Using the forum

The forum is laid out like other car club boards: section headings such as "Kei cars by model" and "The garage", with the forums underneath. Threads live in the forums. Anyone can read public forums. Some are only for certain roles, and you will see only the ones you may read.

Find your way around

Each forum on the forum page shows what it is for, how many threads and posts it holds and the latest post; each section heading adds up the forums, threads and posts under it, and a forum's own page repeats its counts under the title. When you are signed in, the icon beside a forum lights up while it holds a thread you have not read. Open a section heading to see just its forums.

Inside a forum the thread list shows pinned threads first, then the most recently active. Tabs above the list let you switch between All, Latest and Unanswered.

Start a thread

1. Open the forum you want (a section heading has no threads of its own; pick a forum under it).
2. Press the button to start a new topic.
3. Write a clear title and your first post.
4. If you are asking for help, tick This is a question. You will be able to mark a reply as the solution.
5. Press Post thread.

You need a verified email address, and the forum must allow members to start threads.

Reply to a thread

Scroll to the reply box at the bottom of the thread and write your message. Press Reply on a particular post if you are answering that person, and the editor will remind you who you are answering. Mention another member by typing @ and their username. As soon as you type the @, the list offers the people who have already posted in the thread, and it searches every member as you keep typing. The person you pick gets a notification. A name that does not belong to any member stays plain text, so a typo never turns into a broken link.

Writing with Markdown

The editor uses Markdown, a simple way to add formatting by typing a few symbols. The buttons above the box do it for you: bold, italic, link, quote, code and list. If you prefer to type:

• **bold** makes bold text.
• _italic_ makes italic text.
• [words](https://example.com) makes a link.
• Start a line with - for a bulleted list, or 1. for a numbered one.
• Start a line with > to quote.
• Paste a YouTube link on a line of its own and it shows as a video. Readers press play to watch it here. A link inside a sentence, or written as [words](link), stays an ordinary link.

Use the Preview tab to see how your post will look before you send it. You can add images by pasting them into the box or dragging them in.

You cannot use raw HTML. It is removed for everyone's safety.

Quote someone

Press Quote under a post. The text appears in your reply box with the author's name, and you can trim it down to the part you are answering. The person you quoted is told.

Likes

Press Like on a post that helped you or made you smile. You cannot like your own posts. Authors are notified when their post is liked, and the total shows on their profile.

Mark the answer (solved)

In a thread marked as a question, the person who started it, or a moderator, can press Mark as solution under the post that fixed the problem. It is highlighted and the thread shows as solved, so the next person with the same problem finds the answer fast. Press Unmark solution to undo it.

Question threads show a Question label in the thread list, and Solved once an answer is marked. Forgot to tick the box? Press Mark as question under the thread title while you can still edit your post (or ask a moderator). Not a question turns it off again and removes any marked solution.

Build logs and the discussions under articles, albums, photos, resources and events are conversations, not questions, so they never have a solution.

Views

The number of views under a thread's title counts each reader once every 30 minutes, whether or not they are signed in. It may lag a little behind; it catches up when the thread next changes.

Editing and deleting

You can edit your own posts for a limited time after posting (30 minutes unless the site owner has changed it). Edited posts show an "edited" label. You can delete your own post only inside that window and only if it is the last post in the thread. After that, ask a moderator.

Follow a thread

Use the follow button on a thread to be notified of new replies. Threads you start are followed automatically. You can choose which notifications you receive in notifications settings.

Report a post

If something breaks the rules, press Report under the post and choose a reason:

• Spam: ads, scams or repeated junk.
• Harassment: insults, threats or targeting a member.
• Off topic: does not belong here.
• Illegal content: breaks the law or someone's rights.
• Something else: tell us more in the box.

You can add a few words of detail. You cannot report your own posts, and you can only have one open report on the same post at a time. You will get a notification when a moderator has dealt with it.

Report a profile

If a member's picture, name, bio or website link is offensive or spam, open their profile and press Report next to Block. Choose a reason and add a few words if it helps. Moderators see the profile exactly as it looked when you reported it, even if the member changes it afterwards. You cannot report your own profile.

What moderators see

Moderators see your report, the reported post and its thread, and who sent the report. The person you reported is not told who reported them.

Moderators can lock, pin, move, merge, split, hide or delete threads and posts, warn members, suspend accounts, and approve posts that are being held for review. Every one of those actions is written to a log that other staff can read.

If a moderator merges your thread into another one, its old address takes you to the thread it was merged into, and you keep following it. If they split replies off into a new thread, people who wrote those replies and followed the old thread follow the new one too.

If a post of yours is held for review, you will see an "Awaiting approval" label on it. Only you and the moderators can see it until it is approved. This usually happens to brand new members.