Forums: FAQs

[DLARC Web Team]

Q: What are the website club forums?
A: Threaded discussions running on the club’s web server, to support communications about news, events, and other club member interests and activities.

Q: What technologies support the forums?
A: The forums use the bbPress plugin to WordPress, and some additional features are provided with the bbp Style Pack plugin.

Q: Who can post to the forums?
A: Club members who have logged into the DLARC.CLUB website.

Q: Who can read the forums?
A: Anyone with a link to a forum page can read the content on that page. Link addresses can be emailed to others or gleaned from search engines. This is by design: For example, if you post a “For Sale” item, you can email a link to that post to someone who is not a member. However, only club members are able to “reply” or post new content.

Q: Can I include a link to a photo or other web content in a post?
A: Yes. Our preliminary tests show that including photos can be tricky, but they can also be helpful, e.g., in a “For Sale” listing. We’ll be sharing tips for doing that soon. Usually, photos will not be stored on the club server; they’ll be linked to from elsewhere. This is a limitation/feature of the forum-hosting software. (It helps avoid problems with hacking, spam, storage limitations, etc.)

Q: After I write a post, can I go back and edit it?
A: Yes.

Q: Can I have content from a forum sent to me automatically by email?
A: Yes, but the platform does not currently support daily or weekly digests (compilations) of posts. You’ll get emails immediately. Click the Subscribe button at the top right of a forum or post that interests you.

Q: Can I be emailed a notification if someone replies to my post?
A. Yes. You’ll see a checkbox to enable that function at the bottom of any posting form. Automatically generated emails are sent to the email address associated with your DLARC website account. Please note that we have no way of monitoring email bouncebacks: If your email account doesn’t work, notifications just disappear into the ether.

Q: Will the forums here replace the current DLARC Forum at MAILMAN.QTH.NET?
A: That’s up to the members. The bbPress approach has some advantages and some disadvantages. Advantages include auto-enrollment for new club members, threaded discussions, formatting for style, options for linking images and dynamic content, custom displaying for tablets and cellphones, and integration with other club web-based tools. Some disadvantages include limits on digests, greater complexity, and reliance on third-party software.

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