Colnago enthusiasts' forum


Help! Subjects

This is a long page - please remember to scroll down!

Access for members

Abbreviations and symbols
:)smile
:(frown
:oembarrassed
:Dgrin
;)wink
4ever Forever
AFAIC As Far As I'm Concerned
AFAIK As Far As I Know
AISI As I See It
AKA or a.k.a. Also Known As
AOAS All Of A Sudden
ASAP As Soon As Possible
ATST At The Same Time
BHOF Bald Headed Old Fart
BTW By The Way
CID Consider It Done
CIS CompuServe Information Service
DD Due Diligence
DDD Direct Distance Dial
DGT Don't Go There
DHYB Don't Hold Your Breath
DKDC Don't Know Don't Care
EOM End Of Message
FBKS Failure Between Keyboard and Seat
FWIW For What It's Worth
FYA For Your Amusement
FYI For Your Information
HHOK Ha Ha, Only Kidding
IAC In Any Case
IAE In Any Event
IBTD I Beg To Differ
IIRC If I Remember Correctly
IIWM If It Were Me
IMHO In My Humble Opinion
IMO In My Opinion
INMP It's Not My Problem
INPO In No Particular Order
IOW In Other Words
IRL In Real Life
ITM In The Money
IYKWIM If You Know What I Mean
IYSS If You Say So
KWIM Know What I Mean
LIFO Last In First Out
LOL Laughing Out Loud -or- Lots of Luck (or Love)
LTNS Long Time No See
MYOB Mind Your Own Business
N/A Not Applicable -or- Not Affiliated
NBD No Big Deal
NM Never Mind
NMP Not My Problem
NOYB None Of Your Business
NP No Problem
OBTW Oh By The Way
OIC Oh, I see
OMDB Over My Dead Body
ONNA Oh No, Not Again
OOC Out Of Character
OOTB Out Of The Box -or- Out Of The Blue
OS Operating System
OT Off Topic
OTOH On the Other Hand
OWTTE Or Words To That Effect
OZ stands for: Australia
PEBCAK Problem Exists Between Chair And Keyboard
PLS Please
POV Point of View
R&D Research & Development
R&R Rest & Relaxation
RBTL Read Between The Lines
RU Are You?
SBTA Sorry, Being Thick Again
SITCOMs Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage
TFN Thanks For Nothin'
THX or TX or THKS Thanks
TIA Thanks In Advance
TIC Tongue In Cheek
TLA Three Letter Acronym
TLGO The List Goes On
TMI Too Much Information
TTFN Ta Ta For Now
TTT That's The Ticket -or- To The Top
TTYL Talk To You Later
VC Venture Capital
VFM Value For Money
VM Voice Mail
WYSIWYG What You See Is What You Get

Subjects and Threads
The BBS (bulletin board) is divided into distinct sections called subjects. Each subject has a number of threads. A thread is a collection of messages (or posts) with a common subject heading (or topic). A thread runs like a conversation where one person asks a question or makes a comment, and another replies. Normally, other people, or the originator reply and so on. When a thread becomes dormant for a period (the number of days depends on the subject popularity) it is archived. When the originator starts a new thread, they have the option to be informed by email when the first reply is posted.

Adding a New Subject
This function is now reserved for the system administrator. In the past we had several newcomers opening subjects instead of threads. If you would like to open a new subject please ask.

List Threads
This option produces a list of threads within a subject. The thread with the most recent activity appears at the top of the list.

List Messages
This option produces a list of individual messages (or posts) within a subject. The most recent message appears at the top of the list.

Thread display
Messages within a thread are displayed with the earliest at the top. If you prefer to read the whole thread from the last message to the first, you can invert the list. This is a toggle function, so inverting again will reverse the order again.

Jump to
The jump to option allows you to hop from subject to subject easily.

Adding a comment
You can add a comment to any thread, by completing the form at the bottom of the thread. When the thread is in reverse order, which is the default, a link to add your comment is displayed at the bottom of the first message.

Web and email addresses within messages
If you want to have a web site linked to your message just type the full URL. eg http://colnago.org.uk (not colnago.org.uk). Email addresses will automatically be linked to a mailto: if they are properly formed. Once again just enter the email address. eg webmaster@ipl.co.uk (email addresses don't have spaces or commas). Also make sure you give the full domain: bob.smith@aol is not valid.

html syntax within messages
html syntax is not supported within messages, so if you type <H1>Big heading</H1>, that is exactly what you will get in the message, and not the html equivalent.

Starting a new thread
The start a new thread option is available from the thread and message lists at the top and bottom of the screen.

Members
Initially, the BBS is open to members and non-members. Non-members will be asked to complete their name, location and email address, whereas members will automatically have these fields completed. The non-members facility can be disabled at any time very easily. We will do this if we get too many spurious anonymous posts, or people pretending to be other people.

Last Posts
If you want to know who is posting to the BBS now, use this feature to get a list of the last posts. If you leave your browser on this page it will refresh every minute (if your browser supports this) and show up to date information.

Current version

  • You are using version 9.6 of the BBS software.

Version 8.4 (November 28th, 2003)

  • Prevention of members spoofing posts to look like they are from a different user. That is to say, unique member usernames.
  • Show who started the thread on the thread list

Version 8.0 (March 26th, 2003)

  • Long thread names supported. Comments area extended. Non-members posting shown. Advertiser Index.

Version 7.1 (May 23th, 2002)

  • http:// links in postings now work for URLs with special characters.

Version 7.0 (April 8th, 2002)

  • Abuse protection. An IP address will be blocked from non-member posting if it uses bad language, or is abusive.

Version 6.0 (January 17th, 2002)

  • Add abuse link.

Version 5.0 (June 12th, 2001)

  • No visual differences. This BBS can now run in moderated mode if required.

Version 4.0 (March 14th, 2000)

  • The incorporation of an improved Archive for members.
  • Direct member's interface between Lotus, MG and Triumph BBS.
  • Shared 'customise' profile across all BBS's

Version 3.0 features (January 14th 2000)

  • Version 3 has very few cosmetic changes. The main change is beneath the surface. It is now generic, so that it can be used by other web sites. If you are interested in using this BBS software please ask.
  • Members can turn off the auto-refresh for last posts within customise, or choose to set it at 30 or 60 seconds. This is useful if you don't have a permanent connection to the internet. Choose the no refresh option and you will not get that irrating 'do you want to reconnect?' message when you leave your browser on the last posts page.
  • The last posts link has been added to the thread and message list pages to simplify navigation.
  • After starting a new thread, we have stopped a browser reload from starting a new (duplicate) thread. This is done by checking the user's name and the subject of the thread and not permitting duplicates. Please remember this if you are having no luck in starting a new thread!
  • Members can customise the subjects shown on the last posts page. There is a new option on that page for members allowing them to toggle between all messages and messages within your chosen sections.

Version 2.0 features (October 12th 1999)
The main change is the ability for members to customise the BBS. If you are using this BBS through members only you will see a customise option which enables you to change the look and feel of the BBS. This is in response to comments from the first version of the Beta code. Thank you to those who commented.

  • Many people like the simplicity of the old BBS. You can now turn off the tables and revert to the old list format which will help users with older computers that struggle with memory hungry tables.
  • The default tabular thread format is to show authors on the left and messages on the right. On a small screen this can be a problem if an author has a long email address because it limits the right hand column width. The customise option allows members to set the thread format to one column.
  • The variety of different hardware in use at the client end makes it very difficult to get the font size and face right for everyone, so now you can choose using the customise option if you are a member.
  • The background colours, text and links colours are configurable (well there are three options).
  • From the subject page some users prefer to go straight into the message list, instead of the thread list. This has the benefit of allowing you to jump into a thread at a particular point.
  • The system remembers where you came from when you post a message and returns you to that page after the post.
  • There is mixed opinion on the best way to display a thread. Most people prefer to read a thread from top to bottom, but others argue that it is better to view the latest first. I believe that this mixed opinion is caused by people arriving at the top of the thread, from the thread list, rather than in the middle from the message list. As an interim measure I added the invert option which flips the order on demand, but this didn't remember your preference. The customise option now allows you to fix your preference.
  • Version 2 has the ability to remember when a member last visited. If you have loaded a BBS page in the last hour then you are still within the same visit. If you go away for at least an hour, your visit is said to have finished. When you use the message list feature you will see a line to indicate where you got to on your last visit. If there are no new messages since your last visit or you haven't used this version before, you won't see this line.
  • Many users like to print and retain a local copy of a thread. We have no problem with this if it is for personal use and is not used commercially. A print option has been added which repaints the screen with just the text from the thread, saving paper. How environmentally friendly can you get?
  • Members names, locations and email addresses are prompted from the members only section, but maybe altered with the customise option. If you never want your email shown when you post you can set this as the default. The first time you use customise or post new message your membership details are pulled through onto the BBS. Thereafter, changes within members only will not be reflected on the BBS. Please use the customise option to change your BBS identity.
  • From the message list you can choose to just see one message at a time and not the entire thread. There is of course a link to the entire thread which is ordered according to your preference.
  • Just as the last posts list refreshes automatically every minute, you can choose to refresh the message and thread list pages.

Change Requests

  • Allow the option to post to an archived thread, which will bring it back to the live area.
  • Extend the user profiles to link with the ownership section of the site so that vehicle details can be linked to a user. A lot of time is taken up describing the vehicle, before describing the problem.
  • Send your change request, but please make sure you have tried and understood all of the new features, especially the customise option for members only.

Adverts
Please take a moment to visit some of the links shown in the top right of the pages. Our advertising revenue is used to promote and develop the site and to pay our hosting costs - we don't pay salaries. Adverts rotate randomly, and relevant advertising is always used at subject level. We do not accept non-relevant advertising which would irritate our users. If you would like to advertise please contact us; rates start at just £50 per month.