The Myeloma Beacon
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Frequently Asked Questions

Myeloma Beacon Forum

What is The Myeloma Beacon Forum?
The Myeloma Beacon Forum provides an opportunity for multiple myeloma patients, caregivers, and others affected by the disease to discuss issues related to the disease.
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Does it cost anything to use this forum?
No, The Myeloma Beacon Forum is free for all users.
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How do I contact the forum administrators?
To contact forum administrators, email admin@myelomabeacon.org or send a private message to the Beacon Staff.
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What is the privacy policy?
Click here to read more about our privacy policy.
The short version of the policy is that your registration information will only be used to allow you to use the forum. It will not be used by The Beacon for any other purpose, nor will the information be provided to any third party except in rare circumstances where The Beacon is required to do so by law.
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What are the basic forum definitions?
Below are a few commonly used terms in the forum:
Board Index .......................... the main home page for the forum
Board .....................................another word for forum; also referred to as discussion board
Forum .................................... a collection of topics
Topic (or Thread) ................... a group of posts
Post .................................... a message / comment left by a user
User Control Panel .............. the area where personal settings for registered users can be adjusted
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Login and Registration Issues

Do I need to register to use the forum?
No, you do not need to register in order to read existing postings and discussions. However, you do need to register if you wish to post in the forum. Please note, however, that due to financial constraints that limit our ability to manage the forum appropriately, registration to the forum currently is closed.
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Why should I register?
Registration makes it possible for you to post in the forum. You also can save posts, create a profile, and select (or upload) a custom avatar. It only takes a few moments to register.
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How do I register?
Go to the forum registration page and follow the registration steps. Please note, however, that due to financial constraints that limit our ability to manage the forum appropriately, registration to the forum currently is closed.
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How do I log in and out?
Go to the login page and enter in your user name and password. You can also login from the forum index page.
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What should I do if I cannot login?
Ensure your username and password are correct. If they are, please contact the forum administrators at (admin@myelomabeacon.org) for further assistance.
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How do I stay logged in automatically?
If you do not check the "Log me in automatically" box when you login, the forum 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 "Log me in automatically" during login. This is not recommended if you access the board from a shared computer (e.g., library, internet cafe).
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How do I prevent my username appearing in the online user listings?
Within your User Control Panel, under Board preferences, you will find the option "Hide your online status." Enable this option with "Yes," and you will only appear online to the administrators, moderators, and yourself. You will be counted as a hidden user.
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What do I do if I lost my password?
Your password cannot be retrieved, but it can easily be reset. Visit the login page and click I forgot my password. Follow the instructions, and you should be able to log in again shortly.
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User Preferences and settings

How do I change my settings?
You must be a registered user to change you settings. If you are registered, you can go to the User Control Panel to change your settings and preferences; a link can usually be found at the top of board pages.
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How do I change the time setting?
It is possible the time displayed is from a different timezone than the the one you are in. If this is the case, go to the User Control Panel and change your 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.
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How do I change the image displayed next to my username?
The image that is displayed next to each of your posts is known as an "avatar" and is generally unique or personal to each user. If you are a registered user, you can change your avatar by going to the User Control Panel. Click on the Profile tab, and then click on Edit avatar on the left-side menu. From the Edit Avatar page, you can upload your own image (with maximum dimensions of 120px by 120px), select an image from the gallery, or use your Gravatar icon, if you have one.
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What is an avatar?
An avatar is an image that may be personalized, and is displayed in the user profile and next to each of the users’ posts. Users can change their avatar from the User Control Panel.
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What is a gravatar?
Gravatar is a 3rd-party service for providing avatars (see above). Users can register for an account based on their email address at www.gravatar.com and upload an avatar to be associated with the account. For blogs and Web sites that support Gravatar, users who post comments with their email addresses will have their avatars automatically appear.
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Posting Issues

How do I post a reply to an existing topic?
Click the Post Reply button. You will be taken to the Post-A-Reply page. Type your comments or questions. Click Preview to see how your post will look. Click Submit to post the message to the forum.
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How do I post a new topic?
To post a new topic, select an appropriate forum (category) on the board index. Within the specific forum, click on the "New Topic" button. Forums dedicated to site announcements, such as the Welcome Message, do not allow users to add new topics.
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What is the difference between "Post Reply" and "Quote"?
Use Quote when replying to a specific previous post. The text of the "quoted" post will be repeated in your post. Parts of the quote can be deleted if you are replying to a specific part of a post. Otherwise, or if in doubt, use Post reply.
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How do I edit or delete a post?
You can edit or delete your own posts only if you are a registered user. You cannot edit or delete a post once someone has replied to your post. Once someone replies to your post, you will find a small piece of text below your post that lists the number of times you edited it along with the date and time. This will not appear if a moderator or administrator edited the post, though you may find a note explaining why the post was edited.
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How can I report posts to a moderator?
For posts that you would like to call to the attention of one of the moderators, you can click on the button that looks like an exclamation point, which is located on the upper right-hand corner of the post you wish to report. Clicking this will walk you through the steps necessary to report the post. Alternatively, you can send an e-mail to the forum administrator at admin@myelomabeacon.org; please include a link to the post you wish to report.
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Attachments

What attachments are allowed on this board?
The following file types may be attached to forum posts:
  • Images (gif, jpeg, jpg, png, tga, tif, tiff)
  • Archive (7z, ace, bz2, gtar, gz, rar, tar, tgz, zip)
  • Text (csv, txt, xml)
  • Document (doc, docm, docx, pdf, ppt, pptm, pptx, rtf, xls)
  • Media (ram, rm, wma, wmv, swf, m4a, m4v, mov, mp4, qt, mp3, mpeg, mpg, ogg, ogm)
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How do I add an attachment?
Users must be registered and logged in to attach files to their forum posts. To attach a file, click on the Upload attachment tab at the bottom of the posting form, then click Browse to select the file, and "Add the file" to submit the attachment. Comments about the attachment may be added using File Comment form. See the above list for allowed file types.
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How do I find my attachments?
To find your list of attachments that you have uploaded, go to your User Control Panel and follow the links to the attachments section.
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Formatting and Topic Types

Can I use HTML?
No. It is not possible to post HTML on this board and have it rendered as HTML. Most formatting which can be carried out using HTML can be applied using the WYSIWYG editor instead.
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What are Smilies?
Smilies, or Emoticons, are small images which can be used to express a feeling using a short code, e.g. :) denotes happy, while :( denotes sad. The full list of emoticons can be seen in the posting form. Try not to overuse smilies, however, as they can quickly render a post unreadable.
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Can I post images?
Yes, images can be shown in your posts. You can upload the image to the board, or you can link to an image stored on a publicly accessible Web server, for example http://www.example.com/my-picture.gif. Please do not post pictures of lab results, however. It is better to cut and paste the text of lab results into postings so that future forum participants can more easily find the results.
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Can I post videos?
Not as an upload, and we generally discourage links to videos unless they are absolutely necessary.
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What are global announcements?
Global announcements appear at the top of every forum and within your User Control Panel and contain important information from the forum administrators, regarding the status of the forum. We encourage you to read them whenever possible.
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What are announcements?
Announcements appear at the top of every page in the forum to which they are posted. They contain important information for the forum you are currently reading..
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What are sticky topics?
Sticky topics within a forum appear on the first page of that forum below announcements. They are often quite important, so we encourage you to read them whenever possible.
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What are locked topics?
Locked topics are topics where users can no longer reply.
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Searching the Forums

How can I search a forum or forums?
Enter a search term in the search box located on the index, forum, or topic pages. Advanced search can be accessed by clicking the "Advanced search" link, which is available on all pages on the forum.
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What is the best way to perform searches?
Use just one or two keywords in your search, such as "neuropathy", "thalidomide", "kappa", or "biopsy". The forum’s search capability is not as powerful as the major Internet search engines. It does not understand phrases like "What is the best way to treat neuropathy". It just looks for keywords, and it usually searches only topic titles, not all forum posts (but you can use the Advanced Search feature to search all posts).
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Why does my search return no results?
Your search may have included common terms that are not indexed by the forum’s search engine. Try to use more specific search words, and also check out the options available within "Advanced search."
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Why does my search return a blank page?
It is possible your search returned too many results for the Web server to handle. Use "Advanced search," and use more specific search terms to narrow the results down.
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How can I find my own posts and topics?
Your own posts can be retrieved either by clicking the "Search user’s posts" within the User Control Panel or via your own profile page. To search for your topics, use the "Advanced search" page.
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Topic Subscriptions and Bookmarks

What is the difference between bookmarking and subscribing?
Bookmarking in the forum is like bookmarking in your Web browser. You are not alerted when there is an update, but you can come back to the topic later. Subscribing, however, will notify you by email or private messaging when there is an update to the topic or forum on the board.
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How do I subscribe to specific forums or topics?
To subscribe to a specific forum, click the "Subscribe forum" link upon entering the forum. To subscribe to a topic, reply to the topic with the subscribe checkbox checked or click the "Subscribe topic" link within the topic itself.
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How do I remove my subscriptions?
To remove your subscriptions, go to your User Control Panel and follow the links to your subscriptions.
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Private Messaging

What is private messaging?
A personal message or private message, often shortened to PM, is like an e-mail sent from one user to another user inside the forum. Users must be logged in to send and receive messages, and can access messages from the User Control Panel on the Private messages tab.
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Why can't I send private messages?
Private messaging is available only to a limited number of long-time forum members.
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How do I block private messages?
You can block a single user, multiple users, or all users from sending you private messages by using message rules and general settings within your User Control Panel. If you are receiving abusive private messages from a particular user, contact a forum administrator; they have the power to prevent a user from sending private messages.
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How do I report spam or abusive private messages or emails from someone on this forum?
The e-mail form feature of this board includes safeguards to track users who send spam or abusive e-mails. Send an e-mail to the forum’s administrators at admin@myelomabeacon.org, with a full copy of the e-mail you received. Please be sure to include the header of the email because it contains important details of the user who sent the e-mail. The forum administrator can then take action.
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