PMBug 101 for newbies

[pmbug]

Welcome to PMBug. If you are new to using forums, this site can seem a little intimidating at first. Rest assured that it's really pretty simple and you'll be navigating your way around in no time. Many of the links on every page are redundant (duplicates).

First, I'd like to explain some of the terminology we use in the "forum world":

• Threads - Threads are discussions on a single topic. They consist of messages posted by one or more forum members. The word thread can be used interchangeably with "discussion" or "topic" depending upon context.
• Posts - Posts are publicly viewable messages posted by members in a thread.
• PM - PM = Private Message. It's like an email but self contained within the PMBug site. You can access your PMs via your control panel or the link underneath your username at the top right corner of the page.
• Forum - This word has two meanings. It can refer to the site in general, or to a specific forum "room". Forum rooms are how we keep threads organized. Use the Precious Metals Forum link in the navigation menu at the top of the page to see the list of forum rooms and a short description for each outlining what types of discussion/thread topics belong there. Click on a forum room link from that page to see a list of threads contained in the forum room.

Here's a quick list of things you should know to get started using this site:

• How to post a new message - You must navigate to the appropriate forum (room) for the topic you want to start. For example, if you wanted to share a special deal or coupon code offered by an online bullion dealer, you should click on the Precious Metals Forum link. There you will find a link for the Marketplace forum which is where reports of specials and deals belong. Open the Marketplace forum and you will see a button at the top left corner (just above the list of existing threads) that says "new thread". Click the button and you will get a form where you can compose and submit your new thread. Every forum room has the new thread button, so please select the most appropriate room for your topic when posting new threads.
• Signatures - You can create a signature that will be included in every post you make on the forum. You can use this space to include a sign-off, personal notes, words of wisdom or humor, or to promote some cause/website.
• Search function - The forum has a handy search function (see link in the navigation menu at the top of the page). I'd encourage you to search for an existing discussion before posting a new thread on the same topic. You might find that your questions have already been addressed or answers to related questions that you haven't even thought about. You are always welcome to add a new post to an existing thread.
• Control Panel - You have a control panel (see link in the navigation menu at the top of the page) where you can edit your account options, profile information, avatar, email address, privacy settings, etc.

That should get you started. I'd encourage you to explore the site. Go ahead and click links on the page to discover what they do - you aren't going to hurt/break anything if you do.

I'd also recommend reading the "sticky" threads at the top of the Serious Business forum. They will probably answer some of the more common questions people have after using the site for little while.

Pro tip: This forum is tapatalk enabled for easier access from iPads and smart phones. It should work with:

• iPhone
• iPad
• Andriod
• Blackberry

but you need to install the tapatalk app on your device (costs ~$3 I believe):

http://www.tapatalk.com/mobile.php

Edit: I highly recomment turning *off* the tapatalk geotapping / geolocation feature unless you just want to broadcast to the world exactly where you are located.

 

[pmbug]

I forgot to mention the forum's subscription system. By default, the forum sets your subscription preference to no email. When you create or reply to a thread, the forum will track your interest in the thread and you can monitor when your subscribed threads have replies easily by checking you control panel (see "User CP" link at the top of the page).

You can change your subscription preference from your control panel (see edit options in the left hand menu on the control panel page) to send you email alerts if you like.

 

[pmbug]

This forum has a built in, self contained messaging system (like email). This allows members to communicate privately with one another without revealing their email addresses (preserving a bit of anonymity).

To send any pmbug member a private message (PM), you can click on the "Private Messages" link undeneath your own username at the very top of the page on the right hand side or on the "User CP" link in the middle of the menu at the top of the page.

From there, click on the "Send New Message" link underneath "Private Messages" in the left hand side menu. Then just fill out the form. The recipients field will try to auto-complete the username for you so you only need to type the first few letters of the person you are trying to reach.

 

[DCFusor]

PMBug - since I've forgotten how (again) and heck, I'm a computer guy myself, how about adding how to embed a youtube video here in your notes above?

 

[pmbug]

Instructions for posting videos were discussed in this thread:

http://www.pmbug.com/forum/f11/fyi-re-posting-videos-7/



Basically, just post the URL for the video without any BB code and the forum should do all the magic. For youtube, the URL should look like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvYZRskNV3w

or

http://youtu.be/rvYZRskNV3w

and you will get:

I used the [ noparse ] tag to display the URLs above. Just post the URL and the forum will handle the rest.

 

[pmbug]

How to post images (charts, etc.)

You have two options for including images with your posts:

1. Attachments - You can use the forum's attachment system to upload an image from your computer. The pmbug forum will then maintain a copy of the image in it's storage. The forum allows every member a certain limit (don't recall what it is off the top of my head as I write this) of data for storing attachments. The pmbug forum software will display attachments as small thumbnail images that must be clicked to see in full size (or near full size if the image is too large).
2. [img][/img] bbcode - If the image is already stored somewhere on the web, you can enclose the web address for the image with the forum's [img][/img] bbcode and the image will be "hot linked" from it's off site storage / location. I personally use this option exclusively. You can use a free image host like tinypic.com to upload the image from your computer and it will even give you the correct forum code to copy / paste into your forum message. When using this option, the forum will display the image in it's original size (tinypic gives you the option to scale / resize the pic during the upload).

 

[pmbug]

...
Pro tip: This forum is tapatalk enabled for easier access from iPads and smart phones. It should work with:

• iPhone
• iPad
• Andriod
• Blackberry

but you need to install the tapatalk app on your device (costs ~$3 I believe):

http://www.tapatalk.com/mobile.php

Edit: I highly recomment turning *off* the tapatalk geotapping / geolocation feature unless you just want to broadcast to the world exactly where you are located.

Received via email:

Tapatalk for GALAXY Tab released, exclusively on Samsung Apps

We are pleased to release a special version of Tapatalk for Samsung GALAXY Tab. Tapatalk for Tablet is our first product built specifically for Android tablets and is available on Samsung Apps for free for a limited time, works on GALAXY Tab 8.9 and GALAXY Tab 10.1.

 

[pmbug]

I was asked via PM what the friends list is all about. I thought I'd share the answer in case anyone else was curious/wondering:

The forum/site allows you to restrict who can post "visitor messages" on your profile page (if you have it enabled) and/or send you private messages to just people on your friends/buddy list. IIRC, the site default settings allow all members to do these things, but you can change them from your control panel if you like.

Other than that, the friends list means as much or as little as you want it to mean.

 

[Bottom Feeder]

Is there, unh, a 'time delay' for new members?
Where's my avatar?
Why can't I send a PM?

Just started, and am still looking around.

BF

 

[pmbug]

Yes, the forum requires new members to meet a certain threshold (it's actually fairly low) of activity before it auto-promotes them to an active users group that has expanded permissions for uploading avatars, sending PMs and posting links. This is a simple measure to keep the forums from being overrun with bots and marketing spam.