Info Bluelight Support FAQ

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Bluelight Support FAQ

Welcome to the Bluelight Support FAQ!

This will answer 95% of all questions you have. Use the links below to jump to the relevant section.


Table of Contents

Jump to: My Account
New Registrations
What's the difference between a Greenlighter? and a Bluelighter?
How do I change my email address
I forgot my BL password
I forgot my BL password and my registered email address is no longer valid (former employer/university, etc.)
Can I change my username?
How do I delete my account & posts?
How to become a mod on Bluelight?

Jump to: Avatars
What's an avatar?
How do I get one?
Limitations on Avatars
I get the error 'Remote Uploads Are Disabled' when trying to upload an avatar

Jump to: Subscriptions
How do I subscribe to the threads I have started or posted in?
Accessing your subscribed threads

Jump to: Searching
How do I find threads I have started or posted in?
Bluelight Basic Search
Bluelight Advanced Search
Bluelight Search Behaviour & Methodology
Google Co-op Search
Searching Bluelight using internet search engines
Searching for a member

Jump to: Posting Features
How do I set a signature?
How do I make a poll?
How do I make 'NSFW' tags?
How do I insert an image into a post?

Jump to: Problems Posting
My page doesn't refresh properly when I hit the back button, or it loads an older page.
I've made a post and it doesn't show up!
My thread was closed and I don't know why!
Bluelight won't load for me / I get Server not found errors
I constantly have to log in again
I remain logged in, even when I click Log out
I am getting an 'Error 406' or a 'Bad Request'
How can I try something out?
Further problems with posting

Jump to: Other Miscellaneous Information
How to change viewing style
What are some of the acronyms used on Bluelight?
A thank you for all who contributed to this FAQ
 
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My Account

New Registrations

Welcome to Bluelight :D

Upon registering, you will receive an email which will ask you to click on a link to activate it.

Please note that users who have not yet responded to the activation e-mail sent to the address they signed up with will only be able to post in the Support forum.

Still waiting for that email to arrive? Check your junk/spam folders.

Nothing in the spam folder? Try asking the system to resend it.

STILL nothing? Contact the admin via their email address [email protected] and they can manually address the issue.


99% of the new user's complaints about not being able to post are due to a failure to activate their account. Please ensure that you do this before you log a Support request.



What's the difference between a Greenlighter? and a Bluelighter?

First of all, a Greenlighter is a new member who has made fewer than 20 posts. Consider this a probationary period for membership.

During this phase of your membership, your privileges will be restricted:
  • Greenlighters cannot post in The Lounge.
  • Greenlighters cannot create a Blog or post in other people's Blogs.
  • Greenlighters cannot have a signature.

Once you have made 50 posts, you will become a Bluelighter and the above restrictions will be lifted. Please note that it can sometimes take up to 24 hours for this change to take affect, so please be patient. Also, please don't create a new thread in the Support forum asking about this - come back tomorrow instead. It will almost certainly have happened overnight. There are some site restrictions in place for all members, even Bluelighters:

  • Attachments are disabled. If you wish to share an image, you must link to it stored on another site.
  • Flood protection is ON. You must wait a short period between posts (this is to slow spammers).

As a bonus bit of info, we also have some members bearing a Bluelight Crew title. These are former staff members who retired and are still active on the site. This was a way of providing them recognition for their service, perhaps give a little more weight to their posts should newer members come across them. These members are no longer on staff, and have no actual power or authority at this point unless they choose to rejoin staff in some capacity. This is strictly an honorary title.

How do I change my email address

If you need to change your account from the email address you registered with, you can click on your Username at top right and then Account Details. This will take you to several account settings you can change, including your associated email address.

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I forgot my BL password

If you forgot your password, click the Forgot your password? link on the "Log in" interface. Enter your registered email address and a password link will be sent to you. If you don't see the link in your email, check your junk mail folder - some email providers sometimes classify our automated messages as junk mail.

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I forgot my BL password and my registered email address is no longer valid (former employer/university, abandoned due to spam, etc.)

We cannot help you with this because there is no way to verify your identity securely. Sorry.


Can I change my username?

See: a 'thank you' perk for donators - account name change



Current or ex members of staff in good standing are permitted a discretionary name change.


How do I delete my account & posts?

You can delete your own posts... one at a time. Use the search engine to show all posts created by yourself, open each one, and click the 'delete' button at the bottom of the post. The delete option is there, and from that point onwards you'll know what to do. You're awesome enough to be reading this FAQ, so we have every faith in you.

However, your general awesomeness does not extend to deleting posts in closed or archived threads. The board software does not allow users to edit or remove their contributions when a thread is closed or archived. As such, you'll need to PM the forum moderators and ask them to do it. If you've already deleted the bulk of your other posts, the moderators should do this for you - although it remains at their discretion. If you get no joy via this route, feel free to report the posts in question and bring it to the attention of other staff members.

To address account deletion, use the 'Contact Us' page indicating your username and request it. This is sent directly to the admin. We should get back to you shortly. Please note that deletion of the account with removal of all posts can only be done if an account has 25 or fewer posts. For accounts with more content, your username and e-mail address will be removed, but any posts you have not already deleted will stay in place at the time of your account anonymisation, under an anonymous username. Also, we cannot remove quotes of your content (and username) by other users.

How to become a mod on bluelight?

When we have openings on staff for moderator positions you will find these in the sticky posts at the top of the forum. You will find the information needed and who to send your application to.

Generally application posts will read as follows:

Moderator expectations:

  • Familiarize yourself with BLUA and <forum> Posting Rules.
  • Help enforce BLUA and Posting Rules, assist in catching spammers, try to keep threads on topic.
  • Log in at least a few times per week to check this forum.
  • Drop by the mod forum each time you log in for important updates and info.
What we would like to know:

  • How many hours per week can you dedicate to modding?
  • What is your country of residence and time zone?
  • Why do you think you would be a good fit for our team?
  • What is your interest in <forum> in particular?
If there are no open applications but you think you could make a positive impact to the team feel free to send the forum moderators a PM listing the qualities you have that would suit.
 
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Avatars

What's an avatar?

First of all, incase you don’t already know, the avatar is the little picture that appears under your username. It’s nice to have to show a little bit of your personality, and also helps in keeping track of who’s who when reading through a thread quickly. This is not to be confused with the profile picture, which will only show up in your profile, not as an avatar.

How do I get an avatar?

Now, this next bit may look long, but don't worry, it's a very simple step by step process that takes no more than a couple of minutes to complete. I promise. To get or change your avatar:
  1. Go to the top of the page and click on your username
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  2. A pop-up menu will load, among the items in this pop-up menu is your avatar
  3. Hover over your avatar and an ‘edit’ button will appear. Click this
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  4. In the new window that opens, click the ‘browse’ button and browse to the location of your image file, select it and click ‘Open’ to confirm.
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  5. Click 'okay’ to close the window or ‘delete’ to clear your avatar. If you clear your avatar, a picture of the first letter of your username will be shown in stead.

Recommendations on Avatars

Recommended is to use a picture of at least 400 by 400 pixels

Resizing can be done quickly and easily in pretty much any basic paint or photo editing program. Consider resizing the picture on an online picture resizer. Then upload the resized picture as your avatar.

If you have followed all of these steps and are still having problems, then you can contact a moderator or start a thread in Support.

I get the error 'Remote Uploads Are Disabled' when trying to upload an avatar

Yeah, that's cos they're disabled. You need to upload the image from your own hard disc. How do you get it there? Download it.

 
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Subscriptions

How do I subscribe to the threads I have started or posted in?

In order to do this, you have to subscribe to threads that you post in, or ‘watch’ them as its called. Doing this manually is, naturally, a tedious task, so the forum software is set up to subscribe you to every thread you create or post in. You can manage these subscription settings as such:
  1. Click on your username in the top right of the forum and click ‘preferences’
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  2. Under ‘Content options’ you can manage these settings
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  3. More to the bottom, under ‘Receive a notification when someone…’ you can edit your notification settings for various scenarios
    uuAXhBs.png

Accessing your subscribed threads

Accessing all the threads you are watching is easy
  1. Go to the top of the page and click click the arrow next to the ‘watched’ button
    hnh5wJm.png
  2. Choose one of the options, the first one for all your watched threads, the second one for entire sections you are watching

You can also manually subscribe to threads, which is helpful for threads that you haven't posted in but want to keep an eye on. For those, go into the thread you want, and near the top, one of the options says "Watch". Clicking this will subscribe you to the thread
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Searching for a member

If you go to the top navbar and click on 'Members' you are taken to a page with several links to quick access certain groups. There is also a field to enter a username, and the site will attempt to auto-fill for you as you type.

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Searching Bluelight: A quick guide to searching Bluelight

How do I find threads I have started or posted in?

It takes only two simple clicks to access all content you have posted on the site. First, click on your username in the top right of the forum and click 'Your content'. This will present you with the search results starting with the most recent and going back in time:

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Bluelight Basic Search

Bluelight has a built-in search engine. The basic search can be accessed through one of three methods:

  1. Site-wide Search: Via the little box in the top right of each page. Just press the search button, enter some search terms in the text box, press the search button with the magnifying glass icon, and it will search the entire site. You can check "Search titles only" to only search in titles of threads in stead of in both titles and content of threads and posts

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  2. Forum-specific Search: When viewing a particular forum (like, Support, or Cannabis Discussion, etc), you can click the same 'search' button as in the previous section. This will now show an extra option to select where to search. Open this drop down menu and choose 'this forum' to limit the search to that specific forum. Press the search button with the magnifying glass icon, and it will search that specific forum.

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  3. Thread-specific Search: When viewing a particular thread (like this one), you can click the same 'Search' button at the top right. This will now show an extra option to select where to search. Open this drop down menu and choose 'this thread' to limit the search to that specific thread. Press the search button with the magnifying glass icon, and it will search that specific thread.

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No matter how many hits you get on your search term, Bluelight will only display 9 pages of results. This is especially relevant if you search for a word that is used a lot on BL, like ecstasy or drugs.

Results are sorted by date, with the most recent ones first - not necessarily the most relevant. You can press the 'show older results' button on the bottom right of the last page of the search results, which will show you 9 more pages of results that are older

This is quick and easy but may return too many results, particularly if you are searching the entire board. You will notice in all of the pictures above, that there is an option to switch to 'Advanced Search'...


Bluelight Advanced Search

Advanced search is similar but offers you options to target your search: you can specify to search whole threads, or just the thread title. You can limit your search to a specific type of result ('search everything', 'search threads and 'search conversations') to limit your search to these types of results. You can do this by using the tabs you see in the advanced search page.

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When searching you can also search by user name, or limit your search to a particular forum. This is a very effective way of narrowing your search to the most useful posts and is the key to navigating Bluelight successfully.


Bluelight Search Behaviour & Methodology

The following should help you construct your search terms...


  • The search defaults to AND: e.g. goat monkey finds any threads with both of the words goat AND monkey anywhere in the thread.
  • You can specify a search for one or more words using OR: goat OR monkey finds any thread with either the word goat or the word monkey
  • Using quote marks will search for an exact phrase:"goat monkey" will find nothing except those exact words, in that exact order. So using the quote marked terms: "Infinite Jest can't" will find threads containing the phrase "Infinite Jest can't read", "Infinite Jest can't write", "Infinite Jest can't be librarian... surely", etc.
  • You can use an asterisk as a wildcard to match letters: e.g. typing ecstas* will match ecstasy; blueligh* will match bluelight, bluelighter, bluelighters, bluelight's.


Searching Bluelight using internet search engines

If all else fails, you can use search engines to search just one site, in this case Bluelight. Use the "site:x" syntax, plus your search query.

For example: In Google, site:bluelight.org "Infinite Jest" should find all mentions of the name Infinite Jest, including all the posts that Infinite Jest made. Google not being perfect, however, it doesn't - it misses several thousand posts as Google cannot find everything on the board. Also, Google only displays the first 1000 results, no matter how many hits you get.

Finally, be aware that the results will be in an order that is almost random, compared to the relevance ranked results that you get when you search the whole web.

This is because Google ranks websites by how many other sites link to them. So if you do a search on the whole web for MDMA, the top result is Wikipedia, because a lot of other sites link to that page. MDMA.net and Erowid are also highly ranked. But searching within a site like Bluelight doesn't work so well, because there are very few weblinks to individual threads to help Google determine which threads should be highly ranked. So basically your results will be quite random, although you can expect FAQs, which get linked to reasonably often, to be higher ranked.

In Yahoo!, AlltheWeb and Altavista use the same syntax: site:bluelight.org Infinite Jest. In Ask and Microsoft Live (at the time of writing), this feature works very badly, so don't bother.

Note that each engine gives different results - different numbers of hits, and not all hits overlap between engines. If you're really looking for something specific and can't find it with one engine, try one of the other ones.



(With many thanks to Infinite Jest, who originally wrote this section)
 
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Miscellaneous Posting Features

How do I set a signature? (Please note, Greenlighters are not permitted signatures).

  1. Click on your username at the top right to open up the menu. Choose 'signature'
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  2. A text box will open. Insert your signature here and save the changes to enable your signature
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How do I make a poll?

Make a thread that's pollworthy, and ask nicely in the thread. Or PM one of the mods of the forum in question and talk about it with them and maybe they'll set it all up for you. Talking is good. (But rubbish polls aren't.)


How do I make 'NSFW' tags?

You can just write out the tags manually by writing [nsfw]what ever you want to hide here[/nsfw]

NSFW:
It will show up like this


How do I insert an image into a post?

You can just manually type out the code around the image again, like this: [img]image URL here[/img]. Try previewing your post to see if it works before you submit it. A second option is to use the 'insert image' button, as follows
  1. Press the 'insert image' button
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  2. Insert the URL to the image in the pop-up input box and press 'insert' to insert it into your post
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Posting Problems

My page doesn't refresh properly when I hit the back button, or it loads an older page.

Press Control (or shift in Firefox) and hit the Refresh button to force your browser to reload the page. Also, do not use the back button, but navigate the site using the navigation links at the top of the page.


I've made a post and it doesn't show up!

In all likelihood your post is there, but your browser still shows you the old page. Don't re-post your story immediately. Press Control (or shift in Firefox) and hit the Refresh button to force your browser to reload the page. It should appear now.


My thread was closed and I don't know why!

Moderators are encouraged to make a post in each closed thread explaining why it was closed. If you know who closed your thread but you do not understand why, you can send them a polite PM (private message) asking why it was closed. If you do not know who closed it, you can PM any moderator of that forum. Being rude, aggressive, or accusatory does not get you answers, and will likely just cause more problems and make people less willing to help you, so just be nice, its easier on you and us. Moderators are not out to get you or close all your threads. I promise.


Bluelight won't load for me / I get Server not found errors

Perhaps there are transient network problems; try accessing the site again in a few minutes. Also double check if other sites have problems as well; if so it may be your provider. In a rare case, the server may be down or have a problem. If you keep receiving errors, your computer may have been inadvertently blocked in the firewall. Post in the Support forum from another computer if you need help. Be verbose about your problem; if possible mention your provider.


I constantly have to log in again

This is a common complaint and it always ends up being a problem with the user's computer. Here are some common troubleshooting steps:

  • Please enable cookies in your browser.
  • Try clearing your cookie cache and then logging in again.
  • Check that your computer's clock is not set to the wrong time. If it is set for the year 2020 or something, the cookies will not work.
  • Make sure your roommate has not changed your settings or that you are not trying to use someone else's account.
  • If you have any privacy software, make sure it is configured to allow cookies for www.bluelight.org. Internet Explorer 6 has privacy features built in; if you see a red stop sign in your browser's status bar (bottom of window), it means a cookie is blocked. Adjust your privacy settings accordingly.
  • Please try using a different browser or different computer to identify the source of the problem.
  • Try ticking the "Remember Me" box when you log in. This works 99% of the time. If you are on a public computer or any computer other than your own, just be sure you log out when you are done, so that other people cannot access your account.

If this does not work, you can post a message as an unregistered user in the Support forum, but you shouldn't expect Bluelight to solve the problem for you as the problem is not with Bluelight but with your computer.


I remain logged in, even when I click Log out

This is a known problem with some browsers, most notably older versions of Internet Explorer and Safari. If this happens, you need to clear your browser's cookies manually. If you are unsure how to do this, post in the Support forum and mention your browser version. Sometimes clicking the Logout button twice helps.

Two outside links with methods for clearing cache or cookies from most major browsers are here and here.


I am getting an 'Error 406' or a 'Bad Request'

This error means that the server has rejected your request because of its contents. The explanation for this is technical: some sequences of characters and commands are often used by hackers to exploit security problems in software. Therefore, our firewall inspects all page requests to check for possible hacks. This can be compared to a virus scanner. It could be that your post contains some "dangerous" characters. See if your post contains any weird characters or punctuation which could be the problem, and try submitting it again.

The most common reason for this is the use of brackets/parentheses. And the use of the word 'system'. And especially both together. Try copying your whole post to Notepad, and then pasting/submitting it a chunk at a time into Bluelight. That usually highlights the suspected terrorist part of your post. The easiest way to do this is to make a thread in the Support and Technical Help forum, then submitting it one paragraph at a time. Once you find the offending paragraph, you can then repeat the process by sentence, then single words, and so on until you find the offending characters. Please leave a post for staff in the Support and Technical Help forum as to what characters caused the issue so we can take note and inform others who encounter the same problem.

Another reason you may be receiving this error could be due to the length of your post. If your post is particularly long, you may need to submit it in chunks. A post that copies into MS Word as 6 pages long, for example, will likely cause this error.


How can I try something out?

You are welcome to try your posting skills here in the Support forum. You can try creating a new thread, or replying to an existing discussion even if your reply has nothing to do with the existing discussion. Why? Because YOU have the power to Edit your posts, and within the Edit screen, you can then DELETE your post. This way, you can try out whatever you'd like, but not leave a useless thread behind, or derail an existing discussion with a reply that doesn't fit the topic. All in all, the Support forum can be your 'test it out' space, including testing out your ability to edit or delete your words.


Further problems with posting

Check out some of the most common problems in the Official "I cant post" MEGATHREAD (dont worry, they've all been grouped into one, easy to read post, so no searching through pages required :))

Please PM a moderator if you have any suggestions/additions/amendments.
 
Other Miscellaneous Information


How to change viewing style

First, scroll down to the bottom of any page, and on the bottom left corner you may see the style chooser, a little brush with your current viewing style listed.
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Clicking on that will pop up a window listing all currently available styles for you to choose from. You may, at almost any time, switch among any of the available styles. The exception is on certain events (such as our annual Blacklight) where we may force a given style when viewing during a set time frame, or if we choose to have a forum only viewable under a specific style. These exceptions are rare and will usually have an explanation accompanying them. Please, feel free to try them all out and find what works best for you!
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What are some of the acronyms used on Bluelight?

Many acronyms used on Bluelight are common to the internet We have a short list hidden in the spoiler below. However, if you come across one that isn't listed, you can search urban dictionary for an explanation OR simply ask in the thread where it was used. Chances are, there are other readers who also don't know and could benefit from the shared answer.

AFAIK - As far as I know

ASAP - As soon as possible

ATM - At the moment

A/S/L - Age, sex, location

BL - Bluelight

BTW - By the way

DOC - Drug of choice

FAQ - Frequently asked questions

FOAF - Friend of a friend (use of this term is discouraged on BL; see SWIM)

FTW - For the win

FWIW - For what its worth

GTFO - Get the fuck out

IIRC - if I recall correctly

IME - In my experience

IMO - In my opinion

ITT - In this thread

IMHO - in my honest/humble opinion

LMAO - Laughing my ass off

LOL - Laughing out loud OR lots of love

OP - Original Poster

PLUR - Peace, love, unity, respect

QFT - Quoted for truth

RFD - Request for discussion

ROA - Route of administration (Refers to the method used to ingest a drug, such as smoking or ingesting orally)

ROTFLMAO - Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off

RTG - Read the guidelines

SLR - Bluelight forum Sex, Love and Relationships

S/O - Significant other (boyfriend, girlfriend)

STFU - Shut the fuck up

SWIM - Someone who isn't me (Use of this term is discouraged on BL; it is used on some forums in an attempt to avoid incriminating oneself, e.g. "SWIM is considering manufacturing meth, what does SWIM need to know?". There is no evidence that this provides any protection from legal repercussions, and it makes your posts hard to follow. Also, many people switch between "SWIM" and "I" in the same post. Finally, you shouldn't be incriminating yourself (drug synthesis, dealing, etc) on Bluelight anyway)

TBH - To be honest

TDS - Bluelight forum The Dark Side

TLB - Bluelight administrator TheLoveBandit (many usernames become abbreviated in discussions; this one is known for frequently leaving tl;dr posts in his wake).

tl;dr - Too long; didn't read.

Troll - A non-person who spends their energy disrupting the normal flow of the Bluelight community (Technically not an abbreviation, but still good to know.)

TTYS - "Talk to yourself". A long-standing lounge thread for general banter.

UTSE - Use the search engine

WTF? - What the fuck?

YMMV - Your mileage may vary

Please note, often we shorthand forum names or user names so you may see "TheLoveBandit" being referred to as "TLB" or the forum "New Member Introductions" simply stated as "NMI".


A thank you for all who contributed to this FAQ

For a site that has been running since 1999, there is a need to ensure our members have their questions answered in a friendly and simple manner. This incredibly informative and thorough Bluelight FAQ has been designed specifically to help welcome you to our community! This would not have been possible without the contributions from the following dedicated members of our community:

BigTrancer | Infinite Jest | Catch-22 | johnboy | Rogue Robot | stardragon | Orlando | ceryc | skydancer | Spencer |
chr1.5 | BlueAdonis | forgotten | Dagny | tj-e | Pleonastic | mashead testing | Tommyboy | Anonymous | liquidocean |
*Pixie* Stix | michael | hoptis | jase | xtcxtc | PsychoKitten | TheLoveBandit | alasdairm | Dakeva | CFC | BlueBull | Senior Staff​
 
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