Thank you for taking the time to visit our step-by-step guide. On this page, we'll run through how to access the forum and how to read messages. On the next page we'll cover joining the forum and logging in.

You can access the forum itself from the option on the main forum page. Once you have entered the forum, you can of course bookmark the page.

You need to be a paying member to access the forum. The forum is located in the members area, so when you want to access it, you will be presented with a pop-up box similar to this:

Enter your UKFR username and password as prompted, to prove you are a paying member.

Please don't confuse your UKFR user details (the username and password you registered when you paid and joined the site) with any FORUM username and password that you might go on and create in the forum itself. Enter ONLY your UKFR username and password in any pop-up box.

If you are accessing the forum away from your main computer remember you can use the shortcut URLs of forum.ukfr.com or ukfr.com/forum to reach it.

As a paying member, you are free to read the forum WITHOUT registering in the forum itself - you only need to do that if you want to post a message. In this case you will be logged as a "Guest". There is no requirement at all to register in the forum - many members are happy just browsing through the posts. Please consider joining in though!

The main forum screen will look similar to this (the colour and/or design may change from time to time):

The forum itself is broken down into sections, for example in the above image you can see "General Discussion", "Firework Law & Legislation", "Member Displays" and so on.

Let's take a look at one of the sections:

On the left (1) is a graphical indication of whether that section has any new posts since your last visit to the forum (needs cookies enabled). Next to this is the section name and description (2) - the name is also a link to that actual section, click on this to read the messages inside. Over to the right are some statistics for that forum (3) and details of the last message posted and by whom (4).

To see the messages in each section click on the link (2) and you will then see a screen similar to this:

The current section you are in, and links to other sections are shown along the top (1). In the above example, it is showing that you are in the General Discussion section, you can click on UKFR Forums or UK Firework Review Forums to jump back up a section or two respectively.

New messages posted by members are called TOPICS. Messages posted in reply to any new topic are called REPLIES. A topic and its replies are often referred to as a THREAD.

As you can see, the latest topics in this forum are listed here. At the top will always be "Important Topics" (2). These are important messages posted by ourselves and they always appear at the top of the list. You'll find the new member welcome message here, for example.

Underneath these are the latest topics posted by members (3). The default listing is most recent first, and those from the last 30 days only. However you can change this if you like. The topic title is also a link which you can click on to view that topic. To the right of each topic is the "Topic Starter" - this is the forum member who started that topic.

To the right of this are some statistics for that topic showing the number of replies and the number of times it has been viewed (4). And to the right of this, a summary of who the last member was to post a reply and when this was done (5).

At the top of the page (6) are some options to post a new topic. Please note that at this stage, you have not registered in the forum and therefore are not allowed to start a new topic (or post a reply to one).

At the bottom of each list of topics are a number of other links and options:

If the number of topics exceeds one page, links to other pages are shown (1). Symbols underneath this explain what the pictures mean (2). On the right, options to change what topics are shown, and in what order (3).

If you access a section and NO topics are listed, change the "last 30 days" option to "the beginning" and click "Go!".

You can click on any topic title to read it. In the above example if you clicked on "Thanks again Fully Fused" you'd open that topic and any replies to it:

The topic title (1) and the member who posted it (2) are shown here. Underneath is a picture which is selectable by each member (3), called an AVATAR. This appears with all their posts. Some members have funny pictures, some have pictures of fireworks and so on.

Underneath the avatar are some statistics to show what member group that member is in (4). This is typically "member", "guest", "Trade" and so on. Plus, when they joined and how many posts they have made in total to the forum

On the right is the actual topic itself (5). Above this, some options (6) which at this stage you cannot use as a "guest" in the forum.

At the bottom of each message, and at the end of the topic are a number of other items:

Each member can have a tag-line that appears under all their posts (1). This is called a SIGNATURE. Underneath this are a number of symbols that may appear for that member (2) including their MSN identity and website if they have one. There is also an option called "PM" which means PERSONAL MESSENGER - we'll cover this later.

In the middle (3) are some very useful options. Next Oldest takes you to the previous topic. If you start at the top of the list of topics this is a great way to read back through them all, newest to oldest. Next Newest will do the opposite, The middle link will take you back to the main topic list for that section.

On the right (4) are some options which at this stage, as you have not registered, will not work. The top (5) icon does exactly that and you can jump direct to any other section with the drop down list (6).

Congratulations - you have read your first topic.

Please don't be frightened to explore the forum on your own and try out the different options and links - this is often the best way to learn!

As fun as it is to read the forum, at some point you may want to post a message yourself. Maybe you want to ask for help, or post about your displays, or respond to some heated debate! Whatever the reason, in order to do this you will need to register in the forum.

To start this process, look for the following options at the top of any main forum page:

You need to click on Register which will take you to a screen like this:

First of all you need to select a username. This can be the same as your UKFR username but it does not have to be. You might want to use your full name, an alias, or (if you are also an advertiser) your company name. Whatever name you choose, this will become your forum log-in name and will appear with all your posts.

Please remember: Once registered, only use your forum username when you are already in the forum and want to log in to post a message if you are not already logged in. Do not use your forum username in any pop-up box (eg. when first trying to access the members area where the forum is located) - always use your UKFR username and UKFR password.

After entering and confirming a password you then need to confirm your e-mail address.

Finally, you need to agree to the Terms of Service.

The terms of service at this stage are the "generic" forum terms. Use of the forum is considered as acceptance of our main terms and conditions which can be found on this page. Please be sure to read them carefully.

Once you have completed your registration, we are notified and we validate your access manually. We aim to complete all new applications within 48 hours.

Please note that you cannot post messages until we have processed your application. If you have not been granted access after 48 hours, it may be due to one of these reasons:

	You have used a completely different username and e-mail address to the ones you registered when you joined UKFR. In this case we would be unable to confirm your member status. Please contact us to advise who you are, and what your forum username is.
	You are showing as already having an active forum ID. We do not allow multiple accounts. If you are having difficulties accessing your account, please see the resetting password section or refer to our FAQ.

Once your application has been approved, the complete process to get into the forum to post, from start to finish is:

	Click on any link to the forum itself (eg. on the forum introduction page).
	At the pop-up box, enter your UKFR username and UKFR password.
	Once then in forum, click on Log in (at the top of the screen, or where prompted).

You will then be prompted by the forum to enter your forum username and forum password:

After entering your forum username (1) and password (2) you can also select two other options. These are "Remember me?" (3). This will make the forum try to remember you (normally by using a cookie).

"Remember me" is a very useful option because once you are logged in, the forum will automatically log you into the forum when you return. However this is dependent on your browser/cookie settings and does not work with all systems.

And the final option is "Privacy" (4). If you tick this option, your username will not be added to the on-line user list. You will be shown as an "anonymous" member.

If you log in anonymously, and post, your normal username will still be added to the post. We do not allow anonymous posting. Anonymous in this case only refers to screening your presence from other users (except UKFR forum admin staff).

Once logged in (click "Log me in" 5), the main forum screen will reflect this along with an option to log out. Underneath the main forum listing is a summary of current activity like so:

You can click on a member name to see their profile, and the Last Click and Member Name options show latest activity for each member on-line.

Once logged into the forum, you can now post a new topic, or reply to an existing one.

To start a new topic, look for the "New topic" option. This can be found at the top of each section's topic listings:

or at the top or bottom of any topic itself:

This will open the new topic screen:

The topic title (1) must be entered, this is like the subject line of an e-mail to tell other members what your topic is about. You can also enter an optional description (2) which will show underneath it in the listings.

When you are typing your message you can format the text as you would in a word processor using the formatting options (3).

The forum uses "tags" to define text formatting such as bold. These are shown as [TAG] when the formatting starts and [/TAG] when it ends. For example: This text is [B]bold[/B] this is not - would display as: This text is bold this is not. You can either type the tags manually or click on the option required (we recommend experimenting with these options).

You can make the forum display any links to web pages as clickable links in your post. To do this click on http:// (4). This will first of all prompt you for the web page address, and then for a name to call it. When a reader clicks on it, a new browser window will open up that page. Try it and see.

Also in that section, the IMG button will insert an image in your post. However, the image itself will need to be stored on your web space or elsewhere on the web, as this option will ask you for the web address of the image.

Many websites do not allow you to put a link to one of their images on another website. This is called "hotlinking" and a broken image icon will appear. In many cases however, the person posting the image will be unaware of a problem - as their browser has already stored and cached the image and displayed it OK for them. This is why many members post links to images no-one can see, but they are not aware of a problem with them.

The message itself should be typed in the main box (5) and at any point you can add some "smilies" (also known as EMOTICONS) to your message by clicking on them (6).

There is a similar list of images at the end of this screen which you can select to be shown with your topic when posted. When you are ready, you can click Post New Topic to post it to the forum, or, Preview Post to see a preview first (very useful to check any links, images or formatting options worked OK).

To reply to an existing topic (ie. tag your message on the end) use the Reply option which can be found at the top or bottom of any topic:

This will open a new screen almost the same as the "New topic" one but without the option to specify a topic title, as this has already been done by the person who started the original topic.