Frequently Asked Questions

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Here we will try to help you find the answers to your most frequently asked questions about how this board works.

To begin with please note that you can find the answers in our FAQ link in our top toolbar for easy use.

If you have searched our FAQ's and did not find the answer to your question please fill our our online submission form: ASK A QUESTION

User Maintenance:

• Q: Why Should I Register?
• Q: Does This Forum Use Cookies?
• Q: How Do I Clean My Cookies?
• Q: How Can I Change The Information In My Profile?
• Q: What Is The Signature For?
• Q: What links are allowed or not allowed in my signature?
  
• Q: I Lost My Password, What Can I do?
• Q: How Do I Change My Username?
• Q: How Do I Add A Custom Status To My Profile?
• Q: How Do I Get A Picture Next To My Username?
• Q: What Are The Buddy And Ignore Lists?
• Q: How Do I Sign Up For The Hot Coupon World Newsletters?

General Forum Useage:

• Q: Can I Search The Forums?
• Q: Can I Send Email to Other Members?
• Q: What Is Private Messaging?
• Q: How Do I Use The Member List?
• Q: How Do I Use The Calendar?
• Q: What Are Announcements?
• Q: How Do I Rate A Thread?
• Q: What Is Reputation (Reps)? (Video)
• Q: What Are Referrals?
• Q: Why Can't I Post In Certain Forums?
  
• Q: What Are The Various Thead Display Options?
• Q: Where Can I Find The RSS Feed?
• Q: What Is The Event Reminder?
• Q: Why Are There Ads On The Site?
• Q: What do I do if there is an advertisement on the site that I feel is inappropriate or obnoxious?
• Q: How Do I Remove The Ads?
• Q: How Do I Use The Flashchat?
• Q: How Do I Use The Coupon Database?
• Q: What Is The Coupon Generator?
• Q: Why Am I Getting An Error Message?
• Q: What Are User Ranks? (Titles/Bubbles Under Your Username)
• Q: What Are Moderators?
• Q: How Do I Reply To A Private Message?
• Q: What Does "Non-Participant Mean?
• Q: What Is A Wiki?
• Q. How Do I Add A Wiki To A Thread?
• Q: How Do I Edit And Add To An Existing Wiki?
  

Reading and Posting Messages:

• Q. How Do I Make A New Thread?
• Q: How Do I Make A Post?
• Q: Are There Any Special Codes/Tags I Can Use To Format My Posts?
• Q: How Do I Quote Someone Else's Post When In A Discussion Thread?
• Q: What Is Email Notification?
• Q: What Are Smilies?
• Q: What Are Code Buttons And Clickable Smilies?
• Q: How Do I Create And Vote In Polls?
• Q: What Are Attachments?
• Q: What Are Post Icons?
• Q: Can I Edit My Own Posts?
• Q: Why Have Some Of The Words In My Post Been Blanked?
• Q: How Do I Add A Picture To My Post?
• Q: How Do I Create A Hyperlink In My Post?
• Q: What Do The Abbreviations Used Mean?
• Q: What Does Bumping Mean?

Trading:

• Q: Why Can't I Post In The Trading Forums?
• Q: What Is The Trader In Training User Group?
• Q: What Is Feedback?
• Q: Why Can't I Leave Feedback From A Trade?

Hotcouponworld Member Blogs:

• Q: What Are Blogs?
• Q: What Is The Blog Sidebar?
• Q: How Do I Post New Entries?
• Q: Can I Categorize My Entries?
• Q: What Are The Blog Entry Options?

[queenofthehivemomof5]

Q: Why Should I Register

Registering to Hot Coupon World enables you to do other things besides just reading. In order to fully utilize the abilities of this forum we require that you register as a member. Registration is free, and allows you to do the following:

• 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
• Send emails to other members
• Use the coupon database
• Use the coupon generator

To register, you will need to specify a username and password, and a valid email address. Entering your email address will not leave you open to 'spam', as you can choose to hide your email address, and messages sent to you via email do not reveal your address to the sender in any case. (To verify this, you can try sending an email message to another user.)

A valid email address is required and should the administrators find out that the email address you provided is not valid your account will be either banned or deleted.

To register an account please follow the following link:

REGISTER NOW!

When registering you will be asked to choose a username. This is your online screen name that is visible to other members. We strongly suggest that you do not use your real name or your email address for online safety reasons.

[queenofthehivemomof5]

Q: Does This Forum Use Cookies?

The use of cookies on this forum is optional, but may enhance your experience of the site. Cookies are used to enable functions such as showing whether or not a thread or forum you are viewing has new posts since your last visit, or to automatically log you back in when you return to the site after being away for a while. When you register, you will be given the option to 'Automatically login when you return to the site'. This will store your username and password in a cookie, stored 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 do not recommend that you enable this. This forum also gives you the option to use a cookie to track your current session, ensuring that you remain logged-on while browsing the site. If you choose not to store this information in a cookie, the session data will be sent through each link you click. Choosing not to use a cookie may cause problems if your computer's connection to the Internet uses a proxy-server and you share links with other users behind the same proxy. If in doubt, we recommend that you select 'yes' to enable the cookie. After you have registered, you may alter your cookie options at any time by changing the settings on this page.

[queenofthehivemomof5]

Q: How Do I Clean My Cookies?

You may clear all your cookies by clicking HERE. 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:

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.

In Mozilla Firefox:

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.

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

[queenofthehivemomof5]

Q: How Can I Change The Information In My Profile?

It is your responsibility to keep the information in your profile up to date. You should especially ensure that your email address is kept current. You can alter any of the fields in your profile, except your username. Once you have registered your username, it becomes yours for life. In extreme circumstances, you may request that the administrator change your username, but he or she will require a very good reason to do so, such as privacy reasons.

To edit your profile, click HERE

[queenofthehivemomof5]

Q: What Is The Signature For?

After you have registered, you may set your signature. This is a piece of text that you would like to be inserted at the end of all your posts, a little like having headed note paper.

If the administrator has enabled signatures, then you will have the option to include your signature on any posts you make. If you have specified a signature, then the forum will automatically append your signature to any messages you post. You can disable signatures on a per-post basis by un-ticking the 'Show Signature' checkbox when you compose your message.

You may turn the signature on and off on posts you have already made by editing the post and altering the state of the 'Show Signature' option.

You can set your signature by editing your profile.

[queenofthehivemomof5]

Q: I Lost My Password, What Can I do?

If you forget your password, you can click on the 'Forgotten Your Password' link on any page that requires you to fill in your password.

This will bring up a page where you should enter your registered email address, and an email will be sent to that address instantly, with instructions for resetting your password.

[queenofthehivemomof5]

Q: How Do I Get A Picture Next To My Username?


These small images are called avatars. They are displayed below your username on all posts that you make. There are two kinds of avatars: those provided by the administrator and those that you upload yourself.

The administration has provided a set of avatars for members to use. You may also upload your own avatar to use. You must have a post count of 1 in order to select or upload an avatar.

For more information about avatars, click HERE.

[queenofthehivemomof5]

Q: What Are The Buddy And Ignore Lists?

The buddy list is used to keep track of the friends you have made on this forum. By going to your "Open Buddy List" in "Quick Links" menu of the navbar, you'll be able to see which of your friends are currently online and send them a private message. Adding people to your buddy list also allows you to send private messages to multiple forum members at the same time. You may add any member of the forums to your buddy list by viewing their profile or by going to "Buddy / Ignore Lists" in your "User CP".

Ignore lists are used for those people whose messages you wish not to read. By adding someone to your ignore list, those messages posted by these individuals will be hidden when you read a thread.

[queenofthehivemomof5]

Q: Can I Search The Forums?

You can search for posts based on username, word(s) in the post or just in the subject, by date, and only in particular forums.
To access the search feature, click on the "search" link at the top of most pages.

There are several options for searching.

The most specific is the "Search This Thread" function that is at the top of every thread. Use this when you are trying to find info on (for example) whether the CVS P&G deal is unlimited for the week. Search "unlimited" in the thread dated for this week, and all relevant posts in the thread will come up.

Next is the "Search This Forum" function. This will search all threads in the forum for the keyword(s) that you enter. Good for when you can't remember which week the Snuggle was on sale.

Last, and broadest, is the "Search Forums" in the top toolbar. This is going to return the largest number of results from ALL forums. This is useful if you can't remember in which forum you saw a particular thread, or BEFORE POSTING a deal. An example here might be: you want to post something in freebies that turns out to be a special promo or MIR. It has already been posted in the appropriate forum, so there is no need to repost.

For very specific searches, you can click on the Search button in the top toolbar and then Advanced Search. This allows you many other options, including a search by Member Name.

For those who say "I searched, but didn't see my answer": please scroll to the bottom of your results page-- there may be more than one page of results, and the thread that you are looking for is at the top of the second page!

If you search for something, and the search says the words are too common, try thinking of another word from the post that is less common.

One recent example is Confirm Clearly pregnancy tests. When you do a basic search on Confirm Clearly, it comes up with a million posts for CONFIRM, and says that the word CLEARLY is too common. Search "Confirm Pregnancy", and the appropriate threads come up.


You can search any forum that you have permission to search - you will not be allowed to search through private forums unless the administrator has given you the necessary security rights to do so.