Duke of Cornwall Spinal Treatment Centre

Spinal Chat Frequently Asked Questions

• Do I have to register?
• How can I use smilies and images?
• Can I add a hyperlink to my messages? 
• Can I change the format of my text? 
• What are moderators?
• How can I change my registration profile?
• Are cookies used?
• Can I edit my own posts?
• Can I attach files?
• Can I search?
• Are there any censor features?
• What do I do if I have lost my username and/or password?
• Can I be notified by email if someone responds to my topic?
• Can't find your answer here?  Send us an enquiry.

Smilies & Images
You've probably seen others use smilies before in email messages or other bulletin board posts. Smilies are keyboard characters used to convey an emotion, such as a smile or a frown . These forums automatically converts certain text to a graphical representation when it is inserted between brackets [].

Here are the images that are currently supported by Duke of Cornwall Spinal Treatment Centre Forums:

[:)]	smile
[:D]	big grin
[:(]	frown
[:!]	mad
[:o]	embarrassment
[:p]	tongue
[;)]	wink
[8)]	cool
[:E]	teeth
[D]	thumbs down
[U]	thumbs up
[A]	arrow
[I]	idea
[?]	question

Creating a Hyperlink in your message
You can easily add a hyperlink to your message.  To do so you can use [url]www.spinalinjurycentre.org.uk[/url] and it will be replaced by "here" or if you want a description use this format: [url=www.spinalinjurycentre.org.uk]Place your description here[/url].  

Example1:  Click [url]www.spinalinjurycentre.org.uk[/url] to go home = Click here to go home!
Example2:  Go to [url=www.spinalinjurycentre.org.uk]The Duke of Cornwall Spinal Treatment Centre[/url] = Go to The Duke of Cornwall Spinal Treatment Centre

If you don't use the formats exactly as shown above, you will get an error

How to format text with Bold, Italic, Quote, etc...
There are several codes you can use to change the appearance of your text.  Following is the list of codes currently available:

Bold: enclose your text with [b] and [/b].  Example: This is [b]bold[/b] text. = This is bold text.

Italic: enclose your text with [i] and [/i].  Example:  This is [i]italic[/i] text. = This is italic text.

Code: enclose your text with [code] and [/code].

Quote: enclose your text with [quote] and [/quote].

Moderators
Moderators control individual forums. They can edit, delete, or prune any posts in their forums. If you have a question about a particular forum, you should direct it to your forum moderator.

Changing Your Profile
You may easily change any info stored in your registration profile, using the "Your profile" link located near the top of each page.  Simply identify yourself by typing your username and password and all of your profile information will appear on screen.  You may change any items, except your username.

Cookies
These forums use cookies to store the following information: the last time you logged in, your username and password, and your preferred "topic view". These cookies are stored on your browser. Cookies are not used to track your movement or perform any function other than to enhance your use of the bulletin board. If your browser does not support cookies, or you have not enabled cookies on your browser, many of these time-saving features will not work properly.

Editing Your Posts
You may edit or delete your own posts at any time. Just go to the topic where the post to be edited is located and you will see an edit icon ( ) on the line that begins "posted on..."  Click on this icon to edit or delete the post. No one else can edit your post, except for the forum moderator or the forums administrator.  A note is generated at the bottom of each post that is edited so that every one knows when a post has been edited.  Note that if your post was the start of a new topic, deleting your post will result in the removal of the entire topic (all replies after your topic will also be deleted).

Attaching Files
For security reasons, you may not attach files to any posts.  You may cut and paste text into your post.

Searching For Specific Posts
You may search for specific posts based on a word or words found in the posts, user name, date, and particular forum(s). Just click on the "search" link at the top of most pages. 

Censoring Posts
The bulletin board administrators have the power to censor certain words that may be posted. This censoring is not an exact science, however, so certain words may be censored out of context. Please realise that the censoring, if any censoring is being performed, is being done by a computer based on the words that are being screened. Words that are censored are replaced with asterisks.

Lost User Name and/or Password
Retrieving your username and password is simple, all of the pages that require you to identify yourself with your username and password carry a "lost password" link that you can use to have your username and password emailed instantly to your email address on record.

Email Notification
If you create a new topic, you have the option of receiving an email notification every time someone posts a reply to your topic. Just check the email notification box on the "New Topic" forum when you create your new topic, if you want to use this feature. Similarly, if you reply to a topic, you can ask that you are mailed whenever anybody else replies, just by checking the box.

Anything else?
If you have any other questions about the running of these forums, you can send us your question here.