Gay Longhair Bulletin Board


ABOUT THE GAY LONGHAIR BULLETIN BOARD

Old Technical Information ("Help" files)

1. How do I enter a message?

Here's the procedure:

  1. At the top of the main page click 'Post Message', or just go to the bottom of the main page and you'll find a place to click there.
  2. Enter your name in the appropriate box. (This is required, but aliases are okay.)
  3. Enter your e-mail address if you want to (that's optional). If you want to receive replies by e-mail, you will, of course, have to enter your address here.
  4. Enter the 'Subject' of your message. This should be a brief line that describes the contents of your message.
  5. Enter your message in the box provided. Let the program add your line returns as you type, unless you're starting a new paragraph. You can make the message as long as you want by using the slide bar on the right side of the box.
  6. After you have your message entered, you can check it for errors and make any changes you desire.
  7. Refer to questions below if you wish to add links, HTML tags or photos. (Yes, you can do all of those things!)
  8. When you are ready to 'post' or save the message, click on the gray bar at the bottom that says "Post Your Message!". (Whatever is in the message box when you click the gray bar is what's printed for the text of the message.) After you click the gray bar, wait for a response from the server. If you are uploading a photo, this will take longer than other times. Don't click the bar again or you'll post your message a second time.

2. It would be cool if I could put links in my message that people can click on. Can I do that?

You bet! There are two ways to do that. The easy way is to fill out the box right below where you type in your message. Doing that will put the link right at at the bottom of your message. Follow these instructions:

  1. Open a second copy of your web browser by typing CTRL-N (hold down the CTRL key while hitting the N key).
  2. Use that second copy of your web browser to find the web page that you want to link on the Internet.
  3. If you are using Netscape, shade the "Location" box contents above the web page and type CTRL-C. The shaded character string should start with "http://".
  4. If you are using Microsoft IE, shade the "Address" box contents above the web page and type CTRL-C. The shaded character string should start with "http://".
  5. Go back to the first browser copy, the one that has the message you are writing in it, and find the first small box under the message text entry box, near the bottom of the page. Click to put your cursor in it, and then type CTRL-V.
  6. In the box below that one, type a name that you want to give your link. If it is to your web page, for example, you could enter: My web page

You can also put links anywhere else in your message, but you have to type them in, using HTML code. If you don't know HTML code, this may be a bit tedious for you, but here is a quick tutorial in case you want to learn:

Suppose you want to say this sentence:
I saw some great photos on Bob's web site in Phoenix!
You want people to be able to click on the words Bob's web site and go there! Say the URL of Bob's site is http://www.isp.com/~bob/. What you want to type in is this:
I saw some great photos
on <A HREF="http://www.isp.com/~bob/">Bob's web site</A> in Phoenix!
Note that we've shown the information you already had in blue, and the HTML code you must add in red. Note also that you have to put the space that goes after the word "on" and the space that goes before the word "in" both in the message, or those spaces will not show up in your document and two words will be run together.

HTML must be entered exactly right, or it won't work and it will make your message look strange. But if you do it right, it's a really nice effect!

3. Can I use HTML tags in my message to do things that HTML can do, like make text bold or put things in bulleted lists?

Yes! If you are comfortable with HTML coding, you may at times wish to use a number of HTML features in your posts. You can make text bold, italicized, or underlined, by using the usual HTML coding methods: <B>bold</B>, <I>italics</I>, and <U>underlined</U>. The system also accepts bulleted and numbered lists, (<UL> and <OL> tags), but we will not get into how to make them here. If you wish to use those features or others, we recommend you consult an HTML manual. As we have mentioned, HTML can make your message look great if done right, but it can really make it look awful if not entered correctly.

By the way, the only place you can use HTML is in the body of your message. It won't work in the subject or other fields.

Because the brackets like these <  > are used to enclose HTML data, if you put anything else between such marks in your message, it will disappear. If you are accustomed to using things like "<grin>" and do so here, your emotions will vanish! We suggest using [grin] instead.

4. Can I put a photo in my message?

Yes! There are two ways to do it. The means to do it are at the bottom of where you enter a new message. Which you choose will depend upon where your photo is. If it is on the Internet somewhere, you can LINK it. If it is on your home computer, you can UPLOAD it to the Gay Longhair site. The latter is the easier method of the two.

To LINK your photo, it has to be on the Internet somewhere. If you don't have a web site, you could ask a friend to put your photo on his. Another option would be for you to start your web site now. Most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) give you free web space with your account and if you go to their home page they usually tell you how to get started. It's easier than you think! A quick phone call is needed with some ISPs to switch your web site on.

Do not count on a free site, because often they only allow their photos to be used in web pages on their own site. We know, for example, that photos on Yahoo and Geocities do not work. You may think that it worked if you had just looked at the photo, because it was just put into your computer's cache area; however those who come to see your message will not have recently visited the free site and they will not have the photo in their computer. The free site won't give it to them and they'll not see it.

Once your photo is on the Internet, and you're writing a message you want to use it in, do this:

  1. Open a second copy of your web browser by typing CTRL-N (hold down the CTRL key while hitting the N key).
  2. Use that second copy of your web browser to find the web page that has your photo, or the photo itself, on the Internet.
  3. If you are using Netscape, right-click the photo (PC) or prolong-click it (Mac), and select View Image. Then shade the "Location" box contents above the picture and type CTRL-C. The shaded character string should start with "http://" and ends with either "jpg" or "gif".
  4. If you are using Microsoft IE, right-click the photo (PC) or prolong-click it (Mac), and select Properties. Then shade the "Address" in the properties box and type CTRL-C. The shaded character string should start with "http://" and ends with either "jpg" or "gif".
  5. Go back to the first browser copy, the one that has the message you are writing in it, and find the appropriate box at the bottom of the page. It will say "The URL of your photo:" Click to put your cursor in it, and then type CTRL-V.

Each time someone looks at your message, the Internet will supply a copy to him from the site where your photo is posted. This means that you should leave the photo there as long as the message is on the "Gay Longhair" system. Otherwise, when people read your message, they will not see your photo. You need not leave the photo there forever; after several months your message will probably be so old that it will have been cleared from the system.

Of course, you can also include linked photos anywhere in your message, and in any quantity, by using an HTML "img" tag for each photo, like this: <img src="http://www.myisp.com/mywebsite/myphoto.jpg">

To UPLOAD your photo, click the "Browse" button and find it on your hard disk. Make sure the "Files of type" selection says "All files" so you'll see the file for the photo you want. After you select the photo, click the "Open" button and the file name will appear in the box next to the "Browse" button and the dialog box will go away. When you click on the "Post your message!" button, your photo will be uploaded to the system with it. Your upload will take longer than a pure-text upload, so be patient for the system to acknowledge receipt of your post. Note: Uploaded photos are limited to 2 megs in size; if your photo is larger you will have to use the "Link it" method, above, but it will be huge on site visitors' screens in that case so that is not recommended. Uploaded photos which are wider than 600 pixels or taller than 450 pixels will be proportionately shrunk so they fit into a rectangle of that size.

Placement of photos, LINKED or UPLOADED: Though you put the picture in at the bottom, it will show up in your message centered and at the top. Keep that in mind when you write, since you don't want to refer to a picture that is really "above" as being "below". If you use both methods in the same message, the linked photo will appear first and the uploaded photo just below it.

If you link or upload a photo as just described, the system will automatically include the characters "[PIC]" at the end of the subject of your message to alert others a photo is there.

Separate from all of the above, we have a Gallery that automatically puts members' photos with each of their posts. These are small photos in the upper left hand corner of their messages. You can read about how to join the Gallery here. If you click on one of the small Gallery photos in a message, it will take you to the man's web page in the gallery. There you may read more about him, and if he has a home page, there may be a link to it there.

5. I made a mistake. How do I delete or revise my message?

You can't. We can do it but that is obviously a hassle. If you've just really got to have a message deleted or revised, let us know and we will see what we can do. We do have a soft spot in our hearts for longhairs, particularly longhairs in distress. :-)

6. Will my message stay there forever?

Not on the board. People mostly look at the newest messages, and when your message gets far down the list, almost no one will be looking at it anyway. So at some point it might as well go away. Meanwhile, everyone must wait for the ever-lengthening list to load. We really don't want to be taking up people's time loading a long list of messages that hardly anyone will be viewing. So we decide how long the list should be, and remove the oldest messages from time to time when it gets too long. These are sent to our archive, where users may view them, but they may no longer post followups to them. At the moment we are leaving messages on the system for about three months.

Some messages we may delete earlier than others entered at the same time. Messages which have content that is dated may be removed earlier. Also, the occasional messages we get that concern the politics among us in our longhair community are generally left long enough to give an opportunity for the matter to be discussed (typically a week or two) but no longer. Messages that are removed early are not archived.

Uploaded photos will be deleted or moved to the archive when the message they go with is.

7. There seems to be a tree structure to how the messages are positioned. How do I put mine in the place I want?

If you are replying to a message, you will want your message underneath it in the tree structure. The way to put your message there is to read the message you are replying to, and then scroll down to the bottom of the message you just read. There will be a place for you to put your reply in, right there! Older messages will have a form to fill out there; newer ones will have a place to click to get the form.

If your message is a new topic, the place it belongs is right at the top of the list and not under another message. The program puts newest messages on top, so that is where yours will be put if you do this: Go to where you are not reading any messages but rather back to the place where you see all of them listed. There is a link at the top and also the bottom where you can click to enter your message, or you can just click here.

8. How do I post a 'follow-up' message?

Here's the procedure:

  1. Read the message you want to reply to so that you have that message on your screen.
  2. At the top of the other guy's message click 'Post Followup'. (Or you can scroll down to the bottom of the message where you'll find a place to click to get a form to fill out. If replying to older messages, the form may be right there.)
  3. Enter your name in the appropriate box. (This is required, but aliases are okay.)
  4. Enter your e-mail address if you want to (that's optional). If you want to receive replies by e-mail, you will, of course, have to enter your address here.
  5. You may leave the 'Subject' as is, or my may change it if you desire. Normally, it's best to leave it as is, so that others can follow the thread.
  6. In the box labeled 'Enter Your Response Here' you'll note that it has the text of the message you're replying to. You type your response in this box. You can delete anything the previous person has written, or you can leave it and just add your response. Let the program add your line returns as you type, unless you're starting a new paragraph. You can make the message as long as you want by using the slide bar on the right side of the box.
  7. After you have your message entered, you can check it for errors and make any changes you desire.
  8. Refer to questions 5, 6 and 7, if you wish to add links, HTML tags or photos. (Yes, you can do all of those things!)
  9. When you are ready to 'post' or save the message, click on the gray bar at the bottom that says "Post Your Reply!". (Whatever is in the message box when you click the gray bar is what's printed for the text of the message.) After you click the gray bar, wait for a response from the server. If you are uploading a photo, this will take longer than other times. Don't click the bar again or you'll post your message a second time.

9. How do I write someone who has posted, rather than posting my response to the web board?

If the man has provided his e-mail address, his name will be underlined, and you can click on that. If he has a small gallery photo at the top left of his post, try clicking on that, because that may take you to a page from which you can contact him. Also, some men tell you how to contact them right in their message.

10. Can I have board posts e-mailed to me?

Members of the Gallery can. They can select that option on the page where they can modify their web page.

11. Why are there colons in the message when I try to post a followup?

When you reply to a message, you may want people to see parts of the original message so your answer makes more sense. To make it easy for you, so you don't ever have to retype any of the original message, the program puts all of it in your new reply message to start out with. After all, erasing is much easier than typing! So any of it that doesn't apply to your response, you should simply erase.

To help others understand what you said and what the other guy said, the system starts each paragraph of the other guy's with a colon. Leave them there! They will help your readers follow the "conversation" that you are having with the guy whose message you are replying to.

Multiple colons, of course, indicate text that has survived more than one reposting.

12. Why didn't my post show up?

Your browser is probably showing you an old copy of the page that it got before you posted your message. Selecting "reload" or "refresh" on your browser should cause it to fetch an updated copy. If you still don't see your post, try selecting "reload" or "refresh" one more time with the "shift" key held down while you do it. That tells your browser you really mean it, you really do want a new copy!

Sometimes we are routing messages for human screening before they are posted. If this is occurring, you will see a message reading "Board is Moderated", and your message, if in accord with this FAQ, will appear on the board within a few hours.


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