Please or Register to create posts and topics.

How to Use the Forum: FAQs

Welcome to the South African Collectors’ Society’s online Forum.

You can use the Forum to Post a message, Reply to one or create a new Topic for discussion. You can add Images to your Posts. This section describes what you need to do and how to do it.

Beginning at the beginning for those intimidated by this Forum,. ‘FAQ’ stands for ‘Frequently Asked Questions’. This section attempts to anticipate and answer your questions in adavance.

You can find most of the answers to commonly asked questions about using the Forum here. However, if you have a difficulty at any time and need some help, please email me. I will be very happy to help anyone who might have difficulty making a Post on this Forum and or a Reply to one.

To email the Webmaster with a description of your problem, please Click here.

What is the Forum?
Who can Use the Forum?
How to Register to use the Forum.

How to Reply to a Topic or a Post
How to Attach Images to a Post
How to Post a New Topic
How to Include Images within Text
How to Edit your Forum post

WHAT IS THE FORUM

A Forum is an online conversation between one or more people.
This Forum is a discussion group for southern African philately and postal history only.
The subject of a discussion is called the ‘Topic’. An attached message is called a ‘Post’.
A Post can be either a question or and answer or a simple statement of fact.
Images of stamps, covers, postcards, etc., can be attached to a Post to facilitate discussion.

WHO CAN USE THE FORUM?

The Forum can be used by anyone. It is not limited to SACS members only.
To use the Forum you must first Register giving your name and email address.
Those who misuse the purpose of the Forum will be peremptorily removed.

HOW TO REGISTER TO USE THE FORUM

Click on Forum in the Main Menu. It prompts:
Please Login or Register to create posts and topics.
Click on Register. This brings up a short form:
‘Register to Post on the South African Collectors’ Society Forum’.

Enter your User Name – this is what will be attached to your online Posts.
Fields with a RED ASTERISK are compulsorry
Enter your First and Last Name and Email address.
Enter your collecting interest.

Set a memorable Password and keep a note of it somewhere.
Confirm your Password and click Register.

This should confirm: Account registration successful.
Please check your email inbox to activate your new account. You should find an email:
From: South African Collectors’ Society <contact@southafricancollectorssociety.com>
Subject: Please activate your SACS Forum account

Please click on the link to activate your registration.
This will tell you that you have succeffuly registered to use the SACS Forum.
Click on the supplied link to go to the Forum and start posting!.

IMPORTANT. MAKE LOGGING-IN TO THE FORUM EASIER

””””””””””””””

It is recommended that when you log-in, you check the Remember Me Box.
This will save you having to re-enter (and remember) your Password every time you use the Forum.

 

 

HOW TO REPLY TO A TOPIC OR POST

Once you have registered and have logged you can Reply to a Topic.

If you are not logged-in you must Login with your User Name and Password.

Click on Forum on the Home Page.

On the Forum Page go to Member Forum
Select where you want your Reply to appear, either in
Stamps, Covers, Postmarks and Ephemera or Announcements & Auctions, etc.
Click on the one in which you want your new Topic to appear.

Select the Topic you want to Reply to by clicking on it.

Click on Reply.

You can now enter the Text for your Reply or add an image.
You can enter text in one of two ways, using the supplied Text Editor or Cut & Paste from your favoured text editor.

Once you have entered your text, click on Browse.
This will throw up a standard Windows dialogue box where you can select the images you have saved.

(TIP It is often at this point that some users have difficulty remembering where they stored the file containing the image they want to post. If this describes you – it does me and often – try to make a note of where your file is being stored when you save it.)

You can select and place up to five images in your post. You will need to select and submit them individually, not as a group. If five images are not enough, please let us know and we will consider increasing the number you can post.

Files are shown descending one above the other in the order they were submitted. So, if you have three images, the first to be submitted will be shown at the top and the last will be at the bottom. If you need to edit the position of the images, you will need to Delete them and then Submit them again in the order you want. This advice may change subject to knowledge acquisition.

Once you have finished editing your text and selecting your images, click on Submit.

After a few seconds , the Forum page will come up showing your post with images.

 

HOW TO POST A NEW TOPIC

Only Members who have logged in can post a new topic and or attach images.
So, first you will need to Login with your User Name and Password.

Click on Forum on the Home Page.

On the Forum Page go to Member Forum
Select where you want your new Topic to appear, either in
Stamps, Covers, Postmarks and Ephemera or Announcements & Auctions, etc.
Click on the one in which you want your new Topic to appear.

On the Topic page, click on New Topic (right).

Enter text for the Subject heading.

(TIP Start your subject with a searchable place name descriptor for the item eg. Cape or COGH Triangles, Natal POAs, OFS BONCs, ZAR Squared Circles, Union Kings Heads, SWA Postage Dues, Rhodesian Admirals, etc., etc.)

Enter the text for your Topic (in the blank area below the Toolbar).

Once you have entered your text, you can add up to five images.
Please note: An image must be no larger than 1Mb.

To Add up to 5 Images to a Post, you must:

Click on Browse.
This will throw up a standard Windows dialogue box where you can select the images you have saved.

Where to find the Browse button
If you cannot see or do not know where to find the Browse button, scroll down the screen. It is on the right hand side.

(TIP It is often at this point that some users have difficulty remembering where they stored the file containing the image they want to post. If this describes you – it does me and often – try to make a note of where your file is being stored when you save it.)

You can select and place up to five images in your post. You will need to select and submit them individually, not as a group. If five images are not enough, please let us know and we will consider increasing the number you can post.

Files are shown descending one above the other in the order they were submitted. So, if you have three images, the first to be submitted will be shown at the top and the last will be at the bottom. If you need to edit the position of the images, you will need to Delete them and then Submit them again in the order you want. This advice may change subject to knowledge acquisition.

Once you have finished editing your text and selecting your images, click on Submit.

After a few seconds , the Forum page will come up showing your post with images.

HOW TO REPLY TO A TOPIC AND ATTACH IMAGES

Only Members who have logged in can reply to a topic and attach images.
So, first you will need to Login with your User Name and Password.

Click on Forum on the Home Page.

On the Forum Page go to Member Forum
Select where you want your Reply to appear, either in
Stamps, Covers, Postmarks and Ephemera or Announcements & Auctions, etc.
Click on the one in which you want your new Topic to appear.

Select the Topic you want to Reply to by clicking on it.

Click on Reply.

You can now enter the Text for your Reply or add an image.
You can enter text in one of two ways, using the supplied Text Editor or Cut & Paste from your favoured text editor.

Once you have entered your text, click on Browse.
This will throw up a standard Windows dialogue box where you can select the images you have saved.

(TIP It is often at this point that some users have difficulty remembering where they stored the file containing the image they want to post. If this describes you – it does me and often – try to make a note of where your file is being stored when you save it.)

You can select and place up to five images in your post. You will need to select and submit them individually, not as a group. If five images are not enough, please let us know and we will consider increasing the number you can post.

Files are shown descending one above the other in the order they were submitted. So, if you have three images, the first to be submitted will be shown at the top and the last will be at the bottom. If you need to edit the position of the images, you will need to Delete them and then Submit them again in the order you want. This advice may change subject to knowledge acquisition.

Once you have finished editing your text and selecting your images, click on Submit.

After a few seconds , the Forum page will come up showing your post with images.

HOW TO INCLUDE IMAGES WITHIN TEXT

A facility exists for you to paste images into your posts. This is the Insert/edit image icon in the Forum text bar, (far right).

See icon below –

The Asgaros software we use requires that the image to be uploaded must exist on the SAPC or another site from which you can Copy its URL (Uniform Resource Locator). An URL is the image’s software address. Just as buildings and houses have a street address, web pages have URLs. Each one is a unique address that helps software locate the image.

Without endorsing any product, at the time of writing (02/06/23), there are a wide range of solutions that will allow you to upload files for free for the purpose of copying its associated URL. ImgBB allows you to upload images from your PC with a 32 MB limit. If you have a Googledrive account, it’s free for up to almost 20 GB. Dropbox has similar features but is a paid-for option. There are many others.

We suggest that before you attempt to insert an image link, (URL), you should first find the link and save it in a text editor like Notepad. You can then simply Copy and Paste them into the dialog box.

This is a mini-display on the history of Old Regimes.

So, what you need to do is:

write ALL the text FIRST,

acquire and list all the URLs you will need,

Reply to a Post or start a new Topic,

Paste your text into the Post or Topic, (unless youy have written it here first),

make a Return (space in the text), where you want to insert an image,

click in the space created between the text of your post,

click on the Insert/edit image icon, (a dialog box comes up),

in the dialog box in Source insert an URL link to where the image is located,

type in a description, (this is not necessary),

check constrain proportions, (retains aspect ratio),

click OK.

This should allow you to insert an image into Forum displays. Like this.

HOW TO EDIT YOUR FORUM POST

Often after making a post you will discover the need to edit it. Only you can edit your post. It is easy to do.

Only Members who have logged in can reply to a topic and attach images.
So, first you will need to Login with your User Name and Password.

Click on Forum on the Home Page.

Click on Stamps, Covers, Postmarks and Ephemera to see the Topics.

To Edit your Post, click on the Topic in question.

Click on Edit and proceed to edit your post.
When you are finished, click on Submit to update your post.

HOW TO VIEW ONE PAGE AT A TIME

The default is to view two pages at a time. To select one page at a time:

Go to the greyed-out tools at the bottom of the Page.

Click on the rightmost icon, the Cog.
A small menu will pop up where one of the options, second from top, is Single Page.

Click on Single Page.

Return to the Display and view it one page at a time.

To return to viewing the Display two pages at a time, repeat the above steps.

Click on Cog > Single Page.