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This page explains the different sections of the User Community
pages. It explains how to register, how to read messages, how to
participate in the discussion and how to search for information
in the forums. We hope that this help page simplifies the usage
of the User Community pages. Before you start using these pages,
please have a quick look on the terms and conditions.
Help sections
Frequently Asked Questions
Registration
In order to participate in the discussion on the ESI User Community,
you need to register. This gives you a unique user name for all
your messages. Optionally you can receive automatic emails when
you receive a reply to one of your messages. Registered users can
contact other users directly without writing a public messge.
For registration, you need to click on Register on the menu
on the left. In the form that appears, you need to enter a user
name, your email address (which will never be visible
to anyone else) and password.
After you submit the form by clicking submit registration,
an email will be sent to you with an activation link to activate
your registration. This is needed in order to make sure that your
email address is working. Please note: if you do not activate the
user registration within 48 hours, the user name will be deleted
and is again available for usage of anyone. It is not possible to
write messages before the activation.
Login / Logout
Via Login / Logout on the menu on the left, you can "login"
to the ESI User Community. This sets a cookie
on your system that helps to remember your password and login name.
When you create a new topic, reply
to an existing message or contact other users,
your user name and password will automatically appear on the form
already. This means that you do not have enter your user name and
password manually everytime.
Keep in mind that a "login" is permanent ... this means
that you are still logged in on the same system even if you turn
off the PC and come back a few days later. Because of that, anyone
who has access to your PC could write messages on this forum without
knowing your password but using your user name. Please only login
if you use the same PC regularly and several times for this forum
and if no one else has access to the PC who could use the forum
as well.
The forum allows you to reply to existing messages
or to create new topics even if you are not logged
in. In that case, you have to enter your user name and password
manually. This makes it easy to use the forum even when you access
it from public computers such as in an internet café or if
you are using the computer of a friend.
When you are already logged in, clicking on Login / Logout
allows you to logout again. This will delete the cookie
of the forum.
You can only login if you have the cookie function
enabled on your web browser.
List Recent Topics
If you select Recent Topics on the left or above the message
list table, a list with all the current topics that are discussed
is displayed. Every entry in the list represents one topic or thread.
The latest topic is always moved up to the top of the list. This
also happens when a reply is posted to a specific
message inside a thread. As result, you can
always see which topics are discussed right at the moment as they
will automatically appear on top of the list.
The list itself shows the number of the thread
in the Thread column. If you click on it, all messages for
that topic are displayed on one page. The Topic
column shows the subject of the specific topic. If you click on
it, the topic's first message is displayed. The
list also shows the Name of the author (click on it to show
the profile of the author), the Date the topic was started
and the number of Replies.
On top of the list, you can switch to the list with New
Messages and the Message History. The list
header will also display how many Messages and Topics
are currently stored in the forum database. At the end of list,
you can find the link to create a new topic and
to search for messages.
You can navigate through the different pages of the list with the
links at the end of the page.
List New Messages
If you select New Messages on the left or above the message
list table, a list with all recent messages written inside the forum
is displayed. Every entry in the list represents one single message,
regardless of its thread.
The latest message is always moved up to the top of the list, no
matter if it is the first message of a new topic
or a reply. As result, you can always see all
the latest additions to the forum.
The list itself shows the number of the message in the No.
column. The Topic column shows the subject of the specific
topic. If it starts with 'Re:', the message is a reply to an earlier
message. If you click on it, the message is displayed.
The list also shows the Name of the author (click on it to
show the profile of the author), the Date
the message was written and the number of Hits (which is
the number of views for the specific message).
On top of the list, you can switch to the list with Recent
Topics and the Message History. The list header
will also display how many Messages and Topics are
currently stored in the forum database. At the end of list, you
can find the link to create a new topic and to
search for messages.
You can navigate through the different pages of the list with the
links at the end of the page.
Show Message History
If you select Message History on the left or above the
message list table, a list with all messages of the forum including
all threads is displayed.
You will see a more 'traditional' list with all messages sorted
by the threads they belong to. This list is
very helpful to follow the discussion inside the forum when you
only want to read messages rather than participate by writing
new messages or replies.
The list itself shows the number of the message in the No.
column. The Topic column shows the subject of the specific
topic. If it starts with 'Re:', the message is a reply to an earlier
message - you can see that also via the tree structure that is displayed
inside the list table. If you click on the topic, the message
is displayed. The list also shows the Name of the author
(click on it to show the profile of the author),
the Date the message was written and the number of Hits
(which is the number of views for the specific message).
On top of the list, you can switch to the list with New
Messages and Recent Topics. The list header
will also display how many Messages and Topics are
currently stored in the forum database. At the end of list, you
can find the link to create a new topic and to
search for messages.
You can navigate through the different pages of the list with the
links at the end of the page.
Search Function
After selecting Search on the left or in the lower right
corner of the topic / thread list, a form is
displayed that allows you to search for messages.
In the search form you can enter a text that is used as search
string. You can also select if you want to search inside the user
name, message body or the topic subject.
After you click on the search button, a list with the results
will be displayed, that shows the number of each message that have
been found in the No. column. The Topic column shows
the subject of the specific topic. If it starts with 'Re:', the
message is a reply to an earlier message. If you click on the topic,
the message is displayed. The list also shows the
Name of the author (click on it to show the
profile of the author), the Date the message was written
and the number of Hits (which is the number of views for
the specific message). One line below, a short section of the message
that was found is displayed in the Message Body section.
You can navigate through the different pages with search results
(if the list is longer than one page) with the links below the table.
Create new topic
In order to create a new topic, you click on New Topic in
the lower right corner of the topic / thread
list.
In the form that appears, you can enter the subject of your
new message and the main body. Please always use a subject
that is describing the issue you want to discuss as detailed as
possible.
You need to enter your user name and password. You
can add links or an image
to your message. With the [quote] and
[/quote] tags you can manually enter
text that should be highlighted in a box. You can also use the add
quote button to do that. The topic will be created once you
click on the create new topic button.
Display message
To display a message, simply click on its entry in the topic /
thread list in the Topic column. The
message will be displayed.
Reply to a message
In order to reply to a message, you need to open (and read) it
first. Then click on Reply in the lower right corner of the
message. A new page will open that is displaying the message again
(this allows you to cut & paste sections from it if you want
to quote it or simply to read the message again while you write
your reply). Under the message, a form will appear that you can
use to reply.
For a reply, you need to enter the body of your message and your
user name and password. With the quote all
button, the complete previous message will be added to your text
to be quoted (i.e. so that it will be shown in a special box). You
can also add links or an image.
With the [quote] and [/quote]
tags you can manually enter text that should be quoted. You can
also use the add quote button to do that. Once you wrote
your reply, click post reply to save your message into the
forum database.
Edit a message
To edit a message, you need to open (and read) it first. Then click
on Edit in the lower right corner of the message. You can
only edit messages that you wrote yourself.
You need to enter your user name and the password
that you used when the original message was written. Then click
edit message. A new form will appear that allows you to make
any changes to the message. To confirm them, click change message.
If you change a message, a small notification will be placed at
the end of it.
Create your own profile
You can create your own profile; the profile will be displayed
when clicking on your user name in a message you wrote. You can
use the profile to provide information about yourself, e.g. a link
to your website, to the public.
In order to change your profile, you need to be logged
in. Click on My Profile (menu on the left) to access
your profile information.
In the profile, you can enter your real name, the location
where you are living, a website url and a comment
(which could be a longer text). All the information is optional.
At the same time you can change your email address. Your
current address will be displayed and can be changed. Note that
your email address will never be shown to others on the forum pages.
Lastly you can change the reply notification: enable it if
you want to receive an automatic email when someone responds directly
to a message you wrote in the forum (default).
Click on the change profile button when you are done with
your changes. Note: the profile can only be changed when your webbrowser
allows cookies.
Password forgotten?
If you forgot your password, it is possible to receive an email
that contains your current password. To send that email to your
registered email address, go to My Profile (menu on the left)
and then click on the Password link in the text.
In the form that appears (upper section of the page), you need to
enter your user user name and your email address.
Then click on send email and the email with your password
will be sent.
Note that you must use the email address that has been used for
registration (unless you changed it via your profile)
for verification. It is not possible to use a different email address,
or it would be possible for someone else to receive your password.
Change password
To change your password, go to My Profile (menu on the left)
and then click on the Password link in the text.
In the form that appears (lower section of the page), you need to
enter your user name, your old password and the new
password (twice). Then click on change password - that's
it.
Note that you must login again if you changed
your password and if you have been logged in before.
Contact user / User profile
You can contact other users by sending them emails. The email addresses
of other users are never visible anywhere on the forum (that is
good to know because of major potential problems with spam mails).
However, the user profile page contains a form that can be used
to send emails.
To access a user profile, simply click on the user name in the list
with recent topics or on the page with the message
itself. If the user has been registered, his profile will be
displayed. The user profile itself shows the information the user
has chosen to display to others, incl. his real name, where he is
from, a link to his website and some comments (all optional). There
are also links to all messages written by the user. This allows
you to see what the user wrote on the different forums in the past.
To send an email to the user, you need to enter a subject
(will be used as subject for the email), the message itself
(which will be the body of the email) and your user name
and password for authentification. If you have logged
in before, your user name and password will be already displayed
in the form. The email that will be sent will have your email address
as sender address (From) and the email address of the user you are
contacting as receiver address (To). Note: once the email has been
sent, the receiver will see your own email address (in case he needs
to reply). If you are unsure how this works, simply open your own
profile, and send an email to yourself to test this feature.
Mails that are sent with this function are not stored anywhere in
the forum database and the content is not accessible by the public.
Do I need to register to participate?
Yes. Unfortunatly we had problems with automated spam messages
that have been added as anonymous posts to our forum previously.
Because of that we are now allowing only registered users to create
new topics new threads or to reply.
What is a "cookie"?
A cookie is a small file that will be stored on your local hard
disk. To use cookies, the function must be enabled by your web browser.
Please check the help / documentation for your webbrowser to get
more information about cookies. This forum uses cookies for the
login function.
What is a "thread"?
This forum is different compared to many other popular web-based
discussion forums. The main difference is that replies to a message
/ topic don't appear all on one single page. This forum allows users
to post replies for every individual message and not only under
the last / latest entry. That generates a tree structure that is
displayed under each message or in the Message History.
This tree structure is called "thread". A thread contains
the complete discussion to one single topic. Threads
have -as the messages themselves- individual numbers. If you refer
other users to a different discussion, you can use the thread number
(which is displayed in the list of recent topics).
Can I add links to other pages in messages?
Yes you can! Normal html code cannot be placed inside a message
on this forum and it will be filtered out for security. However,
you can place links into your messages using special tags or codes.
There are four different options for links:
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[url]www.esi-audio.com[/url]
This will place a link to http://www.esi-audio.com into your
message. The page will open in a new browser window. |
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[url=http://www.esi-audio.com]ESI
Audiotechnik GmbH[/url]
This will place a link to http://www.esi-audio.com into your
message for clicking on 'ESI Audiotechnik GmbH'. The page will
open in a new browser window. |
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[local]www.audiotrak.net[/local]
This will place a link to http://www.audiotrak.net into your
message. The page will open in the current browser window. |
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[local=http://www.audiotrak.net]AUDIOTRAK
website[/url]
This will place a link to http://www.audiotrak.net into your
message for clicking on 'AUDIOTRAK website'. The page will open
on the current browser window. |
Typically you would use [url] and [/url]
when you want to link to an external website. If you want to link
to a different page from the ESI forum site or the ESI website, you
would prefer [local] and [/local].
You cannot mix [url] and [local]
tags within each other. The tag at the end needs to be [/url]
(or [/local]). To link to other messages
in the same forum, check the next FAQ question.
Can I refer to other messages?
Yes you can! As with links (check the previous
FAQ question), you can use special tags or codes to refer readers
of your message directly to another message. This will create a
clickable link. You only need to know the number of the message
(which is displayed in the list with new messages
and the message history):
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[msg=21]Check
this message[/msg]
This will place a link to message number 21 into your message
for clicking on 'Check this message'. |
Note that you cannot link to messages in other forums (e.g. to
the AUDIOTRAK Forum when you write a message in the ESI Forum).
If you want to do that, you can use the [local]
and [/local] tags as explained in the
previous FAQ section. The tag at the end must
be [/msg].
Can I use HTML code or pictures in messages?
It is not possible to use any HTML code in messages. However, you
can place links to other websites or to
other messages using special code tags in your messages, as
explained above. You can also use bold or italic:
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[i]Text
in Italic[/i]
This will write Text in Italic. |
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[i]Bold
Text[/i]
This will write Bold Text. |
If you want to use pictures, you can add them to the message by
using the following syntax:
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[img]http://www.mywebsite.url/mypicture.gif[/img]
This will show the file mypicture.gif from www.mywebsite.url
inside the message. |
Note that the picture must be available via another webspace, i.e.
you cannot upload the actual picture to our website, you can only
refer to it.
How can I change my user name?
Your user name cannot be changed. You need to re-register if you
want to have a different user name. However, we recommend to be
registered on the forum only once.
How can I change my password?
Go to My Profile (menu on the left) -> Password
as explained here.
How can I change my email address?
Go to My Profile (menu on the left) and change the email
address there. Note that you must be logged in
to change your profile information.
What is a Moderator?
Users that are labeled as "Moderator" are product specialists
from ESI and ESI partners that are actively participating in the
discussion.
Can I edit or delete my messages?
You can edit your messages. How this is done is explained here.
You can also delete them via the apropiate link on each message.
However, you can only delete your messages if no replies have been
posted.
Can I quote other users when I reply?
Yes, you can add quotes from other users when you write a reply.
You can also write texts shown as quotes (i.e. if you want to quote
something from another website or email or highlight in a special
way) with the [quote] and [/quote]
tags. How this is done is explained here.
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