Uniquity Academy Guide, Base from HMF

Avatars:
1. Upload the image to the internet if it's on your computer. I use TinPic, but there are others around.
2. Go to My Controls
3. Click "Edit Avatar Settings"
4. Enter the URL of the image in the box which has "http://" in it.
A common mistake here is not deleting the http:// first, so it doubles up when you paste the URL.
5. Click Update Avatar.

Notes on Avatars:
Maximum size is 64x64 pixels, and 60KB. Images must be one of: .gif .jpg .jpeg .png

Signatures:
1. Upload the image to the internet if its on the computer, as with Avatars above.
2. Go to My Controls
3. Click "Edit Signature"
4. Scroll down to the box, type your signature here.
5. Click "Update my Signature" when done.

Notes on Signatures:
No more than 1 image is allowed per signature, and images must be within 300 pixels in height and 500 in length, and must have no more than 5 lines of text.
For bold, italics, underline, centre, coloured, resized and more, see below.

Font Variations:
You may have noticed the Bold, Italics, Underline buttons, the Font, Size and Color dropdown's and other buttons above the post reply box. If these arent working for you, and you end up with a post like this:

Then you need to add the closing tag on the end, as below.
NOTE: All of these must have the *'s removed.

The My Controls Section
The first thing you want to do is to create a profile so we know a little bit about you. Click the My Controls link, which is at the top right of all pages. The My Controls page contains all of your personal settings, including personal messages, profile info, signature info, and avatar settings. We'll go over all these in more detail later on. To start off with, let's edit your profile info. Click the corresponding link on the bottom left of the page.

Editing Your Profile
Here you can fill in your date of birth, messenger contacts, home page, location, and interests. Fill in any info you wish to give, then click Amend my profile. Remember that your e-mail address will not be shown to anyone in the interest of privacy. When you reach five posts, you will be able to write in a new box - the 'Custom Member Title'. If you choose not to edit this yourself, it will automatically change as the number of posts you have accumulates.

By the way, you can look at anyone else's profile by simply clicking their user name, which is the same way in which people will be viewing your profile.

Editing Your Signature
Directly under the profile link is a link to Edit Signature. A signature is text that appears at the bottom of each message you post. On UA you can have anything on your signature you wish. As long as you have your name on it is acceptable. Some members have put what they are. Ex: Gimp Teacher, Photoshop Student, ect.

On the forums, you may hear people talk of 'making signatures'. This normally refers to a graphic component of what you just did.

Adding an Avatar
An avatar is a picture that appears next to your user name in posts. To upload an avatar, choose one of three options:
1) A pre-installed avatar. Simply click the one you want and choose Add this avatar to my profile.
2) A picture from another site. Enter the web address and press Add....
3) A picture on your hard drive. Click Browse or enter the picture name, and enter the picture dimensions. Please note that there is a maximum dimension for avatars, which is currently 64 × 64 pixels.

You may also choose to remove your avatar by clicking the last option button, I don't wish to use an avatar (remove all current).

Now your profile is complete!

Personal Messages
You can PM any user by clicking the 'PM' button under one of their posts. A personal message travels to the other user instantly; the next time they log in they will see their new message. You can use this as an alternative to e-mail. To see if you have new messages, simply look at the top right of the screen; next to the My Controls link you will see a link that says 'Inbox (#)'. To write a new message, you can also click the link in your My Controls section that says Compose New Message.

Posting on the Bulletin Board
To post in any forum which is available to you, simply click the forum link and then click 'New Topic'.
To reply to an existing post, make sure you are currently reading that post and click 'Add Reply'.
To quote another's post in your reply, click the 'Quote' button beside their post.
To report a post (let moderators and admin know that inappropriate content has been posted), press the 'Report' button.
To edit your own post, click 'Edit'. When you edit your post, a line comes up below your post saying that it was edited. It is polite to write in your edited message why it is that you edited your message. If someone has already replied to your post, it is better to post a whole new message than to appear rude and edit your post.

The first post you probably will want to make is on the Getting Started board. This is a place to introduce yourself, and read this guide on there.
I hope that helps you start off! Welcome to the Uniquity Graphics Academy.