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 PassPorter Community: Check Out What's New! | ||||||||
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| Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below. To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link. If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us. |
| How do I change my password? |
| You may change your password any time. Just login, click My Home, then click Edit E-Mail & Password. You'll need to type your current password (for security purposes) then you can enter a new password (you'll need to type it twice to avoid typos). If you cannot remember your current password, see the "I lost my password, what can I do?" FAQ item. |
| How do I find posts that may already have the answer I need? |
| One of the key benefits of the message board format is that it enables commonly asked questions to be answered once, for the benefit of all. Before posting your question, it is always worth checking to see if it has already been asked -- and answered! You can do this via the Search link near the top of most pages. Various options are available, both for how the search term is specified and for controlling how much of the forums database you want to search. This is where the specificity of topic subjects is important, making it much easier to locate precisely what it is you're after from a list of search results. |
| How do I post a reply or a new topic? |
Once you've registered and activated your account, you're ready to begin posting! If you want to reply to an existing post, follow these steps:
If you want to start new topic:
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| How do I log in? |
| If you have registered a member name and activated your account, you must login in order to take advantage of our message board's features. To login, look in the upper right-hand corner of your screen for the Log In box, into which you type your member name and password. Keep in mind that the member name and password are always case-sensitive. This means that S and s are considered different by the software. Once you have entered your member name and password, the main index page will appear on your screen. If you have any private messages, you'll be informed of this via a pop-up window (unless your browser is blocking them). |
| What makes a good subject line? |
| The first post of a given topic establishes the subject by which all subsequent replies will be known. Once there's been a reply, the topic subject cannot be subsequently changed. It's therefore important to get the subject right from the outset. Make it as descriptive and as specific as possible. For example, 'IllumiNations Cruise Questions', is much better than something completely generic, such as "I Need Help!" Not only is a good subject line more likely to elicit a response, but it'll also make it much easier for all posts in the topic to be located. Please note that the administrators and moderators (Guides) may change your subject line at our discretion if we feel it is not descriptive enough. |
| What do I do if I can't log in? |
| Having login problems? This checklist may help you successfully log in: 1. Make sure you are entering your password correctly. It is case-sensitive. 2. Completely logout by hitting the Log Out link near the top of the page, and then log back in again. 3. After logging in, you may have to hit the reload/refresh button on your Web browser to expedite the authentication. 4. If these steps don't work you can try purging your cookies from this site here. 5. If you continue to have problems, go to the Lost Password Recovery Form to reset your password. Note: If you keep getting redirected to the "You are not logged in..." page, this may be because your browser is set to block cookies. Make sure your cookies are enabled by following the directions at this page. |
| How do I add an image? |
| We encourage our members to include images in their posts and their signatures -- it's fun to see photos of our families, snapshots from our vacations, and creative clip art. These guidelines provide help in including images in your posts and signatures, as well as offer important guidelines regarding the size of the images. If you have questions about anything image-related, please post your question in The Garage (Technical Support) forum. First, you need an image. Images may come from photos you've scanned, clip art you've found online, or graphics you've created on your computer. Your image file should be in JPEG (.jpg file extension) or GIF (.gif file extension) format for the best viewing. These are two of the most common formats, so this isn't generally an issue. Please note that if you want to use clip art found elsewhere online, please be sure you have permission to use it and/or link to it. Not all web sites want you to take or link to their images, as it can slow down their own site considerably. Additionally, some images cannot be linked if they have unusual characters -- for example, you cannot link from Snapfish.com. Pay close attention to the size of your images. If your posts include large images, they can fill the entire screen of a browser window, slow down the message board, and make it harder to read a thread. As a general rule, the best image is the smallest image that shows everything the viewer needs to see in the smallest file possible. We have two different guidelines for image size depending upon where the image is located. 1. Images in the body of a post cannot exceed 640 x 480 pixels EACH. For example, you can include as many photos from your vacation in your trip report posting so long as each does not exceed 640 x 480 pixels. [Note: The Darkroom forum allows photos up to 800 pixels in size.] 2. Images in your signature cannot exceed 300 pixels tall x 400 pixels wide TOTAL, and cannot exceed 30k total. For example, it's okay to include three small images so long as they fit within a 300 x 400 square pixel area (see graphic below) and the total file size of all the images does not exceed 30k (30000 bytes).
All your signature images should fit within this much space:
Tip: Print out this page, then print your signature, and compare your signature size to the above graphic.
So how do you know if your images are the right size? You can check your image size in a couple of ways: These programs will tell you the size of your image, either in a separate properties window or at the bottom of the window in which the image is displayed. Refer to the program's documentation. How do you resize an image? If your file is under 200k (200000 bytes), the easiest way to resize is to use myImager.com. Just follow the onscreen directions to open your file. Your file is automatically "crunched" into a smaller byte size. You can then use the menus near the top of the window to edit your image. To change the dimensions, click the Edit menu and choose Resize. When you're satisfied with the size of your image, click the File menu and choose Save. The next screen gives you directions on how to download the image to your hard drive -- you can even upload it to your web space if you know the host, directory, username, and password. [If your file is over 200k, myImager.com won't open the file. Instead, you should open the file in a image editor program such as PaintShopPro (Windows) or GraphicConverter (Mac) and resize it there -- refer to your program's documentation for specific instructions.]
Now that you've got a properly sized image, you need to get to upload it. To ensure it displays properly on our message boards, we recommend you upload it to our server. Here's how you upload your image to your signature: (Note: If you already have web space that came along with your Internet account, you may be able to use that to upload your photos instead. Once your image is uploaded to your web space, make a note of its full URL address. Do note, however, that some other servers' URLs may contain characters that cannot be linked here, such as Snapfish.) To add your image within a post, just encase the image URL as shown, but replace the parentheses with brackets: (IMG)http://members.aol.com/jennifer/images/jenuine.gif(/IMG) In the example above, the code automatically makes the image visible in your message. Note: the "http://" part of the URL is REQUIRED for the (img) code. We recommend you test all images in The Driveway forum while you're first learning how to include images. It's normal to make mistakes in the beginning, and we all goof up from time to time. Don't feel bad if it takes a few tries to get it right. If you just can't get your image to display, post in The Garage forum and we'll all do our best to help you! Please note that we reserve the right to remove any image, even if it is small enough, if we feel it causes technical problems or violates our content or linking guidelines. |
| What is the title (i.e., "Visitor") under my name? |
| Everyone has a title (or rank) within the forum. You will notice them below the member name in each post. Some titles are automatically assigned based on the number of posts a user has made, and some titles are assigned by PassPorter to special people. Here is a list of the title ranks and the number of posts necessary to achieve each one:
PassPorter Reader - 0 posts (this is where you begin) Note: In addition to these titles, we also recognize members' contributions to our community through our Achievement System, which takes many types of activity into account. Through the Achievement System, you can earn points, redeem them for rewards, and have the chance to get special awards. |
| What are the tiny icons (pixies) at the bottom of signatures in posts? |
| The tiny icons below the signatures of some members' posts are rewards our Achievement system. Some icons are rewards for accomplishments (such as making 1000 posts), while others are "pixies" to spread good cheer and well being. The rewards are redeemed for activity in our community and may also be gifted to other community members. To see your own Achievement level, points accumulates, and rewards available, go to your profile (click the Your Profile in the My Home section) and click the Achievement tab. |
| Shorthands and Acronyms |
| With all the names and titles flying around at Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and the Disney Cruise Line, does it come as any surprise that folks use abbreviations? You probably already know WDW, DL, and DCL, but what about CDS or MAoWtP? If you come across an abbreviation you don't recognize, use this handy dandy list to look it up. We've also included some general usage shorthands (such as AFK and BTW), as well as some emoticons (smileys) at the bottom. As for using abbreviations yourself, this usually works best when you spell out the word the first time, put the abbreviation immediately after it in parentheses, and then use the abbreviation from that point on in your message. For example, "We went to Adventurers Club (AC) on our second night — we thought AC was the best club on Pleasure Island!" This helps readers understand your message even if they aren't as up to date on all the abbreviations. If you notice an important abbreviation missing from this list, please contact us and we'll include it. General Shorthands Disney-Related Shorthands
BatB - "Beauty and the Beast" Live on Stage
CB - Character Breakfast
DAK - Disney's Animal Kingdom
EC - Epcot
FF - Flying Fish Cafe (at BoardWalk)
GF - Grand Floridian Beach Resort
HDD - Hoop De Doo Revue
IASW - "it's a small world"
JC - Jungle Cruise KK- Keys to the Kingdom (a backstage guided tour)
LBV - Lake Buena Vista
MAoWtP - Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh NoJ - Night of Joy
OKW - Disney's Old Key West Vacation Club Resort
PAP - Premium Annual Pass Q - Queue (line)
RADP - rec.arts.disney.parks
SB - Stormalong Bay (theme pool at the Yacht and Beach Club)
TDL - Toyko Disneyland
UoE - Universe of Energy
V&A's- Victoria and Albert's
WDC - Walt Disney Company
Y&BC - Yacht Club Resort and Beach Club Resort Emoticons (Smileys) - You won't see these old-fashioned text-based smileys too often anymore, but here they are just in case you do! |
| How do I use Special Interest Groups? |
| PassPorter's Special Interest Groups are intended as a way to bring together like-minded members who share similar passions. All groups are open to all members and are listed here: List of Special Interest Groups Participation: Once you've joined a group (just click on the group name and click the Join Group link in the upper right corner), you're welcome to post a message introducing yourself and your interest in the group. Members are welcome to use the Group Messages feature to discuss amongst themselves, but we still encourage group members to use our forums for more involved discussions as they are likely to draw better exchanges. Group members are also free to link in appropriate photos from their personal photo albums. Remember that all Special Interest Groups -- and their members, photos, and messages -- are public Creation: Only Guides and administrators may create new groups to ensure they meet our guidelines. A good group is one that covers a pretty narrow topic and isn't already represented by a specific forum in our message boards. The idea is to bring together members with similar, specific interests. For example, "Saratoga Springs DVC Owners" is a good example of a special interest group. Moderation: All groups will be assigned a PassPorter Guide who will keep an eye on it and be available if the group members need assistance. We also encourage the person who requested the group to be an unofficial leader to the members of the group, but this person will not have any official duties. |
| What is a PassPorter Guide (Moderator)? |
| PassPorter Guides (also known as moderators) are recruited and trained to encourage other members of the community to contribute to our message boards and/or chats, and to help make our community a friendly, welcoming place. Guides often welcome members and answer questions, and in message boards they may create new topics and post announcements, though there is no requirement that they do so. If there is a problem or concern in a particular forum or chat, the Guide is the person to ask about it.
Each forum has at least one Guide assigned to it, and their name(s) are listed in the far right column on the main page, or under the forum name in each forum. You can learn more about the Guides at our PassPorter Guide Bios forum. Guides may also host scheduled chats, and are able to informally monitor chat rooms during unhosted, open chats. |
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