How To Use Forum Software

[charlie]

I am making this thread to help members use Xenforo. I’ll be posting some instructions here on how to handle basic forum tasks. This won’t be comprehensive – for a more complete guide, check out the official XenForo instructions. I’ll update/add to this guide as needed.

This will be a closed thread. If you have any questions please make a new thread or start a conversation with me or another moderator. If you see someone asking for help and their question is answered in this thread, please guide them here.

Glossary

XenForo uses some terms that are slightly different from PHPBB. Here are some key ones to be aware of:

• Messages – In PHPBB these were called posts, in Xenforo they are now called messages.
  
• Alerts – You’ll see an Alerts menu at the top right of the page when you’re signed in (next to your profile information). Here you’ll see notifications on threads and forums you’re watching, or someone tagging you in a thread/chat, and you can also manage your alert preferences from here.
• Conversations – These are private conversations you have with other users and are located in your "Inbox".

 

[charlie]

How to Log In

The login/sign up button is at the top right (there’s also a larger, orange button a bit below the header). Input your username and password and then click on "Login".

 

[charlie]

How to Select Forum Styles/Themes

There are three available forum styles to choose from at this time:

Casual – This is the theme that RayPeatForum.com currently is running on.

Default Style – This is the basic theme that comes with Xenforo.

Flat Awesome – Another good theme.

The Style Chooser is located at the bottom left of any page. Click on the current style name to open the Style Chooser and then select your preferred style. Note: This selection is also available under your personal Preferences menu.

 

[charlie]

How to View Threads

Click on any forum title to view the threads in that forum. You’ll see the name of each thread, who started that thread and when, the number of replies and views, and the name of the last contributor to the thread (and when that contribution occurred).

Click on the name of the thread to be taken to that thread. You can also hover over the thread title to view the pages in the thread, and click on any of those to be taken directly there.

To change how the list of threads displays, use the “Thread Display Options” menu at the bottom of the list. This will allow you to sort threads in ascending or descending order, by number of replies, latest message time and other criteria.

 

[charlie]

How to View New Posts/Activity

If you want to see what’s new across all forums, click on "New Posts" in the sub-menu under Forum in the main menu.

Here you’ll see a list of all threads with unread messages; somewhere on the list you’ll see a note that says “Threads below this have not been updated since your last visit but have unread messages.” This means that anything above this note is new since your last visit.

If you want a straight list of the most recent posts, click “Recent Posts” at the top right on that New Posts page.

 

[charlie]

How to Start a Thread

To start your own thread, go to any forum and click the orange “Post New Thread” button.

You can then add a thread title and add content to the first post and click “Create Thread”. You can choose whether to watch a thread and receive email notifications when there are new responses.

 

[charlie]

How to Add a Post in a Thread

Adding a new post to a thread is very similar to creating a thread, except you don’t create a thread title first. Simply go down to the bottom of the thread (or top, if you’ve changed your default view) and you’ll find a Post Reply input box. The “More Options” button allows you to sign up for thread notifications.

 

[charlie]

How to Quote Other Users’ Posts

If you’re in a thread and want to reply specifically to another user’s post, use the “Reply” link at the bottom right of the post. This will start a new post with that user’s post quoted. You can then add any additional information you want and submit your reply.

You’ll also notice that if you highlight any part of another user’s posts, an option will pop up giving you the ability to quote the highlighted part of the post. Click “Reply” and you’ll see that selection quoted.

 

[charlie]

How to Multi-Quote Other Users’ Posts

If you want to include multiple users posts within your post, use the Multi-Quote option. Go through a given thread and click the “+Quote” link on all the posts you want to include in your response.

Once you click it you will see a note at the top of your screen saying “Message added to multi-quote,” and the message you selected will show with a “-Quote” (you can click again to de-select).

Once you’ve selected all of the quotes, go down to the bottom of the thread and click “Insert Quotes…” in the Post Reply box. A box will pop up with all the quotes you’ve selected, which you can re-order if desired.

Click “Quote These Messages” and you’ll see the quotes in your post.

Again, if you highlight any user’s post/part of a post, you can add just that selection to a multi-quote.

 

[charlie]

How to Create a Poll

If you’d like to add a poll to your thread, you can use the Post a Poll option when creating a thread. Add a Question and add responses in the appropriate fields, then click Create thread.

You can control how many responses a poll allows, allow members to change their votes, and/or withhold results until members have voted. You can also add a poll directly within an existing thread that you've created ("Add a Poll" in the thread tools dropdown).

 

[charlie]

How to Format Your Posts

The toolbar includes any formatting you should need, including lists, smilies/emoticons, and code display.

Note: XenForo displays only BBcode. You can find a list of relevant BBcode formatting in the help pages here: BB Codes | Ray Peat Forum

To add an image to your post, you have two options:

1. Insert from a URL. Click the image icon in the toolbar to insert an image directly from a URL.
2. Upload an image from your computer.
   a. Click the “Upload a File” button below the post box. A window will pop up allowing you to navigate to the file on your computer.
   b. Once you’ve selected the file, you will see it under the Attached Files section. You can then choose to insert it as either a thumbnail or a full-size image. (Note: If you see a blank image, you may need to refresh the page.)
   c. Click either one and the image should appear in your post (or BBcode for image insertion). If you already have an image code in mind, you can use the code to add it in.
3. To add video to your post, simply place the url inside the message and the forum software will pick it up and embed it for you. Alternatively, click the Media icon and add a video URL (YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Dailymotion, Liveleak, Metacafe) and click “Embed”.
   
   To insert spoilers into your post:
   1. Click the Insert icon and choose “Spoiler”.
   2. Choose a Spoiler title if desired (you can leave it blank) and click "Continue".
   3. Add your actual spoiler text within the SPOILER tags in your post.

To insert a code block into your post:

1. Click the Insert icon and choose “Code”.
2. Choose a language (HTML, PHP) or just leave as “General Code” and add your code in the input box.
3. Click “Insert” to see your code block in your post.

You can preview your post by clicking the “Preview” button.

 

[charlie]

How to Watch a Forum for New Threads

Want to know when new threads are created in a certain forum? Click the “Watch Forum” link at the top of any forum. You’ll then have the option to select the notifications you want to receive, and how – via email (notifications of new threads will come immediately after they are posted) or via alerts (alerts will update at the top right of the forum, next to your profile info and inbox).

 

[charlie]

How to Watch a Thread for New Posts

If you just want to know when a certain thread is updated, you can click “Watch Thread” at the top of that thread and choose whether you’ll receive email notifications or not (if not, notifications will be given to you as Alerts). You can also sign up to watch a thread via the “More Options” button when making a post.

 

[charlie]

How to Start a Conversation with Another Member (or Members)

If you want to have a private conversation with another member (or members), you can do it two ways:

Inbox menu

1. Hover over the Inbox menu at the top right of any page. Click the link that says “Start a Conversation”.

2. Add participants by typing their usernames – matching names will auto-populate as you type.

3. Create a conversation title (subject line) and your message. You’ll have access to the same tools as you have when creating posts. You can give conversation participants the ability to invite others, if that’s something you want (will be unchecked by default).

From a thread

1. Click on "Start a Conversation" under the persons username.


To follow existing conversations, check your Inbox.

You can change the settings for who can start a Conversation with you by going to your profile and then "Privacy" and scroll down to the "People Who May..." section.

 

[charlie]

How to Manage Alerts

Your Alerts menu is where you’ll find updates on recent activity from forums and threads you’re tracking. Hover over the Alerts menu at the top right of any page to see recent alerts.

Click on “Alert Preferences” to manage what activity triggers an alert.

 

[charlie]

How to Edit Your Profile and General Preferences

Hover over your username in the top right menu to find a number of options to update your profile and general preferences. This includes updating your avatar, add personal information and more.

 

[charlie]

How to Find Members

Click on Members in the main menu to view a list of members, and on the right side there is a "Fine A Member" box. There also is a "Find a Member" box on the front page on the right, under your avatar.

 

[charlie]

How to Search

You can search for content using the Search bar at the very top right of any page. You can specify what user’s posts you’re looking for, or date parameters for your search.

 

[charlie]

How to Log Out

Done with your session? You can log out of your account by hovering over your username and then clicking “Log Out”.