Posting a Message

In order to post a message you must be signed in as a member of the forum. Either click "Log In" if you are already a member or "Register" to become a member. Both links are available at the top right of the forum area.

Once logged in you are able to start new threads by clicking "Post New Topic" at the top of the forum area, or join in with any of the existing discussions by typing in the box at the bottom of the desired thread. You can reply to an individual post by clicking "Reply" to the left of that post.
Editing Your Posts

Once logged in to the forum you are able to edit any of your existing posts. Two links will be available to the left of your post allowing you to either edit or delete the message.
Never Post Email Addresses

We strongly advise you not to post a link to your email address on the internet. Publicly displaying your email on ANY website is a sure fire way to attract spam messages to your in-box.

A Private Message facility is provided with our forum so anybody can contact you without your email address ever being revealed. See below for usage.
Private Messages

To send a Private Message (or PM) to another forum member simply click on their username (to the left of any of their posts) and you will be taken to their Profile page. Click on the contact link to send a Private Message to that member.
Uploading a Photo or Document

Photos or supporting documents can easily be added to your post. The file has to be available on your own computer so if it is elsewhere on the internet you will need to save a copy to your desktop or somewhere handy first.

| 1. |
Add a new post or reply to an existing one in the normal way. |
| 2. |
To the left of the box where you are typing in your message you will see a bunch of smiley icons with two links above them. |
| 3. |
Click the one that says Attachment and a browse option appears below you message window. |
| 4. |
Click browse and find the file you wish to upload in the window that appears. |
| 5. |
Choose the file and it will be uploaded, complete with a little bit of code in your message to display the file. |
Note: it will take a little longer to post your message while the file is uploaded. Just be patient and it will work. Larger images will take longer.
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Post Icons

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Regular topic |
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Regular topic containing a new post since the last time you visited |
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Popular topic (more than 15 replies) |
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Popular topic containing a new post since the last time you visited |
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Read-Only Topic, can only be read |
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Read-Only Topic containing a new message since the last time you visited |
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Sticky Topic, this is an important topic that remains at the top of the topic index |
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Sticky Topic containing a new message since the last time you visited |
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BBCode

BBCode is a safe replacement for genuine HTML code. The following codes are available. Use them in your message text when posting a topic or reply.
| [b]bold[/b] |
bold |
| [u]underline[/u] |
underline |
| [i]italic[/i] |
italic |
| [center]center[/center] |
center
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| [justify]justify[/justify] |
justify
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| [right]right[/right] |
right
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| [color:red]red text[/color] |
red text |
| [h6]h6 header[/h6] |
h6 header
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| [pre]text[/pre] |
text
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| [img://www.domain.com/w00t.gif] |
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| [quote]Text[/quote] |
Quote:
« Text » |
[url=http://www.domain.com]
My Site[/url] |
My Site |
[list]
[*]List Item 1
[*]List Item 2
[/list] |
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Embed an image from Flickr

The popular photo sharing website Flickr now allows you to share photos by simply copying and pasting BBcode which is compatible with the Hastings Forum.

| 1. |
Find a Flickr page with a photo you wish to show on the forum. |
| 2. |
At the top of the page you will see a share menu. Click this and it will drop down showing various options. Choose "Grab the HTML/BBCode" |
| 3. |
Select BBCode and choose a size, then copy the code given. |
| 4. |
Paste the Flickr BBCode into your forum post. |
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Smileys

Smileys are little images which express a certain emotion. Inserting these images in your messages can be done by adding the following codes to your message text.
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:) |
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;) |
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:( |
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:'( |
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:P or :p |
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:D |
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:| |
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>:( |
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>:) |
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:O or :o |
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:S or :s |
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:X or :x |
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:? |
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:rant: |
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