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Frequently Asked Questions |
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Why didn't my message show up?In most cases, a user's computer (the "client") is not connected directly to the computer with the web pages (the "server") that the user is looking for - there are several other computers in-between that form a chain. These computers keep copies of web pages passed out by the server and, when the client asks for one of those pages, the nearest computer in the chain will send the copy to the client instead. Not only is this faster from the client's point of view, it also reduces the amount of information traffic that flows across the Internet. However, when a the client submits a form, that information has to go right to back to the server. When a message is submitted to a NetConnect forum, a new web page is created and the forum's list of messages is updated. When a client asks to see the new list, though, the nearest computer in the chain usually passes back a copy of the previous list. Sometimes there can be a delay of up to five minutes before the intermediate computers discover that there's a new list on the server. Be patient. If your message has been accepted by the server then it will become visible in a minute or two. Why did my message disappear after it had shown up?The most likely answer is that it didn't comply with NetConnect's Messaging Guidelines. Such messages are subject to being edited, moved or deleted. It's also possible, though much less likely, that there was a bug in the message board software that caused your message to vanish. Can I use HTML tags anywhere in my posts?
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) tags are
the special codes that tell web browsers how to display information on
a web page. These tags can do anything from changing how text appears
(e.g. bold, italics, underlined and
Now, if a posting with embedded HTML tags was displayed then the web browser would follow those tags as well. The advantage is that the message can be made more visually appealing and/or functional, but only if the tags were properly specified; if they aren't then, at best, the page may not display correctly, and, at worst, a malicious poster could craft a message that (for example) could steal e-mail addresses from anyone who posted a response. Therefore, since the participants in the forums are presumed mostly to know little or nothing about HTML tags anyway, if an HTML tag is detected in any part of a posting then it is converted to a literal format before it is displayed. In other words, you can put HTML tags anywhere in your posting, but they will be displayed exactly as you entered them. Where can I get the software for NetConnect's message board system?The original WWWBoard 2.0 software was written in Perl and was created by Matt Wright. It's free to anyone who wishes to use it, and you can get it (as well as other CGI packages) from https://www.scriptarchive.com/. The original software was extensively modified for NetConnect. The modified software is not currently available for distribution to the public, though. |