Announcements are special messages posted by the administrator or moderators. They are designed to be a simple one-way communication with the users. If you wish to discuss announcements, you will have to create a new thread in the forum, since you cannot reply to announcements.

The administrator may allow you to use the attachment feature of this forum, which gives you the ability to attach files of certain types to your posts. This could be an image, a text document, a zip file etc. There will be a limit to the file size of any attachments you make.

To attach a file to a new post, simply click the [Manage Attachments] button at the bottom of the post composition page, and locate the file that you want to attach from your local hard drive.

After posting, the image attachments may display a thumbnail, depending on the forum settings. To view the contents of the attachment (if it is not already displayed) simply click the filename link that appears next to the attachment icon.

The calendar functions in a way similar to the forums in that there can be multiple calendars. One calendar could hold just events that you are able to see, while another may list birthdays.

There are two types of events on the calendar: normal events and recurring events.

Normal Events span the time frame from when the event starts until the event ends.

Recurring Events repeat over a set period of time based on certain criteria. Examples would be an event that occurs on the first Monday of every month and an event that occurs every Monday and Wednesday.

The administrator may have enabled registered members to post events, but usually this is not the case. You can most likely post your own private events that are only viewable to you.

Birthdays may be shown on the calendar if the administrator has enabled this feature. Your birthday will automatically be shown on the calendar if you have entered the date of your birthday in your profile. Note: if you do not enter the year of your birth when you edit your profile, your age will not be shown on the calendar.

If you enter your birthday, your name will also appear on the main forum page when it is your birthday.

Certain words may have been censored by the administrator. If your posts contain any censored words, they will be blanked-out like this: .

The same words are censored for all users, and censoring is done by a computer simply searching and replacing words. It is in no way 'intelligent'.

1. Click the "Tools" menu.
2. Select "Internet Options" from the menu that appears.
3. Click "Delete Cookies" on the dialog box that appears. It will be in the center area of the "General" tab.

1. Click the "Tools" menu.
2. Select "Options" from the menu that appears.
3. From the dialog box, select "Privacy" on the left.
4. Find "Cookies" on the main pane, and click the "Clear" button adjacent to it.

The member list contains a complete list of all the registered members of this forum. You can view the member list ordered alphabetically by username, by the date that the member joined the forum, or by the number of posts the members have made.

The member list also has a search function, which allows you to quickly locate members according to categories you specify, such as searching for all members who have joined in the past week etc.

The administrator may have enabled message icons for new threads, posts and private messages. Message icons allow you to specify a small icon to accompany your posting, which is used to convey the emotion or content of a post at a glance. If you do not see a list of message icons when you are composing your message or post, the administrator has disabled the option.

If the administrator has enabled the Private Messaging system, registered members may send each other private messages.

Sending Private Messages

Private messages work a little like email, but are limited to registered members of this forum. You may be able to include vB Code, smilies and images in private messages that you send.

You may send a private message to a member of this forum by clicking the 'Send A Private Message' link in the private messaging section of your user control panel, or by clicking the button in a member's posts.

When you send a message, you have the option to save a copy of the message in your Sent Items folder.

Private Message Folders

By default, you will have two folders in your private message area. These are the Inbox and the Sent Items folders.

The Inbox folder contains any new messages you receive, and allows you to view all the messages you have received, along with the name of the person who sent the message to you, and the date and time the message was sent.

The Sent Items folder contains a copy of any messages that you have sent, where you have specified that you wish to keep a copy of the message for future reference.

You may create additional folders for your messages by clicking the 'Edit Folders' link.

Each folder has a set of message controls which allow you to select messages, then either move them to one of your custom folders, or delete them completely. You may also have a button which allows you to forward multiple messages from a folder to another member of the forum.

You will need to periodically delete old messages, as the administrator has probably set a limit to the number of private messages you can have in your folders. If you exceed the number of messages specified by the administrator, you will not be able to send or receive new messages until you delete some old messages.

Whenever you read a message, you will have the option to reply to the message, or forward that message to another member of the forum. You may also have the ability to forward that message to multiple members of your buddy list.

Message Tracking

When you send a new private message, you may have the option to request a read-receipt for that message. This will allow you to check whether or not a message has been read by its recipient by viewing the Private Message Tracking page.

This page is divided into two sections: unread messages and read messages.

The unread messages section shows all messages that you have sent with a read-receipt request, that have not yet been read by their recipient.

The read messages section shows all messages you have sent with a receipt request that have been read and acknowledged by their recipient. The time that the message was read is also shown.

You may choose to end the tracking on any message you choose by selecting the message and clicking the [end tracking] button.

When you receive a message with a read-receipt request, you may have the option to read the message while denying the read-receipt request. To do this, simply click the 'deny receipt' link rather than the title of the message, if it appears.

You may notice that some threads on this forum also include a section where you can vote on an issue or question. These threads are called 'polls' and this is how to create them:

Creating a new poll

When you post a new thread, you may have the option to also create a poll.

This function allows you to ask a question and specify a number of possible responses. Other members will then be able to vote for the response they wish, and the results of the voting will be displayed in the thread.

An example poll might be:

What is your favorite color?

1. Red
2. Blue
3. Yellow
4. Green
5. Sky-blue pink with yellow spots

To create a poll when you post a new thread, simply click the 'Yes! post a poll' checkbox at the bottom of the page, and set the number of possible responses you want to include.

When you click the submit button, you will be taken to the poll creation page, where you can specify the question and the list of responses you want to include.

You may also want to specify a time limit for the poll, so that (for example) it only stays open for voting for a week.

Voting in and viewing a poll

To vote in a poll, simply select which option you want to vote for, and click the [Vote!] button. You may view the current results for a poll before you vote by clicking the 'View Results' link. Voting in a poll is entirely optional. You may vote for any of the available options, or cast no vote at all.

Generally, once you have voted in a poll, you will not be able to change your vote later, so place your vote carefully!

The administrator may have enabled referrals, which allows you to be credited for any new users you invite to the forum.

You gain referrals by promoting elitepvpers using your unique referral link. The link you should use as your referral link is this:

https://www.elitepvpers.com/forum/index.php?referrerid=0

Each time someone follows this link to elitepvpers and registers as a new member, your referral count will be incremented by one. The number of referrals you have can be viewed in your profile.

Your administrator will have more information on any prizes or rewards that may be given out for referrals. Please be courteous when promoting elitepvpers by not spamming other web sites with your referral link just to gain referrals.

The administrator may have enabled RSS syndication, this allows you to view newly created threads in guest viewable forums without visiting the board.

The feeds are currently provided in two formats, RSS and RSS v2. The differences are as follows:

• RSS 0.91 - This feed is based on a standard written by netscape and provides a link and the title of the thread.
  https://www.elitepvpers.com/forum/external.php?type=rss
• RSS 2.0 - This feed contains title, author, date and the contents of the first post of the thread.
  https://www.elitepvpers.com/forum/external.php?type=rss2

To add this to MyYahoo click here.

The forums to which this applies can also be limited to specific guest viewable forums by adding another parameter to the URL containing the forumids as follows:
https://www.elitepvpers.com/forum/external.php?type=rss2&forumids=123

If you would like the content to be generated for multiple forums you can separate the forumids by commas.

Smilies are small graphical icons which you can insert into your messages to convey an emotion or feeling, such as a joke or embarrassment. For example, if you entered a sarcastic comment, rather than type 'that was a joke', you could simply insert the 'wink' smilie.

If you have used email or internet chat systems, you will probably be familiar with the concept of smilies already. Certain combinations of text characters are converted into smilies. For example,:) is converted into a smiling face. To understand smilie codes, tilt your head to the left and look at the text: you will see that :) represents two eyes and a smiling mouth.

For a list of the smilies currently used by this forum, click here.

On occasions, you may want to prevent the text in your message being converted into smilies. You will see a checkbox which you can select when you make a new post, which will allow you to 'Disable Smilies'.

For the most part, your posts will contain plain text, but on occasions, you may want to emphasize certain words or phrases by making them (for example) bold or italic.

Depending on the rules of the forum, you may use HTML code to produce these effects. However, more often than not, the administrator will have disabled HTML code, and opted instead to use vB Code: a special set of tags which you can use to produce the most popular text-effects. vB code has the advantage that it is very simple to use, and is immune to malicious javascripts and page layout disruption.

You may also find that the administrator has enabled smilies, which allow you to use small icons to convey emotion, and the [img] code, which allows you to add pictures to your message.

For more information about vB code, click here.

These controls allow you to quickly and easily enter vBcode into your posts and messages. To use them, simply click the appropriate buttons or select items from the lists to enter vBcode.

There are three editor modes available: Basic, Standard and Enhanced mode. When using the Basic editor, there are no vBcode buttons to assist your editing. You must enter any vBcode markup manually in this editor.

When using Standard mode, highlight the text you wish to modify and press the appropriate button. This will place the proper vBcode tags around the selected text. Pressing a button while not having any selected text, will insert vBcode tags at your cursor. You may then enter your text between the tags.

When using the Enhanced mode, pressing a button will modify any highlighted text. This mode is a WYSIWYG mode, What You See Is What You Get, whereas your final post appears the same while being edited. Clicking a button while having no text selected will not have any effect.

To use the clickable smilies, simply click the smiley that you want to insert into your message, or click the Show All Smilies link (if available) to access the full list of smilies.

• Post new threads
• Reply to other peoples' threads
• Edit your posts
• Receive email notification of replies to posts and threads you specify
• Send private messages to other members
• Enter events in the forum calendar
• Set up a 'buddy-list' to quickly see which of your friends are currently online

Draft entries allow you to compose an entry in stages. To create a draft entry, create an entry as normal but before submitting the entry, find Publish Status in the Miscellaneous Options on the lower section of the entry creation page. This option defaults to Publish Now.

Change Publish Now to Draft and then save. Alternatively, you may press the Save Draft button at any time.

Your Pending and Draft entries are only viewable by you until they are published.

You may also post entries that have a time stamp in the past. This is useful for those entries that you just forgot to post and they work best in chronological order.

To past date an entry, create an entry as normal but before submitting the entry, find Publish Status in the Miscellaneous Options on the lower section of the entry creation page. This option defaults to Publish Now.

Change Publish Now to Publish On and then choose the date and time that you wish for the entry to appear to have been posted. If you select a date in the future, you will be creating a Pending Entry.

Entries that you wish to create now but have them become publicly available at a later time are referred to as Pending Entries. To create a pending entry, create an entry as normal but before submitting the entry, find Publish Status in the Miscellaneous Options on the lower section of the entry creation page. This option defaults to Publish Now.

Change Publish Now to Publish On and then choose the date and time that you wish for the entry to go live. Due to the architecture, pending entries can appear a few minutes later than the time that you specify but they will have a time stamp that matches the date and time that you choose.

Your Pending and Draft entries are only viewable by you until they are published.

How do I use albums?

As a member, you can create Albums of images that are linked to your public profile. Albums can be created by visiting the User Control Panel, and clicking on the 'Pictures & Albums' link, and then clicking on 'Add Album'.

Each album can have a title ('Joe's Holiday to Nepal'), a description ('A bunch of photos from my recent adventure') and can be of three different types: Public, Private or Profile.

• Public albums can be viewed by anyone
• Private albums can only be viewed by site staff (moderators, administrators) and your Friends and Contacts (info)
• Profile albums are viewable only by you. However, you can use the images to customize your public profile (info)

How do I upload pictures?

Once you've created an album you can upload images to it. Simply view the album and click on 'Upload Pictures'.

You'll have the option to give each picture a caption, and to set one image as the Album cover, which will be displayed on the public profile. To delete an album or edit the title, description or album type, click on 'Edit Album'. To delete an image, or to edit a caption or change the album cover, click on 'Edit Pictures'.

All members who have access to your album images can comment on them, in a similar way to Visitor Messages (more info). You can delete any image comments from your albums, and report inappropriate messages to moderators.

When you have uploaded a picture, you can place it in your posts by using the BB code text that is displayed below the image when you view it at full size.

What are announcements?

Announcements are special messages posted by the administrator or moderators. They are a simple one-way communication with the users and you can't reply. If you wish to discuss announcements, you will have to create a new thread in the forum.

Announcement threads are displayed at the top of forum listing pages, above regular and sticky threads.

How do I attach a file to a post?

To attach a file to your post, you need to be using the main 'New Post' or 'New Thread' page and not 'Quick Reply'. To use the main 'New Post' page, click the 'Post Reply' button in the relevant thread.

On this page, below the message box, you will find a button labelled 'Manage Attachments'. Clicking this button will open a new window for uploading attachments. You can upload an attachment either from your computer or from another URL by using the appropriate box on this page. Alternatively you can click the Attachment Icon to open this page.

To upload a file from your computer, click the 'Browse' button and locate the file. To upload a file from another URL, enter the full URL for the file in the second box on this page. Once you have completed one of the boxes, click 'Upload'.

Once the upload is completed the file name will appear below the input boxes in this window. You can then close the window to return to the new post screen.

What files types can I use? How large can attachments be?

In the attachment window you will find a list of the allowed file types and their maximum sizes. Files that are larger than these sizes will be rejected. There may also be an overall quota limit to the number of attachments you can post to the board.

How do I add an image to a post?

If you have uploaded an image as an attachment, you can click the arrow next to the 'Attachment Icon' and select it from the list. This will be inserted into your post and can be located where you want it displayed.

To include an image that is not uploaded as an attachment and is located on another website, you can do so by copying the full URL to the image, (not the page on which the image is located), and either pressing the 'Insert Image' icon or by typing [img] before the URL and [/img] after it, ensuring that you do not have any spaces before or after the URL of the image. You can insert pictures from your albums (?) in this way too.

You will see a 'Calendar' link near the top of the forums (if this option is enabled by the administrator). By default, the forums will have one Calendar that can be viewed and used by all members.

Members can add upcoming events that might interest the community. You can also sign up to get email alerts about upcoming events.

In addition, the administrator could create additional private calendars for individual members or for specific user groups.

How do I add an event to the Calendar?

If you have the appropriate permissions, there will be a box on the Calendar labelled 'Add New Event'. The administrator may have enabled registered members to post public events, but usually this is not the case. It's more likely that you can only post your own private events that can only be seen by you.

There are three types of event that can be added to a calendar:

• Single, All Day Event - an event that takes place for the whole of a day.
• Ranged Event - events that have a defined start time and end time, not necessarily both on the same day.
• Recurring Event - repeat over a set period of time based on certain criteria. Examples would be an event that occurs on the first Monday of every month and an event that occurs every Monday and Wednesday.

Just choose the appropriate option for the event you are adding, fill in the required information, then save the event. It will now appear on the Calendar.

Where do birthdays show?

Birthdays may be shown on the calendar if the administrator has enabled this feature. Your birthday will automatically be shown on the calendar if you have entered the date of your birthday in your profile. Note: if you do not enter the year of your birth when you edit your profile, your age will not be shown on the calendar.

If you enter your birthday, your name will also appear on the main forum page when it is your birthday.

What is 'Automatic Login'?

When you register (and also when you login using the form at the top of the screen), you will be given the option to 'Remember Me'. This will store your identity securely in a cookie on your computer. If you are using a shared computer, such as in a library, school or internet cafe, or if you have reason to not trust any other users that might use this computer, we recommend you do not enable this.

How do I clear cookies?

You can clear all your cookies set by the forum by clicking the 'logout' link at the top of the page. In some cases, if you return to the main index page via the link provided and you are still logged in, you may have to remove your cookies manually.

In Internet Explorer 6 on Windows XP: Click the 'Tools' menu. Select 'Internet Options' from the menu that appears. Click 'Delete Cookies' on the dialog box that appears. It will be in the center area of the 'General' tab.

In Internet Explorer 7: Click the 'Tools' menu. Select 'Internet Options' from the menu that appears. Click 'Delete...', beneath 'Browsing History' on the dialog box that appears. It will be in the center area of the 'General' tab. Click 'Delete cookies...' on the next dialog box that appears.

In Firefox: Click the 'Tools' menu. Select 'Options' from the menu that appears. From the dialog box, select 'Privacy' on the left. Find 'Cookies' on the main pane, and click the 'Clear' button adjacent to it.

In Safari: Go to Preferences, Security, then show Cookies and either select 'Remove all' or select individual cookies and then the 'Delete' button.

In Opera: Go to Tools, Preferences, Advanced, Cookies, Manage cookies then select the name of this site and click the 'Delete' button.

Your cookies should now be removed. You may want to restart the computer and revisit the forums to be sure.

Other browsers may have a different method of clearing cookies. Refer to the documentation for your own browser if you are unsure.

What is a bulletin board?

A bulletin board is an online discussion site. It's sometimes also called a 'board' or 'forums'. It may contain several categories, consisting of forums, threads and individual posts.

How is all this structured?

The bulletin board as a whole contains various categories (broad subject areas), which themselves contain forums (more specific subject areas) which contain threads (conversations on a topic) which are made up of individual posts (where a user writes something).

The board home page has a list of categories and forums, with basic statistics for each - including the number of threads and posts, and which member posted the most recent message.

How do I find my way around?

When you click on a forum's name, you are taken to the list of threads it contains. A thread is a conversation between members or guests. Each thread starts out as a single post and grows as more individual posts are added by different users. Threads can be rated (?) to show how useful or popular they are and may contain polls (?).

To start a new thread simply click on the 'new thread' button (you may need the right permissions to do this).

Threads can be ordered in many different ways. The default is to have the thread with the most recent activity at the top. But you can easily change this ordering, for example to have the thread with the most posts at the top, or the highest rating. Simply click on the appropriate column heading at the top of the list of threads (Thread, Thread Starter, Rating, Last Post, Replies or Views). You can also reverse the sorting order by clicking the arrow next to the name of the active option. (Note that 'sticky' threads will always be at the top no matter how you change the viewing options).

Multi-page views

When there are more threads to display than will fit on a single page, you may see the 'Page' box, which contains page numbers. This indicates that the list of threads has been split over two or more pages.

This method of splitting lists of items over many pages is used throughout the board.

What are sticky threads?

'Sticky' threads are created by moderators or administrators (?), and remain 'stuck' to the top of the listing, even if they haven't had any posts recently. Their purpose is to keep important information visible and accessible at all times.

How do I read a thread?

To read a thread, click on its title. Each post in a thread is created by a member or a guest. You'll see some brief information about the member who created the thread above the main post message. In some cases it will be to the side of the post.

To post a reply to an existing thread, click on the 'Post Reply' button. If the 'Post Reply' button does not appear, it could mean that you are not logged in as a member, or that you do not have permission to reply, or that the thread has been closed to new replies.

If enabled, there will also be a 'Quick Reply' box where you can quickly enter a reply without having to go to the 'Post Reply' page. You may need to click the quick reply button in a post to activate the quick reply box before you can type into it.

On long threads you may want to change how the posts are ordered. For more on different ways to view and navigate threads, click (?).

Is there a faster way to get to forums?

If you know which forum you want to go to, you can use the 'Forum Jump' control, which appears at the bottom of many pages within the board.

How do I find out more about members?

To view information about a particular member, click on the user name. This will take you to their public profile page (?).

What is the Navigation Bar?

The navigation bar at the top of every page has links to help you move around. A 'breadcrumb' area at the top left shows where you are now. A form on the right allows you to quickly login. With one click you can reach areas such as: the User Control Panel (?), FAQ (which you are reading now), the Calendar (?), Search options (?) and Quick Links (?) to other useful features.

What is the 'What's Going On?' box on the board home page?

On the board home page you'll see a section at the bottom that tells you what's going on at the moment. It tells you things like the number of registered users online, the number of guests, and even things like birthdays, and forthcoming events.

Can I change the way the board looks?

You may be able to change the styling of the board by using the style changer in the bottom left of the page. This lets you choose different skins which change the color scheme and appearance of the board. If this option does not appear, the board cannot be restyled.

What is the Members List?

The members list shows the registered members of the board. Providing the administrator allows this, you can view the member list ordered alphabetically by username, by the date they joined, by the number of posts they have made or by reputation (?).

To view the members list, click on 'Member List' on main navigation bar at the top of the page.

To quickly find a particular member, click on the 'Search Members' link and type a username (or partial username) into the box. For further search options - including searching based on join date, post count or home page - click on 'Advanced Search' on the search menu.

Are all members listed?

Some members may not be on the list. The administrator has options over who is shown on the list. They may, for example, omit members who have not made many posts or who belong to certain user groups.

What are message icons?

Message Icons, also known as Post Icons, are small icons that appear in the title of your post. If your post is the first in a thread, then they also display in the thread listings. If the board administrator has enabled these, they can be found below the message box on the 'New Post' and 'New Thread' pages. Simply select the icon that you wish to use and this will be displayed before your thread title.

What are thread prefixes?

Thread Prefixes can be used to further identify your thread as containing a particular content in the forum. If your administrator has enabled these, you will see a box before the title box which contains a menu with the available prefixes for you to choose from.

What do the other settings do?

In your User CP, there is a section under Settings & Options named 'Edit Options'.

• Login & Privacy: set your
  • 'Invisible Mode' - sets whether or not other members can see if you are online and what page you are viewing
  • 'Show Reputation Level' - shows your reputation level on posts if this option is enabled by the administrator
  • 'Allow vCard Download' - sets whether or not to allow other members to download a vCard containing your email address and username.
• Messaging & Notification - options include:
  • 'Receive Email' - whether or not you want to receive emails from other Members and administrators
  • 'Default Thread Subscription Mode' - how you want to be notified about new posts in threads to which you have subscribed
  • 'Private Messaging' - control how you want Private Messaging to work for your account
  • 'Visitor Messaging' - control how you want Visitor Messaging to work for your account
• Thread Display Options - these include:
  • 'Visible Post Elements' - whether or not you want to be able to see Signatures, Avatars and Images in posts
  • 'Thread Display Mode' - how you want to view threads by default (more info available here)
  • 'Number of Posts to Show Per Page'
  • 'Default Thread Age Cut Off' - the time period for threads to be displayed - threads older than this age will be hidden
• Date & Time Options - these include:
  • 'Time Zone' - your local geographical time zone offset from GMT/UTC
  • 'Start of the Week' - for the Calendar.
• Miscellaneous Options include:
  • 'Message Editor Interface' - This option allows you choose what kind of editor you will use when posting messages. Your choices include a basic text-only editor, a standard editor with clickable formatting controls, or a full WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor that will show your formatting as you type.
  • 'Forum Style' - only available if there is more than one style (or 'skin') available and the administrator has enabled this selection
  • 'Forum Language' - only available if there is more than one Language enabled. This will change the language in which all controls and board messages will be shown. It will not translate members' posts

You may notice that some threads on this forum also include a section where you can vote on an issue or question. These threads are called 'polls'.

How do I create a new poll?

When you post a new thread, you may also have the option to create a poll.

This allows you to ask a question and specify a number of possible responses. Other members will then be able to vote for the response they wish, and the results of the voting will be displayed in the thread.

An example poll might be:

What is your favorite color?

• Red
• Blue
• Yellow
• Green
• Sky-blue
• Pink with yellow spots

To create a poll when you post a new thread, simply click the 'Yes, post a poll with this thread' checkbox at the bottom of the page, and set the number of possible responses you want to include.

When you click the submit button, you will be taken to the poll creation page, where you can specify the question and the list of responses you want to include.

You may also want to specify a time limit for the poll, so that (for example) it stays open for voting for only a week.

How do I vote in a poll and view the results?

To vote in a poll, simply select which option you want to vote for, and click the 'Vote!' button. Sometime you can choose more than one option. You can see the current results for a poll before you vote by clicking the 'View Results' link. Voting in a poll is entirely optional. You may vote for any of the available options, or cast no vote at all.

Note whether or not a poll is a public poll. If it is, any votes you cast will be attributable to you.

Generally, once you have voted in a poll, you will not be able to change your vote later, so place your vote carefully!

How do I format my posts and messages?

When posting messages you may wish to include some formatting such as bold text, italic text and underlined text.

Adding formatting to your post can be done in two ways:

• Using clickable controls similar to those found in most word processors
• Typing formatting commands in BB code

Clickable controls are available in the Standard and Enhanced WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors. The difference between these is that the standard editor will show the BB code in your message and be processed when it is displayed. The enhanced WYSIWYG editor will show your message as it will be displayed while you are typing.

To use these, simply click the button, for example the B (bold) button and then type to get bold text. Click the button again to stop using that formatting. You can also highlight text that you have already typed then click the formatting button to format existing text.

BB code is a special set of codes similar to HTML that can be used in posts to the board. To see the full list of BB code tags that can be used on this site and examples of their use, click here.

If the administrator has enabled the Private Messaging system, registered members may send each other private messages.

How do I send Private Messages?

Private messages work a little like email, but are limited to registered members of this forum. You may be able to include BB code, smilies and images in private messages that you send.

You may send a private message to a member of this forum by clicking the 'Send A Private Message' link in the private messaging section of your user control panel (more info), or by clicking the 'Send a Private Message' link in the drop down menu that appears in a member's posts when you click on their username.

When you send a message, you have the option to save a copy of it in your 'Sent Items' folder.

How do I work with Private Message Folders?

By default, you will have two folders in your private message area. These are the 'Inbox' and the 'Sent' Items folders.

The 'Inbox' folder contains any new messages you receive. It allows you to view all the messages you have received, along with the name of the person who sent it, and the date and time it was sent.

The 'Sent Items' folder contains a copy of any messages that you have sent, where you have specified that you wish to keep a copy for future reference.

You can create additional folders for your messages by clicking the 'Edit Folders' link.

Each folder has a set of message controls which allow you to select messages, then either move them to one of your custom folders, or delete them. Once you have selected your messages, you can choose the following options in the 'Selected Messages' box at the bottom of the list:

• Move to Folder
• Delete
• Mark as Read
• Mark as Unread
• Download as XML
• Download as CSV
• Download as TEXT

You will need to periodically delete old messages, as the administrator has probably set a limit to the number of private messages you can have in your folders. If you exceed this number, you will not be able to send or receive new messages until you delete some old ones.

If you would like to keep a record of your messages before you delete them, you can use any of the 'Download as..' options listed above to take a copy and store them on your own computer.

Whenever you read a message, you will have the option to reply or forward it to another member of the forum. You may also have the ability to forward that message to multiple members of your contact list.

How do I track messages?

When you send a new private message, you may have the option to request a read-receipt. This lets you check whether or not a message has been read by its recipient. To do this, go to the 'Message Tracking' page.

This page is divided into two sections: unread and read messages.

The unread messages section shows all messages that you have sent with a read-receipt request, that have not yet been read by their recipient.

The read messages section shows all messages you have sent with a receipt request that have been read and acknowledged by their recipient. The time that the message was read is also shown.

You may choose to end the tracking on any message you choose by selecting it and clicking the 'End Tracking' button.

When you receive a message with a read-receipt request, you may have the option to read the message while denying the read-receipt request. To do this, simply click the 'Deny Receipt' link rather than the title of the message, if it appears.

What is the Public Profile Page?

Every member has a publicly viewable profile page. This page includes information provided by the member, either during the registration process or later on via the User Control Panel.

There are a number of ways to view a member's profile. Whenever you see a member's name, clicking on it will usually take you to view their profile page.

The members list allows you to browse all registered members, and quickly click through to public profiles.

When logged in, you can also view your own public profile by logging into the forums and clicking on your username shown in the header at the top of the page.

You can also go straight to a profile if you know the username of the member by typing in the following into your web browser: http://www.example.com/member.php?username=<username of the member>

What's on the Public Profile Page?

The public profile lists information about the member under the 'About Me' tab. It also includes statistical information, such as the number of posts they have made and their registration date. This information is shown under the 'Statistics' tab.

Other information includes a list of Friends (?), their profile picture (if set by the member), and a list of members who have recently visited the profile page.

A list of the members' albums (?) and social group (?) memberships are also shown.

What are Visitor Messages?

Visitor messages are publicly viewable messages posted on member profile pages. To post a message, click on the 'Visitor messages' tab, and use the form at the top of the section. You will only be able to use certain formatting in these messages, as described underneath the edit box. This message will be viewable by all visitors to this profile, including guest users and search engine robots if the administrator has allowed this. To communicate privately with a member, send a Private Message instead.

Visitor messages can be edited or deleted by site moderators or the member who owns the profile. If you see a visitor message that is not appropriate, you can alert the moderators by clicking on the 'Report' link. The 'View Conversation' link allows you to view all visitor messages between the member and the owner of the profile.

The administrator will probably require you to register in order to use all the features of the forum. Being registered gives you an identity on the board, a fixed username on all messages you post and an online public profile.

Registration is free (unless otherwise specified), and offers an extended range of features, including:

• Posting new threads
• Replying to other peoples' threads
• Editing your posts
• Receiving email notification of replies to posts and threads you specify
• Sending private messages to other members
• Creating albums of pictures and comment on others' pictures
• Adding events to the forum calendar
• Setting up a 'contact list' to quickly see which of your friends are online.

How do I register?

You register by clicking on the 'Register' link near the top of the page. You will be asked to choose a user name, password and enter a valid email address. In addition there will be some other fields to which you will be invited to respond. Some will be mandatory while others are optional. Once this is complete you will either be fully registered, or in some cases you may have to click on a link in an 'activation email' sent to your email address. Once you have done this you will be registered.

Note that entering your email address will not leave you open to 'spam', as you can choose to hide it from other board users. You'll probably be able to allow other registered users to contact you via email, but the system won't display your email address to them unless you give permission.

If you are under the age of 13, the administrator may require that a parent or guardian provide consent before allowing you to complete the registration process. More information about this is available during the registration process.

Can I use RSS to keep up with new posts?

If the administrator has enabled RSS syndication, this lets you view newly created threads in guest-viewable forums without visiting the board.

The feeds are currently provided in two formats, RSS and RSS v2.

Most modern browsers have facilities for reading RSS feeds and will automatically detect the availability of feeds on bulletin board pages.

How do I listen to podcasts?

A podcast is a means of distributing audio files (such as .mp3s) over the internet. They can be played on a wide range of media players and computers. If the board administrator has enabled this function, then you may sometimes see links to podcasts within threads.

Podcasts contained within threads are only accessible using RSS feeds.

What are signatures?

'Signatures' contain information that you want to include at the bottom of all your posts. This might include pictures, links to your site(s), quotes, etc.

What are avatars?

Avatars are small images that people use to identify or distinguish themselves to other forum members. In some cases the administrator will not allow avatars or only allow them for specific members. The administrator can also provide some stock avatars people can use, or they can allow members to upload their own custom avatars from their own computers. These avatars will be displayed as part of the user info in posts, as well as in the public profile.

For more information about avatars, please click here.

What are profile pictures?

Profile Pictures are photos members can upload that will display in their public member profile. This option may or may not be enabled by the administrator.

How do I set signatures, avatars and profile pictures?

You can set and change your signature, avatar and profile picture in the User Control Panel (providing the administrator has made these options available).

For signatures, click on 'Edit Signature' under the 'Settings and Options' area of the navigation bar within the User CP.

To select an existing or upload a new avatar, click on 'Edit Avatar'.

To upload a profile picture, click on 'Edit Profile Picture' in the 'Your Profile' section.

What are smilies?

Smilies are icons that can be used in your posts to express emotions or feelings. You might wish to use these to show that you are happy, sad, joking, or embarrassed. For example, if you are telling a joke or being sarcastic you may wish to add a wink instead of writing 'this is a joke'.

The basic smilies are the same as what you would find on any instant messenger system. They are made up of a combination of characters which often show the basis of the resulting image. For example, :) is converted to a smiley face and :( to a sad face or frown. Tilt your head to the left to see this in action as these consist of two eyes and a mouth either smiling or frowning.

How do I add smilies?

Some smilies can be accessed from the 'New Post' or 'New Thread' pages if your administrator has enabled this function. Clicking them will automatically insert them into your message. You can also type the character combinations for the smilies directly. A full list of the smilies and their character combinations used on this forum can be found here.

On occasions, you may want to prevent the text in your message being converted into smilies. You will see a checkbox which you can select when you make a new post, which will allow you to 'Disable Smilies'.

What is a social group?

A social group is a group of people usually with a particular interest or something else in common. It provides a way of communicating between members as well as sharing photos or other images.

You can get to the list through 'Group Memberships' section on your public profile (?).

The Social Groups list page displays all groups that have been created. You can list the groups by the number of members, messages or pictures, the group name, when the group was created or by the date of the most recent message posted. You can use the controls provided to search for a group.

How do I join a group?

To join a group, click the group title then click 'Join Group'. When you have joined a group, its name will be shown in your public profile. You must be a logged-in, registered member to join groups.

Can I create my own social group?

As a registered member, you can create your own social group (providing the administrator allows this). Go to the groups page and click 'Create A New Group'. Complete the title and description for your group then select the type. There are three types of groups:

• Public - open to everyone. There is no restriction on who can join or who can post messages to it
• Invite Only - require an invitation to be sent to join them. Invitations can only be sent by the group creator or forum moderators and administrators. Invitations are sent by clicking 'Pending &amp; Invited Members' at the bottom of the page for that individual group
• Moderated - open to everyone to join but messages need to be moderated before they will appear. They are moderated by the group creator and the site moderators and administrators

What are subscriptions?

Subscriptions are a way of keeping track of different threads or forums. You can choose how you are notified about updates - for example by having them listed in your User CP and receiving email updates for each one.

How do I subscribe to a thread or forum?

To subscribe to a forum, click the 'Forum Tools' link above the list of threads then select 'Subscribe to Forum'. You will then have the option to choose the subscription mode for this forum. If the forum that you are subscribing to has any child forums (forums within a forum) then your subscription will be extended to these automatically.

To subscribe to a thread, click the 'Thread Tools' link at the top of the list of posts then click 'Subscribe to Thread'. You can then choose the subscription mode that you wish to use for that thread.

What subscription modes are available?

There are a number of different forum subscription modes available.

• No Email Notification - lists the subscription in your User CP only. You do not receive any notifications about new posts or threads in the forum.
• Daily Email Notification - sends one email a day with the new and updated threads in the forum and any sub-forums. If there are no new or updated threads in the forum or its sub-forums then you will not receive an email.
• Weekly Email Notification - sends one email per week in the same way as the Daily Email Notification.

Thread Subscriptions have the same options as forum subscriptions with the following additional option:

• Instant Email Notification - sends an email as soon as a new post is added to the thread. This is not sent for every reply and will only be sent once until you revisit the forums.

How do I manage Subscriptions and Folders?

Thread subscriptions can be sorted into folders for easy management. You can create as many folders as you wish by going to 'Edit Folders' in the 'Subscribed Threads' section of your User CP. To add a new folder, enter the folder name into one of the blank boxes and save the page. To delete a folder, delete the folder name. Editing a folder is done by simply editing the folder name in the list.

You can also manage your individual subscriptions by clicking 'List Subscriptions' under 'Subscribed Threads' in your User CP. Here you can select which subscriptions you wish to manage and delete them, move them to another folder, or change their subscription type.

Forum subscriptions are not managed through the List Subscriptions page and are shown on the User CP page where they contain the option to unsubscribe from the forum.

What are tags?

Tags are a useful way to search for threads with similar subject matter and content. This complements the normal search system, which searches only for certain words or phrases and/or posts by specific users.

To use tags, you add words or phrases to threads to help describe the content. For instance, if the subject matter is 'photography' then you can add the tag 'photography' to the tag list. But you could also add tags like 'digital image', and 'camera' (depending, of course, on the nature of the thread).

This will categorize this thread with all other threads that have matching tags, whether or not they have the word 'photography' in them.

Who adds the tags?

Tags are initially added to threads by the user who started the thread. Other users may also be able to add and remove tags.

How do I use tags?

Tags are displayed in a box near the bottom of a thread page. Clicking on a tag will allow you to view other threads that have the same tag - and which may be related. Clicking on the word 'Tags' in the top of the box will take you to an overview page with a 'tag cloud.'

This cloud allows you to see which tags are the most popular - the larger the word, the more times it has been used on threads within the board. There is also another tag cloud on the advanced search page that shows you the tags that have been searched for (or clicked on) the most.

Can I block posts, emails and messages from specific users?

If there are particular members that bother you and you do not want to see their posts or receive Private Messages and Emails from them, then you can add these members to your 'Ignore List'. There are several ways to do this:

Through your User Control Panel: User CP, Settings &amp; Options, Edit Ignore List. Then, type their name into the empty text box and click 'Okay'.

What if I see something offensive?

You will find 'Report' links in many places throughout the board. These links allow you to alert the board staff to anything which you find to be offensive, objectionable or illegal.

What is so special about images embedded in my posts?

Any images embedded in your posts using the [img] and [gallery] tags will be downloaded by anyone viewing your post. In order to guarantee HTTPS compatibility throughout our website, we have to insist that all content automatically downloaded by a another user's browser be served via a secure HTTPS connection.

How can I check whether my image is served via a secure connection?

You can determine this quite easily by looking closely at the first few letters of your image URL. If your image is served via a secure HTTPS connection, the prefix of your image URL will be https://, whereas an non-secure connection would have http:// as a prefix.

How do you enforce HTTPS compatibility?

Rather than embedding an image served via a non-secure HTTP connection directly, we will tunnel the image through an image proxy. An image proxy is a server that will download the image and then serve the same image via a secure HTTPS connection. For most images, this will only result in a small and mostly unnoticeable delay, since the image proxy first has to download a given image before being able to serve it to you.

My animated GIF image seems frozen, how can I fix this?

This will happen if you attempt to embed an animated image via a non-secure HTTP connection. It is caused by the image proxy mentioned in the previous paragraph, which will only download and show the first frame of an animated GIF image, resulting in a static image.

To overcome this problem, you should make sure that your animated GIF image is served via a secure HTTPS connection allowing it to be embedded in your post directly. You can achieve this for instance by uploading your image to epvpimg.com or any other image hosting site that can serve images via HTTPS.

You might want to make this a habit for all other images as well, as it will eliminate any delays caused by the image proxy.

What can I do to keep my account safe?

Having one's account hijacked is not only a genuinely unpleasant experience, it might also come with some severe consequences such as loss of reputation or even substantial financial damages. The best way to cope with this issue is to try to prevent it from happening in the first place. The following advice should help you achieve this.

Choose a Proper Password

You might think that this one is obvious, right? But you would be surprised of the number of support cases we encounter that indicate otherwise. So here are some things to keep in mind when picking a password:

• Pick a strong password
  Having a strong password means that you pick a password of sufficient length and complexity. The latter means that you try to choose from as large a character pool as possible when setting your password. Only using numbers or lower case letters is a bad practice. Try to spice things up by combining both lower and upper case letter in addition to numbers and even some special characters (e.g. !$%&amp;?'. etc.). Preferably use at least 12 characters for your password. The longer and the more complex your password, the harder it is to guess. You should also avoid patterns or phrases in your password that would make guessing a lot easier.
• Do not use the same password twice
  This guideline is often neglected, because people have a hard time remembering multiple passwords. However, you should always keep in mind that using the same password for multiple online services is a major risk. It can potentially even make very strong passwords crumble, because an attacker gaining access to your login information for just one service is the equivalent of being handed the master key to all of your online identities. You should never blindly trust websites or online services to keep your login credentials absolutely safe (no, not even us; even though we do our very best to ensure that your information is kept safe).
• Consider using a password manager
  There are plenty of password managers available on the Internet, many of which completely free. A password managers usually allows you to store your user names and passwords in some sort of database which is then encrypted with a master key. These progams have one major advantage: since you no longer have to remember your individual passwords, but only your master password, you are free to use particularly strong passwords. It gets even better: you don't even have to come up with these passwords yourself; many password manager allow you to automatically generate passwords using random combinations of characters, resulting in extremely strong passwords, provided you ensure sufficient length and complexity.

Activate Two-Factor Authentication

We've recently added a two-factor authentication (2FA) system that allows you to link your account to your smart device. For more information on this feature, see our forum FAQ. You can enable 2FA via User Control Panel.

Keep your System Nice and Clean

Having your system compromised because of malware is a huge problem, because it can not only jeopardize your account on our platform, but also each and every other account that you are accessing from an infected system. So here is another little list of things to consider to avoid having your system compromised by malware:

• Protect your system with anti-virus software
  This one should go without saying nowadays, but we will mention it anyway for the sake of being thorough. While anti-virus software cannot protect you from any threat, it will sure help with the majority of nasty things you can stumble across on the Internet, thus making it a must have for everyone.
• Use a modern operating system
  While most of you already use the most recent operating system on the market, we still encounter people during support cases that run operating systems that are vastly outdated. Outdated to the point where it is no longer receiving any updates, i.e. any vulnerabilities that are still present will not be fixed.
• Do not download and/or install software from questionable sources
  This is not limited to hacks or cheats but also includes cracked software; basically anything that has been tampered with by some stranger on the Internet. Any such software can potentially contain malicious code that might compromise your system without your knowledge. You should be aware of those risks and preferably avoid having it on your system altogether. However, if you cannot avoid it, make sure to take the necessary precautions and plan for the worst, like for instance running the software in question on a virtual machine etc.
• Be vigilant when dealing with people on the Internet
  If someone is sending you some strange attachments that you did not ask for via email oder other messenger, do not open them. If you are unsure, ask others for help, like for instance our community.
• Be careful when using remote maintenance software
  Remote access tools like TeamViewer can be very convenient when you need some help on your system. However, you should keep in mind that they can also be used to hijack your system. Please make sure that you only grant remote access to your system to people that you know very well. Be extra careful when you encounter people that are mere acquaintances to you who try to talk you into granting them remote access to your system.
• Reinstall your operation system from time to time
  While this might be rather inconvenient to some, it is a good practice to wipe your operating system from time to time and reinstall everything from scratch. This way you can be sure that there is no malicious software running on your system without your knowledge that managed to get past your anti-virus protection. This is also something that you should definitely do once you learn that your system has been infected by malware.

Why should I activate 2FA for my account?

Two-factor authentication allows you to link your account on elitepvpers to your smart device. This means that you will be asked to enter authentication codes in addition to your username and password. These short-lived codes can be generated by an app on the smart device. The benefit of this approach should be quite clear: if anyone somehow manages to get a hold of your username and password, they would also need access to your smart device to generate an authentication code. Only then would they be able to access your account, making it far less likely for an attacker to successfully hijack your account. You can activate 2FA via User Control Panel.

What apps can I use on my smart device?

In order to generate authentication codes on your smart device, you first need to install a suitable app. This app will then be linked to your account during the 2FA activation process by scanning or entering a 24-character so-called shared secret. We developed our 2FA system to be used the Google Authenticator app, so this app will definitely work. However, the same algorithm is also used in many similar apps, allowing you to freely choose the app that you prefer.

Here is a full list of apps that should work with our 2FA:

• Google Authenticator
• Authy
• Microsoft Authenticator
• FreeOTP
• Authenticator Plus

When do I need to enter an authentication code?

If you have 2FA enabled on your account, you will be asked to enter an authentication code on the following occasions:

• Whenever you log in by entering your username and password.
• Whenever your IP address range changes, provided that you enabled the IP range restriction when you last entered an authentication code.
• Whenever you would like to make changes to your account relevant to security. These changes are: disabling 2FA for your account, changing your password, changing your email address, generating new backup codes or an app password.

What do I have to consider when using Tapatalk?

Since Tapatalk does not support 2FA, we were forced to make some changes in order to make sure that Tapatalk cannot be used as a means to bypass our 2FA and hijack an account with just a username and password. To overcome this, we added an app password. Whenever you activate 2FA for your account, we will automatically generate an app password for you. You will have to enter this app password instead of your usual account password to log in via Tapatalk as long as 2FA is active for your account. In addition to that, any attempts of changing your email address or password via Tapatalk will be blocked by our servers while 2FA is activated on your account. You can generate a new app password via User Control Panel.

What if I loose access to my smart device?

If you loose access to your smart device or cannot generate an authentication code for any other reason, you can use one of your backup codes (12 characters, alphanumeric) instead. If this does not work either and you are still unable to access your account, you should contact our support, so that an administrator can disable 2FA on your account after confirming that it is really you.

Anything else I should consider?

You should think about what device you are going to use to link to your account. If possible, use a device that you usually do not use to access our website, like for instance your phone. This way, you can make sure that your username and password and your authentication codes cannot be compromised at the same time, if your smart device were to be hijacked. However, this is very much a worst case scenario; you should still activate 2FA even if you only have one device that you also use to access our website!

What does it mean if a member is marked as Trade Restricted?

The forum staff can restrict a member's access to the trading system if deemed necessary. This might happen if we learn that someone is making dubious and/or illegal offers in any of the The Black Market forums or if it is brought to our attention (via our support forums!) that someone might be involved in some sort of scam.

How long do trade restrictions usually last?

Trade restrictions will last forever unless they are lifted. In most cases, a trade restriction is meant to protect other members while the forum staff can look into a given issue with that member. Once the issue can be resolved or proves to be a mere misunderstanding, the trade restriction will of course be lifted. However, there might also be some cases where a trade restriction will last indefinitely.

So what exactly does a trade restriction do?

Members that have been restricted from trading cannot do any of the following:

• Access or post in any of the forums in The Black Market category, with the exception of the elite*gold Trading forum.
• Receive or send trade requests.
• Any middleman activities.

What about elite*gold?

Members that have been restricted from trading will usually still have access to all elite*gold features, unless their elite*gold balance has also been locked. One of the reasons for this is that there are several means to make elite*gold trades more secure, such as treasures, temporary elite*gold locks after transactions or disputes to lock a given amount of elite*gold indefinitely.

Why CAPTCHAs Fail

CAPTCHA services like reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha, and Cloudflare Turnstile rely on JavaScript, cookies, and connections to third-party domains to verify you're human. When a browser extension or privacy feature blocks any of those pieces, the CAPTCHA can hang, refuse to load, repeatedly cycle through challenges, or simply mark you as suspicious.

Step 1: Disable Ad Blockers for the Site

Ad blockers such as uBlock Origin, AdBlock Plus, AdGuard, or Ghostery often block the tracking scripts that CAPTCHAs depend on. Try the following:

1. Click your ad blocker's icon in the browser toolbar.
2. Choose the option to pause or disable it for the current site.
3. Reload the page and try the CAPTCHA again.

If the CAPTCHA now works, you can usually whitelist the site permanently so you don't have to repeat this step.

Step 2: Turn Off Privacy Extensions

Privacy-focused extensions can also interfere. Common culprits include:

• Privacy Badger
• DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials
• Disconnect
• NoScript
• ClearURLs

Disable these extensions for the site or temporarily turn them off entirely, then reload the page.

Step 3: Lower Brave Shields (Brave Browser)

If you use the Brave browser, its built-in Shields feature is one of the most frequent causes of CAPTCHA failures, because it blocks scripts and fingerprinting that CAPTCHAs rely on by default.

To lower Shields for a site:

1. Click the Brave Shields icon (the lion) in the address bar.
2. Toggle Shields to Down for that site.
3. Reload the page and try the CAPTCHA again.

If you'd prefer to keep most protection on, you can instead set "Trackers &amp; ads blocking" to Standard and "Block fingerprinting" to Standard rather than Aggressive/Strict.

Step 4: Allow Third-Party Cookies and Scripts

Some browsers block third-party cookies by default, which can prevent CAPTCHAs from saving the verification token. Temporarily allow third-party cookies for the site, or add the CAPTCHA provider's domain (for example, google.com, hcaptcha.com, or cloudflare.com) to your cookie exceptions list.

Step 5: Try a Different Browser or Disable Your VPN

If the CAPTCHA still fails after the above steps:

• Disable your VPN or proxy. CAPTCHAs flag IP addresses associated with VPNs, Tor, or data centers as high-risk.
• Switch networks. Try mobile data instead of Wi-Fi (or vice versa) to rule out a flagged IP.
• Try a different browser with no extensions installed to confirm whether an extension is the cause.

Step 6: Clear Cookies and Cache

Stale or corrupted cookies can also break CAPTCHA verification. Clear your browser's cookies and cache for the affected site, then reload and try again.

Still Not Working?

If you've tried all of the above and the CAPTCHA continues to fail, please contact support and include:

• Your browser and version
• A list of any active extensions
• Whether you're using a VPN or proxy
• A screenshot of the error, if possible

This information helps us identify whether the issue is on your side or ours.