If you have additions or suggestions for this FAQ, or if you see any errors, please email WebEditor@cirruspilots.org. Please do not post suggestions or errors concerning this FAQ as forum posts.

If you can't find the answer to your question here, please visit the Website Help and Discussion Forum.

Privacy & Security

How do I change my email address?
How do I change my password?
I've received emails from private messages on the forums. Does this mean that other members have my private email address?
What if I don't want my name displayed in the member lists or directories?
What profile settings are required?

User Profile Settings

What is a profile?
How do I make changes to my profile?
Which editor should I choose; Enhanced, Standard, or Plain Text?
What is an avatar?
How do I set my personal avatar?
I set my avatar, but it's not displaying on my profile.
What if I don't want to see other's avatars?
What is a signature?
What if I don't want to see others' signatures?
How do I set the date format?
How can I subscribe to emails of new forum posts?
I'm not getting emails even though I checked "Email me replies to this post". What's wrong?
I'm not getting emails from my subscriptions. What's wrong?
What is the bar graph below user avatars?
Why do I need to set my time zone?

Navigation and Reading

How do I read only posts I have not already read? The old COPA site would take me immediately to the first new post in a forum.
The text on the site is too small or too large - how do I change it?
I just posted a message - why don't I see it?
What are the meanings of the different icons next to threads?
What is a thread (topic)?
What is a sticky thread?
What is a locked thread?
I have seen a wrong thread listed as most recent post a few times. Is this a problem with the software?
Can I sort threads when viewing a list of threads?
Can I personalize which forums I see?

Posting

How do I post a new message to a forum?
How do I change the default text size or font in the editor?
How do I reply to an existing post?
How do I quote the original post in my reply?
How do I add an attachment to a post?
How do I add a link to a post?
What are emoticons?
How do I edit a post?
Why can't I edit a post after 24 hours?
How do I delete a post?
Can I use HTML in a post?

Searching

What are some recommended options for Search?

Member Information, Email, Conversations

How do I find information about other members?
How do I contact another member?
What is a "conversation" message?
I received an email message from a member. Can I reply back via email?

Registration & Login

Do I need to Register?
Do non members have access to these discussions?
I forgot my username and/or password.
I have my username and password. How do I log in?
I've logged in before, but now can't log in. What do I do?
What if I've registered but still cannot login?

Other support issues

Why is the website so slow? The old COPA site was much faster.
What browsers are recommended for this website?

Inappropriate Forum Content

What do I do if I feel that a post isn't appropriate for the COPA site?

Privacy & Security

How do I change my password?
Click "Edit Profile" on the top left corner of any page just below COPA logo. Click the "SIGN-IN INFORMATION" tab. Click on "Change Password", enter your old password and a new password. Click the "Change Password" button to save your changes. Please note that it may take a few minutes for your new password to become active.
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How do I change my email address?
Edit your profile and click the "SITE OPTIONS" tab and scroll down to "Email Configuration". Enter your Email under "Private email". Click "Save All Profile Changes". Please note that it may take a few minutes for your new setting to take effect.
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I've received emails from private messages on the forums. Does this mean that other members have my private email address?
No, your private email address is not disclosed when sending private messages or via the “email this member” link under a profile.
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What if I don't want my name displayed in the member lists or directories?
Click "Edit Profile" on the top left corner of any page just below COPA logo. Click on "SITE OPTIONS" tab and scroll down and clock on "No" under "Enable display Name". Once this option is set your name will not appear in any member listings, including the listing of who is online. Please note that, per the COPA policy, all members must list their true name in their profile and so, on the COPA Web site, your name, city and state may appear with posts that you make.
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What profile settings are required?
The only profile settings that are required are your private email address, First name, last name, phone number and address. The email address is used when you subscribe to forums and when a forgotten username/password is emailed. It is tied directly to your membership record. Your private email address is never shared or displayed publicly with other COPA members. The remainder of the profile settings are optional.
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User Profile Settings

What is a profile?
A profile is information about your account that controls how you view information within COPA site. This includes details about posts you've contributed to, personal information you wish to share, as well as setting that control how you interact with the COPA site such as: themes, time zone, and other settings.
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How to I make changes to (edit) my profile?
Click "Edit Profile" on the top left corner of any page just below the COPA logo. A number of tabs organize the various pages of information on your profile. You may make changes to multiple pages before exiting. Click "Save All Profile Changes " before you exit or any changes will be lost.
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Which editor should I choose; Enhanced, Standard, or Plain Text?
Use the Standard editor unless you need to occasionally change fonts, which requires the Enhanced editor. If you the website seems slow to you when opening the editor, avoid the Enhanced editor and try using the Plain Text editor.
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What is an avatar?
An avatar is typically a photograph of a member, a "headshot". Some members prefer to use other images to represent themselves. Avatar images must be appropriate.
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How do I set my personal avatar?
Edit your profile and click the “PROFILE OPTIONS” tab. Under Avatar section, you can either enter a url to link to an existing avatar on the internet, or upload the avatar you wish to use to the COPA site. After you upload the avatar, select it, and click "Save Avatar". Click "Save All Profile Changes". Please note that it may take a few minutes for your new setting to take effect.  Your avatar may be up to 80 by 80 pixels in .jpg or .gif format. If you upload a larger image it will be scaled down to fit within the size limit. Ideally, use an image cropped square.
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I set my avatar, but it's not displaying on my profile.
Edit your profile and click the “PROFILE OPTIONS” tab. Select YES on "Enable Avatar". Click "Save All Profile Changes". Please note that it may take a few minutes for your new setting to take effect.<
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What if I don't want to see other's avatars?
Edit your profile and click the "SITE OPTIONS" tab. Select NO next to "Display user avatars" then click "Save All Profile Changes". Please note that it may take a few minutes for your new setting to take effect.
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What is a signature?
A signature is text that is appended to the end of any posts you make in the forums. You can edit your signature from the profile page. This signature will then appear at the bottom of any messages posted by you.
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What if I don't want to see others' signatures?
A signature is a message that is appended to the end of any posts you make in the forums. Edit your profile and click the "SITE OPTIONS" tab. Select NO next to "Display user signatures" then click "Save All Profile Changes". Please note that it may take a few minutes for your new setting to take effect.
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How do I set the date format?
Edit your profile and click the "SITE OPTIONS" tab and scroll down to "Date format" on the bottom of the page. Select your time zone. Click "Save All Profile Changes". Please note that it may take a few minutes for your new setting to take effect.
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How can I subscribe to emails of new forum posts??

• Select the forums of your choice by clicking "Forum Email Subscriptions" under "Quick Links" on a forum page sidebar. Make your selection next to each forum listed.
• Edit your profile and click the "SITE OPTIONS" tab. Select YES next to both "Enable Conversation Notifications" and "Enable Comment Notifications ". Scroll down to "Email Notification" and select YES next to "Receive emails" and "Send notifications".
• Click "Save All Profile Changes". Please note that it may take a few minutes for your new setting to take effect.

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I'm not getting emails from my forum email subscriptions or from checking "Email me replies to this post". What's wrong?

• Make sure you have the correct email address in your COPA profile.
• Make sure that you've subscribed to the thread or topic. From any forum page sidebar under "Quick Links" click "Forum Email Subscriptions". Subscribe to the forums of your choice by clicking YES or NO next to the forum name.
• Edit your profile and verify that "Receive Emails" and "Send Notifications" is set to "yes" on the "Site Options" tab.
• Check your spam filter to ensure COPA emails are not being marked as spam. In some cases the email may be intercepted by your Email or Internet Service Provider, before it even arrives on your computer. Add "COPAwebsite@cirruspilots.org" to both your personal address book and if possible to the appropriate list at your email provider. If your email provider offers webmail, go there and look for an address book or list of "always allow" domains.
• As a last resort, test using an alternate email address from a different provider such as Google or Yahoo as spam filters vary by email provider.

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What is the bar graph below user avatars?
The green bar graph displays the relative posting activity by contributors to the COPA site.
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Why do I want to set my time zone?
Setting your time zone will enable the COPA site to display all dates and time relative to your time zone.
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Navigation and Reading

How do I read only posts I have not already read? The old COPA site would take me immediately to the first new post in a forum.
No. The site identifies only threads that have new posts, not posts within threads. This feature has been identified as very helpful and is a top priority for implementation in a future software update. In the mean time, some members have found email forum subscriptions to be a helpful substitute, as all new posts for chosen forums will be sent via email in sequence. Many email programs permit viewing such posts in "threaded" mode, which groups similar items together. The suggested workflow for reading new posts on the website is to go to latest post in new threads, scroll to the first post in the thread that does not look familiar, then read your way back to the end of the thread.
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The text on the site is too small or too large - how do I change it?
Edit your profile and change the Font Size setting in SITE OPTIONS so that the text in most posts is a comfortable size. Keep in mind that some posters may alter the size of their post text to other than the default, so look for the most common default size and calibrate your text size to that.
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I just posted a message, how come I don't see it?
Some times it may take a few minutes for your post to be displayed. This is due to COPA server processing multiple messages at the same time when many members are posting.
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What are the meanings of the different icons next to threads?
The icons next to threads when viewing a list of topics indicate different status. You can hold your mouse cursor over an icon to see a popup text description of its meaning. "Enable Post Mouse-Over Popup" must be set to "Yes" in your Profile to see this text.
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What is a thread?
A thread is a grouping of related posts. A thread contains 1 or more posts. The first post becomes the thread, and replies to the original post increment details on the thread, such as the reply count or last post.
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What is a sticky thread?
A sticky topic is a special post that causes a post to sort to the top of a forum for a specified amount of time. A sticky topic is similar to an announcement, whereas an announcement is displayed separate from other threads and usually does not allow replies.
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What is a locked thread?
A locked thread is a special post that does not allow replies. Once a user locks a post or an administrator/moderator locks a thread no more posts are allowed.
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I have seen a wrong thread listed as most recent post a few times. Is this a problem with the software?
Portions of the software are cached and run at scheduled intervals to conserve server load during high usage. The scheduled process that updates most recent post for forums and threads hadn't run at the time you viewed the section.
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Can I sort threads when viewing a list of threads?
Yes, you can sort threads by: Most Active (most recent), Unanswered, Unread and My Posts. The default sort is to display the newest threads first (Last Post descending). To sort, simply click on the desired sort option next to "Show first" text at the top Forum view or the ALL and AVIATION group top level pages. Navigating to the longer "View More Topics" view will preserve this sort selection.
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Can I personalize which forums I see, and hide the others?
No. This feature has been identified as very helpful and is being investigated for a future software update.
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Posting

How do I post a new message to a forum?
You can post a new message to a forum in several ways. When viewing a forum you should see a text “Write a New Post/Topic.” Clicking on this text will take you to a form for posting a message.
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How do I change the default text size or font in the editor?
The default text size and font is intentionally not changeable. Keep in mind that the appearance of text is highly variable and dependent upon the viewer's screen sizes, browser settings, etc., that are out of your control. If the size of the text you create looks wrong, change the default text size for reading to the size that seems right to you. You should make all your posts using the default text size and font unless it the change is needed for emphasis or special purposes. In this way, the website appearance is far more consistent and easier for others to read.
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How do I reply to an existing post?
You can reply to an existing post using the Reply link displayed just above the body of the post. If you do not see the Reply link when viewing a post you do not have permission to reply or the post may not allow replies.
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How do I quote the original post in my reply?
When you click reply, you'll see a gray area containing the text of the post you're replying to. Simply click “Quote” to quote the entire post in your reply, or highlight text in the gray area and click “Quote” to quote that specific text. You can highlight and quote specific text elements as often as necessary within your reply.
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How do I add an attachment to a post?
Click the "Insert Media" icon in the editor (the tiny film strip icon just to the left of the "smiley face" icon). You may link to an external image or file, or you may upload a file to your personal Media library, and then insert it into your post.
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How do I add a link in a post?
You can add a link in your post to either a place within the COPA website or externally one of two ways:
1. Drag a link from a web page on another browser window to the text editor window.
2. Type the text that will become the link in the editor. Select the link text and then click the "chain" icon in the editor toolbar. Type or past the URL of the link into the "Insert/Edit Link" dialog box, and select whether you want the link target to open in a new window or the same window. Important: be sure to use a full URL, such as "http://www._______" for the URL.
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What are emoticons?
Emoticons are graphical elements that can be added within the body of a post to add emotions to the post. Common examples are the use of smilies within the contents of a post. Please see our Emoticon Dictionary for a list of our current emoticons.
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How do I edit a post?
Within the first 24 hours of posting, you'll see an “Edit” text in the top portion of your post. Clicking on this text will allow you to edit your post. When you edit your post, a time and date stamp will appear in your post, which reflects the last time and date you edited that post. When editing, you also have the option of explaining your edits during the process. Edits are not permitted after 24 hours.
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Why can't I edit a post after 24 hours?
24 hours is an appropriate time for someone to update/correct information in a post. After 24 hours, the message has already been read by hundreds of others, and if there is a need to correct it, deleting the original post will not serve that function. If you have a correction, please reply to your original post with a correction.
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How do I delete a post?
As a registered user, you do not have the option of deleting your posts. Think twice, post once. If you feel that you've made an error or have accidentally posted the same information twice, please contact a moderator for assistance webmaster@cirruspilots.org.
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Can I use HTML in a post?
Yes, and no. Generally, you'll be using the WYSIWYG interface, so formatting should be fairly easy without HTML. If you prefer HTML, then select the “HTML Source” button from the editing toolbar.
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Searching

What are some recommended options for Search?

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Member Information, Email, Conversations

How do I find information about other members?
Click "Find People" on the Quick Links sidebar and enter search information to get a list of matching members, or click on the member's name in any forum post, to go to the member's Public Profile page.

Currently only a limited amount of information is available. After a planned software update additional member information will displayed for members, and search by additional criteria will be possible, subject to the member's preferences set in their profile settings.
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How do I contact another member?
After finding a member's public profile, you may click the "Send and Email" link (which reveals your email address to that member) or "Start a Conversation" (Which keeps your email address private).
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What is a "conversation" message?
A conversation is a private message like an email or text message within the website. You can send a private message to another user within the COPA site that is visible only to them and you. No private information, such as the user's email address, is exchanged.

To start a conversation, click on any username to navigate to that user's public profile page, then click "Start a Conversation".

To read or add to an existing conversation, click MyCOPA to go to your Dashboard page, then select the conversation under "My Conversations"".

If you wish to receive an email notification of new Conversation messages, edit your Profile page "Site Options" and choose "Yes" for "Enable Conversation Notifications"; then under "Email Configuration" choose "Yes" for "Receive emails".
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I received an email message from a member. Can I reply via email?
If you received a Conversation notification email, you cannot reply by email. This system preserves the confidentiality of the email address of both members while allowing the use of email to notify the recipient of the message. Follow the link in the email message, which take you to the website "Conversations" screen which permits replying.

If you received an email from a member who selected "Send Email", you will be able to reply via ordinary email as the member's email address will be sent to you.
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Registration & Login

Do I need to Register?
Current members of COPA are already registered. Once you join COPA you will automatically be registered for all member sections of the COPA site.
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Do non-members have access to these discussions?
Non members have access only to limited areas of the website and forums. Prospective members and members who've lapsed their memberships have the same access as unregistered visitors.
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I forgot my username and/or password. How can I log in?
Click on "Sign In" text below the COPA logo on the top left corner. Click on "Forgot your password or username?" text and follow the instructions. You password will be emailed to you. If your Email address changed, then contact webmaster@cirruspilots.org.
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I have my username and password. How do I log in?
Click on "Sign In" text below the COPA logo on the top left corner. Enter your user name and password.
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I registered, but I can't log in. What do I do?
If you've registered and can't log in, check to ensure you have a valid username and password. Also make sure that your browser and security software aren't preventing cookies from COPA site from being written. If you are sure the username and password are valid and cookies are enabled, but still can't login your account may be on hold or membership is expired. In this case, please contact webmaster@cirruspilots.org.
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Other support issues

Why is the website so slow? The old COPA site was much faster.
While most users have reported that the website performance is very good, the website speed has been reported to be slow by users with slower internet connections or especially those with high-latency connections such as satellite internet service. In this situation, we recommend you use the plain text editor or standard editor, try alternate browsers, and turn off unnecessary features in your user profile such as avatars. A small number of reports are of very slow performance even with fast internet connections. A significant number of these reports are coming from users using Internet Explorer version 6. The exact reason for this problem is unknown, but a number of users have reported complete resolution by switching the browser to Safari, Chrome, or IE version 7. Some anti-virus or firewall software may have unexpected compatibility issues, which can be detected by temporarily disabling the software.
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What browsers are recommended on the website?
While most browsers are working well with the website, the technology of the website software make using the latest available versions web browsers highly desirable. We recommend as a minimum Internet Explorer version 7, Firefox version 5, or Safari version 3, or later. Initial reports are that beta Google Chrome runs very fast on the website.
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Inappropriate Content

What do I do if I feel that a post isn't appropriate for the Community?
Adjacent to each post is a "Report Inappropriate Content" link. Click the link and enter the nature of your concern into the subsequent form. The reporting process will combine your concerns and the content of the post into a new post on a special forum visible only to moderators. A moderator will review your report and initiate any necessary action regarding the content.

Please refer to the Online Media Usage Policy for guidance as to what material is appropriate.
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Rev. 9-29-2008