FAQ for Admins
Can my forum be fully private?
Yes, you can create a 'Private' forum on Lefora by creating a forum by heading to your Admin Panel, clicking 'Settings' and selecting the 'Privacy' tab. You have the options of making your forum fully public, where anybody can read and join, to restricting access of who can join by requiring admin approval. Or select the 'Full Private' option to make your forum fully private, where nobody can see inside the forum unless you approve their membership first.
We recommend that forums stay fully public as it will allow you to take advantage of other the public features we offer, like sending search visitors to your forum from google, listing you in our directory, adding you to our global leaderboards, sharing your content on sites like facebook and twitter, cross-promoting your forum on other sites, etc.
Is it really free to start and host a forum?
Yes, Lefora is fully free, no strings attached to host a forum. You get unlimited membership, posts, and tons of other free features, including 2GB of storage and 10GB of bandwidth each month, include for free. You even have free access to our active and friendly support forum. If you want more storage, ad removal, tech support over email, or other features, we have Pro plans which allow you to upgrade at a very low cost (especially compared to other forum options). Learn more about the costs of running a forum. Or see the differences between our ad supported and pro forums.
Can I use a Custom Domain, like myforum.com?
If you already own a custom domain name and want to set it up, send us an email at customdomain@lefora.com and include a link to your forum, and a link to your custom domain and we'll send you instructions.
How do I embed my forum onto my website?
Embedding a Forum: If you'd like to embed a forum in your website, we've partnered with Tal.ki Embeddable forums which will allow you to create a new forum and embed it in your webiste with just one line of html code. Just head to http://tal.ki/ and click the embeddable forum button.
Website Integration: If you own your own domain name, say, www.mydomain.com, we can get you set up with custom domain name hosting on lefora, so that you would have forum.mydomain.com as your forum address. Then you can edit the CSS of your forum to match your site's CSS, and add the link widget on the sidebar to link between the two sites.
We don't recommend putting your forum inside an iframe as that has problems on Internet Explorer which prevents people from logging in. That's why we recommended using either Tal.ki embeddable forums or setting a Custom Domain on your forum by upgrading to Pro.
Can I import my old forum?
If you're running phpbb, punbb, or IPB, we may be able to Import your existing forum for free. Forums must have at least 100 topics to be imported. Email importforum@lefora.com with a link to your old forum and we'll let you know if we can import it.
Does Lefora Support other Languages?
Yes we do. As an admin, you can set many of the titles displayed around the forum to any language you want through the admin panel (such as the forum name, description, categories, widget titles, etc.) We're working on translating other parts of the site, such as the admin panel, if you would like to help please email helptranslate@lefora.com.
How much storage space do I have for files on my forum?
For ad supported we provide a generous 2GB storage and 10GB of monthly bandwidth - which is much more than we've seen on other free forum hosting providers. You can upgrade your forum to Lefora Pro if you need more storage or bandwidth.
What are the premium services offered on Lefora?
If you would like premium services on your forum, you can upgrade to 'Lefora Pro' from you admin panel which has the following features:
- No Ads on your forum for any of your members
- Custom Domain Hosting
- More than double the storage (5GB) space and 5x the monthly bandwidth (50GB)
- Tech support over Email
- $25 free in Yahoo Ads for promoting your forum.
We do have additional premium services such whitelabeling and forum add-ons for commerical and enterprise customers. Email upgrades@lefora.com for pricing.
How can I use my own Domain Name on my forum?
We call that Custom Domain Name Hosting, it's part of our Lefora Pro package and you can upgrade under your Admin Panel by clicking the 'Upgrades' tab.
Can I change the language of my forum?
Lefora is translated into a handful of languages, such as Spanish, German, Chinese, and a few others. Your forum software will automatically detect the language set in your webbrowser and if the language is available, it will display to your members. There is no option to set a default language on your forum. As admin, you can customize many parts of your forum, such as the forum name and description, category & sub-forum names, and the titles on your sidebar widgets.
Why doesn't Lefora have Feature XYZ?
At times we're asked 'Why don't you have Feature X?' Where 'X' can be anything you've might have seen on another forum. There could be a few reasons why we don't have a feature:
- We haven't had any requests for it yet and your the first person to request it. If that's the case, be sure search around and maybe post a new feature suggestion on our active support forum. We listen to feedback closely and that's how we drive our product development.
- There may be a 3rd party service that already does that feature quite well and we allow their serviced to be used on Lefora. A good example of this is watching videos. Rather then build out a video system for people to upload and download videos, we suggest that people use sites like youtube.com and vimeo.com to upload their videos, then embed those videos within a forum post. This is quite a common practice around the web. Ultimately it allows us to stay focused and keep tons of other features we offer only on Lefora available to you for free.
And on the flip side, there are tons of features *only* available on Lefora forums that you can't find on other forum services, these include:
- Automatic SPAM detection
- Weekly email newsletters to get members returning to your forum
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) that sends 1/3 more traffic to your forum than other services
- Support for millions of third-party widgets (chatboxes, calendars, music players, twitter feeds, etc.)
- Invite your friends system
- Leaderboards and forum stats with a daily visitors chart
- Single login across the entire Lefora network (now over 100,000 forums)
- Rich profiles that show a history of post and allow for media to be posted
- Rich text editor that allows you to see bold text, images, etc. (wysiwyg)
- RSS feeds (some forums have this, many don't)
- thumb up/down community moderation
- Badges for all your members that can be embedded on other websites (with personalized stats)
ADMINING YOUR FORUM
Where are all my admin tools that I'm used to on other forum software?
If there's an admin function you're looking for on Lefora, most likely it's there, it just may be in a different place. We've built Lefora forum software from the ground up to be simple and easy to use. So where we could, we actually automated many admin actions. And where we couldn't automate them, we tried to put them in the place you'll need them most.
For instance, on Lefora software:
- If a member forgets their password, they don't need to ask you to reset it, they can do this themselves by using our forgot password form and validating their email.
- If you need to lock a topic, make it sticky, or rename it, just click the 'Topic Admin Actions' button at the top of every topic and you'll be presented with a little control panel of admin actions you can take on that topic.
- Spam Management - If you have posts or threads that are spam, you can just click the 'Mark Spam' link and train our system to recognize that poster, text in the post, or format of the post as a spam post - just like the spam button on your email.
There are a number of other items that may be in new places from what you're used to, and we're always trying to help admins who've recently converted from other software. So if there's a feature you can't find, or something you think is in the wrong place, we wan't to know. Please just post your question or suggestion on our active support forum and somebody from our staff will respond promptly.
As an admin, can I edit other member's posts?
In order to preserve speech and preserve integrity of a discussion, an admin cannot edit another member's post on Lefora. However, the admin can delete the post (or mark it as spam if applicable). It remains our policy that you cannot edit another users post as the post belongs to the user, if it's inappropriate it can be hidden by your members with thumbs down, or deleted by admins. If it's incorrect information a simple post below with the correct information will do. In any situation talk to the original poster, rather than changing their words without permission.
We find it actually helps keep the forums running smoothly, there's no edit wars, there's no opportunity to get angry at someone changing the meaning of your original message, and if the forum members make full use of the thumbing down feature then there's even less work for admins to do to remove inappropriate posts.
In the future, we'll probably add post updating options available to the member who authored the post and the admin.
Can my admins have a private category to discuss admin-only topics?
Updated Feb 1, 2010. Yes, you can create private categories based on rules such that only mods or admins can view and post in it. There's a lot of customization options here, including granting access to 'Trusted Members' that you want to reward with viewable access to premium or admin only content. Learn more about setting the permissions on your category groups.
What is the difference between Admins & Mods?
All admins have the same level of access and the same level as the founder:
- Admins have FULL access to the admin panel
- Admins can remove or ban a member
- Admins can lock posts
- Admins can delete and mark posts as spam
Moderators do NOT have access to the admin panel:
- Mods can delete and mark posts as spam
- Mods can lock posts
Remove vs. Banning a member?
Removing a member, removes them from your forum, and allows them to join again at a later date. On a public forum with auto approval, this allows the member to return at free well. If membership must be approved, an admin will have to approve the person again, same goes for a private forum.
Removing members is most frequently used in cases where a forum may be a small team and the admin is trying to keep the member roster limited for some reason (maybe game play, a class, etc.)
Banning members usually happens because a member has acted inappropriately on a forum. Because we always thing it's wiser to 'warn' a member of their inappropriate behavior before banning them, we require that you send a 'Warning' first, before banning. You can send a warning from the Admin Panel's membership page. After you send them a warning, the dropdown box next to their name will have a new option - 'Ban'.
How do I remove the ads from my forum?
Since Lefora is free to you (you get free hosting, free forum software, spam protection, automatic free backups, custom themes, and dozens of other free features) ads are how we support our services. However, if your interested in removing the ads from your forum, you can upgrade to 'Lefora Pro' via the Upgrades tab on your Admin Panel.
Can I use my own ads in the forum? Is there support for Google AdSense?
You can use your own static html, image, or flash ads on your forum's sidebar. Many forums do this by putting an image or flash animation ad on the sidebar and linking to a company's website. Unfortunately, we do not have support for Google AdSense or other Ad Networks.
Can I change my username or the username of a member on my forum?
Usernames cannot be changed. If a change in username is a must, ask the member to sign up for a new account with a different email address (as an email address can only have one account). The older user can leave the forum if they wish.
Can I change my Forum Name?
You can change your forum's displayed title (the one in the header), via your Admin Panel. You cannot change your forum's URL shortname (as in support.lefora.com). However, there are options for you, such as using a Custom Domain name (one that you own). This is a premium service.
My member's 'real' post are being flagged as spam!Our spam detection system will sometimes be a bit 'stronger' on brand new members, especially when your forum is young. We do this because we block tens of thousands of real spam messages each day, and most are from new members.
If a member's real post is getting marked as spam, you can 'train' the system to say it's not spam, just like you would train your email spam system. By simply 'unspamming' a few posts by the new member, you will teach our system. After a few posts or a few days, you should see our system not flag that member as spam anymore.
To 'unspam', click 'Forum Admin' -> Members -> Spam Management and check the posts flagged as spam and click 'Not Spam'
How do I delete my forum or user account?
If you would like to delete your forum, follow these steps:
- When logged into your forum, click 'Forum Admin' on the userbar
- Click the 'Settings' tab
- At the bottom of the 'Setup' tab is a button to Delete your forum. (Note you may see a button that says 'Abandon' on active forums, this allows somebody from the community to step up and admin the forum. As other members may have posted in the forum, we give them the right to claim the forum first.)
If you would like to delete your user account, follow these steps:
- When logged in, click 'Edit Profile' on the userbar.
- Click the 'Close Account' tab. Read the information there carefully and confirm your password to close your account.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: If you delete your forum or your user account, you will NOT be able to recover any data you had on your forum. If you delete your forum, you will not be able to re-register that forum name on lefora. If you delete your user account, you will not be able to use the same username on Lefora in the future.
Archiving a forum?
After 60 days of no new posting activity a forum will be archived into a read-only publicly accessible state. You can keep your forum from archiving simply by posting once per month (you or a member). 'Pro' forums will never be archived. We will send out an email notification to all admins 2+ weeks prior to archiving.
If you have any questions about how, when, why a forum is archived, please be sure to read our Forum Archiving Questions page.
WORKING WITH 3rd PARTY WIDGETS & SERVICES
How do I add custom Flash Widgets to my forum's sidebar?
We support the millions of custom flash widgets that currently exist for myspace, blogs, and other sites. We do not support javascript widgets as this would pose a security threat.
To add a flash widget to your sidebar, click 'Forum Admin' -> 'Apperance' -> 'Sidebar'. Then add a 'Custom HTML' widget to your sidebar, click 'Edit' and paste in the flash embed code you get from another site, such as www.widgetbox.com. Some favorite widgets?
Here's a Step-by-step Guide.
What is a widget? (basically, it's a phrase to refer to little piece of computer code that allow you to embed videos, photos, chatboxes, music players, etc. from one site into another site.
How do I add a chatbox or chatroom (or shoutbox or chat)?
How do I put a paypal widget on my forum for member donations?
The following code works in a Custom HTML Widget in the sidebar. Replace XXXXXX with your account code.
<p align="center"><a href="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=XXXXX" class="external" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://www.paypal.com/en_GB/i/btn/btn_donateCC_LG.gif" border="0" name="submit" alt="PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online." /></a></p>
FOR YOUR MEMBERS
How do I reset a password?
That's simple, and there's no admin action need (like other forums.) For the member who forgot their password, they just need to click 'Login', then click the 'Forgot Password' link. They will be presented with a form to enter their email address. A password reset link will be emailed to the member.
NOTE: Sometimes, especially yahoo.com emails, have the reset password email go to SPAM, be sure to look into SPAM folder from "Password Reset" <forum@forumnotification.com>
Alternatively, members can visit http://www.lefora.com/password/ to view the password reset form.
What's is the Headlines page?
Your forum's Headline page is sorta like the headlines of a newspaper. It features hot content for the day, from new posts, to new members, to recently embedded media. This is a unique feature on lefora like no other forum. Many other forum admins on other software must work hard to manually make this page for their own forum. Lefora does this for you automatically.
Why doesn't the 'New' icon always appear?The 'New' indicator at the categories level will indicate if their are any 'new' posts since your last visit to the site. Whether you read them or not. It is reset with each visit, and this is so that old posts you may choose not to read, don't persist as 'new' on your forum.
Can I use colored fonts in the posts?
Because of our extensive customization options for your themes, admins can change the colors across all areas of their site. And some admins change the theme up from time to time (maybe a seasonal background image, etc.)
Because a background could be white, black, or some color in between, we don't allow members to post in different colors. Because if they posted in red text and you made your background red for the holidays, nobody would be able to read their old posts.
We may come up with innovative solutions to this problem in the future, but for now, all themes have their default font colors and cannot be changed.
How can I attach (upload) a large file or video?
Each individual file attachment is limited to 5mb on Lefora. We may increase the size in the future, but since most larger files tend to be videos, and youtube.com is such a great video hosting service, we recommend using that. If you need to attach a very larger file, say 20mb, there are two free services that allow you to upload a file to their servers, and they'll provide you with a direct link you can paste into your post, so other members can download the file without leaving the forum.
Attach a large file - you can use a free file hosting service and place a link to the file in your forum, for instance, mediafire.com or yousendit.com Both have 100% free options, allow for 100s of MB in storage, and give you a url for a direct download of the file so you can place that url in your forum.
Attach a video - we recommend using youtube.com or vimeo.com for uploading videos as their service is free and optimized for video playback. Both sites will provide you with embeddable code that you can paste into your posting editor by clicking the 'embed flash' button and pasting the code in. You can embed multiple videos into one post by clicking the button again and erasing the old url and pasting a new one in (both videos will be displayed).
Attach audio (mp3) - You can either attach an audio file directly to the post, or you can embed an audio player inside your post so that other members can listen to the file without having to download it. To have the audio play in a player, you can use yourlisten.com to upload your audio file and they will give you embeddable code that you can paste into your post by clicking the 'embed flash' button.
|