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Frequently asked questions

How does the forum work?

The forum provides a place for customers to discuss support topics and learn. At its heart are the message boards where members post questions and answers. Registered members can post messages and track discussions. Unregistered visitors can browse or search the boards for information.

What is my role in the forum?

You are essential to the forum. By posting questions and sharing answers, not only do you contribute to a unique, customer-built knowledge base, but you also become part of a virtual support network extending across literally hundreds of thousands of potential users.

We encourage you to visit often and participate. Come with your toughest issues and, chances are, someone has a solution or can point you in the right direction. If you find a solution that works, let others know and pass on your own tips and insights. You may just have the answer someone else has been looking for.

Please remember to thank fellow users who have assisted you. Show your appreciation by rating helpful messages, posting thank-you replies, or sending positive feedback to forum management.

What is my responsibility in the forum?

We want the forum to be appropriate, friendly, informative and fun for all users. The forum terms of service sets forth rules and guidelines so that you know what is expected of you and what you can expect from other participants when using the forum.

Why should I register?

Registration allows you to fully participate in the forum. If you register, you'll be able to:

  1. Start new discussions
  2. Add comments to existing discussions
  3. Rate helpful messages

What can I do if I don't register?

Even if you don't register, you can still browse and read messages as a guest.

How do I register?

  1. Registration is fast and free! To register, just click the Register link at the top of any page.
  2. Enter your email address. You must have a valid email address to create an account.
  3. Enter a username. Your username is your forum identity. It appears whenever you add to discussions. Most members create anonymous names for the sake of privacy and to help them feel more comfortable participating. Be creative, have fun with it, but choose carefully; you cannot change your username once registration is complete.
  4. Enter a password. Your password is a secret word that no one else knows. That way, no one else can pretend to be you. Your password should be something you can remember, but that no one else will guess. It's a good idea to include numbers in your password. For example, your password might be f0rh3sajgf. Your password will be hidden by asterisks. This is to prevent someone from looking over your shoulder to see it. Passwords are also case-sensitive, so when you sign in to the forum, you must type the letters in upper- or lower case exactly as you did when you registered.
  5. Enter your password again. This is to ensure that you typed the password the way you meant to the first time.
  6. Click Submit. As soon as you receive the confirmation email, click the activation link. You must have cookies enabled in your browser to register and to sign in to the forum.

How do I sign in?

Once you've registered and confirmed your registration, you can sign in and begin personalizing your experience.

  1. At the top of any forum page, click Sign In.
  2. Enter your username.
  3. Enter your password.
  4. Click Sign In.

If you don't want to keep having to enter your password, and you're at a computer that other people can't get to, you can check the Remember Me box before clicking Sign In.

If you forgot your password, click the link at the bottom to have it sent to your email address.Even if you don't register, you can still browse and read messages as a guest.

How do I get back a forgotten password?

If you've forgotten your password, you can have the system send it to your email address.

  1. Go to the Sign In screen.
  2. Click the link at the bottom of the page. You'll be taken to a screen that will ask for your email address. The username and password associated with that email address will be sent to the given email address.

How do I browse for information?

Many users like to get started by exploring popular discussions. Choose a topic that best fits what you're looking for. Next, look over the list of discussions, find one with a title that pertains to your question or comment, then click on the title. If there are many discussions for a particular topic, you can use the Previous and Next buttons to browse to other pages and discussions.

Use the tag clouds under Popular Topics to go directly to boards in any category of the forum. This menu is found on the left side. If you can't find what you need by browsing, use the search tool described below.

How do I search for information?

To search the forum, type keywords for your topic into the Find Answers text box and click the arrow icon. A page of search results will be displayed. Browse the search results in the same manner you would a message board.

How do I change the icon next to my name?

The icon is a way to personalize your username. You'll get one as a default, but you can change it to something you like better.

  1. Sign in to the forum.
  2. Click the My Profile link at the top of any page.
  3. In the My Profile box on the left side of the page, click Edit Profile.
  4. Click the Browse button to locate the new image you'd like to use on your computer.
  5. Using your system dialog, select the image you'd like to use. Use a JPG image no larger than 250KB.
  6. Once you've selected an image, click Submit.

What is a discussion?

In relation to this site, a discussion is a message posted to share or ask for information among other members of the forum. When people create and reply to a particular posted topic, a thread is created. A thread is a series of posts that go together. If you've ever heard of someone following the thread of a conversation, they're referring to a series of posts.

If you start a new discussion, a new thread is started. If you reply to an existing discussion, then that message becomes part of the original discussion's thread.

How do I start a discussion?

  1. Click Start a Discussion.
  2. Enter the main subject of your question in the first field. Your question may be up to 125 characters long. Be specific for best results.
  3. If you would like to add more detail, you can use the second field to elaborate on your opening question.
  4. Help people find your discussion by adding appropriate keywords. You may add as many keywords as you'd like; separate words with commas.
  5. If you'd like to keep track of this discussion in your profile page, check the box that says Bookmark This Discussion.
  6. When you are happy with your message, click the Post Your Discussion button. Your discussion will be added to the forum and everyone will be able to read it.

How do I rate a comment?

Please take the time to add points to helpful messages. To do so, sign in to the forum and look for the Rate It feature next to each reply to a discussion. Authors cannot rate their own comments and users may rate a specific message only once.

How do I follow a discussion?

You can keep track of any discussion by following these steps:

  1. From the main discussion list, click the title of the discussion you'd like to follow.
  2. Once you are looking at the discussion page, click the Follow This Discussion link that appears just below the main discussion topic and above any comments that have been added.
  3. Discussions you are following will appear in the Discussions I'm Following tab on your profile page.

How do I delete a bookmark?

Click My Profile and click the Discussions I'm Following tab. Find the discussion you'd like to delete from the list and click "Don't follow."

What is RSS and how do I use it?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It is a way for you to get the latest content from the forum, along with many other sites that you visit, all in one place. With an RSS feed reader, you subscribe to sites and those sites feed you headlines so you can stay up to date. To use RSS, you'll need a feed reader, such as Bloglines, My Yahoo! or the Live Bookmarks feature of Firefox.

There are many free options. Once you have your feed reader set up, you can find RSS feeds in the forum by going to a board, blog, thread or message and selecting Subscribe to RSS Feed from the options menu. There you will see a preview of the feed. Most RSS readers give you a button to click at this point. Once you click it, the RSS feed will appear in your reader and you will see new content from that section of the forum whenever it becomes available.

What is a tag?

A tag is a single keyword applied to a post that describes the topic, theme or category of the post. Each post may have multiple tags. For example, a post about a mouse might have the tags mouse, USB, optical, wireless and DPI. If you enter multiple words separated by spaces, you will create multiple tags, not a phrase.

What is a tag cloud?

A tag cloud displays tags used frequently within an area of a forum. Tags applied frequently will appear in a larger font. A tag cloud can give you a sense of what the hot topics are in a given area.

What can I do with tags?

Tagging items helps other users discover interesting posts. Tagging can also help you bookmark related items.

Why do people tag?

Some users will tag posts for their own convenience in finding them later. Other users enjoy helping categorize interesting posts for the benefit of the forum. Users who tag lots of posts gain status by appearing on tag leaderboards.

How do I tag?

  1. You can use tags to categorize or identify a post. A well-chosen tag will also help other users find interesting content.
  2. Navigate to an interesting message or comment. When you're at a place where you can read the whole message, you'll see a link titled Add a Topic.
  3. Type a single-word tag into the Add a Topic field. You can type more than one tag- just type a space after each word.
  4. Click the Add button. The tags area will update with your new tags.