Here are a few of the commonly asked questions pertaining to our site, its' peripherals, and its' forums. If you still have questions after viewing this, please feel free to email us or post a message in the Imperial HR Office Section of our forums and someone will respond to your query.

Q: How do I join the forums? A: Just hit the forums button on the site navigation bar (left side) and the forums will appear. At the top of the screen you will see a login and register screen. Just hit register, fill in the required fields and you are set. Forum registration is automatic and an email will be sent to the address specified that will include details of your individual sign on once your account has been approved.

Q: How do I change my settings? Simply click on "Profile" in the menu at the top of the page (You will see Home, Help, Search, and the Profile). From there, you can change things like Time Settings, Email Options, Viewed Information, Avatars, and a lot more! Simply click on "Your Info" and edit away!

Q: What is an avatar and how do I get one? An avatar is an image that you attach to your profile that will let other users know who you are when you post. It can be whatever you like as long as it adheres to the following contions; 1. It must be no larger than 100 by 100 pixels 2. It must be appropriate for a family type audience (no nude or suggestive please) You can upload your image directly from your computer or have it hosted on an image site like photobucket.com and just remember to use the [img] brackets when pasting it into the avatar field under member profile.

Q: How do I post images? Images are an important topic here at Imperialshipyards.net. We want you to share your photos of finds, customs, dioramas, etc, but we also don't want to overload the database or site with humongous images. With that in mind, there are some ground rules prior to posting them... The easiest way to upload images is from websites such as Photobucket or Flickr. Other sites are usable if you have one you use on a normal basis, but the only one we do not allow is image shack due to members getting viruses and or spam from these picture links. Prior to uploading to one of these sites, you MUST make sure the images are sized to NO LARGER than 700x900. Feel free to hyperlink your image to another url if you want it to be viewed larger. There will be absolutely NO images of anything our Administrators deem inappropriate for all viewers, such as pornographic images, profane images, or the like. ANY violation of these rules will be dealt with accordingly. We will resize your image one time, and send you a PM informing you to review our FAQs regarding such topics as Images. If you continue to disregard our policies regarding this topic after the first message, we will act accordingly by not allowing you to post images, or even banning you depending on the infringement. To Post the image, the easiest way to do so is to use BBCode. Simply paste the URL to your image into the body of the post you want to add the image... http://www.your URL to your image Then add in the code before and after the URL... [img]http://www.your URL to your image[/img] You do not need to add in image constraints into the code. If you still have questions, email us at Staff@imperialshipyards.net

Q: What about signatures? color="white" You may include text into your signature line, up to 250 characters. Images are allowed in your signature line as of this date. Please ensure, however, that your signature is no larger than 580 pixels in width or 60 pixels in height to ensure that forum pages loads are quick, smooth, and consistent. If your signature image is larger than this (in either parameter) you will be warned the first time and given time to change it to the correct settings. After this your signature image will be deleted until it meets Site Parameters.

Q: How do ranks work? Ranks are a fun way to recognize our members' postings. The ranks change automatically based on the number of posts one has under their belt! We have several levels available for our members to achieve, al the way up to 25,000 posts! However, post padding will not be tolerated. If you begin responding to every message with one word posts or smilie posts, they will be removed and you will be warned. This is not a contest, this is all for fun.

Q: How do I post to a topic? While in our forums, you can post replies to new posts or even start your own topics! To start a new topic in a board, click on the "New Topic" button. You must give it a headline, and then add in the text you wish and click save! To reply to a post for a topic that already exists, simply click on "Post Reply!" It really is that easy!

Q: How do I edit a post? Only Administrators and Moderators can edit or delete other users' posts. You can, however, edit or delete your own posts. Sometimes we misspell words or say things that just don't come out right, or mess up with adding an image or link, and it is very important to be able to correct yourself. Administrators and Moderators will only be editing or deleting inappropriate posts, images, or links.

Q: Why can't I log in? Did you double check your username and password? Did you check to be sure you used capital letters where appropriate? Were you banned for some reason? Often times, the problem lies in the password. A missed capital letter will not allow a member to log in as all passwords are case sensitive. If you have been banned as a member for reasons dictated by our Administration, you would have gotten an email stating so and as to why. Periodically, the Administration will review bannings, and review as to who, why, and when and decide whether or not to lift a ban. If none of these reasons is affecting your failed login, please contact our Administrators via email at Staff@imperialshipyards.net with your name, username, password, and questions. We will get back to you as soon as we are able.

Q: Why do I need to register? Our content is posted and maintained specifically for our members. Guests may view topics and other links, but may not participate by posting or adding any content. This is to protect our members from those on the internet who wish to do harm to others in various manners. We encourage all who visit Imperialshipyards.net to register for the full effect of what we have to offer! You never know when we may run a contest and give away a prize for the next post by a member.

Q: How do I prevent others from seeing me online? In your "Profile" tab, click on "Account Related Settings" under the "Modify Profile" Section. There is an option under "Email" to allow users to see your online status. Simply click the box to allow or disallow seeing you online! You can also hide your email address from public view in this same area.

Q: I have lost my password, what do I do? Simply email us at Staff@imperialshipyards.net to let us know, and we will reset it for you. Passwords cannot be retrieved for any reason, but we will reset it to a generic password you can use to log in, and then change to something more personal to you for better security.

Q: What is BBCode? BBCode is a different kind of HTML. Whether you can use BBCode is determined by the administrator. You can also disable it on a per post basis from the posting form. BBCode itself is similar in style to HTML: tags are enclosed in square braces [ and ] rather than < and > and it offers greater control over what and how something is displayed.

Q: Can I use HTML? HTML is more closely guarded, as it can be used to exploit and damage the forums. If the Administration allows for it, then it can be used. You can turn it on or off on a per post basis, as long as the Administrators allow for it.

Q: How do I send a private message? A Private Message, or PM, can be sent by either clicking on "New Message" in the "My Messages" Panel on the top of the Main page of the forums or by clicking on the "Personal Message" button below the avatar on any user's post. This will take you to your New Message menu under My Messages, and you can type your message. Input the username of the member you wish to send a message to in the appropriate line (this will be done automatically if coming from a forum poster), and then add your text to the body and click "Send Message!" You can also specify a "subject" of your message between the "Bcc" and text box you typed your message in, but that is not necassary to actually send a message. There are also other editing options in the text box for your message and you can play with those to add smilies, colored fonts, etc. to your message text. Please remember that you also need to have over 10 forum message posts before your private messaging system will send messages. This is to ensure that spam bots do not miss our account approval filters and cause major mayhem in our forums.

Q: Why can't I send a private message? Are you logged in? If you are correctly logged into the forums and still cannot send a PM, the Adminstrators may have disabled PMs for the entire forum or just for you. If you have been sending others Spam or abusive messages via PMs, you will be blocked from doing so and warned. If you continue to try and contact members with Spam or abusive messages, you will be banned.

Q: What do I do if I get Spam or abusive messages? This is most unfortunate, and we will be looking into this matter immediately. Please email us at staff@imperialshipyards.net immediately with a copy of the PM you received in question, and we will address it in an apporpriate manner.