Frequently Asked Questions

Login and Registration Issues: Why can’t I login?; Why do I get logged off automatically?; I’ve lost my password!; I’ve lost my password AND I have no access to my registered email; I registered but cannot login!; How do I delete my account?

User Preferences and settings: How do I change my settings?; How do I change my username?; How do I change my email address?; How do I change my password?; How do I mark which hills I have climbed?; The times are not correct!; How do I show an image along with my username?

Posting Issues: How do I post a topic in a forum?; How do I edit or delete a post?; How do I create a poll?; Why can’t I add more poll options?; How do I edit or delete a poll?; How can I report posts to a moderator?; What is the “Save” button for in topic posting?

Formatting and Topic Types: What is BBCode?; Can I use HTML?; What are Smilies?; How do I post images and photos in my reports?; How do I include a map in my reports?

User Levels and Groups: What are Administrators?; What are Moderators?

Private Messaging: I keep getting unwanted private messages!

Searching the Forums: How can I search a forum or forums?; Why does my search return no results?; Why does my search return a blank page!?; How do I search for members?; How can I find my own posts and topics?

Topic Subscription: How do I subscribe to specific forums or topics?; How do I remove my subscriptions?

Attachments: What attachments are allowed on this board?; How do I find all my attachments?

Login and Registration Issues

Why can’t I login?: First, ensure your username and password are correct. If you have forgotten your password, you can request a new one using your username and email address. Please note that the site staff do not have access to user passwords.; Top

Why do I get logged off automatically?: If you do not check the Log me in automatically box when you login, the board 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 during login. This is not recommended if you access the board from a shared computer, e.g. library, internet cafe, university computer lab, etc.; Top

I’ve lost my password!: Don’t panic! While your password cannot be retrieved, it can easily be reset. Visit the login page and click I’ve forgotten my password. Follow the instructions and you can get a new password sent to your registered email address.; Top

I’ve lost my password AND I have no access to my registered email: If you change your email address and can no longer access your old one, and forget to update your account with your new one, and then also forget your password, you will no longer be able to access your account on Walkhighlands. This is because we hold no other personal information that can identify you. As we are bound by data protection laws, we cannot grant access to old user accounts to people who we cannot identify by either sending them an email or requesting their password. So it is essential to keep your email address upto date, particularly if you tend to forget passwords.; Top

I registered but cannot login!: First, check your username and password. When you register, you will receive an email containing a link which you need to click on to activate your account. If you did not receive an e-mail, you may have provided an incorrect e-mail address or the e-mail may have been picked up by your spam filer.; Top

How do I delete my account?: You can unsubscribe from our email newsletter at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of each newsletter.

All Walkhighlands users have the ability to edit their walk reports (but not discussion posts) at any time. You can remove the text and photos in your reports, or make the reports private, by editing them. You will not be able to do this if your account is closed, so if you wish to leave Walkhighlands we recommend deleting your walk reports if you wish to do so and then simply ceasing to use it. Walkhighlands does not sell any data, and has a policy of gathering no personal data that is not needed to function. See our privacy policy link at the bottom of every page.

If you have made posts on the discussion forum, then to preserve the integrity of public discussions and enable us to continue to detect spammers and abuse, whilst your user account can be deleted on request, any posts made through it will remain. This is done on the basis of the legitimate interest of maintaining the integrity of online discussions, and to enable us to be able to keep spammers and abuse off the site.

You can request any personal data held by your consent to be deleted by email to editor@walkhighlands.co.uk. As described above, this will remove your Walkhighlands account but still retain forum posts (required under legitimate interest) and records of having subscribed and unsubscribed (required legally). You will lose the ability to edit reports. Note that following an account deletion, you are not permitted to open another Walkhighlands account in future.; Top

User Preferences and settings

How do I change my settings?: If you are a registered user, you can access your account settings via the drop down menu from your username at the top of the screen. This enables you to change all your account settings.; Top

How do I change my username?: Usernames, once chosen, are fixed and cannot be changed.; Top

How do I change my email address?: Go to account settings from the drop down menu at the top of the screen, then choose the profile tab, then edit account settings. This lets you change your email address.; Top

How do I change my password?: Go to account settings from the drop down menu at the top of the screen, then choose the profile tab, then edit account settings. This lets you change your password.; Top

How do I mark which hills I have climbed?: You can access your hill maps using the top down from your username at the top left corner. Each map has a link to Update Hills Climbed that enables you to mark hills climbed in that category, divided by region. You can also mark hills climbed individually by clicking the box on the Walkhighlands page for that hill.; Top

The times are not correct!: It is possible the time displayed is from a timezone different from the one you are in. If this is the case, visit your 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.; Top

How do I show an image along with my username?: The image next to your username is known as an avatar and is generally unique or personal to each user. You can upload an avatar by going to the Account settings from the top drop down menu, choose the profile tab and then edit avatar. You need an image of the correct size - 90 pixels square - or upload will not be allowed.; Top

Posting Issues

How do I post a topic in a forum?: To post a new topic in a forum, click the relevant button on either the forum or topic screens. You may need to register before you can post a message. A list of your permissions in each forum is available at the bottom of the forum and topic screens. Example: You can post new topics, You can vote in polls, etc.; Top

How do I edit or delete a post?: You can only edit or delete your own posts. Please note that users cannot delete a post once someone has replied, to preserve the integrity of the discussion. Walk reports can be edited at any time, but there is a time limit of 10 minutes to edit your discussion posts to correct typos etc.; Top

How do I create a poll?: When posting a new topic or editing the first post of a topic, click the “Poll creation” tab below the main posting form; if you cannot see this, you do not have appropriate permissions to create polls. Enter a title and at least two options in the appropriate fields, making sure each option is on a separate line in the textarea. You can also set the number of options users may select during voting under “Options per user”, a time limit in days for the poll (0 for infinite duration) and lastly the option to allow users to amend their votes.; Top

Why can’t I add more poll options?: The limit for poll options is set by the board administrator. If you feel you need to add more options to your poll than the allowed amount, contact the board administrator.; Top

How do I edit or delete a poll?: As with posts, polls can only be edited by the original poster, a moderator or an administrator. To edit a poll, click to edit the first post in the topic; this always has the poll associated with it. If no one has cast a vote, users can delete the poll or edit any poll option. However, if members have already placed votes, only moderators or administrators can edit or delete it. This prevents the poll’s options from being changed mid-way through a poll.; Top

How can I report posts to a moderator?: You should see a button for reporting posts - a small triangle with an exclamation mark - next to the post you wish to report. Clicking this will walk you through the steps necessary to report the post. Please do not reply to spam or trolling posts - simply report them and they will be dealt with.; Top

What is the “Save” button for in topic posting?: This allows you to save passages to be completed and submitted at a later date. To reload a saved passage, visit the User Control Panel.; Top

Formatting and Topic Types

What is BBCode?: BBCode is a special implementation of HTML, offering great formatting control on particular objects in a post. The use of BBCode is granted by the administrator, but it can also be disabled on a per post basis from the posting form. BBCode itself is similar in style to HTML, but tags are enclosed in square brackets [ and ] rather than < and >. For more information on BBCode see the guide which can be accessed from the posting page.; Top

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 BBCode instead.; Top

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 and a moderator may edit them out or remove the post altogether. The board administrator may also have set a limit to the number of smilies you may use within a post.; Top

How do I post images and photos in my reports?: As with lots of things, there are different ways you can do this!

RECOMMENDED: Using a photo-hosting site such as Flickr
To add a photograph which is already on the internet to one of your posts:
Many people upload their photos to the internet for sharing using popular websites such as Flickr, Photobucket or other photo hosting sites. Flickr is recommended as it allows you to upload a whole terabyte of photos for free. Adding a photo you have uploaded to one of these sites to your post is easy. Find the photo on the photo sharing site; we recommend you going to the version of the photo that has a width of 900 pixels or less. Most photo hosting programs (including Flickr) have a share option that will let you copy a "BBCODE" which you can then post directly into your walk report. If not, you may be able to copy the filename of the photo (this can often be found by right clicking on it, pressing "properties"; the filename is usually listed as the image location - it must end in .JPG). Put your cursor where you want the photo to appear in your post and then press the Img button. will appear - these are known as tags and anthing placed between them (between the ] and [) will be treated as a photo. Paste the filename of the photo between them. When you submit your post, you should see the photo there...

OR Without using a Photo-hosting site (uploading photos direct to Walkhighlands)
To add a photograph from your computer to one of your posts:
Uploading very large photos takes a very long time and will be rejected by our server, so if uploading directly to Walkhighlands you need to first make a correctly-sized copy of the photo on your own computer using whatever software you use for editing your photos; make the photo a maximum of 690 pixels wide. This means it will fit nicely into your post. Save the new smaller photo in a different place if you want to keep the original as well.
To load the resized photo onto the site, start writing your post. Look beneath the white box where you type in your post and click on the "Add a photograph or map" button. Use the "browse" button to find the (resized) photo on your computer. Press "Add the file" and wait for it to upload.
If you now submit your post then the photo(s) will appear at the bottom. If you want the photo to appear in with your text then you need to put your cursor where you want the photo to appear, and then click the "place inline" button next to the photo file name you wish to put in that position. Anything you enter in the comment box will appear as a caption for the photo.; Top

How do I include a map in my reports?: There are two ways to do this. If you have recorded your walk using a GPS device and have downloaded a GPX track from your walk onto your computer, you can simply upload the GPX track using the option at the bottom of the posting screen.

Alternatively you can simply draw your route onto our own mapping by pressing the draw route link (top right) when posting a trip report. After you have plotted out the route, a link adds it to your report and takes you back to the posting screen.; Top

User Levels and Groups

What are Administrators?: Administrators are members assigned with the highest level of control over the entire board. These members can control all facets of board operation, including setting permissions, banning users, creating usergroups or moderators, etc., dependent upon the board founder and what permissions he or she has given the other administrators. They may also have full moderator capabilities in all forums, depending on the settings put forth by the board founder.; Top

What are Moderators?: Moderators are individuals (or groups of individuals) who look after the forums from day to day. They have the authority to edit or delete posts and lock, unlock, move, delete and split topics in the forum they moderate. Generally, moderators are present to prevent users from going off-topic or posting abusive or offensive material.; Top

Private Messaging

I keep getting unwanted private messages!: You can block a user from sending you private messages by using message rules within your User Control Panel. If you receive an abusive private message, please report it to the moderators by clicking on the ! icon.; Top

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 “Advance Search” link which is available on all pages on the forum. How to access the search may depend on the style used.; Top

Why does my search return no results?: Your search was probably too vague and included many common terms which are not indexed by phpBB3. Be more specific and use the options available within Advanced search.; Top

Why does my search return a blank page!?: Your search returned too many results for the webserver to handle. Use “Advanced search” and be more specific in the terms used and forums that are to be searched.; Top

How do I search for members?: Visit to the “Members” page and click the “Find a member” link.; Top

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 Settings pages or via your own blog page. To search for your topics, use the Advanced search page and fill in the various options appropriately.; Top

Topic Subscription

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.; Top

How do I remove my subscriptions?: To remove your subscriptions, go to your User Control Panel and follow the links to your subscriptions.; Top

Attachments

What attachments are allowed on this board?: JPG image files with a maximum size of 690 pixels along their longest edge, and GPX files which contain data for a map route.; Top

How do I find all 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.; Top