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main site: national PCSOs

forums Manual
This site
thank you for reading the site forums Manualis this site owned by the Home Office or the Police?
is this site endorsed by the Home Office or the Police?
thank you for reading the site forums Manualis this site authorised by the Home Office or the Police?
is this site an official site?
thank you for reading the site forums Manualthe members who post on here, are they speaking on behalf of the Home Office or the Police?
what about the information displayed on here, is that official information?
thank you for reading the site forums Manualis that information endorsed by the Home Office or the Police?
is that information approved by the Home Office or the Police?
thank you for reading the site forums Manual so the members are not speaking on behalf of the Home Office or the Police and the information shown is not official and is not endorsed OR approved by the Home Office or the Police?
the members who post on this site, are they just posting messages expressing their own personal opinions and views?
thank you for reading the site forums Manual but they are PCSOs aren't they?
and the PC members are speaking in their official capacity?
thank you for reading the site forums Manualwhat about the PCSOs?

Behaviour on the site
How are members expected to behave?
I saw comments from a new member that make my blood boil! he was slagging off another PCSO and obviously is anti-PCSO
I read on one thread about a scum sucking SPAMMER - what the heck is that?
and SCUM SUCKING SPAMMER?
what should we do if we see a SPAMMER doing their worst?
What about private messages?
I wrote a post then a mod replied on the topic to me headed "WARNING 1"
The mod also wrote that I could "leave the site"
This is very hurtful to me
I don't agree with this warning
OK how long is a "Warning" valid?

What powers do moderators have?
Who are the site moderators?
What can moderators do?
Can a member be banned from the site for longer than 7 days?
How do I know which members are banned?
What is this whole thing about banning people? Is it really necessary?
I would like to be a supervisor myself
Who are the site moderators REALLY?

Forum facilities and features
I chose a class from the profile list - it was "Chain Master" and I enjoyed having this display in all my posts but after a few weeks it just "dropped off"      now it's gone
What the heck is a CLASS?
I quite like the forums - is there anything I should do to make sure everything runs smoothly?
What IS this back up system to help? Where?
what if I do forget which email address that I registered with or the email account gets closed?
I saw a great thread on PCSOs getting HANDCUFFS in the BTP, but now I can't find it again I really enjoyed that thread

I am a newbie! I just JOINED the site!
should I use my REAL NAME?
I decided that I want to change my username
A post I just made was DELETED and I don't know why!
If your post consisted of just a smilie or just a couple of words it may have been deemed too short a message to be allowed
was it a reply to a post you just made on the thread?
that is double posting and will not generally be allowed
if you need to add further info in a post you just made - please press EDIT in that post, your further info will be added
somebody replied to my post though
I posted a perfectly good thread but then the next day found somebody had tampered with my title
I have heard that we can choose our own background colour in the forums, we can have black, light blue, dark blue, brown, red, pink - we can choose whatever we want
I saw one member writing in different coloured ink, how do I do that?
I got a SPAM WARNING!

Displaying your images on the forums
How do I add an image in one of my posts?
What restrictions are there for my images?
Images in signatures
How to copy an image from one thread to another?
I want to upload my own avatar
I saw that one member has a big black image banner in their signature

Forum intracacies and details
I noticed that my member no. does not display in my posts
Yeah that's good but I want it to display in my posts too
no, I haven't
I filled in my location, I put Transylvania and my member no still isn't there
2098
when I look in the memberlist I see that I am the 400th member but my member no. is 952, how confusing is that?
I don't get it, why am I not member no. 400?
which is?
What on earth is all THAT about?
But a lot of ppl just like to lurk in the background
so if the 400th member is actually member no 952, that means you have deleted something like HALF the ppl who have registered
if the forums crash we go to fa1kor.co.uk/ophpBB2/
don't worry, we do have proper back up sites, see the very TOP menu and see the wordings "back up site" top left and top right
if the forums have crashed it is unlikely that the top menu will then be visible - how will we know the addresses of the back up sites?
so if we don't KNOW the addresses of the back up sites after a forum crash, how do we know where to go?
what and then if the forums are wasted by some crazy hacker or through some colossal crash - we can go straight to the back up forums?
are the back up forums run by the same host as the main forums?
have the back up forums ever had to be used?
the forums worked ok?
I was a SACRED ARCHER ! now I have no class

This is the second forums Manual
Why was a second forums Manual needed?
Where IS the first one now?
When was it replaced?
The second forums Manual does look far easier to read and navigate around
but what is the idea of the small images in every other Q + A ?
the images are not in anyway relevant to the questions in hand?

Advanced features of the forums
what the heck are USERGROUPS?
OK
What's the point of them?
I want to join 'white light' and read about the old days
then I can see loads of chat about the chat room?
I joined PJIRC but now I'm fed up getting all the BULK EMAILS on chat nights, I really am not interested in that and wish to leave the group
I don't care, I want to leave the group
So the Usergroups act like a "padlock and key" to private areas on the site?
Why not?
I don't care - I want my mate to see what the usergroup is saying in the private forum
There are various facilities available to the administrator of the site to detect such abuse, you are liable to lose your membership of the group if you allow other members to use your password
I wanted to QUOTE what 2 members said from different posts in the thread so that I can chat directly back to those 2 comments
The last post in the topic featured a quoted post

Resigning from the site - requesting account closure
I have had enough of the forums now I want to resign
No I want you to delete my account
I have written 59 posts, please delete my account and the 59 posts
I will do it then
OK I will do that
Why should you do that?
OK I am now going to delete all of my posts
Why? That's not fair
You just told me I could do it

I want to be MORE involved in the site
I saw Shane Jenkins' article all about his PCSO cycle, the kit he purchased for it, what he does, IT'S GREAT!
A pal of mine took some photos of me on my beat talking to the shopkeepers and even some of the yobs where I patrol, I could do an article like that
but who do I email with the photos /text?
I want to help the site what can I do?
I have 4 hours a month that I can commit to helping this site! What can I do?
I have five minutes a month - how about that?

I have problems with the chat room
for one thing I can't find it
I cannot find ANY chat room! Where IS IT?
eerrr I found the chat room now thanks

 

This site
thank you for reading the site forums Manualis this site owned by the Home Office or the Police?
no
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is this site endorsed by the Home Office or the Police?
no
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thank you for reading the site forums Manualis this site authorised by the Home Office or the Police?
no
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is this site an official site?
no
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thank you for reading the site forums Manualthe members who post on here, are they speaking on behalf of the Home Office or the Police?
no
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what about the information displayed on here, is that official information?
no
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thank you for reading the site forums Manualis that information endorsed by the Home Office or the Police?
no
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is that information approved by the Home Office or the Police?
no
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thank you for reading the site forums Manual so the members are not speaking on behalf of the Home Office or the Police and the information shown is not official and is not endorsed OR approved by the Home Office or the Police?
correct correct and CORRECT
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the members who post on this site, are they just posting messages expressing their own personal opinions and views?
yes they are just saying what they think in their private capacity only
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thank you for reading the site forums Manual but they are PCSOs aren't they?
you will find that some members are PCSOs certainly and some members are PCs in fact
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and the PC members are speaking in their official capacity?
no they are not they are speaking in their private capacity only
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thank you for reading the site forums Manualwhat about the PCSOs?
all members no matter who they are or what they do only provide information or advice in their private capacity only
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Behaviour on the site
How are members expected to behave?
thank you for reading the site rules May I remind you of one of the terms that you signed to?

  • "You agree not to post any abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, sexually-oriented or any other material that may violate any applicable laws. Doing so may lead to you being immediately and permanently banned (and your service provider being informed)."

The above is an extract from the terms and conditions you signed up to when you joined this site.

IN ADDITION members are expected to behave in a nice, sympathetic and generally pleasant manner.
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I saw comments from a new member that make my blood boil! he was slagging off another PCSO and obviously is anti-PCSO
Supervisors on the site have powers to deal with such bad behaviour, please check the Supervisor HOT LINE

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I read on one thread about a scum sucking SPAMMER - what the heck is that?
well a person who joins a website solely to advertise a product or another forum or website is certainly a SPAMMER

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and SCUM SUCKING SPAMMER?
thank you for reading the site rulesthe worst kind of SPAMMER

they join the site solely to advertise a product or another forum or website that bears NO RELATION to the subject matter at the heart of our website!

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what should we do if we see a SPAMMER doing their worst?
notify a supervisor please

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What about private messages?
thank you for reading the site rulesPlease be very careful when sending a private message to a member you are not aquainted with. You are NOT entitled to embarass a member or intimidate them in anyway, either on the forums or via private messages. If you send unsolicited messages that are unwelcome then your private messaging facility can be withdrawn without notice.
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I wrote a post then a mod replied on the topic to me headed "WARNING 1"
you have done something that does not justify banning you, this is 1 warning of a maximum of 3 warnings
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The mod also wrote that I could "leave the site"
Yes the mod is telling you that you can voluntarily stop coming here
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This is very hurtful to me
If you wish to stay on the site you could PM the MOD or ADMIN to make amends
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I don't agree with this warning
there is no appeal process regarding issue of warnings
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OK how long is a "Warning" valid?
12 months
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What powers do moderators have?
Who are the site moderators?
Supervisors on the site are listed here

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What can moderators do?
thank you for reading the site rules May I remind you of one of the terms that you signed to?

  • "You agree that the webmaster, administrator and moderators of this forum have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic at any time should they see fit."

The above is an extract from the terms and conditions you signed up to when you joined this site.

IN ADDITION moderators are authorised to ban a member from the site for 7 days should they see fit.
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Can a member be banned from the site for longer than 7 days?
thank you for reading the site rules Yes a member can be banned from the site for longer than 7 days. These are the circumstances in which that would apply

Any member who -

  • repeatedly contravenes "How members are expected to behave" OR
  • while banned from the site for 7 days
    • opens a further account on the site or
    • uses a previously opened account on the site OR
  • embarks on a campaign of manually going through all their posts one by one and deleting each one OR
  • while banned from the site for 7 days is the subject of a moderators decision where 2 or more moderators decide the ban will be increased from 7 days to indefinite OR
  • is the subject of a moderators decision where 2 or more moderators decide the ban will be indefinite
will be banned indefinitely
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How do I know which members are banned?
There may be no members banned at this time but if you need to know for sure then click this link
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What is this whole thing about banning people? Is it really necessary?
thank you for reading the site rules Regrettably bans do take place 2 or 3 times a year. Mainly in the case of new members who are not PCSOs who simply come onto the site looking for trouble. Occasionally a regular member may be advised that his/ her behaviour is going outside the high standards that we expect. Following such advice if their behaviour continues to be outside of our high standards a 7 day ban may regrettably be necessary yes.
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I would like to be a supervisor myself
that is great but please be satisfied with being an active and respected member of the forum

I really would like to be a supervisor on the forum

well the number of supervisors is kept LOW deliberately, this forum does not need many supervisors, but thank you for expressing your interest at this time
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Who are the site moderators REALLY?
Just who is falkor REALLY?

falkor worked 2 years as a patrol SGT for Surrey Police from 2000. He did another 28 years in the Metropolitan Police before and after the Surrey stint and finally retired from the Police in March 2006

and then?

And then in the pub down the road, was presented by his team with a letter from his Superintendent expressing sentiments most agreeable and even more agreeable a £5 note!

What's he doing now?

still working for the Police .... now as a civvy

Any other info?

Well there's an ancient thread on the bloke right here

So just who is alihowe REALLY?

alihowe is a veteran PCSO and has an incredible amount of experience in that role. She was also appointed as a Police Constable but later reverted to PCSO for her own reasons, so she knows both "sides of the fence." alihowe is a family person and has been acting as a "Site Counsellor" virtually since the site launched in 2004.


OK who is mj12cz REALLY?

mj12cz has been a PCSO for a good few years now and has made his views known on many an issue flowing on the forums. mj12cz and falkor met up in 2007 during one of falkor's wide patrols. They found that they agreed on a whole lot more than they thought check out their photo HERE

mj12cz has massive knowledge of Europe as well as the PCSO role!

So just who is Lea REALLY?

Lea began her 'mod life' here on the site as a "Police Civvy" then moving to "PCSO Rookie" which may seem strange as a MOD but all other mods agreed that it would be great to have a mod who has just gone through the selection/ training process and so very familiar with current training/ recruit issues


That leaves Lieutenant fatman what is HIS story?

The Lieutenant was one of the very first members on the site and was appointed as a PCSO in the MET in 2006. Don't try and play him at chess, he'll massacre you in the first 5 minutes!

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Forum facilities and features
I chose a class from the profile list - it was "Chain Master" and I enjoyed having this display in all my posts but after a few weeks it just "dropped off"      now it's gone
This error has now been corrected
A mistake in the code was found some months ago and now if you select a CLASS it will stay until you cancel it.
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What the heck is a CLASS?
thank you for reading the forums Manual May I remind you of the wording displayed in your profile form?

  • "If you choose a class from the list, then your class will be shown under your name in any topic that you post in.
    If you do not wish to have a class then skip this option."

The above is an extract from the profile form at the CLASS option.

AS STATED you are perfectly entitled to skip that option.

You are also entitled to cancel your class at any time if you wish. To do that simply view your profile form and tick the very first class in the list (which is "empty").
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I quite like the forums - is there anything I should do to make sure everything runs smoothly?
Yes, you should write down the email address that you supplied at the time of joining AND your password - keep them safe somewhere, perhaps in a WORD.DOC or in your favourite diary. If you forget your password - there is a back up system to help, but this RELIES on you knowing the exact email address that you registered with.

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What IS this back up system to help? Where?
thank you for reading the site rulesWhen logged out look at the LOG IN screen. You will see Please enter your username and password to log in. and 2 fields

Below the 2 fields you will see I forgot my password

When clicking the line I forgot my password you will then be asked

  • your username AND
  • the email address that you registered with

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what if I do forget which email address that I registered with or the email account gets closed?
what and then you forget your password too?

yeah I would be stuffed too true matie

what's the solution then? keep a note of your password and email address that you registered with

fine but that gets lost too

okay in that case you COULD use the 2006 verifyID system launched earlier this year on national-pcsos

what does that do?

it allows a member to set up a graphical back up password

is it worth it? in my opinion yes, take 5 minutes to complete and then you're set up for life

how does it work?

RIGHT CLICK HERE and save target as

the system is from national-pcsos?

correct - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
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I saw a great thread on PCSOs getting HANDCUFFS in the BTP, but now I can't find it again I really enjoyed that thread
thank you for reading the site forums ManualDid you try pressing "search" and entering "handcuffs" ?

Yes - I found so many similar threads to that, but not the exact one that I had found before, how do I get BACK to that exact thread?
this is a nightmare


Press "favourites" in the top menu, or go to "All" and from the All Index Page select favourites - [option 3 in ALL] this is YOUR PERSONAL favourites folder

wow, just for me?

yep, this is JUST for your best threads, now when you see a thread you love, go to the bottom of the thread you love so much, you will find 'Favorites' in fairly large lettering - bottom left of the thread, CLICK that line and that thread will be placed into your Favourites Folder
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I am a newbie! I just JOINED the site!
should I use my REAL NAME?
there are many members who seem to prefer using their real name or number but it is recommended that you use a fictional name e.g. 'van Helsing' or 'Dracula'

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I decided that I want to change my username
You can change your username by emailing falkor

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A post I just made was DELETED and I don't know why!
If your post consisted of just a smilie or just a couple of words it may have been deemed too short a message to be allowed
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If your post consisted of just a smilie or just a couple of words it may have been deemed too short a message to be allowed
No it was a long message with plenty of content

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was it a reply to a post you just made on the thread?
Yes, I made one post - then 5 minutes later decided to clarify it with more info

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that is double posting and will not generally be allowed
why's that?

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if you need to add further info in a post you just made - please press EDIT in that post, your further info will be added
somebody replied to my post though
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somebody replied to my post though
well in that case you do not need to use EDIT, you can make whatever reply you like

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I posted a perfectly good thread but then the next day found somebody had tampered with my title
what was your title?

Sucess

and it was changed to ?

Sucess [when the name calling starts]

Yes your thread was perfectly ok but a supervisor thought that your title was just too short or too vague

the part in square brackets was added by a supervisor?

yes

I hate the look of the square brackets, can you take them off please?

no but you can! if you wish, just press edit in your first post and remove the square brackets, that will be fine

I'll remove the whole additional title as well

no don't do that, the title is too short or too vague - we need good descriptive titles for our topics please

ok, fair enough
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I have heard that we can choose our own background colour in the forums, we can have black, light blue, dark blue, brown, red, pink - we can choose whatever we want
Well there are a number of templates to choose from yes

How do I try these out?

Go to "Profile" in the top menu then look down the form until you see 'Preferences' In the Preferences section look for a drop down menu titled "Board Style" Select a different template name and then press SUBMIT at the bottom of the form

Are there any side effects from doing this?

Well a number of features are NOT supported in the zoneCopper black background theme

what do you mean?

This will probably be rather subtle to newbie members, but veteran members will notice a number of functions not present

why is that?

zoneCopper provides a more basic presentation and deliberately ignores some features that members may not like, have a look. it works perfectly ok

what else? any other problems with changing to a new template?

Yep! Anytime that you change anything in your profile page, there is a possibility that your 'CLASS' could RESET back to "zero." If it does you will have to choose a class again everytime you make changes in the profile page .......... sorry


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I saw one member writing in different coloured ink, how do I do that?
writing in different coloured fonts is NOT RECOMMENDED because this forum allows 7 different background colours, if you leave the forum to write in the default font colour, everybody will be able to read what you're saying, no matter what background colour (template) another member has chosen

I saw one post written in large lettering and it had a photo in it, how do I do that?

why not take a peek at the code that that member used to put his post together?

Yes I would like to do that, how do I peek into the code that made another member's post? is that possible?

yes it is but follow these instructions closely

peeking into another member's code using QUOTE

  • look at the post that you wish to examine closely
  • now press QUOTE in that post
  • now the code that that member used to put that post together is presented to you for examination
  • if you know how to use copy and paste then copy and paste that code to word or notepad
  • now press your BACK BUTTON in the top left of your computer screen to exit

what is this "copy and paste" ?
check here for a tutorial on copy and paste

err I didn't press my BACK BUTTON to exit, I made a mistake and pressed SUBMIT, now what do I do?

you plonker you were only supposed to peek at a member's code, not make a reply - ok never mind

can I delete that reply? it was a mistake

look in the reply that you made, is there an X in the top right of your post?

yes I see the X

are you sure you want to delete your post?

yes I should have pressed BACK BUTTON, my mistake

ok click the X - it will delete your post

sorry there is no X there, now what do I do?

well you cannot delete the post without an X button

well I don't like the post I made, it is just annoying, I made a mistake, surely I can do something?

press EDIT in your mistake post and delete everything in the message box, then write a few words like "entered in error" or "MOD: please delete, post made by mistake"

ok I'll do that, cheers!

I used QUOTE to quote what another member said. It reproduced their post in mine and then I replied more clearly to what they said


yep, QUOTE is pretty good, well done

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I got a SPAM WARNING!
did you see a PM come your way like this:

PM title: Warning.
PM text: This is a warning. You have tried to post a word that is defined as spam on this website. Please refrain from doing so again.

Yes I did, what did I do wrong?

You used a word defined as spam on this site.

PMs will be generated and sent to any members using a word that is defined as spam on this website. Now the PM is sent on my behalf and appears to have been sent by me individually to the "offending member" concerned. The PMs are created automatically by our spam system which stops a gigantic 90% of unwanted (spam) messages getting through.


Where can I get more information on this?                    view the thread on this :click here
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Displaying your images on the forums
How do I add an image in one of my posts?
Adding an image to a post

phpBB BBCode incorporates a tag for including images in your posts. Two very important things to remember when using this tag are: many users do not appreciate lots of images being shown in posts and second, the image you display must already be available on the Internet (it cannot exist only on your computer, for example, unless you run a webserver!). There is currently no way of storing images locally with phpBB. To display an image, you must surround the URL pointing to the image with [img][/img] tags.


For example: [img]http://www.phpbb.com/images/phplogo.gif[/img]
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What restrictions are there for my images?
thank you for reading the site forums ManualGREAT - I've got a huge close up of my face 900 x 900, wait up I'll get it in my thread right now

woah boy woah!! the maximum width for posted images is 599 and quite honestly if you stick to 555 wide this would be appreciated

what about my 900 x 900 close up, right up my nostrils you can see

I bet you can too, well get photoshop or some other drawing/ photo accessory and reduce the image width to 599

actually it's not my image, it's held on another server

ok you can make a request for the image to be reduced, try emailing falkor
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Images in signatures
I saw that one member has a big black image banner in their signature

yes certain members who are on offical groups in this site e.g. TROUBLE SHOOTERS are allowed to display image banners in their signature

I would like one too

sorry, members of offical groups provided with image banners ... and mods only

ok I'll make my own image banner for my signature

please don't - images in signatures are frowned upon and should be limited to the size of a smilie ONLY

if I want an image in my signature, it has to be limited to the size of a flippin smilie?

yes it does, but if you want to display an image banner a few times in your posts that is absolutely fine, it is just the restriction on SIGNATURES that we are talking here
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How to copy an image from one thread to another?
thank you for reading the site forums ManualI have seen a photo in a thread - I need to copy that photo to a thread that I'm posting in, how do I do it?

firstly there is an image restriction of 599 wide

so long as the image is below 599 wide you are allowed to do the image copy

this is a demo to show you how to copy your avatar into a post

  • right click on your avatar
  • choose properties (normally at the bottom of the options list)
  • look at DIMENSIONS
  • this shows 2 numbers e.g 279 x 124
  • the first number is the width
  • it is less than 599 so it is allowed
  • now look at ADDRESS
  • copy the ADDRESS onto paper by writing it down
  • now EDIT your post pressing the EDIT button in your post OR write a new reply
  • write the ADDRESS into your existing post or into your new replythank you for reading the site forums Manual
  • surround the ADDRESS with img tags
    e.g [img]http://www.policecommunitysupportofficer.com/phpBB2/images/avatars/gallery/categories/faces/iconmonroe.gif[/img]
  • now press preview to see if the tags worked
  • if it didn't work recheck your code, there is probably a space where there shouldn't be one or you forgot the closing img tag must have a /
  • once you see it works press SUBMIT

can I read more about img tags?

yes there is more on img tags and in fact there are more tags available than just img ones

please click here for further on img and even more tags
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I want to upload my own avatar
Well unless you're extremely lucky - uploading an avatar is actually flippin HARD WORK!! Are you sure you wouldn't like to simply SELECT an avatar?

How do I do that?

To choose an avatar - you might want to see what other members have chosen first, if so click here

that will show you all the avatars that have already been chosen, but it may taken half a minute to load :-)

then .............. once you have seen the avatars already chosen by other people .... now select "Profile" from the top menu.

go - down - down - down - inside your profile form - right to the bottom where you will see "Show gallery" just above the word "Submit" at the very bottom of the form.

Select "Show gallery" and once you have chosen a piccie - remember to press "Submit" at the bottom of the form or nothing will happen.

Nah I decided I really want to upload my own avatar

Okay - if you are sure, be warned this can be time consuming and arduous but if you are determined

I am determined

Okay the restrictions on uploaded avatars are

  • less than 6k in file size
  • static (no moving parts!)
  • width must be less than 105

if you comply with those 3 restrictions then go ahead!

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I saw that one member has a big black image banner in their signature
yes certain members who are on offical groups in this site e.g. TROUBLE SHOOTERS are allowed to display image banners in their signature

I would like one too

sorry, members of offical groups provided with image banners ... and mods only

ok I'll make my own image banner for my signature

please don't - images in signatures are frowned upon and should be limited to the size of a smilie ONLY

if I want an image in my signature, it has to be limited to the size of a flippin smilie?

yes it does, but if you want to display an image banner a few times in your posts that is absolutely fine, it is just the restriction on SIGNATURES that we are talking here

fair enough


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Forum intracacies and details
I noticed that my member no. does not display in my posts
well it displays in your profile

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Yeah that's good but I want it to display in my posts too
well have you filled in your location?

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no, I haven't
well that's the reason then

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I filled in my location, I put Transylvania and my member no still isn't there
what's your member no ?

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2098
Sorry only member numbers below 1000 and where a location is completed will be displayed in posts

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when I look in the memberlist I see that I am the 400th member but my member no. is 952, how confusing is that?
Other forums do not maintain their member lists and the 400th member will forever be member no 400

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I don't get it, why am I not member no. 400?
mainly because of the "non-participation" policy

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which is?
    original policy
Sleeping members :Any person who registers on the national-pcso forum and then chooses not to participate - will after 7 days be advised that their account is liable to cancellation. If after another 7 days the member continues to choose not to participate in the forums then regrettably the account of that person will be cancelled.
    policy from August 2006
Those who register on these forums have 19 days to participate.
If the account still has 0 posts after 19 days the account is deleted.


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What on earth is all THAT about?
memberlists full of people who have never written a post week in week out, are rather in need of MAINTENANCE, the 0 post members should be cancelled - it is not asking too much for a new member to at least come in and post in the INTRODUCTIONS forum

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But a lot of ppl just like to lurk in the background
okay they can lurk in the background for 18 days then their lurking days are over
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so if the 400th member is actually member no 952, that means you have deleted something like HALF the ppl who have registered
CORRECT
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if the forums crash we go to fa1kor.co.uk/ophpBB2/
yep that's a good start - there is also pcsos-national.co.uk/ophpBB2
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don't worry, we do have proper back up sites, see the very TOP menu and see the wordings "back up site" top left and top right
THEY are the back up forums?

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if the forums have crashed it is unlikely that the top menu will then be visible - how will we know the addresses of the back up sites?
You won't

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so if we don't KNOW the addresses of the back up sites after a forum crash, how do we know where to go?
hey I just thought of something, why not make a note NOW of the back up forum addresses?

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what and then if the forums are wasted by some crazy hacker or through some colossal crash - we can go straight to the back up forums?
radical
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are the back up forums run by the same host as the main forums?
I know what you're thinking! The answer is no, the back up forums are specifically run by a different host (different server/ site etc)
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have the back up forums ever had to be used?
yes, for a couple of days, after a crash of the forums

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the forums worked ok?
perfectly and then a couple of days later the main forums were got going again and the back up forums abandoned

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I was a SACRED ARCHER ! now I have no class
sorry about that, just go back to your profile and select 'ARCHER' again

I just go back to the profile form again?

Yes you need to select your class all over again

I'm not bothering with class anymore, I changed my mind

That's fine - by default every member has a zero class


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This is the second forums Manual
Why was a second forums Manual needed?
Because the first one's navigation was pretty poor
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Where IS the first one now?
Well there is crude copy of the original forums Manual right here
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When was it replaced?
on 1.1.07
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The second forums Manual does look far easier to read and navigate around
yes that's the idea
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but what is the idea of the small images in every other Q + A ?
A rules page or Forums Manual can be a pretty boring and stifling experience. The images are simply to liven up the process somewhat.
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the images are not in anyway relevant to the questions in hand?
not at all, no
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Advanced features of the forums
what the heck are USERGROUPS?
click on Usergroups in the top menu
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OK
pick a Usergroup and then select "View Information" - you will see there groups such as
  • national-PCSOs (Supervisors)
  • PJIRC (Chat group)
  • Trouble shooters (Counsellors)
  • white light (Original members)



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What's the point of them?
Very often each user group will have their own private forum, the usergroups acts as a 'padlock and key,' for instance in "white light" they are the original members of the site and they talk about the old days, but new members cannot participate

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I want to join 'white light' and read about the old days
Sorry you can't but what about joining PJIRC? Join that group!!

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then I can see loads of chat about the chat room?
No, that group does not have it's own forum but can receive bulletuns on special chat nights. the usergroups are particularly good at
  • enabling BULK EMAILS to all the members in that group
  • providing automatic access to a private area of the site


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I joined PJIRC but now I'm fed up getting all the BULK EMAILS on chat nights, I really am not interested in that and wish to leave the group
OK but remember, if you leave the group you will
  • stop receiving BULK EMAILS to all the members in that group
  • be unable to access the private area of the site (if there is one for that group)


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I don't care, I want to leave the group
Ok IF YOU ARE SURE then go to Usergroups and select "View Information" then look for the wording "UNSUBSCRIBE" - if you click "UNSUBSCRIBE" you may not be able to rejoin the group afterwards - this will delete you from the group

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So the Usergroups act like a "padlock and key" to private areas on the site?
Yes they do, you should not reveal your password to anybody else

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Why not?
Because then you are compromising that usergroup

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I don't care - I want my mate to see what the usergroup is saying in the private forum
There are various facilities available to the administrator of the site to detect such abuse, you are liable to lose your membership of the group if you allow other members to use your password

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There are various facilities available to the administrator of the site to detect such abuse, you are liable to lose your membership of the group if you allow other members to use your password
Fair enough

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I wanted to QUOTE what 2 members said from different posts in the thread so that I can chat directly back to those 2 comments
hehe but you can only press one QUOTE button, what a conundrum

what's a conundrum?

the thing is, to get 2 quoted posts into your one reply do this:
  • press QUOTE in the first post that you want reproduced in your reply
    now don't press SUBMIT yet!
  • COPY AND PASTE the entire contents of the reply box into a word.doc or text.txt page
  • now use your BACK BUTTON to exit from the QUOTE
  • now find the next post that you wish to QUOTE
  • press QUOTE in the second post that you want reproduced in your reply
  • now don't press SUBMIT yet
  • COPY AND PASTE the entire contents of the reply box into the word.doc or text.txt page AFTER the one that you already did
  • now use your BACK BUTTON to exit from the QUOTE just like last time
  • now go to the thread in question and simply press REPLY
  • now copy and paste the whole of the text from the word.doc or text.txt page INTO your reply box


what is this "copy and paste" ?
check here for a tutorial on copy and paste


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The last post in the topic featured a quoted post
the poster had pressed QUOTE and it showed the post that he then went on to reply to.

Great

Now when I press QUOTE, I get both his post and the post he quoted, quoted in my post and I can reply to both his post and the post he quoted

And then the next poster can press QUOTE again and get both your post quoted plus the previous poster who quoted somebody else

Yeah then the next poster can press QUOTE again and gets so many quote boxes going we are all sick of the sight of seeing boxes within boxes

PLEASE PLEASE limit the amount of quote boxes mounting up in topics, they do nothing to help the flow of a thread in fact they form a maze of messages and ultimately just cause confusion

if you notice the latest post has a QUOTE in it already please DO NOT press QUOTE yourself


or it is likely that a whole succession of QUOTED QUOTES will kick off?

Yep and the whole page just looks a mess, totally unnecessary too

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Resigning from the site - requesting account closure
I have had enough of the forums now I want to resign
ok, sorry to hear you say that - please come back some time later - your account will still be here waiting for you

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No I want you to delete my account
Accounts can be deleted if the member has written 0 posts or has joined solely to advertise a website
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I have written 59 posts, please delete my account and the 59 posts
No, this will not be completed by support staff of the site
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I will do it then
Yes you can press 'edit' in all of the 59 posts and delete them one by one that way

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OK I will do that
There are facilities open to the administrator to restore back all those posts after you "delete them"

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Why should you do that?
We probably wouldn't bother but we do reserve the right to apply such facilities

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OK I am now going to delete all of my posts
Fine - I can't stop you. Your account will be suspended when this is discovered and consideration given as to whether you should be banned from the site

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Why? That's not fair
You just said you wanted to resign from the forums. Deleting all your posts is going one stage further. It is sabotaging the basic communications of this site

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You just told me I could do it
Because you physically can do it, does not mean that such action is approved

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I want to be MORE involved in the site
I saw Shane Jenkins' article all about his PCSO cycle, the kit he purchased for it, what he does, IT'S GREAT!
Yes articles like Shane Jenkins form the best part of the main site

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A pal of mine took some photos of me on my beat talking to the shopkeepers and even some of the yobs where I patrol, I could do an article like that
absolutely - submit the photos and your text so that the article can be finalised on the main site

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but who do I email with the photos /text?
please check the personnel page for email addresses - please write down the email address that you want to reply to from there

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I want to help the site what can I do?
heeeey check out this chat room

CAN YOU ENGAGE WITH OTHERS IN THAT CHAT ROOM?

NO

Okay move down to the next Q then "I have 4 hours a month that I can commit to helping this site! What can I do?"

Actually I CAN engage with others in that chat room, just tried it and it works fine

Brilliant! Now look in your diary and find an evening that you're free for one of the following slots
  • 7pm - 8pm
  • 8pm - 9pm
  • 9pm - 10pm
  • 10pm - 11pm
  • 11pm - 0000

Okay I can do Tues 10pm - 11pm and Wednesday 11pm - Midnight

Crucial, now start a topic with your two chat nights and inviting everybody else in

THAT is helping the site?

Absolutely! You'll probably find that I'll be your first guest
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I have 4 hours a month that I can commit to helping this site! What can I do?
please check this page

COULD YOU UPDATE THAT PAGE EVERY MONTH?

How long would it take me?

Up to 4 hours a month

I would like to help the site by updating the page, how would I update it?

Using word.doc is a good way, you copy and paste police web site addresses plus the info into the table you see on that page

How often does this need to be done?

Every month please!

I would like to do it

Great please get in touch with falkor!
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I have five minutes a month - how about that?
Sounds good.

Please review the thread of the month log


What's the point of that?

A quick guide to the best threads going this week. Can you help by PMing falkor with your choices?

What, just once a month?

Great!! Just choose your week, each week begins on the date 1,7,14 and 21 of each month

I just PM falkor with the threads I think are the best?

Make sure the thread was posted to the week you're nominating it

what if it was started last year though?

It doesn't matter WHEN it was started, as long as somebody posted to it THIS WEEK

and that can be my 5 minutes a month?

Absolutely! Would help a lot!
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I have problems with the chat room
for one thing I can't find it
hmmm which chat room are you looking for exactly?

the MSN chat room

fair enough, the MSN chat room is not supported within this forums manual

Why not?

Basically due to lack of use

Can I use it or not?

I would recommend the PJIRC chat room

Well I'm in MSN already so I'll use the MSN one please

Fair enough, please PM falkor or DDD for further details then


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I cannot find ANY chat room! Where IS IT?
well the PJIRC chat room is fully supported in this forums manual, would you like to hear about that chat room?

Yes but I just can't find it!

this may be due to the fact that you're not logged in

Why should it make any difference?

our chat room is only available to people who are logged in

Why is the chat room only available to those logged in?

we don't want guests in there

Why not?

because under the cloak of a "guest" anything stupid daft or offensive could be said, we don't need that

okay I'm logged in, I still can't find the chat room

sorry about that click here then
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eerrr I found the chat room now thanks
and?

I've got problems

sorry about that, go to the bottom of the chat room page where you will find all the answers

where?

in the 'PJIRC FAQ'

I love that chat room!

cool

can I help in some way?

you sure can

how?

start a thread or FIND a thread on PJIRC and add a reply

what shall I say?

anything, just say you like the chat room, that'll be enough
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