Help Index:

Purpose
Disclaimer
Rights
Introduction
Logging On
Select A Forum
Read A Topic
Start New Topic
Reply To A Topic
Editing A Topic
Subscriptions
Pinned and Locked Topics
Avatars
Forum Name
Time
Moderators
The Standard Of Behavior
Topic Discipline
Assistance

Purpose:
This forum exists to allow the members of the Tolkien Fan Art to discuss the art and artists displayed here, Tolkien, his writings, related art and writing, and other activities, of interest to our community.
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Disclaimer:
The comments and opinions posted by members of Tolkien Fan Art are their own, and they are solely responsible for them. While we will make every effort to discourage false, libelous, or defamatory statements, Tolkien Fan Art is not responsible for what its members post to this forum.
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Rights:
The posts made by members are their own copyrighted intellectual property, and may not be reproduced in any form, anywhere else, without their written approval.

Posting the copyrighted property of others without permission is not allowed, except for brief quotes, which must be properly attributed. Those quotes remain the copyrighted property of the original author or copyright holder.

The two previous paragraphs do not prevent members participating in these forums from quoting other member's posts in a reply or a new topic.
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Introduction:
An on-line forum is a system which organizes comments into conversations. How it works is; someone begins a new topic by making a statement, observation, or asking a question. Then people read that entry and respond to it. The responses are displayed under the original topic in the order they are posted. Topics are listed in the Forum Index in the order of the last post to each topic, with the topic which has the most recent post at the top.
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Logging On:
In order to post to these forums, you must be logged on. This requires that you be a member of Tolkien Fan Art. If you are not a member, apply here: Apply

To logon, click on the word Logon in the left hand column of the Forum page. When the logon box appears, enter your name and password and click Logon.

Cookie Logon: If you have cookies enabled on your browser, you can check remember password in the logon page, and you will be automatically logged on.
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Select A Forum:
The Forum Index is a list of Forums. Click on the title of the Forum you wish to read to go to that forum. You can return to the Forum Index by clicking on the menu selection Forum in the top row of the forum page.
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Read A Topic:
To read a topic, select a forum, and click on the title of the topic you wish to read. If there are more topics than will fit on one page, a page menu will appear at the top and bottom of the list of posts. It will look like this: [1] 2 3, assuming there are three pages. The page number in brackets is the page you are on. You can go directly to other pages by clicking on their page number.

Once you open the topic, the comments are listed from first to last. If there are more comments than will fit on one page, a page menu will appear at the top and bottom of the list of posts. It will look like this: [1] 2 3, assuming there are three pages. The page number in brackets is the page you are on. You can go directly to other pages by clicking on their page number. If a topic has more than one page, there will be a small menu in the topic index. You can use it to go to the desired page by clicking the page number.

You can go to the last post in a topic by clicking the date & author of the last post in the topic index.
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Start New Topic:
When you are in the Forum Topics page, you can start a new topic by clicking on New Topic in the upper right corner of the page. Enter a title in the line marked Title:. Type your topic starting comment in the box marked Text:. If you make start a new topic, it will start out at the top of the topic list, and will stay there until another topic has a newer comment.
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Reply To A Topic:
You can add your comments to a topic by clicking on the New Post link at the top right of the page of posts, and at bottom right of each individual comment. Regardless of where you click New Post, your post will appear at the end of the list of posts. They are listed in the order they were posted, starting with the oldest and ending with the newest. Adding a comment to a topic moves that topic to the top of topics index, as they are sorted in order of the last comment, with the newest first.
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Editing A Topic:
You may edit or delete your own posts. You may edit the title of a topic you started. A Moderator is able to edit or delete any post or topic.
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Subscriptions:
If you subscribe to a topic or forum, you will be notified via e-mail whenever there is a new post to that forum or topic. You may also select auto-subscribe in the subscription control page. Auto-subscribe notifies you whenever there is a response to any topic you have made a post in.

There are links to subscribe to and unsubscribe from forums and topics at the top of each. You may view all your subscriptions and unsubscribe from them in the Subscription Control page which is listed in the Forum side menu.
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Pinned and Locked Topics:
There are two special statuses that topics may have, Pinned and Locked. A Pinned topic is always displayed at the top of the topic list, and is usually used for announcements, statements of a forum's purpose, or a "Read me first" post. A Locked topic is one which may be read but will not accept new posts. A topic may be Locked because it is intended to be read only, or because the topic has gotten out of hand, and the Moderator decided to stop the discussion. A topic can be both Pinned and Locked at the same time. If a topic is Pinned or Locked, it will say Pinned or Locked in the left most column of the Topic index. Only a forum Moderator may pin or lock a topic.
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Avatars:
An avatar is a small picture or gif animation which is displayed alongside your posts to personalize your forum presence.

You can either upload avatars from your PC, or use images you uploaded as art. If they are larger than 100 x 100 pixels, they will be reduced in size to fit within that size.

Gif images cannot be reduced in size because of copyright restrictions on the gif format. The type of graphic image manipulation software we use is freeware, and they have to avoid using any copyrighted software within freeware in order to preserve the freeware license. You can use gifs which are under the 100 x 100 pixel size limit, including gif animations. Gif animations have a size limit of 10000 bytes

If you have selected an avatar, it will be displayed in your member profile.

You can upload and select avatars by clicking [Manage Avatars] in member profile edit. Manage Avatars displays a display of all avatars you have saved, and shows which one is selected if you have selected one. You select any saved avatar by clicking on the image of the avatar you want in Manage Avatars. You can save new avatars by clicking on 'Upload Avatars From computer' or 'Select Avatar From Images'.

To upload an avatar from your computer, click 'Upload Avatars From computer', then click browse, and navigate through the folder system on your computer until you can select the image you wish. Then click Upload. You will then see a display of the image you selected. To make it an avatar, click the save button under it.

To selct from Images, 'Select Avatar From Images', then click on the image you wish. You will see a picture of the image you selected. To make it an avatar, click the save button under it.

In Manage Avatars, there is a link marked [Edit] under each avatar. Click it to change the avatar's name or delete the avatar.
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Forum Name:
There is a field in your Member Profile to enter a Forum Name to be used with your posts. If you do not enter a Forum Name, the system will list your account name as the author.
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Time:
You set your time format with a drop menu in your Member profile. Be sure to click the update button after you make any changes to your profile, to store the changes you made.

Please select your time zone from the drop menu in your member profile.

Currently, the adjustment for Daylight Savings Time is a setting in your member profile. Eventually DST adjustment will be automated.

There are four Date & Time formats you can choose from. You may get the day in numeric form as MM/DD/YY or as a three letter abbreviation of the Month, plus the day and full year, Jan 16,2005. Time can be presented with a 12 hour clock plus am & pm, or as a 24 hour clock.

Do not forget to click the Save button on your edit member data page after making changes, so they will be saved.
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Moderators:
A forum is managed by a person with the title of Moderator. A moderator has the authority to pin, lock or delete topics. If they are a Moderator for more than one forum, they may move whole topics from one forum to another which they are also Moderator of. The job of a Moderator is to keep the discussions civil, enforce whatever rules may apply to that forum, and to assist members who are having problems.

Please treat our Moderators respectfully. It is not an easy job, and good ones are hard to find. They are the people who keep a forum a nice place to be.
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The Standard Of Behavior:
A forum is a community, and communities work best if the members act in a civil fashion at all times. The following behaviors will not be tolerated. Disparaging any racial, ethnic, religious, or political group. Foul or profane language. Harassing, humiliating, or denigrating other members. Feuds or vendettas between members. Posting commercial, religious, or political messages which are not germane to the topic. Posting anything which is not germane to the forum's purpose. Persisting in any behavior the Moderators have warned you against.

Any post which violates these standards of behavior is subject to editing or removal by the Moderators.

If you persist in violating the rules of this forum, your ability to post may be suspended, either temporarily or permanently.
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Topic Discipline:
Forums work best when members attempt to stay on topic, both within Topics and on a forum in general. It is helpful if people use meaningful topic titles. "How do I change thumbnail size?" is a much more informative topic title than "Help!". It allows other members to know what the topic is about before they open it, and makes it easier to remember later. It also makes it easier for other people looking for helpful threads at a later date.

If, in the middle of a topic on Medieval hair styles, you suddenly wonder how to recycle used art supplies, please start a new topic with a title that indicates what the topic is.
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Assistance:
If you need additional help to use this forum, or have a porblem using or understanding any feature, please feel free to ask a question on the Tech Support Forum, or to contact the Site Manager using the Contact page which is accessed through the side menu of the home page.
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