Have you registered? Seriously, you must register in order to login. Have you been banned from the board (a message will be displayed if you have)? If so then you should contact the webmaster or board administrator to find out why. If you have registered and are not banned and you still cannot login then check and double check your username and password. Usually this is the problem, if not then contact the board administrator they may have incorrect configuration settings for the board.

You may not have to, it is up to the administrator of the board as to whether you need to register in order to post messages. However registration will give you access to additional features not available to guest users such as definable avatar images, private messaging, emailing of fellow users, usergroup subscription, etc. It only takes a few moments to register so it is recommended you do so.

If you do not check the Log me in automatically box when you login the board will only keep you logged in for a preset time. This prevents misuse of your account by anyone else. To stay logged in check the box during login, this is not recommended if you access the board from a shared computer, e.g. library, internet cafe, university cluster, etc.

In your profile you will find an option Hide your online status, if you switch this on you'll only appear to board administrators or to yourself. You will be counted as a hidden user.

All your settings (if you are registered) are stored in the database. To alter them click the Profile link at the top of the page when browsing the forums. This will allow you to change all your settings

The times are almost certainly correct, however what you may be seeing are times displayed in a timezone different from the one you are in. If this is the case you should change your profile setting for the timezone to match your particular area, e.g. London, Paris, New York, Sydney, etc. Please note that changing the timezone, like most settings can only be done by registered users. So if you are not registered this is a good time to do so, if you pardon the pun!

If you are sure you have set the timezone correctly and the time is still different the most likely answer is daylight savings time (or summer time as it is known in the UK and other places). The board is not designed to handle the changeovers between standard and daylight time so during summer months the time may be an hour different from the real local time.

There may be two images below a username when viewing posts. The first is an image associated with your rank, generally these take the form of stars or blocks indicating how many posts you have made or your status on the forums. Below this may be a larger image known as an avatar, this is generally unique or personal to each user. It is up to the board administrator to enable avatars and they have a choice over the way in which avatars can be made available. If you are unable to use avatars then this is the decision of the board admin, you should ask them their reasons (we're sure they'll be good!)

In general you cannot directly change the wording of any rank (ranks appear below your username in topics and on your profile depending on the style used). Most boards use ranks to indicate the number of posts you have made and to identify certain users, e.g. moderators and administrators may have a special rank. Please do not abuse the board by posting unnecessarily just to increase your rank, you will probably find the moderator or administrator will simply lower your post count.

Easy, click the relevant button on either the forum or topic screens. You may need to register before you can post a message, the facilities available to you are listed at the bottom of the forum and topic screens (the You can post new topics, You can vote in polls, etc. list)

Unless you are the board admin or forum moderator you can only edit or delete your own posts. You can edit a post (sometimes for only a limited time after it was made) by clicking the edit button for the relevant post. If someone has already replied to the post you will find a small piece of text output below the post when you return to the topic, this lists the number of times you edited it. This will only appear if no one has replied, it also will not appear if moderators or administrators edit the post (they should leave a message saying what they altered and why). Please note that normal users cannot delete a post once someone has replied.

To add a signature to a post you must first create one, this is done via your profile. Once created you can check the Add Signature box on the posting form to add your signature. You can also add a signature by default to all your posts by checking the appropriate radio box in your profile (you can still prevent a signature being added to individual posts by un-checking the add signature box on the posting form)

Creating a poll is easy, when you post a new topic (or edit the first post of a topic, if you have permission) you should see a Add Poll form below the main posting box (if you cannot see this then you probably do not have rights to create polls). You should enter a title for the poll and then at least two options (to set an option type in the poll question and click the Add option button. You can also set a time limit for the poll, 0 is an infinite poll. There will be a limit to the number of options you can list, this is set by the board administrator.

As with posts, polls can only be edited by the original poster, a moderator or board admin. To edit a poll click the first post in the topic (this always has the poll associated with it). If no one has cast a vote then users can delete the poll or edit any poll option, however if people have already placed votes only moderators or administrators can edit or delete it. This is to prevent people rigging polls by changing options mid-way through a poll.

Only registered users can vote in polls (so as to prevent spoofing of results). If you have registered and still cannot vote then you probably do not have appropriate access rights.

BBCode is a special implementation of HTML, whether you can use BBCode is determined by the administrator (you can also disable it on a per post basis from the posting form). BBCode itself is similar in style to HTML, tags are enclosed in square braces [ and ] rather than < and > and it offers greater control over what and how something is displayed. For more information on BBCode see the guide which can be accessed from the posting page.

Yes, but only certain tags. Tags currently allowed are b, i, u, pre, blockquote, p, hr, a, center and s.

Smileys, or Emoticons are small graphical images which can be used to express some feeling using a short code, e.g. :) means happy, :( means sad. The full list of emoticons can be seen via the posting form. Try not to overuse smileys though, they can quickly render a post unreadable and a moderator may decide to edit them out or remove the post altogether

Images can indeed be shown in your posts. To display your image it must be on a publicly accessible web host - NOT your own PC (unless it doubles as a web host). Railpage has an image gallery where registered users are free to upload any number of images, which can then be included in a post either by linking to the actual image (eg, [img]http://www.railpage.com.au/modules/gallery/albums/photocomp-apr06/rp_logo.gif[/img]) or to the page in the Railpage gallery that holds the image, using the [gallery] tag (eg, [gallery=http://www.railpage.com.au/modules.php?set_albumName=photocomp-apr06&id=rp_logo&name=gallery&include=view_photo.php]

Announcements often contain important information and you should read them as soon as possible. Announcements appear at the top of every page in the forum to which they are posted.

Sticky topics appear below any announcements in viewforum and only on the first page. They are often quite important so you should read them where possible. Do NOT post a sticky thread unless it is for something important!

Locked topics are set this way by either the forum moderator or board administrator. You cannot reply to locked topics and any poll it contained is automatically ended. Topics may be locked for many reasons.

Administrators are people assigned the highest level of control over the entire board. These people can control all facets of board operation which includes setting permissions, banning users, creating usergroups or moderators, etc. They also have full moderator capabilities in all the forums.

Moderators are individuals (or groups of individuals) whose job it is to look after the running of the forums from day to day. They have the power to edit or delete posts and lock, unlock, move, delete and split topics in the forum they moderate. Generally moderators are there to prevent people going off-topic or posting abusive or offensive material.

Developers are users who are responsible for the continued development of Railpage and the maintenance of the server and codebase. They also have full Administrator privileges and can (and do) perform day-to-day moderation of Railpage itself.

Usergroups are a way in which board administrators can group users. Each user can belong to several groups (this differs from most other boards) and each group can be assigned individual access rights. This makes it easy for administrators to set up several users as moderators of a forum, or to give them access to a private forum, etc.

To join a usergroup click the usergroup link on the page header (dependent on template design), you can then view all usergroups. Not all groups are open access, some are closed and some may even have hidden memberships. If the board is open then you can request to join it by clicking the appropriate button. The user group moderator will need to approve your request, they may ask why you want to join the group. Please do not pester a group moderator if they turn your request down, they will have their reasons.

Usergroups are initially created by the board admin, they also assign a board moderator. If you are interested in creating a usergroup then your first point of contact should be the admin, try dropping them a private message.

This is because the Railpage staff have disabled your ability to send private messages. Email moderators@railpage.com.au if you feel this has happened to you for no reason.

Email moderators@railpage.com.au with your username and the senders username, and the Railpage staff will issue the offender with a suitable warning.