California Surfing Forum • Tribal Surf | Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

About Tribal Surf: What is Tribal Surf?; How did Tribal Surf get started?; Does it cost any money to be part of Tribal Surf?; How can I get featured on Tribal Surf?; Can I advertise on Tribal Surf?; Can you link to my site?

Login and Registration Issues: Why can’t I login?; Why do I need to register at all?; Why do I get logged off automatically?; I’ve lost my password!; I registered in the past but cannot login any more?!; What is COPPA?; Why can’t I register?; What does the “Delete Cookies” do?

User Preferences and settings: How do I change my settings?; The times are not correct!; How do I show an image below my username?

Posting Issues: How do I post a topic in a forum?; How do I edit or delete a post?; How do I add a signature to my post?; How do I create a poll?; Why can’t I add more poll options?; Why can’t I access a forum?; Why did I receive a warning?; How can I report posts to a moderator?; What is the Save button for in topic posting?; Why does my post need to be approved?; How do I bump my topic?

Formatting and Topic Types: What is BBCode?; Can I use HTML?; What are Smilies?; Can I post images?; What are announcements?; What are blackballed topics?

User Levels and Groups: What are Administrators?; What are Moderators?; What are usergroups?; Where are the usergroups and how do I join one?; How do I become a usergroup leader?; Why do some usergroups appear in a different colour?; What is a “Default usergroup”?; What is “The team” link?

Private Messaging: I cannot send private messages!; I keep getting unwanted private messages!; I have received a spamming or abusive e-mail from someone on this board!

Friends and Foes: What are my Friends and Foes lists?; How can I add / remove users to my Friends or Foes list?

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 Subscriptions and Bookmarks: What is the difference between bookmarking and subscribing?; 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?

About Tribal Surf

What is Tribal Surf?: Tribal Surf is an online community of California surfers. It is a place where surfers can organize outings, share stories, post videos and photos, and meet other surfers. Equally important though is what Tribal Surf is not. It is not a dating site. It is not an affiliate site; there is no Tribal Skating or Tribal Macramé. This is a website started by local surfers for local surfers.; Top

How did Tribal Surf get started?: A bunch of us between South Bay and Orange County wanted a better way to coordinate surf sessions. A website seemed to be a good idea to get this done. The site spread through word of mouth and the interwebs and has become a premiere online community for California surfers.; Top

Does it cost any money to be part of Tribal Surf?: Yes. One million dollars. But because we like you, you can use it for free.; Top

How can I get featured on Tribal Surf?: We’re always looking out for our next “Local Hero” ... ordinary dudes doing extraordinary things. And don’t get us wrong, we use the term “dudes” in the most gender neutral sense possible. If you think you’ve got a story to tell or know of a story you’d like us to cover, let us know.; Top

Can I advertise on Tribal Surf?: One of our core missions is to help out the local. If you are a shaper, surf shop owner, or run any sort of business having to do with surfing, we’d be more than happy to help you out – free of charge. If you’re a bigger, established business and would still like to advertise on Tribal Surf, let us know and we’ll work something out.; Top

Can you link to my site?: One thing we have always avoided at Tribal Surf is the obligatory links page. I guess we’re just old fashioned in the sense that we still think content is what earns search engine rankings and not cross-links with just any site. With that said, if you are a local wanting to advertise a site having something to do with surfing, let us know and we’ll work something out. And we won’t even ask for a link back.; Top

Login and Registration Issues

Why can’t I login?: You’re probably entering a wrong password. No worries, smoking too much weed will do that to you. First, lay off the brown frown. Second, click on “Reset Password” and a new one will be sent to you.; Top

Why do I need to register at all?: Why do we need to do anything in this life? You don’t. But if you want full access to all the Tribal Goodness available within these hallowed virtual walls, you will actually have to spend the eight seconds and zero dollars it takes to register. Life can be so cruel, I know.; Top

Why do I get logged off automatically?: The Log me in automatically box when you login is not there for my health. Actually, it’s there for yours. It keeps snooping kooks from using your account while you’re running off for more munchies at the internet cafe.; Top

I’ve lost my password!: Dumbass. I told you to stop smoking the brown frown. No worries. We saw this coming a mile away and built in an automatic password recovery mechanism. At the login page and click Reset Password. You’ll get a new one which you’ll probably lose tomorrow.; Top

I registered in the past but cannot login any more?!: You snooze, you lose, bro. Did you think we were going to wait around for your molasses ass? Back then we were probably still surfing the interwebs with tin cans and long pieces of string. Try registering again and see what you’ve missed in the past forty-two years. There’s this thing now we call “cars” ...; Top

What is COPPA?: It’s why we don’t let gremmies in. It’s a law requiring us to get permission from the parents of gremmies under 13 years of age so that we can collect information like e-mail. It’s an absolute pain. And we hate pain. So to avoid pain, we just don’t let any gremmies in. Sorry bro. Look at it this way, now you’ve got another thing to look forward to.; Top

Why can’t I register?: Your information probably triggered our own little ghetto hacked version of homeland security. You or someone with your username or interwebs address was at some point a real pain in the ass. So we tagged you like the terrorist you are. If you want, you can try contacting us and pretend you’re really not that person. Good luck with that.; Top

What does the “Delete Cookies” do?: Don’t worry, stoner, we won’t be touching your precious stash of munchies. It’s an interwebs geek term for tiny text saved to your computer whenever you visit most any website. In this case, it deletes the files created by Tribal Surf. Before you get all paranoid schizo on me, all these things do is keep track of site usage like whether you are logged in and what topics you’ve read. It doesn’t track nor does it care about the porn you’ve spent half the day watching.; Top

User Preferences and settings

How do I change my settings?: As a member, you get to do all sorts of neato mosquito stuff by clicking on Preferences in the upper left corner of the site. Here, you can set an “avatar” (a little image showing under each of your posts), set your regional surf report settings, and share info about your interwebs geek life on places like Facebook. You can also set e-mail preferences and other options here.; Top

The times are not correct!: Or maybe your watch is broke? First, try setting your timezone through your settings. If the time is still off, wait about six hours for the hallucinogenics to wear off. If even after that the time is still off, let us know. Just wait about six hours for a response.; Top

How do I show an image below my username?: Interwebs geeks call this an “avatar.” You can either upload your own avatar or choose from one in the avatar gallery. You can do all of this by clicking on Preferences in the upper left corner of the site. Just don’t kid yourself and use a headshot of Kelly Slater.; Top

Posting Issues

How do I post a topic in a forum?: Do I really need to go into what a big ass button titled, “New Topic” is supposed to do? Really? Although I should mention that certain forums require new topics to be approved. You might also notice a box at the end of certain topics where particularly lazy bums can quickly reply to topics. We made that just people who can’t be bothered to read titles on buttons and must look in a FAQ to figure out how to post.; Top

How do I edit or delete a post?: C’mon bro. Grow some skin. Editing is totally weak sauce and deleting is flat out barney. But if you must, there are small Edit and Delete buttons on the top right side of your posts. If someone has already replied to your post, a tally of how many times you’ve waffled and edited the post will be shown. In such cases, you also won’t be able to delete the post.; Top

How do I add a signature to my post?: First off, it is against the rules and common decency to copy quotes from motivational posters into your signature. Doing so will label you a barney for life. Do feel free however to add sarcastic versions of these motivational quotes or anything else that might at least garner a chuckle. You can create a signature through your Preferences. Once created, you can check the Attach a signature box on the posting form to add your signature. You can also add a signature by default to all your posts by checking the appropriate button in your Preferences. If you do so, you can still prevent a signature being added to individual posts by un-checking the box within the posting form.; Top

How do I create a poll?: If you’re feeling a bit political, you can create polls where members can submit their votes. When posting a new topic or editing the first post of a topic, click the Poll Creation tab; if you cannot see this, you do not have permission 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?: Because we subscribe to this thing called “democracy,” you dictatorial heathen. Generally, that means if members have already cast their vote, you can’t go in there changing the options. Crazy idea, I know.; Top

Why can’t I access a forum?: Because you’re so barney you don’t even know you’re a barney and we don’t need your barney fingerprints all over our private forums. You can always ask for access though and maybe we’ll let you in.; Top

Why did I receive a warning?: In all likelihood you were being a dumbass. This isn’t rocket science here, Quimosabe. Just because you are hiding there in your boxers, doesn’t mean you can act like the tough guy you’re not. Try not to be so lame in the future and maybe you won’t get any more warnings. If you’re still not sure what’s going on, you can try contacting us.; Top

How can I report posts to a moderator?: Aw, did someone hurt your feelings? Grow some skin, bro. But, in instances where someone is being a complete jackass or preaching death to infidels, feel free to click on the the small exclamation mark on the upper right side of posts which will report the post to us.; Top

What is the Save button for in topic posting?: This is for those times when your Attention Deficit Disorder precludes you from finishing the sentence you struggled so hard to come up with because some shiny lights or explosions just came on the TV. You can reload a saved post by clicking on your Preferences.; Top

Why does my post need to be approved?: You really think we trust you? We only look dumb, buddy. It’s bad enough we let you lose in the other forums. No way in hell you’re getting carte blanche to the entire site.; Top

How do I bump my topic?: ”Bumping” a topic is an interwebs geek term for moving a topic back up to the top of the topic list since it is lacking in responses. It’s something particularly attention starved geeks do because they just can’t fathom being ignored in a virtual community as they do in a real, live one. Nevermind the likelihood that the everyone just doesn’t care for the drivel and therefore doesn’t bother to respond. So by all means, if you find yourself in wont of attention, feel free to click the Bump link at the bottom of posts. Of course, you can also just reply to the topic but then you would just be talking to yourself, wouldn’t you?; Top

Formatting and Topic Types

What is BBCode?: ”BBCode” is a very clever thing interweb geeks came up with that allow the most interweb moronic people perform formatting in posts. It’s a beautiful, uniting thing, really. When posting, you’ll see buttons across the top of the posting area allowing you put links and images in your post. These buttons also allow you to change the size, format, and color of the text you are posting. You can learn more about to make use of this geeky goodness by clicking on BBCode just to the right of the posting area. You’ll be using pocket protectors in no time.; Top

Can I use HTML?: Sure, so you can plant all sorts of interwebs geek viruses and such in my website. Hey why don’t I just give you my password and social security number while I’m at it.; Top

What are Smilies?: ”Smilies” is the epitome of interwebs geek. It’s a way to convey emotion through what you type. I believe the use of smilies came just a day after someone invented the “LOL.” As a website and in keeping with generally accepted geekness, we offer our own set of smilies which can be included in posts. These are right next to the post area. Simply click on any of the little heads and they will be included in your post.; Top

Can I post images?: Yes. And if they are of scantily clad hot surfer women, it is a requirement and your duty. In fairness to our revered Tribal Diva members, you can go ahead and post some of dudes also. Just keep it minimal, please. Some of us are well past our prime and running short on ego, you know? In the Forum, you will need to use a third-party host like ImageShack and link to the image. In the Gallery, you may upload images directly to Tribal Surf although you must meet certain size limits. Note that images posted in the forum will automatically resize so no need to worry about how big it is.; Top

What are announcements?: ”Announcements” and “stickied” topics will have some pretty important stuff. You might want to check these out before meandering off to other topics. Heck, we might be giving away prizes of unspeakable value.; Top

What are blackballed topics?: Try as we might, some topics just either end up getting way out of control or start off better off dead. These topics are locked out from further discussion. As the name suggests, no surfing here.; 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

What are usergroups?: Usergroups are groups of users that divide the community into manageable sections board administrators can work with. Each user can belong to several groups and each group can be assigned individual permissions. This provides an easy way for administrators to change permissions for many users at once, such as changing moderator permissions or granting users access to a private forum.; Top

Where are the usergroups and how do I join one?: You can view all usergroups via the “Usergroups” link within your User Control Panel. If you would like to join one, proceed by clicking the appropriate button. Not all groups have open access, however. Some may require approval to join, some may be closed and some may even have hidden memberships. If the group is open, you can join it by clicking the appropriate button. If a group requires approval to join you may request to join by clicking the appropriate button. The user group leader will need to approve your request and may ask why you want to join the group. Please do not harass a group leader if they reject your request; they will have their reasons.; Top

How do I become a usergroup leader?: A usergroup leader is usually assigned when usergroups are initially created by a board administrator. If you are interested in creating a usergroup, your first point of contact should be an administrator; try sending a private message.; Top

Why do some usergroups appear in a different colour?: It is possible for the board administrator to assign a colour to the members of a usergroup to make it easy to identify the members of this group.; Top

What is a “Default usergroup”?: If you are a member of more than one usergroup, your default is used to determine which group colour and group rank should be shown for you by default. The board administrator may grant you permission to change your default usergroup via your User Control Panel.; Top

What is “The team” link?: This page provides you with a list of board staff, including board administrators and moderators and other details such as the forums they moderate.; Top

Private Messaging

I cannot send private messages!: There are three reasons for this; you are not registered and/or not logged on, the board administrator has disabled private messaging for the entire board, or the board administrator has prevented you from sending messages. Contact a board administrator for more information.; Top

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 are receiving abusive private messages from a particular user, inform a board administrator; they have the power to prevent a user from sending private messages.; Top

I have received a spamming or abusive e-mail from someone on this board!: We are sorry to hear that. The e-mail form feature of this board includes safeguards to try and track users who send such posts, so e-mail the board administrator with a full copy of the e-mail you received. It is very important that this includes the headers that contain the details of the user that sent the e-mail. The board administrator can then take action.; Top

Friends and Foes

What are my Friends and Foes lists?: You can use these lists to organise other members of the board. Members added to your friends list will be listed within your User Control Panel for quick access to see their online status and to send them private messages. Subject to template support, posts from these users may also be highlighted. If you add a user to your foes list, any posts they make will be hidden by default.; Top

How can I add / remove users to my Friends or Foes list?: You can add users to your list in two ways. Within each user’s profile, there is a link to add them to either your Friend or Foe list. Alternatively, from your User Control Panel, you can directly add users by entering their member name. You may also remove users from your list using the same page.; 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 Control Panel or via your own profile page. To search for your topics, use the Advanced search page and fill in the various options appropriately.; Top

Topic Subscriptions and Bookmarks

What is the difference between bookmarking and subscribing?: Bookmarking in phpBB3 is much like bookmarking in your web browser. You aren’t alerted when there’s an update, but you can come back to the topic later. Subscribing, however, will notify you when there is an update to the topic or forum on the board via your preferred method or methods.; Top

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?: Each board administrator can allow or disallow certain attachment types. If you are unsure what is allowed to be uploaded, contact the board administrator for assistance.; 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