Beginners Guide 3: Additional Thread Options

Additional Thread Options​

By Anth, Martial Arts Planet Moderator​

When you are posting a thread, you may have noticed a box below the main text area titled Additional Options.

This is where you can set up polls, attach files and set up thread notifications.

Miscellaneous Options
The first part of the Additional Options area contains two Miscellaneous Options. The first, Automatically parse links in text is checked by default and simply formats anything beginning http:// or www. as a hyperlink. To turn this off, un-check the check-box to the left. The second is Disable smilies in text and is unchecked by default. If you want to disable the smilies in your post, check the box.

Attaching Files
The second part of this area is the Attach Files area. Clicking the Manage Attachments button opens a window like this:

To attach a file, click Browse… and search for the file on your computer. When you have found it, click Open then Upload. When you have finished uploading images, click Close this window. Note, you can only attach files with the following extensions (endings): .doc .gif .jpe .jpeg .jpg .pdf .png and .txt
When you submit your thread, any picture files will be shown in the post, and any others will be linked to for viewing.

Subscribing
The next area is where you can set a subscription to your thread. There are 5 options to choose from:

• Don’t Subscribe
• No Email Notification
• Instant Email Notification
• Daily Email Notification
• Weekly Email Notification

If you select No Email Notification, you will not receive an email, but an icon on the forum post will indicate that you are subscribed to the thread, so you can quickly see if there is a new post.
If you choose Instant Email Notification, you will receive an email telling you of a new post as soon as it is posted, and if you choose Daily or Weekly Email Notification, you will get an email telling you about any thread updates every day or week, depending on which option you chose.

Polls
The final area of Additional Options is where you can Post a Poll. to post a poll, firstly check the box next to Yes, post a poll with this thread and enter the number of options you would like in your poll (the maximum number is 10), then click Submit New Thread. Unlike normal, when clicking Submit New Thread would take you to your posted thread, you are now taken to a page that says Post a Poll:

The first box on this page is where you ask your question. Below that, you can change the number of options in your poll from what you chose on the Thread page. When you have changed the number of options, click Update options, and the number of option boxes below will change to that number.
In the Poll Options area, type your options into the boxes, one in each. Remember to keep both the Question and Options short and to the point.
You can set how long you want the poll to remain open in the Poll Timeout area. To do this, simply enter the number of days after today that you want your poll to stay open.
At the bottom of the page, there are some Miscellaneous Options. These allow users to choose more than one poll option and allow you to show who chose which option (or options). You also have the “Automatically parse links in text” and “Disable smilies in text” options mentioned above.

To post your poll, click Submit New Poll or to see how it will look, click Preview Poll. You will now be taken to your thread, with the poll at the top: