bus FAQ - everything you ever wanted to know about bus

Laura · Post by **Laura** » Mon May 01, 2006 12:26 pm

<a name="thetop"></a>The BUS FAQ
This FAQ was developed as a resource for users -- whether you've just joined today, or you've been a member for years, we all have questions sometimes. Hopefully you can find the answer to your question here, but remember that if you're still confused, you can always ask on the <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/viewforum.php? ... inistrivia forum</a>.
Some other good resources for answers are the <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/faq.php">phpBB FAQ</a>, the <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/viewforum.php?f=33">before you post area</a>, <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=95893">special board features and how to use them</a>, <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=95871">techie features and what to do if something breaks</a> and <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=95894">BUS leadership structure -- who we are and what we do</a>.

<a href="#bbcode">How do I use BBCode?</a>
<a href="#namechange">How can I change my username?</a>
<a href="#pm">How do I post a message to only one user?</a>
<a href="#outsent">What's the difference between the outbox and the sentbox?</a>
<a href="#out">Why aren't my PMs leaving the outbox?</a>
<a href="#nosig">My signature isn't showing up, even though I checked the "always display signature" box in my profile. What do I do?</a>
<a href="#leader">What is the board's leadership structure (who are the admins/mods)?</a>
<a href="#themes">Where can I preview the board themes?</a>
<a href="#date">How do I customize my date and time display?</a>
<a href="#avatar">How do I get an avatar?</a>
<a href="#autocomplete">My browser automatically completes address boxes and forms for me. How do I stop that happening for privacy reasons?</a>
<a href="#webspace">Where can I find webspace to upload my picture/artwork?</a>
<a href="#img">How do I insert an image into my post?</a>
<a href="#acronym">What do the codes (e.g. SI, SU) stand for?</a>
<a href="#cow">What is the origin of the BUS welcome cow?</a>
<a href="#busses">What are the busses under my username for?</a>
<a href="#deletepm">I just deleted all my PMs by accident! What can I do?</a>
<a href="#animation">I have a slow connection, so how do I stop the emoticons/smileys from moving?</a>
<a href="#nonew">Why aren't new posts showing up on the board?</a>
<a href="#privileges">Does getting new ranks earn me any new board privileges?</a>
<a href="#imgsize">Is there a limit to how big images [that I've put in my signature] can be?</a>
<a href="#personsearch">How do I find posts made by a certain person?</a>
<a href="#chat">Where are the official BUS chats located?</a>
<a href="#tokens">How do I get those "SI-free" medals/badges/coins/tokens?</a>
<a href="#davetokens">Can I use smaller badges? Are there one day badges? Are there badges for people recovering/recovered/not ready to quit? How about male/female badges?</a>
<a href="#nopm">I'm seeing pop-up notifications/getting email notices indicating that I have new PMs, but when I check my inbox, there's nothing new there... what's going on?</a>
<a href="#server">Where is the BUS server located?</a>
<a href="#sourcebook">Why can't I start a new thread in sourcebook?</a>
<a href="#newsmile">How can I get emoticons/smileys added?</a>
<a href="#jump">How do I jump to a certain page in a very long thread?</a>
<a href="#debug">Ack, I got a debug mode error! What do I do?</a>
<a href="#cantsee">Why can't I view the memberlist and usergroups?</a>
<a href="#deletethread">How can I delete a thread?</a>
<a href="#report">What does the "report to moderator" link and/or the exclamation point(!) do? What does the "write a report" link do?</a>
<a href="#gallery">How do I use the bus photo album gallery program to host pictures?</a>
<a href="#album">Where's the bus photo album and how do I use it?</a>
<a href="#views">Is there any way to get rid of the "post views" column?</a>

<a name="bbcode"></a>How do I use BBCode?

The usage of BBCode is explained <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php? ... 1">here</a>. If that doesn't answer your question, or if you'd like to contribute to an ongoing thread that collects tips and tricks for HTML and BBCode, that can be found <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=84313">here</a>.
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<a name="namechange"></a>How can I change my username?

PM any of the admins. There's a list of them <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=95894">here</a>. Alternativley, post in <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=102013">this thread</a>.
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<a name="pm"></a>How do I post a message to only one user?

There's a private messaging system on the board. When you log in, there should be a link at the top of the page that says "you have __ new messages." Follow the link, and click on "new post." If you want a message to pop up when you have new PMs or you want to get email when you have new PMs, you can set those options in your <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/profile.php?mo ... profile</a>.
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<a name="outsent"></a>What's the difference between the outbox and the sentbox?

PMs that have not been read yet remain in the outbox. Once the recipients have read their messages, the PMs will move to the sentbox.
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<a name="out"></a>Why aren't my PMs leaving the outbox?

This means that the recipients have not yet read their messages.
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<a name="nosig"></a>My signature isn't showing up, even though I checked the "always display signature" box in my profile. What do I do?

This happens sometimes. Contact an admin or post on administrivia.
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<a name="leader"></a>What is the board's leadership structure (who are the admins/mods)?

The leadership structure of BUS is explained <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=95894">here</a>. If you want to know what admins do on BUS, look <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php? ... 5">here</a> and if you'd like to know more about what mods do, that information is <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php? ... 5">here</a>. You can also read staff bios <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=84016">here</a> if you want to get to know us better!
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<a name="themes"></a>Where can I preview the board themes?

You can view and try out the themes <a href="http://www.phpbb.com/styles/styles_demo/">here</a>.
Currently we have Access, Chrome_ex, Diddle, Quidditch, SubBlack, SubSilver, subza, and VereorMenInBlack. The number of themes is limited so that software updates (including security updates) can be applied quickly.

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<a name="date"></a>How do I customize my date and time display?

<a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=103160">This post</a> explains how to customize date and time displays.
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<a name="avatar"></a>How do I get an avatar?

You can find out how to get an avatar <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=95893">here</a>.
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<a name="autocomplete"></a>My browser automatically completes address boxes and forms for me. How do I stop that happening for privacy reasons?

Assuming you're using Internet Explorer, go to the menu, select 'Tools,' and go down to 'Internet Options.'
Click on the 'Content' tab.
In the box labeled 'Personal information,' click on 'AutoComplete.'
Uncheck the boxes, and clear forms and passwords.
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<a name="webspace"></a>Where can I find webspace to upload my picture/artwork?

You can use the Hosted area of <a href="http://busmail.org/gallery">the bus gallery</a>. Here's how:

Log in.

Scroll to the bottom and click on

hosted

On the page that opens up, look at the top right and click

add photo

A page will pop up and tell you what to do to upload your photo.

The URL for your picture will be

http://busmail.org/gallery/albums/hosted/<filename>

so if your file was called turtle2.jpg (there's one in there called that) and you wanted to use it in a web page or on here, you'd type
Code: Select all
```
<img> 
```
edit: you can also find the address for any picture you see online (unless the site has right-click disabled) by right-clicking the pic and clicking properties.

If you don't have an account on the gallery, contact <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/profile.php?mo ... Deskana</a>. Right now, there are no file quotas on the gallery.<a href="#thetop">(back to top)</a>

<a name="img"></a>How do I insert an image into my post?

Code: Select all

If the picture is online, you can take the URL of the picture and insert it in your post using this code: [img]URL[/img].

<a name="acronym"></a>What do the codes (e.g. SI, SU) stand for?

From the BUS guidelines, which can be found in the "before you post" section, both in <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php? ... >simple</a> and <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=96683"> more detailed</a> formats:
SI = self injury
SH = self harm
SM = self mutilation
SU = suicide
ED = eating disorder
SA = sexual abuse
OD = overdose
IP = inpatient ward at a hospital
LA = extreme swearing, strong self-hatred
REL = religious content
OT = off topic
IRL/RL = in real life/real life
Pdoc = psychiatrist
T = therapist
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<a name="cow"></a>What is the origin of the BUS welcome cow?

This can be found in the sourcebook, in <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=6113">this thread</a>.
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<a name="busses"></a>What are the busses under my username for?

They're the ranks, your busses change according to how many posts you make.

smeagol wrote: The updated list:
(updated list - april 07)
0 - 24 - one of us 1 yellow
25 - 74 - unpacking boxes 1 yellow
75 - 149 - settling in 2 yellow
150 - 249 - creating your space 3 yellow
250 - 499 - meeting the neighbors 4 yellow
500 - 749 - building community 5 yellow
750 - 999 - growing roots 4 green
1000 - 1299 - sprouting branches 5 green
1300 - 1599 - town councillor 4 pink
1600 - 1899 - orange smartie 5 pink
1900 - 2299 - quintessential regular 4 blue
2300 - 2699 - part of the fixtures 5 blue
2700 - 2999 - bus addict 4 purple
3000 - 3499 - bus mechanic 5 purple
3500 - 3999 - sock rocker 4 red
4000 - 4499 - spiffy maximus 5 red
4500 - 4999 - knows the ropes 4 dark blue
5000 - 5499 - bus conductor 5 dark blue
5500 - 5999 - driving instructor 4 turqoise
6000 - 6999 - awe-inspiring 5 turqoise
7000 - 7999 - just plain inspiring 4 radioactive marmite
8000 - 9999 - beyond inspiring 4 multi-coloured
10,000-11,999 - post laureate 5 multi-coloured

12,000-13,999 - Being the change - 4 yellow & white
14,000-15,999 - Troll Sniper - 5 yellow & white
16,000-17,999 - Welcome Cow - 4 green & white
18,000-19,999 - Buskateer - 5 green & white

20,000-21,999 - Blue M&M - 4 blue & white
22,000-23,999 - postinating the countryside - 5 blue & white
24,000-25,999 - Cow control - 4 purple & white
26,000-27,999 - Llama Herder - 5 purple & white
28,000-29,999 - Chasing Buses - 4 red & white

30,000-31,999 - Ticket Inspector - 5 red & white
32,000-33,999 - Magic Dragon - 4 green & blue
34,000-35,999 - My other car is a BUS - 5 green & blue
36,000-37,999 - Postmaster - 4 blue & purple
38,000-39,999 - Down The Rabbit Hole - 5 blue & purple

40,000-43,999 - Happy Pants Wearer - 4 red & yellow
44,000-47,999 - Banana Wearer - 5 red & yellow
48,000-49,999 - Ninja Pirate - 4 red, green & blue

50,000-54,999 - Mad Hatter - 5 red, green & blue
55,000-59,999 - Contacting the Mothership - 4 blue, purple & pink
60,000-79,999 - Busaholic - 5 blue, purple & pink

80,000-99,999 - Omnipostent - 1 yellow stretch bus
100,000+ - Gone postal - 1 rainbow stretch bus
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<a name="deletepm"></a>I just deleted all my PMs by accident! What can I do?

They're not recoverable, although you could try asking the people who recently sent you messages to resend them; chances are they still have their end of the PM in their outbox or sentbox.

To prevent deleting all your messages, do NOT click "delete all." Check the boxes next to the messages you want to delete, and click "deleted marked."
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<a name="animation"></a>I have a slow connection, so how do I stop the emoticons/smileys from moving?

If you're on Internet Explorer, you can go to Internet Options under 'Tools.' Go to the 'Advanced' tab, scroll down until you hit 'Multimedia,' then uncheck 'Play animations in web pages.'
There are also some options for hiding images in sigs, or hiding entire sigs in <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=101261">this post</a>, which gives info about firefox tricks that can help make reading and posting on BUS easier.
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<a name="nonew"></a>Why aren't new posts aren't showing up on the board?

Try pressing down Ctrl and clicking the refresh button at the top of your browser. If that doesn't work, try shift + refresh. Or, you could hit the F5 key.

Phat Pat wrote:you can try clearing the temp internet files , if you are really a computer wiz you can try the following (this assumes you are running windows, not a mac):
go to: Start menu \ settings \ control panel \ internet options
when there: under temporary internet files, click settings then under "check for new versions of stored pages" select "every visit to the page" This may slow down your surfing a bit so you may want to decrease the amount of disk space to use a bit while your there.

This information comes from me, a real live computer nerd. PM me if you have any problems. hope this helps.

BTW: if you ever refresh and nothing happens, you can get the absolute newest form of a page by adding ? and any word on the end of the URL
ex: http://www.buslist.org/phpBB?pants
or http://www.buslist.org?abcd
or http://www.google.com?howdy
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<a name="privileges"></a>Does getting new ranks earn me any new board privileges?

No, sorry. They just indicate how many posts you've made.
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<a name="imgsize"></a>Is there a limit to how big images [that I've put in my signature] can be?

Yes; preferably under 5kb, and definitely under 8kb. Your signature may be rejected if it is too large.
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<a name="personsearch"></a>How do I find posts made by a certain person?

You can do a search for posts under their username, or you can click on the link in their profile. The latter is more reliable.
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<a name="chat"></a>Where are the official BUS chats located?

The IRC chat is located at http://buslist.org/chat.html
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<a name="tokens"></a>How do I get those "SI-free" medals/badges/coins/tokens?

To get big badges, simply enter the code of the badge you want (without spaces in between the two : and the words) in your post or signature.

<img> : 1_week_si_free :

<img> : 30_days_si_free :

<img> : 60_days_si_free :

<img> : 100_days_si_free :

<img> : 180_days_si_free :

<img> : 1_year_si_free :

<img> : 2_year_si_free :
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<a name="davetokens"></a>Can I use smaller badges? Are there one day badges? Are there badges for people recovering/recovered/not ready to quit? How about male/female badges?

Yes, to all of the above. Naked_Dave has made some nifty badges, and here they are.

Naked_Dave wrote:Counters

One Day
Code: Select all
[img]http://www.busmedals.org.uk/counters/oneday.png[/img]
One Week
Code: Select all
[img]http://www.busmedals.org.uk/counters/oneweek.png[/img]
One Month
Code: Select all
[img]http://www.busmedals.org.uk/counters/onemonth.png[/img]
One Year
Code: Select all
[img]http://www.busmedals.org.uk/counters/oneyear.png[/img]

Naked_Dave wrote:Status

Not ready
Code: Select all
[img]http://www.busmedals.org.uk/status/notready.png[/img]
Recovering
Code: Select all
[img]http://www.busmedals.org.uk/status/recovering.png[/img]
Recovered
Code: Select all
[img]http://www.busmedals.org.uk/status/recovered.png[/img]
Friend or Family
Code: Select all
[img]http://www.busmedals.org.uk/status/friendorfamily.png[/img]

Naked_Dave wrote:Gender

Female
Code: Select all
[img]http://www.busmedals.org.uk/gender/female.png[/img]
Male
Code: Select all
[img]http://www.busmedals.org.uk/gender/male.png[/img]
Transgender
Code: Select all
[img]http://www.busmedals.org.uk/gender/transgender.png[/img]
Intersexual
Code: Select all
[img]http://www.busmedals.org.uk/gender/intersexual.png[/img]

Naked_Dave wrote:Miscellaneous

Please be gentle
Code: Select all
[img]http://www.busmedals.org.uk/miscellaneous/pleasebegentle.png[/img]
No hugs
Code: Select all
[img]http://www.busmedals.org.uk/miscellaneous/nohugs.png[/img]
My Place
Code: Select all
[url=http://link to your place][img]http://www.busmedals.org.uk/miscellaneous/myplace.png[/img][/url]

<a name="nopm"></a>I'm seeing pop-up notifications/getting email notices indicating that I have new PMs, but when I check my inbox, there's nothing new there... what's going on?

If the sender(s) deleted the messages while they were still in his/her outbox, you will receive the notices, but not get the PMs.
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<a name="server"></a>Where is the BUS server located?

deb wrote:The server is actually located in the UK -- Mark (not emark) of bus, britbus, and #bus donated the space. He's in Cambridge.
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<a name="sourcebook"></a>Why can't I start a new thread in sourcebook?

Only admins can. If you have information that you think might be helpful, post it on the main board and it may be moved to the sourcebook. If you see a thread that you think is something people will want as a reference, PM an admin and ask them to move it.

You may reply to threads already existing in the forum.
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<a name="newsmile"></a>How can I get emoticons/smileys added?

Email or PM deb (sine nomine).
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<a name="jump"></a>How do I jump to a certain page in a very long thread?

If you know the page #, times the # by 20, then add &start=[number] to the end of the thread's URL. (e.g. http://buslist.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php? ... start=2340)
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<a name="debug"></a>Ack, I got a debug mode error! What do I do?

Contact deb (sine nomine) ASAP and she'll have it cleared up.
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<a name="cantsee"></a>Why can't I view the memberlist and usergroups?

You must be logged in to view either.
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<a name="deletethread"></a>How do I delete a thread?

You need to ask an admin or a mod of the forum the thread's located in to do so for you.
You can edit or delete your own posts within any thread, but you cannot delete the entire thread (unless there are not yet any replies).
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<a name="report"></a>What does the "write a report" link and/or the exclamation point(!) do?

This feature allows you report board violations to the BUS staff via a form that all the mods and admins can see. You can select from a drop down menu what type of rules violation you are reporting, and the rest follows on in much the same way as a PM. Don’t forget to include a link to the topic in which the rules violation has taken place, and say why you think it's a problem. We may not agree with you about whether something needs to be edited, but we will look at the post you direct us to, and get back to you to let you know what (if any) action was taken.

The "report to moderators" link does nothing: use the "write a report" feature only (the exclamation point(!) takes you to the "write a report" feature).

If you would rather report a post more privately (all mods and admins can see all post reports), please feel free to send one of us a private message.

There is more information about how to report posts in the <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=95893">nifty stuff</a> post, as well as a reminder, and more tips <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php? ... 0">here</a>.
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<a name="gallery"></a>How do I use the bus photo album gallery program to host pictures?

You can use the Hosted area of <a href="http://busmail.org/gallery">the bus gallery</a>. Here's how:

Log in.

Scroll to the bottom and click on

hosted

On the page that opens up, look at the top right and click

add photo

A page will pop up and tell you what to do to upload your photo.

The URL for your picture will be

http://busmail.org/gallery/albums/hosted/<filename>

so if your file was called turtle2.jpg (there's one in there called that) and you wanted to use it in a web page or on here, you'd type
Code: Select all
```
[img]http://busmail.org/gallery/albums/hosted/turtle2.jpg[/img] 
```
If you don't have an account on the gallery, contact <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/profile.php?mo ... Deskana</a>. Right now, there are no file quotas on the gallery.

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<a name="album"></a>Where's the bus photo album and how do I use it?

deb wrote:okay, the way the thing is set up now...

You have to be logged in to see any photos. You can get an account by sending a PM to Deskana.

Right now, there are six albums in the gallery:

bus photo album: for pictures of members

bus meets: meet pictures

random weirdness: the spiritual home of the distractions people

artwork: art you've made

hosted: files you need hosting for

bus logos: what it sounds like

The gallery URL is http://busmail.org/gallery
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<a name="views"></a>Is there any way to get rid of the "post views" column?

<s>You can use board themes Appalachia or fionefour. Neither of them have the column.</s> Not currently.
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bus FAQ - everything you ever wanted to know about bus

bus FAQ - everything you ever wanted to know about bus

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