Nine Ball

iTrader: (38)

Please take a few minutes and read this Frequently Asked Questions and Problems thread. If you are looking for specific information, it will help.

Be forewarned - if you post a thread asking a question to which the answer is found within the text of this sticky, it will be locked without warning.

Frequently Asked Questions & Problems:

1. Google? What The Heck?
2. Site Speed Problems
3. Search Feature Problems
4. Database Errors
5. For Sale Forum - Posting Problems
6. RULES for using the Classifieds Forums: Updated 3.4.08
7. Post Counter Not Working
8. 65,535 Private Messages - How To Fix
9. Username Change Policy
10. User Title/Status Change Policy
11. Signature Rules & Limitations
12. Posting Photos or Signature Images - How To
13. Sponsor Feedback Forum Info
14. Banned Users
15. Infractions, What are they?
16. How do I report Abuse/Violation?

Nine Ball

iTrader: (38)

Site Speed, Database Errors & Search Feature Problems

Summary can be found at the bottom:

We're maxing out the vBulletin software as it sits right now. The database vBulletin uses cannot support the usage it sees on this site. Our server Administrator has done a TON of custom coding to try to alleviate some of the problems, but the problem exists at the root of the software suite, so a lot of effort is taking place to more or less re-write a lot of the software to make it work. Since Brains works on this site part-time, and that kind of work takes a while - it isn't an overnight process.

In the meantime, we have had to take steps to ensure that the site stays accessible during high load times. You may notice, when many users are online, that the search function re-directs you to Google. This is intentional - don't worry! It allows the database to keep up with read/write requests and tries to minimize errors associated with those tasks.

Also, some of the fancy features on vBulletin have been disabled due to their load requirements. These include the listing of all users on the main page showing who is online. This too was removed to help maintain site performance.

Right now, the site is free for your use and enjoyment. While there is revenue brought in from the sponsors, the cost to support the server cluster (yes, we run a cluster), as well as pay for the large amounts of bandwidth we use a month (think in the Terabyte range), is not petty change. However, the site owners are dedicated to spending what it takes to maintain this site, and are always looking to keep up with whatever technology solutions can help achieve that goal. Right now the problem we are facing, however, is not one that can necessarily solved by spending a few extra bucks. It requires a lot of custom work, as we operate a rather unique set of applications/websites. Most websites alleviate the problem by deleting threads beyond a few months old, or archiving old threads so that they are no longer writable. We have maintained ALL of our threads dating back to the beginning of the site, because there are still 1000's of older technical threads that are still useful today.

SUMMARY: The problems are software based (limits) and we are working on it - we know things aren't working how they should all the time. Its not simply a matter of throwing money at it, otherwise it would be fixed by now. We're approaching this problem from many different directions and are working hard to solving it. Hang tight and bear with us - and remember, this site is FREE!! So please think twice before posting up a flame-fest about search not working for a little bit....

Nine Ball

iTrader: (38)

For Sale Forums - Posting Problems

Every registered user on LS1tech is now required to have a minimum of 10 posts, or a minimum of 30 day membership duration before they can gain the privilege of posting a NEW THREAD or REPLY in the Classifieds sections, or post FOR SALE / WANT TO BUY ad (or REPLY with selling / purchasing intent) in any section of the site. Post whoring (i.e. "cool, nice car, ..., sweet.....etc) to reach 10+ posts is not allowed. Post count will be reset to zero with or without any notification. If member is caught post whoring two times they will be banned.

Unfortunately, we've had to put this restriction on our site due to so many lurking scammers popping up and taking honest money. This restriction has helped to ring out a lot of the scammers looking to make a quick buck on our site. Posting for sale items in other forums to circumvent this rule is prohibited and the posts will be deleted.

After your 10th post, it can take up to 24 hours to update your access to the classifieds forums. DO NOT make a post requesting instant access upon making your 10th post, the system is automated. The database updates certain records on a daily basis, it is not instantaneous. Any threads regarding this will be locked/ignored.

Please do not contact us asking to circumvent this rule. The system is automated and we do not make exceptions. We feel that the classifieds forums here are a privilege to contributing members, not a free service for new members.

Nine Ball

iTrader: (38)

Site rules or "FAQ" can be found in User Support & Resources and the 10 post/30 days rule.
Failure to follow these rules may result in your threads being locked, deleted, or moved. Depending on the severity of your actions, or frequency of your actions, your user account could be suspended or banned.

1. CONSOLIDATE / ADDING PARTS / PARTS SOLD all of your for sale items into ONE thread. Do not post a separate ad for each item or they may be merged with the improper title which we do not have time to change.
Chose an appropriate title for your thread if you plan to sell parts and add more later on. In the first post you can list more parts and edit a part "sold" so buyers know exactly what to check back for.

2. PRICE IS REQUIRED. We do not permit ads without an asking price for each item. "Best Offer" is not an allowable substitute for posting a price. You may ask for $1 but a price must be listed regardless.

3. EBAY LINKS AND OTHER LINKS. We allow links to ebay ads, but you MUST have a buy-it-now price posted, or an asking price to stop the auction in your ad here (Not just in the link). If it is from another site or from here, do not use a link but post the full text instead with pictures if you have them listed.

4. CITY / STATE / COUNTRY are required info for each ad. Buyers and sellers reserve the rights to privately ask for full contact information on any purchase or sale.

5. PARTS WANTED / WILLING TO TRADE. We have a separate Parts Wanted forum, please post what you are looking for there. "Willing to Trade" should also be posted there. Vehicles also belong in the vehicles for sale forum. Threads posted here of those kind will be deleted.

6. TTT / BUMPING. Do not "TTT" to-the-top or "Bump" your threads to the top of the forum more than ONCE per day. If you do this more than permitted, we may just delete your thread. Be considerate to others, your ad is not any more special than theirs. This includes "Payment sent", "Received Payment" and general chatter.

7. MEMBER FEEDBACK. Do not post member feedback in the classifieds forums. We have a separate "Member Feedback" forum at the bottom of the sales area of the main forum index.

8. SELLER HARASSMENT. If you are not interested in buying something from someone, do not negatively haggle them about the price, or post things that intend to hurt potential sales. Comments should be kept constructive.

9. DIBS. There is no "dibs" calling on this site. Just because you replied first, that does not guarantee you a sale. The item could be listed on several sites, in different forums, in the newspaper, on ebay, etc... so don't call dibs and act like a crybaby if you do not get the sale. Seller reserves all rights to sell or decline a sale to whomever he wishes.

10. NO TWO PARTY OR AT THE SHOP SALES. This means no more "I'm selling for a friend/my Brother/my Cousin" posts and will be deleted immediately. If the seller has parts coming off a car still at a shop and not off the vehicle, you must state you do not know what condition those part(s) is in. Seller assumes all responsibility of anything they post for sale, not the shop or a friend/relative.

11. FRAUD & RISK. Buy and Sell at your own risk. LS1TECH and its staff are not responsible if someone rips you off or doesn't send parts out in a timely manner. This classifieds section is a free service for the community, and it is YOUR responsibility to handle all transactions in a low-risk method. DO NOT contact us if there is a dispute between you and someone else, we are NOT INVOLVED.

Nine Ball

iTrader: (38)

Post Counter Not Working

We have disabled post count tracking in select forums. This will help reduce "post-whoring" and "free posts" from members trying to pump up their post counts.

We also have a 10 post minimum requirement (or 30 day membership) to post a new classified ad in the parts for sale forum. This was done to help reduce the potential of newly-registered scammers taking advantage of our members. Now they will have to post in the technical and racing forums to earn their post count, which may help turn them away.

Forums with disabled post-counting:

Introductions & Greetings
Signature Test Forum
Racer's Lounge
Multimedia Exchange
Street Racing & Kill Stories
All Classifieds Forums
All Regional Forums

Basically, if it isn't a technical forum, the posts do not count in it.

Nine Ball

iTrader: (38)

65,535 Private Messages - How To Fix

I'm sure many of you have noticed that there have been some issues lately with PMs, often times showing up with 65,535 unread or something in the vicinity of that amount. Somewhere in the operation of the forum code, an error occurred. It is only an error in the quantity of PMs, no errors occurred with your actual PMs.

When you see that your count is huge like that, follow these steps:

1. Go into your inbox and select all of the messages on the first page. Do this by marking the check box that is above the column of check box's on the right hand side of the screen.
2. Then go down the screen to the drop down box labeled "Selected Messages" and click on "Mark as Read".
3. After that, click on the button right next to the drop down menu marked "Go".

If that does not work, try deleting a few of the PMs that you don't need. One of those two solutions should fix it for you.

Please attempt to fix it yourself before you post up. After you have tried these methods, and it is still not correct, THEN, and ONLY THEN, should you post up about this topic.

For those curious about what causes the glitch, it is a database glitch. "65535," is the max number of a signed INT value, equivalent of "FFFF" in hex, or 256^2. Something went screwy with either the passing to or from of a value between the forum code and the database server.

Nine Ball

iTrader: (38)

Username Change Policy

We will no longer be doing username changes on LS1TECH. If you would like a new username, you must create a new user account. We will not transfer your post count or registration date to the new account. You need to justify if having a new username is worth it.

This was a complimentary service that we were providing before, but several people were too demanding and rude about it. So, it will no longer be done.

The only exception is for members who become site advertisers and wish to have their business name as their username, or vice-versa if they no longer advertise here and want their original username back.

Please do not send any private messages or emails requesting a name change. They will be ignored.

Nine Ball

iTrader: (38)

User Title/Status Change Policy

We do not provide custom user titles. We do not make exceptions for anyone anymore - if you see a member with a custom user title it may have been changed in the past, or on a sister site - the databases are linked. They should not be changing user names either, but we cannot make exceptions due to their actions.

7,8,9,10,11,12,etc Second Club titles will still be issued if you post in the respective forum with a slip providing evidence of the run. Also, Sponsors will still get sponsor titles along with their other account enhancements that are part of the sponsorship package they purchased.

Here are the automated User Titles that update upon 24 hrs of post count achieved:

0-49 = Teching In or Registered User
50-99 = Staging Lane
100-199 = On The Tree
200-299 = Launching!
300-399 = TECH Apprentice
400-499 = TECH Regular
500-749 = TECH Enthusiast
750-999 = TECH Resident
1000-1999 = TECH Fanatic
2000-2999 = TECH Addict
3000-3999 = TECH Junkie
4000-4999 = TECH Veteran
5000-? (7K+) = TECH Senior Member

Nine Ball

iTrader: (38)

Signature Rules & Limitations

Any signature content that does not meet the following requirements is liable to being edited/removed without warning. You should not replace something that has been removed by a moderator/admin.

1. The maximum size limit for total signature images is 500 pixels wide by 150 pixels high. If you have more than one image, the combined dimensions cannot exceed 500 x 150.

2. Animated images are not permitted in signatures (with the exception of small smileys).

3. Flash (swf) files cannot be included in signatures.

4. Non-work-safe or inappropriate images are not permitted in signatures.

5. The limit for text in signatures is 8 single-spaced lines of standard-size or smaller text, if you do not have an image. If you have an image, the limit for text in signatures is 3 single-spaced lines of standard-size or smaller text

6. Advertising contact information for your non-sponsor business is not permitted.

7. Banners and logos for non-adveritsing vendors are not permitted.

8. Bashing sponsors in your signature is grounds for your account to be banned.


How To Resize Images and Host Images

Any software programs which can resize images and save them in JPG format can be used to resize images to appropriate size for use in signatures, including:

Adobe Photoshop
Jasc Paint Shop Pro (purchased by Corel in October 2004 )
Microsoft Paint
Microsoft Photo Editor (comes with Office 97/2000/2002)
Microsoft Picture Manager (comes with Office 2003)
GIMP
Serif PhotoPlus (review)
IrfanView
Or a free online (no software to install) tool such as http://www.myimager.com/


If you don't already have web-hosting space available at a site which allows off-site image usage, you can host a signature image at one of these free sites that does allow off-site image use (Webshots, Yahoo, MSN, and many others, do not!):

http://www.fquick.com
http://www.photobucket.com
http://www.imageshack.us
http://www.tinypic.com
http://www.putfile.com
http://www.imagethrust.com
http://www.storemypic.com
http://www.uploadyourimages.com
http://www.bighosting.net
http://www.cardomain.com
http://www.imgspot.com
http://www.hotlinkhost.net
http://www.imagevenue.com
http://www.xs.to (http://www.free-image-hosting.us)
http://www.imagehosting.us
http://www.yesalbum.com
http://www.thefilehut.com
http://www.desearch.net
http://www.uploadx.net
http://www.photohosting.info
http://www.myimagehosting.com
http://www.filepost.us
http://www.imagedump.us


To insert an image in your signature after it's hosted, use the direct address of your image (starts with 'http://' and ends with '.jpg') - not the address of the page to display it, and place it between [img] and [/img] codes in your signature.

To edit your signature, go to the User CP and go to the Edit Signature section.

"Edit Profile Picture" does not have any connection to, or effect on your signature.

Nine Ball

iTrader: (38)

Sponsor Feedback Forum Info

Users can create threads, and only they and the site sponsors can reply to them. That's basically it -- get the notice out there, and effect a solution if possible. Anything else is unrelated people just wanting to get their opinion in, which in nearly every case doesn't actually add value. In many cases, it can prevent the issue from being resolved.

The feedback forum isn't a "lets bash on Johnny's Widgets" forum, its designed to let people know about an experience with a vendor, and if that experience wasn't positive to allow the involved parties to work it out. If someone wants to share THEIR experiences, they can do it in their own thread -- not in someone else's.

Nine Ball

iTrader: (38)

Banned Users

We do our best to promote a peaceful and spam-free community. Unfortunately this requires us to ban some users either temporarily or permanently. Here are some general rules which we use to decide if someone should be banned or not. Other offenses might not be listed, and are up to the decision of the site Administrators.

Permanent Bans:

1. Spammers. Anyone who registers here with the sole intent to sell/advertise something that is not authorized will be permanently banned. Users who register here with the sole purpose of directing someone to another website.

2. Someone who posts highly inappropriate images or links on the site.

3. Someone who threatens physical violence or intent to harm others.

4. Someone who threatens legal action against the websites.

5. Someone who is found to be backdoor soliciting items or services that directly compete with a paying sponsor here.

6. Trolls. These are post-****** or troublemakers who are only here to cause problems and bring nothing worthwhile to the site.

7. Members who commit multiple violations and disregard warnings or rules.

8. Members who state racist and gender/religion derrogatory remarks.

9. Members who re-register another user account if their primary account was banned either temporary or permanently. Anyone caught re-registering due to being banned will have all of their accounts banned permanently.

Temporary Bans (Punishment)

1. Long time users who get into heated feuds/debates and need cool down time.

2. Long time users who post inappropriate images or links, or racial comments.

3. Members who repeatedly disregard the site rules or cause problems for staff members.

4. Members who harass other members in the classifieds forums.

5. Members who were previously warned by staff about something, and they continued to violate the warning.

6. Members who publicly attack staff members for doing their assigned jobs.

VIP1

Infractions, What are they?

Infraction_________________________ Points_____ Duration
Asking a question answered by stickies_______1_________10 Day(s)
Inappropriate Language____________________1_________10 Day(s)
Insulted Other Member(s)__________________1_________10 Day(s)
Signature Rule Violation ___________________1_________10 Day(s)
Classifieds policy violation__________________5_________7 Day(s)
"Not Work Safe" or inappropriate images______20________30 Day(s)
Spammed Advertisements__________________20________10 Day(s)
**** spammer - instaban!__________________100000____Never

10 infractions total= You get a 7 day vacation.
10,000 points = You get banned forever.

VIP1

How do I report Abuse/Violation?

When you see a rule violation or someone is being abusive/vulgar, please use the "Report Post" button under their avatar to alert a moderator.