Webmasters RoundTable

Recent Updates

As you know I am the current webmaster for both the Nebraska and Region C website.  That means I am making updates to both sites at the same time.  I currently have a backlog of e-mails for updates to the site which I will begin working on as soon as I can.  I have the dumb pager this week and lots of guests coming for Thanksgiving but I hope to get cracking on these enhancements soon after that.  I also have a plumbing project coming up next weekend (weekend after Thanksgiving weekend) where I get to run all new copper in someones house (it seems the plastic pipes aren't working out there). 

Anyway, last weekend I made some changes to the Region "C" Forum software.  Did anyone notice?  The changes are very subtle but I wanted to upgrade it because there was a bug that was really bugging me with the older version.  I put up with it for quite some time but I couldn't take it any longer.  For this reason the articles I published previously (all both of them) on the forum software may be slightly incorrect now.  If you still have any problems updating the forum let me know.  I'll post updates.

As time permits, I'll be starting up my Winter web site updates.  The colder it gets, the more changes I suddenly have time for.  It's hard to update webpages when it's nice outside.  I know everyone can relate because you all take off on motorcycles during those periods.  Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions for updates to the site or have any other web related changes, you can leave a comment from the bottom of this article or send me a private e-mail.  I browse all my messages on a regular basis. 

Updating your Avatar (or Picture) in the Forum

Many of you have asked me about posting your own picture in the forum.  You may have seen a few others with pictures and have become curious as to how you update your profile.  After reading this, you should be able to make this happen. 

In case you weren't curious, updating your profile to use an avatar is a nice touch and gives people a face to talk to when browsing or posting in the forum.  When you upload an avatar you should select a picture of yourself that is a closeup.  This is because the picture will be reduced in size as it is being configured inside the forum.  You can update your avatar at any time.  Just follow the steps below.

When you are properly signed into the forum you should see your name at the top right hand corner of the screen.  In this case you see my name (JFrum).  Next to that is a "Logout" link and next to that is a general "FAQ" page. 

If you see a "Login" link at the top that means you are not signed into the forum yet.  Click on the link to log back into the forum.  You must be signed in to change your Avatar picture.

On the very next screen your profile information will be loaded.  Take some time to fill in all the details you care to share with the world.  Remember, the forum hides your e-mail address unless you want it displayed (I think that's a bad idea to display it).  Anyway, look for the Avatar link and click on the plus sign next to it.  This will expand the avatar section.

When the avatar section is expanded you will see your current avatar (if any) and a few other fields present.  At any time you can turn your avatar on and off by changing the "Enable Avatar" setting in your profile.

To upload a new avatar click on the Browse button in the "Upload Avatar" section.

Once you click the browse button you will be prompted by a dialog box to locate your new picture on your local hard drive.  Once selected the location of the image will be displayed in the text box next to the browse button. 

To complete the transaction click on the "Upload" button.  During this process, your picture is being uploaded to the web server for use in the forum.  This process might take a minute depending on your internet connection speed.  For best results use a picture that has been compressed for web use.  If you are not sure how to do this process, shoot me an e-mail and I can compress the picture for you.

That's all there is to it.  Your avatar should now automatically appear next to any post from you in the forum.  Anytime you change your avatar, all your previous posts will update to the new picture.  Likewise, if you are uploading a new avatar all your previous posts will automatically update also.

If you should have any questions just let me know.

Verify Your Account or We're Shutting it OFF

Have you ever received an e-mail that said you need to reverify your account and if you don't your account will be suspended?  If so, you may have been a potential victim in a scam. 

Consider This Message

Last week I received the following e-mail message (Complete with E-Bay Logo) in my e-mail box. 

Dear eBay Member,

We regret to inform you that your eBay account could be suspended if you don't re-update your account information.

To resolve this problem please visit the link below and re-enter your account information:

If your problems could not be solved your account will be suspended for a period of 24 hours, after this period your account will be terminated.

For the User Agreement, Section 9, we may immediately issue a warning, temporarily suspend, indefinitely suspend or terminate your membership and refuse to provide our services to you if we believe that your actions may cause financial loss or legal liability for you, our users or us.

We may also take these actions if we are unable to verify or authenticate any information you provide us.

Due to the suspension of this account, please be advised you are prohibited from using eBay in any way. This includes the registering of a new account. Please note that this suspension does not relieve you of your agreed-upon obligation to pay any fees you may owe to eBay.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Regards,
Safeharbor Department eBay, Inc.

Inserted into the message was an e-mail link so you can go and verify your account.  If you follow this link you are redirected to a web site that looks like E-bay but really isn't.  Instead you fill out this form "to verify your account" and are actually sending your personal account information to losers that will use it to steal from you.  This is called "Phishing".  Don't fall for it.  The best thing you can do is delete the e-mail message and go away.  Some sites, such as e-bay also have an e-mail address so you can report it to them. 

If you follow the link "just out of curiosity" you might find your PC under a sneak attack (depending on how good your virus protection is) as the site often will try and install spywear onto your PC. 

Microsoft now recommends (finally) that you never click on a link in an e-mail message to load a web site.  Here's why.  Consider the link below:

 https://Ebay.com/Security/Verify

If you click on the link you might think you are going to the e-bay website to verify your account.  It's clear as day right?  If you do click on the link you might find yourself going to another website (my own in this case;you're safe this time).  Instead of obviously being different, I would dress it up like an official e-bay looking site.  You'd never know the difference. 

Microsoft has (finally) added improved security measures with XP SP2 that tries to cut this back.  For instance, if you click on a link on a website and it takes you to another one, you now get a warning letting you know you are traveling away from the site you are at.

One more thing, it's not just e-bay.  This happens with all sorts of websites you may frequent such as your bank or Amazon or anything else I can't think of.  Don't be fooled.  Delete the message and have a great day.  Remember nobody should be sending you an e-mail asking you to verify your account. 

How do I register for the Forum?

That's a great question.  I am writing this post to detail the steps necessary to get'er done. 

Registration Page

The registration page is where it all begins.  You can find this page simply by clicking the "Register" link at the top right hand corner of the page (when viewing the forum it will be there when you are not already signed in).  It is also the same as clicking on the link below:

Register

On this screen you should see 3 blank fields. 

Desired User Name in this field put your user name.  This will be the name you will be known by in the forum.  It can be your real name, a nickname or anything in between.  Usually a nick name is what most people prefer. 

E-Mail Address put in your real SMTP E-mail address.  The forum uses the e-mail adress to mail you your secret password.  You will not be allowed to post anything into the forum until you can log back in.

Re-Enter E-Mail Address in this form put the same thing you did before.  We just want to make sure you did it right.  If it is not the same, you won't get very far.

Create User

Push the Create User button to begin the transaction.  What will happen next is your user account will be set up and a password will be generated.  This will be e-mailed to you so before you can do anything else you have to watch your e-mail account for the message.  By doing this, we can verify that you're not one of those losers trying to post junk into the forum (most losers won't take the time to go through all those steps and reveal their e-mail address).

As Red/Green would say, "and it's just that simple".  Once you sign back in, you might want to consider changing your password.  I'll touch on this topic next time.

posted by JFrum with 4 Comments