Frequently Asked Questions
| Introduction
Welcome to Ladies of Lallybroch. If you are new to LOL, before posting on the boards, please step into the Parlor, and read about the community guidelines and LOL etiquette before posting, including what NOT to post on the message boards, and why you should bookmark them or add them to your favorites instead of using the web site as a stepping stone between each board. One of the most frequently asked questions is "what is a hoser?" Here is some more LOL-specific info on "hosers":
For other expressions and abbreviations used in LOL, check the Lallyvocabulary section, in the Parlor page. Due to extreme traffic on other boards, introductions should be made on the Welcome Board only. Please feel free to ask any question about LOL in there too. To find out who can help you on any specific LOL activity, you can check the LOL Offices. Brand new to Message Boards? Feeling like a true technotard? You may want to check our Step-by-Step instructions on how to post on LOL Message Boards. Suggestions and corrections are gladly welcome. Please address them to Judie, and we'll do our best to update this FAQ accordingly. |
| Posting Techniques
At the bottom of the board you can see a box that says "Post a new message:". That is where you'll write your message if you want to start a new topic of discussion. If you just want to reply to someone else's message, you click on "click here to reply"; when the new window opens, scroll down to the "Post a new message:" box, and type your reply. When you've finished typing your message hit the "Send" button. You'll be taken to a new screen where you can preview your post and edit it, if necessary. When you're satisfied with what you see, click on the "Approve" button and your message will be posted to the board. To get back to the main board click "Main Index" at the top of the page. Too complicated? Check the Step-by-Step Posting Instructions!
Why did the text of my message come out in bold? You probably posted all your new message in the "Message subject" box. When you "post a new message" in the "Message subject" box then your whole message comes out in bold type. When you post a reply in the "Message subject" box then it shows up as a link.For posting new messages (not replies) you should type the subject of your message in the "Message subject:" box and the rest of your messages in the "Type your message here:" box.
It means No Text. It's a way to indicate that all the content of the reply message appears on the main page, and that there's no need to click on the subject line to read further.
When I'm replying to a message, how can I keep all my text visible on the main page? Just make sure you type all your message in the "subject" box, and finish by adding "(NT)" at the end of your post, to let others know there's no need to read further. But please do this only if you're posting a very short comment. Long messages on the subject line slow down the board and use a lot of bandwidth. Too complicated? Check the Step-by-Step Posting Instructions!
The board is set to post large messages in a separate page. If you posted a large message your message subject is automatically converted into a link, just like a reply. Just click on the title of your message and you'll be taken to a new page, where you can read all of it.
It takes too long to get between the main page and the replies! Any way to make it faster? If you right click your mouse on the link to the page you want to read and select "Open In New Window" you won't have to wait for the board to reload every time. You can read the message you want in the second window and post your own comments from there. When you finish reading, or the "your message has been sent" page appears, you can then close the second window. You may do this for all the messages that you want to read or comment. Then when you've finished posting all your replies, you can reload the board.
How do I print a message without printing the whole message board? If you want to print a specific message, click on it and then print. If you want to print the first message in a thread, click on reply and it takes you to that message with the box underneath it for your response. Just click print when you are in reply mode and it will only print that message. |
| Fancy HTML
HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. It is the "code" that enhances communication on the world wide web. By adding certain commands, also called tags, to the text, browsers can be told how to display that text in a document or on a web page. For posting on the boards, the number of tags that are typically used is fairly limited. Text can be made bold, italicized, or underlined. Font tags can change the size, color, or appearance of the text. The browser treats anything in < > brackets as an HTML tag and anything not in < > brackets as text which will be displayed on the page. HTML tags are placed in the body of the text, opening in the position where you want them to take effect, then closing where you want that effect to end. Please note that when closing tags are omitted, the browser continues to make the specified changes to the text. On the message boards this can show up as a page where all of the text that follows that open tag is rendered in bold or in italics or in a huge, colorful font! A closing font tag can be added later, but in some browsers the changes to the text will persist, so it's best to take care to close tags properly from the start. The tags that we typically use on the boards work in pairs -- first the opening tag (such as <b> for "start displaying text in bold") then later, after the text you want to affect, a corresponding closing tag (such as </b> for "stop displaying text in bold"). Closing tags are always the main tag name preceded by /. Tags can be used in combination to simultaneously apply different effects to the text (for example bold and italic), but it's a good idea to pay attention to the order in which you opened the tags when typing the closing tags. The first tag that you should close is the last tag that you opened, and the last one closed should be the first one that was opened. This is sometimes referred to as nesting the tags, or you can think about the paired tags as mirror images of each other. The bottom line is that the tags need to be closed in the reverse of the order that they were opened. See the examples below. The following are a few basic HTML tags that can be useful when posting on the boards. Please remember that when judiciously applied, formatting will make your message look good. An excess of fancy effects will make it annoying and difficult to read.
How do I apply special effects to my text? Making text bold: Making text italic: Underlining text: Making text bold and italic: Making text bold and underlined: These examples also serve to illustrate any other combination of special effects.
The element is <FONT SIZE=value>. Valid values range from 1-7 and the default font size is 3. This is <FONT SIZE=1>BJR's sword</FONT> This is <FONT SIZE=2>a sgian dhu</FONT> This is <FONT SIZE=3>a dirk</FONT> This is <FONT SIZE=4>a smallsword</FONT> This is <FONT SIZE=5>a broadsword</FONT> This is <FONT SIZE=6>a claymore</FONT> This is <FONT SIZE=7>Jamie's sword</FONT> The value given to size can optionally have a '+' or '-' character in front of it to specify that it is relative to the document basefont (if the size specified takes the font size above 7 or below 1, then values of 7 and 1 would be used). This will make the font <FONT SIZE=+2> two sizes larger than the default font</FONT> This will make the font <FONT SIZE=-1>one size smaller than the default font</FONT>
How do I type in different colors? Jamie's eyes are <FONT COLOR=BLUE>blue</FONT>! Color names you may use are:
Can I make multiple font changes? As with the bold and italic tags above, font tags may also be used in combination. By default, browsers will close the font tags in reverse of the order that they were opened. So, if size was first applied to text and then color, when the closing tags are read by the browser, the color will automatically be closed first and then the size. You cannot specify the order. Please keep in mind that every font tag that is opened should have a closing tag. Some find it helpful to type both the opening and closing tags from the start and then insert the text in between; that way it is less likely that closing tags will be omitted accidentally. Another option would be to combine your font changes in a single font tag. For example: This is <FONT SIZE=5 COLOR=SILVER>a silver broadsword</FONT> Since only one font tag was opened, only one needed to be closed. It may not always work out that the font changes that you want to make can be combined, but this can be a handy shortcut as it keeps things simple.
This is a link to a web page: <a href="http://www.lallybroch.com">Ladies of Lallybroch</a> You can also do a link to a picture, or any other kind of file, provided you've got its address: <a href="http://www.lallybroch.com/LOL/images/liam.jpg">Can you tell who typed this FAQ?</a> Type the address you're linking to after the href=enclosed in quote marks. Do not forget to include http:// for a web address. Any text that you type after the > bracket and before the </a> will become the "clickable" text displayed on the page. The URL is always typed between quote marks, so a word of advice here: If you type your message in Word, for posterior copying and pasting, please note that your Word is probably set to change your "straight" quote marks into "smart" quote marks. It's hard to actually notice it while typing, but your link will not work if the URL is typed between smart quote marks. If you do this, after pasting your message on the posting window, don't forget to replace the quote marks in your link.
How do I include a picture in my message? This way the picture will appear in your message: <img src="http://www.lallybroch.com/LOL/images/liam.jpg"> The picture must be somewhere on the internet. You cannot link to a picture in your own computer. Other people will not be able to see it. However, we ask that you please post only SMALL pictures on the boards. Big pictures end up slowing down the boards while they load. And then they just need to be deleted by a board moderator. You can also post a picture inside a reply rather than on the main pages of the boards. Thank you.
How do I change the font in my text? <FONT FACE="Comic Sans MS">This is the Comic Sans MS font.</FONT> This is the Comic Sans MS font. Note that you must type the exact name of the font and that only the persons who have this same font installed in their systems will be able to see it. All others will just see the browser's default font.
For each space that you want to indent type the following characters (no " " and no < > are needed): For instance, this will indent the following sentence with 5 spaces: I love you, Jamie! (indented) |
