By registering with the forum, you will be able to edit your member profile and preferences. You will get the most out of your time here if you change your profile and preferences to suit your individual tastes. There are many options in your profile to make your experience here more enjoyable, so please take a few moments to try the various settings. Also, only users that are registered and logged in can take advantage of the "New Posts" feature upon each visit. Once you've registered and logged in, click "Edit Profile" or "Edit Preference" in the Forum Navigation island to edit your settings.

The Email Address field is used for email notifications, Watch Lists and to email your password. The Public Email Address field is what other users see when they view your profile. We realize that you may not want everyone to know your real email address, but we need to know it in case you want to watch certain content or if you want to have replies emailed to you. For this reason you can give us your real email address in the Email Address field and only the Administrators of the board will see it. You can provide a different email address for the general public using the Public Email Address. Some people like to put in something like scream@no.spam.yahoo.com. This way people can still figure out what your real email address is, but spamming agents can't just parse through the page and obtain your email address to spam you.

Yes. Cookies are used to remember your login information as well as what posts you have read during your current session. Without accepting cookies some functions won't work properly.

If you have registered with these forums, you must log in to take advantage of the personalization of settings. To log in, look in the upper right-hand corner of your screen for the "Log In" link. This link will take you to a page where you can enter your Username (email address) and Password. Keep in mind that the password is always case-sensitive. This means that the software considers "S" and "s" to be different characters.

Once you have entered your Username (email address) and Password, you'll be brought to your Starting View. (You can change the page used for your Default Starting View by clicking "Edit Preferences" in the Forum Navigation island.) If you have any Private Messages waiting for you, you'll see a flashing envelope on the My Messages island. (Note that this only applies if the Private Messaging feature has been enabled by the Administrators of the board.)

This checklist may help you successfully log in:

1) Make sure you are entering your password correctly. Passwords are case-sensitive.
2) Ensure that your browser supports cookies; if so, check the security level you are using. High levels of security restriction in certain browsers will automatically reject cookies. In order to use the key features of these forums, you'll need to accept cookies. The maker of your browser can help you with additional problems you may have with your cookie settings.
3) Completely log out by hitting the Log Out link in the upper right-hand corner of the page, and then log back in again.
4) After logging in, you may have to hit the Reload or Refresh button on your browser to expedite the authentication.
5) If these steps don't work you can try purging your cookies for this site using the My Cookies tool.
6) If you continue to have problems, go to the Log In page and click "Have you forgotten your login information?". Enter your real email address into the Email Address field and a temporary password will be emailed to the email address used for the account setup.

It's a system-generated User Title to give ranking to your postcount. You will progress through the various levels according to the cumulative number of posts you have made.

Everyone has a title within the forum. You will notice the title below the Display Name in each post. Some titles are automatically assigned based on the number of posts a user has made, and some titles are assigned by the forum owner to denote official representatives of the company or other VIPs in the forums.

If you have forgotten your password, don't worry! You can very easily have a temporary password emailed to you. Go to the Log In page and click "Have you forgotten your login information?". Enter your real email address into the Email Address field and a temporary password will be emailed to the email address used for the account setup.

This process is safe because the password is only emailed to the original owner of the account. There is no way to steal the password by using this feature.

You may change your password any time. On the Forum Navigation island, click "Edit Profile". Edit the Password and Verify Password fields and then click "Submit" to save the information. (Keep in mind that passwords are case-sensitive.)

In order to add an image to your message or your signature, you must have the image already available on a web server and reachable by a URL. This can be an image on your own personal web page, for example. To place an image within a message, simply use the following Markup Tag:

[image]http://www.url_to_image.com/image_name.gif[/image]

For example, if you have an image called cateye.gif and its available from your own website at http://www.mywebsite.com/pics, then you would use the following image markup:

[image]http://www.mywebsite.com/pics/cateye.gif[/image]

You can do the same for your signature. Click the My Home option found on any page. Then, under the Main Configuration heading, click on "Personal Information, email, password...". Look for the Signature box, and enter your desired information, including any images/markup as above.

Note: To keep the forums loading quickly for everyone, it is recommended that you do not exceed 35k for your image size.

We ask that you keep your images relatively small. As a rule, please do not exceed 600 x 125 pixels and/or 35k for a signature image. This will ensure that the forums load quickly for all users. If you need to quickly resize an image you want to use, you can do so online using sites such as cranno.com.

First and foremost, adults (age 18 and up) who use the MS website must realize that this is a place that wishes to promote healing and not chaos. It is not a substitute for therapy and should not be used as a place to vent unprocessed emotions without regard to the effect doing so would have on others. It is a place where questions can be asked and stories shared for the benefit of all rather than reactions that serve to confuse, scare and rob the site of its safety. It is a place where people can take risks to explore issues that require the understanding and support of other brother survivors. It is a place founded and run by survivor volunteers who give of their time and energy to provide for men just like them and to protect the organization that makes it all a reality.

If you are currently in an unsafe situation or aware of someone at risk, we urge you to contact local law enforcement. MaleSurvivor does not provide these intervention services.

Site Management is responsible for the operation of the MaleSurvivor website within the guidelines posted herein. Moderators are volunteers who do their best to consult with one another to avoid responding subjectively to situations on the website. We ask for your patience and trust that the guiding principle followed is maintaining the safety of the site for all to use with respect and responsibility.


Because we are a moderated community, it is important that registered users be aware that ALL communications made on the MaleSurvivor website are filtered by the website for content and subject to review by site management personnel.


We monitor all forums to manage posts which contain:

• Illegal statements

• Threats of harm

• Explicitly suggestive sexual content

• Perpetrator behavior

• Incendiary and disrespectful statements

BE ADVISED:

• In the event that incidents arise where violations of discussion board guidelines have occurred users may be asked to participate in a phone interview with two members of the Web Oversight Committee as part of the investigation of the incidents in question.

• In some circumstances where users have been suspended from site participation they may be asked to have their therapist contact one of the MaleSurvivor mental health professionals prior to their return to the website.

Off Site Contact

MS believes that persons newly arrived here are often vulnerable to acting out or being occasionally targeted.

We have gone to great effort to monitor this site and to provide an environment which will welcome survivors, many of whom have serious trust issues. While we cannot guarantee complete safety here, we strongly recommend that you do not give out personal information or involve yourself with anyone you meet here by going off site until you have gotten to know them for at least three months based on communications on site. It is not appropriate to invite new persons to converse off site since we have no way to monitor off site activity. It is equally not appropriate to bring off site issues between persons to this board.

While we can't control anyone's off-site activities, it is our policy to discourage it and to urge anyone beginning such communication to proceed with caution. We want each of you to be safe and to use the site in the best way possible for your recovery.


We strongly recommend that you:

* Do not give your true legal name out to anyone who asks for it.

* Do not give out your personal email address to anyone here.

* Do not give anyone your home address, phone number or even the city you live in.

* Someone who may appear well-meaning may ask you to email him your picture. We ask that you not do that.


Issues of Concern:

PLEASE BRING YOUR CONCERNS TO A MODERATOR.



If you feel a post is abusive or belongs in another forum, please report it to a moderator. If you receive a Private Message you believe is abusive or inappropriate, please contact an administrator and include a copy of the PM. For the purpose of maintaining order within the forum do not respond publicly if something is triggering you. It is best for you to bring your concerns directly to a moderator or site administrator. Be advised that information effecting site administration or site safety will be shared with the administration and moderator team.

Interim moving or closing of posts will occur in order to allow moderators to decide how to respond to a perceived problem – PLEASE ACCEPT A TEMPORARY MOVE OR CLOSING BY SUSPENDING FURTHER DISCUSSION. It is done to allow us time to consider the problem and determine how to deal with it. If it is made permanent, we will state that it is and explain our reasons.

PLEASE AVOID OVER REACTIONS TO BEING TRIGGERED

If you know you are posting triggering material in your posts please put in subject header “Trigger Warning.”



Please be mindful of the fact that when we react to something it is often due to being triggered into a memory of our own abuse and has little to do with what someone is posting. PLEASE TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR FEELINGS AND STEP BACK TO CHECK THAT OUT. Send a PM to a mod or the site administrator and get someone else's take on the issue before posting your own "feeling" response to the post that triggered you then write your response with "I" statements and without saying "YOU".... If you see yourself attacking, you're reacting! Survivors come from all nationalities, faiths, sexual orientations and racial groups. Respect and compassion must be the cornerstone of how we respond to one another.



RESPONDING TO SITE ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS PRIVATELY

Private messages to the Site Administrator or the Web Oversight Committee about your concerns are appropriate. Please understand that actions are often based on information which cannot be shared publicly without harming other members on the site. Our decisions are often impossible to make without offending someone and therefore our primary goal is to promote healing and increase safety.

Please remember that:

* Issues that moderators determine are beyond their purview will be sent to the Website Oversight Committee.

* Moderators are here to keep posts and responses balanced and in keeping with Site Guidelines.

* Removing posts is an action of last resort. If something that you think is objectionable is left on the board make your comments privately to Site Administration but respect a moderator team’s decision not to remove the post

* Closing discussion in a string of posts will result if we feel that it contains a potential trigger – PLEASE DO NOT CARRY THE DISCUSSION TO A NEW POST



Multiple Accounts

In the interest of keeping this site and it’s users safe from fraud, users establishing multiple accounts will not be allowed on the MaleSurvivor site. In cases where apparent multiple accounts appear, all such accounts will be blocked pending clarification of the situation. If this happens to you, please do not be offended or think that this means you have done something wrong or are under suspicion. All we are doing is verifying the situation for the sake of the security and safety of the website.

We understand that in some circumstances there will continue to be cases where entirely legitimate use of the site will still give an impression of use of multiple accounts, for example, when a survivor and his partner are using the same computer. If you are approached about this we would appreciate your support and assistance in clarifying the matter. We are anxious to work with all of you to maintain your ability to access the site as safely and freely as possible.

Campaigns

In regard to letter/email writing and other such campaigns, as worthy as they may be, it is important that this site follow some procedures to insure that this is the best tactic and energy efficient way to address that subject. Therefore, any posts calling for or implying a campaign (i.e. online activism, letter writing campaigns, phone calls, etc.) of any sort must have prior acceptance of the Site Administrator and/or Web Oversight Committee. Any such posting without prior clearance will be pulled and referred to the Site Management.

Posting of news stories about abuse issues

Postings of news stories must be posted in the US and World News Forum. Any copyright material (print or images) may not be posted without permission from the copyright holder.

Avatars

It is our belief that sharing of art or photographs in the form of an avatar can be a validating, even healing experience for many in the MaleSurvivor community. Users are encouraged, if they wish, to produce and post their own avatar. This avatar may be, but is not necessarily limited to, a picture of themselves at any age, and must adhere to the following standards:

*All individuals or characterizations depicted in an avatar must be fully clothed.

*No political avatars

*No use of a photo of someone other than the user, unless the photo is of a well-known public or historical figure (e.g. an avatar of George Washington would be okay; one of a high-school classmate would not)

*No avatars likely to cause stress or anxiety (strobing images, tortured figures, etc.)

*No avatars likely to give offense (e.g. Hitler, etc.)

*No weapons

*No portrayals of anything that is explicitly or implicitly sexual or violent

*No pictures that suggest or depict addictions or addictive behavior

*Nothing that would compromise or reveal your personal contact information



The moderators will retain sole review and discretion rights concerning avatars and may from time to time remove or ask a user to remove an avatar that in their opinion violates the above guidelines or is in any other way triggering or unhealthy to the welfare of our community.



At Risk Forum

The At Risk Forum is for survivors who have done inappropriate, harmful, or abusive behavior to others in their childhood or adolescence, or have acted out sexually through certain behaviors that may be causing shame. This is also for survivors who are experiencing feelings or thoughts of acting out sexually on another person.

Due to the sensitive nature of some of the discussions in At Risk, admission to post or read is by application to the moderator. You must be a paid member of MaleSurvivor (limited scholarship funds are available for those who cannot afford membership) and the person must let Ken Singer know why he wants access. Information shared within this forum is to remain confidential and is not to be shared with anyone outside of this forum.



Other important information and disclosures

Considering the real-time nature of the MS Discussion Board, it is impossible for moderators to immediately review messages or confirm the validity of information posted. Please remember that we at MaleSurvivor are not responsible for any messages posted. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message, and are not responsible for the contents of any message. The messages express the views of the author of the message, not the views of MaleSurvivor or any entity associated with MaleSurvivor. Any user who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to contact a member of site administration immediately by PM. We have the ability to remove objectionable messages and we will make every effort to do so, within a reasonable time frame, if we determine that removal is necessary and according to the website guidelines.

You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use the MS Discussion Board to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually inappropriate, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise violative of any law or regulation. You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or you have permission from the copy right holder. Please note that advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations are inappropriate and not allowed on the MaleSurvivor website.

MaleSurvivor retains ownership of all content posted on the website and also reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to remove any message. You remain solely responsible for the content of your messages.



MaleSurvivor also reserves the right to reveal your identity array(or whatever information we know about you) in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from any message posted by you.

BY USING THIS SITE YOU AFFIRM THAT YOU ARE AT LEAST EIGHTEEN (18) YEARS OF AGE AND THAT YOU AGREE TO INDEMNIFY AND HOLD MALESURVIVOR AND IT’S AGENTS, UBB (THE MAKERS OF THE DISCUSSION BOARD SOFTWARE) AND THEIR AGENTS, HARMLESS FROM ANY AND ALL LIABILITY WITH RESPECT TO ANY AND ALL CLAIMS RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THIS SITE.

By accepting, you agree to follow these guidelines and any amendments posted in the Announcement’s forum for your participation on this website and understand that there are consequences for not doing so.

Yes, you'll be missing a trick if you fail to take advantage of the versatility offered. There are many aspects of how the Forums are displayed that may be customized. On the Forum Navigation island, click "Edit Preferences".

You can choose the stylesheet in which you wish to view the forums, how many posts are displayed on each page, whether or not you want to view users' pictures alongside their posts, and much more. Once saved, these become your default settings. You may edit these preferences again at anytime.

The first post of a given topic establishes the subject by which all subsequent replies will be known. Once there's been a reply, the topic subject cannot be subsequently changed. It's therefore important to get the subject right from the outset. Make it as descriptive and as specific as possible. For example, "LCD burn-in questions", is much better than something completely generic, such as "Newbie needs help!". Not only is it more likely to elicit a response, but it'll also make it much easier for all posts in the topic to be subsequently located.

One of the key benefits of the discussion board format is that it enables commonly asked questions to be answered once, for the benefit of all. Before posting your question, it is always worth checking to see if it has already been asked - and answered! You can do this via the Search island. Using the Search island, you can perform a quick keyword search, or click on the "Advanced" button to search by more specific criteria. Various options are available, both for how the search term is specified and for controlling how many forums you want to search. This is where the specificity of topic subjects is important, making it much easier to locate precisely what it is you're after from a list of search results.

It means that you have unread Private Messages. When you hover over this image it should display how many unread Private Messages that you have.

On the "New Private Topic" screen, you can type in a new user then press "add" or you can select them from the "My Buddies" dropdown. You can add up to the forum maximum of users (this limit will show on the "New Private Topic" screen) to the Private Topic.

If the tags are showing up in your text or you're getting a link, but it's to "http:///", you're including some unwanted spaces in the syntax. Avoid any intervening spaces, and everything will work fine.

Users can edit their own posts up to 999999999999 minutes after they are made. Where the change is substantial, it is courteous mark the post as edited so as to alert readers to the changed content. For cosmetic changes, it's better not to do so.

Let the forum Administrator or Moderator know - he/she will be able to move it for you.

There are 2 ways that this can be configured on a per-forum basis. If HTML is On then you will see HTML is On and you can use normal HTML in your posts. If UBBCode is on you will see UBBCode is On.

The following tags are available for your use if UBBCode is enabled:

Text Formatting
[b] text [/b] = Makes the given text bold.
[i] text [/i] = Makes the given text italic.
[u] text [/u] = Underlines the given text.
[s] text [/s] = Will post your text with a line through it (strike through).
[color:red] text [/color] = Makes the given text red.
[color:#00FF00] text [/color] = Makes the given text green. [size:20pt] text [/size] = Will change the size of the text to whatever size value you specify.
[font:Comic Sans MS] text [/font] = Will post your text with the specified font.

Links
[email] joe@email.com [/email] = Makes the given email address clickable.
[email= joe@email.com ] text [/email] = Makes the given email address clickable.
[url] link [/url] = Makes the given url into a link.
[url= link ] title [/url] = Makes the given title into a hyperlink pointing to link.
[img] link [/img] = Embeds an image.

Code Tags & Highlighting
[code] text [/code] = Surrounds the given text with pre format tags.
[php] text [/php] = Passes the text through the PHP Syntax Highlighter
[highlight] text [/highlight] = Will highlight your text.
[spoiler] text [/spoiler] = Will wrap your text in a spoiler container. Users must click a button in order to see this text, thus giving them the ability to specify if they want to read the item.
[spoiler:warning] text [/spoiler] = Will wrap your text in a spoiler container and allow you to specify the warning message displayed. Users must click a button in order to see this text, thus giving them the ability to specify if they want to read the item.

Text and Image Alignment
[align:left|center|right] text [/align] = Will align the text in the direction defined.
[img:left|center|right] Image URL [/img] = Will allow you to allow text to wrap on the specified side of your image.

Misc.
[list]
[*]Item 1
[*]Item 1
[/list] = Makes a bullet list. [list=A] or [list=1] will make order/numbered lists. Other options include: circle, i, I, a, A, 1, disc, square.
[quote] text [/quote] = Surrounds the given text with blockquote and hr's. This UBBCode tag is used for quoting a reply.
[quote=username] text [/quote] = Surrounds the given text with blockquote and hr's. This UBBCode tag is used for quoting a reply. The username specified will be shown as quoted.

Putting a poll in your post is simple.

If polls are enabled, start by creating a new post in a forum. Below the body of your post, you will see a text box that allows you to specify how many polls you want to have in your post and the system will guide you through the rest.

You can change the number of posts displayed on each page by editing your display preferences. You can set this to anything between 1 and 99 posts per page. By default, this is set to 15 posts per page.

Quick Reply is made as a "Quick Response" block, so you can make a response to a post (or thread) before you forget or as you read them. Quick Reply is meant as a "no thrills" response box, as it's just there for a fast/non-formatted response.

Reply however brings you to a "Full Response" page that allows for heavy posting.

You can also click the "Full Reply" button from the Quick Reply box which will forward you (and all of your Quick Reply text) to the Full Reply page.

Quote will quote the users text to the Full Reply page. Quick Quote will quote the users text to the Quick Reply box below the thread.

Click the "My Profile" link from the "My Stuff" dropdown on the Forum Navigation island.

Using Gallery Forums are just like using any other forums... However, you can post images too!

After you create your post (subject and post, both required) you can click on the "Image Manager" link.

Adding images are as easy as:
1. Click "Browse" and a navigation area will appear that shows your computers files, navigate around to locate the image you'd like to upload. Once located, click on the image and select "open"; you can also choose to add a description (note that in v7.2 you do not have the option to change the description once another image is added).
2. If you wish to add another image, repeat step one; otherwise, select "done".

From here, just press submit, and your new "Gallery Posting" should appear for users to comment on your image(s).

When creating a new thread or response, you'll see a "File Manager" link on the "Full Reply" or "New Post" page. When selecting this option you'll receive a popup which will allow you to attach files to your post.

Steps:
1. Click "File Manager" to bring up the "Attachment" window.
2. Click "Browse" to bring up the file browser window; this will allow you to browse your computer for any files or images you wish to upload; please note that you're bound by whatever the "allowed file type" setting is for the board.
3. Click "open" on the file you wish to upload.
4. Enter a description of what the file is (if you want to).
5. Click "add file" to add another file, or "done" to close the window and complete your posting.

Please note that you must enter some text in both the "subject" and "post" fields when responding otherwise you will receive an error; you cannot just respond with an attachment ;).

Subscribing to a Forum
Enter the Forum and Select "Add Forum to Watched Forums" from the "Forum Options" dropdown.

Subscribing to a Topic
Enter the Topic and Select "Add Topic to your Watched Topics" option from the "Topic Options" dropdown.

Managing Watch Lists
Select "My Watch Lists" from the "My Stuff" dropdown, from here you can select the type of List that you wish to edit and by clicking the "Edit Watched Topics" (or "Edit Watched Forums" or "Edit Watched Users") link you can remove them or toggle the "Email Notification" option.

Toggling EMailed Watch Lists
See the above "Managing Watch Lists" directions.

Toggling the Default "EMail Watchedlist" Options
Select "My Preferences" from the "My Stuff" dropdown. From here you can manage the "By default should anything added to your Watch Lists be emailed to you?" option.

EMailing a Post or Thread
To email a post, simply navigate to the post and select "email post" from the bottom set of buttons (near reply, quote, notify, etc).

From this "email post" screen, you can select to mail yourself:
Just this post
This post and all replies
The entire thread

EMailing a Private Topic
When viewing a Private Message, simply click the "EMail Topic" button from the bottom set of buttons (near reply, quote, etc).

RSS Feeds for Forums
For forums which have an RSS Feed configured for them, you can enter the forum and select the feed link from the "Forum Options" dropdown.

My Feeds
If the administration has enabled the "My Feeds" option, you can manage RSS feeds from the "Feeds" link in the "My Stuff" dropdown in the navigation area.

From the My Feeds area you can see all of the RSS Feeds available to you, including all of the forums which have individual feeds. You will also be able to retrieve the feeds for your inbox and the global feeds for recent topics. Please note that these may or may not be available based on admin preferences.

The username colors generally specify a users status. Some select users can can also have special colors signified by the Administration.

The default user status colors are:
Administration
Global Moderator
Moderator
Search Engine Robot

The numbers in parenthesise indicate how many new topics (or posts) have been made since your last visit to the forums.