How can I post a message in the forum?
Posting a message to the forum is quite easy. You click the Forum link immediately below the banner. On the page that then loads you select the appropriate forum and click on its name. You will then see a list of current topics and at the top you see a button 'NEW THREAD'. If you click the button, it is clear where you should enter the subject of your message and the text. The buttons below the text field allow you to use italics for scientific names, bold or underline to accentuate text for other purposes, insert mail, image or web links, etc. More information on putting images in your message can be found below.

There are few guidelines for posting but I give at least the following:
* Please give threads a relevant subject title.
* Do not put very different queries/requests in the same thread. It keeps the flow of information much clearer if two subjects are not mingled in one thread. If necessary, just create two threads.
* If you ask for an identification, give location and size, and if possible also a description of habitat. It helps the others to identify it and at the same time increases the amount of information that can be ound in the forum.


How can I post a message without registring as a member?
Only members can post messages in the forum. Of course, I encourage you to register as a member. There are no costs involved and you join an enthousiastic community.

If you do not intend to visit more often and want to get some message into the forum, then you can use put is in an email to the Webmaster through the Contact Me link. The message will then be transferred to the forum as if posted by a 'Guest'.

How do I attach a file (image) to my post?
At the bottom of a new message you have the option to attach a document. By clicking on the 'Browse' button you can navigate to the desired file on the local computer and click on 'Open'. When you post the message, the attachment will be uploaded. An attached image is not visible when previewing your message.

Attaching files to forum posts is restricted to the following types: gif - jpg - png - zip - rar - tar.
Please make sure that you use lower case, because attachments with extensions in upper case (capitals) are rejected. The maximum size is 200000 bytes. Other requirements are: no spaces in the file name, not dots in the file name other than the one in front of the file extension and only alphanumerical characters and '-' and '_' are allowed.

REQUEST: If you attach an image, please try to keep the width to a maximum of 600 pixels (to prevent stretching of the forum) and reduce the resolution to 72 dpi. On most screens (if not all) ou will not see an improvement in quality with higher resolution.
If you post the image of an insect for identification, do not forget to include the location and date.

IMPORTANT: You cannot attach more than one file (image) to a single post. If you want to have more files (images) in the same thread, you just write a reply to you previous message and add the next file (image).

How do I insert an image on a remote server in my message?
When you write a new message, you will find a series of buttons near the bottom of the text box. Clicking the [ img ] button will insert the two codes [ img ] and [ /img ] in your message. Between these you can insert the link to your image.

Please, remember that when you remove the image from the server, that the image is also gone from the forum. The same will happen when you change the name of the image. If you do that, please, edit the link in the relevant message.

My attached image does not show. Why?
One of the reasons may be that you have tried to attach an image which does no fulfill the requirements of size and extension mentioned above. Otherwise, the most often encountered error is the presence of invalid characters in the file name, usually spaces. Please also note that changing the file extension to that of another image type by changing the name rather than saving it in the other format will also cause problems.
If you attach an image to you post and ask to see the preview, please, not that the link to your image will be lost upon posting and the attachment is not uploaded. Consequently, it will not show in your message.