename default folders.
To empty a folder, press the icon beside the folder name.
To delete a folder, press the icon beside the folder name. Be careful as this will also empty the folder. You cannot delete default folders.
Searching
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The search feature is designed to allow you to quickly find topics and posts that contain the keywords you enter.
There are two types of search form available, simple search and advanced search. You may switch between the two using the 'More Options' and 'Simple Mode' buttons.
Simple Mode
All you need to do here is enter in a keyword into the search box, and select a forum(s) to search in. (to select multiple forums, hold down the control key on a PC, or the Shift/Apple key on a Mac) choose a sorting order and search.
Advanced Mode
The advanced search screen, will give you a much greater range of options to choose from to refine your search. In addition to searching by keyword, you are able to search by a members username or a combination of both. You can also choose to refine your search by selecting a date range, and there are a number of sorting options available. There are also two ways of displaying the search results, can either show the post text in full or just show a link to the topic, can choose this using the radio buttons available.
If the administrator has enabled it, you may have a minimum amount of time to wait between searches, this is known as search flood control.
There are also search boxes available at the bottom of each forum, to allow you to carry out a quick search of all of the topics within that particular forum.
Viewing active topics and new posts
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You can view which new topics have new replies today by clicking on the 'Today's Active Topics' link found at the bottom of the main board page (the first page you see when visiting the board). You can set your own date criteria, choosing to view all topics with new replies during several date choices.
The 'View New Posts' link in the member bar at the top of each page, will allow you to view all of the topics which have new replies in since your last visit to the board.
Email notification of new messages
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This board can notify you when a new reply is added to a topic. Many users find this useful to keep up to date on topics without the need to view the board to check for new messages.
There are three ways to subscribe to a topic:
Click the 'Options' menu at the top of a topic, and go to 'Track this topic'
On the posting screen when replying to or creating a topic, check the 'Enable email notification of replies?' checkbox.
From the 'Email Settings' section of your User CP (My Controls) check the 'Enable Email Notification by default?' option, this will automatically subscribe you to any topic that you make a reply to.
Please note that there are four different types of subscriptions:
Immediate Email Notification
This option will send out a notification immediately after a new topic or reply has been made regardless of your activity.
Delayed Emailed Notification
This option will send out a notification if a new topic or reply has been made and you're not active on the board.
Daily Email Digest
This option will send out a daily digest showing all new replies or topics for that day.
Weekly Email Digest
This option will send out a weekly digest showing all new replies or topics for that week.
You are also able to subscribe to each individual forum on the board, to be notified when a new topic is created in that particular forum. To enable this, click 'Forum Options' menu at the top forum you wish to subscribe to, and click the 'Subscribe to this forum' link.
To unsubscribe from any forums or topics that you are subscribed to - just go to the 'Subscriptions' section of 'My Controls' and you can do this from there.
Contacting the staff
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If you need to contact a moderator, or simply wish to view the complete administration team, you can click the link 'The moderating team' found at the bottom of the main board page. This list will show you administrators and moderators.
Note that you can report content to all staff by pressing the "Report" button when viewing the content.
Your Control Panel
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The control panel is where you set up your personal preferences for the board. You can change how the board looks and operates for you from here.
Messenger
The messenger section is covered in the help file titled 'Your Personal Messenger'.
Subscriptions
View Topics:
View topics that you have subscribed to here, or change the way you are notified for each topic. You can also remove topic subscriptions from here.
View Forums:
View forums that you have subscribed to, or change the way you are notified for each forum. You can also remove forum subscriptions from here.
Personal Profile
Edit Profile Information:
Here you can specify your own personal information, such as your birthdate and contact information.
Edit Personal Portal Information:
You can change your personal statement, notification and moderation options from this section.
Edit Signature:
You can view and manage your signature from here. You may use BBcode to format your signature (to link to images, etc.) or even HTML if the board administrator has allowed it.
Edit Avatar Settings:
You can view and manage your personal avatar from here. You may choose an avatar from the board's gallery, link to an offsite image (the image will be resized if it is larger than the dimensions allowed by the board administrator) or upload an image from your computer to use as your avatar.
Change Personal Photo:
If the board administrator has enabled personal photos for your user group you can upload an image that will be displayed on your profile.
Change Display Name:
If Display Names are allowed on your board, you can change how your name appears on the board from here.
Options:
Purchase Paid Subscriptions:
If there are subscription packages available on the board they will be displayed here. You can choose a subscription package and purchase it, or upgrade your existing subscription (depending on board-specific settings).
Manage Your Attachments:
You can view and manage your file attachments from here.
Manage Friends List:
You can approve pending friend requests from here (if you have set your profile up to require approval) as well as view and manage your existing friends from this page.
Manage Ignored Users:
You may view, add and remove ignored users from this page.
Email Settings:
There are several email-specific settings available on this page.
Privacy Settings
Hide my email address from other members - You can choose to not display your e-mail address to members of the board.
Send me updates sent by the board administrator - Your board administrator may want to periodically send newsletters to members of the board, check this to make sure you receive these updates.
Board Preferences
Include a copy of the post when emailing me from a subscribed topic - If you opt to receive notifications of new posts/topics, a copy of the post/topic body will be sent in the notification e-mail.
Send a confirmation email when I receive a new private message - Enabling this will allow the board to send you an e-mail when you receive a new PM.
Enable 'Email Notification' by default? - Enabling this will automatically subscribe you to any topic/post you reply to or create. Use the drop-down box to select how you would like to be notified.
Board Settings:
You can manage settings related to how the board is displayed/operates from this page. You can choose your timezone and various view options here, such as which text editor you would like to use.
Change Email Address:
You can update the email address associated with your account from here.
Change Password:
Here you can update the password you use to log in to the board.
My Assistant
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The 'My Assistant' feature can be accessed by clicking the link of the same name in the board header. This tool provides quick links to many important areas on the board, as well as quick access to common features.
My Assistant has four seperate feature tabs:
Information - this tabs offers links to the overall and daily Top Ten posters, as well as your last ten posts on the board. You can also click to view the Moderation Team.
New Posts - will show you a link to any new posts made since your last visit, and how long ago they were posted.
Search - using this, you can search the forum basically the same way the standard search function works. This box will show you the number of results, and allow you to click to view them
Recent PMs - on this tab, you can view your 5 most recent PMs and when they were received.
The My Assistant is also used when a new PM arrives. If you have selected to be notified when a new PM is received, the My Assistant box will appear on your screen displaying your new PM.
Member list
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The member list, accessed via the 'Members' link at the top of each page, is basically a listing of all of the members that have registered on the board.
Basic Search
If you'd like to search for a particular member by name, you can type in the name of the member in the far left field. 'Begin With' will search for members beginning with the letters typed in the search, while 'Contain' will search for names containing the characters.
If you'd like to only search for members that have a photo in their profile, check the "Must have a photo" box. You can also narrow your search down to a user's gender and their minimum rating.
Advanced Search
By clicking on the "Toggle More Options..." button, you can display more fields in order to search for members.
Home Page Contains: This field will search for the entered text within the contents of a user's home page fields.
Signature Contains: Similar to Home Page Contains, this will search the signatures of users instead.
Messengers: In this area, you can search for particular screen names for the dominant instant messaging clients.
Post & Date Ranges: This area will allow you to narrow down your search to particular posting and other date information, such as users that have joined after a certain date, or users that have more than a certain number of posts.
Sorting
Just below the search area is a set of fields to sort your results. You can choose a particular group (or All Members) in the first field, then sort those by Name, Posts, Joined Date, or Rating (if enabled) in either Ascending (A-Z) or Descending (Z-A) order. The final field will control how many users are displayed per page.
Member List
At the bottom are the profile cards for members matching your search. These will display a basic summary of the user, as well as their photo if they have one. By clicking on the user's photo or name, you can choose to view their full profile, add them as a friend, send them a message, or find their posts.
Cookies and cookie usage
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Using cookies is optional, but strongly recommended. Cookies are used to keep track of many various bits of information on the board, including automatically logging you in when returning to the board.
If your computer is unable to use the cookie system to browse the board correctly, then the board will automatically add in a session ID to each link to track you around the board.
Clearing Cookies
You can clear the cookies at any time by clicking on the link found at the bottom of the main board page (the first page you see when returning to the board). If this does not work for you, you may need to remove the cookies manually.
Internet Explorer 7:
Click the "Tools" menu at the top of the browser.
Choose "Internet Options" item.
Under the "Browsing History" section, click the "Delete" button.
Choose the option to delete your cookies.
Internet Explorer 6:
Click the "Tools" menu at the top of the browser.
Choose "Internet Options" item.
Under the "Temporary Internet Files" section, click the "Delete Cookies" button.
Firefox:
Click the "Tools" menu at the top of the browser.
Choose the "Clear Private Data" item.
Ensure that the "Cookies" item is selected.
Click the button labeled "Clear Private Data Now".
Opera:
Choose the "Tools" menu at the top of the browser.
Choose the "Preferences" item.
Choose the "Advanced" option.
Select the "Cookies" option.
Choose "Manage Cookies".
Select the website that you wisht o clear the cookies for.
Choose the "Delete" option.
Safari:
From the "Safari" menu, choose the "Preferences" item.
From the Security dialog box, choose "Bookmarks".
Click "Show Cookies".
Choose a cookie (or cookies) to delete, or click the "Remove All" button.
Lost your password?
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Security is a big feature on this board, and to that end, all passwords are encrypted when you register.
This means that we cannot email your password to you as we hold no record of your 'uncrypted' password. You can however, apply to have your password reset.
To view a member's profile, you can click on their name from nearly anywhere in the board. If you'd like to view your own profile, you can click on your name in the Login bar underneath the board's header.
In the main profile view, there are two semi-static areas, then a tabbed area in the middle.
Personal Information
This area, to the left, contains a variety of the user's profile information. This includes the personal photo (if they have uploaded one), the user's rating, a variety of options (such as finding their posts), the user's personal statement, along with some more details about the individual, such as their age, gender, and location. Further down the left, you'll see their statistics and post count, along with their personal messenger information.
In the center of the profile are a series of tabs. Here, you can find their recent posts, a listing of their comments, and a listing of their friends (you can view the friend's profile information by clicking on their name). Also, if the board has the Invision Power Gallery or Blog components installed, you will see two additional tabs. The Gallery tab will show the last six uploaded images, while the Blog tab will show the last five blog entries.
To the far right, you'll be able to see who recently visited the person's profile, any recent comments left, and a listing of the users recent friends.
Adding Comments
You are able to leave comments about other users. When you bring up their profile, on the far right you will notice a section of recent comments. If you click on the "Add a Comment" button, you will then be able to leave a comment.
Moderating Comments
If a rude or otherwise offensive comment is left to you by another member, you can delete the comment in two ways.
First, you can click on the "Comments" tab, scroll to their comment, place a check in the box, then choose "Delete Selected Comments" from the dropdown list at the bottom. Secondly, you can click on the small "X" button next to the users comment in the Recent Comments area.
You can also approve and un-approve comments in a similar method. Unapproved comments will not be displayed, while approved comments are displayed to the public. Instead of choosing "Delete Selected Comments", choose Approve or Un-Approve selected comments.
Rating a User
The profile supports a user rating system. This will let other users rate down users that cause problems, or value the rating of good users. To edit the rating, bring up the member's profile, then click on the stars to choose the rating.
Editing Your Profile Settings
When viewing your own profile while logged in, you'll see an additional tab in the middle called "Settings". Choosing this tab, you'll see some more information to help edit the settings for your profile. Here, you can upload a personal photo (like you would any other attachment) or choose to remove it. If the remove box is checked, the photo will be removed when you click on Save Settings. Also, you edit your personal statement. This is very similar to your signature, but is tied directly into your profile rather than to your posts. A little bit further down, you can choose how you'd like to be notified of people adding you as a friend or leaving comments. You can choose not to be notified, or notify by email or Personal Message (PM). At the bottom, you can choose to approve comments before they're posted to your profile, and also choose to approve a user adding you as a friend.
On the left hand side of the profile screen, you can edit your personal information. You can set your gender, birth date, location, and also edit your Personal Messenger information.
*Contacting the moderating team and reporting posts
Spoiler
Contacting the moderating team
If you need to contact a moderator or simply wish to view the complete administration team, you can click the link 'The moderating team' found at the bottom of the main board page (the first page you see when visiting the board), or from 'My Assistant'.
This list will show you administrators (those who have administration control panel access), global moderators (those who can moderate in all forums) and the moderators of the individual forums.
If you wish to contact someone about your member account, then contact an administrator - if you wish to contact someone about a post or topic, contact either a global moderator or the forum moderator.
Reporting a post
If the administrator has enabled this function on the board, you'll see a 'Report' button in a post, next to the 'Quote' button. This function will let you report the post to the forum moderator (or the administrator(s), if there isn't a specific moderator available). You can use this function when you think the moderator(s) should be aware of the existance of that post. However, do not use this to chat with the moderator(s)!. You can use the email function or the Personal Messenger function for that.
Posting Ettiquette
While not required, following common courtesy and the recommended posting ettiquette will get you a long way. Not only this, but it makes the jobs of the staff easier and makes the experience of the bulletin board richer.
Before posting a new topic, make sure it hasn't been posted first!
Before posting a new topic, make sure that the topic has not already been created by another member. The Search and View New Content tools that are available to you will make this process easier. In addition to utilizing these tools, you should examine if there is an appropriate thread already available to share your information. If you wanted to post an inspirational quote for example, instead of creating a new topic you should make a new post in the relevant thread.
When posting a new topic, try your best to post in the relevant forum.
Before posting a new topic, ask yourself, "how would I best categorize this topic? What subject does this content most relate to?"
If possible, tag your topics!
While it may seem unnecessary, tagging your topic enriches the bulletin board experience for other members. The Laker Nation forum software creates topic recommendations similar to Netflix and Amazon based upon topic tags! A tag should consist of keywords that are separated by commas. For example, if the topic was relating to a statistical analysis of Kobe Bryant, it may be tagged as:
Topics that utilize those same tags, or even a few of them, will be recommended to users as they view the thread! Tagging is an essential part of enriching the social media experience. The more you tag (accurately), the better for the community.
Use NSFW and NSFL tags when applicable.
Material that may be deemed sensitive to certain audiences should be hidden using the spoiler tag:
[spoiler]Some hidden information goes here[/spoiler]
Spoiler
Some hidden information goes here
In addition to putting sensitive material within spoilers, it would be courteous if you were to associate the type of sensitive material to a label: NSFW or NSFL.
NSFW stands for Not Safe for Work and is generally associated with sexual content and excessive language.
NSFL stands for Not Safe for Life and is generally associated with material that is "not safe" in any environment: violence and instances that may introduce individuals to significant harm.
Use appropriate formatting to title your threads.
Please do not title your threads in UPPER CASE or lower case. Use sentence case, proper case, or title case. Here is a utility that can help you format your thread titles if you are having trouble.
Cite sources.
If you are making any sort of argument that was made by another individual, or are directly quoting a resource of any sort, cite your source! Plagarism is not a vice that is exclusive to academic environments. Plagarism illustrates a lack of integrity and is generally not welcome in any forum, digital or not.
Do not mini-moderate. Use the warn system.
If you see a member breaking the rules, do not "mini-moderate" and try to correct them of their behavior. Simply report the post. A notification will be sent out to the entire staff team, who will respond to the report promptly.
Have fun.
Remember to enjoy yourself! There is no need to get worked up over a simple disagreement.
Tips
View New Content
The View New Content tool is a very powerful utility that is overlooked by many. It shows the member all of the posts and topics that they have not yet read. In addition to allowing members to stay up-to-date on the latest forum activity, there are extremely powerful filters that allow for members to sort by content type and time period. Check it out if you haven't already!
Status Updates
Status Updates are a fun way for members to update their "mood" or to state what is on their mind. Status updates are publicly displayed in a sidebar on the right side of the bulletin board. You can post a status update by entering some text in the dropdown menu that is used to sign out of the forums.
Follow Topics
Is there a certain topic that you enjoy more than others? You can follow certain topics and receive notification updates when a reply is made in one of them! To do so, simply click "Follow this topic" in the upper right hand corner of the thread that you wish to follow. You can manage the topics that you are following here.
Custom Notifications and Privacy Settings
You can manage which type of notifications you receive in your Custom Notifications settings. Here, you can update your privacy settings and decide which types of events you wish to be notified about. If somebody quotes a post that you make, you can be notified. If somebody gives you reputation, you can be notified. If somebody replies to any of your topics, you can be notified. Or, you can choose to not be notified. These options extend to also receiving automatic emails, so make use of these settings to your liking!
Ignore Settings
If you are in constant dispute with another member or simply no longer wish to read anything that they post, be the bigger person and ignore them. Laker Nation offers a method which allows for you to ignore members so that their posts are automatically hidden from you. "Out of sight, out of mind."
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How do I post a YouTube video?
A: You can post a YouTube video, alongside a variety of other mediums of video, using the media bbcode tags. To manually invoke this, enter in the URL of the video in between the respective bbcode tags:
Additionally, if you are using the Rich Text Editor, you can simply paste in the URL and it should automatically embed the video into your post.
Q: How come when I try to post a YouTube video, it only posts the link?
A: This could be due to a number of reasons. If you are experiecing this issue, toggle into the Rich Text Editor (see Help if you do not know how to do this). The surest way to embed media when it is not working for you is to manually invoke the media bbcode (see the first FAQ).
Q: How do I upload a picture and embed it into one of my posts?
A: 1) Send the files from your phone to somewhere you can access on the internet (so if you are on Android or iOS, you can use the "send to email" option and then retrieve the photos on your computer, OR you can install the Dropbox or MEGA app and use "send to cloud").
2) On your computer, access your email or cloud storage and save the photo(s) to your computer.
3) Go to http://imgur.com and select "Upload photos." Select the files on your computer and it will upload to Imgur. Imgur will provide you links, like this:
4) Copy the text where it says BBCode and then paste it into the RTE (rich text editor) on LN.
5) Hit post! Win!
Q: Can a moderator update a thread title?
A: Moderators certainly can, but it is not their obligation or duty to. If a member of the staff is able to help you with this, it is because they have graciously done so with any spare time that they may have available. It is the moderator's duty to enforce the rules of the board through observation and the warn system. Anything else is just extra. Moderators don't mind putting in extra work beyond their obligations and duties, but it should be noted that they do so in their spare time and only at their convenience. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Q: I have an idea to improve the site. Who should I suggest it to?
A: Please post all of your suggestions here. The LakerNation staff have a procedure as to how we consider and implement suggestions. This varies based on the circumstances. Some suggestions may be implemented within days, while others may be implemented over months. Other suggestions may not be implemented altogether. At the end of the day, the staff takes into consideration each and every suggestion and takes great honor in improving the community. Your patience is much obliged.
Q: How do I embed Tweets into my post?
A: At this time, the official method of embedding tweets consists of utilizing the quote bbcode.
1) Copy the tweet you wish to share in your post.
2) Paste that content in between quote bbcode tags.
3) Include a link to your source.
Example:
[quote]Kobe Bryant @kobebryant Mar 1
Time has wings my brotha. Your game pushed my then 21 year old self to play beyond my years. Your… http://instagram.com/p/lB65GLxNt8/[/quote]
Q: How do I embed Instagram or Vine content into my posts?
A: The same way that you would with a YouTube video. See the first and second FAQs.
This thread may be updated to elaborate on new features and satisfy new questions as they become available. It may be in your best interest to check back frequently.
Real Deal, L.A.K.E.R, FranklinPeanuts and 6 others like this
Q:When you take off your jersey for the final time, what will you leave behind on the court? A: "My heart and soul." --Kobe Bryant
