Here's an assortment of useful features in the HBT forum that don't get used enough. I'm a supporting (paying) member. Some of these things might not work if you are not a supporting member. Also, I have no idea if any of these apply to the mobile app; I only use the web site on my PC, with Google Chrome as my browser.
Searches
This forum's default search tab sucks (it's a limitation of the basic forum platform, and apparently unfixable). But if you know just where to click, your search results will improve dramatically.
Click the little caret next to "Search" at the top. Type your search term(s) into the text box that appears. This search uses Google to search HBT.
For another great search tool, try clicking the Advanced item. This is a powerful search tool. You can not only search for words, but you can specify the poster who posted them, search just thread titles or entire posts, order the results by date, specify a date range, and focus the search in specific forums. First, though, make sure to change the "Show Results As" selection to "Posts", then click the "Go" next to "Save Search Preferences" at the bottom. Otherwise, your search results will just be a bunch of thread titles and not actual post where the words were found.
How to post pictures from different sources
The easiest way to post pictures to HBT is to get the URL for the pic and then click the Insert Image icon
, then paste the URL into the resulting dialog. In my browser, I can almost always get an image URL from a web page by just right-clicking and selecting Copy Image URL. So, if you post your pics to a sharing site (e.g., Flickr), you should be able to get the URL from that.
If the picture is on your computer, that little icon won't help: you need to upload the pics to HBT. Try this: in the new message window, click the paperclip icon
, then click Choose File to browse your computer for the image you'd like to insert ( alternatively, you can use your computer's file manager to find the picture and drag and drop it onto one of the Choose File buttons). Once you've added all the pics you'd like in your post, make sure to click the Upload button! Then, close that window.
If that's all you do, the uploaded pics will get inserted at the end of the new post you're creating. However, you can place those pics anywhere in the post you like! Once you've uploaded the pics, you can click the paperclip icon and select the picture you want in any spot in the post. E.g., in the following image you'll see I've uploaded two images.
Now that they're uploaded, if I click the paperclip icon I get a list of those images. So, while I'm tying the message I can now place one of those uploaded images into the body of the message.
By the way, if you decide you want to remove one of the images from the post, use the Manage Attachments button at the bottom of the message window.
How to embed YouTube videos
YouTube links are a little flaky in HBT. Sometimes they embed as you'd like, sometimes you just see a text link. The surest way to have this work properly the first time is to get the link from the proper place on YouTube, then remove the extraneous stuff that YouTube adds to the video URL.
First, DON'T use the SHARE button under the video. It results in a link that looks like this, and will NOT work. If you see the domain as youtu.be, it's the wrong type of link for embedding here:
Just get the link from the browser address bar. Then remove the "s" from the https, and also anything after the 11-character video ID (I've highlighted the stuff you should deleted from the link):
This will work, every time:
How to Multi-quote
First, what is multi-quote? It's the feature that lets you select several previous posts and have them all quoted in one new post of your own. Like this:
To use the multi-quote feature, just click the multi-quote button
under each post you want to quote. When you click on the multiquote button, it will turn red
. Click it again to de-select it if needed.
Once you've selected all the posts you want to quote, click the Quote button
on the last post you're quoting. A new message window will be created for you with those quotes in it. Try it. It will work with quotes from all over the forum... they don't need all be selected from the same thread.
What happens when you "report" a post
You can report a post by clicking the Report button
. When you do this, a message is posted to an area that only Moderators and Admins can see. Don't hesitate to use it.
When should you report a post? Any time there's a problem with it. If a discussion turns ugly, or offensive material is posted, hit the report button. If your own post is a problem and you need help formatting or deleting or moving it, hit the report button. If you see a spam post, hit the report button. The moderators are sitting here in the top floor of the HBT building waiting for those reports.
Reports are almost always read and acted on within an hour or two. Sometimes no action is taken if the problem doesn't require any action, per the discretion of the moderators.
This forum as almost 200,000 members and only seven moderators. So, without some self-policing, most problems would be missed.
Thread Metrics and Manipulation
Any column title that has an underline under it can be sorted according to that property.
For example, if you open one of the forums and click the Views column heading, the threads will re-order accordingly. Once clicked, a little arrow will appear that will let you sort in either direction (ascending or descending).
One neat place to try this is in the Recipe Database. Select American Ale, then order by Original Gravity - descending. You'll see that the most potent IPA is Ohiobrutus's 1.093 Hopacles. Order by Views and Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde is the champion of popularity.
Want to see who has posted in a thread? In thread view, click the number under the Replies column. You'll get a little popup window that will show all the people that posted in that thread and how many times they have posted. Click on the number next to the name and you will get a list of all of their posts. Click a post and go there.
Email a page (to yourself or someone else)
If you're at work and you want to send a link to a thread to yourself at home, or you want to alert a friend to something in HBT, just click the Thread Tools button at the top of the page and select Email this Page. Easy.
Etc.
There's lots of other stuff you can do. I didn't mention all the settings in your account settings (try changing the number of posts per page). There are hidden gems in the forum that you should take a look at (go to the main forum page and clicking on Currently Active Users). Click on everything and get to know your forum!
Searches
This forum's default search tab sucks (it's a limitation of the basic forum platform, and apparently unfixable). But if you know just where to click, your search results will improve dramatically.
Click the little caret next to "Search" at the top. Type your search term(s) into the text box that appears. This search uses Google to search HBT.
For another great search tool, try clicking the Advanced item. This is a powerful search tool. You can not only search for words, but you can specify the poster who posted them, search just thread titles or entire posts, order the results by date, specify a date range, and focus the search in specific forums. First, though, make sure to change the "Show Results As" selection to "Posts", then click the "Go" next to "Save Search Preferences" at the bottom. Otherwise, your search results will just be a bunch of thread titles and not actual post where the words were found.
How to post pictures from different sources
The easiest way to post pictures to HBT is to get the URL for the pic and then click the Insert Image icon
If the picture is on your computer, that little icon won't help: you need to upload the pics to HBT. Try this: in the new message window, click the paperclip icon
If that's all you do, the uploaded pics will get inserted at the end of the new post you're creating. However, you can place those pics anywhere in the post you like! Once you've uploaded the pics, you can click the paperclip icon and select the picture you want in any spot in the post. E.g., in the following image you'll see I've uploaded two images.
Now that they're uploaded, if I click the paperclip icon I get a list of those images. So, while I'm tying the message I can now place one of those uploaded images into the body of the message.
By the way, if you decide you want to remove one of the images from the post, use the Manage Attachments button at the bottom of the message window.
How to embed YouTube videos
YouTube links are a little flaky in HBT. Sometimes they embed as you'd like, sometimes you just see a text link. The surest way to have this work properly the first time is to get the link from the proper place on YouTube, then remove the extraneous stuff that YouTube adds to the video URL.
First, DON'T use the SHARE button under the video. It results in a link that looks like this, and will NOT work. If you see the domain as youtu.be, it's the wrong type of link for embedding here:
Just get the link from the browser address bar. Then remove the "s" from the https, and also anything after the 11-character video ID (I've highlighted the stuff you should deleted from the link):
This will work, every time:
How to Multi-quote
First, what is multi-quote? It's the feature that lets you select several previous posts and have them all quoted in one new post of your own. Like this:
To use the multi-quote feature, just click the multi-quote button
Once you've selected all the posts you want to quote, click the Quote button
What happens when you "report" a post
You can report a post by clicking the Report button
When should you report a post? Any time there's a problem with it. If a discussion turns ugly, or offensive material is posted, hit the report button. If your own post is a problem and you need help formatting or deleting or moving it, hit the report button. If you see a spam post, hit the report button. The moderators are sitting here in the top floor of the HBT building waiting for those reports.
Reports are almost always read and acted on within an hour or two. Sometimes no action is taken if the problem doesn't require any action, per the discretion of the moderators.
This forum as almost 200,000 members and only seven moderators. So, without some self-policing, most problems would be missed.
Thread Metrics and Manipulation
Any column title that has an underline under it can be sorted according to that property.
For example, if you open one of the forums and click the Views column heading, the threads will re-order accordingly. Once clicked, a little arrow will appear that will let you sort in either direction (ascending or descending).
One neat place to try this is in the Recipe Database. Select American Ale, then order by Original Gravity - descending. You'll see that the most potent IPA is Ohiobrutus's 1.093 Hopacles. Order by Views and Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde is the champion of popularity.
Want to see who has posted in a thread? In thread view, click the number under the Replies column. You'll get a little popup window that will show all the people that posted in that thread and how many times they have posted. Click on the number next to the name and you will get a list of all of their posts. Click a post and go there.
Email a page (to yourself or someone else)
If you're at work and you want to send a link to a thread to yourself at home, or you want to alert a friend to something in HBT, just click the Thread Tools button at the top of the page and select Email this Page. Easy.
Etc.
There's lots of other stuff you can do. I didn't mention all the settings in your account settings (try changing the number of posts per page). There are hidden gems in the forum that you should take a look at (go to the main forum page and clicking on Currently Active Users). Click on everything and get to know your forum!
