This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Q: Is ThisIsMS a blog?

A: No. ThisIsMS is a discussion forum. Blogs are tools that facilitate one way communication. People share their knowledge or express their opinion which others can then read and post comments. In contrast, discussion forums such as ThisIsMS are more dynamic and facilitate two way communication allowing for online conversations.

Q: Why doesn't the URL I put into my message work?

A: In a prior FAQ I discussed...


There is an alternative to shortening the URL with tinyurl or snipurl. The url breaks at these characters because the character is being misinterpreted by the browser. The work-around is to encode the character using it's hexadecimal equivalent.

Consider the following url...

http://www.thisisms.com/this-is-a-(sample)-broken-url.html

The URL will break at the parentheses symbols. Replacing the parentheses symbols with their hex code from the table below will fix the URL and prevent it from breaking. In this case, %29 for ).

http://www.thisisms.com/this-is-a-(sample%29-broken-url.html

Notice now when you move your mouse cursor over the URL above that the correct URL with the parentheses symbols is displayed in your browser's status bar.

The URL can now be encoded using BBCode which is helpful for long URLs.

URL Character Code Table:

Note: You may find that linking to an image does not work. It could be due to the presence of one of the special characters in the image's URL. Encoding the character should fix the broken image link.

Q: What is ThisIsMS?

A: ThisIsMS is a MS discussion forum with a worldwide audience. The purpose of ThisIsMS is to facilitate communication between MS patients, their caregivers and other individuals, such as doctors and researchers, with an interest in MS. The goal of ThisIsMS is to provide helpful information to those who need it so that by working together we can solve our common problems.

Q: What is not ThisIsMS?

A: ThisIsMS does not exist to be any particular individual's soapbox from which to conduct a battle. It is not a sporting arena. Flame wars and other antagonistic behavior will not be tolerated. There are other newsgroups and forums where such activity is acceptable. However, it will not be tolerated at ThisIsMS. Where appropriate, as deemed by the forum administrator and the forum moderators, a single warning will be issued and accounts will be closed without prior notice upon continuation of such activity.

Q: I've noticed many articles either linked to or posted, either in part or in their entirety, to the forums. What is ThisIsMS's policy regarding this activity.

A: If you post a piece or quotation from another article to the forums, please provide a link to the original reference. In addition, the ThisIsMS policy states that...




NHE

In another FAQ I discussed the basics of posting pictures to the forum. As a follow-up, here are a couple of links to review sites which discuss some of the image hosting sites that are available.

Comparison of 10 image hosting sites
http://online-image-hosting-review.toptenreviews.com/

List of 31 image hosting sites
http://tutorialblog.org/31-image-hostin ... -reviewed/

A discussion of Flickr and 7 alternatives
http://www.photographybay.com/2007/12/0 ... ernatives/

NHE

Q: Why did my post disappear?

A: One possible reason is that the post may have been an inadvertent reply to a spam posting. Once the spam posting is removed, the reply may be so out of context that it loses meaning and will be removed along with the spam posting.

Q: Why does my avatar image appear distorted?

A: In the Edit Avatar control panel, there is a new option to specify the dimensions of the avatar image in pixels. The default value for these fields is 125 pixels which is the maximum allowable size for the avatar image. However, if you are using a custom avatar and it differs in size from these values, then it will appear distorted as the avatar will likely be resized. There are two possible corrections for this problem. The first option is to set the value for these fields to the actual dimensions of your avatar image. The other option is to delete the values and leave the fields blank. The forum software will then attempt to determine the correct values on its own. If the image is larger than 125 pixels, then you will need to enter the correct numbers maintaining the proportions of the image so that 125 is the maximum dimension. Another option is to resize the image with image editing software and upload it to an image hosting site and then enter the image's URL into the avatar control panel.

NHE

Q: Why do I keep getting logged out when using ThisIsMS?

A: The site may time out after a certain period of inactivity and automatically log you out of your current session. To prevent this from happening, select the check box for "Log me on automatically each visit" when you login. This will keep your session from timing out. If you don't actually wish to be logged in automatically from a particular computer, then you can delete the cookies from thisisms.com after you logout.

Important: If you use this option, then you should make certain that you logout of the site when you're done. Otherwise, anyone who restarts your browser may be logged in automatically. Note that in Mozilla Firefox you can set cookies to expire when the browser is closed and this should fix the automatically logged in problem. Internet Explorer, or other browsers, may have a similar option. For security, it's best to verify the behavior of your browser.

Q: I've been seeing some ads that are inappropriate for this site. Is there something that can be done about this?

A: Google serves ads based on each user's internet history that Google has assembled as well as the content of a particular web page. We do not have control over which specific ads are displayed. If you start seeing ads which you deem inappropriate, then you can delete your browser's cookies and reload the page. The objectionable ads should no longer be displayed. Note: deleting all cookies will require you to log back onto the site so do not do this if you're in the middle of composing a message without first saving it.

Q: I tried to setup an account, but found that it had been deleted. Why did this happen?

A: Inactive accounts are removed after 10 days. To prevent your new account from being removed, be sure to activate it by clicking on the link in the account activation email you received.

Q: Why don't the URLs I copied from another post work?

A: Long URLs, i.e., longer than 55 characters, are automatically shortened by the forum software.

For example, this URL...

http://www.thisisms.com/this-is-a-long-url-that-has-been-shortened.htm

...will be changed to...

http://www.thisisms.com/this-is-a-long- ... rtened.htm

Note the ellipsis and the surrounding spaces that have been inserted into the URL.

Copying and pasting this shortened URL text into a new message will not work. They will show up in your new post as follows (note the cut-off portion of the link which is now inactive).

http://www.thisisms.com/this-is-a-long- ... rtened.htm

To solve this problem, right click on the URL you wish to copy and select "Copy Link Location" or whatever similar option your browser provides. The complete URL can now be pasted into your message.

Alternatively, if this is one of your own posts to the forum, then you can select "Edit" and then copy the URL from the editing screen and paste it into your new message.

Q: Are there special formatting options for posts?

A: Yes. Several new options have been recently added in addition to those already listed in the BBCode FAQ. These are discussed below.

Line Break

This inserts a line break. It's useful for when you want to bump the top line of a post down. Otherwise, initial line breaks, as well as spaces, are ignored by the forum software.

Center Align

This centers text on a new line. Note, the [ cen ] BBCode tag can also be combined with other BBCode tags such as the [ img ] tag.

Example: Centered text.

Example: A centered image with an embedded link.



Left Align Image

Left aligns an image and wraps text around the image.

Example:

Ion channel isotypes, in general, allow for each isotype to have different functional properties that are appropriate to the function of it’s host cell. For example, isotypes may be differentially sensitive to intracellular modulators, i.e., signaling molecules, that allow cells to modify the properties of specific channels selectively in response to physiological effectors. However, some isotypes show no observable significant functional difference. The expression of the different isotypes can be developmentally regulated or in response to a physiological stimulus. This differential expression is controlled by DNA regulatory sequences which are typically upstream of the open reading frame coding for the channel. In addition, the sequences (peptide or nucleic acid) for different channel isotypes may encode information which can be used by the cell, e.g., the golgi and its related vesicular transport mechanisms, to target the channel protein to different discrete locations within the cell.

Right Align Image

Right aligns an image and wraps text around the image.

Example:

Ion channel isotypes, in general, allow for each isotype to have different functional properties that are appropriate to the function of it’s host cell. For example, isotypes may be differentially sensitive to intracellular modulators, i.e., signaling molecules, that allow cells to modify the properties of specific channels selectively in response to physiological effectors. However, some isotypes show no observable significant functional difference. The expression of the different isotypes can be developmentally regulated or in response to a physiological stimulus. This differential expression is controlled by DNA regulatory sequences which are typically upstream of the open reading frame coding for the channel. In addition, the sequences (peptide or nucleic acid) for different channel isotypes may encode information which can be used by the cell, e.g., the golgi and its related vesicular transport mechanisms, to target the channel protein to different discrete locations within the cell.

Monospaced Font

Formats text with a monospaced font, such as Courier, which is useful for when you wish to line up columns of text as in a table. Note that it's helpful to preview your post before submitting it in order to be certain that the text lines up as you wish.

Example:

Zinc ··········· 18.2 µmol/L
Magnesium ······ 0.95 mmol/L
Vitamin D3 ····· 150 nmol/L

Subscript Text

Formats text as subscript.

Example: Citric acid is H₃C₆H₅O₇ while magnesium citrate is Mg₃(C₆H₅O₇)₂.

Note that subscript text can also be useful for adding footnotes ₁ to your post.

1. Footnotes provide extra information. :)

Superscript Text

Formats text as superscript.

Example: Vitamin E has three chiral centers each of which can exist in one of two possible configurations. Therefore, synthetic vitamin E will have eight, 2³=8, isomers, also known as enantiomers, which will be present in equal concentrations. Natural vitamin E (RRR-alphatocopherol) will only exist as ¹/₈, or 12.5%, of the total vitamin E in synthetic vitamin E ₂.

2. Note that the one eighth fraction in the above example uses a combination of superscript and subscript.